Chapter 7: G is for Guard

Style: AU, AH

POV: Annabeth, 3rd person

Summary: In which Annabeth is a member of the Color Guard and Percy is part of the Drum Line, and they're at their final Marching Band competition as seniors. #LastNightWasMyLastMarchingBandCompetition


"Mark time. . . hut!" called out Clarisse.

Percy struck the tempo.

Annabeth silently marched in place for four beats, righted her flags, and led her line of Color Guard members towards the football field for their final band competition. Their season hadn't been too good, but this was their last chance to make everything good, to maybe even get first place.

As she marched onto the track, she felt the sweat begin to roll down her back, which sucked because of the dress she was wearing. More than anything, she wanted to steal Percy away and go sit in the bleachers, cuddle up with him.

It was like forty degrees outside. She really loathed her dress. Annabeth didn't even like competitions that much, but she was determined to change that. This was her senior year. She was Color Guard captain. This was her last time being a flag girl, so she had to try her best. Not just for herself, but for everyone else.

She wanted to do good for Percy.

Now, Percy wasn't good in school really. Her was more of a sports guy, and he was captain of the swim team. Annabeth was valedictorian and in all AP classes. But one of the things that they had in common was their love for band.

They'd met each other in band in middle school, when Annabeth had been an alto sax player and Percy had been on the snare drum. Now, even though Annabeth was a nerd, Percy wasn't. Band was the only thing remotely nerdy that he would be a part of. And now, years later, they were both seniors in marching band.

In Annabeth's first year, she had marched with her saxophone like most of the other people, but she'd absolutely hated it. She'd been terrible, so in her sophomore year she'd joined the Color Guard and had enjoyed it much more than using her instrument.

Annabeth had tried to get Percy to join Color Guard, but he said that it downgraded his manliness. "No one will take me seriously," he'd insisted when Annabeth told him that most bands had male color guard members. She'd rolled her eyes, but there had been no swaying from his decision.

He was the best member of the Drum Line now. He was captain of that too.

"Now, will everyone join together in a warm welcome for the Goode High School Marching Band!" exclaimed the announcer, and the crowd roared in greeting. Annabeth shivered. She was glad that she wasn't the first person to walk in. No, that was Clarisse, the Drum Major.

Annabeth had wanted to try out for Drum Major, but had decided against it. Normally she liked to be the leader of things, because she liked that kind of power, but that was just too much responsibility. Now, she regretted it, not just for herself, but for all of the other band members.

Clarisse sucked. She was mean and cruel and made them practice for hours, just to yell at them for not doing enough work and brag about how she was a great tuba player. In other words, no one liked her.

"We have some shout-outs to the Goode High Band." The announcer began to read through them, and Annabeth struggled to maintain perfect composure. Some of them were just so funny. She was supposed to smile at the crowd, not laugh, but it was really hard.

The funny thing was that Percy and Annabeth both had ADHD, but they could remain at attention without moving. It was calming sometimes.

One of them really caught her attention.

"To Annabeth: Love you baby. Show those other flag girls what you're made of! Love, Percy."

She felt a damn flutter in her heart. Percy could be such a Seaweed Brain, but also a complete Sweetheart.

They marched out onto the field and took up their positions. Annabeth was in the front line with all of the other Color Guard members. She set three of her flags down at her feet and went into a resting position with her one starting flag. She stared at the ground and took deep breaths.

This is it, she repeated in her head. This is the end. This is everything that you've been working towards.

"The Drum Major is Clarisse La Rue," started the announcer. "Your Band Captain is Jason Grace. Color Guard captain is Annabeth Chase. Drum Line Captain is Percy Jackson. Woodwind Section Leader is Rachel Dare. Brass Section Leader is Frank Zhang. Pit Section Leader is Hazel Levesque."

There was a small break as Clarisse marched across the field in all of her pride. She reached the raised podium and climbed up it. Annabeth nearly broke down when she slipped on one ring. Looks like Clarisse was going to lose some points. That actually made her feel happy.

"Drum Major, is your band ready?"

Clarisse did an about-face and did one of her ridiculously fancy salutes.

