Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson
Annabeth sighed as the bell rang, symbolizing the end of class. She packed up her books, her mortal friend Elise doing the same. They had just finished AP Calculus, where both of them were at the top of the class, and headed to gym, their next subject.
Annabeth always down-played her physical strength during gym, with the fear of attracting too much attention to herself. She didn't want anyone to know that she could flip any of the jocks without the slightest effort. It came from all of the training with Percy. So, in every PE class, she acted like a weakling, one of those stereotypical blondes. It killed her. But she also did it so that Elise didn't feel too bad. To be frank, she was awful. But she was a good friend, and that mattered above all.
As they changed, they saw that everyone was nervous. Words were being whispered around the locker room. "Substitute," "Mean," "Baseball bat," and "Cupcakes," were among the words that Annabeth was able to catch. They made absolutely no sense to her.
"I wonder what's going on?" Elise asked. Annabeth shrugged, but felt frustrated. She hated not knowing things. Percy always said that she was cute when she was frustrated, but she didn't feel the same. Percy… oh, she missed him so much. She had last seen him two months ago in New York City, and they IMed almost every day, but it wasn't the same as him actually being there, with her.
"I think we have a substitute teacher," Elise said, jarring Annabeth out of her thoughts. She looked questionable at her, and in response to the unspoken question, Elise nodded her head towards the man facing the students in the auditorium. He was short, barely over five feet tall, with curly brown hair that was covered with a baseball bat. He was wearing long sports pants and a sports shirt, and loosely fitted sneakers.
She gasped, "Coach Hedge?"
She got weird looks from her classmates. Annabeth was not known as a social person. She was known as a nerd, a weakling, with no social status. Nobody knew she was a demigod, a fighter, with countless friends, a boyfriend, and had saved the world twice. She hadn't seen any of the crew of the Argo II since she had left Camp. And yet, here was Coach Hedge, at her school. Was it a coincidence, or just pure luck? Unfortunately, she thought it was neither.
Coach Hedge turned at the mention of his name, and his normally scowling face broke into a grin.
"Annabeth!" Annabeth walked over and gave Coach Hedge a hug.
"How are Mellie and Chuck?" Coach Hedge grinned even wider, as if that were possible.
"They're both fine. Chuck took his first steps yesterday." Annabeth's face broke into a smile.
"Really?! That's great! How is -"
"Hey, are we gonna do anything today?" It was one of the jocks, probably anxious to show off his incredible muscles and skills. Note the sarcasm.
Before heading to the back of the class, where she normally stood with Elise, Coach Hedge grabbed her arm and whispered something to her. "I'm here for a reason, but I brought someone with me. He has no idea you're here. Surprise him." With a that, he gave her a pat on the back and she walked to Elise, mulling over what he had just told her.
"Do you know him?" Elise whispered. Annabeth refrained from saying 'duh'.
Instead she said, "he's an old friend. His wife had a baby boy named Chuck two months ago." Elise nodded her understanding before turning forward and listening to Coach Hedge as he explained today's activities.
"Alright cupcakes. My name is Coach Hedge. Obviously, I'm your substitute teacher. Today we're gonna be doing sword fighting." Annabeth's interest spiked. Sword fighting! Now this was something she was good at. But who was going to teach the mortals? Certainly not Coach Hedge.
"Your teacher will be the best of the best. Nobody can beat him. Please welcome, Percy Jackson!"
Annabeth's jaw dropped. Surely it couldn't be her Percy Jackson?! And yet, there he was, with his windswept black hair and sea green eyes, striding in, twirling Riptide expertly. So this was the someone that Coach Hedge had brought with him. And he had said he didn't know she was there. A crazy idea sprang into her head. She grinned. This was going to be fun.
She looked around at the rest of the class. All the girls, except for Elise, were ogling Percy. The boys, especially the jocks, were glaring at him. Percy, as always, looked oblivious to all the looks directed at him. Annabeth rolled her eyes. Typical Seaweed Brain.
He began to speak. "So, I'm just gonna show you a couple thrusts, jabs, and blocks. Is there a volunteer?" Annabeth tried to disguise her voice.
