Annabeth got to class early, sat down in her usual spot near the front of the room and got to work organising her notebook, pens and laptop on her desk. She always did this. She had a routine; get to class early, get her things organised and revise her notes while she was waiting for her professor to start the lecture. This way, no one interrupted her.
Today, however, was a little different.
It was a couple of minutes before class was supposed to start, and Annabeth was revising the readings that they had been given yesterday when she noticed a guy sit in the seat next to her. That was odd. Usually no one sat near the front, not if they had a choice. Still, she continued her revision.
Until a voice interrupted her.
"Hey," the guy said, smiling at her. "I'm Percy."
He held out his hand for her to shake.
She ignored him and went back to her revision. He didn't look familiar. Not that she really knew anyone, but she thought she would have recognised faces. Granted, classes had only been on for two weeks.
"Oh, okay..." she heard the guy mutter to himself.
Annabeth focused her attention to the front of the room as her professor came in and began the class.
"Today, we will be learning about the different types of bonds that exist between molecules. There are three types of bonds; ionic, covalent and metallic bonds and..."
Annabeth felt someone poking her shoulder. She looked over to see the guy, Percy, staring at her intently.
"Do you have a pen?" he asked. Annabeth looked at his hand. He was holding one. Rolling her eyes, she turned her attention back to the front of the room.
About halfway through the lecture, Annabeth saw movement out of the corner of her eye and looked down to see a piece of paper with what she assumed was a picture of her. She could barely tell. Obviously this guy wasn't very artistic. She flipped the note over and saw How do you even understand any of this stuff? scribbled on the back. Annabeth, having enough of these interruptions, scribbled back Maybe because I actually pay attention? and placed the paper on his desk forcefully, hoping that would send the message. It did. He didn't bother her again.
XxX
As the professor wrapped up the lecture, Annabeth started to organise her notes, arrange them in order and place them in her bag. She could hear everyone else filing out of the classroom. She got up, ready to leave, when she noticed that Percy was still hanging around. What did he want?
Percy looked a little nervous.
"Sorry," he said to her, "I didn't mean to annoy you. I didn't realise that you were paying that close attention to the lecture."
Did this guy even know what he was saying? They were in college, the whole point was to listen to lectures and pay attention in class. That is what they were there for.
She told him as much, adding "Did you even learn one thing from that lecture?"
Percy smiled sheepishly and said, "Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell?"
"We're in Chemistry," criticised Annabeth before storming off down the hallway.
XxX
"What's wrong?" asked Piper from the sofa as Annabeth walked through the door of their apartment. Piper knew her well enough to know when something was wrong. She patted the spot next to her.
"There was this idiot guy who kept interrupting me when I was trying to pay attention in class," Annabeth explained slumping on the spot Piper had patted. Piper wrapped her arm around her shoulder, and Annabeth rested her head on Piper's shoulder.
"Oh my God, he must like you," Piper squealed, jumping up and down, causing Annabeth's head to hit the back of the couch.
"Ow!" she exclaimed.
"Sorry," Piper said.
"Anyway," Annabeth explained, "it's not like that. He's just an annoying person."
"If you say so," Piper said with a knowing smile.
XxX
It had been a couple of weeks since that day and Percy had stopped for the most part. While he no longer interrupted her during class, he did occasionally ask to borrow a pen or piece of paper, or ask her what the date was. And on top of that, he did not stop fidgeting during lectures. It was like he physically could not stay still. He was either doodling in his book or playing with his pen or drinking from a water bottle or tapping his feet on the floor. It was distracting. She had had enough of it.
She decided to confront him one day after class.
She had finished packing up her things before him, surprisingly, so she waited for him outside the door.
Once he came out, Annabeth grabbed him by the collar and pulled him to the side. He looked a little nervous. Good, Annabeth thought.
"I'm sorry," Percy said, "for whatever I did. I didn't mean to. I apologise. Désolé. Desculpe. Perdón. Uhhh... that's all the languages I know."
Annabeth was a little taken aback. She didn't realise that she made him nervous. She softened a little. After all, he hadn't really purposely done anything to annoy her.
"Okay, I may have been a little aggressive there," said Annabeth, "I'm sorry. But I needed to talk to you about your fidgeting in class. It's really distracting. Can you please stop?"
Percy had the decency to look sorry.
