This is, like, the quickest I've ever updated. I think I'm sick.
I hope you guys like this chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.
Chapter Twelve
Percy
Love is the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
Months passed by after that date with Annabeth, and everyday, I fell more in love with her.
Strangely, though, we never went on another date like that. We were usually with others, like Thalia and Grover. She came with my friends and I to the Winter Ball and we hung out, but we didn't go "together". The closest we got to another date were movies on Saturdays or Starbucks at school. We became really good friends, just nothing more.
Annabeth acted strange sometimes, too. Occasionally, I'd catch her staring at me, and every time I did, she'd look away, blushing profusely. One time during winter break, we were walking through Central Park (that was proving to be our favorite thing to do together) and I grabbed her hand. She stopped talking and stared down at our hands, but she didn't let go.
She had to know that I liked her, but I was starting to wonder if she liked me too.
Now I'm determined to find out during our spring break trip.
Today's the day we leave. I'm taking my mom's SUV this year (I don't know why she has that thing; it's practically a bus.) because it seats more people. After loading my suitcase into the car and kissing my mom good-bye, I hop into the front seat and head to Grover's house.
"Hey, man," Grover says, sliding into the passenger seat. "This week is going to be awesome."
"Yeah," I agree. "I can't believe we're getting to stay the whole week this year."
Usually, we rent the place out for the first half of break. We get out on a Friday, so we stay at Montauk from that Sunday to Wednesday. This year, we're renting it out from Saturday to Saturday. The longest we've ever stayed.
"Where does Piper live again?" I ask Grover. I've only ever been to Piper's house two times, both times for parties. I'm friends with her, but I don't spend every spare moment down there. Plus, her dad's an actor and the paparazzi are there all the time, so I'm not the only one who doesn't go over there. Piper doesn't even like it there.
Grover doesn't have any idea, so we decide to pick Jason up next, so he can give us directions to her house.
"You nervous?" Grover asks, a few minutes into the drive.
"About what?" I know exactly what he's talking about. I just don't want to answer.
Grover sees right through me. I guess people you've known since middle school can do that. "Are you nervous about Annabeth going on this trip?"
I shrug, keeping my eyes on the road so that he can't look at them. If he was, he could see that I am lying. I've never been more nervous in my life. "No, not really."
"Yeah, right," Grover snorts.
"What? I'm not that nervous around her anymore. We've become really good friends these past few months. She's, like, my other best friend."
Grover just looks at me with a knowing expression. "It's okay, Perce," he says finally. "We all know you like her and that you want to be more than friends. And I think that you're even more nervous around her the more you get to know her, rather than being less nervous."
"Thanks Grover, but I'm not fond of taking dating advice from a guy who has just recently asked out the girl he's had a crush on since freshman year."
"That's different."
I shoot Grover a challenging look. He keeps quiet.
We pull into Jason and Thalia's house, a large mansion almost as big as Piper's. Their dad, my uncle, is a millionaire who owns some software company, called Olympus. I have no idea what it does. I'm a complete idiot when it comes to computers, which is kind of ironic, since my dad is his partner. Well, I guess it's not that ironic, since I only see my dad, like, two times a year. Not enough to learn all about computers.
Thalia barges out of the house, dragging two very large suitcases behind her and toting a duffel bag on her shoulder. I sigh and roll my eyes, Grover mirroring me. Thalia is the world's biggest tomboy, but when it comes to packing, she packs more than a celebrity.
"Thals," I whine, hurrying to her aide, "you do know we're leaving for a week, not a year."
"A week?" she cries, her eyes widening. "Hold on. I've gotta go grab my other bag."
"Wait! Thalia-" But she was already racing back to the house.
"I don't know what we're going to do with her," Grover mutters. I chuckle and walk inside, him following.
