You know I'm no good

Annabeth

Annabeth's bedroom was as neat and organized as her mind. The walls were stark white, with only a poster of The Beatles hanging above her bed. On one side of the wall, there was a huge, wooden library, packed to the brim with architecture and history books. Annabeth had immediately fallen in love with when she saw it in an old curiosity shop her father had taken her. On the opposite, was her desk and on top of that, her favorite laptop, a gift from her mother's best friend, Daedalus. Dr. Daedalus worked for Olympic Industries since Annabeth could remember herself and was one of the brightest minds in the job. The laptop he had given her was filled with designs and ideas about buildings and other inventions and Annabeth loved spending her free time scrolling through them. Other than that, there was a framed picture with her and Thalia, her childhood best friend, ath her nightstand and a plush owl toy her dad had given her when she was little. All in all, the bedroom radiated peace and quite, just what Annabeth needed.

But the bedroom's biggest advantage was that it was soundproof, which came in handy when her parents were "discussing" downstairs, usually in loud tones.

When Annabeth arrived from school that day, still very frustrated with the parking lot incident and that Percy Jackson, her parents were sitting in the kitchen table, eating a meal made from organic food, her mother's newest obsession. Maria, the house cook, did her best to prepare every meal with the healthiest ingredients she could manage. Usually, that was the main reason Annabeth preferred to eat lunch from school.

"Hey, honey, how was your day?" Her mother looked up from her plate, eyeing her expectantly.

"Good" Annabeth replied absentmindedly, grabbing an orange juice from the fridge.

"Did you make any friends?" Her dad said cheerfully.

"Yeah"

"Were people nice?"

"No"

Annabeth made her way upstairs but she could feel her parents' eyes on her back. She turned around and arched her eyebrow. "What?"

Athena gave her husband a sideways look and said "Actually, Annabeth, today is the gala I talked to you about, remember?"

Oh, shit. "Um, I guess, what about it?" Annabeth tried for a smile, but it turned out more like a crazy grin.

"All the important members of the Olympic Industries will be there, including Daedalus and Hermes, the Public Relations Manager, I'm sure you remember him. As the CEO, I have to attend. And so will you."

"Oh, mum, must I? I have homework to do." Annabeth complained. Perfect. Zero time to check out Percy Jackson's Facebook. Not stalking of course. Just checking out.

"Annabeth, I promised them that we will attend. Your dad has agreed to come too. You have to come." Athena's cool grey eyes looked at her hardly.

Annabeth turned to her dad, hoping for help. He gave her an apologetic smile. "Don't worry, honey. I'm sure there will be other children your age there. In fact, I think Hermes has a son… Lenny?...no wait, Logan? Well, the fact is I'm sure you won't get too bored."

Annabeth shrugged. "Yeah, whatever. I'' ll go upstairs to get dressed." She sighed once more and headed to her bedroom.

"Wear something nice!" Her mother shouted at her.

Annabeth resisted the urge to slam the door. She threw herself on the bed, exhausted. He mother's galas were the most tiring thing on the planet. Never mind, that everyone there saw her as Athena's successor and always blubbered about what a great architect she would be and so on. The only one who understood her was Daedalus, who never once asked her about her future career choices.

"Annabeth!"

Annabeth turned around and spotted a tall man standing behind her. He had sandy blonde hair and deep blue eyes. He was smiling at her, a devilish smile made for advertising toothpaste. She recognized him.

"Luke! I didn't know you would be here." Annabeth said, fixing her hair. She could practically feel herself blush and she tried to stop her heart from beating so hard. Oh, what was wronh with her? It cerainly didn't help that Luke was looking so good. He was wearing a Tom Ford costume that showed of his broad shoulders perfectly.

"My father is Hermes, the Public Relations Manager. He dragged me to the gala to 'meet all his important collegues'" said Luke, putting the quotation marks with his hands. He smiled once more and eyed her more carefully now. "By the way, you look stunning."

Annabeth smiled at him. She supposed she did but hearing him say it made her feel more sure about herself. She was wearing a red dress that left her back bare and she had styled her hair in a fashionable chignon. She wore a pair of silver owl-earrings her mother had given her on her last birthday.

"Thanks, Luke." Thank God she didn't stutter.

"Wanna go outside? It's pretty cramped here." He said, offering his arm. Annabeth gratefully took it and let him usher her outside, in the balcony of the Ritz Hotel.