"Oh, uh, that..." he began, sounding nervous, "sorry. I have dyslexia and ADHD, so I found it difficult to pay attention and stay still sometimes."
Annabeth felt horrible.
"Oh God, I'm sorry, I didn't know," she said.
"That's ok," Percy said.
"No, I should have known. I have dyslexia and ADHD as well, so I should have known."
"Really? You?" Percy asked. "But you're, like, the smartest person in the class."
Annabeth smiled at that. "Yeah, but I have to put a lot of effort into it. It doesn't come easily."
Annabeth took a deep breath. What she was going to say next was kind of a big deal.
"If you wanted..." she paused, unsure of what to say next, "I could... uh... help you study? For class? I mean, I truly am sorry for how I treated you, plus I could give you tips on how to work around your dyslexia and ADHD."
Percy looked a little surprised by the suggestion. "Really?"
"Really," Annabeth confirmed.
"Okay. When's a good time for you?"
XxX
"Annabeth, do you want to go out with us tonight? Jason and I are going to that new restaurant for dinner and then we're going to see a movie," said Piper from the kitchen.
Annabeth was sitting in her room going over her notes quickly before heading to the library to meet with Percy. They had been doing this for almost two weeks, and already Annabeth had seen drastic changes in the way that Percy behaved in class; not only his fidgeting and inability to concentrate but his understanding of the concepts.
Annabeth felt a little proud.
"No thanks, Piper, I don't want to be a third wheel. Plus, I'm going to the library to study."
"Again?" asked Piper. "That's like the third time this week. Why can't you study here?"
Annabeth didn't know how to respond to that. She hadn't told Piper about meeting up with Percy to study. She knew the kind of comments she would get, and she knew she would be bothered by them, even if they weren't true. "Uhh, it's quieter at the library."
"Annabeth, you hate the library."
That was true. Annabeth wasn't sure why; maybe it was the forced silence or the angry librarians or the crappy internet or not being able to eat or drink. It was annoying.
"Oh my God, are you meeting someone?" Piper asked.
"No," Annabeth denied. But even Annabeth could tell she wasn't convincing.
"Oh my God, what's his name?"
Annabeth sighed. There was no way she was getting out of this one.
"His name is Percy. And we're meeting up to study. Only study."
She had added that last part because she saw the glint in Piper's eye. Piper was obsessed with Annabeth's love life, for some reason.
"Alright then," Piper said, "have fun."
She could hear the smugness in Piper's voice.
XxX
Eventually, her and Percy became friends. She didn't know when it happened. One day she was teaching him Chemistry, kind of annoyed that she was taking time of her own studying, and the next she had started to look forward to their time together. Percy told her jokes (he loved jokes, and he always insisted that he was hilarious; he was not), and he would bring them coffee before their study sessions, which Annabeth thought was secretly a ploy to put off studying, because drinks were not allowed in the library (they should know; they had been scolded enough times by the librarian). Annabeth stopped getting annoyed when Percy talked to her in class and Percy knew exactly what to do when Annabeth was having a bad day (give her some of his mom's chocolate chip cookies; for some reason unknown to Annabeth, they were blue, but they were the most divine things Annabeth had ever tasted).
One day, while they were sitting in the library studying, Annabeth watched Percy's profile while he was working on stoichiometric calculations.
His lips were pursed together, and his eyes were furrowed so he had a little wrinkle in the middle of them and his hair was a mess, like it usually was, and Annabeth thought he was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life.
Oh. My. God.
She was in love with him.
XxX
Annabeth fell more in love with him as time went on. He sometimes bought her bagels before classes from her favourite bakery and never forgot the cream cheese, and he helped her study (or at least, he tried; Annabeth thought it was the thought that counted) and he kept giving her those smiles that made her heart sing and she thought that she could live on them forever.
She thought that he was perfect.
Until she found out.
XxX
It was getting nearer to finals and one of the requirements for the class was to complete an experiment in pairs.
"Awesome," said Percy when they were told, "I bags you."
Annabeth smiled. He was adorable.
"But, before you get too excited, I'm deciding on the pairs."
The entire class let out an audible groan.
Percy started fidgeting in his seat. He looked a little nervous. Their professor pulled out the list of names that he had devised and started reading them out. As each pair was called, the moved to sit near each other.
As the professor got nearer to the end of the list, Annabeth started to get more excited. Maybe her and Percy would be together after all.