The inside of the mansion is even more stunning than the front. The front door is made of wood. When you walk in, you are met with a marble staircase and matching marble floors. The staircase opens up to a balcony with an iron railing, where Piper stands watching with an amused expression while her boyfriend, Jason, struggles with her brown suitcase on the stairs.
"Glad we came here first," Grover mutters. "It definitely would've been awkward if we'd gone to her house and her dad was the only one there."
"What did you pack, Pipes?" he groans. "Bricks?"
Piper laughs. "Something like that," she snickers. But she flies down the stairs to help him.
I smile, watching them. Currently, they're the most popular couple at Goode. Or, the most popular couple that's actually dating. There's a lot of chatter and gossip about Annabeth and me, but that doesn't count. We're not together.
Piper places her hands on top of Jason's on the handle and takes some of the weight. Piper doesn't seem to notice, but Jason stares intensely at her while they stumble down the remainder of the stairs. When they get to the bottom, he brushes a strand of hair out of her face and says, "Thanks."
"No problem," she says, grinning. "It wasn't that heavy, you know. I could have taken it by myself."
Jason's stare turns into a challenging grin. "I'd like to see you try."
Piper smiles sweetly and shoves him away from her, turning her attention to us. "Hey, Percy, Grover," she greets us. Twirling in a circle, she asks, "This appropriate for the trip?"
In the midst of my excitement and nervousness about Annabeth's participation in this vacation, I'd completely forgotten that this was Piper's first year going to Montauk also. Her invitation wasn't so much of a big deal as Annabeth's was at school, since Piper's dating Jason. It was kind of a given that she'd be going. It wasn't a surprise to anyone at Goode.
She's wearing a pair of ripped up skinny jeans, which doesn't surprise me. She really doesn't wear anything else. She has on her signature combat boots and army jacket, a loose v-neck white tee underneath. Her hair isn't in it's usual style, though. She put it in a French braid and wove in white feathers, which I think complements her dark hair nicely.
"You look great," I say, grinning.
"'Course she does," Jason says, wrapping an arm around her waist. "She always looks great."
Piper blushes and tells him to shut up. Thalia comes bounding down the stairs, another duffel bag, this one smaller, and makes a disgusted face at her brother. "PDA, Jase," she scorns. "PDA."
Jason just rolls his eyes, but he lets go of Piper's waist. He grabs Piper's suitcase and starts rolling it out of the house and to my car. Thalia throws her duffel at Grover, picks up her other duffel from the porch, and throws it at me. Then she drags her two suitcases down the sidewalk and leaves them next to Jason, jumping into the backseat before he can protest.
"Yup." Grover nods, like he's making a decision. "It's going to be a long week."
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After we left the Grace house, we went and picked up Juniper, Hazel, and Frank. The car was almost completely packed by the time we got to Annabeth's apartment.
Frank whistles once I pulled up to the curb in front of the apartment building. "Wow," he says. "Annabeth's mom must be rich."
We all murmur in agreement. Annabeth does live in one of the nicest apartment buildings in Manhattan.
I undo my seat belt. "I'll go get her," I volunteer and Thalia snickers.
"Shut up," I tell her, my face red. I climb out of the car while everyone laughs at me.
I find Annabeth sitting in the lobby, looking at something on her phone. She's wearing jeans, a tee like Piper's, but grey, and black jacket, and Converse. Her curly hair is down. A brown leather suitcase is at her feet and a backpack is laying next to her on the couch.
"Hey," I greet her.
She looks up from her phone and smiles at me. "Hi," she replies.
We stare at each other for a couple seconds. I know she's thinking of the night I invited her, right after Peyton flirted with her. After that incident, Peyton never messed with Annabeth, me, or any of our friends again. Which is good, because if he had, I would've punched him a lot harder than I had that night.
"So," I say, breaking the awkward silence, "uh, you ready?"
"Yeah," Annabeth says, picking up her backpack. I grab her suitcase, which is much lighter than Thalia's and Piper's. We walk to the car, Annabeth nodding at the doorman as we pass. He waves back.
