Heyo!
Warning! If you see an idiot randomly running around screaming and jumping for joy and all you can make out is "YES! REVIEWS! FOLLOWS! FAVOURITES! OMFG!"
…then do not panic that would be your author who is in the clouds because of you guys! It's actually so fun to write, and stuff.
ON WITH THE STORY!
ANNABETH
Annabeth did not enjoy standing in the hallway while her homeroom teacher Mrs. Green gave her an introduction to the class. She hated the standard introductions that all teachers seemed to know. Annabeth know the whole ordeal. The first day was always the hardest; try fit in, don't piss anybody off, and most importantly, don't make a scene.
Of course that was difficult at its base. Annabeth was bold and people always called her prideful. It was one of the reasons why she had so much trouble with friends in the past. At an old school on her first day when she heard girls talking about her complaining about her hard-to-approach aura and she'd decided then that if nobody wanted to talk to her, then she didn't want to talk to them.
This would be different though. This year she wasn't looking loads of friends. She had a part time job and needed to watch the twins most of her time. Plus if she didn't set her expectations high, then they couldn't be crushed. She had it all planned out to perfection.
Until the crafty councilor came along. One moment he would be the highly esteemed councilor that magazines had covered and the next he was proposing an unorthodox idea to her, but he was the Dr. Brunner and he was making progress with her phobia, and other problems.
"Interesting character, has a phobia, knows the school well, dependable… quite like you. Athletic and well liked and decent grades despite his setbacks," he trailed off in a short list.
While he talked Annabeth started to paint a picture of the boy, her partner in her mind. He sounded like a nice kid and somebody that would be fun, probably good looking, and somebody that she'd want to get to know and work with.
"Well, Annabeth, I'll let you think?"
"I'll do it," She answered, if anything helped her get over this phobia quicker than she was in. She was done being afraid.
"Great! How about we work on the next part?" Chiron said.
"Yes, that would be great."
"Okay Annabeth. Today we are going to do visual practices," Chiron had walked to his file cabinet and had taken out a file.
Annabeth sighed. It was harsh, although it wasn't as bad as some of the other sessions. Chiron would push her to her limits, but was always careful as to not break her.
"Here we are Annabeth. Let's do this slowly. You know what to do."
Chiron took out a piece of paper and showed it to her. All it had was a black dot.
Level One passed.
He waited 10 seconds then showed the next one.
On it had a cartoon picture. It was childlike and there were barn animals. A spider was in the corner with an uncharacteristic smile without fangs. To anybody it looked friendly.
Annabeth took a shaky breath. She could deal with this. Part of her inner self felt ashamed by getting worried over a little animated spider, which was on a piece of paper.
Chiron gave her another ten seconds. He took out the next sheet.
It was similar to the first. The only difference was that there wasn't any barn or animals. Simply a friendly animated spider. Smiling. With small fangs.
Annabeth forced herself to smile back at the picture, like it wasn't fake but really there, even if it wasn't hairy and creepy and-no. She forced herself to stop thinking like that.
"Continue." Annabeth urged. She had gotten to level five last time. She wanted to beat her record.
The next had a cover of one of Annabeth's favourite books when she was a child; Charlotte's Web. The spider, Charlotte was much more realistic. Annabeth focused on Fern. She looked happy. Annabeth envisioned herself as Fern; happy, unafraid, free.
She nodded her head.
She didn't really recognize the next picture. It was an animated spider. The animation was a bit old, but new enough to look fairly realistic. Annabeth shuddered. The fangs looked so realistic.
"Next," She breathed, taking deep breaths in. One more level. You can do this Annabeth. You passed level five. Go for six. Go for six. It became her mantra.
Chiron showed the next picture. This one Annabeth recognized quite well. It was from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. She realized it was the scene with the boggart. You could see Ron and the other students, although the clear focal point was a large, no, humongous spider with enough hair to get the Tangled princess jealous. Its gleaming pincers snapped ominously. Annabeth felt her calm crack. She was about to yelp when the door burst open.
She snapped her head to the direction of the door. There was a boy who looked worse for wear and breathing heavily.
