She first saw him when she opened the curtains for the first time, and there he was, banging his head on a math textbook and yelling something she couldn't hear.
Annabeth opened the window and chucked a pencil at his. He looked up at her with green, green eyes and then blushed. Hard. He mouthed something at her and Annabeth shouted, "OPEN YOUR WINDOW! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
He turned red again and fumbled with the latch, finally opening the window in about thirty seconds. Leaning out so far that Annabeth was scared that he'd fall, he called, "I'm Percy! You?"
"Annabeth!" she shouted back, cupping a hand around her mouth to amplify the noise. "Why were you trying to kill yourself with a math textbook?"
His shoulders slumped. "My teacher doesn't like me. Her name is...Mrs. Dodds, and she should teach like sixth grade, not second! She gives me things that don't make any sense!"
"I can come and try to help!" Annabeth offered. Percy blinked a few times. Silence fell between them, and then he shrugged. "Sorry, my mommy's at work and my stepdad doesn't like it when I bring visitors home."
"Oh...okay." Annabeth's face fell slightly, although it was only because he had fascinating green eyes and she really felt kind of bad for him. They went to different elementary schools, because somehow his house was in one county and hers was in the other. She'd only figured that out because there was no Mrs. Dodds in the whole second grade or the whole school, and Annabeth had memorized the faculty list.
Maybe she'd see him tomorrow.
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She didn't see him tomorrow, but she did see him the next day, doing the same thing with the same textbook. Okay. This time she was definitely going over. Percy was going to kill himself at this rate.
Annabeth slipped on her shoes and tiptoed over to Percy's porch, ringing the doorbell. There was a thump and then the door opened to reveal Percy. "Um...what are you doing here?"
A bright grin lit up Annabeth's face. "Well, you were trying to commit suicide by math textbook, so I figured I would come and help. Is that okay? I can go home, I mean, if you want me to...if you don't, I can stay...if you don't care...um...can I stay?"
"Oh, um, sure." His tone was equally as awkward, and Annabeth was kind of regretting this, but also kind of not, because those eyes were even more amazing up close. He led them up the stairs and for some reason it wasn't awkward anymore.
Percy only had one desk chair, so they glanced at each other, laughed, and sat down together. Their little second grade bodies fit perfectly, and when Annabeth took a look at his math homework, she knew that this was not second grade math.
"...she wants you to...find the GCF? What's that?" Annabeth was actually confused and had no idea what to do. This was beyond her level. She was in AC second grade, but that only meant she could learn a little bit of third grade. This wasn't third grade.
"I don't know!" Percy cried, slumping down. "And she was really mean to me yesterday and said that if I don't complete my work then she'll contact my mommy and then my mommy will be really disappointed and I don't want mommy to be disappointed!"
"Look, we can figure it out," Annabeth said calmly, patting him on the back. "Okay, so she put down 42 and 70. What does GCF actually stand for? We have to find that out before we do anything else."
"I don't know." This time his voice was sad and flat, like he'd given up.
She did not like that tone, so she shook his shoulders. "Percy whatever-your-last-name-is, stop talking like that and find a computer or something! And if you can't find one I'll go home and ask my parents! Because by the gods you are not going to fail this homework assignment, you hear me?"
He blinked a few times. "O - okay. Um, my stepdad has the computer in his room, and...I don't like his room. It smells weird and smoky and sour and stuff, so...do you have a computer?"
"Yep!" Annabeth brightened immediately. At least he wasn't giving up anymore. "Let's go!"
Percy seemed slightly put off by her large, bright foyer, and he looked at her like he didn't know whether to take off his shoes or not. The computer was set up in the corner by the TV, and Annabeth kicked off her shoes, racing towards it with Percy's worksheet in her hands.
He was beside her a second later and Annabeth was on Google. "What...is...a...G...C...F?" she muttered as she typed, clicking enter. A bunch of results popped up and she clicked the first one, which told them that a GCF was the greatest factor that divides two things, and that it stood for 'greatest common factor.'
"Okay. So it means that it's the greatest common factor of two numbers. What's a factor?" Percy asked. Shrugging, Annabeth highlighted the text in the search bar and deleted it, replacing it with 'what is a factor?'
"A factor...is...wait, why are there so many definitions?" Annabeth murmured. Percy took control of the mouse and clicked 'Show more definitions.' The screen rolled down and then Annabeth gasped. "Wait! Stop scrolling! There's a definition under math! Mathe...Math!"
He went back up and they read it together. "A number or algebraic equation by which one number is exactly divisible."
"So..." Annabeth mused. "Like...2 can go into 4? My mommy taught me a little about division, and she gave me a poster with a bunch of numbers and how they're divisible and stuff, like 42 divided by 7 is...um, well I don't know, but the poster does! Let's go!"
"Um, actually, we still don't know how to find GCF," Percy said softly. "So...could we maybe wait?"
