-Annabeth-
For Annabeth, the weekend couldn't have come sooner. She felt like she needed a break, from school and from social interaction. She was only a week in and already her head felt like it was about to explode. That feeling usually kicked in around April, not September. And of course, at the weekend, she wouldn't have to see Percy.
Her feelings towards Percy Jackson scared her. She had done her best not to talk to him, since she had felt that moment of jealousy on the first day. She wanted to get a grip on her feelings before she talked to him. But getting a grip on her feelings was harder than she thought, especially seeing as her instinct was to push them to the back of her mind, to run from them. When Annabeth first saw Percy Jackson, she knew that there was something about him; something about him that she liked, maybe even recognized, but she didn't think there was any kind of attraction towards him. Sure, she thought he was attractive, but she wasn't attracted to him. However, when she heard that Rachel was, and she had felt jealous, she started to think maybe she was, even if only a little.
That made Annabeth uncomfortable. She had never really felt any kind of attraction to anyone else, let alone one this strong. Every time her mind began to wander, it landed on Percy Jackson. But what was even more uncomfortable was that she didn't want the feelings gone, not completely anyway. There were times when she liked the feelings, because it allowed her to focus on something other than her schoolwork, and her mother's expectations. But she didn't like the jealousy that overcame her whenever Rachel talked about Percy, mainly because jealousy was an unwelcome feeling for Annabeth. This weekend, she'd have time away from them all, to think it over in her head. She couldn't wait for next week, simply because it would mean this strange week would be over. She just had one more party at Luke's to get through.
Luke Castellan's house was, in typical Goode High School fashion, immense; after all, his father was the CEO of one of the most prominent shipping companies in the world. Unfortunately, that meant that he was rarely home. His mother was also absent; some former glamour model who was in some kind of mental health institution. It was actually quite a sad story. After Luke had been born, his mother suffered from postnatal depression, and never really recovered. She developed a drug addiction and had spent more time in rehab than out of it, and then went completely off the rails when she found out that Luke's father, Herman Castellan, had been having an affair. Apparently she had tried to kill herself. It's a sad story of two people who probably shouldn't have been parents. Family was not a topic that Luke ever really liked to talk about; he basically lived at home with whatever maids and nannies his father hired. But the plus side was that if the group ever wanted to hang out, they knew that Luke's house would usually be empty.
They all immediately made their way to the garden, all except Percy, who was just staring at the rooms in amazement.
"Percy, you coming or what?" Luke laughed.
"Yeah, I've just never been in a house this big before." The guys seemed a bit taken aback by that. They all lived in houses of a similar magnitude, and were all so used to the luxury that they never really contemplated how other people lived. Percy probably lived in an apartment smaller than Luke's front hall. It was quite incredible to see the look of wonder on his face; Annabeth couldn't recall ever seeing such a look on someone's face.
They all carried on into the garden, where Luke had a small seating area. Only the most expensive garden furniture was allowed in Luke's house, obviously, but expensive meant comfortable. Annabeth made her way to the most comfortable chair before anyone else could. Everyone sat down and made themselves at home, except for Luke, who went back into the house before emerging with a few bottles of alcohol. Percy just stared at the house and gardens in amazement.
"Who's ready to have fun?" Luke exclaimed loudly, as he placed the bottles on the table. Thalia immediately grabbed the vodka, and everyone laughed, as she poured a small amount into a cup, and drank it all straight. She liked to be considered a hardcore drinker. Luke also pulled out a cooler, which contained some beers, and Annabeth watched from the comfort of the huge reclining chair as they were passed around. Only Percy looked somewhat tentative.
"Is your dad alright with this Luke?" he asked as he passed his own beer from hand to hand, seemingly nervously. Luke chuckled.
"My dad's never home, he's probably with his mistress, and the maids have gone home so we're alone for the next few hours. Honestly though, I doubt my father would really care." That seemed to be enough motivation for Percy, as he pulled out a lighter, and in one fluid movement used it to open up the beer. Everyone stared at him in amazement.
"Dude, that was awesome, how'd you do it?" Michael sounded genuinely awestruck.
"Look, when you don't have any bottle openers, you learn to improvise" Percy said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Suddenly, all the guys were begging him to show them.
"You boys are so easily impressed." Silena laughed. Annabeth had to agree. She was more interested in why Percy had a lighter; he didn't strike her as the smoking type. Then again, she hardly knew him, despite her feelings making her think otherwise.
