Hey! I'm back with a new chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.

Chapter Six

Percy's POV

The most precious love occurs without choice and when you least expect it.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Brrring! Brrring!

I lift my head off of my desk and open my eyes. Students are getting up, their chairs scratching the floor. I look at my open calculus book, which I had been resting my head on, and notice that there's a litte bit of drool on it. I quickly wipe it off, my cheeks red, hoping that no one saw me.

I get up and walk down the hall, now feeling fully rested. At least calculus is good for one thing: naps.

It's Friday, and, after surviving the first week back from Thanksgiving break, most people are more than ready for the weekend. I hear most of their plans as I walk towards my locker. Jeremy Stone's throwing a party at his house on Sunday. The volleyball team is going to the New Jersey beach to celebrate their successful season. The mathletes have a competition and the basketball team begins on Saturday.

I get to my locker and begin doing my combination. I hear laughing and look to my left to see Silena, Rachel, Reyna, and Annabeth crowded around Annabeth's locker. Reyna says something and all four girls start laughing. My vision tunnels on Annabeth. When she smiles, her teeth shine and her eyes light up. She wears her curls down today, and when she laughs, they bounce.

"Hey, Fish Face," Thalia says, slamming her hand on the locker next to mine, and blocking my view of Annabeth.

I blink. "Hey, Thals."

Thalia glances behind her to where Annabeth is, and grins at me. "You got a thing for Miss Chase over there?" she teases.

I blush. "Shut up."

"Aw, come on, Perce," Thalia continues. "You can trust me. It's okay if you have a little cr-"

"Where's Grover?" I ask quickly, wanting to change the subject.

"Goat oy's at his car waiting for us.

"Waiting for us?"

Thalia hit the back of my head. "It's free period, moron! Starbucks? Or were you too caught up in Annabeth to notice?"

I glare at her. "Go to the car, Thalia. I'll meet you there."

Thalia threw her hands up in mock innocence. "Whatever you say, cuz. See ya in a few." She runs off. I glare at the back of her head until she's out of sight. Thalia's a great friend and cousin, but sometimes, she can be a real pain in the rear.

I put away my calculus book and grab my phone and wallet. I hear Annabeth say bye to her friends, and an idea forms in my head. From what I heard in their conversation, Reyna and Rachel have to go to class, and Silena has to go help a teacher as a student aid. Which means that Annabeth doesn't have anyone to hang out with for this hour.

I slowly walk over towards her. Should I do this? She might fond it weird and awkward. I mean, I barely know Annabeth. We've talked a little bit since her first day, but not enough to be good friends. And what if she says no?

Yet, with all these worries swimming around in my head, I still find myself saying, "Hey, Annabeth."

Annabeth looks up from where she was putting up her thick Chemistry book in her locker. I glance inside to find it all neatly organized; not one thing is out of place. I suppress a grin.

"Hey, Percy," Annabeth replies, smiling at me. She tucks a curl behind her ear and looks at me expectantly, chewing slighty on her bottom lip.

"Uh, I was just wondering if you'd like to go to Starbucks with a couple friends and me," I begin. "We'll get back in time for fifth hour. I just heard that Silena's a teacher's aid now, and Reyna and Rachel have classes, so that leaves you alone. If you don't have anything better to do..." I leave that sentence hanging, waiting for her answer.

"I'd love to," Annabeth replies, "but I don't have any money on me."

"I'll pay," I say, without thinking. I mentally slap myself. I only grabbed enough money this morning to get a drink for myself. But because my mom drilled into my head as a kid to always treat girls with respect, I immediately offered to pay. I'll have to borrow money from Thalia.

"Really?" Annabeth says, surprised. "Thank you."

"Come on," I beckon. "Grover and Thalia are at the car, waiting."

The final bell rings as we walk out of the building. Grover had pulled up to the front while I was talking to Annabeth, so we hop right in. Grover's at the wheel and Thalia's sitting in the passenger seat, so Annabeth and I sit in the back.

"Hello, Miss Chase," Grover says, glancing in the rearview mirror at us. "How are you today?"

I roll my eyes at Grover's posh manners. He acts like this everytime we hang out with girls we're not good friends with. It's part of his personality. He thinks girls'll go for a gentleman, but honestly, it weirds out most of the girls at our school.

Annabeth laughs. "I'm great. How are you?"

"I'm excellent," Grover replies, winking at her. She laughs again.

"Sorry," I apologize. "Grover goes all prestigious, posh gentleman when he's around girls."