"Oh! I'm sorry!" Annabeth smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. Hey, can you look that up? I'll find the poster. It's somewhere in the back of my closet...I think. Anyways, I'll go find that! Find me in my room!"
Percy nodded slightly and Annabeth raced upstairs, throwing her closet door wide open. Her shoulders slumped when she saw the pile of junk in the back of it, because okay maybe she stuffed everything in there when her dad asked her to clean her room, but now she'd have to search through that for the poster.
"Ughhh..." she groaned, throwing a shoe out behind her shoulder. Two coats, a cheerleader's Pom-Pom (where had that come from?), some cat-eared sunglasses, a broken watch...they all flew past her, and the last one hit Percy in the shoulder.
"Ow!" he muttered. Annabeth whipped around, her hair smacking her in the face. "Sorry! Are you okay?"
Shrugging, he waved her off, removing his hand from his shoulder. "It's fine."
"Okay! Well, one second..." Annabeth dug through the mess a little more and pulled out a slightly crumpled poster, smoothing it out on the floor. "Here it is! So what did you have to do to find GCF?"
He sighed. "It was really confusing, but it said that you have to find both numbers' prime factors and then multiply them? And if there's no common prime factors, then the GCF is one?"
They stayed like that for a long time, one of them occasionally running back down to the computer to look something up. And in an hour, Percy's worksheet was finished, Percy himself was exhausted, and Annabeth was really excited to go back to school tomorrow and impress everyone with her knowledge.
She didn't, actually, but it was still worth it to her because she got to spend a little more time looking into those eyes.
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"Hey Percy!" Annabeth called. In front of her, Percy looked behind to see her standing outside in her pajamas and grinned. "Why are you in your pjs?"
"It's our principal's birthday today, so she let us have the day off." Yes I know this would never happen in real life, but just pretend. "Isn't that awesome?" Annabeth laughed, running a hand through her wild curls. Straight hair was a gift from the gods, or at least it was in her opinion. She really envied those girls who woke up with their hair sleek and straight, instead of a crazy mane of curls bouncing everywhere.
"Lucky!" Percy groaned. "I mean, it's almost the end of school and we're on fifth grade and it's almost time for middle school, and she just let you have the day off? Seriously? I would've thought you'd still get up and wait for the school bus to show the teachers your dedication to learning."
Annabeth laughed again. "Nope! I love sleeping in!"
"Yeah, so do I," Percy grumbled.
"I'll text you through the day," Annabeth offered, taking out her phone and typing in, STAY HERE WITH ME AND SEND IN A NOTE TOMORROW SAYING YOU WERE SICK!
His phone dinged and he took it out of his pocket, reading her text message and smirking. "You know what, I think I will. Gabe'll sign anything as long as he's drunk."
"Woo!" Annabeth pumped her fist in the air. "Okay, first things first, change into your pajamas and meet me in my room!"
When he came in a few minutes later wearing flannel pajamas and a Finding Nemo shirt, she had to laugh. "Love your shirt!"
"Be quiet, Owl Head," Percy grumbled. Glancing down, Annabeth noticed that yes indeed, she had a giant owl on the front of her pajama shirt, but he had insulted her so she had to insult him back. That was the rule of the universe.
"Oh yeah...Seaweed Brain?" She grinned; oh, that was a good one. Surprise crossed his face and he looked down, seeing a bunch of seaweed floating around behind smiling Nemo, panicking Marlin, and just-sort-of-staring-off-into-space Dory.
"Seaweed Brain?" he echoed.
"Yeah, because there's seaweed in that picture and Seaweed Shirt isn't much of an insult, is it?" Annabeth snorted. "Anyways, I say we slide down the banister for the staircase, because doing that is just freaking AWESOME!" She raced out of her room and jumped onto the banister, her fluffy pajama pants letting her slide right down to the bottom, where she landed on her feet. Practice makes perfect, and she'd practiced that a lot. "Come on!"
Grinning, Percy took a runnnig start and leaped onto the banister, his socks sliding against the wood, which, thankfully, was thick and wide. At the ending part, where there was a little sort of spiral thing, he let himself fall and landed half on his feet, stumbling into the wall. Exhilaration gleamed in his eyes. "I HAVE TO DO THAT AGAIN!"
They threw themselves up the stairs and went again. This time, Annabeth copied what Percy had done and surfed down, feeling the wind twirl her hair around. A laugh burst out of her chest and she wasn't paying attention when the end came. She flew off the end and a scream replaced the laugh, but then she fell into a pair of arms that grunted and staggered into the wall.
"Percy!" Oh my gods, he'd caught her. That was awesome.
"Catch me again!" she ordered, hurrying back up the stairs. Percy sighed. "Hey, can't you catch me?"
"No, Prince Charming does all the catching in Disney!" Annabeth argued, jumping onto the banister. "And you love Disney, right? They made Finding Nemo and The Little Mermaid and all those other cheesy things about romance and stuff!"