Chiron looked up mildly surprised,"Ah. Mr. Jackson, I see that you have charmed us with your presence," He said dryly.
Annabeth stared at the boy and he stared back. Strangely enough he didn't flinch at all. Normally people would look away from her glare. Somehow he pissed her off, a lot. Whether it was his hair or his eyes or the fact that he looked just like her-
Wait. Annabeth's mind was a highway, whizzing and fast. Her mind slowly clicked the pieces together. She felt annoyed. Very annoyed.
"He's the one?" she asked. She could hear the disappointment in her voice, but she didn't care, "Him? No. I'm not partnering with a kid who looks like he's ready to burst into tears. You told me that-" she stopped herself from even finishing the thought.
"Now, now Annabeth. I understand if you don't think he's worthy, although considering his past circumstances he's doing quite well."
That hit home. Chiron said that he had been through lots and he was like her. Annabeth studied her shoes, embarrassed, "I understand."
Annabeth wanted to get out of the room. She could tell that her staying there would make it very awkward, "Thanks for having me today. I look forward to tomorrow." She sprung from the couch.
Chiron smiled at her, the little glint in his eye showed that he probably knew exactly what she was feeling.
Annabeth couldn't help but glance at the boy again. His hair was black and looked like it hadn't seen a brush in years. He was wearing a gym outfit and she supposed she would have been impressed if he wasn't trying to hide that he was panicking and trying to control his breathing. She was about to look away when his eyes caught hers and they held gaze. She felt the familiar twinge of annoyance.
Annabeth wordlessly walked out of the room and closed the door. It was none of her business to know about him and vice-versa. Not now, not ever. But it would be, she realized, if he was her partner. Shit.
She snapped herself back into reality. She heard Mrs. Green say something about Mr. Jackson helping her around the school. She silently swore in her head. If he was showing her around then he was most definitely her partner and hadn't declined Dr. Brunner's offer.
Mrs. Green called her in.
Annabeth opened the door, curious, wondering what the faces of the others on the others side would hold. She forced a poker-face and walked in with her head high. The felt the familiar judging glances of her classmates as she surveyed a boy almost nodding off and a girl texting under her desk at the back of class and the several sets of eyes following her every move.
She watched in horror and annoyance as the boy she'd met yesterday stood up suddenly and she recognized him in a heartbeat.
"You!" she murmured at the same time as he said it accusingly.
Everybody looked between the two of them and Annabeth was already making a scene. She would kill this kid later.
"Percy? Do you know her from before?" Mrs. Green asked the boy, or Percy.
"Er… yesterday I forgot a textbook after practice. I was walking through the halls and I saw her, you know? I think I saw her with the receptionist," He scratched the back of his head nervously as he seated himself.
A sufficient lie, she supposed. At least he had the decency to lie.
Mrs. Green looked at her expectantly, "How about you introduce yourself?"
Annabeth looked around the classroom, "Hi," She tried to sound the slightest enthusiastic although it didn't come out right. She continued normally, "My name is Annabeth Chase, and that's it. No nicknames. As Mrs. Green said I'm here because of my family." She added for good measure, "I hope we have a good year."
Annabeth smiled slightly as she made her way to her desk and paid attention to the front. Mrs. Green started talking about the upcoming week and announcement. She wasn't going to miss anything, especially on the first week.
The bell rang signaling her first period, "Oh! Percy, Annabeth! Come to my desk for a moment!" she called over the din of her classmates talking.
Mrs. Green handed them little purple slips, "Mr. Brunner gave these to me to give you. They give you a couple passes for classes and other situations. Also Annabeth will have most of her core classes with you Percy, except for electives and classes that she has advanced placing in."
Percy nodded and stuffed his note into his front pocket.
"If you have questions about Goode, your teachers, your peers, and Percy can help. Have a good day!" Mrs. Green said as she shooed them out of her classroom for the ninth graders to come into her class.
The moment they were out of the classroom Percy turned to her, "Put that slip in your pocket. Now."
"Why?" she countered.
"We have slips in school. You know, for detention and leaving early or for the nurses. The colors mean everything. Light purple means for headcases as people like to call them here. They're Chiron's color. Just put it away," he repeated nervously, looking over his shoulder.