"Your mom didn't want to talk to me?" I ask. "She didn't want to threaten me or tell me that she'll feed to me to wolves if you come back crying and hurt?"
Annabeth turns bright red and I know I am also. That was a stupid thing to say. Thankfully, Annabeth saves me from further embarrassment.
"No. She hates you," she informs me, grinning.
"Oh, fabulous."
Annabeth laughs. "It's fine. What matters is that I like you." Then she clamps her mouth shut, like she can't believe she just said that. I can't believe it either, though it makes me feel good.
We get to the car and throw her suitcase in the trunk, on top of the mountain of bags we already have. When Annabeth opens the back seat and gets in, she has to climb over Thalia, who's sitting in a seat, and Hazel and Piper, who have to sit on the floor since they're the smallest. She crawls to the very back right seat, next to Jason. I watch as she greets him and Piper, who's leaning against his legs, warmly, and I think about how well she fits in with my friends.
The drive down is uneventful. Thalia causes a racket making fun of Frank's pitifully large form crushed in the back on the other side of Jason and yelling at Jason to stop the PDA. Grover spends the majority of the ride turned towards the back, talking to Juniper. Hazel halfheartedly defends Frank, but eventually gives up and joins Grover and Juniper's conversation.
I spend the majority of the drive sneaking glances in the rear view mirror at Annabeth. She's in her own world back there. Right as we started driving, she pulled a textbook and notebook out of her backpack and started doing homework. I watch as her eyes flit across the pages. She lifts her notebook up while looking for the answers, biting her lip. Every once in a while, she glances up at the rear view mirror and meets my eyes for a split second before I tear my gaze away and back to the road.
Halfway there, my gaze shifts to Annabeth again. She's doing math now. Her eyebrows furrow in frustration and her lips move, like she's mouthing the problems to herself. She's such a good student, I completely forgot that she's dyslexic too.
"Percy!" Grover yells at me, pulling me out of my thoughts. I turn my attention back to the street to find that the highway has momentarily stopped because of traffic and I'm about to crash into a semi and kill us all. I brake and the car comes to a screeching halt.
"Sorry, guys," I apologize to my friends. But they're all laughing too hard to care.
I meet Annabeth's eyes in the rear view mirror. They're wide, but glittering. I can tell she's laughing at me. I smirk back at her. Oops, I mouth. She smiles and shakes her head, going back to her homework.
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We get to Montauk around dinnertime. An excited chatter fills the car, but I ignore it, watching Annabeth's face as she takes in the small house on the beach. I don't see any emotion in her eyes, which scares me, but the corners of her lips pull up in a smile, and I feel better.
The cabin isn't anything exciting. It sits on the sand dunes, a small driveway leading from the road to the back door. It doesn't sit on stilts or anything, like most beach houses do today, but in a way, that makes it seem better. A porch is on the other side of the house, facing the beach, complete with chairs, a small coffee table, and one of those swinging benches.
"What do you think?" I ask Annabeth, gesturing to the house. Everyone is already inside, but Annabeth and I stay out, standing in front of the car, admiring the cabin.
"It's nice," she sighs. "Back home, when I was younger, my dad used to take me to this beach that had a really nice hotel. This reminds me of those weekends."
I look down at her. There's not much space between us, maybe six inches. I feel a sudden urge to press on that space until it breaks.
Instead, I take a step towards the house. "Come on," I beckon. "Let me give you the tour."
The inside isn't very impressive either. The back door opens up into a large room. On the right wall is the kitchen, where there's a fridge, stove, oven, and cabinets, but no dishwasher. We have to wash all of our dishes by hands. Next to that kitchen-wall is a wooden dining table with matching wood chairs. I count six chairs, so three of us will have to pull up chairs or eat somewhere else.