"Finding Nero is not about 'romance and stuff!'" Percy protested. "It's about the love between a father and son and how the father would do anything to get his son back! I hate - aah!" Annabeth soared into his open arms and they both fell, Annabeth's arm somehow cushioning Percy's head but still getting a pretty big hit.
"Ow!" Annabeth held back a curse she'd learned from her dad, but Percy cursed enough to make a pirate blush. Before Annabeth could shush him, she heard footsteps that signified her dad was coming up, and he did not approve of any male in the house besides him, Matthew, and Bobby.
"Quick!" Annabeth hissed, darting off Percy and pulling him to his feet. Keeping her footsteps as light as possible, Annabeth ran into a bathroom, locking the door and shoving Percy behind the shower curtain. "Annabeth?" her dad called.
"I'm in the bathroom, Dad!" Annabeth replied quickly, keeping one finger on Percy's lips. He looked indignant, like he wanted to burst out there and challenge her dad for guest rights or something, but he didn't and that was good.
"Okay. Can you take care of Matthew and Bobby? I have to go out and run some errands." The doorknob turned and Annabeth heard the door unlock, but no one left the house. Annabeth nodded before realizing her dad couldn't hear a nod and then yelled, "Got it, Dad! How long will you be gone?"
"A few hours," he replied, and then the door closed and locked again.
Relief flooded through Annabeth. "Okay, we can come out now." Percy grumbled something under his breath and stepped out from behind the shower curtain. "Why behind the shower curtain? Do you realize how weird that is?"
"Yeah, well it was the only place!" Annabeth hissed. "And now I've gotta take care of Matthew and Bobby...they're my brothers, by the way. They're both five and they're twins and what are we gonna do? They're really picky."
"Just sit them down in front of a movie," Percy suggested. "Harry Potter, definitely. One of the really really long Harry Potters. You have to introduce them to fine literature before it's too late! Oh, and maybe throw in Finding Nemo."
Annabeth grinned. "I'll go get them and sit them down. Wanna have a dance party up in my room?"
"Sure," Percy smiled. "So are they fraternal or identical?"
"Identical," Annabeth groaned. "They're the worst. Matthew hates broccoli and Bobby hates lima beans, but Matthew likes what Bobby hates and Bobby likes what Matthew hates, so they're constantly switching spots at the dinner table and giving each other the foods they don't like and when we ask them, Bobby says that he's giving himself Lima beans but he's actually giving Matthew Lima beans and...gods it's just really confusing."
A look of utter incomprehension was scrawled across Percy's face. "You...you say what now?"
Annabeth laughed. "Whatever. I'll explain later. Let's get Matthew and Bobby in front of the TV so they can experience fine literature. You know, I don't even like literature that much. It's really annoying."
"What do you mean?" Percy asked. "It's awesome! I love hearing the stories!"
"No, I just mean the really old, long books. I mean, I'm dyslexic and ADHD, so I don't like sitting still or reading that much, and you have to do both to read a Harry Potter, and...I dunno. I'll download an audiobook and listen while running or something. I love the new book smell but I hate having to actually read the book, because everything just looks weird and people stare at me like I'm stupid when I read out loud."
She blushed. Being dyslexic and ADHD was pretty bad, but she didn't really say anything to most people. She just sort of said 'Oh hey I'm dyslexic and ADHD so don't expect me to be the next J.K Rowling' and assumed they understood.
"Really? I am too!" Percy exclaimed. "But, uh, let's get your brothers and have this conversation somewhere besides the bathroom?"
"Oh, right." Red colored her cheeks again. "Yeah, of course. Let's get out." The lock clicked and Annabeth turned the doorknob, stepping out into the foyer. Matthew and Bobby were playing catch with a shoe (was that hers?) and they just barely missed the designer vase on the table. Annabeth yelped and leapt in between them, catching the shoe and tumbling to the floor. "Guys, you wanna watch a movie instead?"
"Hey!" Matthew protested. Bobby was giggling. "Annabeth fell!"
"Yeah, I did," Annabeth mumbled. "C'mon, let's go. Ushering them onto the sofa and turning on the TV, Annabeth riffled through the CDs and DVDs. "Lord of the Rings...The Matrix...aha! Harry Potter." Taking out the fifth DVD, because by the gods the fifth book was thick, Annabeth inserted it into the disc player and hit start.
The Harry Potter theme song flowed through the house and Matthew and Bobby leaned forward, seemingly amazed by the logos. Percy was grinning. "Nice save, Annie."
"Annabeth!" Annabeth growled. "My name is Annabeth!"
"Whatever you say, Annie." He flashed her a charming grin and Annabeth found herself practically melting. But she still managed to half-heartedly hiss, "ANNABETH."
"Fine fine fine," Percy mumbled. "Back to your room?"
Annabeth raced upstairs and opened the music app, picking out a really awesome playlist and connecting her phone to the Bluetooth speaker in her room. Music blasted through the room and Annabeth laughed, jumping up and down and slamming into Percy by accident.