"Are you sure you're the best?" Elise looked at her questionably, and shocked. Annabeth was not normally known for interacting with strangers. But Annabeth ignored her. Percy looked confused and looked for the person that spoke, but Annabeth ducked down so that he couldn't see her.
"Yes?" he said, though it sounded more like a question. She smirked. She had him trapped.
"Well, then, I challenge you to a bout." There were gasps heard around the group, and the class parted to give Annabeth passage to the front. Annabeth headed forward.
As she passed the cheerleaders, she saw them smirk at each other.
"What are you smirking at?" Annabeth asked. She was tired of the girls acting all superior. Please, they were just mortals! She was the Heroine of Olympus, and its Official Architect! There was no way she was going to pass up a chance to show them up.
"The nerd, the biggest weakling in all of school, is going to beat the best sword fighter ever?" the lead one said mockingly. Her friends burst out laughing.
Annabeth gave them a smirk of her own. "Well this nerd, as you call me, has some surprises up her sleeves." She said. "Besides," she added, looking back at them. "Who ever said he was the best?" She flipped her hair back at them, the way they often did, and walked to the front. As soon as Percy saw her, he paled. But he tried to cover it up by addressing her.
"Please go ahead and pick your weapon of choice." Annabeth smirked and headed to the locker room to get her new dagger. It wasn't the one Luck gave her, but that one was lost in Tartarus forever. She had the drakon bone sword that Damasen had given her as a backup weapon, but she still preferred using a dagger. She returned to the gym to find Percy there waiting for her, and the rest of the class was standing there, smirking, probably waiting to see Annabeth beaten. She spotted Elise in the front and flashed her an ok sign.
Percy kept up the show that they didn't know each other. "Are you sure you want to use a dagger? A sword has a longer range."
She flashed him a mischievous smile. "I'm fine, thanks. I'm more comfortable with a dagger."
Percy got into a fighting stance and raised Riptide, but kept talking. Annabeth did the same. "So, you've fought before."
It wasn't a question. It was a statement. "You could say that." Annabeth replied, smirking, and they began to circle each other.
"Should I be worried?" The question was innocent enough to the class, but not to Annabeth.
"Oh, yes. And you can get ready to lose." With these words, Annabeth charged.
She thrust her dagger at his chest, but he blocked and jabbed at her shoulder. She rolled out of the way and came up kneeling, swiping at Percy's feet, but he jumped over the blade. Annabeth stood up and they exchanged a few blows, before Percy got a lucky shot and gave her a slight slash on the arm. He stopped. She examined the wound. It wasn't deep.
"You are so dead, Perseus."
She attacked him again, this time faster, and harder, twirling on her feet, but getting out of the way before he could counter-attack. Finally, he was able to make contact with her dagger, and he used the disarming maneuver Luke had taught him years ago. Annabeth's dagger clattered to the ground, but she didn't let that stop her. She ran at him and with a roundhouse kick worthy of Coach Hedge, kicked Riptide out of his hand. It soared in the air before falling and skidding across the floor. Annabeth grabbed Percy's wrist and flipped him over her shoulder. Percy landed on his back with a thump, and Annabeth placed a knee on his chest. She quickly grabbed a silver pocket knife from her boots and put it under his throat. Percy went still. As did the rest of the class.
"Now, what do you say, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked, her voice low and threatening, but her eyes sparkled mischievously. The class held their breath.
"I missed you?" Percy said weakly. Annabeth put the knife a bit closer to his throat.
"Try again," she whispered. Percy groaned.
"Do I have to?"
"If you want to get up or get a kiss anytime soon than yes." Annabeth replied smirking. Percy's eyes widened in horror.
"Ugh, fine. Annabeth is the best at everything." The class gasped.
"Much better," Annabeth said, and leaned down to kiss him. Percy kissed her back.
"Alright, cupcakes, not here." Annabeth pulled back blushing, but Percy grinned shamelessly.
"Why Coach?" he asked, teasingly. "Would you rather we go to the stables of the Argo II?"
"Percy!" Annabeth scolded, horrified that he would actually bring up the event. She did not need to be reminded of how furious Coach Hedge was when he found out they had spent the night in the stables. Sure enough, Coach Hedge's face turned a deep shade of magenta.
