Percy sat in his usual seat at the usual time, slowly sipping his usual coffee order, staring at the door through the corner of his eye, waiting. For the past three days, a girl around his age with curly blonde hair had come inside, ordered her coffee, and sat at the table across from him. Normally, he didn't pay attention to stuff like that. He was a busy guy, and there was a lot more going on in his life than blonde girls in coffee shops. This was different though. Percy had loved this coffee shop simply because he was one of the only people who visited it. There was never more than ten people inside at a time, and the barista had his coffee order memorised so all he had to was hand her the money. She would make the coffee before he walked in so it was ready when he arrived.
It was the same routine every day, so when the blonde girl suddenly walked into the coffee shop, it was a pretty noticeable change. At exactly ten fifty-three, the little bell on the door tinkled and she walked in. She was dressed today in an orange shirt and denim shorts, a New York Yankees cap strapped to one of her belt loops. Percy watched her order her coffee and quickly pretended to be very intrigued by the carvings in his table when she looked his way. He continued staring at the poorly etched heart on the table until he was sure she was sitting at her table.
He looked up only to find that, yes, she was at her table, but she was staring intently at him, more like a science experiment than a person. Her eyes, a very intense grey, were locked on him, as if trying to unlock every secret Percy ever had. He went back to focusing on his table and drinking his coffee, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable under the blonde girl's gaze.
This continued for several days. Percy would drink his coffee and stare at the table, and the blonde girl would sit at her table and stare at him for ten minutes before he finished his coffee and left for school. He never saw her around campus, but he was fairly certain she was his age. She most likely just went to a different school, which was highly unfortunate as it put a damper on his plans to simply find her in the campus phonebook. Every morning, he would tell himself that it was the day he would finally learn Blondie's name, but every morning he hurried out after ten minutes of being watched by her stunning grey eyes.
~xoxo~
It was a cloudy Friday morning, strange for early June. It was nearing eleven, and Percy had overslept. He was scrambling around his tiny apartment, trying to find his wallet and keys so he could get out the door in time for coffee and class. He would have to take his cup to-go, and pay an extra dollar fifty, but he didn't have time to sit back and enjoy it. He grabbed his wallet and shoved it into his pocket, rushing out the door with his hair messy and unbrushed. He sped through the streets, running two stop signs and pulling into the parking lot of his usual coffee shop.
There were only two people inside when he burst through the doors. An old man with a wiry grey mustache and a girl with so many piercings Percy wondered if she attracted lighting during storms. The blonde girl had already left, judging by her empty table. Percy reached into his pocket to grab his wallet and go, but it wasn't there. He patted all four pockets several times, even though he knew it wouldn't just magically appear.
"Just take the coffee, you can pay me back tomorrow," the barista said, sliding Percy the cup. He was about to protest and say that he couldn't possibly when the bell tinkled at the front door and the blonde girl walked in, holding up a wallet.
"This was in the parking lot. The card inside says it belongs to Percy Jackson," her grey eyes found Percy and she held the wallet slightly forward. "Is that you?" Percy nodded and took the wallet from the blonde girl. His fingers brushed hers when he reached for it and his hand felt oddly warm where he touched her.
"Thanks...um..." it occurred to him that he had never bothered to ask her name in all the time she had been watching him.
"Annabeth," she supplied with the smallest of smiles. "Annabeth Chase."
"Annabeth," Percy repeated. "I'm Percy."
"I know. I saw your driver's licence."
"Right," Percy felt his face turning red. He was about to open his mouth and say something stupid when his watch beeped. He was going to be late for Freshman Psych at this rate, but he didn't move. Annabeth didn't move either. They just stood there, each of them holding one half of Percy's wallet, their index fingers slightly overlapping. The barista coughed awkwardly behind them three times before they finally moved.
"I uh, gotta get to school." Percy muttered, scratching the back of his head and putting his wallet more securely in his pocket. "I'm running late."
"I've gotta get back to work," Annabeth replied. "Day job, night classes."
"I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Sure." Percy smiled and Annabeth's small smile grew. She was, Percy noticed, very pretty when she smiled. She was also pretty when she didn't smile. She was just pretty. Very pretty. She left before he did, leaving Percy standing dumbly inside.
~xoxo~
There was a very high possibility that Percy Jackson was rapidly falling in love with Annabeth Chase. They'd started meeting at the front doors to the coffee shop and sitting together at Percy's table, talking about everything that came to mind. Percy complained about school. Annabeth complained about work. They talked about their favourite classes, Mythology for Percy and Advanced Architecture and Design for Annabeth. They talked about their least favourite classes, and agreed that Freshman Psych had been a terrible idea. In their few weeks together, Percy had started noticing the little things Annabeth did. She would twirl her hair around her finger when she was listening to something she found interesting, and she would drum her fingers on the table when she was bored. Her eyes would light up every time she talked about becoming an architect one day, and she would use extravagant arm gestures when she got excited. Percy particularly liked how she would touch his chest lightly whenever she laughed.