Yelping, they both fell out of the room, landing on the floor. Percy groaned. "I...I think that's the second time today that you've fallen on me."
"Well be grateful I'm not a fast food eater!" Annabeth retorted, helping him to his feet. "Can you imagine how much it'd hurt if I went to McDonald's every day for lunch?"
Percy shuddered, massaging his shoulder. "I think you would've crushed my ribs."
"I'm only 5'7"!" Annabeth cried indignantly. "I wouldn't have!"
"Is that All Time Low?" Percy asked excitedly as a new song came on on the speaker. Annabeth grinned and nodded.
"Woooo!"
They stayed there for a long time, laughing and dancing and getting their hair in their faces, and Annabeth thought that his eyes were getting prettier every time she saw them.
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Annabeth dragged a brush through her tangled curls and threw on a pair of shoes, racing out the door with a slice of half-eaten toast clutched in her fist. Brakes made a weird sort of sound and there was the yellow school bus, just getting ready to pull away. She put on a burst of speed and barely caught the driver's attention. He grumbled something to himself and she was on the bus in a second, panting and red-cheeked.
Percy nodded slightly at her in acknowledgement and went back to talking with Grover.
Plopping down in a seat, Annabeth mentally berated herself for forgetting to set her alarm clock. The first day of sixth grade, of middle school, of a whole different stage of life, and she'd almost overslept.
"You okay?" Percy asked, leaning out into the aisle to talk to her. A little thrill fluttered in Annabeth's chest but she ignored it, smoothing down her curls and riffling through her backpack to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. "I'm fine, thanks."
Seemingly put off by her stiffness, Percy retreated back to his seat. Grover was enthusiastically telling him about all the different kinds of enchiladas at Chile's and begging Percy to come with him and try the beef-cheese-avocado one. Percy had wisely turned him down.
The school day passed in a blur and before Annabeth knew it she was back in her room, doing homework. With a heavy whump, she dropped her textbooks on her desk, half expecting it to groan and collapse under the weight. Across from her, Percy ran into his room, throwing his backpack on his bed and taking out a huge notepad. A black Sharpie practically appeared in his hand and he scrawled out a message, holding it up against a windowpane. Annabeth squinted and rubbed the window slightly, getting rid of the fogginess.
What happened this morning?
Annabeth sighed, digging around in her drawers for a clean sheet of paper and a marker. Thinking for just a second, she printed neatly, Overslept. I forgot to set my alarm clock.
Through the glass, she saw Percy frown. Black Sharpie ink showed an unhappy face on the pad of paper and Annabeth snorted, pushing her glasses up and grinning at him. It's fine, I'll be extra early tomorrow.
He threw back his head and laughed. Annabeth kind of regretted that she couldn't hear it, because she was sure as hell that it sounded amazing.
Don't laugh! This time I'll set four alarms and make sure to put them all under my pillow! Okay, maybe that was over the top, but she still held it up to the window. When Percy noticed, he scanned the page and then scribbled, Bet you five bucks you won't.
Annabeth probably should've responded with, JK!, but her pride ruined her and she wrote, You're on!
A devilish smirk crossed over his features. You better keep your windows open tonight, tough girl. I'll be watching you.
This time, Annabeth was the one who laughed. The black marker fell out of her hand and she had to dive down to get it, cursing under her breath when it rolled under the bed. Dust covered her hair when she emerged, and Percy was practically having a seizure from how hard he was giggling.
Oh, I will. Get ready to lose five bucks, dork.
She ended up winning the bet, and Percy, grumbling under his breath, handed her a wrinkled five-dollar-bill at the bus stop the next day. Grinning triumphantly, Annabeth punched him lightly in the arm. "I told you!"
"That was my smoothie money," Percy muttered. Smoothie money? Right, their school sold smoothies every Tuesday for two dollars each. Annabeth had completely forgotten about that. Maybe she could buy him one...
When they reached the building and Annabeth saw the longing glint in Percy's eyes when he looked at the Chick-Fil-A smoothies, she gave in.
Percy was about to walk into his homeroom when Annabeth caught up to him, throwing a spoon at the back of his head and handing him the smoothie. Surprise shone in his eyes and he accepted the gift cautiously.
Annabeth grinned and held up her own, taking a long sip. "You know, I wasn't gonna let you suffer alone."
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That summer, she had her birthday. Not a celebration or a party really, just her and Percy hanging out at the pool in their swimsuits. She'd tried her best not to look at his toned body or anything like that, focusing instead on the two gourmet cupcakes she'd bought yesterday. Chocolate frosting and rainbow sprinkles took her mind off him for a while, but when she gave him his cupcake and his face lit up like a Christmas tree, she thought she'd die from adorable overload and too much longing to run her hand through his hair and smile at him.
He presented her with a thin black velvet box that day. Annabeth really really wanted to grab it from him and rip it open, but her hands were wet and she didn't want to ruin the velvet, because it was so sleek and clean-looking.
