Hey guys! Chapter 2 is now up! If you read the first chapter and decided to stay then great! Again, I wish I owned PJO but I don't :( I didn't have much time to write this so it was sped up, but I hope it's decent. Much Percabeth in this chapter, so enjoyyyy!
I made my way towards the locker rooms, holding a plastic bag full of gym clothes. Just as I walked in, the same girl that was jealous of Percy and I on the bleachers was standing at the entrance with arms crossed. She had a little posse of girls behind her as well.
"Hey Annabelle." She sneered, stretching out my name. I rolled my eyes and walked past her. The locker room was one big huge square, with dark blue lockers lined up down the middle. I walked towards the back, with the girl and her group followed me.
"Do you really think we believe you? 'I knew Percy since we were 12!' And shit. Percy is going to be my boyfriend okay? He'll leave you just like that." She said, snapping her fingers. I opened an empty locker and began changing into a grey sweat resistant shirt and shorts. Just as I took off my shirt, the group of girls gasped.
"Oh, my, god!! Your back is all clawed up!! That's so nasty!" They all said.
I completely forgot about my scars. I very quickly slipped on my shirt, then grabbed my shorts and raced to the bathroom to change there. I sighed in the mirror. If only they knew how I'd gotten those scars. They'd be the last to pick on me, I thought to myself.
I finished changing and then ran out the locker rooms, taking my seat back on the bleachers. I sat down, hunched over and looking down at my sneakers, waiting for Percy. I heard a group of girls point to my now "bully" and called her Sierra. I guess that's her name.
Well, Sierra and her posse walked out of the locker rooms and then swaggered past me.
"Just wait until Percy finds out about this. He certainly wouldn't want to date somebody with such a gruesome body." She said extra loudly to her friends, making sure that I would hear her. As if I cared. About 30 seconds later, Percy came out of the locker room surrounded by a group of his friends. Sierra tapped him on the shoulder and whispered something in his ear.
"So?" I saw him mouth. Sierra widened her eyes as if to say "so, it's absolutely gut wrenching." He just shook his head and walked over to me.
"She told you about the scars?" I asked. He nodded.
"Like I care. I have even more than you do. We share those scars." He said gently, grabbing both of my hands. I blushed.
"I love you, Seaweed Brain." I whispered. He winked.
"Right back at you, Wise Girl." He said. And then Gym class started. We went out on the track, where Percy and I ran. The jocks caught up with us and we ran as a group, but after a mile they slowed down so it was just Percy and I.
"I'm still confused about you moving here." Percy asked. I looked at him. His perfect face was only slightly red, just around his cheeks, but other than that he didn't look as if he just sprinted 2 miles. I guess you could say the same for me. Running from constant danger made you fit.
"Helen and my dad...they're sorta fighting right now. I didn't really wanna deal with it anymore. I didn't want to deal with anybody." I admitted, slowing down the slightest bit. Then suddenly, Percy stopped. I stopped as well, a few feet ahead of him, and turned around. "What?" I asked. He sighed and walked towards me.
"Why didn't you tell me before? You could've come ages ago." He said. I shrugged.
"Dunno. I didn't wanna worry you." I said. Percy frowned.
"Annabeth, I'm here to help you. Always." He said, before embracing me in a hug. We let go and resumed our run, sprinting for the rest of the class. It had to be a good 5 or 6 miles within the whole hour of gym. People had confused faces as to how we could run for so long.
"Damn, your good at swimming and running." Sierra called at Percy as we ran past her. Finally, the whistle blew one last time, which meant it was time to go in. Again, we parted ways to change, with Sierra gagging at my scars. I was the first one out, not even a coach was in the gym. I quickly ran to the pool doors and slipped in. Already, Percy was there, dipping his feet inside. The sweatshirt he was wearing before was off, revealing his camp half blood shirt, the same one that I was wearing. We both even had our necklaces on.
"Are we even allowed to be here?" I asked, taking a seat beside him. He shrugged.
"The doors would be locked if they wanted us out. That's my excuse." He said. I playfully pushed him.
"Wanna go under?" He asked. I opened my mouth to speak, but he put his hand up to stop me. "I have the security cameras covered." He said, pointing to the far left corner. On it, his sweatshirt was placed over the camera. I cocked my head to the side.
"Don't they-" I asked. He shook his head, reading my expression.
"They don't check the cameras unless they really need to know something. Like if someone vandalized the pool, etcetera etcetera." He said, waving his hand in the air. I pulled off my sneakers and socks, rolled up my pants, and dipped my feet in. It was chilly, but felt amazing. It sent tingles down my spine, and cleared all the worries on my mind. I could only focus on the little ripples our feet made when we kicked them slightly. It was silent, a comfortable silence. Then, I got up and walked towards the door. I peeked through the little glass window on the door, making sure nobody was here. The coast was clear, but just incase, I locked the doors.
"Take me underwater. I missed that." I said. Percy gave me his signature lopsided smile.
"Gladly." And just as the words left his mouth, he slipped in the water, not a drop touching him. He poked his head out. "Just jump in." He said. I smiled and hopped in. Immediately, the water separated and engulfed me. I looked around and spotted Percy. As if we were magnets, both of our air bubbles pulled together and morphed into one big air bubble. It was calm, serene. Percy pulled me in his arms and for once, without anybody watching us, we could do anything. I laced my hand with his, and my other hand went up to his cheek. I pulled him towards me.
