Hey, y'all! I'm back! Finally!

Oh my gosh, the SoM movie comes out tomorrow! I'm super excited! Who's going to see it!

Okay, so I finally got the SoM graphic novel today from the library. I haven't read the PJO books in a while, because I have this huge stack of books on my dresser from the library that I've been reading. So anyways, I started the novel and the FEELS! Like, I know that Percy and Annabeth fall into Tartarus, so reading about them when they're so young and all their worrying about is trying to get the Fleece for Thalia's pine, and I'm just like, "Enjoy this because soon you're going to be thrown into Tartarus and probably die." So yeah.

This chapter is pretty long and there's lots of Percabeth fluff, so have fun reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Or Hunter Hayes' "Wanted". Or Paramore's "The Only Exception".

Chapter Nine

Annabeth

"I'd get you into trouble and take all the blame."

-"If You Told Me Too" by Hunter Hayes

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Charlie invited me to go to Florida with him over spring break," Silena announces to me at the end of third hour. "His family's renting a beach house on the shore."

"Oh really?" I say, looking over at Beckendorf. He's nodding in approval, his eyes shining proudly. I smile at his happiness. "That's exciting."

"Yeah," Silena says dreamily, like she's already thinking of what to do there, even though spring break isn't for a long time. "So what are you doing, Annabeth?"

I shrug. "I don't know. I haven't thought that far ahead yet."

Silena starts talking to Beckendorf about who-knows-what, and I let my mind wander to the car ride with Percy on Saturday. Two days have passed since then, and I'm still marveling at how he'd made me feel so comfortable. It felt like we'd known each other for years then, even though it's only been a week.

Now, it's third period, Monday morning, and I can't wait to get to fourth hour, where I'll be going out with Percy, Thalia, and Grover.

"Hey, Annabeth," a male's voice says from the right of me. I turn to see none other than Peyton James, Goode's number one bully and player. I recognize him as the one who asked me if I was single my first day here. Peyton's leaning back on the back legs of the chair and he's smiling widely at me.

I groan internally. "Hi, Peyton."

"So that test was pretty hard today wasn't it?" he says. "How'd you think you do?"

I smirk. That test was super easy. Nearly everyone finished early. "It really wasn't that hard," I say. "If you studied."

Peyton laughs loudly. Silena and Beckendorf both glance behind them at me, silently asking if I needed them to intervene. I shake my head slightly. I can handle this.

Once Peyton stops laughing, he scoots his chair closer to mine and puts his arm around me. "You're one funny chick, Annabeth."

I force a giggle. "Glad you think so."

"Hey, I'm getting together with the guys on Friday. You wanna be my date?" He wraps his arm around me and wiggles his eyebrows. "It'd be fun."

I get the feeling that his definition of fun and my definition of fun are two very different things. "I'm gonna have to pass," I say as the bell rings, allowing me to escape from Peyton's grasp.

"What was that about?" Silena asks me as we walk out of the classroom.

I make a face. "I don't even know."

Silena laughs at my misfortune. "Well, too bad for him," she teases. ""You're already taken."

I elbow the black-haired girl. "I am not!"

Anymore, I want to add. I shake that thought from my head. On Saturday, I promised myself that I would not think of him.

"Oh, please," Silena rolls her eyes. "So oblivious."

We get to my locker and I start dialing the combo. "What do you mean?"

"Neither of you can see how much you like each other," Silena explains. "You're both so oblivious."

I open my locker then turn to look at her. "I don't like Percy that way," I explain slowly so she'll get it. "Percy doesn't like me that way." I huff and start putting books in my locker.

"That's good," a voice says from the other side of my locker. "I was worrying."

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Really, my patience has wore thin with this kid. "Hi, Peyton."

"Hey, Annie-" I cringe at that name. "-I was thinking about how you said no to me in Chemistry. I understand, you just want to take things slow. So how about a movie on Friday?"

I smile through gritted teeth. "No thanks, Peyton. I, uh, already have plans."

Peyton wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me closer. He's about six inches taller than me, so I have to look up to glare at him. "Let go of me," I snap, struggling to push him away, but he has an iron grip on me.