She hadn't opened it until she got home and he was changed into a pair of clean jeans and a shirt, lounging on her couch. When she opened the box, she squealed like a goofy teenage chick, because the most beautiful necklace in the history of necklaces was lying there, on a bed of blue velvet, right in front of her.
There was a silver owl pendant with tiny jeweled eyes and individually shaped feathers hanging from a delicate silver chain. Gold highlights accentuated the feathers and beak and legs and the owl was so amazing that it almost looked real. And the way the metal glinted against the light and the way it contrasted with the dark blue velvet was so amazing and Annabeth was going to die of beautiful overload.
Her mouth seemed to hit the floor because how much could such a damn amazing necklace cost and how long had Percy been saving up for this? And why would he give it to her instead of his new posse of friends?
She could not resist it, godsdammit. Annabeth leaned over and pulled Percy into a tight hug, whispering, "I love it thankyouso much eeee it's so pretty thankyouthankyou." He laughed and hugged her back. When they let go, he gently clasped it around her neck and muttered, "It's beautiful on you, Annabeth."
She'd never forget the look in his eyes when he said that, like he wasn't talking about the necklace.
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Her phone beeped and Annabeth shoved it into her backpack, carefully smoothing out her schedule and tucking it into her binder's clear front pocket. Thalia could not be texting her right now, because Annabeth had expressly told her that she would not be late for the first day of high school as well as middle school. But nope. Thalia had texted her.
Stop texting me, Annabeth typed, zipping up the pocket in her backpack with the phone in it. Running the brush through her blonde curls one last time, she tied her locks up in a ponytail, glancing in the mirror and pushing her glasses up her nose. Perfect.
Another beep from her pocket and Annabeth cursed, checking her watch. Still had five more minutes before she had to be at the bus stop. Maybe she could go early and study. For what though? It was the first damn day; no teachers would give out homework. And she'd already gone over her math packet, reading packet, science packet, social studies packet, and orchestra packet twelve times each already. She had too much time and not enough to do with it.
Two more beeps jostled her backpack and Annabeth unzipped the pocket, checking her screen. Messages from Thalia and, surprisingly, Percy, illuminated her screen.
Swiping into the messages app, Annabeth read the messages.
Aw, c'mon Annie, you'll be fine! Want me to pick you up? I got a new car this summer. Well, that could be no one other than Thalia.
Rolling her eyes, Annabeth replied, Yeah, I know, you only mentioned it fifty thousand times yesterday. Sure whatever, I'll meet you outside in a few minutes, kay?
Thalia didn't respond immediately, so Annabeth tapped on Percy's icon. Hey Rach! Ready?
She swallowed the pang of sadness and anger. Okay, he was kind of forgetful. It was okay. It's not like this was the only text she had gotten from him in the last month, and he had never been at his window. And when he was, he was studying and didn't pay attention to her signs anymore.
So maybe that was back in middle school.
Maybe Percy didn't have to be her friend anymore.
I'm not Rachel, idiot. And I'll be riding with Thalia today, so don't expect me.
Her shoulders slumped and Annabeth slipped on her backpack, putting her phone in her pocket and maybe kinda sorta hoping for a message from Percy again.
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Percy was already in the hallway, talking with Rachel and Jason and Calypso and Piper and Frank already. Annabeth edged past them with her friend Reyna, trying her best not to catch Percy's eye. But that didn't work.
"Annie! Where were you at the bus today?" He had the same happy-to-see-you glint in his eyes that Annabeth had thought was reserved for her, but she'd seen it yesterday when he was in the library with Rachel and now it really felt like he didn't need her anymore, so fine. If he didn't need her, she didn't need him.
White-hot anger rose up in her and Annabeth spat, "First of all, I'm not Rachel. And I actually texted you telling you that Thalia would be picking me up, but I guess you didn't care, Jackson."
An expression of stunned hurt crossed his face, and maybe Annabeth felt slightly bad, but if you were going to completely blow off your friend that you deserved that! Maybe last name basis had been a bit far (they'd never called each other by last names; strangers and teachers and enemies did that), but as far as Annabeth was concerned, Percy deserved it.
"Well." His expression changed from hurt to cold indifference, which was not something Annabeth liked seeing on him. Those eyes lost the brash glint and turned to ice. "See you around, Chase."
"Oh, I hope I don't." The words were out before Annabeth actually thought about what she'd just said. His expression tightened and his spine stiffened, but other than that, he showed no indication of being hurt by Annabeth's words. Maybe he wasn't. Maybe he was happy that he could finally ditch Annabeth the nerdy loser.
"The feeling is mutual."
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Reyna found her crying in the bathroom at lunch.
"You alright?" Reyna asked quietly. Annabeth shook her head, still wiping at the smoothie stain on her sweater. This was her favorite soft white sweater, made of out velvet and silk and it was beautiful, and then Rachel had bumped into her with a smoothie and completely ruined it.
