Song for this chapter is There's No Way by Lauv and Julia Michaels. Again, the lyrics themselves don't have much to do with the chapters. It's just the title. Mainly because I suck at making up chapter titles so the songs kinda help me with that. Btw, I also changed the last chapter's title to Breaking News instead.
Hope you enjoy!
Annabeth
No.
No.
There's no way I'm hearing this right. There's no way, there's no way, there's no way…
I look up at him. His emerald eyes are wide open, lips separated, eyebrows raise; he seems as shocked as I am, maybe even more. The fact that he could be the other representative for Zeus' Cup…
Oh gods.
I'm going to have to work with him. The Perseus Jackson. The very one I swore to avoid because everything he does literally screws me over. Every. Single. Time. And he's the only person in this school that I cannot stand (other than Drew, of course) and he's the only person in this school who is impossible to work with and he's the only person I thought could never be my Zeus' Cup partner and… how am I going to do this?
In the corner of my brain, I register that Mr. Brunner is still speaking into the microphone, but his words mush together into gibberish in my head. What was he thinking? I mean, sure Percy's athletic and sure he's somewhat smart and sure he's not a complete jerk, but everyone knows the state of our relationship. Even the incoming freshmen have probably heard stories about how Percy Jackson did this to Annabeth Chase and she did this to him and how much they hate each other. The teachers literally cringe whenever we walk down the same hall or end up interacting in some way or another. Even the principal, Mr. Brunner, knows how much we don't want to be near each other.
How could he have even approved of this?
The moment Mr. Brunner's voice fades away, the whispers start. I can tell what they're saying, mainly because I'm thinking it too. Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson? They're probably going to kill each other before they make a move against the other teams. Don't know who to feel sorry for: those two or the other schools' teams who have to hear them bicker all day. There's no way they're going to win this for us.
Mr. Hayes glances at us knowingly as he remarks, "Congratulations to our two winners this year: Annabeth and Percy!"
The class drifts into half-hearted applause.
Anger streaks across my veins. How dare Percy ruin this for me? First the scholarship, and now this?
If Jason had been chosen, the class would be thundering right now, cheering their hearts away. If Jason had been chosen, the school would have been swept away from excitement that Goode could actually win for once. If Jason had been chosen, I might actually enjoy this experience.
Mr. Hayes meets Percy's eyes. "Hey. You guys can go now if you want. We're not doing much for the rest of class."
Percy's gaze flickers to me for a second, before he nods shakily. "Uh, sure. Annabeth?"
I glare at him, trying to make him shrivel in fear, but he shows no sign of being frightened. "What do you want?"
He cocks an eyebrow. Oh, the nerve that boy has…
"Did you not hear Brunner? They asked for us to go to the office to talk about the tournament."
Oh.
Picking up my backpack and swinging it over my shoulder, I kick my chair out and get up. Without acknowledging Percy, I storm past him and out the door.
Without waiting for him, I walk straight towards the office, mouth set in a firm line. My palms are stinging from how my fingernails are buried in them, but I ignore the pain. Nothing compared to what I'm going to experience over the next couple months with Percy.
I push the door open to the office, where Mr. Brunner's waiting in the doorway, wheelchair and all. He smiles gleefully when he notices me.
"Ah, Annabeth. I'm glad you're here."
I scoff. "Didn't you tell me to be?"
Mr. Brunner frowns. "I should have expected this."
I throw my backpack down and slump into a chair. "All due respect, but yes. You should have. You know how much Percy and I hate each other. Why did you do this? Are you guys that sadistic?"
Mr. Brunner wheels himself behind his desk. "Our decision to put you guys together was nowhere near sadistic. Both you and Percy are models of good character. You are both smart and athletic. You both have the drive to succeed. And the teachers did not make this decision lightly. We are well aware of the implications your, uh, relationship could have on your performance in the tournament."
Behind me, the door opens and closes. Percy seats himself in the chair beside me. I clench my jaw.
Mr. Brunner gives him a warm smile. "Percy. Welcome. As I was saying, this match was not made on accident. While you both may not cooperate well as of yet, you both have valuable skills that set you apart from many of the other teams."
"As in…" Percy prompts.
"The key to a good team is not just cooperation. It is well-roundedness. The members on the teams should have all possible holes in their skill sets covered. In this case, both team members must have skills on opposite sides of the spectrum to make sure no gaps are left unsealed.
"For example, Miss Chase, one of the other candidates for the Cup was Jason Grace, who I'm sure you know. The problem is that the both of you are too similar. Both of you are exceptional at agility and running. Both of you are very humanities and mathematics-oriented, regarding academics. You are also both dominant leaders. Had you two been partnered, nobody would be there to make up for all of the science questions you would miss or the swimming rounds you would be deficient in. In addition, neither of you have a sense of submission. You both would likely begin to clash in all decisions that needed to be made. Percy, on the other hand, balances out your skill set very well."
