CHAPTER 2

The Letter

ANNABETH

As she opened the letter, she became nervous.

Dear, Annabeth

Hey! It's Percy. Your best friend in the world. I was hoping you'd appreciate my effort of the chocolates. Took me weeks to earn that kind of money. But anyway, I just wanna start by saying, well, Happy Valentine's Day!

It's been bugging my mind recently, but yeah. For all these years, you have been my best friend. You helped my study and get in to high school. You defended me when I got bullied in elementary school. We had dates on movies and restaurants (those were BFF hangouts, but I wanna call them dates)Yeah, sorry for bein' cheesy.

But it made me realize

I kind of like you.

The way your hair flows like a princess, with those golden curls. The way your pretty face smiles at me everytime I make a joke. The way those beautiful gray eyes stare at me and remind me of the climate, and the way you simply help me.

So, long story-short. I love you, Annabeth.

It's okay, if you don't love me back, or if you don't talk to me anymore. It's okay if you start hating me and call me weird. But I just want you to know.

Your friend, Percy Jackson.

Annabeth was a loss of words after she read the letter.

Percy Jackson, her best friend, has a crush on her. Damn her for being so oblivious. For all these years, she never knew Percy Jackson, her BFF, had a huge crush on her. All this time.

One thing she knew for sure was, things were never going to go back the way they were. She did not return the feelings. That was for sure. She likes Percy, but only as a friend. Of course, she's going to have to tell him that she doesn't like him. But she hated the idea of friendzoning Percy.

She had to tell him she didn't return the feelings, but she hated it whenever Percy was upset. It felt like the world was going to end every time Percy was upset. Sigh, she thought. She was going to have to tell him. No matter what.

She just hopes he doesn't become weird toward it.

"Hey, who's that from?" Thalia asked, seemingly curious.

"Uh, no one. Just some sophomore who wants to make out with me." Annabeth lied in reply.

"Oh. Well, at least he bought you some chocolates." Thalia added.

Annabeth did appreciate the effort Percy made to confess. But she just didn't like him that way.

The conversation with Percy was going to be really awkward.

After the lesson, Annabeth immediately went to her locker and hid the box of chocolates there.

"Uh, Luke?" Annabeth tapped on Luke's shoulder.

Luke and Percy were both on the swim team and were good friends, so she usually asked him where Percy was.

"Swim practice." Luke told her. He seemed to be rushing and then stared at Annabeth for a few seconds.

"Wait, Luke. Aren't you going to swim practice, too? Where are you going?" Annabeth questioned.

"Skipping it. Where's Thalia?" he asked.

Oh.

Skipping practice to meet with Thalia. Didn't surprise Annabeth. Since both Luke and Thalia have been known to like each other for four years.

"She's, uh, in the school parking lot." Annabeth said.

"Got it." Luke replied, and sped off to meet Thalia.

Annabeth entered the school's swimming pool. It was like the basketball auditorium, except there was a wide rectangular swimming pool in the middle and bleachers on the side. A couple of guys and girls were sitting in the bleachers. And there was Percy.

He was swimming incredibly fast, and their coach, was shouting at them.

"C'mon, faster, you inexperienced twats! My grandma could swim better than you!"

Annabeth always admired Percy's connection with the water. That's why she called him Seaweed Brain. His eyes also reminded Annabeth of the ocean. Percy, was, by far, the only one Annabeth knew to swim that fast. She smiled as she saw him swim.

After hours of waiting, Percy's swim practice ended.

Percy got out of the pool, only in swimming trunks.

Even though Annabeth doesn't like Percy, Gods, he was hot, Annabeth thought. It always unnerved her seeing Percy shirtless, on how lean and muscular Percy was, and how it was that kind of body that made girls swoon over him, that even Clarisse, the scariest girl in school, thinks he's hot.

Percy disappeared from sight, and Annabeth figured he went into the locker room to change.

After minutes of waiting, Percy came out, ruffling through his hair that was still wet as the ocean.

As soon as Percy walked out, Annabeth came down from the bleachers. And as soon as Percy saw Annabeth, he turned into a bright deep red.

"Uh, hey." Percy said, with a weak smile on his face.

"Hey." Annabeth replied, also with a weak smile

Jeez, it's getting awkward.

"Uh, hey, can we talk? Later?" Annabeth asked.

