Chapter 7: Phase 1: Be more friendly Part 2

I was sitting in the cafeteria, at the usual table in the back, waiting for Selena to show up with Piper. Thalia was eating a hamburger from the school cafeteria while I just chewed on a piece of celery I packed.

"Where are they?" Thalia muttered. I shrugged.

"Beats me," I replied. We waited in silence some more. I got lost in my thoughts, Percy's words echoing in my head.

Believe it or not, I want to be friends.

At first, I didn't believe it. I thought it was a scheme to win the game, which he didn't know I was also playing. But I saw the honesty and sincerity in his eyes. He truly wanted to be friends.

And I found myself wanting to be friends with him too.

I groaned and hit my head against the table.

"Annabeth," Thalia said, concerned. "What's wrong?" I sighed and looked up.

"I want to be friends with Percy Jackson," I told her. Her eyebrows raised.

"And?" she asked, motioning for me to continue. I looked at her, confused.

"What do you mean 'and'?" I replied with a question. She rolled her eyes.

"And how is that bad?" she elaborated on her question. I sat there and thought.

He's dangerous. Gang leader, right? I heard that he's been in jail a few times too, shoplifting or something.

But, he's such a nice guy.

'Nice guy'? For heavens sake! He's trying to defile you.

I can tell that he doesn't want to. He just wants to be friends, and he hates this game.

Yeah, right. He hates this game. Then why is he still playing it?

Luke probably pressured him.

Hmm. But he has Rachel, what kind of douche cheats on his girlfriend, in public, as a game with an opposite gang's leader?

...I don't know

Besides, we have a plan. Let's stick to it.

Fine.

"Annabeth?" Thalia asked, waving a hand over my face. "Annabeth!" Irritated, I grabbed it.

"What?" I hissed.

"Silena and Piper is here," she replied. I looked. Piper and Silena were complete opposites. Silena was wearing designer clothing, and a crap load of make-up. Piper, on the other hand, was wearing cut up jeans, a simple t-shirt with an army jacket over it, and combat boots. While Silena's hair was long and silky, Piper's was short and choppy.

"Hi guys!" Silena greeted as she and Piper sat down at our table.

"Hey," Thalia and I replied.

"So, what did you need my help with?" she asked. Piper gave her an irritated look and nudged her.

"Our help with," Piper corrected. Silena just rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, sure," Silena replied, waving a hand around. Thalia and I exchanged looks.

"Anyways," I said, starting the conversation. "I came up with a brilliant plan to help me survive this stupid game Luke and Percy are playing." Piper looked excited, while Silena looked at me sadly.

"I don't know if you can avoid them," Silena told me. Thalia snorted.

"Trust me, that was her plan before this. An hour and a half after, she decided that she was going to tutor Luke in English, and actually be friends with Percy," Thalia informed them. Piper chuckled, while Silena started laughing.

"Anyways," I said, signalling that I needed their full attention, something that Mrs Gardner does. "Here's my plan." I handed them the sheet of paper. Together, they scanned it.

"And...you want our help for the beauty part?" Piper asked. I nodded. She looked uncertain.

"I think that I should do the beauty part," Silena said. "Piper could help you with the 'falling-in-love' part. Jason has a more prominent role in the Tridents than Charles." I looked at Piper for approval. She nodded.

"So, what do you want me to do for the first stage?" I asked her.

"Well," Piper replied. "The best thing for you to do is to listen to both of their concerns and laugh at their jokes. Occasionally throw one in there, too."

"So, do that for a whole month?" I asked for clarification. She nodded.

"But get a bit more friendly every month, ask if you want to study together, go hang out on the weekends, etc. Just ease yourself into that role," she added. I nodded slowly. That can't be too hard, right?

"Just keep wearing what you're wearing around this stage," Silena told me. I nodded.

"I think that we should have a meeting every two weeks, just to see how the plan is going," Thalia put in. We all hummed in agreement. The bell rang, ending lunch. We all stood up, slinging our backpacks over our shoulders. Silena and Piper waved goodbye and went to their lockers, while Thalia and I walked to ours.

"I don't know if I could do this, Thals," I told her. She gave me a look.

"Listen, if you can make friends with me, then you can do this," she reassured me. I gave her a small smile of thanks. We got our stuff for our different subjects and parted ways.


As soon as I entered English class, I saw Luke in the desk at back, where we sat last time. With a sigh, I walked over. I dumped my backpack on the floor next to my desk and sat down.

"Hey, Luke," I greeted, taking my stuff out.

"Hi," he said. "Unfortunately, I have to cancel on tutoring today." I looked at him, surprised.

"Why?" I asked. He scratched the back of his neck.

"Well, the coach decided that we should have another basketball practice after school," he informed me. I mused over this. Then an idea struck me.

"How about we tutor every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at lunch?" I asked. He nodded.

"So, today's Tuesday...so tommorow at lunch? I guess I could," he replied.

"You know where I usually sit, right?" I asked. He nodded. "Meet there." A silence fell upon us two. Wow, being friends is harder than Ithought...

"How are you?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"What?" Luke asked, snapping out of lalaland.

"How are you?" I repeated. He groaned.

"My dad's working me to the bone. He wants me to practice for three hours every day," he told me. My eyes widened.

"Every day?" I asked. "Wow." He nodded. "That's...awful."

"Anyways," he said, switching subjects. "I heard you got sent to the principal's office today, I was pretty shocked when I heard." I groaned.

"Don't remind me of that awful experience," I muttered.

"How did you like our beloved Mr D?" he asked, sarcastically.

"I have never talked smack about any teacher or faculty member," I replied. "But he is absolutely disgusting." He laughed.

"He used to drink alcohol, but then he almost got fired, so he changed his addiction to Diet Coke," he told me. I scrunched up my face.

"What a disgusting creature," I said in disgust. Luke laughed full on and I had to join him too.


English went by fast, with Luke and I both cracking jokes to each other.

"Bye Annabeth, I'm glad we're friends," he told me and left the classroom. I just sat there. I felt a sort-of...sisterly relationship thing towards Luke. With Percy...I don't know. I just felt like I would be purely disgusted with myself if I made Luke fall in love with me. It would feel just plain wrong. So I knew who my target was.

Percy Jackson.


A/N

Okay, you guys are the best. There are over 4,000 views for only about 7 real chapters. 62 reviews and 57 followers and 33 favourites. I started posting on Saturday. OMG. I love you guys. So, I am going to post 3 more chapters later today. You guys deserve it. And please, if you have a FF account, can you please just vote on the poll (you can find it on my profile page) instead of saying it in the reviews? It make it easier to track. The question is: What pairings do you want with the characters Thalia, Luke, and Nico. So go and answer now!

Thanks to: Apeni, COOKIES D, si-fi-lover22, percabeth1234, darkprincess254, M3ll0wJ3ll0, rockinflower101, 5, leiras, dudeman1973, Son of Erebus god of Shadows, olympusgirl12, pongochic2, Thiswasmade4me, PurpleQueen981, AwkwardGems, PercabethIsEternity, cantwaittillfall, Guest(s), PJOOF16, XxbethamphetanimexX, Codex, April, ImmaNerd98, JamieAnimeLover, fanficrulz, hambakachana, SilverLiningsGirl, wisegirl210 for reviewing/favouriting/following. Love you guys!

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