Chapter 10
Saturday
Percy's POV
I arrived at the school early so we could all arrive before all the people came to judge and watch. I put my fingers through my hair and walked into the change room. The guys looked up at me and nodded in greeting.
"You guys nervous?" I asked. "Us, nervous? Come on! We're the best guys around!" Matt said, a cheeky grin on his face. "We better warm up to make sure we will be excellent." I said, stretching my arms out. They all nodded.
We got into our Goode costumes and put a track suit over it. We jogged around the pool a few times to warm up. We did push ups and sit ups and many other stretches before the judges, spectators and other teams started to arrive.
The girls came over to talk to us before taking their seats. "Hey guys!" Nikita said, smiling at us. "You guys are going to carve up that water today!" Tiffany said, smiling widely. I wrapped my arm around Annabeth's waist. "You guys are going to be great!" Jenna said, enthusiasm in her voice.
"Everyone, please take your seats!" the coach said over the microphone. "Good luck, your going to be great." Annabeth says to me. I smiled and kissed her. They walked away and took their seats. We won all our races and got shouts from the crowd.
I positioned myself on the board for the last race. Brett was on my right. "Good luck, your going to need it." He said to me, smirking. I shook my head knowingly. He could never beat the son of a sea god. The gun went off and we dived into the pool. I swam further and further away from him. I twisted my body at the end of the pool and pushed off the wall, tensing my muscles once again.
I carved up the water. On my way to the other side of the pool, I passed Brett. It gave me another boost of energy knowing I was beating him by a long shot. When I touched the otherside the crowd roared with joy. I pumped my fists in the air as I saw Brett coming in third. I jumped out the pool and hugged the rest of my team. I saw Annabeth running towards me over their shoulder. I squeezed passed them and was tackled by a hug from her.
She smiled at me. "That was amazing! You got a new record!" She said, pointing to a score board. I saw I had done it in 32 seconds. I smiled at her and kissed her. She didn't even care that she was a bit wet now, she just kissed me back. "Sorry to interrupt but we got to get out trophy." Robby said, tugging my arm. "We'll finish after I get dressed." I said, winked at her and then followed my team to the podium.
"Congratulations to Goode High for winning the New York City Senior championships!" One of the judges announced. We all got a gold medal and we're handed our trophy. We had a few pictures taken with the beautiful cup before going to the change rooms to get changed.
When we had all changed, we sat on the benches. I smiled at them. "I'm really proud of you guys, you were all amazing." I said to them, causing them all to smile.
"Thanks Percy, you were amazing too. I mean, you broke a record! That's great!" Matt said, smiling widely. I shrugged. "Well this gives you guys a chance to become professional swimmers as you all want to be one." I said, grabbing my things and putting them in my bag. "Isn't that what you want?" James asked, confused. "I love swimming, I really do, but I would like to be a Marine biologist too." I said. "If you get offered it, you could swim till your like 30 then go to varsity and study marine biology?" Matt suggested.
I smiled. "I guess I still have a year to think about that." I said. They all nodded and we got up and walked back into the swim area. My facial expression changed as I saw Brett gripping Annabeth's wrist. We all ran over to him and his team. "Hey!" I shouted.
Brett looked at me an smirked. "Hi Percy. I was just having a little talk with your girlfriend." He said, his friends snickering behind him with evil grins on their faces. I pushed him off Annabeth and stood between him and her. "Don't you dare touch her or I'll mess that pretty little face of yours up." I said, sending him and his goons death glares.
"Wow Percy, you really are overprotective and jealous. Your 'girlfriend' deserves better." He said, winking at her over my shoulder. "She has her own say thank you very much and we're engaged." I said, sending him a harsh glare. We weren't really engaged as it was just a promise ring but I got the reaction I wanted. "Huh?" His face was scribbled with confusion. "Go. Now!" I shouted at him. He shrugged and walked off with his friends.
I turned to Annabeth and checked her wrist that Brett had grabbed. She had a red mark on it. I looked up at her and said, "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" She rolled her eyes and hit my hand away. "I'm perfectly fine, he's just a jerk." She smiled at me and all my anger dissolved. "Oh, we were looking for you guys to tell you that Brett was talking to Annabeth." Jenna said, running up with Tiffany and Nikita.
"Well done guys! You were amazing!" Tiffany said, smiling widely. We all started talking and made our way to the car park. "How about we celebrate at Margie's? Her food is to die for!" James said, emphasizing to die for. We all laughed and walked towards the little cafe.
When we went inside there was no other people in the cafe. "Hello James!" Margie said cheerfully, walking to the front desk with the same people from Thursday. "How was your tournament?" She asked. "We won! And Percy broke a record!" He said, excitedly. She looked at me and Annabeth and her face light up even more. "You were the same two who came here on Thursday! We wanted to show you a picture that Melanie took on her phone." She said. She called over a pretty, short girl with short brown hair and hazel eyes.
She smiled at all of us and got out her phone. She showed us a picture of me and Annabeth dancing. We all chuckled and she put the phone back in her pocket. "Anyway, take a seat!" She said, ushering us all to a long booth.
We all ordered a hot chocolate and pancakes. They were absolutely delicious as always. We all spent the morning chatting and eating. I noticed Annabeth look down at her wrist a couple times. It was still red from where Brett had been gripping her. "Are you sure you're okay?" I asked, whispering in her ear. She smiled even though I knew it was fake and said, "Yeah, great."
I decided I would ask her about it when we were alone. We all stayed till 12 then went our separate ways for the afternoon. When we got home Annabeth and I were the only ones there so we went up to my room. We were lying on my bed, the warm sun streaming through my window, when I decided to ask her the same question.
"Are you okay? I know you were lying earlier because you didn't want to make a scene but we're alone now so tell me." I said. She sighed and looked at her writ. "It's still. Bit sore when I try to flex it. I'll probably just get a bruise." She said, rubbing it. I took her hand and rubbed the sore part softly.
I was surprised but soon recovered when she kissed Me. I returned the kiss but pulled away and asked, "What was that for?" She smiled and said, "You said we would finish this from earlier." I smiled back and started kissing her again. She returned it as usual and smiled against my lips. We pulled away from each other to breath for a bit. I smiled at her and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
I was about to kiss her when I heard the front door open. "Percy? You home yet?" Paul asked. "Yeah!" I shouted. Annabeth smiled at me and straightened her clothes. I heard the stairs and my mom and Paul came into my room. Annabeth put her hand over the red spot on her wrist. "Hi! How was the tournament?" mom asked. "We won the trophy and I broke a record. My mom and Paul gave me a hug and congratulated me before going out the room and closing the door behind them.
Annabeth sat next to me again and leaned her back against my chest. I kissed her jawbone then her cheek. I felt a smiled tugging on my lips says she lifted her chin up. I kissed her jaw again and she let out a little moan. I chuckled and lay my head on her shoulder. "I love you." She said, leaning into me some more. I smiled and kissed her shoulder. "Love you too."