The professor read on until he finally got to the end.
"Last pair," he read, "Annabeth Chase and Silena Beauregard."
Annabeth looked over to see a pretty girl smiling and making her way over to Annabeth.
"But, sir, what about Percy? He doesn't have a partner."
She looked over at Percy. He looked really uncomfortable.
Their professor was looking over the class lists, looked perplexed.
"I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?"
"Percy Jackson," Annabeth answered for him.
The professor looked confused. "There is no one named Percy Jackson in this class."
"There has to be some kind of mistake," she exclaimed.
"Annabeth," Percy said.
She looked over at him.
"I... uh, I'm not part of this class."
"What?" Annabeth exclaimed.
"I'm not part of..."
"No, I heard you," she interrupted. "You've been lying to me for three months?"
Percy looked hurt. "I wouldn't say I was lying to you, exactly..."
"I spent three months trying to help you study for a class you weren't even enrolled in? I wasted three months of my time on you?"
Annabeth was fuming.
"Annabeth," Percy said, pain clear on his face.
"Just go."
And he did.
XxX
Annabeth stormed into her apartment, slammed the door close and flopped onto the sofa, letting out a scream into one of the throw pillows.
"Woah there," she heard, "what happened?"
She looked up to see Piper and her boyfriend, Jason, looking at her alarmed from Piper's bedroom. Annabeth was so distracted that she had forgotten to see if anyone was home before she let out her anger.
"Have you ever had someone in your class who was struggling to understand anything and then offer to help them and then fall in love with them and then find out that they actually weren't a member of your class and they had been lying to you for three months?" Annabeth let out in one breath, not moving from her position on her stomach.
"I can't say that I have," Piper said, moving to kneel next to the sofa to pat Annabeth on the back.
"Was this with the guy that you were sneaking out to study with?"
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I wasn't sneaking out. You knew where I was going. But yes."
"Wait," interjected Jason, "you were sneaking out to study with someone? What was his name?"
Annabeth eyed Jason suspiciously. "Percy. But why does that matter?"
Jason turner white. "Uhhh... it doesn't, but... uh, maybe he had a reason for doing it?"
Know Piper was looking at him suspiciously. "Do you know something?"
"No," said Jason, saying it much too quickly for either of them to believe him.
"You do!" exclaimed Piper.
Annabeth stared at him intently, but didn't say anything.
"No, I don't," Jason insisted.
"Jason Grace, I swear to God, if you lie to me one more time," Piper growled at him.
That was one of the things that Annabeth loved about Piper; she was loyal.
"Look, it really isn't my place to say anything. Please just talk to him," pleaded Jason.
Annabeth didn't respond.
XxX
The next day, Annabeth was walking to class when she felt a presence behind her. Without looking, she automatically knew who it was.
"Annabeth," he said, "please let me explain."
Annabeth ignored him.
He moved to stand in front of her, gripping her shoulders and blocking her from moving forward. She side stepped and kept walking. This time Percy grabbed her by the hand, keeping a firm grip to stop her.
She sighed. She may as well get it over with.
"What, Percy," she began, "what could you possibly say to explain?"
"Annabeth, I'm sorry," he began, "I was going to tell you, I swear. But then..." He trailed off.
"Just tell me the truth. From the beginning."
Percy sighed. "Okay. But please don't interrupt me until I'm done."
Annabeth was silent, and Percy must have taken that as an agreement because he started speaking.
"On the first day of classes, I was wondering around and I saw you. You were sitting on the grass under a tree and you had a textbook in your hand and you were staring at it intently and the sun was shining in your hair and it made a golden halo around you and you looked like a goddess. And I knew, in that moment, that I wanted to get to know you.
"So I watched you for a couple of days, and I saw how you interacted with everyone; you were closed off and you didn't pay attention to them, and if anyone tried to have a conversation with you, you would just ignore them, so I knew that just approaching you wouldn't work. One day, I saw you head into a classroom, and I decided to follow you.
"Umm," Annabeth interrupted, "that sounds really creepy."
Percy winced, "it sounded better in my head."
Annabeth smiled instinctively. It was such a Percy thing to say. Then she remembered she was angry at him. She schooled her face into a frown.
"Anyway," Percy continued, "I followed you into class, and I sat next to you and I tried to introduce myself and you ignored me. So then I tried again and, well... you know what happened.
