This story's idea was created by DDaughterofAthena. She requested that I write it.
If you have a request for a percabeth pic that can be written as a one-shot then let me know and I'll see if I can write it!
Disclaimer: All rights and ownership go to Rick Riordan
Title comes from the song: "Girls Like You" by Maroon 5
Let me explain the AU:
Before your 16th birthday, you have no soulmate tattoo. On your 16th birthday, the tattoo appears on your skin in white ink. When you come into contact with your soulmate for the first time after your 16th birthday, it changes to black ink at that moment. It does NOT matter if you have been in contact with your soulmate previous your 16th birthday, it will still only change color when you come in contact with them after the birthday.
Percy POV
I remember those few days vividly.
As we all know, the tattoos appear on your 16th birthday. So, when I, Percy Jackson, woke up on August 18th, 2009, the first thing I did was check for my mark. And sure enough, there etched on the inside of my wrist in white ink was the series of three numbers.
Now, for most people, their 16th birthday is a day of excitement because that's when they find out the date that they're destined to meet their soulmate. Usually, that's sometime in the future. They count down the days in anticipation. And finally, when said day has arrived, they make sure they wear their best clothes and are on high alert for any new people. It seemed, however, that I did not get that luxury of knowing. No no. That's too easy in the life of Percy Jackson. Instead, on that fine Tuesday morning, I was looking down at my wrist in absolute horror because the numbers clearly indicated that I was destined to meet my soulmate on 08/10/01. I had met my soulmate 8 years ago. The thing is, I might have not even known her because I literally could have just locked eyes with her on the subway; there was no way of knowing. It could have been some complete random stranger that lived across the country that I would not encounter for another 15 years. I was more than marginally annoyed to say the least. I just had to wait until the date turned from white to black when I touched my soulmate for the first time after my sixteenth birthday. I remember sighing when I made that realization. There wasn't anything for me to do except wait. Simple enough. I got out of bed and started to get ready for school.
Now, Annabeth Chase was the best in our class. And she hated me. Well, at least I thought she did. It had been a long time ago…but once in elementary school I cheated on a math test and she told the teacher on me. It wasn't like I was mad at her still, because that had been a least 7 years prior and even I was not that petty. But, ever since then, I sorta, maybe, (definitely) had tried to avoid her in the hallways. ("No, I'm not a baby. You're a baby") I tried to duck behind friends when I saw her, and did everything in my power to make sure I never paired up with her in classes. Because frankly, she scared me, a lot. I was of the laid back sort: I liked to crack jokes, and was always goofing around in class (I received a glare from Annabeth on these occasions). On the other hand, Annabeth could always be found in the library studying, and was even a teacher's assistant. It's not that I hated her…no, not at all. I had no reason to hate her. I really was just frightened by her. We were perfect opposites. I considered us friendly rivals since she sorta just killed my chill, cool guy vibe ("Yes I was and still am super cool").
There must be gods out there trying to torture me. This verbatim sentence flew through my head that day. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was my birthday and I would have enjoyed being able to get my swim bag out of my locker without the need to hide behind someone. But, alas, there she was, the blond terror, walking toward the parking lot exit. I noticed, with despair that since it was after school, there was nobody to hide behind. Like the mature sixteen year old teenager I was, I did the sensible thing and tried to hide behind my blue locker door. Emphasis on tried.
It was at that moment that my best friend Rachel Elizabeth Dare came running down the hallway (I noted that this was the fastest I'd ever seen her run) holding a very blue cupcake. And so, I was not able to stay in my oasis of hiding behind the locker door. If I did that, then she would have run straight into it. Don't get me wrong. I did consider letting the door hit her, but being the great guy that I am, I decided to risk the pain and discomfort of Annabeth's grey cold gaze. Not to mention that she was holding a cupcake and it would be an awful waste to have blue frosting smudged all over my locker.
And that's when time slowed down.
Annabeth tripped, and caught herself on my shoulder right as Rachel reached me and pulled me into a hug. I noted the tingling sensation on the inside of my wrist. But, by the time I looked down to confirm that my tattoo had changed from black to white and ran to the door after Annabeth, she was already in her car driving away.
The problem was, my tattoo changed color at the moment I was touching Rachel and Annabeth. And, Rachel, Annabeth, and I had all met in the same elementary school class in the same year so long ago. So, I couldn't eliminate either girl on my own based on the date on my wrist. But, Rachel hadn't turned 15 yet, so there was no way to know who my soulmate was without checking Annabeth's tattoo to see if there was a date match between us. I recalled that she turned 16 about a month ago.
Well, what was I supposed to say? "Oh hey! I know you quite literally hate me, but can I please check the inside of your wrist?" Even if it was that easy, my life was never that easy. There was even a cherry on top of my whole situation. Annabeth Chase was dating Luke Castellan, and had been for two years. Who was Luke? The star of the football team and also one of my very best friends. (Yes, I was able to hang out with Luke without Annabeth present). Luke raved about Annabeth. Constantly. And it was so so so annoying. I knew Luke was madly in love with Annabeth, so if I didn't mention this topic with tact to either of them, I knew to expect a nice firm slap to the face. In case that wasn't clear, I would get a slap from Annabeth and Luke. She had been taking martial arts since she was 7. Yeah why don't you do the math…she was 16 at the time. And well…. I was not good at tact so I decided to try to stay away from the subject with them for the time being. Well anyway, let me continue with the story.
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Please review! I love reading your comments. Part 2 should be up in a few days...
Again, if you have a one-shot Percabeth idea that you would like me to write, let me know!