Story Series Title: The Saga of the PJ Pairings

Story Title: Numbers

Pairing: Annabeth X Percy

Author's Story's Motto: Start the day/night right with a little Percabeth!

Story's Summary: Annabeth Chase never liked numbers – in fact, she detested them, though one person was bound on changing that; Percy Jackson. This is an Alternate Universe where both characters are normal people, not demigods; normal teenagers, going to normal schools, having normal lives.

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I am Groot. (I don't own the Percy Jackson Characters ;-;)

Note of Author: Yeah, I know, I know. I'm supposed to be working on the other two stories I have and I haven't updated them in a... while, but I'd love to do some one-shots of pairings in the PJO series; I have so many scenarios in my head and I can't just leave them in my imagination (duh), I have to write it down – so here it is! Sorry for the really late updates on my other two stories – I swear I don't have writer's block right now, it's just that I can't update frequently. I just... can't. *cries* I apologise if you are waiting a super long time for the updates, and I'll try to do them as soon as possible. In the meantime, please don't kill me. Anyway, without further ado, onto the show!


Numbers–

Annabeth

Annabeth never really liked numbers; heck, she hated – no, despised – no, detested them. She hated that numbers define her, and the future she will have. For instance, the grades of her important examinations – they're numbers, mind you – will define which university, college, and even job she will go to!

Not that she was complaining; she was always the first in every subject, easily acing the tests that were given by teachers. But she hated tests. You'd think a genius would love a challenge – well, yeah, maybe she loves it too – and have it describe you – that, she didn't like. That's ridiculous – no, preposterous – no, asinine.

And here she was, sitting on her desk, twirling a pen in her hand, while her other arm is propped unto the table, supporting her head, pretending to listen to the Annoyer, also known as Teacher, discussing about the importance of getting good grades. Talk about pestiferous.

Speaking of numbers, they fit into the 'countable' and 'uncountable'. The words used to describe countable and uncountable are 'many' and 'much'. For instance, countable things are biscuits. Annabeth loves biscuits, especially flaky ones.

She liked how countable they can be before being eaten and how uncountable the crumbs will be during, and after, they have been eaten. Basically, she liked how fast the countable biscuits turn uncountable.

But moving on to the uncountable ones, the non-physical, and more emotional uncountable... thing... is 'love'.

She hated love.

She twirled the pen in her hand.

If love existed, why did her mom leave her alone?

She twirled the pen, this time, with a vice-like grip.

Why did she leave her with her dad who couldn't be bothered with whatever she does?

She stopped twirling it.

Scratch that, did she even care about her–?

The pen broke with a loud snap, splitting into two broken pieces – they're countable, might she add.

"... And secondly –"Her teacher, Mrs Watts, stopped mid-sentence, glaring at her as she said 'ahem', before speaking up. "As I was saying, secondly –"

Annabeth couldn't care less about what Mrs What-s – that's the name she liked to use on that teacher, because she is keen on asking 'what?' toward Annabeth whenever she asked an intelligent question – said onwards, because she wasn't worth Annabeth's time, and the fact that she was going to place the broken pen in her bag – in a specific compartment.

It's the pouch in her bag which is specifically designed for broken things – the 'Broken Chamber', she liked to call it.

It reminds her of how broken she is, and how nobody tried fixing her. Well, the school psychologist tried to, but she didn't – no, couldn't. Because she wanted people to understand that she was a person who can't be fixed; a person unworthy of being fixed.

Because if she allowed people to fix her, that means she'll have to be grateful to the person, and eventually love them for doing so, so no, she wasn't planning to be fixed anytime soon, but it did feel... a little lonely.

People would always envy her, praise her, but nobody really talked to her. She wondered what it felt like having a friend – she hadn't had one in a long, long time.


Percy

Percy's palms are sweaty; gods, it's his first day of school and he gets lost. He's already struggling to hold the map out properly without bumping into anyone, the map is huge.

He wanted to ask people around him where his first class is, but with the responses "Sorry, I'm a bit busy right now, loser." (The girl he asked was just sitting on a bench texting someone; busy alright.) And the other response was a "Get lost, loser." (Well, he already is lost and a loser, so what's the point?) He didn't think people are exactly his cup of tea. And he hated tea.

He sighed in dismay – what can he do? He's going to get lost forever, and his ADHD isn't making the situation better. Because of the fact that he's lost and nervous, he's more fidgety than usual, and he almost always tripped over the shoelaces of his own shoes – as if he needed another reason to be called a loser.

He held the map in front of him, and he bumped into someone. Hard. He placed the map down and immediately apologised. "Sorry –""Watch it." He was about to retort – hey, you can't blame him; he's been called a loser already, twice, and he didn't think that rude remark made the situation any better than it is right now – but then he looked at her.

Her eyes are an amazing shade of grey, not to mention enhanced – since she's wearing glasses – and her eyebrows are contorted into a frown, hell, her whole face was contorted into a frown. Her blonde hair was set in a tight pony tail, with her fringe covering her forehead, and overall pretty beautiful.

His best friend, Grover, once said that people look better when they smile, and he wondered how beautiful she'd look if she smiled.

"Are you just going to stand there and look at me, or are you going to ask me where your next class is?" Pretty Girl asked.

"Look, I just –"He blinked. "Wait, how did you know I need directions for next class?"

