Got to my Goddess
Chapter 11
Percy's POV
"Alright class, listen up. You should be about halfway done with your project on polls. You should at least have an outline of the paper you have to write and many examples of the polls. You have today's class to work on it, so use your time wisely."
I groan and hang my head in my hands. I haven't even started.
Annabeth pokes me in the side. "Hey, what's up?"
"I really don't want to do this. I haven't even started."
She grins. "Luckily for you, I have started. I figured you would forget about it. So, I have a good start."
I grin back. "Luckily for me, I'm partnered with my Wise Girl." I instantly blush and I see her blush too. Did I really just say 'my Wise Girl?' Oh my gosh. I'm such a cheesy idiot.
"Unfortunately I'm partnered with such a Seaweed Brain." My mouth drops open. I never expected that much sass to come from her. She seems as shocked as I am that she said that, but she recovers quickly. "I'll write most of the essay, but you need to take several online quizzes and see where you line up and write a bit on each about how accurate the quiz is."
I nod slowly and pull out my computer. I search for dating quizzes and the first one that pops up is "How compatible are you two?" I grab Annabeth and we start the quiz.
1) How many kids does each of you want to have? do you agree on your answer or disagree?
I look at Annabeth. She shrugs, "I don't know. How ever many feels right, I guess."
I nod. "Enough to make it feel like a family." She smiles. I click agree.
2) Who makes more money? Man. Wife. About equal.
"I don't even have a job," I say slowly.
She laughs. "Me neither." I click about equal.
3) How many years have you two been together? 0-1. 2-4. 5+.
0-1.
The quiz goes on like that until we get to the final question.
15) How many years until wedding bells ring? 0-1. 2-4. 5+.
"Five plus," says Annabeth quickly.
"You said that fast." I give her a smirk.
"I don't plan on getting married for at least ten years, Seaweed Brain. We are still in high school."
"We are seventeen, We will be in our final year of college in five years. Anything Could happen. And besides," I sit back in my chair and put my arm on her shoulder, "You may fall deeply in love with me and we'll be married within a year." Her face goes red. I smile but I also chide myself for being so open. Why in the world would you say that? You are not supposed to tell the girl you like that you like her. Maybe she won't notice.
"Marriage is a two-way street, Seaweed Brain, You'd have to fall madly in love with me, too."
Drat! She noticed. Quick, say something to cover yourself. Something that tells her you are totally not in love with her already. "Maybe I already am." Seriously Dude? You have no chill. Play it off as a joke or something. Be smooth about it. I laugh. "You should have seen the look on your face." I quickly turn back to my computer and click '5+' and then 'get results'.
The screen instantly is filled with lots of pink, red and white hearts and large flashing words that read 'Perfectly Compatible, be prepared for a long-lasting romance that stays in the honeymoon phase for years!' I quickly open another tab and learn that Buzzfeed can not guess my eye color and that I agree with 39% of Americans on the outcome of the last election.
When the bell rings, Annabeth and I have a silent agreement to not speak about what I said during the class and we seem to put it behind us.
Annabeth is waiting outside of the locker room when I get done showering after swim practice. She sits on a bench about ten feet away, reading a very thick novel. Her hair is held back with a scrunchie, but it is loose so much of her hair is flying in her face regardless. She is biting her bottom lip.
"Hey, Wise Girl."
She looks up and grins, "Hey, Seaweed Brain."
"How was school?"
She scrunches her eyebrows, and says, "We went to school together, so you know how it went."
I laugh, "I know, I was just trying to make conversation."
"You succeeded in sounding like my mom."
We start walking toward my car. My stomach growls. "You hungry, Annie? because I am famished and would love to stop and get a burger."
She bites her lip nervously, "I don't know, I'm expected straight home."
What?! "By who? and besides, the question was if you were hungry or not, not if you were allowed to go get food."
"Well..." She seems to be fighting an internal battle. I get in the driver's seat and start the car. She climbs in the passenger seat, "Okay, fine. I am famished."
I laugh and drive us to the nearest fast food restaurant. We get burgers, fries, and shakes and sit there for a while laughing and eating like old friends. It is nearing two hours later when we pull into Annabeth's driveway.
"Are you spending the night?"
