"What?" Brett stared at Mara in disbelief. "What do you mean you want to help me?" He couldn't be hearing her properly. Why would Mara, of all people, want to help him? They barely knew each other. It wasn't like she was deeply invested in his romantic life. Even his best friends, Randy and Jake, had refused to get involved any further after the party fiasco. What reason did Mara have to go out of her way to offer Brett her assistance?
"Exactly what I said," Mara stated. At his blank stare, she continued. "I want to help you," she elaborated impatiently, "because I want to help Annabeth. I think Percy is hurting her. I mean you saw her this morning, right? She's all cut up and covered in bruises. Not to mention I just found out about this guy. I've known her for a year and it's just now coming up that she has a boyfriend! Why did she hide it for so long if there's not something going on?"
Mara had a point. And if it had gotten to the point where even Annabeth's friends were noticing something was off, then Brett's suspicions about Percy must be right.
"Okay," Brett said, accepting Mara`s offer of help. "Do you have any ideas for how we are going to do this?"
Mara grinned. "As a matter of fact, I do."
Brett wasn't sure how he ended up in the park on Saturday afternoon, pretending to read a book and waiting for Mara to enact her plan. Brett had been hesitant at first, but Mara's plan was just crazy enough that it might work. Mara and Annabeth had a group project, and they had agreed to meet at Annabeth's apartment on Saturday to work on it. Mara had decided that this was the perfect opportunity to show Annabeth Percy's true colors. Mara planned to kiss Percy, and when Annabeth saw how easily Percy would cheat on her, she would hopefully finally see what kind of person Percy was.
That's where Brett came in. Mara had informed him that Annabeth once told her that she liked to walk through the park near her apartment when she needed to clear her head. When Annabeth saw Percy cheating, Mara and Brett were betting on her storming out, and the park was her most likely destination. From there, Brett could 'accidentally' run into her, and would be able to comfort Annabeth and help her realize that she was better off without Percy.
Brett was expecting distress when he saw Annabeth, maybe even some tears. What he did not expect was Percy. And yet there he was, walking side by side with Annabeth as she talked, gesturing wildly with her hands. At least she was angry at him, Brett could work with that. He just needed to separate the two.
Brett watched from his perch on a nearby bench as Annabeth and Percy continued down the walking path, not even trying to pretend he was reading his book. Brett was just glad that witnessing him cheating seemed to finally be enough to open Annabeth's eyes to Percy's true character. He could only imagine what Annabeth must be saying. Her whole body was tense, and she was still waving her hands through the air. Percy didn't even seem to be trying to defend himself; he simply walked next to Annabeth and listened.
He was trying to come up with a way to talk to Annabeth on her own when someone approached Percy and Annabeth. The man was wearing a jogging suit and seemed to be in his early thirties, though Brett couldn't be sure. He had the build of a runner, slim and fit but not muscular, and curly salt-and-pepper hair. In his hand, he held what at first glance was a stick with two live snakes curling around it and sculpted wings at the top, but when Brett looked again he realized it was only a walking stick. Despite not looking particularly intimidating, he gave off an aura of power Brett could sense even from so far away.
Percy and Annabeth stilled immediately. The man said something that Brett was too far away to hear, but both Annabeth and Percy looked concerned. The man gestured to a small grove of trees off the main path and began walking away. Only Percy followed.
Brett saw his chance and he took it. After Percy and the man were out of sight, he approached Annabeth. It was startling to see her rapid change in emotion. Just moments ago she had been fired up and angry, but now there was no hint of it on her face. Instead, Annabeth chewed her lip, staring in the direction that Percy and the man had gone with worry in her eyes. Who could that man be to warrant such a reaction? Brett wasn't sure he wanted to find out.
"Annabeth?" He tried to sound as though he was surprised to run into her.
"Brett?" Annabeth asked, sounding genuinely surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same question," Brett responded. He figured he should try to steer the conversation in the right direction and added, "You look like something's troubling you, did something happen?"
Annabeth gave him a cold look. "I don't really think that's any of your business."
Brett tried to sound casual. "I'm not trying to pry, I just know that sometimes it helps to talk it out."
Annabeth sighed, crossing her arms. "It's obvious that you're not going to stop until I tell you, so if you must know, Mara assaulted Percy."
"Oh Annabeth, I'm so sorry. It always hurts when your boyfriend cheats on- wait, what?"
She rolled her eyes. "Mara kissed Percy without his consent."
This was not the way Brett was expecting this conversation to go. Just how tightly did Percy have her wrapped around his finger for her to defend him even when she catches him kissing another girl?
"Are you sure it wasn't Percy that kissed her?" Brett tried to gently push Annabeth in the right direction. "How do you know that he didn't want to kiss her, even if she was the one who initiated it?"
Annabeth cursed. "Honestly, Brett! Why are you so insistent that Percy is a bad person?"
"Because he is."
"You don't even know him!" She threw her hands up in frustration.
"I know enough," Brett insisted.
Annabeth glared at him. "You don't know anything. You don't have the foggiest notion about what we've been through, so do yourself a favor and drop this stupid idea that you know what's best for me. I assure you that I can make my own decisions, and you have no right to have a say in any of them."
"Percy cheated on you! Why can't you see that? How can you still defend him after what he did?"
Before Annabeth could respond, Percy reappeared. If Brett wasn't so sure that Percy was dangerous, he would have almost been relieved at the distraction Percy provided; Annabeth's eyes were murderous. Percy was alone. The other man was nowhere in sight.
"What did I do?" Percy asked. His easygoing tone and relaxed attitude irked Brett. It was obviously fake, and Brett couldn't understand why so many people were fooled by it. Everyone he had seen interacting with Percy seemed to be under the impression that he was a laid back, genuinely kind person, but all the evidence suggested otherwise. Nothing else would explain Annabeth's bruises, or her inability to see reason when it came to Percy. He was a controlling, abusive person who was manipulating Annabeth and everyone else around him, and they were all blind to it.
"You cheated on her!" Brett exclaimed.
Percy had the gall to look confused. "Why would I cheat on Annabeth?"
"You tell me! I'm not the one kissing my girlfriend's friends as soon as her back is turned! I bet Mara isn't even the first! You've probably cheated on Annabeth with dozens of girls!"
Percy frowned. "Mara kissed me, not the other way around. Annabeth's the best girlfriend in the world, and the only one I want. I would never cheat on her."
Annabeth stepped in before Brett could call Percy out on his lies. "We're leaving, Brett. None of this is any of your business anyway, so we are not going to stand here and debate with you."
She turned and walked away, grabbing Percy's hand as she went. As they were leaving Annabeth muttered, "What did Hermes want?" but they were already too far away for Brett to hear Percy's answer.
Brett could do nothing but stare at their retreating figures. Today had not turned out at all as he had planned. He thought for sure that seeing Percy kissing another girl would be enough to shake Annabeth's total faith in Percy, but if anything it had only reinforced her misguided view of Percy. How could the people around her not see how bad Percy was for Annabeth? Surely her parents must have said something. They wouldn't want their daughter dating that kind of delinquent.
A thought struck him suddenly. What if Annabeth's parents didn't know about Percy? It would make sense. Surely they would have objected by now if they had any knowledge of Annabeth's boyfriend. Annabeth lived at Percy's apartment, and Brett thought he remembered her saying that her father was some sort of history professor in San Francisco, all the way across the country. It would be easy for Annabeth to hide Percy's existence from her parents.
A plan began forming in Brett's mind. He just had to hope it would work.