To add to the insult, she had seen some change on Percy's lunch tray, which meant that he had bought that smoothie and he had given it to Rachel, just like she'd given one to him all those years ago. Her smoothie had said, You're my friend and I hope you stay that way forever.
Percy's showed that he wasn't fucking interested in Annabeth anymore, and Rachel was his new friend. And Annabeth shouldn't be so wounded about it; he'd proved it with the whole texting incident, and he had no reason to even like her a tiny smidge after what she'd said to him back in the hallway.
So why did it still hurt and ache in a place where Annabeth thought she was untouchable?
"Hey, it'll be okay." Reyna's dark eyes showed some sympathy, but instead of letting Annabeth cry on her shoulder, she dragged Annabeth to her feet and swiped a few paper towels over the bright blue stain.
It was at times like these that Annabeth really wanted Reyna to be the kind of sympathetic friend that hugged you when you needed a hug and let you cry when you needed to cry, but Reyna was more of the kind of friend that said, 'Woman up and face it' no matter what, and that was kind of annoying.
"C'mon, Annie. Take off the sweater and tie it around your waist." Reyna sighed like she was talking to a two-year-old. "It'll hide the stain, and you can wash it later. You need to get in the lunchroom and show Rachel that she had absolutely no effect on you."
"That'll be kind of hard to do when it isn't true," Annabeth replied, wiping her eyes. "Besides, everyone's going to be laughing at me, and it's not like my reputation was that good to begin with."
"Be quiet," Reyna ordered, pulling her out of the bathroom. "Take off the sweater, hide the stain, and go eat your lunch."
Annabeth did as she was told and when she walked in, she saw Percy and Rachel in the middle of a heated argument. Practically the whole student body was watching, fascinated. She was actually really interested; Percy and Rachel seemed to be a dream couple. What could the be arguing about?
"...you spilled it all over her! Aren't you going to at least say sorry?" Percy demanded. It took Annabeth a second, but she realized that Percy was talking about her and a warm little thrill ran through her. She might've been wrong about him...
"Well, why should I?" Rachel fired back. "I saw how badly she treated you in the hallway! I'm just trying to get some revenge for you! I hate seeing you hurt, Percy, and I saw how she hurt you. I'll pay you back for the smoothie, I promise."
Percy hesitated as if seeing some merit in Rachel's argument. And actually, Annabeth saw some too. But no, Percy couldn't stop now because she wanted to apologize now. "But what gives you the right to do that to her? Rachel, you are going to go apologize, okay?"
"No," Rachel said firmly. "She hurt you, I am not going top apologize to a bitch that takes advantage of someone as amazing as you." And then she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him firmly, shooting Annabeth a smug look over Percy's shoulder. Venom-filled green eyes met Annabeth's own gray ones and Annabeth couldn't stop herself from thinking that Rachel's eyes were so, so different from Percy's.
She could practically hear her heart shatter into a million pieces and she could feel the tears come, and then Reyna's words came back to her. Show her she had no effect on you.
Carefully schooling her expression into a neutral placid look, Annabeth sat down at a table with Reyna and continued eating her lunch, talking in a normal, slightly flat tone. "And yeah I love smoothies. How about you?"
"I do too," Reyna replied stiffly, playing along with Annabeth's game. "Especially blue cherry. It makes a nice color when spilled on white, don't you think? Ha, ha. My joke is so funny."
"Get off me, Rachel!" Percy shouted, shoving Rachel off of him. "Look, I'm not taking anyone to Prom, okay? I told you already, and Prom's in a month! Why are you so desperate? Go throw yourself at someone else, because like I said, I'm not bringing a girlfriend."
"How about a boyfriend?" Calypso asked. Percy shot her a glare, folding his arms. "I'm not bringing a date, period. Okay?"
Rachel's face turned impassive and she stalked away to sit with a group of girls from gym. One of the girls Rachel had sat down with stood up and came over to sit by Annabeth and Reyna. She had choppy brown hair and a feather braided into her hair. Her eyes were kaleidoscopic and seemed to change color every second, ranging from blue to brown to gold to green to gray. Annabeth envied that so much. Her own eyes were a boring gray that literally could not be brought out, and her hair was much too messy to even try and tame into a sort of presentable state.
"I'm Piper," the girl introduced herself. "And I don't really like Rachel all that much, so I'm sitting here now. You're Annabeth, right? Those two were having the biggest fight about you." She jerked her thumb in the direction of Rachel and Percy. Yeah, Annabeth had kind of maybe noticed.
Percy, who was currently slumped dejectedly over his lunch at the table. And maybe Annabeth felt kind of sorry for him, but she wouldn't publicly embarrass him now. Maybe she could talk to him on the way home. Yeah, that would work.
She didn't see him on the way home, because he avoided her on the bus (or maybe he just couldn't get anywhere through the mob of people asking him if he and Rachel had broken up [he responded by screaming, 'we were never together!']) and then when the bus stopped, he ran right off and sprinted home without looking in Annabeth's direction once. Frowning, Annabeth chased after him, but then she realized how utterly stupid that was with her hundred-pound backpack.