"Come on, Annie," he whispers in my ear. "What else could you possibly be doing?"

"Peyton, let go," I try again, still struggling to get out of his grasp. "I'm not going out with you."

"Aw, Annab-"

"Peyton!" I turn to see that Percy's making his way down the hallway, and angry look on his face.

"Oh, look who it is!" Peyton sneers. "Percy Jackson, here to save the day."

"Let go of her," Percy demands. His normal green eyes are shining with fury and he glares fiercely at Peyton. That boy can glare when he wants to.

"Or what?" Peyton demands, though he lets go of me. I move behind Percy. "We all know you're not gonna beat me up."

By now, a crowd has gathered around us. I glance at Silena from behind Percy, my eyes wide. She looks back at me with an awed expression, her lips forming an "o". Beckendorf is beside her, watching Percy with a slightly amused expression. The crowd consists of at least thirty people, all with either a shocked expression or an amused expression.

"You're right," Percy says. "I won't beat you up." He turns around, grabs my hand, and starts dragging me through the crowd of students. I hear surprised gasps, hushed whispers, and even some giggles, but, ultimately, I hear Peyton yelling, "Come back here, Jackson! Are you too scared to face me? Come back, coward!"

Percy ignores him and continues dragging me away. We walk through a few hallways filled with students who look at us with shocked faces. I see Drew with her friends, Jasmine and Brooklyn, glaring at me like I just dumped my lunch on her brand new outfit. I see Leo and Malcolm standing together talking with Reyna. All three stop talking and gape at me as I pass. Other students give me the same reaction.

At first, I don't understand why everyone's staring at Percy and I. But then I realize.

A sickly sweet feeling grows in my stomach. I feel my heart quicken and an unheard, small yelp escapes my lips.

Percy Jackson is holding my hand.

And now that I've come upon the realization of this, the feeling hits me head-on. His hand is rough, yet there's a strange warmth in it. It's much bigger than mine and envelopes it almost completely. His grip is firm but comforting. Our fingers aren't interlocked, but the feeling wouldn't have been different either way. This, holding hands, feels so good, so perfect, so...right.

We don't stop until we reach Grover's locker. By now, two minutes to the bell, people are heading to their next class, so there aren't many students in the hallway. Thalia is standing next to Grover, talking with him quietly. When she sees us, her eyes take in our joined hands and she half smiles. "Hey, guys," Percy says when we walk up.

"What took you guys so long?" Thalia demands. Her eyes trail back down to our hands and this time, Percy notices. He glances at them too and makes a face, like he's just realized that my hand is in his. He quickly lets go, completely red-faced, and avoids looking at me, turning his attention back to his best friends. I clench my now free hand, feeling slightly sad about his letting go. I liked holding his hand.

I blink. Did I really just think that? Where did that come from?

To clear my head, I turn my attention back to the conversation.

"We had a little run-in with Peyton," Percy explains. "No big deal."

"I could've handled it myself," I say.

Percy looks at me, an eyebrow raised. He looks like he's mentally going through replies to my comment. "Okay," he settles on.

Grover looks at us. "What happened?" he asks.

"Nothing," Percy and I say in unison. We look at each other.

"It wasn't important," I say.

Thalia gives me a look that says, yeah, right.

"So!" Percy says in an attempt to change the subject. "Are we heading to Starbucks?"

"Actually, that's what Grover and I want to talk to you guys about," Thalia says. I hear a hint of mischief in her voice and my stomach drops.

When Grover doesn't say anything, Thalia elbows him. "Yes!" he says quickly. "Um, we both have tests tomorrow, so we can't go today. Have to study and stuff." He laughs nervously, and, as Thalia had said that first day in the car, it sounds like a goat's bleat.

"No, you d-" Percy starts, but Thalia interrupts him.

"Yes, we do," she argues, glaring at him.

"We'll help you study," I offer. "We don't have to go to Starbucks."

"No, no, we're fine," Thalia insists. "Aren't we, Grover?"

"Yeah, we're good." Another nervous bleat.

"Besides," Thalia continues, "you two deserve to get drinks. We wouldn't want to make you sacrifice that."

