Chapter Ten

I hate mornings. Especially when I wake up at eleven thirty in the morning like today. Have I ever told you that? Well, it's because when you wake up, you start to think about weird things. I thought about how long I can stay underwater, then, I started to think about my mom's boyfriend, then, I thought about binders for some odd reason. Plus, I was planning out what I would do today. I mean, Thalia has a college interview with Stanford today, Auntie Grace is going over to my other cousin, Nico's house, and I'm pretty sure that Annabeth is still with Stephan.

Great. Now I remember what happened last night. I groaned. Why? Why? I rubbed my forehead. I tried to sit up, but the couch was pretty hard. When I did get up, my eyes were blinking fast and I was rubbing them. I gave a big yawn and rubbed eyes some more. Last night was a blur, but I could see it play in my head, enough for me to understand. Stephan and I were talking about Annabeth and how he thinks that she likes me. And that I like her too. But, I told him that he could have her. If she wants Stephan to make her happy, then I'll let him. There's nothing I can do about it.

But there's something nagging in the back of my head. I'm pretty sure I didn't say it out loud, but I forgot. See, I hate waking up in the morning.

I got out of the couch and slowly climbed the stairs. When I reached my room, I found Stephan already out of my bed. I was skeptical, so I checked the bathroom and it was locked.

"Hello?" I said, while knocking. I could hear running water from the sink.

"Oh, Percy. It's me, Annabeth." My heart started to race. I feel so oblivious, but I'm pretty too oblivious to notice how oblivious I was. Does that make sense?

"Take your time, Annabeth. I was just wondering where Stephan went."

"He's downstairs in the kitchen. We both woke up at the same time. I think Auntie Grace and Thalia are downstairs making breakfast. It's a great way for them to know more about Stephan." I could hear the sink turn off and the door open. Annabeth stood right in front of me. Like, right in front of me. She's only a few inches shorter than me and her gray eyes were a stormy gray. I turned a deep red. I could feel my face burn up.

"Uh, s-sorry, Annabeth." I stepped out of the way for her.

"Thanks, Percy." She gave me one of her dazzling smiles. She walked towards her room. Today, she was wearing a messy braid with a blue Aeropostale shirt with black basketball shorts. She was just so natural. Like she didn't care about what she looked like. That was what attracted me to her the most. I-I mean, uh,...what am I saying. I mentally slapped myself. 'She's dating Stephan', I told myself. My heart felt a little sad all of a sudden.

After changing and brushing my teeth, I walked downstairs to the kitchen. Auntie Grace and Thalia looked so hurried.

"...yeah, mom. I know. Just get that." Thalia pointed to a burnt piece of toast on the counter. Auntie Grace was probably talking to her brother in law. I noticed Annabeth and Stephan laughing together, hand in hand at the big scene. I quickly ran over and sat next to Annabeth to avoid Thalia crashing into me.

"Hey, Perce. I see that you're awake." Stephan said. His blondish brownish hair was covering parts of his light blue eyes. He had the same clothes he had yesterday when he came over.

"Hi, Steph." I couldn't help but notice Annabeth and Stephan looking at each other. Lovestrucked. I then remembered about Cay. Oh my gods, I was suppose to meet her today.

"I'm going to go on a bike ride. I won't be back for a while. You two can just...do whatever you two do." I said, hurriedly, right before Annabeth was going to protest. I ran outside and looked for Thalia's bike. I got on it and noticed how nice it was today. The sky was a clear blue and the temperature was just right. I took in a deep breath. It felt great.

I biked all the way to the park again and climbed Zeus's fist. There, I didn't see Cay. Weird. She told me to meet her here. I was pretty tired out from the biking so I just sat down and stared at the lake. Suddenly, I saw Cay in the lake. She was on a small boat, big enough for two people. She was waving at me, relieved when she knew that I had noticed her. Today, she wore a silky white blouse and skinny jeans. Her hair was in a long and organized braid.

I got up and ran down to the lake. Cay was waiting for me. She sat down on the boat and waited for me to get on. It was pretty easy. I love riding boats. Anything that has to do with water, than I'll most likely like it.

"Hey, Cay. Oh, that rhymes." She laughed at my attempt to make a joke.

