"I'm gonna do it." Piper says, determination glinting in her eyes.
"Okay," Annabeth shrugs from her spot on the other girl's bed. "Do it."
"I will! I'm like, totally about to."
"I know that. You've been saying that for the past five minutes."
It's the middle of April, the video is done and Piper McLean can't bring herself to press the "Upload" button.
"I can't do it." She groans, laying her head down on her desk, the glow of her computer making her choppy hair shine. (Even when she's being cartoonishly melodramatic, she's beautiful.)
"Why not?" For some reason, Annabeth isn't as frustrated as she could be. The video turned out pretty great, actually, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if nobody got to see her kiss Percy.
Piper groans louder. "This is my baby. I've put blood, sweat, and tears into this video."
"You've cried over this?" Annabeth asks incredulously.
"Well, no," She relents. "But I totally could've. You try doing something like this when two of the stars hate each other!"
"We don't hate each other!"
The other girl lifts her head to give her a look. Annabeth blushes.
"Anymore, at least."
Piper lets her head hit the desk once more.
"You're gonna leave a mark if you keep doing that, Pipes."
"I can't post this yet. I need time to say my goodbyes."
"Has anybody ever told you that you're very, very strange?" Annabeth asks.
"Nope. Everybody else is too distracted by my overwhelming charm and dashing good looks to notice."
She rolls her eyes, even though she knows Piper can't see her. "Fine. I'm going home because it's late and I generally like sleeping, you can say your goodbyes, and when I come back tomorrow you're uploading the stupid video—even if I have to hit the button for you."
Gathering her things, Annabeth is almost out of the door when Piper decides to speak again.
"It's not stupid! You're stupid."
"A plus comeback, Pipes."
"I know, right?"
.
By the time Annabeth's home, she's beyond exhausted. She only ever drives when she needs to go to Piper's house in the suburbs; once she's back into the city, the traffic is exhausting, no matter how late at night. On top of that, her stepmom had been waiting in the kitchen, ready to grill her again. Just like always.
"You're home late." Mrs. Song-Chase says in the accusatory tone she always, always takes when she's talking to her.
"It's not even ten yet, Carol," She sighs. There's a lot of things Annabeth isn't in the mood for right now, but this pointless interrogation that's gearing up is high on the list. "You know I was at Piper's house. Why did you even wait up?"
"It's a school night, and I was worried," The older woman snaps. Bullshit. "And I'll thank you to not take that tone with me, young lady."
"Maybe if you stopped expecting me to do something wrong, you'd actually have time to relax. What are your hobbies, other than hating me?"
"I do not hate you, I just—where are you going?"
Annabeth is too tired for this. "To bed. Like you said, it's late."
"You are being incredibly disrespectful, as usual—"
"Good night, Carol." She calls, walking towards her room as fast as she can.
It used to kill her that her stepmother hates her. Interactions like this one would make her cry at night. Now, though, she's been dealing with it for a decade; it's gotten old.
Even though she's ready to drop dead as she shuts—not slams, despite how badly she wants to—the door behind her, there's a thousand little routines she needs to go through. Annabeth's never been the type to fall asleep fully dressed with her makeup still on.
Put shoes away. Check.
Shower. Check.
Pajamas. Check.
When she's in bed, Annabeth decides to check her email, just on a whim. It's been a while—for reasons she'd rather not think about—and maybe something important has actually found its way into her inbox.
From: seabiscuit99
Subject: hey wise girl
"Shit," She whispers. The email doesn't give his name, but she's basically had it memorized since the afternoon he wrote it on her arm. How long ago did he send this?
Checking the date, Annabeth realizes it was sent in late March. Not too long ago, but still kind of embarrassing, considering that she went insane when he didn't respond for three days.
hey so i have access to a computer now…its been a while lol. you probbably don't even wanna talk to me so idk why i sent this…(this is percy btw if you forgot my email)
Figures that he's a terrible email-er. (A bit more unexpected is that Annabeth finds it slightly adorable, but that doesn't really mean anything, does it?)
She wonders how he got access to a computer. Did he get one at home? Go to the library? They haven't had many heart-to-hearts about his personal life, but she's figured out from organizing rehearsals that Percy uses any free time he has for work.
From: skylinegoddess12
Subject: seaweed brain
Wow, you finally responded!
That's mean.
So you do know how to use a computer!
That's way too mean.
Hey, Percy. Just fyi, Piper couldn't bring herself to upload the video tonight. (Something about it being her baby?) I'm going to her house to kick her ass about it after school tomorrow.
-Sent from Annabeth Chase's Phone.
Why did you respond? She asks herself, but she doesn't come up with any answers. Why shouldn't she?
.
"Wait, so the video's not done?" Jason asks, sitting down at the table with a tray of lukewarm food in his hands.
"No, it's definitely done." She says with a smirk. Piper tries to glare, but it's nothing as good as Annabeth's usual fare. "Piper's just not emotionally finished with it."
"Piper has emotions?" He smiles at her attempt.
"Not when it comes to you assholes," Piper explains, frowning. "But the video's important! We've been working on it for more than a month! How can I just throw it away like it didn't happen?"
Annabeth laughs. "What happened to this being lightning in a bottle? Destined for internet fame?"
She rolls her eyes. "I was trying to get you excited enough to stomach working with Jackson. The odds of this making it on the internet are like, microscopic."
"Your optimism never ceases to amaze me," Jason says, navigating through something that looks kind of like mashed potatoes.
"Yo, Piper!" A voice comes from behind Annabeth. Piper, who's sitting opposite her, grins when she looks at the person speaking.