Percy and I both glare at her. It's obvious they don't have tests, and the real reason they're bailing is even more obvious. It brings a blush to my cheeks. But there's no use in arguing.

"Fine," I say. Thalia grins. "Come on, Percy."

"Do you want to take my car?" Grover asks. He grabs the keys off of the shelf in his locker and hands them to Percy.

"Nah." Percy waves the away. "I'll just take my truck."

"Okay, well, Goat Boy and I have to go," Thalia says in a rush. "Bye, guys. Have fun." And just like that, the two of them are gone. Percy and I are alone.

"Remind me to punch her later," Percy mutters. "Grover too."

I laugh. "Come on, Percy. It's just one hour. Am I really that boring?"

Percy blushes.

"Hurry up," I say and start walking. "I want my drink."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

It was an interesting ride; and by interesting, I mean that I found out Percy can't sing to save humanity.

It takes about five minutes to get to Starbucks. For the first couple of minutes, neither of us speak. It's an awkward silence – no radio, no voices, just the sound of passing cars and wind. The conversation earlier with Thalia and Grover still hangs in the air, the words still echoing in our ears. I find myself blushing every time I think their real motive behind staying at the school.

I know it's because they think we like each other and want us to be alone together. And I know Percy knows this too from the way he blushes when he sneaks his occasional glance my way.

Percy can't like me. Right? Those blushes have to be because he knows his friends wanted us to be alone together. And the way he stood up for me against Peyton was just because we're friends. And me was just because we're friends. And our constant texts are because we want to know more about each other...because we're friends and friends only.

So it's not possible that he likes me.

To take my mind off of Percy, I turn up the radio, where Hunter Hayes' "Wanted" is playing.

"I love this song," I say. I start tapping my fingers to the beat on my leg. I can see Percy grinning out of the corner of my eye.

But all so suddenly, a wave of emotion hits me, knocking the breath out of me. This was the song the he couldn't stand. That he would always turn back down when I turned it up.

"Why doesn't he just make the dang girl feel wanted?" he would complain. "Why go and write and whole song about her and how he loves her? Just tell her!"

"It's not that simple," I would explain. "It kinda freaks a girl out when a guy comes up to her saying, 'Hey, I love you.' He's trying to explain that he loves her in a song since he can't find the words."

"I went up to you and told you I loved you. And here we are."

"That's different."

"How?"

"I could tell that you truly loved me and would never hurt me."

Well, I was wrong about that.

A horrible, screeching noise breaks me out of my trance. I jump and look over at Percy. One arm is on the steering wheel and the other is resting in his lap. His head bobs to the beat, and he's smiling widely. Then I realize that the horrible is coming from him.

"I just wanna wrap you up, wanna kiss your lips, I wanna make you feel wanted," he sings. "I wanna call you mine, wanna hold your hand forever, and never let you forget it. Yeah, I wanna make you feel wanted."

I start laughing. True, authentic laughs that I can feel in the pit of my stomach. Percy looks at me bewilderingly. "Stop it!" I say as I strain to catch my breath. "Percy, stop!"

"Why?" Percy asks, an impish grin on his face.

"Your singing is horrendous," I explain to him. "I don't want any windows to crack or people fall down and scream, clutching their ears, so I think you should stop."

"Oh, really?" he asks. "Then you'll really hate this." He turns up the radio until it's blasting and goes from nonchalantly bobbing his head to nearly slamming his forehead on the steering wheel.

"As good as you make me feel, I wanna make you feel better. Better than your fairy tales, better than your best dreams. You're more than everything I need. You're all I ever wanted! You're all I ever wanted!" Percy's voice cracks horribly on the last high notes. I roll my eyes at him and laugh.

Percy's so different from him. If he didn't like a song, he wouldn't listen to it, even if I liked it. But Percy doesn't care. I don't know if he likes this song or not, but it doesn't matter. Even if he doesn't, he's still going to make me laugh. That's one way he's better.

My stomach twists. Did I really just think that? How could I? The boy back in San Francisco, who's name I've forbidden myself from speaking ever again, was everything I've ever wanted. How could I think that I've found someone better?

