Annabeth's POV

'Come on Percy, we have our LIAs next. You've signed up for cross-country haven't you? That's the same with me.' I said, trying to pull a Percy out of the classroom. A word about LIA. It stands for 'Leadership in action' and it's kind of like an elective except that you are given a list of choices to choose from and that it is required. You will not be graded on electives.

The moment Percy heard the word 'cross-country' he bolted out of his seat, towards the door. I laughed. 'Percy, calm down. You're going to need your strength.' I said, between laughs. Once I had calmed down, I realized something. Percy wasn't all that keen on cross-country. He didn't want to run to classes in the morning. 'Percy, why did you sign up for cross-country if you didn't like it?' I asked, curious. He blushed, looking very much like a deer caught in the headlights. I was confused. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. 'It was the best choice and almost my mother wanted me to do cross-country because I apparently wasn't fit enough. So she persuaded me to give it a shot.' He said the bit about his mom really quickly, like it embarrassed him, but to me, it was a sign that he was so, so lucky. My dad never cared about me and don't even mention Helen. She's a nightmare. I sighed. 'Anything else?' I asked desperately, trying to distract myself from falling into another 'attack'. I started packing my bag. It worked. 'Nope.' Percy answered, popping the 'p'. 'Come on, lets go.' I said, smiling a genuine smile at him. The realization sent a jolt threw me. When was the last time I ever smiled at somebody genuinely? I started walking towards the pitch, almost robotically while I tried to look through my memories. I had no memories of smiling genuinely at somebody…for a long time. Not since my mom died. I sighed, going back to the present and out of my wallow of depressing thoughts. For once, I didn't get an 'attack' for thinking about mom. A spark of hope ignited in me. Maybe…I could finally be healed.

-Line-breaker-

We had finally reached 'the astro' but I always called it the pitch. To our left, there were the changing rooms. We didn't need to change because we had changed beforehand, for PE. I spotted Coach Hedge in the middle and jogged over to him, Percy right behind me. I guess he wanted to appear keen. Once I was standing next to Coach, I said: 'Good afternoon sir' and went on to introduce Percy. 'Coach, this is Percy Jackson, he's doing cross-country this term.' Coach Hedge raised an eyebrow and gave him a quick scan. Coach finally replied, saying: 'Alrighty cupcakes, go dump your bags over there and we'll be doing laps out here today for the whole lesson since Jackson's new. Get running!' I jogged over to the indicated spot and motioned Percy to do the same.

Percy, also jogging dumped his bag next to mine and sat down, as if he was tired. As for me, I was stretching. 'Are you serious! That's what we're going to do the whole lesson?!' he ranted. I raised an eyebrow, before replying with: 'That's kind of what you signed up for Jackson. Besides, this is one of the easy lessons. We usually run out of school and in the mountains.' I replied, continuing my stretches. Percy asked: 'Why do you bother doing them? Stretches?' I looked at him and said: 'Well that for you to fine out. I'll tell you after the lesson if you're still curious.'

Coach Hedge blew the sliver whistle that was always around his neck. 'Alrighty cupcakes, fall in!' Everyone else who signed up for cross-country sprinted towards Coach Hedge and gathered around him in a circle. Only Percy was walking at a leisure pace towards him. 'Too slow. You guys are suppose to be faster. Twenty pushups and move it!' There were plenty of groans and some shot Percy a look of pure hatred. I was the only one not groaning because I knew that it would all eventually pay off some day. I dropped to the floor and did pushups while counting out loud with the rest of the team. '1…2…3…' We worked as a team and practically yelled. We knew better than to not count.

Percy was the only one not counting, as he had no idea what was going on. The patrolling Coach Hedge waited until everyone was done with the pushups. The, he turned to Percy. 'Do you know how to count, Jackson?' he asked. Percy's face turned tomato red. 'Jackson, as far as I'm concerned, you did zero because you were not counting.' Coach said, raising an eyebrow. Percy got the hidden message and dropped to the floor doing twenty more pushups while counting out loud. Some snickered and one of my classmates, Bobby even dared to laugh. Coach immediately rounded on him and yelled: 'Bobby, for disrespecting a member of the class, do twenty more pushups!' Bobby's face red, did another twenty pushups, taking extra care to count. Percy finished his, and he was already sweating. Go figure. He stared pleadingly at me, begging Coach to stop his torture. Unfortunately, I was amused and I tried to tell him with my eyes to shut up before I started laughing. He got the message, gulped and stopped.

'Alright cupcakes, since we have a new team member, we're going to take it easy for today and just run round the pitch for an hour.' Coach Hedge yelled into his megaphone which was usually clipped at his belt. We stood up, groaning and Coach blew his whistle. 'Move it!' He yelled, and we were off.

