Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the Heroes of Olympus series, or any of the characters, songs, or bands mentioned.
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"He doesn't look hot," Annabeth repeated to a currently drooling Silena Beauregard. Twirling her hair around her finger thoughtfully, her ebony-haired best friend hummed in partial acknowledgement. "And even if he did, it wouldn't matter. You have a boyfriend." Following the blue-eyed gaze of her best friend, Annabeth's eyes latched onto Percy Jackson.
Standing five or six lockers away, he wasn't exactly in high definition. (Especially since she was wearing her glasses today; lately contacts had been more of a pain than a help.) Annabeth could see how people might find him attractive, but personally, she couldn't see his 'utter hotness' herself. Nothing about his Nirvana shirt with the sleeves ripped off, too-tight jeans and laced up Converse made her want to fall at his feet. Half the girls in the hallway looked close to doing just that.
"But you have to admit," Silena started, bringing Annabeth's attention away from Percy, "he doesn't look bad."
Well, he's never looked bad, she thought, before she could stop herself. It was kind of the truth, though. Even his high socks in the third grade had been endearing. "He doesn't," she agreed simply, "but he's not my type."
"Neither was Chad," Silena muttered. "Or Alexander, or William." The girl looked into the mirror in her locker. "I'm starting to think you don't have a type, Annabeth. Chad was a jock. Alexander was the quiet and cute guy. William was a button-up-wearing pre-med-bound genius, and yet you still—"
"It's not a matter of how they look," she interjected. "You know that. No one's done anything exceptional to catch my attention yet. When that happens, I'll figure out what my type is."
Silena turned around, her expression exhausted in every way. Then, fear and pity cast a shadow in her eyes, which made Annabeth turn around to see what was so horrible. "What?"
"It's that Dylan guy," the girl sighed. "Probably picking on Grover again."
"Grover?"
"He's one of Charlie's friends," Silena whispered back. "He has this disease that affects the muscles in his legs; I'm not really sure what—"
Dylan raised a hand up and, just like a classic high school bully in the movies, slapped Grover's books to the ground. No one but his entourage laughed, walking past and reinstating their spot as the biggest assholes in the world.
Annabeth slammed her locker shut. If there was one thing she hated more than spiders, it was a bully. "I'm going to help Grover," she mumbled to Silena, turning around and stopping short.
Percy, the boy with a lip ring who always shot people unamused looks through his broody expression, was knelt over, gathering papers that had slipped out of Grover's binder. She could see them carrying on a conversation, Percy saying something that made Grover laugh nervously.
After he had all his books again, the bullied kid nodded his thanks to the boy wearing more black than the earth had oceans. Percy clapped him on the back, saying something to Grover that made him smile. He walked away—Annabeth now realized that she wasn't the only one staring at the scene unfolding before her—and Percy leered at everyone watching him.
"Nice people may be an endangered species, but stop fucking staring at me," he called nonchalantly down the hall. Everyone snapped back to their previous task, except for Annabeth. He glanced around, satisfied, before turning exactly in her direction.
Annabeth remembered him in elementary school, and it seemed so far away from the boy in front of her. Yet, she remembered he helped another kid pick up their crayons after they dropped them, offered a pencil to the embarrassed girl who'd forgotten, suggested the correct answer to the kid who was wrong. Appearances change, not people, Annabeth thought, remembering the words Silena preached to her all the time.
Percy stopped in his tracks when he noticed her gaze, his mouth quirking up on the left side. "Hey, Annabeth, it's been awhile."
"Yeah, hi," she managed, stunned by the deepness of his voice. "That was… sweet of you."
"Saying hello?" His brow furrowed, and she realized he had a new piercing on his eyebrow. Percy, in all his punk glory, took a step forward so as to hear her better. Her mind told her to take a step back, but she held her ground. Clearing his throat, he shot her a pointed look, alerting her that she'd stayed quiet for just a bit too long.
"Helping Grover," Annabeth clarified, averting her eyes for a moment.
He shrugged, pushing his bracelets up and down his arm. "No big deal."
It is though, she said inwardly. Before she had a chance to think of a decent reply, the bell rang overhead. Percy gave her another nod, smiling the slightest bit before wandering down the hall as though he had all the time in the world. His laidback attitude frustrated her; didn't he have places to be, things to do? Was he even human?
"Not attractive," Silena snickered behind her, making Annabeth jump. "You were ogling!"
"I was not!" the blond denied, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "I'll see you in French, 'kay?"
"Au revior," the girl replied, sending Annabeth a doubtful look.
By the time Annabeth sank into her seat in Trig, she'd dispelled all thoughts of Percy being a sweetheart and Silena accusing her of ogling.
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Annabeth had never been the girl with a million friends. By some strike of misfortune, all of her three closest friends were in a different lunch, which left her sitting out on the bleachers with the rest of the loners.
It had never been an issue either; after all, she did get more time to look over her notes for whatever tests or quizzes she had that day. If the studying got tedious, she could always pull out her copy of Wuthering Heights and reread it.
Today marked three weeks after the Percy incident in the hallway. (Not that she was counting; it was an observation, pure and simple.) Since then, she hadn't seen him, excluding the occasional pass in the hallway; not that it was an issue. She hadn't seen him all that much before, anyways.
Reaching into her backpack for a calculator—she'd apparently messed up the multiplication of number twelve on last night's homework—Annabeth dropped her notebook on the concrete beneath her feet.