The gala was nothing if not fancy. And costly, of course. It was held every year to the Ritz Hotel, the most expensive hotel of New York City. Athena always hired the best catering in the city and sent the invitations herself. The participants were always top executives and businessmen, so the gala was packed to the brim with expensive suits and dresses from the best fashion designers.

Luke led her to the balcony. They were alone, except for the few waiters who passed them in a hurry carrying cockteils and champagne and a couple who were kissing passionately n the corner. The sight of them made Annabeth turn her head abruptly. Luke leaned over the edge of the sidewalk and turned to look at her. His eyes looked ghostly beautiful in the moonlight.

"So, did we make a good impression to you?" He asked, a teasing tone in his voice.

"Oh, no. The bathrooms were dirty and the food was horrible. I'm not gonna set foot in there again." Annabeth smirked, taking a drink from a passing waitress.

"I'm sorry. It's a pity, though. I thought you wanted to try out for the swimming team." Luke said casually.

Annabeth shot him a suspicious look. "Have you read my bio, or something?"

Luke grinned, his scar almost vanishing in his dimples. "My dad told me. Your mother said you were on the swimming team on your old school."

Annabeth frowned and set her glass down. "My mother talks too much."

"Anyhow, I think you will like it of you join. We got a great time, we made it to nationals last year. Besides, I will help you. I'm co-captain, so you don't need to worry about getting in or something. I can pull some strings."

"I don't need you to. I can get in by myself, I assure you" Annabeth snapped. She sighed "Sorry, Luke."

"Oh, don't worry. I know how to handle angry people. We have some of them in the swim team." Luke said. "Like our captain."

"Yeah, who is he?" Luke tried to speak, but Annabeth cut him off. "Oh, don't bother, I probably won't know him. I bet he's a senior."

"No, in fact I think you know him. It's that punk, Jackson. Percy Jackson." Luke said with a twitch of his lips, like he had tasted something bitter.

Annabeth's mouth almost fell open with surprise. She never pictured Jackson as a student who cared about school activities. My my, time to learn something about the boy with the deadly motorcycle.

"Yeah, he almost crashed his bike in my car today. He's also in my English class, with ." Annabeth found herself stangely nostalgic, as if an almost car accident with a handsome, no I did not just think that, well with a total stranger can be endearing.

"He's a good swimmer. But he sucks at almost anything else. He barely passes each class every year." Luke smiled in a hard way and his eyes glittered nastily. Annabeth didn't like that look.

"I don't know him that well. But all the girls in my woodshop class were talking about him. They seem to find his bad-boy attitude and tattoos captivating." Annabeth stared at Luke tried to read his face. He looked at her and his features turned hard.

"I hope you don't, Annabeth. This is no person to mess with. I heard he's in a gang. Do you know that last year he got expelled because of a fight? For God's sake, he never said why he did it, but my friend Ethan, (you remember him, the one with the eyepatch), he said that Jackson hit that guy because he said something about one of his friends, that emo kid, Nico. To inform you, the guy he hit had three stitches in the eyebrow."

Annabeth stayed silent, fixing her gaze in front of her. One part of her agreed with Luke(possibly the sensible part), but the other wanted to defend Percy, even though he had hit that guy. After all, he just stood up for his friend. Annabeth was really angry with the part that wanted to defend the punk-ass.

Just when Annabeth was opening her mouth to ask more, her mother appeared in the balcony." Annabeth, it's time to get going, you have school tomorrow." She noticed Luke standing beside her and smiled. "Oh, hello Luke. It's nice to see you."

"You, too Mrs Chase." Luke flashed her his brilliant smile, all his past irritation forgotten. He shook her hand.

"I', glad to see you hanging out with Annabeth. Your father said you have some classes together." Athena eyed Annabeth, who was rolling her eyes. Her mum seemed to have more spies than FBI.

"We do, Mrs Chase." Luke said cheerfully, giving her a quick glance.

"Well, I hate to spoil your fun, but we must go now."

"See you tomorrow, Luke." Annabeth said. Luke nodded and leaned in to kiss her cheek. She inhaled his scent and perfume. He had strong, rich smell that made Annabeth's head spin a little. "Goodnight." He murmures, his blue eyes shining.

Annabeth smiled a him. Maybe the night wasn't a total disaster.

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