PERCY POV
A few days later
"Thanks for the ride, Mom, love you, see you later." Percy said, jumping out of his mom's car, and looking around. Then he saw what he was looking for. A high ponytail of blonde curls. He took a deep breath, sent a wave back at his mother one more time, and rushed at her before she could see him. She was in the parking lot, so she must have her own car. In New York? Hm.
He tapped her shoulder as soon as he was close enough. She turned the wrong way around, then glared and turned towards him. The glare dissipated when she saw it was him, but now she just looked uncomfortable on top of it. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable. Just the oppposite. He put on his best smile, which wasn't hard, he liked her enough for it to be real. Not that he faked a lot, but it usually took some effort with girls glaring at him. He still found it funny that he thought she was so pretty. He had a preference for brunettes. But with the way those light curls framed her slightly tanned skin, he couldn't remember why. Why hadn't he seen that it was like spun sunlight?
Percy mentally shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "So you have your own car? Do you have a nice job?"
She looked at him, untrusting, -ouch- but not eager to let him be ignored, it was too late for that anyway, she said, "I do, I saved up for it. I preffer relying on myself and myself only to get to where I need to go. It helps that I like driving." Percy mentally punched himself. After his mom had left, he had read up on what happened to her, and she had been taken outside of a subway station, walking home, like so many other people. Crap... Start over.
"Have you been avoiding me?" he asked, trying to look playfully suspicious, which wasn't hard, he did like teasing her, she blushed a bit, like she wasn't used to it. She probably wasn't. This explained so much. Once more, Percy mentally shook himself. If he couldn't forget about what happened, then neither would she, and he wanted to help her. He didn't know why, but he really did.
"Yes and no. I don't have that much oppurtunity to talk to you, and I am used to just being by myself. Sorry if you felt you were being ignored. You weren't. I wanted to talk to you, but..." she trailed off, brushing a hair behind her ear. He softened his smile, then saw her phone in her hand. He snatched it, ignoring her "Hey!" and went through her contacts.
He mentally tsked. Like ten entries. He entered his name, number, then went to camera. He gently put his hand on her shoulder, suprised by the warmth, and drew her next to him. "Cheese!"
He looked at the picture, there he was, smiling regularly, and there was Annabeth next to him, blushing and smiling, just a bit. He grinned, then put that with his contact as well. He was also touching the hand that had went to her shoulder, and trying to ignore the unusual warmth on his side. Maybe she had a fever. He chuckled to himself. Yeah, right. Keep telling that to youself, Perce.
She stole her phone back, then looked at him with an eyebrow raised. Why was that face so cute? God da- stop thinking like that Percy! He took a deep breath, then looked at her.
"Now you have no excuse. Your new assignment, Miss Chase. You have to text me at least once a day. I don't really care what it's about." He shrugged. He didn't know where he was pulling this crap from, but it seemed like it was okay. He was going to have to wing it most of the time anyway. "Just make sure you do it. And you have to start it, especially since, right now, I don't have your number." He shook his phone at her, then walked away. He didn't want to, but he had just heard the bell ring, and their homeroom was nearly on the whole other side of the campus. Annabeth walked next to him, not saying anything. When she felt him looking at her, and looked up at him, he was embarrassed, but played it off, and winked at her. "Come on, Wise Girl." He grabbed her hand, and they ran to class.
ANNABETH POV
Annabeth glanced at the boy next to her. He had seated himself there, in every class they had together. She didn't know what to make of him, he was too sudden, too carefree. Like you exact opposite. If she didn't know better, she'd call him an idiot, but he wasn't stupid, and his grades weren't that bad, but he took a lot of simple notes, where she only had to write down bullet points. Maybe she could try and help him. She knew how hard school could be. When she was little, she had found out she had both dyslexia and ADHD. But she had spent a lot of time in the library, tyring to overcome it. Eventually she did. The ADHD had also calmed down with her age. But she saw Percy tapping his feet in some imaginary rhythm and smiled. Maybe he had some problems of his own.
