I forgot to mention this in the last chapter, but the entire previous chapter took place on March 27th, 2020. Let's also pretend that there is no Corona in this story. Speaking of Corona, I hope you guys are doing well with social distancing and staying healthy. Fun fact, I actually wrote this story LAST YEAR! I opened it cause I was bored and I thought I would cringe, HARD, but it was surprisingly acceptable. I hope you guys feel the same way! Anyway, I'm done with rambling, onwards with the story! PS: I can't express to you guys how happy I am to have this on the internet. I've never smiled so much in my entire life! (Sorry if each chapter is short, or takes a while to update.)

HUGS COOKIES FOR EVERYONE!

The Apartment - Chapter 2

~aaryathenotsowisegirl~

Tuesday, March 31

Annabeth rolled around her bed, muttering to herself. She scratched her back and rolled around some more. The stressed blonde haired girl smacked her phone in her distress, and her phone fell to the floor with a thud. At the same time, it released an annoying chirpy sound that Annabeth had specifically chosen to wake her up. CHEEP! CHEEP! CHEEP! Startled, Annabeth awoke with a start, scared herself by looking into the mirror across from her bed, jumped, rolled in the air, and landed on the tawny wood floor with a loud thud. Half awake, she groped around for her phone, and pressed the "Stop" button. She groaned and sat up, her side aching from the unexpected tumble she took. Rubbing her eyes, she sighed, and wondered why she was such a "fight or flight" sleeper. Dizzily, she made her way to the doorway and glanced at the alarm clock on top of her bedside table. 8:43. What day was it today? Annabeth drowsily wondered. Today was Tuesday right? Yeah. I feel like I'm missing something here. Do I have a coffee date today? No, that's only Fridays. Am I meeting up with Hazel? No, I'll see her in class - OH MY GOSH! I must have hit the snooze button!

"SON OF A HERA! How, how in the actual world, did I sleep in! " Annabeth cursed underneath her breath and muttered a string of intangible words. "asjdfneverlateforclassfvmfthisisMcLean'sfaultflasjlHOW. She leapt in and out of her shower, combed her hair, jumped into random sweats she found lying on the floor, all while simultaneously brushing her teeth.

Looks like it's going to be one of those days Annabeth grimly remarked to herself as she grabbed a peach, her bag, her keys, and ran out the door to her Toyota, stumbling along in her ratty black converse.

Annabeth arrived at the lecture hall at promptly 8:58, about two minutes before class started. She spotted Hazel's macchiato, shiny hair bouncing in a seat, and made her way towards her. When she arrived, Hazel was talking animatedly to an asian boy who sat to her left. He had chubby cheeks, and looked like a big fluffy panda in his ginormous white sweatshirt (by the way, it looked EXTREMELY comfy), which coincidentally, had a panda on it.

Panda guy(Annabeth decided to nickname the dude) and Hazel were so engrossed in their conversation that even when Annabeth plopped her heavy bag down in the seat to Hazel's right and made a loud thump, they either ignored it, or didn't notice. She pulled out her computer, and placed it on the adjoining desk next to the seat. The blonde girl fiddled around with her laptop for a moment and sighed in relief when her prehistoric - dinosaur age computer finally turned on. She absolutely could not afford to buy a new one, especially with her minimum wage job.

The professor slowly made his way up to the front of the auditorium in his wheelchair, wearing that wise expression Annabeth knew too well. In that moment, his eyes crinkled and you could see ghosts. It was like he'd seen too much, he knew too much for a man his age. The professor then smiled and his eyes whisked back to his normal mood. His eyes still had remnants of the haunted look of before, and his eyes glittered with something Annabeth couldn't identify.

Well, Mr. Brunner had always looked older in the mind then in the body. Annabeth thought to herself, making a mental note to talk to him after class.

Mr. Brunner called the class to attention with a loud "ahem" into the microphone. Hazel and and Panda Guy jumped to attention, startled, with a tinge of red on both of their cheeks. Hazel glanced around and spotted Annabeth to her right, looking pleased and staring determinedly straight ahead, towards Mr. Brunner.

Hazel whispered to Annabeth,"When did you get here?"

Spotting the maroon on Hazel's cheek, Annabeth couldn't resist teasing her.

"Oh, a while ago. You seemed cozy with Panda Guy, and I didn't want to interrupt your little flirting session."

Hazel sputtered for an answer, while Annabeth returned her gaze to Mr. Brunner at the front, and she couldn't help but grin as she settled in for the next hour and a half.

After class, Annabeth cheerfully waved bye to Hazel and Panda Guy, flashing them a smile which unnerved them. As she was about to walk out the door with the other weary students, she remembered with a start that she was going to talk to Mr. Brunner and check in on him.

Mr. Brunner vibed differently than other teachers. He believed in easy extra credit points - like making the question always multiple choice, and always the answer C. When asked by the other professors why he would make it so easy for the students, he always replied with,"We live in an age of confusion and thirst in which the advantages of communication are greater than those of secrecy." which left the other professors starstruck. Mr. Brunner would wheel away with a wise smirk, (if there was such a thing) and rolled out towards his office.

Annabeth had witnessed an occasion as the one pictured above, and she had to stuff her fist in her mouth to stop herself from laughing at the other teachers' confused glances at one another, and stares at Mr. Brunner as he casually wheeled away.