I shake my head, "That was not the plan, do you want me too? Because I can." Wow, Dude, real smooth. Don't act too eager.
"You don't need to change the plans for me. Besides, it's been a month since the crash, We should start to 'wane off' as Apollo says."
I laugh at her spot on Apollo impression. "I'm going to grab some clothes I left here, but then I'll head home for the evening."
She nods and we climb out of the car. As I fumble with the keys to lock the car, I feel something bounce off my back. I turn and see Annabeth with her arm still outstretched from when she threw her napkin at me. I open my eyes really wide with surprise, but the shock does not last long. Instincts from years of being a high school boy kick in and I grab her with one arm. Once I have her pinned against my chest, I carefully pull the plastic lid off of my medium Pepsi and threaten to dump it all over her.
"No, no, please," she begs, trying to stifle her laughter. She struggles against my grip, but I am a thousand times stronger than her. Her attempts are in vain.
"What do you think you are doing?" I look up to see a very angry Malcolm standing there.
I release Annabeth, who says, "What?"
"You said that you were going to wait for Percy and then come home."
"That's what I did do." She sounds uncertain and a bit afraid of what is coming.
"Then where in the world have you been for the last two hours?"
I reach forward and put my hand on her shoulder. "We got something to eat. Why does it matter?"
"I have been waiting for you and worried sick. You didn't even bother to answer your phone, Annie."
"You are not my mom." Annabeth is shaking. I put my arm around her. and hold her close.
"I'm more of your mom than Athena and Erin ever were."
"Malcolm..." I growl. My fists clench.
He just shakes his head. "Go inside, Annie. I'll deal with you later."
She looks up at me and I just slowly nod. I pull her into a hug and whisper, "Get stuff together, you can stay at my place."
She just nods and goes inside without turning back.
Malcolm rounds on me. "What on earth were you thinking?"
"I was thinking, that we were hungry and had a fun night together."
"Together, you two aren't...together? Are you?"
"No, but what is your issue with it?" I ask. I'm tired of just seeing the glares and disappointed looks every time I'm around Annabeth.
"You are not good for her, you are..." He trails off and suddenly a guilty look crosses his face.
My mouth drops open and suddenly all the dots are connected in my brain. "You are jealous. You think I'm replacing you as her brother."
He shakes his head, "Forget it, you wouldn't understand anyway. You don't have a sister."
He turns to go back into the house, but I grab his arm to stop him. "Try me."
I look right into his eyes and witness the battle going on in his mind. Eventually takes a deep breath. "With everything going on with our parents, we were never close. Then in high school, she started to let me into her world. I was able to be there for her just a little bit. Then you waltzed into her life. It took me years to break through her walls, and then she willingly let them down for you. Can you understand how that is hard for me?"
I nod, "I can. That's how I felt when my mom first married Gabe, but then I saw that family persevered and then Gabe turned out to be a giant jerk. But I'd never do that. I can never be her brother." I fall silent.
"You can never be her brother because...you don't want to?" He asks, finishing my sentence for me. "A brother can never be more than just a friend."
"I will be whatever she needs me to be: brother, protected, therapist..."
"...boyfriend?" I shrug, neither confirming nor denying his accusation. "I just don't want to feel left out. I don't matter to her anymore."
"That's not true," I say quickly, "She needs her older brother."
He just stays silent for a minute. "I heard what you said to her about staying at your house tonight."
I just nod. "She doesn't have to," I say quickly.
"But she should, after what I said to her. Just be careful. She doesn't need another traumatic even right now."
"Gabe is out of town. I wouldn't let her near him." He nods in response but looks like he wasn't talking about Gabe. "You know nothing will happen," I insist, "My mom will be there."
Malcolm just laughs, "She wants you two to get together more than anything, so that is not very reassuring."
I frown, "What?"
"You can't tell?" He asks. "She was totally shipping you two on that night we all stayed over."
I groan, but before I can comment on that, Annabeth comes out with a duffle bag and climbs into the car. After the door shuts behind her, I look up at Malcolm. "One thing, You asked me to not cause her any more stress, is it fair of me to ask the same of you?"
He smiles, "I think that's fair." I climb into the car and we drive back to my place.
I park and offer to carry Annabeth's bag up the stairs for her.
"I'm not some damsel in distress," she protests.