When she got to her room, Annabeth dropped her bag on her bed and checked her window. Percy's curtains were drawn closed, but from the little crack in them, she saw him punching a pillow relentlessly, like that would make him feel better. Taking out her phone, Annabeth sent him a text, but she guessed that he probably couldn't hear the little buzz over the pillow's cries of pain.
Pulling on her shoes and tying her hair into a ponytail, Annabeth knocked on Percy's door. No one answered the first time, so she tried again before ringing the doorbell once, twice, three times, and then there was a thud and the door opened to reveal Percy, his hair matted with sweat. Probably from beating up his pillow. Annabeth waved awkwardly. "Hey, I'm, um, really sorry about the hallway earlier. And...y'know, for everything else."
"No, I should be sorry. I texted you the wrong thing and then I was a total ass to you in the hallway and then I bought Rachel that smoothie and she poured it all over you - gods, I'm so sorry, is your sweater okay? Didn't your mom get you that? It's your favorite one, right? Oh, I'm so so sorry..." he trailed off, noticing her expression, and then his shoulders slumped. "It's okay if you don't want to be friends anymore, I get it. I'll just...go back inside...now..."
Annabeth was stunned for a second, because she actually hadn't predicted this. The real Percy, her Percy, was still there. He wasn't the brash, laughing, jock exterior she saw at school; he was still that adorable little boy with the big puppy dog eyes and the fear of being left alone. "No, no wait! Sorry, I...I didn't know how to respond. Yeah, I wanna be friends again!" More than friends, actually, but you don't need to know that yet. That would be creepy. I'm okay with this.
He was grinning all of a sudden, enveloping her in a hug that practically crushed her ribs, but it was okay because this was Percy Jackson and he was hugging her and they were friends again, and that was all she needed.
Maybe one day she'd develop the courage to tell him how she really felt, but for now she felt that this was good.
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She took the bus every day from then to get a closer look at those green eyes, and her sweater had been cleaned up nicely by the dry cleaners down the road. And then one day, Rachel rode the bus home with a girl named Alissa, who really enjoyed torturing Annabeth. When they got off at the stop, Rachel sneered at her and stuck out a leg, tripping Annabeth. The grass was wet that morning, and it'd rained an hour before they got off, so when she fell, her white sweater was splattered with mud again and she really couldn't help her tears. This was the second time. Why did Rachel hate her so much?
And then something inside her snapped. Annabeth flew up, ignoring the mud stains on her sweater, and punched Rachel in the stomach. Alissa watched, shocked, as Annabeth slammed Rachel into the ground and dropped a glop of mud and grass on her face. "You leave me alone, ass," Annabeth hissed, whirling around and turning towards Alissa, who whimpered and turned to flee. Probably afraid of getting a little mud on her perfectly curled brown hair.
Strong arms grabbed her hand and Annabeth whirled around, ready to protest, but Percy whispered, "Annabeth, seriously, let's get you home," and she was sold, because she'd gotten revenge on Rachel and that was all she needed. They sprinted down the road and into Percy's house, and he sat her down on his bed and shouted, "ANNABETH CHASE, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"
"What?" Annabeth mumbled. "Oh, punching Rachel? I was thinking that I hate her and I want her to die because by the gods isn't ruining my sweater once enough for her?"
"No, I meant what were you thinking when you didn't warn me?" Percy asked. "I wanted to join in the fun!"
Annabeth snorted. "Well then you'd be kicked out of the popular group."
"You think I care?" Percy replied indignantly. "Look lady, I don't give a crap what they think of me. I mean I guess Jason's my friend and Piper's not half bad and Frank's a teddy bear and I guess Calypso's pretty nice, but like Octavian and Luke and those guys - nah."
"Well, you could get any girl you want to Prom," Annabeth whispered. She hadn't noticed yet how close they were, suddenly, and his breath was mingling with hers, and gods it felt good. "Any girl if you're popular. Cause girls like popular people. It's fun. Chocolate is popular."
She probably wasn't making any sense, but that was because of Percy's green eyes so close to her own, so close that they seemed to be swallowing her whole. And he was so close now, so close just she could just lean in a little bit and close the distance but then his mom called up the stairs, "Percy, why is your math homework in the trash?" and the moment was gone. Annabeth jumped back, blushing, and Percy hurried outside. His footsteps thudded on the stairs and Annabeth very quietly let herself out through the window, climbing down via window ledges.
When she slipped into her room that day, she was still thinking about the half-kiss (almost-kiss? Awkwardly long moment of two hormone-y teenagers staring at each oother because they wanted to kiss? She didn't know what to call it) and she was wondering whether or not Percy was thinking about it too.
