I started to walk away. He grabbed my wrist.
"Annabeth...come on. Don't do this." I yanked my wrist away.
"No, Luke. I am so tired of you cancelling dates so you can go hook up with other girls. I hate it. We're done." I said. Luke looked mad. I could tell by his eyes.
"Fine. But you will never fine someone like me!" he yelled. I nodded.
"Ya, that's kind of the point." And I walked out his house. I could hear him smashing things inside the house. I rolled my eyes. He was ridiculous.
I was walking down the street of Luke's house. There was a park nearby. I walked over to a bench and sat down. I put my head in my hands. I was kind of depressed about the break up. Luke was a great boyfriend for the first couple of months. But soon I found out that when he cancelled our dates it wasn't really because he was sick or he had a family thing. It was because he wanted to go make out with other girls. I don't know why but I pretended that I didn't know about his little love game. After a few months of him cheating on me I couldn't take it. I had to end it.
I lifted up my head and saw my least favorite person walking toward me. Percy Jackson.
Percy was a kid who just got on my nerves. He doesn't really do anything bad though. I guess that makes me a bad person, to hate someone for no reason. He was obviously a smart kid because he was in a very good school that was hard to get into. But he always acted so dumb. I hated it. I always hear stuff about him slapping people. I guess I do have reasons for hating him, but they're not very good. I mean I don't even know if the slapping is true. And so what if he acts dumb. It shouldn't bother me, right? Wrong. He walked up to me all bright and cheerful. He also is so nice to me, and I don't know why, but I hate it.
"Hey Annabeth." He said. He walked over and sat next to me.
I sighed. "What do you want, Jackson? Why are you here?"
Percy shrugged. "I was walking and I saw you. You look sad. Are you okay?" he asked.
"Why do you care?" I asked. Percy sighed.
"Can you just tell me what's wrong?" he asked.
"I broke up with my boyfriend. That's all. Now why don't you go work on your dumb act." I said harshly. He looked confused. "Dumb act?" he asked. I sighed.
"Well I mean you have to be smart if you're in our school. You act so stupid in class. We all know it's an act." I said. Percy looked mad.
"You know I just wanted to come over and see what's wrong. You didn't have to say those mean things." He got up and started to walk away. I just stared at him. A few seconds later he turned around.
"Oh, and that act you're talking about is not an act. I have dyslexia, and ADHD." He said harshly. Percy turned around and walked away leaving me with my mouth open, staring at him.
Oh my gods. What did I do? Percy was really the only one who liked me. Everyone else only liked me cause I was dating Luke, AKA Mr. Popular. Now I had to run my mouth and make the only person who actually likes me, hate me.
I didn't know he had ADHD and dyslexia. I felt really bad. I got up, and angrily walked to my house.
Tomorrow I have school. Tomorrow I get to face Luke and Percy, again. Great.
I woke up the next morning, in a good mood. Then I remembered how much of a great time I was gunna have at school today (note my sarcasm.)
I walked down stairs and sat down to eat breakfast. Apparently my step-mom, Helen noticed I was in a bad mood.
"Are you okay, Annabeth?" she asked.
"Just not excited about school today." I explained.
"Oh, why?" she asked. I really didn't want to tell her that two boys were actually my problem. Then she would go into a deep story about who knows what.
"Just a lot of work to do." I said. I heard the bus pull up.
"Oh, well have a good day." She said.
"I'll try." I grumbled.
I walked on the school bus and sat down. I was used to having Percy in front of me but that wasn't going to happen. And most of the people I usually sit with are friends with Luke. When I walked on the bus all of his friends were giving me the evil eye. And that is a lot of people by the way. I tried not to give it much attention and I walked to the back of the bus.
I sat down and tried not to think a about the great day ahead when someone sat next to me. I looked over to see a girl with spiky black hair and a t-shirt that says death-to-Barbie. I've seen her before. Her name is Thalia.
"Um….hi?" I said.
"Hey, you're Annabeth Chase?" she asked.
"Ya." I said.
"Thalia Grace." She said sticking out her hand. I took it and shook it.
"I know. I've seen you around." I said.