I try to revel in the fact that Mr. Brunner referred to me as the leader and not Percy, but my mind is elsewhere. "Then why me and Percy?" I ask. "Why not Jason and Percy?"
Mr. Brunner smiles. "Two reasons. One, science has proven that men and women have different styles of thinking. We thought that, if anything, our team could benefit from that. Secondly, Jason and Percy hardly know each other, whereas you two have known each other for a long time. Even though it is not necessarily in a good way, you both know each other's strengths and weaknesses well. You would take less time to adapt to each other's personalities than two strangers would."
I blink. That kind of logic is hard to argue with.
Doesn't mean I have to like it.
Mr. Brunner turns to Percy. "Are you alright with that?"
Percy hesitantly nods. His hands seem to be shaking.
The principal claps his hands together. "Good. Now, I have a file here that details all of the information about this year's tournament, as well as the rosters for all participating schools. I want you to look at it together, which is why I'm giving it to you, Percy. You would be far less likely to go on ahead without your partner."
Percy shoots me a smug look as he takes the file from Mr. Brunner, and oh I just want to slap that smirk off of his face. My nails dig deeper into my palms.
"Well," Mr. Brunner concludes. "Are there any questions?"
Percy and I are both silent.
"Then you are dismissed. You are free to go, Miss Chase, Mister Jackson."
"Thanks, Chiron." Percy gives him a brief salute (what the heck) and ambles out the door.
I turn to Mr. Brunner, giving him the most pitiable, puppy-dog-eyed look I can muster.
Instead of garnering the slightest amount of sympathy towards me, he just chuckles. "Good luck, Annabeth. I hope you and Percy do us well."
I nod tersely at him and leave the room.
"Fat chance," I mutter under my breath.
Percy
Literally an hour ago, I thought that I had a greater chance of getting a girlfriend than being chosen for Zeus' Cup. But now…
My next period is PE. As soon as I enter the locker room, I'm met with partly jealous, partly sympathetic expressions from my classmates. I try to disregard them as I walk past. I don't need them to compound on my discomfort.
Nico walks up to me and taps my shoulder. "Hey. Guess who's in your class?" He gestures towards himself.
I laugh. "Yes! Thank you. I don't think I could survive another minute without someone tolerable."
Nico's mouth opens, but he falters, as if he doesn't know what to say. "I'm going to hope that's a compliment."
I wrap my arm around his shoulder. "I hope so too." Then, I pull my shirt off, grabbing my PE uniform from my locker. I look back at Nico, and weirdly, his olive skin is tinged pink. Is he cold, or...
"Anyways," Nico starts. "The announcement today shocked quite a few of us."
A knot forms in my throat. I groan. "Please don't bring it up. I'm still in shock. I don't know how it happened, or why the gods hate me, but Annabeth is giving me enough hell about it already."
Nico grins. "Don't worry, Percy. Other than the whole "Annabeth" part of it, I bet it's going to be really fun. It already is pretty revolutionary that a skater boy like you took a popular jock's spot on the team."
I slip my PE shirt over my head. "What did you just call me?"
"A skater boy?"
"I am not a skater boy! What does that even mean?"
Nico counts off on his fingers. "Well, you used to love skateboards, you wear hoodies to school - with the hood up most of the time - every day, and let's not forget the beanies and the dark jeans and the - "
"Alright!" I exclaim. "That's enough. I get it." Slamming my locker door shut, I whirl around to face him. "Let's go."
PE isn't bad, at least for today. We've got Coach Hedge this year, who's rumored to be one of the strictest yet most badass teachers at the school. Apparently he's a sucker for violence, and he lets people get away with things that they would probably be suspended for otherwise.
We don't do much, considering it's the first day of school. Hedge goes over the behavioral expectations, constantly reaffirming that there are exceptions to every rule, and ends the class with a set of twenty-five push-ups and fifty burpees. Thankfully, the workout isn't much different from what I do regularly, but Nico's panting heavily by the end of it.
"How - " he heaves. " - do you do this - so easily? It's harder than rocket science!"
"I beg to differ."
"Physics isn't bad… it's just very math-oriented."
"Like that makes it better," I comment. "You know how much I suck at math. There's a reason I'm not in AP Calculus like you are."
Nico shrugs. "I guess."
We walk out of the locker room together, entering into the main corridor. The school is nearly empty. Everybody must have gone outside to get picked up by their parents or drive themselves home.
Nico and I weave past whoever's left and exit through the front door. Hazel and Frank are waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs.
"Hey," Hazel greets. "Congratulations on Zeus' Cup!"
Before I can groan again, Nico states, "He's not very happy about it."
"Why no - ohhhhh." Realization dawns in her eyes. "Come on. It can't be that bad to work with Annabeth, right? I heard she's very smart."
"That's the problem," I complain. "She thinks she's so much smarter than the rest of us peasants. So then she, like, gets inflamed whenever someone says something that threatens her dominance. She's just so… insufferable."
