T for language! OC warning... though I have tried to keep her as minimal as possible. I have wanted to write this for a while now, ever since reading that passage in MoA. So here you go!
FYI: in the story, Annabeth goes to a random boarding school right outside Manhattan. This takes place between the Lost Hero and the Son of Neptune, and then after the entire Heroes of Olympus series for the second part.
She was used to the teasing, to the slight double takes when people first met her. Her friends at school said it was because she worked too hard (after all, who could have a 4.0 GPA, an "internship" with a "very competitive architecture firm" that she was always designing buildings for, and a boyfriend that she went into the city to meet every weekend and still get sleep at the same time?), and they didn't even know the half of it.
Everyone knew, deep down, that Annabeth Chase's random grey streak in her hair was much more than just stress and lack of sleep, but no one bothered to ask. And Annabeth liked it that way. Of course, there would always be that popular girl with her oh-so-witty snide comments- the best Annabeth had heard so far was "I heard that that can happen to you when you swipe your V-card... what a whore," though there had also been "Who does she think she is, a trendsetter? Must be some kind of emo thing," and "How cute- matches your old lady personality and fashion sense!"
Like she cared. They would never know what the seemingly flawed strand of hair represented for her. What it stood for... who it stood for. But his... absence... it was too much for her to bear. The jabs were no longer vaguely annoying; the questions were no longer tedious and irksome. Now, it all reminded her of him. More accurately, of how he was missing.
They all noticed her sudden change in attitude after summer break was over. Rumors fled (it was a small school; people with nothing else to talk about latched onto the first hint of gossip they could get). Had she gone through a tough breakup with her rumored "über-hot" boyfriend that she talked about so often? Did something happen in her family? Whatever it was, something huge must have happened to make the most proud, determined girl in school so utterly... morbid. She trudged through the motions every day, but it wasn't a secret that she had lost all of her exhilaration. Whatever had driven her to strive and excel before was now surely gone.
For a long while, everyone but her closest mortal friends left her alone at school; no one dared to outright tease her due to the possibility of Annabeth reacting terribly and the gossiper being blamed. But behind her back, the rumors about Annabeth Chase never stopped swirling.
"Um, Annabeth?" She looked up from her calculus, mind still swimming in math. She was so immensely grateful for things as simple as homework- if it could take her mind off of everything, even for just a moment, it was well worth it.
"Yeah, Natalie?" Her roommate wasn't a huge talker, so what she was about to say was probably something at least vaguely important.
"Um, well, I was just wondering... everyone was talking about it earlier, but I didn't know if it was just gossip or... but it's true, isn't it?"
"Hmm? What were they saying this time?" Annabeth was too distracted to really care what it the newest rumors were, but it wasn't exactly polite to say so.
"Well, you know that gray streak? Like, in your hair?" Where had that sort of a question come from?
"Yeah..." she twirled the strand (she didn't even have to look to see which it was) absentmindedly wither her finger; it had become sort of a habit for her now it was her only connection left with Percy. "What about it?"
"When did you dye it back to blonde? I'd always though it was a kinda cool statement- you didn't care what anyone else thought about-" A door slammed shut.
Natalie looked up from her own homework (science... ew) to see Annabeth no longer on the other bed in the dorm. "Annabeth?" A muffled noise- what Natalie hoped was a confirmation- came form the now-shut bathroom door.
"Oh God, Annabeth. I'm sorry- I didn't mean to tease you or make you feel bad." Ohgodohgodohgod this was not good. If anything, Annabeth had only become more sad and detached as the year had gone by- how was Natalie going to deal with it if Annbeth was now crying in the bathroom?
There were a few sniffles, and the sound of a lock clicking signaled Annabeth opening the door. Silent tears were streaming down the girl's face as she peered into the bathroom mirror, twirling the now-blonde streak almost lovingly. She turned to Natalie.
"No, it's- it's not your fault. I just... I'll be fine, don't worry about me." The door was closed halfheartedly, leaving Natalie standing there with eyes wide. It was now obvious Annabeth hadn't known about her hair- had it been some sort of cruel prank? Stuff like that didn't just happen naturally overnight.
Was all of this tied to Annabeth's overwhelming sadness all the time? Natalie didn't know the blonde that well, but still, they'd roomed together for a good couple of months now.
She decided to talk to Annabeth once the girl returned from the bathroom. Until then, back to isotopes...
:Timeskip:
Natalie couldn't believe it. Was that the same girl who had let school that summer with such a suffocating depression? It couldn't possibly be. Though this girl had the same blonde hair in the same ponytail, her gray eyes literally shone with exuberance. Sure, it had been an entire summer (and everyone had seen how much a person could change within that amount of time), but... was it really Annabeth?
At the time, this new-and-improved Annabeth was getting her luggage out of a car (what kind of dents were those on the hood...?), aided by a guy about the same age- though Natalie had never seen him at the school before.
She was pretty sure she would have remembered him: tan skin and totally ripped by the looks of it (but built lean like a runner or surfer, not a football player), long black hair that could only be described as scruffy, and... no was not happening.
Clearly visible in his dark hair was a bright streak of gray.
Annabeth turned back to face Natalie; their eyes met, Natalie gave a small wave, and Annabeth grinned hugely in response before starting to walk towards her, tugging the hot guy in tow.
As Annabeth came closer, Natalie could see it. A streak of gray mixed into the blonde, right where the old one had been. Suddenly, a mainly one-sided conversation from last year (if you could call that strange mix of words and sobs as such) made sense.
"He... he's the reason I had it. My boyfriend... P-Percy. He's my everything. And now he's gone. In danger, and I can't save him. Not this time. That was my last connection to him..." Annabeth had broken down completely at that point, sobbing into her pillows. Natalie had thought it a strange fad at the time (hell, she still did- what kind of a symbol of love was that?), but she had still tried to console Annabeth about her now totally-blonde locks.
.
.
.
She didn't realize until much, much later that it hadn't been about the streak at all.
This started out as Annabeth getting teased and pestered for her gray streak and kinda evolved into... all of this. We all know Percabeth is really in for it in the next book... I think that it's possible the gray streaks could return.
I loved my original idea but wasn't exactly happy with how this turned out; I would love to go back and edit this... please give me suggestions!
Thanks for reading and I hope you liked it!
EDIT: extra bit that I ended up deleting from the story but I still really like.
Natalie was sorting through a bag of jelly beans. She had always been a little odd like that, but Annabeth had grown to love some of Natalie's eccentric tendencies.
Black or gray ones were tossed automatically (who liked those, anyway? Percy's mom had worked in a candy store, and Percy had said that he had yet to meet anyone who put black jelly beans into their pick-your-own-flavor bags). Anything red was eaten on the spot (Percy hated cherry flavoring- said it tasted like cough syrup- and Annabeth had always reminded him how his favorite soda was Cherry Coke...). Ellie consulted the little guide on the flavor of any other color before either eating it or discarding it (Percy had always said that was cheating).
But what was the worst was the small pile of blue ones sitting on a napkin next to the bag on her bed. Anabeth vaguely remembered that blue raspberry was her roommate's all-time favorite (back then, Annabeth had laughed, "You should meet my boyfriend someday"). Now it was just one more painful reminder.