Chapter 9
"I do not have big ears."
I laughed and looked to Apollo. "Are kidding me? Did she really tell you that?"
Apollo frowned and his forehead creased, aging him by ten years. "Yep. Went right up to me and just said, 'you've got big ears, mister.' I don't have big ears."
Rolling my eyes, I fixed him with a smirk. "Honestly? Do you wanna know what I think?"
"What?" Apollo asked apprehensively. It lacked any curiosity. It sounded like he was asking because it was the normal response to my question. I shrugged. "It's not your ears that are big." He sighed in relief. My smirk morphed into a full-on grin. "It's your nose that's really big." I reached over and gave it a squeeze. He swatted my hand away irritatedly and continued to watch Percy swim his laps.
"Gosh, does that guy ever get tired?" He checked his watch for the umpteenth time, revealing that Percy had been swimming without a break for almost an hour and a half.
I shrugged again. "Hey, what can I say? The guy's half-fish."
Percy emerged from the water with a jump. "I heard that!" He yelled at me. I tilted my head to the side, how he was able to hear me underwater, I would never know. "And apparently part dog."
"Heard that too!" Percy called as he dived back into the water with nearly impossible grace. Apollo watched him with awe. He was the opposite of his football teammate, he was bulky and sturdy, and not at all agile. While he lumbered through the other teams recklessly, Percy would be weaving through them and scoring all of the touchdowns. He was the team's top player. I found his athletic prowess almost intimidating. Almost.
He promised me that I could teach him archery if I would watch him swim, so I agreed. But I had no idea just how long he'd be swimming, otherwise I'd just give up and tell him he didn't really need to learn the ways of the bow. But I was stuck. Apollo was with me by chance, and as I was walking to meet with Percy, he had run into me and asked me what I was doing. Just to get on his nerves, I had told him, "I'm meeting with Percy at the pool, to, you know, do stuff."
Apollo got all big brother-ish and said that he needed to come with me. I asked him why teasingly and he had told me in a serious voice, "I need to make sure you don't go swimming with him."
Ha!
Like he'd think I was some whore who'd wear a bikini at a very public pool.
So there he was, staring at Percy in pure awe. "What was the real purpose of you coming here again?" Apollo whispered to me, his eyes still glued to Percy as he swam his at least fiftieth lap.
"Archery," I said, my eyes were on Percy too. It was plain amazing and hard to believe he'd only been actively swimming for three years. When he emerged again from the pool, I rushed to his side and handed him a bottle of water. He thanked me and guzzled it down in a matter of seconds. I tried not to look at him, his lean muscles glistening with the water of the pool. He was just plain gorgeous. It was hard to believe it when he told me that he was bullied and not one girl liked him in the entirety of his high school. Shows how much puberty can do.
He smirked at me. I was so busy staring at him that I hadn't noticed he was done drinking his water. "You liking what you see?"
My mind was completely blank and I was immediately embarrassed as I said, "Yes."
He winked at me and laughed when he saw my red blush. "Don't worry. You're not the only one who likes what they see."
I rolled my eyes and punched his arm. Many conversations we had ended up like this. He would say something annoying, I would become exasperated, and so on. I smirked and raised a brow. "Oh really? And what exactly do you like?" I flirtatiously clasped my hands together; showing off a small amount of cleavage through my modest neckline just to tease him. I had yet to wear the things from the wardrobe Aphrodite gave me, but I was planning to wear them the next day.
His green blue eyes moved to my breasts, but only for a heartbeat. His eyes lifted up to mine and he smiled back at my smirk. "Everything," his voice was just a few tones lower, but it made me feel nervous, excited, and powerful nonetheless.
"Alright, alright," Apollo walked up to us, pushing us apart, "No more leering at my sister, Percy. The sexual tension in here so tense I can hardly breathe."
I rolled my eyes and punched his arm a little harder than intended. "Shut up, Apollo." I turned back to Percy. "I do believe that I owe you an instructional class on archery?"
Percy sighed. "Uh, fine. Where's the range?" He placed a hand on my hip, much to Apollo's chagrin. I nodded to the exit and walked down through the school. It was huge, and had many different rooms to accommodate many different students' talents. The range was built a while ago for a different prodigy; some girl named Zoe Nightshade. She was apparently so good that she won enough competitions to earn the money to build the range, and I thanked her every time that I shot there.
The range was outdoors, with a small cabinet that held quivers, bows, arrows, and targets. Seats sat on the blacktop under a roof that protected it from the shade. A wall was at the left of the range so that none of the arrows, if shot correctly, would hit the wall instead of going out into the fields. It was a quaint little place.
Apollo told us that he had to, and rushed away. I watched him, that familiar pang of anxiety and guilt filling up my thoughts. Percy placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled down at me. "He's okay. I promise. You don't have to worry about him."
I sighed. "Let me guess. You know what's going on."