This moment was cartwheeling through Annabeth's mind, as she made her way down the stairs towards Mr. Brunner. A scruffy boy with frazzled black hair stood next to Mr. Brunner, animatedly discussing something with him. As Annabeth made her way closer, she saw glimpses of his face. He had - brown (?) eyes, and his hair was even messier than up close than it had been when she was farther away. His face was - almost dewy, and he seemed to sink lower and lower with every word Mr. Brunner spoke.

"Mr. Brunner, I really don't think a tutor is necessary." the black haired boy replied.

"Nonsense Percy, I know of several students who are more than willing to tutor you - ah here's one!" he exclaimed as Annabeth finally got to the bottom of the stairs and approached them.

"Percy" turned around and regarded Annabeth with a wary stare. He looked her up and down and wrinkled his nose, all in a flash, so fast that Annabeth thought she imagined it.

"Um, hi." Annabeth extended a hand out to the boy that was standing across from her. Now that she was closer, she could look at him up close and the first thing she noticed was his eyes. They were a striking sea green color, how did she see brown earlier? They were vast, almost like the ocean, and seemed to hold the weight of the world in them, but she saw a mischievous sparkle in his eyes, small and weary but it was there. She could stare into them for ages, but Annabeth shook herself out of her stupor and managed to get a couple of words out of her clammy mouth.

"I'm Annabeth."

She waited for him to give an introduction and shake her hand, that was awkwardly hovering in the air between them. After what seemed like ages, he coughed, and weakly waved hi.

"Percy." He offered. Annabeth dropped her hand, it was obvious that he wasn't going to shake it. She regarded him with a questioning glance, and returned her eyes to Mr. Brunner, waiting for him to say why in the world she was talking to this…. person.

"Well, now that you've been introduced, let me explain why you guys are talking to each other." Mr. Brunner flashed a wink at Annabeth. Annabeth couldn't help but think that he had read her mind, and flushed a deep pink. She noticed "Percy" (was that really his name?) staring at her and scowled at him, not amused by him. He looked away, turning a deeper shade of pink than her and turned his eyes downward.

" So Annabeth, Percy here is struggling a little bit in our Calculus course. Would you be willing to tutor him? You two can work out a payment plan later."

Startled, Annabeth opened her mouth, and closed her mouth. "I mean…."

Percy cut in before she could finish. "Her? Tutor me? Is she smart enough? She sure doesn't look it." He mumbled the last part under his breath, and Annabeth just caught it. Mr. Brunner didn't appear to hear the last comment, so she looked into "Percy's" gorgeous sea green eyes, letting herself be enveloped in them for a second, and then quickly flashed him a stone cold, hard, death glare, which she reserved for people like her dad.

She relished in the fear she saw in Percy's eyes and grinned broadly.

"Percy, I think you'll find that Annabeth is more than suitable enough, she has a scholarship, and is majoring in architecture. She has one of the highest grades here for your class, and is definitely going places." Mr. Brunner replied hastily. If he had noticed the exchange between Percy and Annabeth, he didn't say anything.

"Oh." Percy muttered looking away.

"I don't mind tutoring him." Annabeth replied honestly to Mr. Brunner. She could easily control him (she evilly grinned in her mind), and she had free time, so why not?

"Wonderful!" replied Mr. Brunner. "Well, that's settled. I'll leave you two to discuss the terms." He wheeled away considerably happier than he had been that morning, leaving the two 19 year-olds staring everywhere but each other.

"Um, should we exchange numbers?" Annabeth asked warily.

"I guess." He replied.

Annabeth pulled out her phone as did Percy. They switched phones and Annbeth caught a glimpse of his Finding Nemo background and stifled a laugh. She typed in her number and her name and handed the phone back to Percy. He did the same and awkwardly shuffled with his hands in his pockets.

"Well I guess that's that." she said, sighing while rolling her eyes at his antics "So where do you want to-"

"Oh my god, spare me the details!" He hissed under his breath as soon as he saw Mr. Brunner wheel out of the auditorium. "Ms. Goody Two Shoes, I don't need your help, or anyone's help for that matter. You're just a hot headed bimbo, who can't find a better way to get a scholarship other than - "

Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows and opened her mouth to respond. None of what came out of his mouth made any sense. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair and cut Annabeth out."Look Anna, or Annabelle, whatever your name is. There's no other way to say it, so I'm going to say it bluntly. I don't want your help. I don't need your help. You can just scurry away in those legs of yours, back to your luxury apartment, BMW, and rich daddy. Good luck in the real world honey." he exclaimed as he walked up the stairs towards the exit. When he reached the top, he smirked and looked down. "Close your mouth, you don't want to catch any flies in that million dollar mouth of yours dear." The teen left the room leaving a very hurt, dumbfounded Annabeth behind.

That's that! This chapter was easier to write than I thought it was going to be. I'm trying to make chapters longer and longer as I go so yeah. Idk if I succeeded though. Quick note - the next chapters will be written in first person from both Annabeth and Percy's view. For the past two chapters, it was third person limited, from mostly Annabeth's perspective. Now, I wanna tell it from Annabeth's and Percy's side so you guys have a- you'll see :) Also, I'm working on getting a beta to review my work, so I'm really sorry if there are any grammatical errors, or if something doesn't make , I have online school tomorrow, I'd rather go to school. You guys are the best. Don't forget to review, you'll get a cookie! (::) :D Have an amazing day/night

-aaryathenotsowisegirl