Nothing compared to yours, her subconcsious reminded her. Whatever. When the teacher wasn't looking, she took out her phone, and texted the new number from this morning.
Is THIS what you wanted?
She smiled, and put it away. She saw Percy jump as his phone tweeted. She held back a laugh. His hand pressed a button, and waited for the teacher to look away from him, who was trying to look like he was still writing notes. When the teacher continued, he looked at his screen. He looked confused, then he smiled, and let out a small laugh, looking at her, then responded.
Her phone buzzed. Not when it gets me in trouble with the teacher! Who knew you were a rebel? ;)
A winky face! What was he trying to- Whatever.
I'm not. Whatever gave you that idea? She smiled as she sent the text, then went back to taking notes.
Hm... Probably the running in the halls. How's your wrist by the way?
It's fine. :) Thanks for asking. She was worried about how he would take that smiley face. She glanced at him when he read it, and saw him smile, and start to respond. Then a hand reached down and took Percy's phone. He looked up at the teacher, Mr. Chiron- she always thought that was a wierd name- who was glaring at Percy.
"What's so interesting, Jackson? Would you like to share with the class?" he asked.
Most students would be stuttering and blushing. While Percy's cheeks were a bit darker, he simply leaned back and said, "Sure. You'll get nothing out of it, except that you know I sent the messages. I forgot to save their number, and I never say their name. Plus, I never said anything innapropriate." Annabeth was impressed by his ease. Until she heard what the teacher said back.
"Really? So I can call the number?" She hurriedly, but stealthily, turned off her phone, glad that she never got around to personalizing her voicemail. She saw Mr. Chiron press call and put the phone on speaker. When it got to her voicemail, she laughed along with the class. She looked at Percy who was careful not to look at her thoughout the whole ordeal. Smart boy.
"Detention. And I'll be calling you mother." Percy's face looked troubled for the first time.
"Please don't do that, she's sleeping. Call my stepdad instead, please. His name is Gabe. His number is in there. Please don't call the house phone either. She worked really late last night Mr. Chiron." He had said all of this really low, only her and the teacher could hear him clearly.
Wow. He really cared about his mother. Apparently there was more to him than she had thought. The teacher must have thought similiarly to her. His expression softened, and he nodded.
Annabeth had always like Mr. Chiron, he had asked absolutely no questions, and he had expected just as much from her than from any other student. Then, when he saw that she was excelling, asked if she wanted to be transferred into AP classes. She agreed to all of the ones she could get into. Otherwise, her and Percy would have a lot more classes together. But Mr. Chiron had been so kind, knowing her limitations, and pushing her when she needed it. She had a sudden thought that Percy was a lot like that. He was just a teenager, but he was kind, gentle, and never pushed her. She knew that if she ever told him to back off, he might be hurt, but he would do it.
She hoped he never found out what had happened to her. His parents might know, but he might not mention her to them. But she had a feeling that if he did, he might treat differently, but not in a bad way. She knew that he would just be gentler, and somehow be even more considerate of her. Maybe, just maybe, she might tell him.
At the end of the school day, she was walking out of PE, both because she liked it, and needed the credits. Sweaty, and still in her gym clothes, she heard someone walk up next to her. She put on her "Don't talk to me, I won't respond" face. The one that got her the nickname Ice Queen.
"Brr. Geez, now I know where the nickname comes from. C'mon, Wise Girl, crack a smile." Percy tapped her chin. She felt her expression melt, and she raised an eyebrow and looked at him, aware of how she was dressed. Then she noticed he was also in PE uniform. He noticed her glance.
"Oh yeah, we don't have the same teacher, but hey, when there's Capture the Flag, let's try and be on each other's team?" he asked, with a hand in the air. A high five. She smiled, and let out a laugh, as he whooped when she smacked his palm with hers. Then he was silent. She looked up at him. He was just staring at her, but not in a bad way, as if he were a blind man, and she was the sky he had never seen before. She blushed, and looked away.
Annabeth had to be careful. If she wasn't, she was sure she would fall for this boy, the one who made her smile again.