"If I ever find you two again -"
"Coach," Annabeth protested. "We didn't do anything. We were talking and fell asleep. That's it."
"Kissed a couple times." Percy added.
Annabeth glared at him. "Again, not helping." Percy shrugged and tried to get up from underneath Annabeth. She got off and helped him get up.
The bell rang at that moment, and the rest of the class trudged out. The girls, especially the cheerleaders, scowled at Annabeth on their way to the lockers, but Annabeth glared at them and they kept walking. The jocks glared at Percy, and winked suggestively at Annabeth, but they both ignored them. Percy put his arm protectively over Annabeth.
In the end, only Percy, Annabeth, Coach Hedge, and Elise were left in the gym. Elise approached the other three.
"Would you care to introduce me?" she asked Annabeth.
"Sure," Annabeth said warmly. "Coach Hedge, as I said, is a close friend and was also our chaperone during a trip we took to Europe last year. Percy here is my boyfriend."
"Percy Jackson, nice to meet you." Percy introduced himself and stretched out his hand. Elise raised an eyebrow, but shook his hand. "I'm assuming you're Elise? Annabeth talks a lot about you."
Elise raised the other eyebrow, and looked pointedly at Annabeth, who was blushing. "She does, does she? Funny, she never mentioned you." Percy turned to Annabeth, fake shock and hurt written on his face.
"You never talk about me? I thought I meant more to you, Wise Girl." She shoved him playfully.
"There's no need to further inflate your ego, Seaweed Brain."
"What ego?" he asked innocently. She rolled her eyes.
"So, what are you doing here?" Elise asked. Coach Hedge and Percy exchanged a look.
"There's someone here that we need to find." Percy said cautiously. "Someone who's important, and powerful, and who has to come back to Camp with us."
"Wait," Annabeth said, shocked. "One of us, here?"
"Yep," Coach Hedge said, looking intently at Elise, and inconspicuously smelling the air around her. "And I think I've found her."
"What are you doing?" Elise asked, leaning away from Coach Hedge.
He ignored her. "She smells of flowers, springtime, but not as strong as one of the main deities. Probably a minor god. Persephone, maybe?"
"What?" Annabeth asked. "Elise?"
"Yup," Coach Hedge said, firmly now. "It's her, cupcake. The scents faint, but it's there. And I'd wager five drachmas that she's Persephone's child."
"I thought satyrs couldn't tell whose child a demigod was?" Percy asked.
"Sometimes it's harder, but all demigods have their own particular smell. For example, yours is a sea breeze, very pronounced. It's obvious who your father is. And Annabeth's, … Annabeth's is like old books in a library that's been abandoned forever."
"Thanks, Coach Hedge." Annabeth said, her voice clipped. "I've always wanted to know that I smell like musty old books." Next to her, Percy chuckled. She shot him a look and was about to reprimand him when Elise interrupted her.
"Wait, what are you talking about? Persephone? Main deities? Demigod?! Why does Percy smell of the sea and Annabeth of books?" Annabeth turned to Coach Hedge.
"You're absolutely sure." Coach Hedge scoffed at her.
"Of course, I am."
"Fine, then let's go." Annabeth took Elise's arm and led her towards the door. Elise resisted.
"Wait, Annabeth, where are you taking me?" Annabeth stopped and looked at her.
"You trust me, right?" Elise hesitated a second before nodding. Annabeth looked at her approvingly. "Ok. We're going to Camp. We'll explain everything on the way there."
Elise looked shocked, but didn't say anything as Annabeth pulled her to the white Delphi Strawberry Service van in front of the high school. Percy and Coach Hedge followed, and Percy climbed into the driver's seat.
"You're not kidnapping me, are you?" Elise asked. Annabeth laughed.
"No, we're not kidnapping you. You're free to go whenever you go."
"Good. I'm sure wherever we're going, it's better than this place."
All four of them laughed as the van peeled away from the curve and onto the road. None of them looked back, and none of them ever returned.
There will be no sequel, but I will post more stories. Some will be one-shot, some will be longer, chapter stories.
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Thanks for reading!