"Chivalry is not dead and I was raised to be the perfect gentleman," I retaliate.
"Perfect?"
I just smile and throw her duffle over my shoulder. After a few minutes of walking in silence, she asks timidly, "Did you and Malcolm fight?"
I sigh. 'Kind of. He is just worried about you and that he is losing status as your twin and older brother. But we're good now."
"Sure?" She looks up at me with fear in her eyes. "I can't stand to think...The two people who mean the most to me..."
"Don't worry about it, Okay? We are going to have a great night and forget about the troubles of the world."
"Alcohol?"
I shake my head and smile. "Percy style."
"So like a twelve-year-old would party?"
I smile really wide. "Duh."
We get to my apartment and I unlock the door. All the lights are off except for the one in the kitchen and the office. I poke my head in the office and see my mom sitting at the old computer, typing away furiously.
"Hey, Mom."
She looks up and shakes her head in surprise. "Percy! Hey! I wasn't expecting you home tonight and I was just kinda spacing out for a minute there. Sorry."
I Smile at her. "You're good. Ummm, Annabeth is going to spend the night here, if that's cool with you."
"Of course," Her smile gets really wide and genuine, "Is she here? Have you guys had dinner? Do you need anything?" She doesn't even give me a chance to answer before pushing past me and into the kitchen. I hear them start up a conversation and that brings a smile to my face. I walk past them and into my bedroom. I put Annabeth's bag on my bed and sit down. I pull a sweatshirt from my closet and put it on. Gabe must have not paid for heating again this month. I go and join the girls in the kitchen. My mom already has a pot out and has started making soup. Their conversation ceases as I sit down.
"What were you writing, Mom?" I ask casually.
"A little something I've been working on," she says with a smile.
"Another book?" I ask. She has been writing for a while but doesn't want to publish them because she is afraid Gabe might see. I've been trying to convince her to publish them with Mr. Blowfis's company. Life would get rough if Gabe saw her making a bunch of money on her own. Little does he know, she has started picking up hours at the local candy store and has a separate savings account.
"Have you written a lot of books?" Annabeth asks.
She shrugs, "A few. None of them are published."
Annabeth must be able to tell that this is a touchy subject because she doesn't ask any more questions. Eventually, we eat our soup and finish our conversation and my mom goes back to the office to write. Annabeth and I head back to my room.
"Are you cold?" I ask, "Gabe doesn't always pay for the heat since he's never around to be bothered by it."
She flushes slightly, "Yeah, it is kinda chilly in here." I toss her another one of my sweatshirts. "I still have your swimming one from the last time I stayed over."
I grin. "You have become quite the collector."
She blushes again. She is really adorable when flustered. "Do you want to work on the English project?"
My mouth drops open. "Why? It's not a school night and this is not a work sleepover."
She shrugs, "We are not doing anything and I figured you won't get it done otherwise."
I playfully hit her shoulder. "I'm not the slacker you believe I am."
"O-kay." She rolls her eyes. I pull out my computer and start typing.
"The first quiz I took told me that my perfect wedding would be nothing fancy but signing some papers and getting drunk afterward. While I am not married, I do not think that this is correct. The idea of having a large white wedding in a fancy church is as exciting to me as it is to most people. Another quiz that I took told me that my eyes were a lovely light blue color based on my love of swimming and having fun. However, my eyes are a sea green color. This shows that not all stereotypes are true or to be trusted.
A poll that I took part in, told me that I fit in with just 12% of people in that I prefer winter over summer. I think that this one is accurate because many people enjoy summer more due to no school and being outside and at the pool more. Another poll says that I agree with 67% of teenage boys that the most attractive part of a woman is her personality. I do not know whether to agree with this one or not. It seems that many boys around me care more about the body, but maybe I surround my self with people in the other 33%."
Annabeth smiles at me. "I'm glad we got that finished and the sun has not even set yet. I'm going to go to the bathroom, I will be right back."
Once she is in the bathroom, I open the document again and add:
"A final quiz that we took together was a couples compatibility test. Annabeth and I are not together but together we scored a '100% compatible happy life together'. Personally, I hope that this quiz is accurate, but I will let you know in a few months/years."
Then I close my computer before she can see what I have written.
