"Whatcha reading?"
"Greek."
"What, a Greek dictionary or…"
"No, Mel," sighed Annabeth. "A Greek book. About ancient Greek heroes."
"Cool," mumbled Mel, flopping her pink-and-white hair over her shoulder.
Athena's daughter ignored her irony and flipped a page.
It was a nice day, perfect for reading, in her opinion. She was at her school in San Francisco, spending her break outside on the lawn, as most students did that day. Two girls tagged along with her: Melanie, who usually went by just Mel, and Denise. You could probably call them Annabeth's friends, at least by mortal standards. They sat next to each other in class, at lunch, throughout every free period and all.
Still, Annabeth wished her camp friends were there.
Not that the girls weren't nice, they were. And they weren't some weirdoes. Well, maybe Mel could make such an impression with her sprouts of randomness, sometimes. The hot shade of pink on her hair hair, colorful, paint-splattered clothes and combat boots certainly didn't help her blend in.
She was fine, though. Simply, her style and interests varied greatly, which wasn't a bad thing. Her phone had only punk and rock music, but she could sing along to any Taylor Swift song (Annabeth discovered it first-hand.. or first-ear). She could rival many Aphrodite's daughters in her boy-talk skills, but politics and economy would work with her just as well. Honestly, as long as Mel could let out a stream of words, she'd work with any topic at hand.
On the other hand Denise evened out the energy in their little group, as she was laid-back and really uninterested in most topics, especially boy-talk. Not that anyone expected a gay female to droll over the male basketball team. Annabeth liked her very much mainly for her don't-give-a-shit attitude. It was incredibly hard to make her angry, she had only ever seen Mel reach that goal. As soon as Mel forced on them descriptive fantasies about boys, Denise looked like she could murder her with just bare hands. But besides that, she never got mad, not even when others made fun of her rainbow pins or her dark skin.
"You could try reading sometime," said Denise, holding a book herself.
"Geez, why am I friends with such nerds," muttered Mel, heaving a sigh and leaning her head on the palm of a hand.
"You tell me," said Annabeth, at least closing her book.
Noticing it, Mel straightened and grinned widely. Denise glanced up for a second and upon taking in Annabeth's empty hands, she sighed and also put her book aside.
"Yes!"
"Don't get so excited, we just closed our books," the blonde said.
"Let's talk."
The two bookworms stared at her blankly.
"Well?" Annabeth motioned for her to speak.
"I hoped you would start talking, but, okay. Um… did you do your math homework?"
The other girls groaned, already reaching for their books.
"No! No, no, no, wait up. I'll think of something interesting!"
"While you do, we'll read," said Denise. She didn't open her novel yet, though.
"No, wait," she pondered for a second. "Have you heard the lastest Fall Out Boy song?"
"Really?" Denise raised an eyebrow.
"I did, actually," spoke up Annabeth. "My, uh, friend likes them."
She smiled a bit, remembering her and Percy's IM conversation a few days ago, when that song played in the background of Percy's room.
Mel sent the brunette a triumphant look.
"So, anything else you'd like to talk about?" Annabeth quickly put out her enthusiasm.
"Well…"
This time the girls didn't even roll their eyes. They promptly went back to reading.
Once in a while Mel tried – quite desperately – to drag them into a conversation, but in the end it was the other students who pulled Annabeth's attention from the book.
In mere seconds the usual buzz fell into a deep murmur as if everyone lowered their voices to whispers and mutterings. Raising her eyes, she found that was exactly what had happened. She looked around, attempting to find the source of the sudden commotion.
Mel pointed to something, giggling quietly.
"Either someone lucky has a visitor or we just got lucky with a new, fine piece of ass."
But she needed no directions to see him.
He was riding a skateboard, gracefully navigating through the crowd. She felt her lips drop open a bit before she snapped it shut so quickly, her teeth snapped together painfully. But she was simply shocked – he was skateboarding, easily passing and avoiding people on his way, with effortlessness he almost never possessed on his own two feet. When a group of teenagers stood in his way, he even made that trick, where he jumped on a bench and rode along it on just two wheels.
She had to shut her mouth again.
"Oh, God – girls – he's coming this way – "
Indeed he was. Maneuvering amidst the crowd, which took notice of him only seconds after he entered the school grounds. Some girl whistled at him, but he gave no indication of hearing it. Annabeth then figured it was because of the earphones he had.
"Hi there," he stopped right in front of her, grinning that cheeky smirk of his and casually stepping on his skateboard, so it jumped right in his palm.
"Skateboarding? Since when?" she blurted out.
"Really?" he played with the earphones hanging around his neck and she stood up. She could hear the music still blaring, which prompted her to think how big must've been Percy's hearing damage. "No 'what're you doing in San Francisco'? Or 'what're you doing in my school'? Or 'oh my gosh, Percy, I've missed you so much, you look fantasti!'?" he put a hand on his chest, his mocking voice going high-pitched on the last part.
"Yes, yes, that too, but… a skateboard?"
He snorted, brushing his hair aside with a wrist. It was sticking up, as always.
"Yeah, Wise Girl, since I was thirteen. Keep up with the times, Annabeth."
"Thirteen," she shook her head, amazed he kept it from her for so long. "Okay. Great. So, what're you doing in San Francisco, in my school at that… and what are those?" she looked him up and down, noticing for the first time the most hideous shoes she had ever had the displeasure to see.