He betrayed you, Annabeth, I tell myself. He's nothing to you now. You shouldn't feel guilty.

I shouldn't feel guilty. So I join Percy and sing along with Hunter.

By the end of the song, we've pulled up into Starbucks. We're both laughing, our faces red. "You really shouldn't tell me I can't sing," Percy tells me. "You can't either. I think you killed a few cats."

"Oh please," I shoot back. "I can sing better than you, at least."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

Percy acts like he's about to argue some more, but he sighs instead. "It's true," he confirms and I smile smugly.

We both get out of the car and walk into the coffee shop. It's bustling with activity; workers running around, clearing tables and making coffee. People sitting at tables, chatting leisurely with each other. Students ordering their drinks hurriedly in order to get back to school on time. I take a deep breath and breathe in the scent of coffee, which is, in my opinion, the best part of visiting a coffee shop.

"Hi, may I help you?" the guy at the cashier asks us as we get up to order. He's older than both Percy and I, probably in his first or second year of college. He has short, cropped blonde hair and startling blue eyes, which painstakingly reminds me of him. I blink the thought away.

"Yeah, uh, I'd like a double chocolate chip frappuccino," Percy says. "And she'd like..." He trails off, looking at me expectantly. "What do you want?"

"I'll get my drink myself," I say.

"No, no, I'll pay for yours."

"Percy," I say, looking him in the eye, "I'll get my own."

"Annabeth," he says, looking me in the eye this time, "no."

Seeing that he won't take no for an answer, I order. "A vanilla frozen cappuccino, please."

"Okay, is that all for you guys?" the cashier asks. He looks at me and smiles widely. I grin hesitantly back. Is he...flirting with me?

Percy puts his hand on the counter and turns to face me, blocking my view of the cashier. "Should we order one for Thalia and Grover?" he asks. His voice sounds weird. Strained.

"Um, sure. What do they like?" I ask. But Percy's already turned back to the cashier, and ordered a hot chocolate and a caramel ribbon crunch frappuccino.

"Is that all?" the cashier asks. Both Percy and I nod. The guy gives us our total and as Percy gets out his wallet and starts fingering through bills, the cashier turns to me. "My name's Derek," he says quietly.

"Annabeth," I say and shake his outstretched hand.

"So, Annabeth," Derek says conversationally, "you two look like you're still in high school. Shouldn't you be at school?"

I feel Percy go rigid beside me, though I have no idea why. Maybe he doesn't like Derek accusing us of ditching. I glance uneasily at him as I reply, "Um, yeah, we're seniors. This is our free hour."

"Well, you came to the right place," Derek says with a charming grin. I find myself smiling back.

"Here you go," Percy says, handing Derek a wad of bills. Derek moves away from me and accepts the money. After he hands Percy his change, he asks, "And a name for your order?"

"Percy," I answer.

Derek writes it down. "Percy," he says, looking up at him. "Cool name, bro."

"Thanks," Percy says then walks off, without another words.

I watch him go, totally confused. What's up with him? "Thanks," I tell Derek as I start to follow Percy.

"No problem," he replies. "Bye, Annabeth. Nice meeting you."

I smile at him. He's really sweet. "You too. Bye, Derek."

I find Percy at a table for two on the far side of the shop, leaning back in his chair, his arms crossed. I take a seat in the chair across from him.

"What was that?" I demand immediately after I sit.

"What was what?" Percy asks. I glare at him.

"Don't play dumb with me. What was up with all the coldness towards Derek?"

"What coldness?"

"Oh, please. You're usually relaxed and friendly, but up there, you were cold and tense."

"Was not."

I give Percy a stern look. "Really. You want to go there?"

Percy rolls his eyes and sighs. "Annabeth, that Derek guy is no good. I can see it. He's probably some player who has a new girlfriend, like, every week. He's probably just like Peyton."

A strange resentment is in his tone. It scares me. "What is wrong with you?" I ask.

"What's wrong with you?" he shoots back defensively.

"Percy, I was just being friendly. What's wrong with that?"

"He was flirting with you! He would've reined you in then dumped you in a flash, leaving you hurt! How can you not see that?"