I was usually one of the faster ones in the team, but I dropped behind. The strategy I always used was to run very slowly at the beginning and run faster in the end. It was easier to me, because I had trouble finding myself a suitable pace for an hour. I usually ran alone, enjoying the silence and admiring the beauty of the world. Unfortunately, Percy decided to talk to me while running. Despite the fact that Percy is my only friend, I didn't like talking to people while running because that only managed to make me lose my breath quicker.

'Percy, I don't talk when I run because it's harder. To run I mean. So, do you mind?' I said sarcastically. Percy apparently didn't take the hint and continued talking to me anyways. 'So, what's your favorite colour?' Percy asked, between pants. 'Grey' I snapped. 'Can you please stop talking? I'm trying to concentrate here!' I said, practically begging. 'No' Percy replied cheekily and ran a little further before I could smacked him on the back of his head. 'Fine' I said, giving up. 'You can ask me questions, but I'll probably run away or not answer you.' I said, warning him.

Half an hour later, I had finally lost Percy because he simply couldn't keep up with me and I started to calm down. Coach Hedge was up and running with the students who were slow, yelling at the top of his lungs: 'Pick up the pace, cupcakes. You call that running?!' For effect, Coach Hedge occasionally even used his megaphone. 'Move it Jackson, you call th-' Coach Hedge was cut off mid-sentence by his megaphone. 'The cow goes moo!' Several kids had to stop because they were laughing too hard and were on the verge of getting a stomachache. I had to stiffen a laugh. Coach threw his megaphone down and glared at it. 'Bad megaphone!' he yelled, like it was a two year old toddler that needed punishment. This just caused even more laughs. This time, I couldn't hold back a laugh. I doubled over, falling to the ground in laughter. Percy wasn't doing much better. He cracked up.

Coach Hedge doesn't always use his megaphone, but when he does, it's hilarious. And despite the fact that he used his megaphone before, it never fails to get old.

Within seconds, the whole class was on the floor, laughing their butts off. It may not sound funny, but if you actually see it…well, it's impossible not to laugh. Coach Hedge tried to man-up and puff up his chest. He picked up his megaphone and re-clipped it to his belt. 'What are you laughing at cupcakes! Get back to running. Move it!' he yelled, face flushed. We obediently did. I finally calmed down and started to move. I moved to get up. But before I could somebody said: 'Hey, need a hand?' That somebody was Percy. I looked at his outstretched hand and hesitated. Then, I shrugged it off and grabbed his hand. Electricity coursed through me. I couldn't help but gasp from it while I got up. I brushed the dirt off my hands and gasped out a 'Thanks.' Percy smiled and replied with a: 'No prob' We split up. I headed towards the front of the group and Percy, towards the back. The electricity feeling faded away and left my hand tingling. After a few minutes of running that too, faded away although I kind of wish it stayed. It was nice.

I turned my attention back to running. I loved the feeling of running. Not a lot of people could appreciate running, because they could only focus on their legs burning. And that itself may not be so pleasant, but running held a certain…freedom to it. I felt that I was running away from all my problems and I forgot all of my problems in the time I ran. Usually, when we ran in the hills, I've learnt to admirer the view and appreciate the beauty of the world. The air suddenly felt fresh and it gave me hope. Hope for a new beginning.

Remember the unpleasant burning in your legs? Once you finish running, you feel…good. Not a 'high' good, but a calm good. You feel in control of your life and that's why I liked running cross-country. You may ask, why don't you like sprinting than? First of all, it takes too little time. You're only focus on the white finish line in front of you and you can't appreciate the beauty of the world. I focused on running.

Cross-country ended all too soon. I felt like I could still run another mile. However, Percy was a different case entirely. I was sweating, but Percy was sweating buckets. The moment the lesson finished, Percy jogged to his blue school bag to take his giant water bottle out. He opened it, and drank it in a few gulps. 'Are you alright, Seaweed Brain?' I asked. 'Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little dizzy.' Percy replied. 'Are you sure you don't need to go to the nurse?' I asked again, slightly worried for him. Percy took a deep breath. 'Yeah' Percy answered, slightly panting still. 'Can you walk?' I asked, yet again. 'I'm perfectly fine, Wise girl. See?' Percy said, gesturing to himself. For effect, he showed me his arms and legs.

I laughed. 'Alright you idiotic moron, let's get to our other LIA. You have swimming.' I said. At this, Percy lit up. He looked like a five year old who had just been to the candy store. 'What do you have?' Percy asked, while bouncing up and down. I laughed. 'I have Architecture.' I answered. At this, Percy's face dropped. 'Why can't you have swimming with me?' he said while pouting. He looks like a cute little baby seal. I had to look away, cheeks aflame. When I finally looked back, Percy was grinning. 'So…you can't resist me, can you? I'm too hot.' He said, flexing his muscles. I laughed, slightly blushing. 'Come on, let me take you to swimming.' I said, dragging him away.

A/N:

Finally done! Please review on this chapter! ;)