On the other side of the room is the living area. A couch and a couple recliner chairs sit facing a TV. A coffee table is in front of the couch, a few magazines and books laying on it. The opposite wall has a few windows facing the beach and the door leading to the porch. The left wall is decorated with pictures and leads to a hallway, where there are two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Annabeth looks around. "Cozy," she murmurs.
"Yeah," I agree. I point to the hallway. "That leads down to two bedrooms. One for the girls and one for the guys."
"Okay." She nods in understanding. "You want help getting out all of the bags?"
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
I lay on the air mattress, my hands behind my head, staring up at the ceiling. I can tell by their even breaths that Grover, Jason, and Frank have already fallen asleep.
The sleeping arrangement was kind of hard to figure out, but we eventually got it. Frank took the bed and Jason took the trundle, leaving me and Grover with the air mattresses on the floor. I thought I'd fall asleep immediately, like I usually do. Sleeping on an air mattress is like sleeping on a bed, right? Wrong. I've been staring at the ceiling for who knows how long and I haven't even gotten a wink of sleep.
My stomach growls. I'm hungry. I need something to eat.
I slowly climb out from underneath my blanket and crawl off the mattress, tiptoeing as quietly as I can out of the room. I walk down the hallway, past the girls' room. I'm surprised to find their door open and one of the air mattresses empty. The girls all have their blankets pulled up to their chins and covering most of their faces, so I can't tell who's missing. When I walk into the living room, though, I find the answer.
Annabeth sits on the couch, sketching in a sketchbook. The lamp in the corner is on, but it's still to dark to see what she's drawing. She's wearing her pajamas, grey plaid pants and a black tank top. Her hair is up in a ponytail, showing off her shoulders. The only noise in the room is the sound of her pencil rubbing on the paper.
"Hey," I say, plopping down on the couch with her. She jumps a little bit and immediately shuts her sketchbook.
"Oh, it's you," she whispers. She doesn't open her sketchbook.
"Why are you whispering?" I ask.
She shrugs. "I don't know. Why are you up?"
"I was hungry."
"When are you not?" she teases.
We sit there in silence for a few seconds, not knowing what to say. Breaking the silence, I ask," What time is it?"
Annabeth turns on her phone and glances at the screen. "3:13," she tells me.
I hop up from the couch and hold out my hand. Annabeth takes it without question, and I pull her up. We walk to the kitchen and Annabeth jumps onto the counter while I start going through the fridge.
"What are you looking for?" she asks.
"Technically, it's morning. You want breakfast?" I answer, grabbing eggs, pancake mix, and a package of bacon out of the fridge.
Annabeth laughs. "Don't cook all of the food. Piper and I don't want to go back until at least Wednesday."
I shrug and continue pulling out food. Annabeth and Piper had gone to the town by the beach to get groceries for the first half of the week. For a second I feel kind of bad for eating all the food, but it quickly disappears. They would have to go back to the store eventually anyway.
"Okay," I say, clapping my hands together and studying our inventory that's laid out on the counter, "we have pancakes, eggs, bacon, cereal, and sausage." I furrow my eyebrows and begin searching through the cabinets, looking for one thing in particular.
"What else do you want?" Annabeth asks.
"Did you guys get blue dye?" I fix an expectant stare at her, though she only looks back at me, puzzled.
"What are you talking about?"
"Blue dye?" I repeat. "Did you get any?"
"Uh, no? I wasn't asked to get that." She hesitates, then adds, "Why do you want blue dye?"
I realize I've never explained to her my love for blue food. Quickly, I say, "My mom makes me blue food all the time. I've picked up on the habit."
"Oh," Annabeth says. "Well, I'll make sure to get some next time I'm at the store."
"You're amazing."
"Thanks."
We decide on everything but the cereal, saving that for everyone else's breakfast later. We work together in harmony, Annabeth mixing the pancake batter and me scrambling eggs. Every once in a while, I'll feel her eyes on me, but when I look back she'll avert them quickly. Other times, she'll catch me staring and I'll look away. It goes on like this until all of the food is ready.