"So you take a lighter to school?" Apparently Beckendorf had wondered the same thing, as he looked at Percy inquisitively. Goode was known for quite a strict policy on items like that.
"Yeah… I usually have one on me in case I'm in the mood for a cigarette, that's all. Well, that, or if I'm ever in the mood to set a desk on fire again." At that last line, he smirked playfully, but to anyone else, it could've come across as dangerous.
"What else d'you take to school?" Beckendorf asked. Percy looked at him for a moment, before leaning back.
"You really wanna know?" Everyone seemed to nod, and with that confirmation, Percy reached in and emptied out his pockets, dropping the contents onto the table at the center of the circle.
He pulled out an old mobile phone, his wallet, from which he pulled out around $5 and a condom, a key (no doubt to his apartment), rolling papers, filters, a packet of tobacco and finally, a small switchblade. The gang looked at the pile in fascination; as if it was the most incredible thing they'd ever seen.
"You take all that to school?" someone asked in disbelief, but for the life of her, Annabeth couldn't tell who. She was not paying attention, because her gaze was glued to one thing, the condom, as strange at that was. She'd guessed that Percy was sexually active, but did this mean he had a girlfriend? Were there many girls that Percy had taken an interest in? Annabeth knew that she had to hide her growing jealousy. Rachel was bad enough, but this was practically a flashing sign that said there were other girls too. Suddenly, she noticed a hand pick up the condom, and she looked up to see it was Luke. She snapped out of it.
"So, you... y'know?" Luke asked, indicating the object in his hand. Percy just smiled and nodded. "So who's the lucky girl?" he asked "Or guy." He added, as if to be sure.
"Girl. She's just a girl from my estate. We get together every once in a while, hang out, have sex, smoke pot, maybe some other stuff if she's got it. We just have fun, that's all." Why did that make Annabeth so jealous? She should've guessed that a guy like Percy probably had a girlfriend already, yet to actually have confirmation, that was a whole different ballpark. Everyone seemed to be glancing over at Rachel, who had a completely straight face, no doubt hiding jealousy too. The difference was that everyone knew that she liked Percy; no one knew Annabeth's feelings.
"So you have a girlfriend?" Rachel asked quietly. The atmosphere seemed to become tenser, as realization grew on Percy's face, before he laughed.
"No, no no. Calypso isn't my girlfriend. I care about her, and we get on really well, but she's not my girlfriend." So she had a name, Calypso. Annabeth couldn't believe her immediate dislike of this girl. Rachel seemed a bit more satisfied, as she smiled before taking another gulf of her vodka and coke. Thalia, in her slightly drunken state, tried to change the subject.
"You bring a knife to school? That frikin' badass." She wasn't slurring her words quite yet, but at the rate Thalia usually went, it wouldn't be long until then. Annabeth had also wondered about the knife, as there were never things like that found at Goode. Most everyone obeyed the rules on banned items, like knifes and cigarettes.
"Man, you know you can get excluded for having that right?" Beckendorf voiced. Percy just smiled casually.
"Yeah, but you're not gonna tell on me are you?" he replied. That could've come across as a threat, but Beckendorf chose not to see it like that.
"No man, I'm just saying if the school ever found out then-"
"Beckendorf, the school won't find out." Percy cut him off, talking slowly, matter-of-factly. That seemed to be enough to get Beckendorf to stop talking about it. Annabeth couldn't help but notice the mood had gone down slightly, as she took a swig of her drink. She knew that before too long, the alcohol would go into effect. Annabeth wanted to relax and to have fun, to not have to think about her feelings for a few hours. She knew that she may regret it tomorrow, but she also didn't really care right now. She poured herself another drink while Luke changed the subject.
"So who's ready for a little smoke?" he asked everyone, as he pulled out a bag of marijuana. From his back pocket, he pulled out some papers, better quality than Percy's ones, and began to take them out.
"Luke, let me." Percy spoke up, as he held out his hand.
"I can roll you know." Luke pointed out.
"How long does it take you?"
"Around five to ten minutes I guess, I don't know." Percy just laughed, before further holding his hand out. Annabeth was watching this exchange with fascination. Luke, almost begrudgingly, handed over everything in his hands to Percy, who made space on the table, before he began rolling. Within about 30 seconds, he held up a perfectly rolled joint, which he handed to Luke, and then began rolling a second.
"Holy shit that was fast" Silena exclaimed. Percy just gave her a devilish smile.
