It Takes Ten People To Ask Out Annabeth Chase
(I don't own anything)
"Dude, ask her out." Grover said munching on a tin can. It was a Diet Coke can. Mmm, extra tasty.
"I don't know, man." I said as I was tying up my laces after camp training. I just finished my laps. Five laps around the camp border can really make a guy tired, even after bathing in the River Styx. "She's like my best friend." Grover stopped chewing and gave me one of those 'ahem' looks. "I mean, other than you of course. But like I was saying, it would just be weird."
"Come on, I can read emotions. I know she wants you to ask her out." Grover said between bites.
I thought about that for a moment as I finished knotting my laces. "But Athena would have my head mounted over her fireplace. And I like my head on my body."
After finishing his can he moved on to a can of Sprite that I had for lunch. See the beauty of our friendship? I drink the sodas and he eats the can so I don't have to get up, walk over to the recycling bin, place the can in the bin, and then walk back. See how much work he saves me? Grover shook his head. "Now you're just making excuses. Remember our empathy link? Yeah, that's right. I know you want to ask her out."
I couldn't find anything to say. Not even a distraction like: Hey! Look over there! There's a pile of tin cans and Hilary Duff CDs.
I knew he was right. "Okay fine. But I can't ask her our. I just can't. What if she says no?"
"Are you telling me Percy, Percy Jackson, is afraid to ask out Annabeth Chase? The guy who saved Mount Olympus, the guy who defeated Kronos, the guy we all call Plucky Percy?" Grover said in a sarcastic astonished voice.
"Yes." I mumbled. "And who calls me 'Plucky Percy'?" I asked completely bewildered. "What does that even mean?"
"Brave, I think. Hm, you're right. Nobody calls you 'Plucky Percy'. But it sounded good in my speech right?"
"Oh yeah, totally." I said rolling my eyes. I got up, grabbed my clothes and headed for the door.
"Well then," Grover mockingly called after me, "maybe people would call you 'Plucky Percy' if you asked out Annabeth."
All day I thought about what Grover said. That whole 'Plucky Percy' was weird. Just kidding, that's not what I was thinking about. Let's say things would work out with me and Annabeth. What if she likes me? Suppose we live one of those happily-ever-afters and live in a nice blue house near the beach and have demigod kids who are one quarter Athena, one quarter Poseidon and one half mortal. A second after I had that thought, I mentally slapped myself. Most teenage relationships don't last.
I kept thinking about that on my way back to my cabin. I would have the same thoughts running back and forth in my brain. Maybe she likes me. What if it lasts? Following that thought would be: what if it doesn't last? Then I'd start thinking, but then again… and I'd be right back at the beginning. What a vicious circle.
I fished out my key from my jeans pocket as I stood on the outside of the wooden door. As I walked in I saw a bunch of other campers, some of them I recognized from the Aphrodite cabin, sitting around my table. They all looked up as I entered.
"Umm… what's… going on?" I slowly asked looking around the whole room trying to piece together everything. Unfortunately the clues weren't very good. There was a bunch of people, some I knew and some I didn't know, sitting around a table, a blue bed, and piles of dirty clothes thrown everywhere. Helpful? Not very. But that does remind me that I need to clean up before inspection.
"Nothing, nothing." Said Grover trying to wave it away.
Holly Wood, an Aphrodite girl, rolled her eyes at Grover's attempt to lie. "We're having a convention." Blunt. I like it.
"Uh-huh." I nodded. "And you're here in my cabin because…?" I said asking them to fill in the blank.
"'Cause it's about you." A guy sitting at the far end of the table with his feet propped up on my chair answered.
"Uh-huh, and who are you?" I asked.
"Jesse."
"Right, right." I pretended to know who he was though it was the first I'd ever seen him. "And could you be more specific Jesse? What about me?"
"Hmm, your love life."
"We hear you like Annabeth." A high pitched voice chimed in. I shifted my attention to a girl who looked maybe six or seven. Great, even six year olds know that I like Annabeth.
"Dude, I'm sorry but you needed help." Grover said putting a hand on my shoulder.
"Uh-huh. Guys this is really weird. I'm just going to leave now…" I said pointing my thumb over my shoulder at the door and slowly walking backwards.
"Percy, this is for your own good." Grover tried to reason. A bunch of campers went and blocked the door. I felt like I was in one of those horror movies where they get you and lock you up in a haunted mansion. Only this was worse. They were probably going to make me talk about my feelings for Annabeth.
"Sit." One of them commanded. I sat on my unfolded bed.
"We have a plan. But you have to agree and co-operate with us." Holly told me.
"But, um-" I tried to say.
"Look kid, do you want her or not?" she barked beginning be impatient. I nodded too afraid to speak.
They explained 'phase' one for me. Fist I had to talk to her and drop small hints. Like compliment her or something. Okay seems easy enough, I can do that. I thought. Well I was big time wrong. It turns out, there isn't much to say to a girl when she's on a role chopping dummy heads off.