"Goode, you may take the field in competition."

"Band Atten-hut!" Clarisse barked out.

They all snapped to attention, and for the next eight minutes, the performance was a complete blur to her. Percy struck his beats and Clarisse conducted the band until she was joined by Jason at the back of the field, who helped conduct half of the show. She twirled and tossed her flags and rifles. She flipped it around and danced across the field, perfectly in step.

When the show was over and they marched off field, Annabeth felt numb. Half of that was from the cold, but the other was in shock. She felt good about the performance. What had the judges said? They would have to wait an hour for awards.

Once they were allowed to disband, Percy ran over to her. In full uniform, it must've been hard, but he swept her off of her feet. "You were amazing," he whispered against her lips.

"You too," she replied, kissing him back. He made her warm, and she was never happier that she had joined band.

Band was nostalgic to both of them, because that was how they had originally met one another. Thinking back to how young they had been, learning to play instruments, her insides got all warm and fuzzy. She kissed him and tasted sea salt on his lips.

"Oh yeah, get some!" Leo the Trumpet player called, and someone whistled.

Annabeth waved a middle finger to them as she pulled away from Percy, but she kept her one hand around his neck. Her flags were on the ground and his drums had been discarded somewhere.

So about half an hour later, they were snuggled against each other on the bleachers, watching the other bands perform. There was only one more until awards, and then Percy and Annabeth would both have to go out on the field and stand at attention for an hour straight. She was not looking forward to that.

They had a blanket over their shoulders, thanks to Sally Jackson and her awesome self. They sipped hot chocolate as nine o'clock passed and Annabeth was able to see her breath.

She felt Percy's lips on her forehead. "We should probably get moving now."

"I hate this dress," she complained. "You're lucky that you get to wear that giant outfit."

"Well, I must say, I enjoy seeing you in that short dress." Percy winked and kissed her quickly again as they folded up the blanket and threw away their empty hot chocolate cups. Annabeth slapped him lightly on the chest and he laughed. They returned the blanket to Percy's mom and then joined the other captains and leaders from Goode down below near the field.

"Just so you guys know," Jason said. "No matter what we get today, we're all winners."

"Except if we get second. Then you all suck," Clarisse confirmed, scratching her head under her ridiculously tall hat.

"Thanks for the motivation," Percy said dryly.

So then, a few minutes later, they were lined up with all of the other bands on the field, standing at attention. Percy stood next to Annabeth in the back, and even though you weren't supposed to, they held hands. Annabeth was having little freak outs, and she felt great when Clarisse got third place Drum Major.

Then the category went to Original Ensemble. This was her category.

When they went to the 4A High School category, Annabeth began to shake. Goode High School was 4A.

Percy squeezed her hand reassuringly. The look her sent her made her feel all the better. The placement didn't matter. The overall score did, and they would get that after the awards.

But when Goode High School was announced as first place, Annabeth's heart stuttered to a halt. No freaking way. She refused to believe it.

Percy placed a sweet kiss on her cheek. "Go get them, Wise Girl."

She forced her legs to move as she walked up to the host Drum Major and did a little twirl before saluting. She shook the guy's hand as he gave her the first place trophy. "Congrats," he told her and she thanked him before returning to the Goode High group. She set the trophy down in front and returned to her position next to Percy.

"I can't feel my feet," she whispered. He grinned at her.

"You're in shock," he told her, threading their fingers. "You shouldn't be. I knew you would get this. You're too awesome to get anything less."

And then, the next category was Drum Line. And she did freak out when Goode High got first for that too, because it was Percy's category. He had worked for seven years to get something like this, and he totally deserved it.

Losing control and not caring, she threw her arms around him and kissed him, not letting him go get the award. He didn't seem to care, and Clarisse made a disgusted sound. The crowd roared in the background.

But they were in their own little bubble. Who cared about placements? The others could wait.

Because right now, this was their moment.


Well. . . it's been like five months. SORRY! I've been busy with other stories, but Marching Band Season ended last night, and I got an idea for a story. You think we could maybe get to 100 reviews? Thanks for reading!

-BBH