We sit down at the dining table, plates of breakfast food in front of us. I pile my plate with everything: sausage biscuits, strips of bacon, and eggs that we experimented on by mixing in chunks of sausage. I have a separate plate for my pancakes, because I hate my syrup touching anything else but the pancakes.
Annabeth has two plates also, both piled high. I suppress a grin, remembering all of the girls back home who eat salads for, like, every meal. Annabeth is one of the few who'll eat how she wants no matter who's there.
"Oh my gosh, Annabeth," I groan. "These pancakes are from God's own breakfast buffet."
Annabeth laughs and takes a bite of them. "Wow, they are," she says once she's done chewing.
"You're so humble."
"Shut up."
We eat in silence for a few more minutes, occasionally complementing each other on the parts of the meal that they cooked. After about fifteen minutes, we've scraped our plates and all the food is gone.
"I'm pretty sure we just ate enough to feed a small country," Annabeth complains, dumping her plate in the sink. We decided that we would clean the dishes tomorrow, since we didn't feel like cleaning them now.
"We did just eat enough," I correct. "There's no 'pretty sure'."
Annabeth smiles and lumbers over to the couch, where I'm sitting, watching TV. She collapses next to me.
"Oh my gosh, Seaweed Brain, really?" she mocks. "Finding Nemo?"
I nod absently, acutely aware of her body pressed into mine. She's closer to me right now than she's ever been. Every inch of skin where our beings meet feels electric. What would happen if I just leaned down and kissed her? Would she kiss me back? Would she push me away? Would I even like it?
She shakes her head and picks up her sketchbook, which pulls me out of my trance. "What are you drawing?" I ask her.
She turns red and her hand freezes in the middle of opening it. Gently, I pry the book from her grasp, and, surprisingly, she lets me. I open it to find sketches of...buildings.
I had completely forgotten that she wants to be an architect once she got older. I had a hard time imagining it at first, but now, seeing her blueprints, I have no problem picturing her as an architect. In fact, I can't imagine her as anything else.
All of the drawings are perfect, every line is straight. Obviously, it was drawn with care and took a lot of time to do. Every building is unique. One is shaped as a diamond and made completely of mirrors and glass. Just by looking at the blueprint, I can tell it could easily be the coolest looking building in the world. Another drawing is a building based on the Parthenon.
"Annabeth," I start, "these are incredible."
Annabeth's turns entirely red. "You think so?"
I nod. "Definitely way better than any building I've ever seen."
Annabeth smiles. "You know, you're the first person I've shown my sketches to."
Her words set me on fire. That has to mean something, right?
"I'm honored," I joke, and Annabeth rams me with her shoulder.
"So why are you awake?" I ask. "Do you usually stay up at night to draw?"
Annabeth look down at her lap. "I usually can't sleep the first night in a new place. Like, at all."
"Really?"
Annabeth nods. "Never have been able to. It's not just here or anything."
I shrug. "Well, we can just watch movies for the rest of the night if you want to."
Annabeth smiles at me brightly, which makes up for my sacrificing sleep. Not that I would've been able to sleep anyway, with Annabeth pressed up against me.
Halfway into Finding Nemo, I look down to find Annabeth fast asleep on my shoulder. I grin and turn off the TV. Moving slowly so I don't wake her up, I lay down on my back and Annabeth shifts to rest her head on my chest. Her bare shoulders rub up against my arms, setting them on fire. A strand of hair has fallen out of her ponytail and tickles the arms that are on fire. Hesitantly, I wrap my arms around her.
I fall asleep after coming to the conclusion that sleeping like this is much more comfortable than sleeping on an air mattress.
Aw, how adorable! I love Percy! He's so much fun to write!
Please, please, please review! I didn't get as many reviews as I usually do for last chapter, so I was sad. Please review and make me happy!
I'm hungry. Anyone else hungry? I'm gonna go eat.
"Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth." Colossians 3:2