"Hey!" Grover exclaims.

"I don't mind," Annabeth reassures.

"So blondie," Thalia starts.

Annabeth raises an eyebrow pointedly.

"Annabeth," Thalia corrects. "What did Fish Face here do to convince you to come with him?"

Annabeth tilts her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

Thalia rolls her eyes. "No girl comes with Percy willingly. So what did he do to get you to come? Blackmail you? Promise to do your chemistry homework for the next two weeks?"

Annabeth grins. "No. He didn't do anything. I came on my own free will."

Thalia gasps, aghast. She turns to look at me, her eyes wide. Then her expression changes into a mischievous grin. "She's a keeper, Perce."

"Shut up," I say, leaning forward to whack her upside the head. Thalia dodges, snickering.

"Start driving, Goat Boy," she demands.

"Stop calling me that!" Grover protests as he begins driving out of the parking lot.

"Well, if you didn't have that nervous laugh, maybe I would."

"It doesn't sound like a goat!"

Annabeth shoots me a quizzical look. "What are they talking about?" she whispers.

"Don't ask," I whisper back.

"They're whispering!" Thalia shouts teasingly. I groan. It's going to be a long drive.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

The nearest Starbucks is three miles away. Three miles of enduring Thalia's endearing, wonderful comments about me and Annabeth. So, of course, I was relieved when Grover finally pulled into the small coffee shop.

I quickly climbed out of the car and held the door open as Annabeth climbed out. Grover's immediately at her side and escorting her inside. I take the opportunity to get money from Thalia.

"Hey, Thals," I say quietly, "can I borrow some money? I kinda offered to buy Annabeth's drink, then realized that I only have enough money to buy my own drink."

Thalia smirked. "Don't buy yourself a drink then."

I groan. "Thalia, please?"

I gave her my best puppy dog look, and she gave in. "Fine," she says, shoving a five dollar bill into my hand. "But you owe me."

I grin. "When do I not?"

We both walk into the shop, the smell of freshly brewed coffee wafting into my nose. I look around to find the place not too busy. There's a middle-aged man, maybe in his forties, working on a laptop while sipping his drink. Not far from him, by the window, is an elderly couple, leisurely chatting as they sip their drinks. And towards the middle are around six college-age students, talking loudly and and laughing obnoxiously.

Annabeth and Grover are already at the register. Grover's ordering his usual drink: expresso. Thalia and I quickly get in line behind them.

"Hey," Annabeth says, while Thalia quickly adds her order to Grover's tab. I hear Grover start complaining and Thalia tells him to calm down as she stuffs three dollars in his hand.

"What are you getting?" I ask.

"You don't have to pay, Percy," she says. "I don't have to get a drink."

"One cannot simply come to Starbucks and not get a drink," I say, grinning. "Besides, I don't care. It's no big deal."

Annabeth still looks unsure, but she doesn't say anything else about it. We get up to order. Annabeth orders a hot chocolate, and I get one also. We put out name down and join Thalia and Grover at our usual table at the far corner of the shop. I take a seat next to Grover and across from Annabeth, who sits next to Thalia.

"Truth or dare?" Thalia is asking Grover when Annabeth and I get over there.

"Dare," Grover answers rather feebishly. Thalia's dares are either dangerous, against the rules, or utterly humiliating. But if he didn't take it, he'd look like a wimp. So, the dare it is.

"I dare you," Thalia says as she glances around the shop, "to go over to that man over there and start up a conversation."

Grover's pained face suddenly takes on a relieved look. "That can't be too-"

"I'm not done," Thalia cut in menacingly. "Then, I want you to take a big swig of his drink right in front of him, pat his cheek, and walk off."

I stifle a laugh. Grover's a very shy person if you're not good friends with him. Just picturing him doing Thalia's dare is harder to do than passing a calculus test.

Grover paled again. "Thalia, are you sure that's not a little too creepy?"

"If you don't do it, you have to stand up on a chair and yell, 'I'm a chicken!' across the whole place," Thalia snickers. When she sees Grover's fearful face, she shrugs and says, "You were the one who chose dare."

Grover groans and glares at the goth girl across from him. As he gets up and starts walking over to the man, I look over at Annabeth. She's smiling and watching Grover, amused. She catches my glance and grins at me.

My heart begins to beat a little faster.