"Oh, so you have noticed people rather than Luke's little gang, huh?" she said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.
"Well, I mean when you're Luke's little girlfriend all of his friends surround you. It's hard t to notice people who aren't in the huddle." She said.
"And you know this because…." I said.
"Luke and I dated a while ago. He cheated on me so I ended it with him." She said.
"Really? He did the same thing to me. Ya, we broke up last night." I said.
"Well, that explains why you aren't over there." She said, and I nodded.
"But it doesn't explain why Percy isn't sitting in front of you trying to strike up a conversation." She laughed.
"He's not bad once you get to know him. He's like my best friend. Always looking out for me." she said.
"If he's not bad, then what's this I hear about him slapping people?" I asked. Thalia's face went pale.
"He has a good reason. His step-dad, Gabe, hits him. Hard. He's a tough guy. Percy's put up with him for years. So when People talk trash about his mom, who he loves to death, well it's become such a big part of his life, so he just hits them." He said. I sat back in my chair and tried to take that whole thing in.
I felt so bad. Almost for the three years I have been judging him. And he has a horrible life.
Thalia laughed. "You okay?" she asked.
"I never knew that his life sucks so much." I said. Thalia nodded.
"Ya, well….here he comes." Thalia pointed to the door. Percy came in looking happy. He looked at Thalia and smiled, then he saw that she was sitting next to me, and frowned and sat in and empty aisle.
"I'm gunna go talk to him." I said.
"Okay, have fun." Thalia said.
I nodded and walked to Percy's seat.
"Hey." I said.
Percy didn't say anything.
"Look Percy I'm sorry. I didn't know, any of it. I feel really bad."
He scoffed. "Why don't you go talk to your boyfriend?" he said.
"I told you yesterday, we broke up." I said.
"Wonder why?" he said. I glared at him.
"You know you don't have to be like that. I'm sorry, okay?" I said.
I was about to get up and leave but then I saw something on his cheek. I moved closer to him.
"Do you mind, Annabeth?" he asked.
"Sorry…..it's just….is that a hand mark?" I asked, pointing to his cheek.
He turned his head. "What are you talking about?" he asked.
"Don't play stupid." I took his face in my hands and turned his head so he was facing me.
"That is a hand mark. Did someone slap you?" I asked. I already knew the answer. I didn't want him to know that I knew Gabe slapped him.
"No it's not." He said.
"Yes it is, Percy." I said. I realized that I was still holding his face, and I let go blushing.
"No….it's not. Will you please let it go?" he asked.
"Will you please tell me who slapped you?"
"Why do you care?" he demanded.
"Because I do, okay!" I practically yelled in his face. Everyone on the bus went silent.
"Chase, Jackson. Stop yelling." Percy and I both blushed.
Everyone slowly started going back to their conversations.
"Please tell me." I said.
Percy was quiet.
"My step-dad. Gabe." He finally said.
"Doesn't your mom do anything about it?" I asked.
He shook his head. "He slaps her too." He said quietly.
We were both quiet.
"Percy….I'm sorry. I had no idea any of this was going on. I feel terrible."
Percy looked into my eyes. I looked into his. His eyes were sea green. They were beautiful. He was beautiful. Wait, what?
I dropped my gaze, and sat awkwardly next to him.
"It's okay." He said.
"No, it's not. I was judging you." I said.
"Annabeth." He put a hand on my shoulder and I'm not happy to say that sparks ran through me. "It's okay. Really. I'm used to it." He said.
"I still feel bad." I said.
"Well, stop." He said. I saw that his mouth was slightly curved.
"Okay. Well I gotta go." I said.
"Okay, seeya later?" he asked. I hesitated.
"Um….ya. Sure." I said.
I walked over to Thalia. She laughed.
"Well that looked like and interesting talk. I loved the part where you both stared deeply into each other's eyes." She said, still laughing.
"Shut up." I said.
We walked off the bus together. We had to walk past Luke and his crew. They were all sending death glares at me. Thalia grabbed my arm and pulled me.
"Come, on. Just forget about them. Soon Luke will have another girlfriend and they will forget all about you." She said.