"I got a lot of practice."
"No shit." Luke muttered under his breath, examining the joint in his hand. "Percy, this is incredible. I gotta try this." As he lit it, and breathed it in, Annabeth couldn't help but notice how naturally he did it now. She remembered when Luke had just started smoking pot, and she had done it a few times with him, but it had only been every once in a while. Now she was pretty sure he did it everyday, and that he was well on his way to becoming a complete pothead. She had no doubt it cost him a lot of money to keep his habit up, but money was never a huge issue for Luke. She also guessed that he was experimenting with harder drugs. She knew that whenever he went out for the night, he would probably have pills on him. She just hoped, for his own sake, that he didn't get hooked on anything too hard or dangerous. She knew a few rich kids who had gotten coke addictions. Drugs were becoming Luke's answer to 'what should I spend my fathers millions of dollars on?'
"Percy, this is one of the best joints I ever smoked." he said between draws. When he went to hand it to Percy though, Percy refused.
"I'm not smoking tonight." He sounded serious, which only served to make Annabeth that bit more curious. Why would this boy who could roll a joint in 30 seconds not want to join in in smoking it? As he took another swig of his beer, his eyes made contact with Annabeth's for the first time that night. It was a quick fleeting glace, but it excited her. It seemed to be daring her to do something, only she had no idea what that was. He did though, and he was being cocky about that. That's what it seemed like anyway. This only reassured her of her plan. She would get Percy Jackson.
"Okay then, more for the rest of us" Luke said loudly.
As the night went on, everyone slowly relaxed. After about an hour, Thalia was so drunk that she was just mindlessly dancing to the music playing in the background, along with some of the other girls and guys. Luke was just sitting there, staring into nothing while Jason and Travis talked next to him. Annabeth was still sitting in her comfy reclining chair. She had not actually said anything to anyone. Had they not all been either drunk or high, they probably would've noticed, but no one had said anything to her. She hoped it stayed that way.
For most of the night she had been glancing at Percy, trying not to make her interest in him obvious. At that moment, he was sitting in the same chair, chatting to Michael Yew. Then, suddenly, in her slightly drunken state, Rachel went over and sat herself down on Percy's lap. She was laughing and even he seemed to be finding it funny. Annabeth told herself to look away, she knew that jealousy would rear its ugly head soon enough, but she couldn't take her eyes off of the encounter. It was like self-abuse: she knew that she didn't want to see it, but she had to look. Why did she have to feel like this?
Percy and Rachel talked for a good five minutes before Rachel's lips started kissing Percy's cheek, then his jawbone, then his neck. Annabeth felt her heart rate quicken. She felt like such an idiot. Closing her eyes, she tried to ignore. 'You have a boyfriend' she told herself over and over again.
'But you don't actually love him do you?'
Not the voice again. She'd kept it quiet all night. Even now it sounded faint. Annabeth took another gulp of her drink, hoping it would simply go away. Just as she opened her eyes, she saw Percy and Rachel's lips meet. It was short, but enough for Annabeth's mind to go racing. She couldn't handle this; she had to get out of here, had to have five minutes to herself. She got up; muttering something about going to the bathroom, although she doubted anyone was listening, and made her way into Luke's house, avoiding glancing at Percy and Rachel as she walked past them.
She walked into Luke's kitchen and poured herself a glass of water from the tap. Maybe water would help; after all, her head was spinning a bit. She silently cursed herself, having probably made a huge fool of herself walking out like that. But no one came in to check, so maybe no one noticed.
'They'll all have figured out by now.'
"Shut up" she muttered, aware she'd spoken out loud. If the first sign of madness was talking to yourself, Annabeth was sure that she'd passed that a while ago. What she was feeling right now only confirmed what she was afraid to admit. She liked Percy Jackson. She wanted to be with Percy Jackson. She wanted to have Percy Jackson. But saying that in her head didn't make her feel like the load had been taken off, she just felt worse. She felt worse because she knew that she couldn't act on these feelings, not without messing up her life.
'Is that not what you wanted though? Something to come in and break up the normal routine of your life?'
She knew that the voice was right, but it was one thing saying that and another thing to actually have it staring you in the face. Now that she was in that position, Annabeth had no idea what she really wanted, she was just a scared little girl right now. She suddenly became aware that there were some tears on her cheeks. Damn it, she thought.