So here's what happened. I went out to find the Athena cabin in their Camp Activity schedule. My Gods, they're like Super Secrete Agents of some sort. Nobody knew where they were. But I finally found them after wandering around Camp, definitely not swimming for my camp activity, and found a bunch blond hair and grey eyed people right in the middle of Camp. Funny, I thought I checked there.
My whole 'team' of 'experts' to help me ask out Annabeth somehow found me and swarmed behind me. I really thought I lost them back at my cabin. They hovered around me, and over me too, which was really weird. It was like a bunch of people reading over my shoulders. "Umm… guys what are you doing…?" I asked not turning around to face them. I kept looking in the direction of Annabeth. She was maybe fifty meters away.
"We're here for moral support… and entertainment incase you, you know, fail." Holly's oh-so-comforting voice said.
"Gee thanks." We slowly approached the Athena cabin and when I was within ten meters of Annabeth, they went ahead and 'helped' me some more. We were behind Annabeth so she couldn't see me and my whole 'posse'. As they shoved me forward Annabeth turned around.
"Uh, hey, Annabeth." I managed to say. The sun was harsh and made her hair shine. It was almost forty degrees Celsius. She was wearing a Camp Half-Blood tank top and blue shorts.
Annabeth had a puzzled look on her face, like maybe this was a prank. "Hey, um, what are you doing… here?"
I was nervous, yes. But only because I had like, nine people watching me. "Oh, nothing much… Um, nice monster stabbing." I tried to smile genuinely, but it probably looked more fake then rainbow play money. I gave her a thumbs up and left in a hurry.
When I returned to my cabin Holly shouted, "What happened?"
"I-I don't know. You guys make me nervous."
Holly sighed. She threw her hands in the air. "Hopeless…" I heard her mumble.
"Okay, whatever. Phase one wasn't that important anyway," Jesse walked over. "Moving on to phase two. Asking her out."
My jaw dropped to the ground in shock. I couldn't see my expression, but I'm sure it looked like 'are you kidding me?' because that's what I was thinking so naturally I said, "Are you kidding me?" then I proceeded to say "There's only two phases?"
"Yeah." One of my 'coaches' said.
"Okay," I agreed. "Easy enough. What do I do?"
They explained how everything had to work. "Uh-huh." I nodded.
Apparently Phase Two is taken very seriously. Do not joke around with them while they're working on Phase Two. I tried. Got hurt.
I had a team working on my 'look' as they called it, and a team working on what I was going to say. Team one, working on my look was divided into two groups; one for clothes and the other for make-up.
The most I would let the make-up artists do was gel my hair, and that was pushing it a bit. One girl brought out a small clear bottle. "Perfume? No. No way."
"No, it's cologne. But fine."
They chose a pair of faded jeans with rips at the knees and a brown belt. Honestly people, I wanted to say. These are the kind of jeans that have been on a bunch quests with fire breathing monsters. You throw these out when you get back to Camp. But I didn't dare argue, for I liked my limbs attached to my body.
They paired the jeans with a blue plaid button up shirt. Give me a pair of flip flops and I could be working in Hollister. "I'm pretty sure I need to be wearing my camp t-shirt. I'm going to get into trouble." I insisted.
Holly was fixing my collar. "Nah, you're the savior of the world. You're Chiron's favourite." I could sense a bit of jealousy when she said I was Chiron's favourite. "You can get away with just about anything."
"But it's almost forty degrees out there. I'm going to die of heat before I get to ask her out." I complained.
"No trust me you won't. Have you ever seen armor that fades into regular clothes?"
I nodded. "Well these are magical clothes. My mom gave them to me. You get all the style without having to wear ugly quest appropriate clothes. Try it; you can still move around well and it breathes too." Holly smiled. "And plus it's indestructible so you can battle all the monsters you want and still look hot."
If it's indestructible then why are there holes? I wanted to say.
Amber and Kelly styled and gelled my hair, against my will. Jesse and Chris handed me a stack of five or so white cue-cards. "Huh?"
"It's your script. Practice. Starting from line one." Jesse ordered.
After an hour of preparation they all took a step back and looked at me. They decided, "Perfect."
"Let's go." Jesse said, sounding like we were on a top secret mission. We walked to the Athena cabin first. Estella opened the door after three knocks. "Is Annabeth here?" I asked. The door was only open creating a forty-five degree angle, so from what I could see, it was super tidy and orderly in there. I saw some girls and boys sitting cross legged on the wooden floors reading a book.
"No, she's at the Arts and Crafts Center." Estella answered.
We walked to the Arts and Crafts Center, which conveniently happens to be on the opposite side of where we were. When we got to the Art cabin we stood in the tall grass in the shade while they gave me one more pep talk.
"You can do it Percy." Encouraged Chirs.
