Chapter 6

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Percy POV

"Okay, Percy, here's a twenty." My mom says, handing me the twenty. "Can you go pick up some milk, eggs, and bread?"

"Sure, mom." I say. She's about to close the front door, when she stops.

"And be more careful this time." She says sternly. I sigh, and nod.

I had taken driver's ed at my old school, and I have my permit. But I haven't quite mastered parallel parking yet, so the last time my mom let me drive her Japanese compact, I ended up knocking over three trashcans. Oh well.

I moved the day right before spring break, so I got to spend the whole week by myself. And I was miserable.

Since I haven't started school yet, I had no friends in Alexandria. And these are highlights of my spring break; driving around my mom's car and knocking over those garbage cans. Yeah, that's how bad it was.

And the worst part is that I haven't found Annabeth. I've looked everywhere, with no luck. I'm supposed to be enrolled into a new school, Preston High School. Maybe Annabeth will attend, but with my luck, probably not.

I pull up in the parking lot of the grocery store, about 15 minutes from our new house. I'm caught up in my own thoughts, and almost crash into a street lamp near the parking lot. Told you I was bad at parking.

Fortunately, I slam my foot on the brakes just in time before the car collides with the pole. I didn't crash into anyone, because it's 7:30 at night, and almost no one is here.

I step out of the compact, and slam the door, frustrated with myself. I walk into the little shop, and I hear the door jingle as I open it.

Gladys, the fifty year old woman who runs the store, nods her head at me, smiling. Me and her have gotten acquainted with each other over the past week, since I ran errands for my mom often. It could also do with the fact that once, I took an apple from the bottom of the fruit stand, and all the apples fell to the floor.

Gladys wasn't mad though. In fact, she found the whole thing hilarious, since she burst out laughing.

I smile back at her, and I pick up a green shopping basket. I walk over to the dairy section, and pick up a gallon of milk, and put it in the green basket. I head down the aisle, and pick up two loaves of bread and put them in the basket.

I'm about to walk away, when I hear a One Direction song play. I roll my eyes at the lyrics. How stupid... I guess Gladys is trying to be more 'hip' to attract more customers, particularly the younger ones I guess. She loves kids, and she mostly gets adults and people her age.

Then I hear a voice speak from the other side of the aisle.

"Stupid conformist crap." I hear a female voice mutter. I smile a little, reminded of Annabeth's hatred of One Direction. In sixth grade, when I passed out in front of her, she told me about her dislike of the popular band.

What was that word she used? Comfir...compor...conformist? Yeah, that's the one. I remember being confused by the word, but I didn't want to look stupid by asking what it meant. Though, I did look it up when I got home...and it still confused me. Oh well, it was worth a shot.

Huh, weird that the girl used the same word. I've never heard anyone else use the word. Could it be... Annabeth? No, that's impossible right? But that voice does sound familiar...

'I should check... right?' I think inside my head.

'No, you'll just be wasting your time!' A sharp voice says in my head.

'But what if it is her?' Another voice, which is softer, asks.

'You'll just be setting yourself up for disappointment, kid.' The sharp voice says gruffly.

'It's worth a try! Don't listen to him, Percy' The softer one says determinedly.

Okay, I seriously must be going insane. Either that, or the devil and an angel are fighting inside my head, like in those Mickey cartoons.

"Why, I oughtta-!" The sharp voice begins.

"Oh, fuck it!" I say to myself. I say it softly, so no one hears it but me.

I walk down to the end of the aisle, and turn to where I heard the voice. There, I see a blonde, curly headed girl looking at a cereal box, and a tall blond guy, with a hand on her shoulder. I inhale sharply, looking at the girl. It could be her...but I have to look into her eyes to know for sure.

"Annabeth?" I say softly. The girl jerks her head up, and looks straight at me with her stormy grey eyes. Her eyes widen, then fill with shock. She drops the box of Cheerios that was her hands, and it smashes onto the floor.

"Percy?" She says, as if I might disappear at any moment. I nod, smiling widely. Then, unexpectedly, she runs to me, her arms outstretched.

I stretch out my arms, prepared to hug her. Her body collides with mine, and she wraps her strong arms around me.