A strange feeling blooms in my stomach. Happiness and sadness both at once. Percy's describing almost exactly what happened to me – how someone made me fall in love with him only to break my heart later. Yet, something about the way that Percy's so protective of me makes me satisfied. Happy. Content. It drives away the sadness. Almost.

In order to cover up my hurricane of emotions, I say, "It didn't even go that far."

"Oh, just like the situation with Peyton this morning didn't go that far?" Percy accuses.

I take a deep breath. I hate having to trust someone to take care of me. This morning is a perfect example of what I don't want happening to me – not just Peyton flirting with me, but Percy having to save me. So what Percy just said hit a nerve in me.

"You're impossible," I mutter, glaring at the table because I don't have the self-control to look him in the eye.

"Annabeth, I'm sorry," Percy apologizes. "I shouldn't have said that or acted like that."

I'm about to reply when Derek's voice calls out, "Percy!"

Percy gets up to get the drinks, but I surprise him by getting up with him. "Stay here," he commands. "I've got the drinks."

I glare at him and say, "No. Let's just grab the drinks and go back to school."

Percy looks like he's trying to cover up his disappointment with a front that shows he doesn't care. "Okay," he says. "Fine."

We get our drinks quickly and walk out the door to Percy's beat-up truck. We get in and Percy starts driving. The silence is even more tangible than the drive here. It's thick and cold and suffocates me. I glance at Percy. He's watching the road with a glare on his face. I study the way his usual playful green eyes are angry and hard. It scares me. Percy Jackson isn't supposed to be mean and cold. Yet somehow, I've brought that part out of him.

Yup. Sounds like me.

I don't even know what happened back there. It would've been normal had he gotten a little annoyed at Derek. But he didn't. He got angry instead. Why would he get angry at another guy for talking to me and then get angry at me for letting him? Unless...

No. Percy and I are just friends. Nothing more. Nothing less. Friends.

Percy glances over at me. Our eyes meet, I realize I've been staring, and quickly look away. But this seems to have struck something in Percy.

"Let's go somewhere else," he says, his tone light and normal, all signs of our fight earlier gone.

I look at him curiously. "And where do you want to go?"

He thinks about it for a minute. "Central Park," he decides on.

"Central Park?" I demand. "Percy, by the time we get there, it'll be time to get back to school. We have, like, twenty minutes until the bell."

"So?" he asks. Then he laughs. "Let's just skip fifth hour!"

I stare at him. His eyes now are wild. "What's gotten into you?" I ask, though I'm trying to hold back laughter too. Skipping fifth hour does sound nice, especially if I'm with Percy.

"I feel like I need to apologize for Starbucks," he explains, suddenly serious.

"And making me ditch school is your way of doing so?"

"What?" Percy asks, like he does it all the time. "It sounds fun."

"Percy, I can't afford to ditch. It'd probably go on my permanent record and it would be harder to get into colleges," I explain.

"Come on, Annabeth," Percy pleads. We're in the school parking lot now, so Percy looks down at me with big, begging green eyes. "Just this once. We won't get caught."

I roll my eyes. "I can't believe I'm agreeing to this," I mutter. Then I say to Percy, "Fine."

"Yes!" Percy lifts his fists up in the air in victory. He revs up the engine and starts to pull out of the school parking lot.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

By the time we get there, fifth hour has just begun.

"Are you sure about this?" I ask Percy. He's walking next to me, his hands in his pockets. A couple runners jog past us and Percy takes a hand out of his pocket to wave. I unwillingly take note of how my old boyfriend didn't do this. Yet another thing that they don't have in common.

"Are you not enjoying the fresh air?" he asks jokingly. He looks down at me, his eyes playful.

I look away. "Stop answering my questions with questions."

Percy laughs. "Yes ma'am," he answers. "And in response to your question, yes, I'm sure about this. It's just one class."

"Yeah," I mutter bitterly. "One class that your stepfather teaches."

Percy grimaces. "Yeah. Minor detail. But I'm sure it'll be fine. Probably."

I laugh against my will. "Yeah. Probably."