Annabeth raised her eyebrow.
"You won't be hated, but you'll get looks okay? Mental health stigma crap," he ran his hand through his hair nervously, messing it up even more than it was before. "Look, I know that we both hate each other right now for whatever reason we have."
"So you're not as thick as I thought."
"But that doesn't mean that you need trouble okay? With the rest of your classmates, I mean," then he smiled sarcastically and leaned against the wall stuffing his hands in his pockets, "You won't make many friends quick if you're waving that around, but hey it's not my business if you want to stir up some trouble. That is, if you're into that kind of thing, and please, don't tell me, I don't need to know your story."
"I don't care either I'm glad you don't," she said as she subtly stuffed the slip into her pocket, "Where to, Mr. Wise one?"
Percy rolled his eyes, "Lockers. Then history. Then math, that is, unless you're in advanced placement," He said math with a dreaded look on his face.
"I am," she said triumphantly and he scowled, "I'm also locker 137."
Percy looked at her disbelievingly, "How much influence that does that old guy have?" he asked himself.
"What?" Annabeth demanded.
"I'm 136."
Annabeth was going to have words with Dr. Brunner.
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GotS
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Percy and Annabeth had been in side by side seats for history. Annabeth couldn't be more pissed of then she was already. Percy had almost started sleeping in the middle of class only to question her what he missed.
"When is this due Annabeth?"
"The end of the class." She lied. It was due tomorrow but if you looked at the top of the paper it said it anyways.
Percy studied the paper. It was long. He looked up. "Mrs. B!" he called. "When is the paper due?"
Mrs. B sighed. "Percy, it's due tomorrow."
"Thanks Mrs. B!" he called. He fixed his attention on Annabeth. "You lied." He stated.
"I did."
"Why?"
"Because if you put some effort in, you'd see it was at the top of the paper. Besides, why not?"
"Why not? You're not supposed to lie."
"Huh."
"Why?" Percy asked again.
"You could have read it," she said as she tapped his paper.
"Yeah. I can't."
Annabeth scowled, "Why?"
Percy shrugged, "Dyslexia. I record my classes," He showed an iPhone which had a Voice Recorder screen on.
"So you're screwed when you have something due in class when it's taught on the board?"
Percy looked in the other direction scowling.
Annabeth studied him. Did anybody help Percy? He looked popular enough to get some help with no matter who he asked.
Not that it was her problem. She uttered a quick sorry. She wasn't quite sure whether Percy had heard her or not, although she wasn't going to say it again.
Math was worse. They hadn't properly transferred her into the accelerated math class so she would have to spend this one in the regular one. She watch Percy almost break a pencil and follow Mrs. Dodds with the concentration of a three year old. Annabeth knew how this partnership was going to work she realized as she smiled at Percy erasing his backwards three and squinting at the word problem question.
Towards the end of the class Percy had finally asked her for help, "How do you do this Venn Diagram question?"
Annabeth took pity on him. She reasoned it wouldn't be considered an especially nice action, just a normal classmate would do, especially if he couldn't read the clues, "The first clue is that there are 35 students. So you can put U=35 in the top of the box."
Seven minutes later, Percy's math paper was littered with eraser marks but he had the correct answer. She had explained everything to him, the reasoning and how to do it. He had been a jerk.
"Annabeth. How do you do this part?" he asked in all seriousness.
"You add the number of students from Math and Science and just Math by the total number of students who have math as a course. You'll get the answer to what students have Math and Art," She explained.
Percy looked at it, "How?"
"What do you mean how? You add. You subtract."
"What's adding?"
"What you learned in grade one."
"What's grade one?" Percy smirked.
"The place where you should be," Annabeth answered hotly.
Lunch was no better. Percy had introduced her to all of his friends. Annabeth noticed the almost a full table full and tried to blend in and focus on her food. The only thing that made her smile when a girl named Drew came over and asked for a seat at their table. Percy was about to decline when Annabeth interrupted and patted the open spot next to her. She took a strange pleasure in seeing Percy squirm with Drew and look ready for death while he mixed looks of anger at her when Drew wasn't looking.