"Sup, Jackson?" She asks, clearly glad for the break from Annabeth and Jason's grilling.
Percy sits next to her, but he leaves a full foot of space between them on the bench. Annabeth tenses, just a little, but tells herself to calm down. (The craziest part is, it works.)
"Annabeth tells me you're getting cold feet on the video."
His response time has clearly improved.
"Damnit, you're here to attack me, too."
"How could you? After everything we've been through to make the video, after everything we've sacrificed?" He clutches his heart dramatically—he's wearing his swim team shirt—and Annabeth can't help but giggle.
Maybe it's her imagination, but Percy's eyes seem to slide over to her for just a second as she does. (Probably just in her head.)
"Don't be a dick."
"Tell me how you really feel, Queenie," He laughs.
Piper sighs, shaking her head. "I don't know what to call it."
For a moment, Percy, Annabeth, and Jason are quiet, exchanging confused looks.
"Don't know what to call what?" Jason asks.
"The video," She says snappily, looking up and blowing her choppy bangs out of her face.
They all start laughing then, a bit more loudly than what's necessary; opportunities to make fun of Piper are few and far between—she typically doesn't have the shame to care—and there's no way they'll waste this chance.
"You guys are assholes, you know that?"
"We learned from the best," Annabeth says, batting her eyelashes.
"So all of this drama, this turmoil," Jason pushes his tray of almost-food away from him. "It's because you can't come up with a stupid title for the video?"
"It hasn't exactly come up! And what the hell are you supposed to call something like this? Titles are everything nowadays; you aren't gonna click on something that sounds stupider than Jackson every time he speaks up in Mythology!"
Percy raises his hands in defense, furrowing his brows. "Hey, don't take this out on me!"
"Athena's Revenge? Lame. The Curse of Medusa? Lamer!" Piper ignores his protests. "If we don't come up with something that doesn't make this video sound like a lame silent film from the 20's, it'll be dead in the water."
The laughter stops; at least, Annabeth and Percy's laughter does. Jason's goes on for another moment before he notices that it's apparently stopped being funny.
"Shit, she's right," Annabeth sighs.
"Greek Life?" Percy suggests.
"Thought of it. Sounds like a documentary about sororities."
There's another heavy pause, the type where the sound is gears turning is nearly audible in the air.
"Deity Drama?" Annabeth tries.
Piper shakes her head. "That sounds like a really weird reality show."
The next pause is even longer. Jason, who had up until this point been making patterns in his sort-of mashed potatoes with neon orange "chicken nuggets", looks up suddenly.
"This is probably the dumbest phrase I'll ever say, but what about Instagram Immortals?"
The other three exchange glances, gears turning faster, trying to find something wrong.
"That's…it's campy, but it has Instagram in the name, which'll get people's attention…it sounds stupid enough to be funny…Jason, it's perfect! You're the fucking best!" Piper exclaims. Caught up in the excitement, she kisses him suddenly, catching everybody at the table—including Jason—off guard.
The kiss is maybe a second long, but damn if it isn't one of the most uncomfortable seconds of Annabeth's life. Piper's grinning when she moves away, and Jason's face is neon pink.
"Gee, Piper, you're welcome," He says after taking a second to recover.
The bell rings, and everybody gathers their things to head for last period.
"What direction are you going in?" Annabeth says to Percy suddenly. He'd already been leaving the table, but he turns around when she speaks up, trying not to look surprised. "I don't want to do that thing where we split up and then it turns out we're going the same way."
"308," He says after a moment. "You?"
"316." She stands from the table, hoisting her purse onto her shoulder. "Same direction."
At the beginning of the walk, they're both silent, but Annabeth won't stand for that. (Not when she was the one who'd suggested they walk together in the first place, she wouldn't.)
"So you got my email, I take it." She says. Is that an awkward subject? Hopefully not.
"Oh, uh, yeah." Percy looks down at her for a second and almost runs over a freshman. "I get to school earlier now, so I used one of the computers in the library."
"That's nice."
There's another dying pause. "So, do I get to get on your case for taking, like, half a month to respond? Or is that just your thing?"
Annabeth laughs, and it's something genuine; it surprises both of them. "Technically, you didn't respond to the first email, so I'm totally still the victim here."
"Maybe I was protecting you. Maybe not talking to me is way better than the alternative."
"That's not true!" She argues. They're both laughing now, good naturedly, like friends do. If she took the time to think about it, Annabeth would freak out. (Good thing she's not thinking about it.)
"Oh, it's not?"
Annabeth rolls her eyes. "When you're not being an idiot, you're great to talk to."
"Am I not always an idiot?" Percy asks, grinning. "Isn't that the whole point of Idiot Jackson?"
"When's the last time any of us called you that?"
This stops them for a second. Annabeth wasn't thinking when she brought it up, but it's true: she can't remember the last time she or Piper called him by the old nickname.
"Huh. Guess things have changed, huh?" Percy's tone is a bit more contemplative than before.
"Guess so, Seaweed Brain." She replies. He looks at her suddenly, and there's still a smile on his face but she doesn't let herself look for the questions that always broadcast themselves in his eyes.
"This is my stop."
They're in front of room 316.
"See you around, Wise Girl."
"Maybe," She smiles, just a bit, walking through the door.
If you guys haven't noticed, I try to get a chapter up for every month, ever since the first few went by. As I'm writing this note, it's 11:39 PM, May 31st. Cutting it kind of close, but I did it! Percy and Annabeth are finally getting less awkward...thank god. It was bothering me just as much as it bothered some of you. Any suggestions for what you guys want to happen next? (Not that I don't have things planned ;))