"I sit in a group, over on the stairs. You can join us." Thalia smiled.
"You're sure I won't be imposing?" I asked.
"Of course not. Everyone is really nice." She led me around the corner where a group of people sat in a stairwell, Percy was on the side, talking to a boy who looked like Santa's elf, if he was scrawny and Latino. "Hey guys. This is Annabeth, mind if she sits with us?" Thalia asked. Everyone turned and Percy smiled.
"Of course not, sit down, Annabeth." he smiled, patting the spot next to him. "I'll introduce you. This is Leo," he pointed to the Latino next to him, I smiled. "Piper, Hazel, and Frank." He pointed along the line. Hazel smiled.
"Your that girl in my Greek class. Nice move with the save."
"Thanks." I smiled back. Thalia nudged my arm.
"Wait until Jason sees you, he'll freak out. In the good way I mean." Piper looked at me.
"You know Jason?" she asked. The way this girl spoke made me think she was Jason's girlfriend.
"Yeah, Thalia and I were friends when we were kids, Jason used to hang out with us." she nodded and as if on cue, Jason came around the corner, not taking a second glance. He gave Piper a quick kiss and sat next to her, everyone was watching him to see his reaction.
"Why's everyone so quiet?" he asked. Thalia punched him and gestured to me. He took a moment, and his eyes widened. "Annabeth!?" he laughed, standing and hugging me. "When did you get here?"
"Last weekend." I smiled. "Good to see you remember me." We spent the lunch joking around, and Percy rolled his eyes when Jason called him the 'Little Mermaid.'
"You can talk, Cinderella." He shot back. Jason laughed and I nudged Percy.
"The little mermaid?" I smirked.
"I'm the captain of the swim team." He clarified. I nodded and a boy came around the corner.
"Hello, everybody." Luke grinned. Percy's kind smile left his face, but he stayed in his seat.
"Hello Luke." He said. Luke saw me and smiled.
"Hi, Annabeth, can I talk to you for a quick second?" he asked, holding his hand out. I slowly nodded and stood, shoving my hands in my pockets. He led me out of hearing distance and smiled his winning grin. "What are you doing with them?" he asked.
"Talking, joking, having fun." I simply said.
"I bet you'll be having more fun at my table." He gestured over to a large table, filled with girls in short, hot pink skirts and their faces caked in makeup, and a bunch of guys in football jerseys.
"Thank you for the offer, but I would rather stay with Thalia and the others." I said. His face grew hard.
"What?" he asked, as if he has never been turned down.
"I said no thank you. Bye Luke." I turned to go and he grabbed my wrist, roughly.
"You might want to rethink that." He hissed.
"No, I don't. Let me go, Luke." I said. He laughed and I clenched my fist. "Let. Me. Go." I growled. I heard slight footsteps behind me.
"Luke, let her go. You heard her." Yelled Percy, he wasn't far behind me. He shook his head and gave my arm a tug towards his table and on instinct, my fist flew up to his eye. Luke stumbled back and I pulled my arm from his grasp. Percy was now by my side. "Are you ok?" he asked, checking my wrist. I nodded slightly and he glanced at Luke, who was standing and storming towards us. Percy stood in front of me protectively. "Luke, just go back to your table." He reasoned. He shot a glance behind me and took a step back.
"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" Mr D bellowed. Luke hesitated.
"Nothing's going on." He muttered, walking away from Percy and I. Mr D went after Luke and Percy put an arm around my shoulders, leading me back to the stairwell.
"Thank you." I said quietly.
"Why are you thanking me? That was amazing!" he laughed.
"For having my back." I went back into the stairwell everyone turned.
"What happened?" asked Jason, walking up to me.
"Nothing. Don't worry about it." He took my wrist, where a bruise was starting to form.
"This isn't nothing, Annabeth." Percy sat me down on the steps.
"Luke was trying to get me to come over to his table, and I said no. He didn't really like that answer, and he wouldn't let go of my wrist. Percy came and helped me." I said quickly. Next to me, Percy snorted.
"She didn't even need my help. Before I got next to her, She punched him in the face. It made my day." He smiled.
"I bet nobody saw that coming, I mean, you're so nice." Said Frank. I shrugged.
"Nobody should mistake my kindness for weakness." A few guys came around the corner and peeked in.
"Percy, you in there?" One called.
"Yeah, Tyson! Come on in." he called back. A few guys in blue jackets walked into the stairwell. I guessed they were the swim team. Tyson had one distinctive feature, his huge eyes. They could've been one. "Guys, this is Annabeth, Annabeth, this is the swim team. Tyson is pretty much a brother-from-another-mother." He smiled.
"Did you guys see scar face? He got a black eye. Mr D just dragged him from the collar to the office." Tyson laughed. "Whoever did that, I want to shake their hand!" Percy laughed and gestured to me.
"Go on, then." Percy smirked. Tyson pointed at me.
"You punched him?" he smiled. I nodded slightly and Tyson held out his hand. "You are my hero." I laughed and shook his hand, just as Mr D stormed around the corner.
"Swim team, don't you have practice?" he demanded. Tyson and the others walked away from the stairwell and Mr D growled at us. "All of you, come with me to the office. Now." I exchanged a glance with Percy and we stood. Thalia looped her arm through mine and we walked up to the office.