"What do we have?" she asked as the bell rang.
"Gym and Economics," Percy had a grinned like a cat that had a saucer of milk and rubbed his hands gleefully, "It's my favorite two days in the schedule. Gym and Econ, back to back days."
That grin meant something.
Annabeth prepared herself for Gym.
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GotS
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"OKAY CUPCAKES!" Coach Hedge yelled, "Before the swimming you have other things to do! Today we have a part of your physical testing. We are seeing your level of physical fitness, so we're running the mile run!"
Many kids laughed nervously as he very obviously held biases for the kids that belonged on an athletic team inside or outside of school.
The gym was huge Annabeth smiled as they walked up to the second floor where there was a track that overlooked the gym that ran on the outside. The class divided themselves up into pairs of two. There would be a runner and a tracker. The tracker would record how fast each lap of 100 meters would be and record the final time. Annabeth was paired with Percy by the coach.
"I'll run first," Annabeth stated as she started to stretch. She tied her hair into a ponytail and began to stretch. Annabeth had decided to go hard at the start. She was going to prove her dominance in not just intelligence in their partnership and was ready.
"Okay," Percy had a timer in his hand with a pencil in the other. The clipboard was on his lap and he was leaning against the wall.
"Don't mess up."
Percy gave her a salute, "Aye, aye Captain!"
"OKAY! RUNNERS GET IN POSITION!" Hedge yelled. His voice projected easily to the track level of the gym. "ON YOUR MARKS!"
Annabeth tensed. She took a deep breath.
"GET SET!" Coach Hedge yelled. He had a checkered flag that would be used for race cars races. He was waving it around like a maniac.
"GO!"
Annabeth flew off running. She rounded the smooth corner of the oval track and continued at a fast pace.
She passed Percy.
"24 seconds," he called.
Annabeth continued. She didn't excel at any one sport, so instead she ran every other day and kept her physical fitness up. She never admitted it, but she was scared for not being fit. The thought of not being able to go for her runs, when she could feel strong and capable was very uncomforting.
She let her mind drift off like she always did when she ran. Annabeth didn't even realize that she was on her second last lap until she was almost finished it.
Percy called her time. She paid no attention to it. Annabeth sprinted the last 100 meters. She crossed where Percy was sitting.
"6 minutes and 16 seconds on the dot. Nice run Annabeth," He reported, "You're probably faster than all girls in the grade, and at least a third of the guys too."
Annabeth caught her breath. She sat down where Percy was siting and looked at her laps. For the most part she was quite consistent. Annabeth felt pleased with her run. She looked up and saw Percy relaxing.
"Shouldn't you stretch?"
"Already did," He answered.
Annabeth didn't say anything. She waited for Coach Hedge to start the second round.
"RUNNERS SWITCH!" Coach yelled. He waited fifteen seconds before waving the flag like before, "AAAANNNND! GOOO!" He was really into it.
Percy shot off. Annabeth was shocked. He rounded the corner. Annabeth pressed the split time on the timer. 20 seconds. Annabeth recorded it. She scoffed. No way could he keep the pace up.
Percy continued and Annabeth's face fell. Percy was probably counting the seconds, because each lap would always be 20 seconds long. On the last two laps he sprinted.
"5 minutes. 22 seconds." She glowered. Percy had blown her out of the water.
"22 seconds?" he asked.
"Yes. Weren't you counting?"
"I was until the last two laps. I didn't beat my record," Percy sighed, "Four seconds off! So close!"
Annabeth looked at him. What was he? 5 minutes and 18 seconds? He was fast.
"What sports do you play?" she questioned.
"Oh… er…I only really play basketball a bit seriously. I run three times a week and sometimes do teams, but nothing serious."
So he won in the physical department. She cut herself some slack, he was a guy and was taller than her, and most likely more active.
"C'mon Annabeth!" Percy laughed. His eyes were sparkling with mischief, as they walked to the change rooms, "Let's go to economics!"
Annabeth smiled back. Her feelings were anything but the smile on her face.
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.o.