We walk in silence until we get to a bridge. I stop an look at the river we're crossing over. "This is a pretty view," I say, partly to myself, as I walk over to the edge and lean over the side. Percy joins me.

"Looks like a regular river to me," he says, uninterested. I roll my eyes.

"Well, yeah, but if you really look, regular rivers can be beautiful," I explain. Before I can stop myself, I start lecturing, "I don't think people really notice beauty in plain daylight. Like this river. Everyone talks about it being beautiful at sunrise or sunset, but if you take the time to study it during the day, you'd see the way the sun makes it sparkle. You'd see the reflections of all these trees and how, on the water, it makes it look like a mirage. And there's life in it. It's like it's a whole other world, one full of fish instead of humans. But the sound of it is probably my favorite part. It's always rushing, always moving and splashing. That sound will always be there, no matter what. It's never going to leave or abandon us."

I wonder if Percy noticed how I talked about the sound of rivers with envy in my voice. I hope not.

"Sorry," I say sheepishly. "Sometimes I get carried away. You probably don't want to listen to me talk about the wonders of the universe, huh?"

Percy grins at me, but not before I catch his expression before. His lips are in a tight line and his nose is scrunched up, almost like he's mad. But his green eyes are soft, like the sea on a calm day. The sight of that look makes my stomach flip.

"No, no," he says. "I think it's cool. Not enough girls talk like that, you know? It's nice to know that there are some girls out there who care about something other than their looks or social status."

Before I can stop myself, I say, "There are actually lots of girls out there who talk like that. Guys just don't look hard enough."

Percy gives me a weird look and I immediately blush down to my neck. I turn away to look back at the river. I can still feel Percy's stare boring into my back.

He probably hates me. After all, I did just diss the entire male population. What guy wouldn't hate a girl who did that, or at the very least, not want to hang out with them anymore?

Wait. Why do I care so much? I was just stating a fact. It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter.

I blink to bring myself back to reality. I look to my right, where there are many runners and parents with kids. I see one lady with dark hair and reading glasses sitting on a bench. A big stack of papers are on her lap, a pen in her hand. She has a sack lunch next to her.

I take in a sharp breath.

"What?" Percy asks, looking at me, concern in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Dang it," I mutter. "That's my mom."

"Where?" Percy looks around wildly. "The one with the two kids?"

I shake my head. "No. The one on the bench."

Now it's Percy's turn to gasp. "Wait a sec. That's your mom?"

For a second, I forget my panic and look at Percy in surprise. "Yes. Do you know her?"

Percy shakes his head. A small smile is playing on his lips. "Not personally, no. But my dad knows her. Actually, he hates her."

"What? Why?"

"Well, from what I've been told, my dad and your mom applied for the same job at some college. When asked to do some presentation or whatever for the job, my dad went crazy. He was up late at night doing research and other things, or so I've been told. This was before I was born. When the day came to present, your mom killed my dad with her presentation. She got the job, he didn't."

"Oh," is all I can say. I think back to my first day of school, when my mom asked me if I had made any new friends. I remember the way she was tense while I named off people, then relaxed when I was done. Could she possibly be worried that I had made friends with Percy? I start laughing.

"What?" Percy demands, looking at me imploringly. "Why are you laughing?"

"My mom is the dean of a college I can't for the life of me remember the name of," I say, still chuckling. "Your dad applied for that job?"

"Why is that so surprising?" Percy asks, still confused.

"It's just, if your head's full of seaweed, you had to get it from someone."

"Hey!" Percy says defensively, although I can tell he's fighting back a smile. Then he frowns. "Seaweed?"

I shrug. "It was the first thing I thought of." Then I grin. "Seaweed Brain."

Percy laughs. "Okay, then, Wise Girl."

I mimic Percy and frown. "Wise Girl?"

"I don't have a lot of ammunition here."

I laugh, then glance back at my mom. "We have a bigger problem here to worry about than ammunition for nicknames. What are we gonna do about my mom? If she sees me, she'll freak."

Percy thinks for a moment. I run my hand through my hair, what I do when I get frustrated. I glare at the water running below us.