"I mean, she was nice last year when we were tablemates in history…" Frank cuts in.
Oh, the poor, innocent soul. "No! No, she is not, Frank. She may act nice, but doesn't mean she is." At least towards me.
Frank shrugs. "Ok."
I zone out as soon as they change the subject. There's just something about this whole situation that bothers me. Annabeth can't be the only one angry about this. The fact that someone like me got chosen while the rest of the populars and athletics were snubbed would probably not go through well with many of my classmates. I mean, it hasn't even gone through well with me. I'm still half-convinced that this whole thing is a practical joke. So how could everyone else be okay with it?
And even if the rest of the school was cool with it, what would this Zeus' Cup thing mean for me? Is it a good thing that I've been chosen? Do Annabeth and I actually have a chance at winning? Will it be fun, or should I quit while I can?
I mean, Zeus' Cup is pretty prestigious. There's a whole culture based around it, according to what I've heard. There are parties, fan bases, and fundraisers just for it that apparently all of the cool kids attend. I don't know that much about the tournament beyond the rumors, though. I may want to look into it a bit. On the internet. Not in the files. I'm not going to pull an Annabeth and disrespect Chiron like that.
Anyways, other than all of the unnecessary attention it's going to bring me, I don't think it'll be half bad. It won't take up too much of my time, so I can still focus on swimming and my grades. I'll probably be able to bring my friends to the parties and events, so that's gonna be sweet. The free stuff that we'll get from it also seems like a nice deal. The Annabeth part, however, will probably be a different story.
I mean, we could have a chance at winning, if Annabeth decides to cooperate with me…
Speak of the devil.
Annabeth Chase herself barges into our little friend circle. Behind her, resident duke and duchess of the school Jason and Piper are staring at me quite worriedly. "Hi, guys. Can I borrow Percy for a sec?"
I exchange looks with Frank. He shoots me a thumbs up and mouths, Good luck. I send him a half-smile and let Annabeth drag me to the side.
Annabeth's roughly a head shorter than me, but she's still pretty intimidating. She's giving me that glare now, the one that freaks out practically everyone in the school. The only reason it doesn't scare me anymore is because I've had it aimed at me way too many times. I'm used to it now, sort of.
"When do you want to meet?" she asks me.
I knit my eyebrows together. "What?"
"I said," she recites exasperatedly. "When do you want to meet to go over the file?"
"Oh. Um, anytime works, I guess. Except for tomorrow. I've got swim."
She purses her lips. "Ok. I'm taking the SAT the day after tomorrow and I've got stuff afterward, so does Monday evening work for you?"
I blink. I think that would be okay…? "Sure."
"Good." She scribbles something in her planner and steps away from me. "See you then."
"Wait!" I call. She raises an eyebrow at me, body half-turned. "Where are we meeting?"
Her eyes widen. Her hands unclench. "Oh, um. I don't think we should go to my house."
"Ok." I think back to my apartment, which is probably really messy right now. Monday night… oh. My mom has a writer's course that evening, to which Paul's accompanying her, so neither of my parents will be home. And being at home with nobody but Annabeth Chase to accompany me? Thanks, but no thanks. "Can we meet in the library?"
"School library?" she asks. "That'll be closed."
"No. Public library."
She contemplates the idea for a bit. "Alright. I'll bring my laptop. You bring the files. Five o'clock sharp?"
I nod. She completes writing in her planner and walks back to Piper and Jason. She doesn't even look back at me.
Nico walks over to me. "Frank and Hazel had to go. You alright? Did she hurt you?"
I grin. "No. Honestly, I might have preferred she hurt me. Instead, I'm spending my Monday evening with her."
Nico scrunches up his nose. "Ew."
"Yeah. Wish me luck in advance."
Nico grabs me by the shoulder and stares deep into my eyes, all serious-like. "Good luck, my dear friend." Then, he cracks a grin. "Well, let's go. I don't think you want to relive that talk with her much longer."
He's sure got that right.
Hey guys! Thank you for reading! So a couple things:
1) I'm kinda trying to mirror Percy's ADHD by having him go of on random tangents during his narrations, but idk if it's working. I'm also trying to mirror both of their thought processes, to make it seem less like I'm telling the story and more like they're narrating their thoughts. Let me know if I'm overdoing it or if it interferes with the story in any way!
2) I know Annabeth sounds kind of "female-dog"-like right now, but I kinda wanted to show the height of her hubris, especially regarding interacting with the one guy she's been in a rivalry with since sixth grade. She doesn't want to concede, so she kind of tries to find reasons to hate him more. Percy's the same way, though on a lesser level, because he's significantly less prideful than she is.
Anyways, how many of you celebrate Thanksgiving? Do any of you do anything special for the holiday?
I don't really do anything for it, even though we have a whole week off in honor of it next week. I guess I'll have some free time to write this story. :D
Please review!