We head to the living room and, ignoring the smell of alcohol and pizza, I put in 'The Princess Bride', Annabeth's all-time favorite movie. I pop some popcorn and open the ice cream sitting in the freezer. We sit together on the couch and watch the movie and eat our snacks. Annabeth nearly has the movie memorized and quotes every character. Somehow the whole thing is still funny and enjoyable for her and I am certainly not complaining about getting to watch her enjoy the movie.
About halfway through, I poke Annabeth. "Hey, do you wanna go watch the sunset from the fire escape?"
Her face lights up like a lightbulb. "Duh."
I carefully pause the movie and we make our way back through my bedroom window. I set up the chairs like last time we were out here. The sun is a few minutes yet from setting but the sky is already filled with beautiful streaks of purple and pink and blue. She shivers slightly and I put my arm around her.
"So, your mom is really cool with me staying over." She tries to start up a conversation.
I shift. "Yeah, she is. She has always been understanding of this whole process and really my whole life. She is the hands-off kind of parent. But that has helped our relationship."
"It has?"
"Yes. I don't have a real curfew and she lets me go to parties."
"I bet that's because your relationship with her feels like more of a choice you get to make." She looks up at me and grins slightly. I can see it in her eyes though, that she is sad she does not have that relationship with her mom.
"And I keep my grades up and do well in swimming."
"But is that enough for her to let us sleep in the same room? The same bed? I know she allowed it last time because of..." She trails off and looks away.
"Gabe?" I ask. "Yeah, but she trusts me. I'm not the kind of person who would do anything I shouldn't. And if I was going to have sex, spending one night away from each other wouldn't stop that."
She flushes. "You say that like you- we are going to have...sex."
I shake my head. "I don't think I'm ready for that kind of intimacy. And besides, I'm not even in a relationship."
"So you are not a one night stand kinda guy?"
"Why? Are you?"
She gives me a playful shove. "Of course not, Seaweed Brain."
"Hmmmmm." I gently start playing with her hair and she starts to relax a bit into my arms. The sky seems to change colors every minute. First gold streaks appear in the sky, then clouds cover the sun and the whole sky becomes a deep red. Then pink and blue mix and turn the sky into carnival cotton candy. Then all the colors are reflected on the lake and the sun finally sets. The sky turns a midnight indigo color and the stars appear. We sit there in silence for a few minutes. I play with her hair and think about how romantic this whole setting is. I wonder if I will ever get a real chance to be with the girl of my dreams.
In the morning, I wake up in my bed with my arm around Annabeth. I blink and I see that she is awake and playing on her phone. I stretch and she looks up at me.
"Good morning, Seaweed Brain."
"Good morning, Wise Girl. How long have you been awake?"
"A few minutes."
"You could have woken me up or at least left the bed. "
She grins, "But I didn't want to wake you."
"Well, I'm awake now." I stand up. She follows me into the kitchen where my mom has blue waffles already sitting on the table. We sit. "Thanks, Mom."
She smiles down at me. "Of course, Sweetie. Did you have a nice night?"
"Yeah, we watched the Princess Bride."
"That's good. What are your plans for the day?"
I look over at Annabeth, who answers. "Well, I'll probably go home soon. Homework and such. I think I'm on to babysit this afternoon too."
My mom nods. "Okay. Well, Percy can drive you home whenever. I'll just be here writing and such."
She gets up and departs to her office. I get up and follow her. "How was your night, mom?"
She looks up at me. "Was that the question that you had to follow me to my office to ask me?"
I shrug. "You left the kitchen before I could ask."
"It was lovely." She paused and looked up at me. "Are you and Annabeth together?"
"What? I- no... Why would you think that?" I sputter. I know I've messed this up., My face is red.
She just smiles. "You treat her like your girlfriend."
"I don't- I- She's not my girlfriend."
"Yet." She swivels her chair around to face her computer and she starts typing. "Maybe I shouldn't let you two sleep in the same room anymore."
I groan. "Come on, mom. You know as well as I do that that wouldn't do anything and besides, we are not together. We have a purely platonic relationship."
"Keep telling yourself that, Honey."
"Moooooom." I protest, but it's no use. When my mom has her mind set, there is no persuading her. I leave and rejoin Annabeth in the kitchen once my cheeks have returned to their normal color.