"I decided to take a different approach. I stayed quiet, hoping that maybe you would start to appreciate me more; I thought that if I let you listen in class, you would notice that I was trying and you would notice me.
"Which it kind of did. 'Cause then you asked if I wanted your help and I said yes because I couldn't think of anything better than one on one time with you, even it was as boring as Chemistry. And I was going to tell you, I truly was."
Annabeth could see the sincerity in his eyes.
"But then you started to act like you wanted to be friends with me and I started to notice all the little things about you that make you you; the twinkle in your eye when you were teaching me something and I finally understood it, and the smiles you would give me when I would bring you food and the way that you poke your tongue out of your mouth slightly when you're concentrating and I," Percy took in a deep breath, "I fell in love with you."
Annabeth felt as though the air had been sucked out of your lungs. "Oh," she managed to say.
Percy ignored her and kept going.
"And I knew that I couldn't tell you then, because I knew that you would be angry with me, and I wanted to spend time with you, so I kept pretending and then you found out...
"Look, Annabeth, I understand if you ever want to see me again. I do. But I promise, I never meant to hurt you. I just wanted to get to know you better. I'm sorry."
And he looked it. Annabeth could see the hurt etched all over his face, and it made her heart ache.
"I'm sorry, Annabeth," he said one last time before turning and walking away.
Annabeth stood there for a few seconds, a little stunned, for a few seconds before running after him.
"Percy, wait!"
Percy turned around, a little stunned, and stared at her.
"I... uh," she started, not knowing what to say, "look, Percy, the only reason I was so mad was because..."
She wasn't ready to say it just yet. She decided to start from the beginning. She stared down at the grass. She couldn't say it while talking to his face.
"Okay, at first I thought you were annoying and I'm pretty sure I told you as much and all I wanted was for you to leave me alone. But then I saw you trying so hard to stay quiet and not annoy me and I learnt that you had ADHD and I felt like a jerk so I offered to help you. And, to be honest, at first I wasn't that keen about it. But, eventually, I started to look forward to it. I wanted to hear about how your mom and little sister were and I wanted to hear all your stupid little jokes and I wanted to see the way that your entire face lit up when you understood something. I wanted to see you.
"And that's why, when I found out you had been lying to me, I reacted so badly. Because, throughout those couple of months, I fell in love with you."
She looked up, staring into Percy's eyes which were intently staring into hers.
"Annabeth..."
"Shhh..." she said, "I'm not finished."
"And I thought you were just playing me. And then you told me all that... I forgive you Percy. I don't really understand why you did it, but I know in that brain of yours you thought you were doing the right thing. I'm sorry I ever thought you did it as a joke because I know that's not who you are. I don't think you have a mean bone in your body. I forgive you, and I hope you'll forgive me for ever thinking that."
"Annabeth..." he said, "I will always forgive you."
Annabeth stared into his eyes before doing something she never thought she would do.
She kissed him.
And he kissed her back.
Her hands were in his hair and his arms moved to hold her tightly to him and they kissed like there was no one watching them. When they finally pulled away from them, Annabeth moved her arms around his neck, and said "I love you."
Percy smiled, his carefree, exhilarated smile that he only ever had when he was truly happy; the one he got when he was talking about his mom or his sister or blue chocolate chip cookies.
Or Annabeth.
"I love you too. So much."
Annabeth smiled. Percy went back into kiss her, but she pulled away.
"Please just tell me you learned something from my time as your tutor."
"Uhh...," Percy pretended to think, "oh, I've got it! Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell."
Annabeth laughed.
"You are such an idiot," she said, playfully slapping him on the head
But she kissed him anyway.
And she never wanted to stop.
THE END
AN: Thank you so much for reading! I have no idea where this story came from. I was scrolling through tumblr and I came across this fanfic prompt where Character A snuck into a class where Character B was just because they wanted to talk to them and 3500 words later, this happened. Also, I love the 'mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell' meme and I can totally see Percy using it, hence its place in this fic.
On another note, THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the amazing support I've had for my other fic, Coffee Shop Meetings and Texted Greetings. It was the first fanfic I wrote, and I was overwhelmed with the support I got. Thank you, thank you, thank you! You guys are the best.
If you guys have any requests you can tell me either on here or on my tumblr - destinationofprocrastination followed by . tumblr . com (without the spaces)