We three watch as Grover asks the man if he can join him. The man nods, and Grover takes a seat in the vacant chair across from him. Grover starts up a friendly conversation. I can't hear them from where I'm sitting, but based on their hand gestures, I'm guessing that Grover asked him what he's working on. The man begins talking, and once he's done, goes back to his laptop. Grover glances back at us, nervous. Thalia makes a "go on" gesture with her hand and leans back in her chair, anxiously awaiting Grover's act of humiliation with a wicked smile. Annabeth and I are both trying not to laugh.

Grover turns back around to the man, picks up his drink, takes a big swig, and sets it back down. Then, while the man gives him a disgusted look, gets up, pats the man's cheek, and says goodbye.

As Grover makes his way back to our table, Thalia, Annabeth, and I erupt in guffaws. From behind Grover, I see the man glance at us, then at Grover, and chuckle as he goes back to his laptop. I laugh harder.

"It's not funny, you guys," Grover insists as he sits back down.

"Yeah, right," Thalia says. "Like you wouldn't be laughing if Percy or I did it."

Grover glares at her. We don't finish our game of Truth or Dare. Grover's experience was enough fun for the day. Our drinks arrive, and I start a conversation about a movie that's come out recently. Annabeth participates in the conversation, much to my surprise. I figured she would be quiet and shy, but she fits right in. Her and Thalia get along well, teaming up in arguments and discussing how good One Direction's music is (Thalia hates it all, but Annabeth likes a few songs.). It isn't until Annabeth's phone goes off that she starts acting weird.

Grover and Thalia are arguing, as usual. Grover's saying that we shouldn't cut down trees to make paper. Thalia argues that we don't have much else to make it from.

Annabeth and I watch with amused expressions on our faces. They fight about the stupidest things, I think.

Annabeth's phone rings. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her pick it up and check the caller ID. Her entire face changes. Her eyes, earlier greyish blue and shining, turn a dark grey, like the sky during a hurricane. Her lips part in an "O" and her face drains of color. A small gasp escapes from her lips.

I turn my attention to her. "What's wrong?" I ask.

Her shocked expression dissolves back into her normal look, but I can see that her eyes look the same as they did the day I met her: nervous and guarded.

"Nothing," she replies, her voice shaking. She angrily presses the decline button. "It's almost 12:05. Should we be heading back?"

I look down at my watch, and see that, yes, it's time to go. The four of us get up and walk back to Grover's car, our half-finished drinks in our hands.

The entire drive back, Annabeth doesn't speak. She stares out the window as we race back, midlessly playing with her fingers in her lap. I want to ask her who called her and why it bothers her so much. But I don't. I stare out of my window, listening to Thalia and Grover continue their argument in the front, completely unaware of the emotional tension in the back.

It isn't until we get to the school and are walking to English class that I get the courage to ask Annabeth about the phone call.

It's just us in the hallway. The bell ending fourth hour should ring at any moment. The two of us sip our hot drinks, letting the warmth melt away the cold from outside. I look over at Annabeth. Her pace matches mine, and, just like in Starbucks, her eyes are guarded and nervous. My mind itches to know what's wrong, and before I know what I'm doing, I say, "Who called you? At Starbucks?"

Annabeth tenses. I'm sure that I've lost all chances I ever had of becoming friends with her. But then she says, "An old friend. I never thought I'd hear from him again."

Something that was nervously bubbling up in my stomach quickly deflates in relief. I don't know why I was so nervous, why I'm so relieved now that it wasn't a boyfriend.

"Well," I start slowly, "as long as no more old friends call you, maybe we can make this a regular thing."

A smile slowly creeps onto Annabeth's face. "Really?"

I shrug nonchalantly. "As long as you don't have anything better to do."

Annabeth hesitates, and for a split second, I think that she's going to decline. She glances at her bag, where I know her phone is, and bites her lip, like she's making a decision. Then, she smiles. "I'd like that."

Something strange happens. When she smiles, my stomach begins to feel funny. My heart beats a little faster. My hands get sweaty.

I smile back and we walk to Paul's close together. Annabeth starts talking about how much fun she had at Starbucks with us. I love listening to her talk. Her voice is so sweet and gentle. She sounds so at ease, so relaxed. It makes me happy.

"So, I'm guessing you enjoyed yourself," I tease, grinning.

Annabeth laughs. "Yeah," she says. Her tone of voice is distant, like she's thinking of something much deeper and more personal than a snack at a coffee shop. "I guess I did."

Then, she adds quietly, to herself, "I can't remember the last time I was that relaxed and happy."

So what did you think? I think this is one of my better chapters, but you guys might think the opposite. So please review! Please!

"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13