The color matched Mel's pink parts of hair, but if the color could pass as acceptable, the glitter and the fake sparkling wings (a terrible parody of Hermes' winged shoes) definitely could not.
"I think you messed up the last part."
"No, I'm pretty sure I'm more curious about these."
"That?" he wiggled his foot. "Lost a bet. With Nico. Noticed these on display once and… well. Stuff happened. You don't want details."
She hummed, contemplating whether she did or not.
"Probably not," she decided. "So, what're you doing here?"
He spread his arms dramatically.
"What can I do here? The amazing boyfriend that I am, I came to visit, of course!"
"Don't you have – oh I don't know – school?"
"Ah, that…" he avoided her gaze. "Yeah… about that…"
"Percy…"
"Got suspended," he bit his lips together.
"Oh, come on," her shoulders dropped. "Two weeks into a school year?"
"Hey, it's my third year in the same school! I think it's a big feat, give me a rest."
"Oh, wonderful."
"Are you finished scolding me?" he didn't seem irritated by it, though. "Maybe some real greeting?"
"Hello, Percy, nice to see you," she greeted him sweetly.
He dropped his skateboard next to him and kept it from riding away with one of these illegally awful shoes.
"Not exactly what I had in mind," he admitted, slipping his hands around her waist.
"No?"
Instead of answering, he pulled her close and leaned down. She grasped the front of his shirt tightly just as his breath fell over her lips before they touched (he ate chocolate cookies, she could tell, and the thought made her almost laugh out loud. They were blue, she would bet).
"Oh, that greeting!" she breathed as they pulled away, in a voice like she had just realized.
"Yeah, that greeting," he smirked, making circles with his thumbs on her sides.
And he looked down at her that way, the one to make her hold back a content sigh. Oh gods, she missed him. She missed him so, so much.
"You realize everyone's staring at us?"
It took her surprisingly long second to register what he'd said. His tone didn't change, still in his deep murmur, and his expression didn't falter, giving away nothing about his observation. She had to remember he could keep a straight face, if needed.
"Right," she slowly – and reluctantly – peeled herself off Percy.
His cheeky grin was still in place.
"What?" she said.
"Nothing."
She stared at him for a second, waiting if he'd say something more, but he just continued to smile mischievously down at her (did he get taller, again?).
"Right," she repeated. She glanced briefly if her bag was still where she put it, before looking over her shoulder at Denise and Mel.
And what a view they were. Jaws hanging and eyebrows raised far above the hairline.
"Your friends?" said Percy quietly.
She poked him with an elbow.
"Um, so, girls, this is Percy… my boyfriend – "
"And best friend," he put in, leaning an elbow on her shoulder.
"Marking territory?" she raised an eyebrow. "Percy, these are Denise and Melanie."
"Just Mel," she said faintly.
"Nice to meet," he said back cheerfully. "So, when're you free, Annabeth?"
"Two more hours."
His arm suddenly slipped away and he did some smooth movement with his skateboard, which resulted in him standing on it a meter away.
"Great. I'll pick you up with Thalia."
"Whoa, boy, what?" she tried to go after him, but he was already another meters away and still riding (backwards, at that. Screw him).
"Forgot to mention?" he faked surprise. "Silly me."
"Percy. Thalia's really coming?" she run up to him some more.
"Why, yes. Else why would I come see you earlier?" he winked.
She crossed her arms, but just smiled at him pityingly. She knew what he meant, though. They wouldn't get more than a short peck with Thalia around, for sure.
He had to finally turn in the direction he was riding and she sighed, going back to her friends and the bag.
"Your boyfriend?"
"Your best friend?"
Both girls attacked her instantly.
"One of. Though the best, in a way. But not exactly," she replied to Denise, avoiding mentioning who she considered her other best friends. Unfortunately, not them. As nice and good friends as they were, they were mortals and they had a slightly different definition of 'friendship'. Demigod friendships were… something else.
"But boyfriend?" repeated Mel.
"Uh-huh."
"How long?" she slid across the table they were sitting at, grasping Annabeth's hands. At this Denise also leaned closer.
"Depends… boyfriend for about a year, friend since we were twelve."
Mel squeaked in excitement, covering her mouth with a hand.
"Ouch, Mel!" scolded at her Denise, pushing her away from her ears.
"Shush, Mel. You're drawing attention," reprimanded her Annabeth.
"I am drawing attention?" laughed lightly Mel. "No, my dear, you are. People are staring at you. Unless they're staring after your gorgeous boyfriend. And his ass."
Annabeth gaped at her scandalized, before turning to gaze around other students. Truthfully to Mel's word, they were shamelessly staring either at her or after Percy, who reached the gates and was only a small, retreating figure by now.
"Great," she said flatly. "I can't wait for the classes to end."
She sighed deeply, picking up her book again and tried to ignore the people. It was kind of hard with Mel talking her ear off, speculating on and on about Annabeth romantic life or, in contrary, making perverted comments, causing both of her friends blush and groan. With one thing she was right, though.
Percy had one fine ass.
It was just a very corny plot bunny I've had in my head for quite some time. Had to write it down at some point. I'm a sucker for high school/college AUs, it's my weakness.