I join the hug, and I notice a few things. Annabeth is shorter than me, I'm about five inches taller. She's grown taller, but so have I. Her hair still smells like lemon soap, like it did two years ago.

"I missed you so much." She whispers into my chest.

"I missed you too." I whisper back.

"I didn't think you'd keep your promise." She says shakily. This takes me by surprise. She didn't think I'd come and see her? Of course I would've!

"Of course of I would've kept it." I say. "I'm Seaweed Brain, remember?"

She smiles at the old nickname she used to taunt me with.

We kept hugging for about a minute, when I heard a loud, "Ahem!"

I open my eyes to see a pissed off blond guy, who looks ready to chew me up. Annabeth must've heard him too, since she awkwardly stepped away from the hug. The blond guy gripped her arm, and pulled Annabeth closer to him, with gritted teeth. I half-expected him to growl, "MINE!" like a five year old, but he didn't.

"Sorry, you two," Annabeth says awkwardly. "I guess I haven't given you a proper introduction." She pries her hand out of Luke's grasp.

"Luke, this my friend Percy, from Manhattan. I've told you about him before, remember?" She asks, gesturing to me. The guy analyzes me with cold blue eyes, like he's trying to figure out the best way to take me down in a fight.

"Percy, this is Luke, my boyfriend." She says, now gesturing to the guy staring me down. I felt a pang in my heart when she said the word 'boyfriend'. I don't know why though, I only think of her as a friend.

"Right," Luke says with an edge. "Boyfriend." Annabeth glared at Luke, and I just felt uncomfortable.

Then Luke pulled Annabeth close to him, and slammed his lips onto hers. He pulled her even closer to him, and was trying to stick his tongue in her mouth.

I guess that was his way of saying, "MINE!" to me. Now I felt really uncomfortable, and I looked at Annabeth. She didn't really look like she was enjoying it, but that was probably my imagination, right? Of course she would enjoy kissing her boyfriend.

For some reason, I felt like punching Luke in the face. But I don't know why, he's her boyfriend, he has every right to kiss her.

Annabeth pulled away from the kiss, looking uncomfortable.

"Uh, well Percy, we have to go. What high school are you attending?" She asks."Preston High." I reply. A smile spreads across her face.

"Great! We go there too! I'll see you Monday!" She says, waving goodbye, as Luke yanks her arm.

Annabeth POV

I am literally on cloud 9 right now. Percy's finally come, he's finally come to Alexandria! After two years of waiting, he finally came. I'm still trying to get over the shock of it all, with him moving here and all. I couldn't help noticing that when I hugged Percy, I felt a warmth that I never feel when I kiss Luke, but that was probably from overexcitement...right?

I climb into Luke's cherry red car, and shut the door behind me. Luke opens the door on his side, steps in, and slams the door. He grips the wheel, and looks ahead at the road. The engine starts, and we head towards my house.

Luke stares straight ahead at the road, refusing to acknowledge me. He was obviously mad, and it was probably about Percy. Luke has some...jealousy issues, I guess you could call it.

"Luke," I start, leaning in. "He's just...well, he's just an old friend. That's it." I say. Luke's lips tighten, and he grips the wheel tighter, making his knuckles turn white.

I keep trying to talk to him, but he doesn't even bother looking at me. I slump back in my seat, feeling defeated.

It's about to feel like the longest car ride in history, when we finally pull up at my house. I open the car door, and step out. Luke does the same, but he doesn't slam the door like last time. I raise an eyebrow, puzzled by this weird mood change.

It's late right now, around 9 at night. I look at Luke with curiosity, and I see a strange glint in his eyes, it seems almost...unhinged. I take out the keys to my house and open the door. There's no one home, Bobby and Matthew are sleeping over at a friends house, and my dad and Susan are on a business trip. Of course.

Luke shuts the door behind me, and he turns around to face me. His red, bloodshot, unhinged looking eyes glared at me.

Then, his palms collided against my chest, slamming me back against a wall. I stand there, paralyzed with shock, as his fist smashes into my right temple.

Ooh, DRAMA! I just love tormenting you with cliffies, don't I? Reviews for more quicker enjoyable chapters!~Wisegirl869