It was getting progressively harder to be around Annabeth the longer they spent together. They had yet to extend their friendship to meeting outside of the coffee shop, but they had exchanged numbers and texted until late hours of the night. Percy was actually afraid of spending time with Annabeth outside of their coffee mornings. He was worried that he would let something slip and scare Annabeth out of his life forever. It was already hard enough hiding things from her in the twenty minutes they spent together each morning. He figured he was doing a good job, however, as Annabeth didn't seem to be picking up on anything from the way he was acting.
Percy was taking a sip of coffee when it happened. It was a simple thing, really. Annabeth pulled her hair into a ponytail. Maybe it was the sun hitting her hair just right, or maybe it was the fan, in use for the summer, sending a wave of Annabeth's perfume his way, but something changed inside of Percy and he knew, without a hint of doubt, that he didn't just like Annabeth anymore. He was full on, head-over-heels in love with her. And she had absolutely no idea.
~xoxo~
Percy waited outside the coffee shop on what had to be the hottest day of July, waiting in the parking lot for Annabeth. It had been a little over a year since they'd begun their coffee routine, so there was no real excuse for Annabeth not to be here without at least a warning text. Percy could only really blame himself for her not showing. They had played a game the previous night, where they had to ask the other a question. The only rules were to always answer, and answer honestly. Annabeth had asked Percy who he liked. Thinking back, he could have lied and said the barista, and she would never have given it a second thought. It would explain why he'd gone to the coffee shop for so long. But no, being Percy, he took the honesty thing seriously and told her that he'd been in love with her for a few months now. She hadn't replied.
Annabeth's car finally pulled into the parking lot, the silver paint catching the sun and blinding Percy as Annabeth stormed out of her car, slamming the door shut so loudly it was as if a gunshot had gone off. Percy was about to ask what was putting her in such a bad mood when she stomped up to him and slapped him so hard across the face he genuinely thought his head would fly off.
"What the hell is the matter with you, Percy Jackson?" Percy could think of a number of things the matter with him, starting with the fact that he was seeing black spots in his vision and his cheek burned from Annabeth's slap. Instead, he just said:
"Wha?"
"You spend months, months with me, drinking coffee and texting me, and hanging out at this stupid coffee shop, which, by the way, isn't even all that great, and you never thought once to tell me you were in love with me? Why do you think I kept coming to this place? It wasn't for the overpriced garbage they call coffee, that's for sure." Percy was still blinking spots out of his eyes, trying to comprehend just what was going on.
"Annabeth. I just got slapped very hard in the face. My eyes are watering and my brain is still rattling inside my head. If you want me to comprehend anything right now, you're going to have to dumb it down, big time." Percy had been expecting her to call him stupid, or push him lightly and just walk inside. He hadn't been expecting her to kiss him.
Annabeth pulled away before Percy could realise what was happening. He stared at Annabeth, growing increasingly more confused.
"Sorry." Annabeth muttered, staring at her feet, the door, or anywhere that didn't involve looking at Percy.
"It's cool," Percy muttered. "More than cool." There were a number of adjectives Percy could think of to describe what had just happened, cool being one of the least descriptive adjectives out there. It was nearing ninety-six degrees, and there was a perfectly air conditioned coffee shop just three steps away, but neither of them moved. They stood there, avoiding each other eyes and sweating, neither of them wanting to break the increasingly awkward silence. It was Percy who finally spoke first.
"Sorry...I think."
"You think?"
"Well, you slapped me, and then kissed me. So you're mad, but not that mad?" He posed it as a question and looked at Annabeth, who shrugged.
"I'm not mad. I'm...opposite of mad?"
"The opposite of mad is happy, Annabeth. The word you are looking for is happy."
"Then I guess I'm happy."
"You have a very interesting way of showing it." Percy said, rubbing his stinging cheek.
"Sorry about that," Annabeth replied, reaching out as if to touch Percy's face but deciding against it, leaving her hand an inch or so from his cheek.
"So um...coffee?" Percy suggested, gesturing towards the doors. Through the glass, they could see the barista and the customers all watching, waiting to see what the two would do next. Annabeth nodded and lowered her hand. Percy extended his own slightly, and to his great relief, Annabeth wrapped her hand in his, a smile on her face. She was, Percy noticed, very pretty when she smiled.