"Why don't we just walk right past her?" Percy finally decides. "If we get caught, we get caught. There's no avoiding it. And have to get to the car now if we want to make it to lunch."

I purse my lips and try to think of a way to avoid going through with Percy's idea. But in the end, I come up with nothing. "Fine," I say. "Let's go."

I start walking, Percy following closely behind. Thankfully, my mom has her eyes downcast as she looks through her papers, so she doesn't notice us. I keep walking, my body rigid, as I pray that my mom doesn't notice me or Percy. Fortunately, she doesn't.

But I should know better than to think that I might get lucky.

When we're about ten feet away, Percy whoops in victory. And that whoop makes my mom turn her head our way. I turn around quickly.

"Oops," Percy says.

"Run," I say in reply. And we both take off.

By the time we both get to the car, we're laughing.

"I beat you," Percy teases.

"It wasn't even a race, Seaweed Brain," I point out, liking the way the nickname rolls off my tongue.

"Sorry I got you in trouble," he apologizes.

"It's fine," I say. "At least it wasn't our principal or anything. The worst that my mom's gonna do to me is ground me."

"True," Percy says and we both climb into the truck.

This time, I don't waste any time turning up the radio. The country station is on, so I keep it there. I realize my mistake only when we're halfway back to the school and "Wanted" comes back on.

"Yeah!" Percy exclaims and moves to turn it up.

I groan. "Not again," I mutter to myself and quickly beat his hand to the stereo and turn the station. Paramore's "The Only Exception" is on, which isn't that bad a song, so I keep it on.

"Hm," Percy says. "Never heard this song."

While the song plays, I notice something weird. Every few seconds or so, Percy glances my way. His eyebrows are scrunched together, like he's realizing something.

I wonder what.

We pull into the school right as the song ends. Percy pulls the key out of the ignition and I move to get out, but Percy grabs my arm. "I'm really sorry for today. With Peyton and at Starbucks. I know you were just being friendly with Derek. I don't know what came over me."

The way he says that last part gives me a feeling that he does, and he doesn't like it.

"And you can handle yourself with Peyton. Again, I don't know what came over me. So I really am sorry."

I smile at him. "Thanks. And really, I wasn't annoyed that you stood up for me and tried to keep me from Derek. It was actually kinda sweet."

Once the words are out of my mouth, I realize what I've said and blush. I notice Percy blushing too.

"Come on," I say quickly. "Let's hurry and get inside."

The cafeteria is as loud as ever. When we walk in though, the air changes. Percy and I both make our way to our seats, and everywhere I look, there's someone looking at me with some emotion in their eyes. When I walk past Rachel in the lunch line, I see smugness. A kid from my calculus class, I see awe. Drew and her buddies, envy. Peyton, jealousy.

"Annabeth?" Percy voice brings me out of my trance. "Do you want to sit with me?"

I open my mouth to say yes, but then I remember Silena and my other friends. I glance back at our table. Silena's watching me intently and she nods at me when I look at her, like she knows what Percy's asked.

"They can come too," he adds before I can say anything.

So five minutes later I find myself sitting between Piper McLean, one of Percy's friends and Silena, who won't stop poking me in the side whenever Percy merely glances at me.

"So," Silena whispers to me, "tell me everything. I can't believe you ditched. That's totally un-Annabeth-like. What's gotten into you?"

I glance at Percy, who's sitting across the table and a few seats down from me. He catches me glance and smiles. "I'd rather not say," I tell Silena.

"No," Silena drawls, looking at me, her mouth slightly ajar. "Percy persuaded you, didn't he?"

I groan. Silena's a nice girl and an amazing friend – when she isn't talking about boys. "Silena, I-"

I'm interrupted my a voice that crackles over the intercom, saying, "Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, please report to Mr. Brunner's office please." She repeats that one more time before the intercom clicks off.

The whole cafeteria is silent for a few seconds. I can feel everyone's eyes on me and Percy. I look at him, my eyes wide. Percy just shrugs. Mr. Brunner is our principal and if we're being called to the principal's office, that can only mean one thing.

The lunch room chatter starts up again once Percy and I stand up. I throw away the half sandwich Silena gave me so I wouldn't have to wait in the lunch line, then walk out the door.