"You're carrying an obnoxiously large map in your hands and by the looks of it, you're rather restless. You keep shifting your weight from one foot to the other and you're sweating. This is an air-conditioned building – you wouldn't be able to sweat unless you're nervous or you ran. I'm guessing both. People here only get nervous when they're in trouble, or it's the first day of school. The other reason as to why you're nervous could be because nobody here helped you. Thus, all this signs lead to the fact that, one, you're nervous, two, and it's because it's the first day of school, and three, and nobody helped you with directions. People here don't really like to help, so be grateful."

And Percy could just watch. She took the time to calculate what he did, had done, had experienced, and so on as he was checking her out.

"Thanks...?" He replied hesitantly, raising an eyebrow.

"No problem; I always get the same reaction from other people when I analyse them. Now, who's the Annoyer of your next class?" Annabeth replied.

"...Annoyer?"

"Oh you know, teacher. That's what I call them. They're a waste of time here, unfortunately.

Can people be weirder?

"By the way, my name's Annabeth." She extended her hand out to him, well, in a crowded place like this, it's going to be some sort of a t-rex handshake.

"Just Annabeth?" Percy asked. "Well, my name's Perseus Jackson, but I go by Percy."

"Yes, just Annabeth. Nice to meet you, Jackson."

Something tells me she doesn't like her surname. What's so bad about it? It can't be worse than Blofis, his step-father's surname. Wait – that would mean his name would be 'Percy Blofis'. He shuddered at the thought, and returned the handshake.

Little did he know that it would be the start of a new friendship.


Annabeth

There was one time Annabeth smiled, a genuine smile, for the first time. It was break, and she was going to sit with Jackson – she feels comfortable with calling him in his surname. If people told her their surname, it sure as hell meant that they love their family, and that they don't mind being called their family surname, because they are proud to be a part of it.

As she was saying, it was during break, and she was about to go and sit with Jackson, when the popular girl, 'ass-hoe-l' as she liked to call them, bumped into her, spilling Ass-hoe-l's drink on Annabeth.

"What the – "Annabeth was about to curse when Ass-hoe-l's string of insincere apologies came round.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, Anna-bitch, that's your name right – "

"With your brain capacity, I'm not even surprised you can't remember my name." Annabeth replied.

"You're doing that thing which makes you annoying." Ass-hoe-l rolled her eyes.

"Well, that makes you a damn hypocrite." Annabeth retorted. The drink was starting to seep into her shirt and a few seconds from staining, so of course, she's exasperated.

"Whatever." She stalked past me, purposely bumping my shoulder roughly before sashaying back to her table.

What the hell had she done to her anyway? She kept assuming she was just jealous but this has been going on for too long; it could've turned into hatred or something; with her grades, that would motivate Ass-hoe-l to hate Annabeth more each day... but it just had to be that shirt her drink spilled on.

That shirt was what Annabeth was wrapped in, inside a casket, when her dad took her in.

It was the last gift she had ever had from her biological mother.

Tears stung her eyes as she ran towards the free-for-all washroom – both genders are allowed here for some reason, and both genders don't really feel comfortable with it, so Annabeth claimed it hers.

She then wondered why she was crying. Does she still love her mom? No, that doesn't seem right – she left her alone, of course she was supposed to hate her, right?

She didn't understand anything, as she hid under the sink and sobbed. Why would people hate her? Why did her mom leave her? It's not her fault she was naturally smart, and it wasn't her fault her mom left... right? What if she wasn't supposed to be born, to exist?

She sobbed louder.

What if –?

And then, a voice echoed through the restroom – she didn't even hear it open; maybe she was too consumed by her thoughts.

"Hello? Hey, Annabeth, what... what's up? C'mere." Jackson crouched in front of her, opening his arms.

She hid her face in my knees, burning with shame. She never cried in front of anyone before – it shows weakness, because she can't control her emotions.

"Hey... Annabeth, it's okay to cry. It means you're learning to let go. Letting go of what, I don't know, but you do. Come here and let's talk. It's okay, because I'm here, and I won't tell anyone."

She slowly lifted her face and looked at him.

"See, I'm here, come out of your little depressing hole," he winked while saying that statement.

She slowly crawled towards him and he hugged her.

"Don't worry, I caught you."

And so she told him of her little secret – her hatred of her mother, peers, and numbers, while he helped clean her face and shirt, and patiently replying to her questions.

"What's your mom like?"

He paused before answering. "She is a mom worth sacrificing for. She suffered lots of hardships to get me here, and I'm grateful for it." He smiled at the end.

"Why do you listen to me?"

"Because you needed to be heard out." He thought a little more about that. "Everyone needs to be." He added as an afterthought.

"Can you sing a short part of a song for me?"

He inhaled and started to sing.

"Am I fool number one,

Or fool number two?

How many other hearts have been fooled by you?"

And as soon as he stopped, she smiled.


Percabeth

Annabeth still hated numbers. But from that day on, she didn't really mind them as much as she did before.

She still didn't like that they define her, but she liked how Jackson used it.

And maybe, just maybe,she'll learn to love again.


END

Please review on how I went about in this one-shot; did you see mistakes here?

Pm me or state in the reviews of what other one-shot pairings you'd love to see here!

This is BrokenVows, signing out.

*tips hat*