"I love you, so much. You're my best friend, my one and only." I mumbled in between kisses. Percy's expression turned devilish. He kissed my nose, and peppered short kisses in a a trail down to my jaw, then my neck. His soft lips lingered there for a while, kissing and sucking at my skin until I knew it would most definitely leave a hickey. I closed my eyes, my lips drooling with hunger for his lips. I tried to kiss him, but he dodged, teasing me. I grumbled and tried again, with no success. Finally, I grabbed his head with both hands and pulled his face against mine, our lips crashing together. I smiled with satisfaction. Percy tilted his head and deepened the kiss. I pushed towards him more, deepening the kiss even more. Percy's hands traveled to my waist and pulled me closer until we were practically one. I pulled away for a quick second, taking a deep breath of air. He chuckled, then gently pulled me to him again. We laid down together, just kissing and tossing "I love you's" back and forth. I was practically on top of him, kissing him. I would never get enough of him. It felt like we were kissing for hours. Finally, Percy pulled away.
"Who needs lunch when I can fill up on you." He mumbled. I laughed. I leaned forwards until just our noses were touching.
"What time is it?" I asked, without opening my eyes.
"12:34. We still have 5 more minutes." He whispered. I nodded.
"Can we go up? I need a fresh breath of air." I said. Percy nodded. The bubble floated to the surface. I took a deep breath through my mouth, and coughed. He laughed. Then I heard a gasp. I looked at him, and his eyes were glued to something straight ahead. I followed his gaze and saw somebody sitting on the bleachers, jaw dropped.
This can't be good.
I realized that Percy and I were in an air bubble, in the water, completely dry. I looked at the girl sitting on the bleachers. She had platinum blonde hair with streaks of pink in them, and bright blue eyes. She had porcelain skin, and was wearing all black, which made her pale complexion nearly blinding.
"You're, you're, you're, you're, in the water, and you're completely dry! I've been sitting here all of lunch and I didn't even realize you were here! And-omg, can you breath underwater? Are you guys MERMAIDS?" She asked, standing up. I glanced at Percy. Percy was blushing deeply. This was very, very bad.
"Um...how did you get in here?" I asked weakly. Didn't I lock the doors? She pointed to the far right, where there was another pair of double doors. Dammit, I didn't even see those!
"Great." I mumbled under my breath.
"I still need an explanation." The girl said. I looked up at her. "I'm Natalia, by the way. You can just call me Talia." She said. My heart instantly ached. I missed Thalia, the one from camp. I looked up at Talia.
"Well...um, we're mermaids. You caught us!" I said, laughing weakly. Talia's eyebrows raised.
"I knew it! I knew it, and nobody believed me. I can't wait to tell everybody!" She said, squealing.
"No! No, don't tell ANYBODY. Or else...ummm, my father, the king of the sea, will hurt you." I said. I could practically sense Percy going into a fit of laughter, but he managed to keep it in. Talia nodded.
"I swear I won't tell anybody." Then as soon as we saw her, she was gone.
"Don't worry, she must be a freshman, so we won't have to deal with her." Percy told me. I nodded.
"We should get going." I said, crawling out of the pool. Percy nodded and did the same. Right before we left, Percy grabbed his sweatshirt and handed it to me. He must've noticed me shivering. It was cold underwater.
"Aren't you cold?" I asked through chattering teeth. He shook his head.
"Nah, I'm used to it," he mumbled. I smiled and kissed his cheek before slipping on his sweatshirt. To any other girl out there, they would've seen this as a cute couple goals move. But I just saw it as him having my back. That's what we did for each other.
"Just to stay safe, I'll get Chiron to send up some Mystiokenesis*." I said, lacing his fingers through mine. He nodded.
"Sounds okay to me." Just as we made it to the cafeteria, everyone, as if on cue, turned towards us. The boys howled with laughter and the girls hissed at me, especially Sierra. Then, her expression calmed down, and she waved to me.
"Annabeth! Sit down with us!" She said, motioned me to come. Percy's eyebrows scrunched up in anger, and I placed a hand on his arm to calm him down.
"It's okay Percy. Just go with your friends." I said. I looked behind me to Sierra who was still waving me towards her. I looked back at Percy. "I got this." I muttered before walking towards her with a fake smile on my face.
"Hey girls! What do you need?" I asked. Sierra smiled.
"Well, I was wondering if you'd like to be in my posse. This is a rare occasion, and I've never let anybody in since sophomore year." She said, flipping her caramel hair.
"So, Annabeth, meet Sandra, Sandra meet Annabeth, Kelsie meet Annabeth Annabeth meet Kelsie, Simone and Ava, meet Annabeth, Annabeth meet Simone and Ava. And this is Evelyn. Say hi to Annabeth, Evvy! And me, of course." Sierra said. Everything happened so quickly that I didn't even know who was who. I crossed my arms.
"As much as I'm honored, I'd have to turn you down. I don't really want to be in a group of rich sluts. But I'll see you later, yeah?" I said before mimicking her hair flip and walking back to Percy's table, who was watching all of it.
"This is why I love you." He said with a chuckle, and wrapped an arm around me. "I think it's about time you meet my friends." He said. I looked around the table to a group of jocks and girls, most likely their girlfriends. Just as he began introducing me, the bell rang. Percy sighed.
"Tomorrow." I assured him. Then we got up and began walking back to our lockers. Then suddenly, a girl with pin straight black hair and almond shaped eyes came up from behind me and tapped my shoulders. I turned around and smiled. "May I help you?" I asked. The girl nodded and leaned in.
"You have a hickey on your neck." She whispered. I totally forgot about that. I blushed and let my hair fall loose from my ponytail, making sure it covered my neck.
"Thanks." I whispered back. She winked, as if to say, 'no problem.' "I'm Annabeth by the way." I said, holding out my hand. A perfectly tanned hand reached out and shook it.
"Lei," She said before walking away.
Maybe I had just made a new friend.