Percy nodded hesitantly. "Yeah. I do."
"I really wish he'd trust me enough to tell me what's going on with him." I let him grab my hand. His warmth and smell enveloped me in reassurance and care. "Okay. Where do we start?"
I nodded and went to the storage shed full of supplies. It was lit by a dim light hung up on the ceiling. I grabbed two armguards, bows, arrows, and walked back with the supplies in hand. I set them down at the end of the blacktop. "Go get the targets please," I asked Percy politely.
He nodded and dragged the heavy targets to the distance I liked, and the whole way I admired his strong arms. I wonder—
No, I thought. Not here, not now.
I handed him the bow. "Okay. I wanna see what level you're at so I know what to help you with. Just start shooting." I backed off and shifted my weight to one foot, watching tentatively. He breathed in and nocked an arrow in the wrong place. Not only that, but he gripped the bowstring, instead of pulling it with three fingers. He shot it, but the arrow veered far left from the target.
I shook my head and tied my hair in a ponytail. I pressed my body against his hard back, his warmth seeping through my clothes, making my skin prickle. I grabbed his hand and gently placed his fingers in the right place. "Pull carefully and with your shoulders, not just with your arm muscles." I helped him pull back. "Like that," I whispered in his ear. A tremor ran down his spine; and I would be lying if I said I didn't feel important and powerful at that moment. He just made me feel that way. "Good." My voice was soft. He let go, and got a near bullseye. I stepped away and nodded, pleased.
I sent him to retrieve the arrows and he strapped the bow around his shoulder. I shifted my weight on the other foot and crossed my arms over my chest. When he came back, I instructed him on how to aim. "Make sure the red point is only for short distance, because remember that as that arrow moves through the air it will curve down and lose power, so the lowest sight is for far away targets. The middle is all about personal discretion."
Percy nodded and shot again, but not doing much better than last time. He just shrugged it off. "I was never very good." I rolled my eyes; I highly doubted he'd ever shot a bow in his whole life. How could he possibly suck at something he's never done before? Oh well, that was Percy logic for you, ladies and gentlemen.
He continued to pull and let go, and he very gradually got better and better. I applauded enthusiastically when he got a bullseye. He turned to me, pride shining in his beautiful sea green eyes. "Can I have a prize?" he asked me lightheartedly. I rolled my eyes, smirked, and lifted my head to his neck and playfully nipped at it. His breathing became erratic and he looked down at me, his eyes darkened a little.
"Your turn."
Oh s***.
I squealed as his picked me up and began to pepper kisses all the way down my neck noisily. "Stop!" I said while laughing uncontrollably. The kisses were just light enough to tickle me, but hard enough to be pleasurable. It was clear he had some experience before. It was such a strange feeling, it was just his mouth, nothing extraordinary; but it felt like the most amazing thing against my skin. Something collected in my stomach, a tautness that I couldn't get rid of, and his kissing only heightened it. "You're—tickling…me!" Percy gave me a final nip under my ear, and put me down.
We both stared at each other, our breathing heavy; it was like we were testing each other: which one would speak first after that had happened?
I decided to be the first one to speak. "Percy…what was that?"
He shook his head, shaggy hair falling over his eyes, obscuring their vibrant color. "I don't know. I really don't know what to think. That was a lapse of judgement, I have a girlfriend."
I looked down at my hands. I had completely forgotten about Calypso, and guilt replaced the light feeling I felt before when he was kissing me. "Percy, I'm so sorry, I forgot, and I was just—"
Percy waved it off and put everything back in the shed. "Just…forget anything happened, okay? Forget it." I sulked a little, it was unexplainable, but I didn't want to forget. In fact, I wanted to do it again. Feel those lips against my skin again. "I don't want to forget," I said, stepping towards him. But what other choice did we have? What was I going to do, ask him to break up with Calypso, a girl he worked so hard for, over a few stolen kisses? It was beyond stupid, and I was smarter than that.
Percy stepped back, and something stabbed at my heart. "No, I just—leave me alone please, I need to think okay?" And with that, he turned to leave the range. I stared at his retreating figure, regret filling me up. I closed my eyes and imagined a perfect world, where Calypso and Annabeth didn't exist. It was just Percy and I. Just us.
oOo
"If I didn't know better," Annabeth said casually as she continued to type our research paper, "I would say you two are in a fight. But you don't seem very mad to me." She seemed bored as she continued to type; her eyes never left the screen.
Percy shifted in his chair uncomfortably. The wound was still fresh. It was only the next day after all. "No. We're not arguing." My leg twitched as Percy answered for me.
"So," Annabeth drawled as she finally turned to face us, "What is it then? Why are you guys just stoically sitting there, silent as a statue? I know for sure you're not like that Percy. And Artemis—" she looked at me—"You're certainly not like that. So what is it then?"
"Nothing," I dismissed her, slight malice fluctuating my tone. "Nothing at all."