Economy class had started out like any other class; Percy wasn't paying attention while Annabeth diligently took notes. When Annabeth had turned to look at Percy she frowned. He was actually sleeping. Again. Was that drool?
Annabeth nudged him, "Wake up, idiot."
"Hmmf," Percy sighed, "Rude, you woke me up. I was bored anyways."
Annabeth studied him. It looked genuine. When Mr. Briggs turned around he changed though. He changed his expression. Boredom turned into understanding with a slight amount of confusion.
Weird. Definitely weird.
There were twenty minutes in the class when the teacher announced a pop quiz.
Percy was smiling. Annabeth decided she had enough.
"Percy," She said
Percy looked over, "Annabeth," He responded.
"Are you good at Economics?"
Percy pulled a face, "I guess you could say that. It's my second best subject. Gym's my first."
"Wanna take a bet?"
Percy narrowed his eyes, "what kind?"
Annabeth pointed to the pages on their desk, "The pop-quiz. Whoever gets a high mark wins."
Percy smiled, "What does the winner get?"
Annabeth though for a second, "Loser has to call the winner Master for a day," She laughed on the inside. A perfect way to show superiority.
"Deal," Percy said it so fast that she couldn't believe it.
"I'll let you back out if you want," She warned.
Percy looked at her with a weird expression. He looked serious, and calculating, "Annabeth, I'm only gonna do this once. So enjoy it okay?"
"Wait wh-" she was interrupted by the teacher, Mr. Briggs telling them to start.
Percy finished first. Annabeth knew he didn't check his work. He played with his pencil while the class finished the test.
Annabeth finished her paper a couple minutes after him. She was pretty sure she had perfect. She'd calculated the curveline for demand and even had extra time to double check that on another question her answer was correct.
"Okay! Everybody put your pencils down! Find a partner and trade with them! Get out a pen to mark your partners quiz!" Mr. Briggs called.
Percy b-lined for Mr. Brigg at his desk. "Mr. Briggs," Percy started.
"Yes?"
"I noticed that there is an uneven amount of people in that class, so could you mark mine?"
Mr. Briggs smiled, "Of course, Percy. Not a problem!"
Percy walked back to his desk and shot Annabeth a confident smile. Annabeth felt dread appear out of nowhere. He knew something that she didn't.
Annabeth could barely concentrate for the 10 minutes as they marked the quiz. She wanted to know her score so bad right now. It wasn't helping that Mr. Briggs was looking at Percy's paper with great interest.
"Here," The kid who she had traded papers with handed hers back, "You got 98 percent."
"Thanks," Annabeth smiled. She wasn't happy that she didn't get 100, although 98 should be enough to beat Percy.
Percy sauntered up to Mr. Briggs' desk. They held a brief conversation. Annabeth couldn't hear it, but Mr. Briggs had a large smile, and Percy kept on running his hand through his hair and shrugging. It ended with Mr. Briggs patting Percy on the shoulder.
The bell rung.
"Okay class! Pages 23 and 24 for homework! No excuses!" Mr. Briggs called.
Annabeth rushed towards Percy, "98," she said.
"What?"
"98. I got 98 percent," She crossed her arms, "What did you get?"
"Seven more than you."
Annabeth narrowed her eyes, :Liar. That's impossible. You can't have 105 percent."
"Yes I can," Percy showed her the paper. In the top right corner she saw handwriting that she reckoned was Mr. Briggs'. She read 100% + 2 bonus marks. 105%! Amazing Percy. You really explained your questions well and I'm glad you caught the mistake!"
Percy blankly explained, "There was a mistake on the quiz. I corrected it. He promised me that he would keep everybody's scores the same, because if they got it right they still would have solved it correctly. Told me that he should reward me, so I got extra credit."
Annabeth was speechless. She lost?
"So about the bet…"
"Don't complete that sentence Percy," she growled.
"Have fun calling me Master tomorrow," he said nonchalantly as he opened his locker, took his books out, and shut it closed, then turned to her, "Just curious, which do you prefer, servant, or slave?"
She was definitely having words with Dr. Brunner.
HAHAHAHA!
So how do you like the story following Annabeth?
Put your comments a review, I'm excited to hear your responses!
PEACE OUT!
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