I nodded. Thalia and I walked to our lockers. We just happened to be neighbors. We also had all classes together. There are a lot of people that I didn't even know I had a classes with. Thalia and I were putting books in our locker. Soon my new least favorite person in the world came by. Luke. I found out that Percy was okay. He was cool.
"So, Annabeth. I saw you and Jackson yelling at each other. Why? Do I need to teach him a lesson about not messing with my girl?" Luke said.
"Luke, we broke up. I'm not, your girl. And What Percy and I were talking about is none of your business. We settled it." I said. The bell rang and before I could talk to Luke anymore, Thalia and I walked to our first period. We sat down in the back corner. Soon Percy came in, and Thalia waved him over to us.
Percy sat down in the desk next to me. "Hey, guys." He said.
"Hey, Percy." We said. The teacher started to talk.
"Okay, so I partnered you up with people in this class to do a project, about Ancient Greek. I listed what you have to do on my webpage" He said. Then he took a piece of paper. "If you don't like your partner, tough luck. One project won't kill you." He said. Everyone groaned.
Everyone else's names were a blur, but I did catch Thalia's partner, some kid named Nico, and my partner, Percy. He came over to my desk. ''Since we are gunna be working together, we should have each other numbers.'' Percy said. I nodded.
''Ya, here's mine.'' I said. I gave him a slip of paper with my number, and he gave me one with his.
"Thanks, I'll text you later, and we'll work on the project." I said. He nodded. "Yep."
The rest of the day went by pretty fast, I guess. Thalia and I got really close. It turns out that Percy was in two other classes that I have.
We all got on the bus. Thalia and I sat in the back with Percy in front of us.
"So what do you wanna do the project on, Percy?" I asked. He shrugged.
"I don't know. We'll figure it out later. But don't get mad if I'm slow." He said apologetically. I smiled.
"Don't worry. I won't. I actually have ADHD too." I said. Percy's eyes got wide.
"You do?" he asked.
I nodded. "Ya. And my little brothers have Dyslexia, so I know how to handle it." I said.
Thalia laughed. "Ya, but Percy is extra special." She said. Percy blushed.
"Shut up, Thalia." He said.
About five minutes later, Thalia had to get off at her bus stop. Percy and I started to talk.
"So, how long have you and Thalia known each other?" I asked.
"Pretty much our whole lives. We're cousins." He said. I raised my eyebrows.
"Really? How is that like." I asked. Percy laughed.
"Wow…..well it can get interesting at times." He said. I laughed too.
"Ya, I bet it can." I said. Someone slid next to me. I turned to them and saw a boy with blonde hair, and a scar.
"What is it, Luke?" I asked.
"Well, just came over here to make sure that Jackson was treating my girl right." He said as he put an arm around me. I shook it off.
"I told you. I'm not your girl. Just leave me alone." I said.
"No. Don't tell me what to do. Anyways, how about you come over to my house tonight, and we play a little game?" he asked.
"No. I don't want to play one of your little love games." I said. Luke got closer to me.
"Come on, baby." He said.
"She said leave her alone, Castellan." Percy said. He looked mad. Like, really mad. Luke glared at him.
"No. You stay out of this, Jackson."
"Nope, I'm good." Was Percy's smart thing to say. Luke hates it when people talk back to him.
"I am gunna pound you so hard." He said. Right then the bus stopped. It was my stop. Percy noticed and grabbed my wrist.
"Come on, Annabeth." I shoved past Luke, and we made our way to the door. When we got out, I smiled at Percy.
"Thanks, Perce." I said.
"No, problem. I didn't like the way he was talking to you. It sounded like he wanted to rape you." He said.
I scoffed. "He probably did. You know what he does to girls." I said. I am so glad that Percy nodded, because I really didn't want to explain it.
"Ya, well lets go." He said.
"Wait, why weren't you at this bus stop this morning? You were at another one." I said.
"Oh, ya. I was over at my friends' house for the night." He said.
"Why?" I asked.
"Gabe." He simply answered.
"Oh, sorry." I said. Percy shrugged.
"Don't be. It's not your fault." He said. I nodded.
We came to my house. I noticed that Percy followed me.