"We got caught," I state once Percy and I are both in the hallway. "Great."

"Relax, Annabeth," Percy reassures me. "The last time someone ditched, they ditched the whole day and only got two weeks of morning detention. We only ditched one hour. What's the worst that could happen?"

I'm silent. He has a point. But that doesn't stop the uneasy feeling growing in my stomach.

We don't have to wait long to see our principal. It seems like Mr. Brunner's been waiting for us.

"Hello, Percy. Hello, Annabeth," Mr. Brunner greets us when we walk in.

Mr. Brunner is a middle-aged man who has the most peculiar eyes. He can't be older than fifty, but his eyes look like they're thousands of years old and have seen everything. He's in a wheelchair, and no one knows what happened to make him handicapped. I suspect it was something traumatic that caused him to have such sad, peculiar eyes.

I sit in one of the leather seats opposite of the principal. Percy sits in the matching one next to mine. I take a deep breath. "Hi, Mr. Brunner."

"Well, I would say it's a pleasure to see you again, but I'm afraid the circumstances that brought you here are not all that pleasant," he points out.

I shift in my seat and do not meet his gaze.

"So, Ms. Chase, I've been told that you and Mr. Jackson did not make it to fifth hour," Mr. Brunner starts. "Is that correct?"

I twist my hands nervously. "Yes," Percy and I answer at the same time.

"Care to explain where you two were?"

Percy and I are both silent. I look down at my hands, which are now playing nervously with the hem of my shirt. Mom's gonna kill me, I think.

"Well?" Mr. Brunner prompts.

I open my mouth to answer, but Percy beats me to it. "It's my fault. We were going to Starbucks for free period and I convinced Annabeth to ditch fifth hour with me. It's completely my fault and I'm sorry."

I openly gape at him until I remember that Mr. Brunner is in here as well. I turn my shocked expression down to my lap. Percy just took the entire blame from both of us to just him. A warm feeling erupts in my stomach. He just...took the blame for our actions. I have to keep myself from grinning.

"Is this true, Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner asks.

I look at him and nod.

"Well, even though it was entirely your fault," the principal teases Percy, "Annabeth still went along with it, so I must punish you both. Morning detention for the rest of the week. Be here tomorrow morning at seven a.m."

"Yes, sir," Percy and I say in unison, yet again.

Mr. Brunner looks at his watch. "Well, it looks like lunch just ended a few minutes ago, so you can go to your next class." He fills out tardy slips with our excuses on them and lets us go.

It's not until we're safely out of the office do I start giggling like a lunatic. Hysteria bubbles up in me and I laugh and laugh and laugh until I've calmed down enough to speak.

"Thank you," I say. "For taking the blame and all."

Percy shrugs. "Hey, it was my fault." He lowers his voice and says, "Although it was fun, right?"

I grin. "You're such a seaweed brain."

"And you're such a wise girl," he shoots back.

"Seaweed Brain."

"Wise Girl."

The bell brings us out of our name-calling war. "See you in gym?" Percy asks.

"Yeah," I answer. "See you."

It's in architecture when I figure it out. I figure out why I feel so weird when Percy laughs or says something sweet. Why I felt so good when Percy got protective of me. Why everything sharpened when he held my hand earlier. I've felt this feeling before. This feeling makes me want to throw up, because it means trouble. This feeling makes me want to laugh, because it feels so good at the same time.

I have a crush on Percy Jackson.

Aw! Annabeth likes Percy! And they finally have nicknames! Yeah! Percabeth forever!

Okay, so fangirl time. I was rereading the MOA a while ago actually and I saw this:

"'An oath to keep with a final breath,' Annabeth continued. 'And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.'"

Another paragraph that doesn't matter and that I don't feel like typing out.

"Annabeth wasn't sure why she had blurted out the lines of the prophecy. She'd just felt compelled."

What if that means that part of the prophecy revolves around her? Percy did promise that he would stay with her at the end of the book, when...you know...*sob*

Anyway, review! My goal is to get to a 110! Let's do it, okay?

Bye!

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us." 1 John 4:18,19