"Hey, Percy. I see that you remembered that we were to meet here today." She gave me a smile. She was beautiful. She chocolate eyes matched with her almond hair. She was just like Annabeth. They were both so natural. They didn't seem to care.

"So, are we going on a boat ride?" I nudged her and the boat tipped a little.

"Yup. And, later, we're going to the park to have lunch." She pointed to a small table in the middle of the park, surrounded by flowers and children. A perfect place to have a picnic.

"Sounds awesome. I missed breakfast so lunch can't hurt." She gave me one of her little laughs again and it made me fill up with warmth. "So, I want to know more about you. What can you tell me?"

She looked up at me, startled. It was almost as if I was the first person to ask her that question.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings in any way if I was. Sorry." I rubbed the back of my head.

"N-no. It's fine. It's just that your the first person open enough to actually ask me to tell them about me. It feels nice to finally have someone you can trust." Wait, what about her parents?

"Don't your friends or family ever ask you? I mean, they are, like, the closest people to you, right?" She gave me a sad smile. One that made me regret asking her that question in the first place. She looked like she sucked up the nerve to talk.

"My friends only like me because of my parents. They only hang out with me for alternative reasons. Not for me or my personality. They could really care less about that. It just isn't fair. The only real friend that I have is you and my friend, Rachel Elizabeth Dare." I've heard of her. Her and Cay started an ecology club at my high school. She's a spunky red head that loves art and is very creative. It makes me feel good to know that I'm one of her true friends. "And my parents. I don't know who my mom was, but I knew that she left because of my dad. He's a CEO, but he's a bad one. His companies harvest trees. From places that animals live. They are starting to extinct, Percy. I hate his job. He never has any time for me, and I got in really big trouble once for his wrong doing. I hate it. That's why I try to stay away from him as much as possible." Cay was almost in tears. I wanted to hug her, to comfort her. But something was stopping me from doing it. I tried my best to fight it, but I lost miserably.

"Cay, it's okay. I know how you feel. I have never met my dad before. My mom thinks that he's just lost at sea, but I think he's dead. You shouldn't feel so bad about yourself. There are people that have it worse than you," I said, in my softest voice. "Take my friend, Annabeth for an example. She use to be a girl that was scared of the whole world. Scared about what it could do to her. But she fought it and turned into this beautiful girl she is today. She isn't scared anymore, she isn't afraid to stick up for herself and her friends, and she isn't reluctant to take any dangerous task."

I stared at Cay and she looked up at me. I brushed a strand of hair from her face. "It's okay to be afraid. But one day, you will have to go up against it. And do it quick, because you might be too late. It'll take your whole life away." She stifled a cry. One tear streamed down her face. I rubbed it with my thumb.

"Thank you, Percy." Cay stood up strait and wiped her eyes. Her smile came back and we talked about what's going on. It was a good conversation during the picnic as well. I accidentally got a grape up my nose, but I was able to get it out with a good amount of laughter. Cay was laughing too. We were just hanging out. Like friends.

Suddenly, it was already sunset. Me and Cay sat on Zeus's rock, her head on my shoulder. We had a lot of fun today and I wish that one day, we'll be even happier when we see each other, grown up.

"Thanks for all the fun today, Percy," Cay said, while watching the sunset.

"Me too. I hope that we can see each other soon." The sunset was almost gone.

"Hey, Percy?"

"What?" I turned around and I was caught of guard by Cay kissing me on the cheek. Then, the sun disappeared. I turned red, but I doubt that it was noticeable.

"It's just a thank you for today. It thought that just saying it wasn't enough." I smiled. Then, got up.

"Hope to see you soon, Cay. Bye." I climbed down Zeus's fist and got onto my bike. But before I left, It turned around and waved back at Cay. She smiled at me.

Today was so much fun. I really hope that I can get to know the real Cay. But something was still nagging on the back of my head.

Don't hate me! I just wanted to create some drama to make it more ocmplicated. But as you guys probably already know, this is a story about Percy and ANnabeth. SO I hope you enjoyed this chapter! P.S. I don't hate Calypso or Rachel. I just don't think they are good for Percy.