Annabeth smiled. "Great. Then start talking. I don't work well when it's silent."
I rolled my eyes and talked to Percy about my life, and Aphrodite and everything else. I was wearing my crop top that slung over my shoulder and a light blue skirt that matched it. A whole bunch of boys were looking at me now, but I didn't mind all that much. Just as long as they didn't ask me out, I didn't care. A couple of girls gave me judging glances, even though they wore worse. I just lifted my chin up and flipped them off, especially when their looks got too nasty. One even had the nerve to say, "Slut." I guess it was a tradeoff. And when Percy had first saw me…
He looked like he wasn't even surprised. Instead he just stared, an empty look on his face. I had no doubt he was thinking about Calypso. I had smiled at him and said hello, but he was too distant. It was useless to talk to him at that point. So I'd just gone through the rest of the day, trying my best not to think about him. It wasn't as easy as it seemed.
"How's Apollo?" Percy asked me, his chin rested on his palm; his way of showing that he was bored. I just shrugged and found interest by balancing my pencil by the tip on my paper. "
He's good. You see him at football practice, right?"
"Yeah, I do."
"F***," Annabeth cursed, and I jumped. Annabeth never really cursed when we were friends. Sitting at the popular table must've really changed her and the way she acted. "You guys, come on. I can't think with all this awkward in the air." I blushed as she continued, "So can you guys get over whatever rut you're in already?"
I stared at her. What the hell happened to the Annabeth I knew? She was kind, conservative, and she had boundaries. She was so different. I remembered when she was nervous about going to the office at the beginning of the year and how freaked out she was. I remember how scared I was too, and how we both (kind of, it was more like freaked each other out even further) comforted each other. I also remembered how jealous I had been when Annabeth got three days with Percy and I only got two. How simple things had been. Well, not really.
Percy glared at her and said something I never thought I'd hear him say, and especially not to Annabeth. It showed just how confused and stressed and frustrated he was over this Calypso thing. "Can you just…shut up?"
Annabeth narrowed her eyes. "Percy," her voice was soft as she placed a hand on his upper arm; I tasted bile in my throat as she said, "Look, I know you're upset about God knows what, but you have to get over this. Who else can be strong for me?" She batted her eyes flirtatiously and stupid Percy fell for it like a retard.
He nodded and looked away. "Thank you Annabeth, for comforting me."
Annabeth smirked, looking directly at me as she said, "No problem Percy. You know I'll always be there for you when you need me."
"In which way?" I snorted.
The two of them stared back at me, clearly not pleased with my joke/insult. Percy sighed. "Artemis…would you mind if Annabeth and I talk for a minute? Alone?"
I felt slightly hurt, no I was not slightly hurt. I felt like I was being kicked in the ribs. Was I unwanted? Of course I was, because I was not like Annabeth at all. I nodded slowly and got up before walking to Jason, someone in the class I actually recognized.
"Hey," I said as I took my seat next to him.
He smiled in acknowledgement. "Hey Artemis. What brings you here? Not like I have a problem with it and all, it's just that we don't hang out all that often, you know?"
I nodded and pointed towards Percy and Annabeth, their faces too close to be considered platonic. "Percy asked me if I could go away for a while, and I obeyed. Guess I wasn't all that relevant anymore."
"I'm sorry," Jason said sympathetically. He turned to his paper and continued writing. It was silent for a few moments before I decided to break it. I was kind of like Annabeth; I didn't like silence all that much. "How's football? I think you won the last game, correct?"
Jason's chest puffed up with pride as he paused in his writing to address my question with his full attention. "Yep. I'm the one that scored the winning touchdown. It was a hard one too. I had to go through at least three quarters pf the whole opposing team, and theirs was a little bit bigger than ours." I nodded and he continues to talk animatedly about the game with me, gesticulating occasionally to emphasize his point. I tried my best to pay attention to what he was saying but I found myself looking back at Annabeth and Percy. A few times I caught Percy looking at the two of us with both envy and curiosity.
I talked to Jason about my archery and we seemed to get along well. He also told me about his predicament with Piper and Reyna. "Reyna was my ex girl, you know? She runs off with this guy named Leo and I run off with Piper, we have separate lives. And yet, she acts like a total bitch to Piper and that's not okay. I really don't know what to do, I thought she was over me, but apparently not."
I nodded in sympathy. "I totally understand. I know what it's like to have a little drama—" I never thought I'd ever say that in my whole life. I explained to him what I thought he should do, and he listened intently, nodding every once in a while.
Class was dismissed, and I was left thinking about what Annabeth and Percy were talking about and why it was so important that I had to leave.
A/N: He guys! Sorry that took so long, but this chapter was important, and I kept rewriting it over and over again. Next one might have the same time gap, since I have a lot of schoolwork ahead of me. Have a good week,
-coolcoco98