"Unless you can't…" Holly said. I looked at her with fear. I was nervous enough already and now she tells me 'unless you can't'? She smiled. "I'm just kidding! Just remember, Annabeth is your best friend. You guys are pretty much meant to be together. Everyone at Camp knows it. So don't be afraid to ask her out or you'll never know what would have happened." They gave me an ear bud and ordered me to put it in. I nodded and walked forward through the door. I took one more look behind me and they gave me some encouraging looks. Grover used his hands to charade pushing me forward. I gulped and advanced forward.
She was sitting at a table with paper and pencils spread all over. Eraser shavings must have exploded on that table. "Hi Annabeth." I shyly said. I thought back to my cue-cards. First the greeting: check.
"Hey." She said turning away from her drawing. It was seriously amazing. It was only in pencil, but it looked so real.
"Whoa, awesome drawing!" Compliment: check.
She smiled. "Thanks." She tilted her head and looked at my outfit. "Going somewhere special?" She joked.
"Nah, just came by to ask you something."
"Yeah?" As soon as she said that I froze.
"Um, when is Capture the Flag?" I blurted out.
"Uh, Tuesday…"Annabeth replied.
"'Kay thanks. Bye." I turned around and was about to leave when I decided I had to ask her. I would never know what she would have said if I don't ask. Athena wouldn't hurt the kid that saved Olympus, right? "One more thing,"
"Heeeeeeey, Annabeth." Cameron walked into the Arts and Crafts Center. Gods I hate that guy. I've been warned that he was going to ask out Annabeth. She stood up from her desk. "Whatch'ya doin' tomorrow?" Cameron began to ask showing off his white smile.
"Um," Annabeth started to say. She looked back and forth between us.
Just as he was about to say something else, probably going to ask her out, Jesse and Chris and a few other guys came out of nowhere and tackled him to the ground. "Hey, what-?" Cameron didn't know what hit him. Literally.
"You need to come with us." Jesse said. Annabeth and I just watched in shock. Before we knew it, all of them were out the door while Cameron commanded they let him go.
"Okay, as I was saying," I began to say. Then when she looked at me with those stormy grey eyes, and a wave of anxiety washed over my thoughts. "What is the difference between a molecular compound and a covalent compound?"
She gave me a weird look. "Um… nothing, they're the same thing." I knew that. Actually. I just couldn't think of anything to say.
"Okay, thanks." I was about to leave again, but I decided I had to do it. "Um, Annabeth, mind if I ask you one more thing?"
"Shoot."
I finally had enough courage to ask her out. I could do this. I was all ready to ask her out. But of course Scarlet just had to come in at that exact moment to ruin everything.
"Oh there you are Percy!" Scarlet walked in, her high heels click clacking on the wooded floor, and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I've been looking all over for you!" I could smell her perfume already. It made me want to gag.
Scarlet never paid any attention to me before, until I saved the world. And since then, I've been avoiding her at every possible second of the day.
"So I was wondering, Percy," Scarlet smiled. I cringed but tried not to show it.
"Scarlet, could you help me apply some mascara?" Isabelle said walking in.
"Sure, Sweetie. Just give me a sec, 'kay?" Scarlet turned her attention back to me.
"Please it's an emergency!" Insisted Isabelle. Isabelle and I made eye contact and I thanked her as best as I could just using eye actions. Isabelle is the kind of girl who would never be caught dead in any kind of make up. I don't think she even knows what mascara is. If she was willing to let Scarlet put make up on her, her good karma was about to skyrocket.
"Chiron is coming. Don't worry, we've got this covered." Holly's voice crackled in the ear piece. In the background I could hear Holly and a few others trying to stall Chiron from going into the Arts and Crafts cabin. I figured I only had a couple minutes.
I looked both ways to check if there were any more interruptions. All clear. The lights dimmed and calming music played throughout the room, echoing. We both looked up at the ceiling to check out the lighting. The ceiling was high and I could see all the wooden beams holding up the roof. The five ceiling fans were set to medium spinning. A daisy appeared in my right hand, I assume courtesy of Delilah, daughter of Demeter. When we returned looking back at each other, I was finally ready. Everything was in place. Here I go.
"Annabeth," I held up the flower. "Would you like to hang out tomorrow?" I would have said 'go out' but we're at Camp; there's no place to 'go out' to.
She smiled and took the flower. "Sure,"
Then Annabeth and I heard muffled cheers all around the Arts and Crafts cabin.
She raised an eyebrow at me.
"It's a long story."
It took me, two Aphrodite girls, two Apollo guys, one satyr, two Demeter girls, one Athena guy, and one guy named Jesse who, by the way I still don't know what cabin he's from, to ask out Annabeth Chase. I wonder how many people it'll take to ask her to marry me.
Thanks for reading my story. I hope you enjoyed it! Don't forget to leave a review!