"Annabeth?" a familiar voice spoke behind her. She turned quickly and saw the boy who had invaded her thoughts over the past week standing in the doorway.
"Percy…" she breathed, before wiping her cheeks, trying to disguise the fact that she was crying.
"Are you alright?" he asked, as he moved closer to her. He seemed to walk carefully, as if she was a dangerous animal that could at any sudden movement become angry and eat him.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" she replied, trying to play off the little breakdown she had just had.
"It's just you left pretty quickly and looked distressed. I don't think anyone else noticed." By now he was standing opposite her, an arms length away.
"I'd just had one too many drinks, that's all." She said, hoping he wouldn't dig any further. Thankfully, he didn't.
Silence overwhelmed them, and Annabeth could feel his gaze on her. She didn't look into his eyes, because she wasn't sure how she'd react.
"Percy, why don't you go back outside, I'll be there in a minute." Why did she want him to leave? This was her chance wasn't it? They were both alone, close to each other.
"They're not that interesting outside, if I'm being honest." Percy said, shrugging his shoulders. Annabeth smiled slightly.
"You seemed to be interested in Rachel…" she pointed out, mocking him. If she didn't want him to think anything was up, she had to act like it. Laughter filled the room, Percy's laughter. It was the kind of laugh that made other people laugh too.
"I don't like Rachel," he said finally, "not like that anyway. She's great, but I'm just not that into her."
"Didn't look that way outside." She muttered, looking away from him.
"'Outside' was just me being bored. I kissed her, and I probably won't do it again." Him saying that made Annabeth take a sharp breath. Did he mean that?
"Besides, you're the most interesting person here" he added at the end. Annabeth held her breath, what did that mean. Did he feel the same way that she felt? Had he been wrestling with his thoughts all week? Unable to take it anymore, she looked into his eyes, and felt all the walls she'd built crumble. The beautiful sea green colour seemed to be changing, moving, like the very waves of the ocean. They drew her in, and Annabeth made an in the moment decision that she knew she may regret later. She reduced the distance between them and kissed Percy Jackson.
It was a light kiss at first, lasting only a second. When she pulled away and looked into his eyes, she saw a hunger in them. Before she knew it, he pulled her into another kiss, this one longer. She leaned into it, and closed her eyes. All she could hear was her increasing heartbeat, and wondered if his was going at the same rate. Suddenly, she felt his hand rest on her neck, as he pulled her closer. His touch was gentle, not forceful. His lips were hard, but Annabeth could also feel a tenderness to them. She wrapped her arm around him, as suddenly his other arm rested itself on her lower back. She pressed her body into his, she wanted more. She had kissed Luke so many times over the duration of their relationship, but never had she felt like this.
Luke!
That was enough to snap her out of it. She quickly pulled away from Percy. She didn't know how long they'd been kissing, it could've been seconds, minutes or hours, and as much as she'd enjoyed it, she also knew that kissing him in her boyfriend's kitchen probably wasn't the best idea. Anyone could walk in. They still had each other's arms wrapped around them, and they were breathing heavily, staring at each other, when they heard a voice.
"Annabeth?" It was Silena. Very quickly, her and Percy separated, just before Silena walked in. "Oh, you're both in here. We just wondered where you were, that's all."
"I'll be through in a minute, just wanted a glass of water," she said. Silena nodded, but looked at both of them suspiciously, as if she was guessing what exactly they'd been doing.
"Okay…" she said quietly, before walking out. If Silena had realized, Annabeth knew that she wouldn't tell anyone; she'd talk to her directly first. Annabeth decided to cross that bridge when she got to it.
They were both alone again, Percy and Annabeth. She couldn't help but notice that that had a ring to it, Percy and Annabeth. Their eyes met, green on grey. She was unsure of what his eyes were saying, but they looked just like they had earlier. The urge to kiss him arose again, but she knew that it would be a bad idea.
"So…" Percy said, somewhat awkwardly, "does this happen again?" It made Annabeth think. Now that she'd kissed Percy, all she wanted was more. But she couldn't say that, could she? At least not while she was still with Luke.
"I don't know." she answered. "But I'd like it to."
A smile crept onto his face, that same smile that they'd shared on the first day. He just nodded, and walked out of the kitchen. Annabeth stood in the room for a second, with only her thoughts. Had she just made a huge mistake? And if she had, why did she feel so good? She quickly followed Percy out of the room, to rejoin her friends. This night had taken an unexpected turn.