"Uh, yeah. Sure. Parking Lot?" Percy asked.

"Yeah."

By the looks of it, Annabeth already knew. She already knew that Percy knew that she didn't like him back. She really hated seeing Percy upset. The last time Percy was this upset, was when his pet rabbit Neptune died. And he stopped talking to anyone for days. And that was just last year. Hopefully, he won't feel so awkward about it this time.

PERCY

Percy was dreading his upcoming talk with Annabeth.

He went through all that trouble, earning money just to buy that expensive box of chocolates for his best friend; or should he say, crush?

He had a crush on her as long as he can remember. Spanning from 7th grade, until this year. Now senior year. He knew her since they were seven, but he just realized his feelings for her in 7th grade. But he planned his 'proposal' for exactly five months, and an idea came up to him to do it on Valentine's Day.

Then, when he sent the box to Ms. Dodds, horror struck through him. What if she doesn't like it? What if she doesn't like me back? What if she'll hate me forever?

But then, his mom taught him a few things:

"You'll have to take the risk. Life's full of chances and if you play it safe, then you'll never know the outcome."

So he decided to just get on with it. Face the music.

He can do this.

His wait for Annabeth in the parking lot stretched into minutes, but felt like hours. But finally, she came out from the back door, and gods, did she look stunning.

That's what Percy liked about her in the first place. Her curly blonde hair that makes her look like a princess, long legs and slender body. She had those stormy gray eyes that seemed to be anticipating your every move. And that natural smile and beauty in her face.

She walked up to Percy who was sitting on a bench right next to a tree. The weather was windy and fresh, and it couldn't have been a better day.

Percy's heart fluttered as Annabeth sat right in front of him at a bench.

"So, I take it you got my chocolates?" Percy asked, trying to put a smile on Annabeth's face.

And it did. She chuckled and looked at him with her eyes.

"Yeah. It was great, Seaweed Brain." She smiled back at him.

Percy was preparing for the worst.

"Look, Percy. . ." Annabeth wasn't chuckling anymore. She was looking at him with seriousness in his eyes. "Do you really like me?"

Percy had to think on that question. Even though he knew the answer was pretty obvious. He thought what it would feel like to date Annabeth. Holding hands going through school. Kissing each other on the cheek behind lockers. Annabeth's head resting on his shoulder. He already knew the answer.

"Didn't the letter already establish that?" Percy replied with a smug smile.

Annabeth smiled weakly at him, then her expression turned sad.

"Look, Percy. I gotta be honest with you." Annabeth was serious now, and her voice was soft. "I don't really…. You know, feel the same way."

Those last few words shook Percy's mind. He never cried. But he wanted to. He wanted to smash a thousand things at once. He wanted to slit his wrists. He wanted to climb to the Empire State Building and jump from there. But most of all, he wished he was never born at all.

Those were the facts.

Annabeth didn't like him back.

Annabeth must've sensed his reaction to her words right now, because Percy looked like he was shot in the chest.

"Look, Percy. We can still be friends, okay?" Annabeth said, patting him reassuringly on his shoulder. Percy knew Annabeth hated it when he was upset. But he knew Annabeth's reassuring words just made it seem worse.

Percy closed his eyes for a second, trying to take this all in. His entire world had just shattered.

Stupid world. Stupid him for actually thinking Annabeth would like him. What would she see in him anyway? He started thinking. He was ugly, insecure, and he couldn't even comb his hair for christ's sake. There would be ton of guys better for her out there than him. He felt stupid for thinking she could actually like him back.

He stood up and walked to the bathroom. As fast as he can.

Annabeth was now worried about him. She tried catching up to him, but was unable to. Behind him, Percy could feel Annabeth at his tail, muffled sounds of "Percy, wait!" "Wait, Percy!"

But he couldn't hear any of them. At least, he acted to not hear any of them. He only replied something that was as loud as a speaker phone.

"I need some air."

A/N:

Wow. That was really hard to right you, guys.

I'll update maybe later or tomorrow. Because I got school in the mornin'. But anyways….

LEAVE A REVIEW! PLEASE!

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NEXT CHAPTER:

Chapter 3 – 3 Months Later

Let's reflect on what has happened on Percy and Annabeth's friendship after 3 months.

-OTPMaker22