Just as her hand touched the frayed edge, another hand came into view. A tan hand, with thick bracelets with the names of bands emblazoned across them. Snatching her hand back—why did she do that? It was her notebook—Annabeth looked up to see Percy.
"Oh… hi," she said, trying her hardest to ignore his smirk at how disconcerted she was. "Why are you here?"
"I was walking past. You dropped your notebook. I'm not an asshole, so I picked it up for you." She blushed a little as she realized she was on the bottom row and how anyone could have walked by.
"Thanks," she said, accepting her notebook from his hands. He nodded, moving past her, and for some ungodly reason, she called out a "Wait!"
Almost as if her expected it, Percy turned around with a smug smile. "Yes, Annabeth?"
The way he said her name was unctuous and irritating. He said it like he knew a million things she didn't, and people knowing more than Annabeth never tended to settle right with her. Scowling at his arrogant grin, she shook her head. "Nevermind."
"Whatever you say." He gave her a once over—what was that supposed to mean?—and turned on his heel again, continuing onwards.
Huffing indignantly, she shoved all over belongings into her backpack. There was something about Percy—the way his jeans fell low on his hips, but not trashily, the way he wore too many bracelets and too many shirts with the sleeves cut off—that made her want to know everything about him. Maybe it was because he seemed like he knew more than her. Maybe it was because she can never step down from a challenge, and Percy constantly had this look in his eyes that screamed 'I fucking dare you.'
Pulling her backpack over her shoulder and grumbling nonsense under her breath, Annabeth hurried to catch up with him. "Percy!"
He stopped again, looking skyward before he turned around. "Hey there, Annabeth. Fancy seeing you here."
"Shut up," she deadpanned. "I—ah, how have you been?"
"I'm just dandy," Percy said, sending her a egotistical grin. She shot him an annoyed look and started walking; he followed. "And you?"
"Regretting my decision of catching up to you," she answered, rolling her eyes. Why had she anyways?
"Why would you do that? I'm good company." For the first time, she noticed that he had a black earphone in his left ear, completing his look of being a rock rebel. It had blended it with his clothes and his hair originally.
"Yeah, I can tell." You arrogant jerk, she tacked on inwardly. "So, uh, when did the whole 'punk' thing happen?" Annabeth couldn't be more annoyed with her lack of eloquent speech.
"You mean when did I start dressing like this? Haircut, et cetera," he questioned. She looked up at him, pursing her lips when his eyes looked blue. She'd always thought they were green; how weird.
"Yeah."
"I want to say freshman year," Percy answered, sighing. "Can't be sure."
Annabeth noticed a certain rasp to his voice, causing her next question. "Do you smoke?"
"Cigarettes? A few times, like when I get bored or stressed. Never smoked weed, though. Why?"
"Your voice just gave me a notion that you did," she explained, almost losing her footing as she examined Percy's shoes. They were decorated on every white surface they had.
"Paying close attention to my voice," he said, enunciating every word. (Annabeth decided that she quite liked the way it sounded. His voice sounded timeless; as if he could be dropped into any time period and fit right in.) "Should I plan the wedding?" Affronted, Annabeth glared at him. He only laughed. "Loosen up."
"Says the boy with jeans tighter than mine," she grumbled, crossing her arms.
Percy started laughing, so hard that he had to stop and rest his hands on his knees for a second. Then he looked up at her, eyes sparking and—oh, there was the green. "No one's ever talked to me like that."
She scrunched up her nose. "Everyone's intimidated by the badass attitude you use. Not to mention you walk around with your fists clenched, ready to crush anyone who defies you."
He stepped forward, cocking his head to the side and watching her. "That's a little dramatic, don't you think?"
"You're a little close to me, don't you think?" Annabeth retaliated, swallowing harshly. Maybe she didn't find Percy crazy attractive, but his proximity was still making her nervous.
"Could be closer," he mentioned; his eyes just a little darker than they had been in the moments prior. He licked his lips, and she almost felt like frowning at him. "A lot closer."
"You could also be further," she said, shoving his shoulder back with her hand and laughing a bit awkwardly to dissolve the moment. He stumbled a little, shaking his head and smiling at the ground. For some reason, it made her heart stutter. Was that flirting? Annabeth inwardly panicked.
She heard the bell ring from the school, a little ways away from the stadium. Annabeth looked wistfully at the brick buildings; they seemed like a nice escape. "I should go. Bye."
"How convenient that I'm heading the same way."
"I'd prefer to walk alone."
He laughed a little, raising an eyebrow at her. "So standoffish. Did I do something wrong?"
"I'm not looking for a relationship," she snapped, walking faster.
Percy chuckled again. "Did I say I was?"
Annabeth felt like hitting herself as she realized just how presumptuous she sounded. Blushing as she ran the sentence through her mind, she considered was probably going through his head. It made her blush even more. "I didn't mean… I just meant that I have enough friends."
"Don't get embarrassed. Everyone says stupid things. I'll give you a freebie and not tease you about this one." She felt like glaring at him, but he was doing her a favor.
"Thanks."
"Sure thing," he said, holding the door to the east wing open for her. "Where are you headed?"
"Right here," Annabeth said, pulling open the classroom door. "Bye." She looked back at him, and he smiled, shaking his head.
"See you later, Annabeth."
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Discontinued, for now.