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Neither of them mentioned that kiss at all over the next few weeks, and before Annabeth knew it, it was time for Prom. She wasn't planning on going (Luke had asked her, but there was only one person she was interested in and that was a boy with green, green eyes) because she had two major tests coming up, and she had to study.
So yes, on the night of the biggest dance of the year, Annabeth was dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, sitting at her desk with the lamp on, staring at the math textbook until her eyes began to hurt. And really, none of the numbers made sense, because she could see out of the corner of her eye Percy, changing into a tux and pulling on a jacket.
Which was really distracting, so Annabeth pulled her curtain over. She didn't need to perv on him changing, because that was creepy and stalkerish. Numbers and words and letters all blurred together in she vision and Annabeth groaned, slamming her pencil down on the math textbook. Why were word problems a thing? And why couldn't Grayson measure his own stupid ribbon?
Tick. Tick. Tick.
And yeah, the clock was really annoying too. It was shaped like an owl, like pretty much everything in her room, and it had the cutest little arms which were meant to be two feathers. The hands struck nine and Annabeth groaned again, letting her head fall gracelessly into her hands. She was done. This stupid math test was going to be the death of her.
Her phone buzzed and Annabeth jumped at the chance, almost leaping out of her chair and grabbing her phone. She shoved her math textbook aside and turned on her phone, her glasses lopsided on her nose. A message from Percy dominated her screen and she swiped to the right a bit too enthusiastically, because she really wanted to see what he was texting her about.
You going to Prom tonight? I've got to my mom's making me.
Annabeth laughed, typing in a response. Prom wasn't gonna happen with this girl, or with any of her friends. Thalia much preferred the company of her feminist club thing (they called themselves the Hunters) and Reyna was at her martial arts classes. Nah, gonna be studying for that AP math test and Science test. Have fun!
His reply was almost instantaneous, which made Annabeth wonder how she'd lived without him constantly distracting her from her work. It was actually a lot better than just staring at a stark white page until her eyes burned. Wish you were. Won't have good time without u.
Okay, maybe she would be going tonight.
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The white dress felt kind of foreign on her body, because she didn't normally wear things like this (she was more of a skinny jeans and casual t-shirt kind of girl) but it also felt right somehow, fitting all her curves and draping where it was needed, and she'd spent a full hour on her makeup and hair (mostly her hair). Mascara coated her eyelashes and red lipstick colored her lips. There was a light coating of blush on her cheeks and some silver eye shadow on her eyelids, but she didn't have foundation or primer or anything like that one. She found those to be wastes of time and money.
Her hair she'd curled and blow-dried until every single little curl hung perfectly in place, and she'd spent a full five minutes admiring it in the mirror. If only she had time to do that every morning. She'd be the sexiest girl alive in that school. Her glasses were on her desk and there was a delicate silver chain with an owl on it that Percy'd given her for her birthday last summer. All in all, she was totally ready to slay.
When she walked in, she immediately felt uncomfortable. She wasn't a party animal, and everyone giving her weird looks didn't help either. Was she too pretty? Too different? Had she done her hair wrong? Should she have straightened her curls? Maybe she should've worn colored contact lenses to look better. Oh gods, this was so nerve-wrecking. This was not happening.
She slowly moved through the crowd and they parted for her like Moses and the Red Sea. Groups of 'popular girls' whispered and pointed, but no one giggled mockingly like, 'Oh look the weirdo nerd is here.' It was more like, 'CHRIST HOW DID THE WEIRDO NERD GET SO PRETTY?' Then again, she was still going to be a weirdo nerd.
None of these people were her concern, anyways. A few guys approached her and asked her to dance but she rejected them all, making sure to let them down gently. Even if she was pretty now, she still didn't want to make anyone mad or sad or anything. She was busy scanning the crowd to see if she could spot Percy.
A mop of dark hair was talking to a blond guy over by a chocolate fountain, and Annabeth carefully made her way through the crowd, her heels clicking on the tiled floor. Jason, the blond, noticed her before Percy did, and conveniently left. Percy looked confused for a second and then he turned around, seeing her. His eyes widened just a fraction of an inch, showing off his glossy green orbs, and Annabeth felt herself smile softly.
Her heart seemed to beat faster and slower at the same time and she took a step closer. Thankfully, she didn't slip, or that night would've ended in a trip to the hospital.
He took a step closer.
The distance between them closed incredibly slowly, like time itself had paused to give them some privacy to enjoy this moment, and then Rachel appeared, putting a hand on his arm and saying something Annabeth didn't bother to listen to. He shook her off like an annoying bug and advanced closer. Her heart was pounding like a bass drum now, only with more of an irregular thready beat.
His hand snaked around her waist and Annabeth tilted her head up slightly, letting her breath mingle with his. They stayed like that for a second, Rachel's loud protests seeming like nothing compared to the ringing in her ears and the excitement rushing through her, and then he leaned in closer, his lips barely brushing hers, as if waiting for confirmation. As if asking, 'Are you ready?'
Her lips closed the distance.
Yes, I'm ready.