"Um…Perce? You can go now." I said.
"I actually live like, right next door to you." He said.
"Oh, wow. Well that's nice." I smiled. "Well, seeya around." I said.
"Wait. Don't I get a hug? I mean we are friends now right? Friends hug each other." He said.
I rolled my eyes. "Fine, Percy." I walked over to him and gave him a hug. When I went into him I instantly melted. He was so warm. I smiled, then I realized what I was doing. I stepped back from him.
"Well that was interesting." Percy said. His face pretty much explained what I felt. Confused, shocked, and slightly happy.
I nodded. "Ya….it was." There was an awkward silence. "Well I gotta go. Um… I'll text you later about the project. Seeya later." I said.
He nodded. "Bye." Then I watched him make his way to his house. I ran inside mine and went to my room. I lay down on my bed. I don't know what I felt out there but….I liked it.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn't know where all these feelings were coming from. I had absolutely no interest in Percy. Then I started to think that he was beautiful. And now I really like hugging him.
I'm going crazy.
I heard my phone vibrate and picked it up. It was Percy.
Hey…can we do the project now? It said. I frowned.
Now…why?
Well I mean I don't have time to do it this week or this weekend. So now? Please. I sighed.
Fine…where do you want to do it?
How about you come over to my house.
Okay…I'll be right over. I grabbed my textbooks and laptop and went over to Percy's. He answered the door.
"Hey." He said smiling.
"Hey."
We walked inside and he led me up to his room. Everything was blue. EVERYTHING.
"Wow….this is….very…blue." I said. He nodded.
"Ya…it's my favorite color. And it reminds me of the ocean."
"You like the ocean?" I asked.
"Love." He said. I smiled.
"Well then, this will be easy. We have to do the project on who would our godly parent be if they were real. So I'm guessing yours would be Poseidon?" I asked. Percy nodded.
"Defiantly." He said. "What about you?" he asked.
I thought about it for a second. "Athena." I said.
"Oh, because you're so smart." He said. I nodded.
"Well then this should be easy."
We sat down and started to answer the questions that the teacher assigned. It was really quiet in the room. I looked over at Percy and he looked like he was gunna have a mental break down.
"Um…Percy? Are you okay?" I asked. He looked up and nodded.
"Ya…my dyslexia is really acting up now. It's driving me crazy. I can't read any of the questions." He said.
"Oh…well do you want me to read them to you?" I asked. Percy looked relieved.
"Would you?" he asked. I nodded.
"Of course I will." I scooted over so that we were next to each other. I picked up the piece of paper and started to ask him the questions. After he would answer I typed it into my laptop. Things went pretty simple since we both knew what we wanted. We also both knew Greek Mythology. We were so gunna ace this. I did the same thing for me. After about an hour we stopped.
"Okay…I'll just print this and we'll be done." I said. Percy nodded.
"Cool. So do you wanna stay around? My mom will be here soon. I bet you she will make us something." He said. I thought about it.
"Okay." I said. He went down stairs and I followed him.
"So you wanna watch a movie?" he asked.
"Ya. Sure." I said.
"Which one?"
"I don't care." I said.
"Oh, come on. What do you feel like watching right now? I won't accept 'I don't care.'" He said smiling.
"But I really don't." I said. I sighed when we glared at me. "Uh fine…how about Super 8?" I asked. He nodded.
"Okay. I love that movie." He said. I nodded.
"So do I." I said. Percy put the movie in. He brought out a blanket and we sat on the couch together. Somewhere in the movie someone came in the house.
"Hey Percy."
"Hey mom." Percy called back. He got up and motioned for me to follow him.
"Mom, this is Annabeth. She was over for a school project. We're watching a movie now." He said.
Percy's mother smiled. "Hi Annabeth." She said.
"Hi, Mrs. Jackson." I said.
"Do you guys want dinner? I can order pizza or something." She said.
"Sure." We both said.
Percy and I went back to watch the movie. Soon the pizza came. We both got a couple of slices. At almost the very end I feel asleep. My head was on Percy's shoulder and his head was on mine. He was asleep too. Good thing we don't have school tomorrow.