Chapter 9: Figuring it Out

Don't let yesterday use up too much of today - Cherokee Proverb

Percy couldn't sleep. Percy always seemed to fall asleep fine, until he met Annabeth. After meeting her, he always seemed to be awake later at night, thinking about her. Her eyes. Her hair. Annabeth was beautiful.

"Is this what insomnia feels like?" He whispered into the dark.

It had been almost a week since they sang karaoke together. Tomorrow she would come back to tutor him again, a constant reminder that his grades sucked. He had to admit, they had gotten better since she started tutoring him.

It wasn't his grades that kept him up. It would have been easy if it was his grades. They hadn't talked since Sunday. Annabeth had a concussion so she wasn't at archery. Percy missed her more than he would care to admit. Percy had seen her once in the hallway and dropped a book on his foot. He had thought they went to different schools. Apparently not.

She has pretty eyes.

She would never like me.

What's her type?

Just go to sleep. He scolded himself.

Half an hour later Percy groaned into his pillow. "What are you doing to me, Annabeth Chase?"

~q~Q~q~

Saturday morning, Annabeth woke up before her alarm got the chance to ring. She sat up on a mattress on the floor. She had crashed at Thalia's house. She checked the time. Only seven. Thalia was still asleep, no surprise. If no one woke her before noon, she would still be asleep.

She quietly changed into a pair of running clothes and tied her hair into a ponytail. She slipped out of Thalia's room and almost ran into Jason.

Jason was Thalia's younger brother. Jason didn't look the part though. The only resemblance Thalia and Jason shared was their blue eyes. Otherwise, their face shape, body shape, and hair color were different. He was only two years younger than both of them but didn't even look like it. He seemed to be good at everything he did, almost like herself.

Jason made it look effortless, everything he did. Annabeth managed everything just fine, but she wouldn't call herself effortless. Archery took work and practice and even after all the practice. People could see her arms shake, after too long. He was smart, they had the same Science class. How Jason managed to take an AP science class in his freshman year was beyond Annabeth. Even she didn't do that. His voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"Running?" Jason guessed.

Jason was already in running clothes. "Yup, you wanna join?"

"Sure."

Annabeth and Jason talked like siblings. After knowing each other for four years it was hard not to. They both headed out the door and started stretching. Both of them were groggy in the morning but forced themselves to get up and take a run. It helped clear brain fog.

Soon enough they started down the street. They didn't talk much, mostly to save energy. Whenever they ran together there was always a bit of competition. Who would ask for a break first? They were always super close, and there never really was a winner.

As they were running down the street, they passed some people Annabeth recognized from school. Then she saw Percy. Green eyes, black hair. She could spot him in an ocean of people. A dog that he was walking loudly barked at her.

"Arion! Calm down will you?"

Percy has a dog? They locked eyes for a second and Annabeth subconsciously slowed down. On her right, Jason was still running. Jason made it ahead of her and looked back.

"Tired already?" Jason teased. "It's only been ten minutes."

"You wish!" Annabeth shouted back.

"I'll talk to you later Percy!" She waved and sped up running again.

"Bye..?"

Percy's mind immediately spiraled. Who was that guy? Was he her boyfriend? So many unanswered questions. No answers.

Why couldn't life be like math?

Every problem had a solution. Even the problems that didn't have solutions, because then you could put a symbol into the equation and everything was solved. Why wasn't life like that? Percy stood there dumbfounded. Arion started barking again. Why did he agree to walk Hazel's dog again? He sighed and continued walking.

Just like his mood, the clouds darkened overhead.

"I swear if it rains," Percy muttered.

~q~Q~q~

It ended up raining. It didn't bother him as much as he thought it would. The sky wasn't the only one crying.

~q~Q~q

Annabeth was helping Percy. He seemed more out of it than usual, which was something. Of course, he normally didn't pay much attention, but nothing she said got through to him.

She sighed. "Percy are you okay?"

"Hmm?" Annabeth shook her head.

"Percy."

"Sorry?"

"Percy!" She gently pushed his shoulders to get his attention. Shocked by the sudden contact, his weight slipped over more than Annabeth anticipated. He wrapped his leg around the chair to avoid falling off, but the chair tipped with his weight.

Annabeth shot up alarmed, and tried to catch the chair to help Percy. She only succeeded in one of the tasks. Annabeth caught the chair, but Percy fell out of the chair anyway. He landed on the ground with a thud. They both did nothing for a few moments until Annabeth righted that chair and held out her hand for him. He took her hand and the unfamiliar feeling of chills passed through his arm. Annabeth mumbled an apology. The stains on the wood floor suddenly looked very interesting to her. Under her breath, she also mumbled how clumsy he was.

"Really? I'm the clumsy one? You were the one that pushed me! If anything it's your fault!"

Annabeth's head snapped up, he heard her. Embarrassed, Annabeth felt her cheeks heat up. She looked at the ground again. Percy smirked, liking the effect he had on her. Then as quickly as the smile came, it was gone. She had a boyfriend. She was off-limits.

But even as his mind spiraled, he was unsure. Why would she blush? His mind naturally came up with hundreds of excuses. She probably blushed out of embarrassment. Sometimes people do that. Maybe the room was too hot. Maybe she naturally had more color in her cheeks and Percy just didn't notice the whole time. Maybe-

"Percy? Hello? Should we get back to work?" Annabeth asked already sitting down. He cursed himself for standing there standing into oblivion for who knows how long. He sighed.

Percy muttered. "Why am I so stupid sometimes?"

"Sorry? What was that?" Annabeth asked without looking up from her work.

"Nothing. Nothing, let's just get back to work."

Annabeth shrugged and obliged, leaving Percy wondering about Annabeth once more.