Summary

Percabeth in college. Mortal AU. Annabeth is a smart and ambitious girl who doesn't want any distractions in Grad school. Will her priorities change when she meets Percy?

….

Annabeth's P.O.V.

Annabeth had gotten used to always being stressed about exams, being in Grad school sort of did that to a person, but the stress she felt before her first-year finals was insane. She couldn't sleep, couldn't eat and sometimes even forgot to take a bath. She was so accustomed to finding everything she studied easy, that coming into Grad school had been a big wake-up call for her. Suddenly, studying just one week before the exams was not enough to be in the top 1% of her class and doing her assignments a day before the due date was not enough to get a perfect grade.

"Annie, you have got to stop this! Please just take a break. You have been in the same position for the past 6 hours" , said Piper.

Piper was Annabeth's best friend and roommate. They had been roommates since their freshmen year of undergrad in Harvard and were now in Columbia together. She was genuinely worried about her and constantly reminding her to do basic things like sleeping which she seemed to forget when her exams were approaching.

"I can't take a break. I still have to finish one unit."

"I am sorry that it had to come to this, but if you don't take a break right now, I will not share my grandma's cookies with you."

"What? You can't do that! She sends them for the both of us."

"I can and I will. Come on, let's go and get some coffee."

Annabeth thought this through carefully. Her design exam was in two days and she had to complete one unit, which would take her about 3 hours. She knew that she would not be able to retain much information in her current state and a break would do her a lot of good. She also really loved the cookies and could not risk losing them, so taking a break seemed to be the most logical choice.

"Uh ok fine. But just for an hour and a half."

"Yay! Let's go to the new coffee shop which has opened up off campus."

"Ok, give me 5 minutes to get ready."

When Annabeth said that she only required 5 minutes to get ready, she meant it, unlike most girls. She quickly washed her face, changed her hoodie for yet another hoodie and put on some yoga pants. The two girls headed out their dorm and walked to a cute little coffee shop which had just opened up. It was pretty crowded since it was 5 pm and most students desperately needed caffeine during finals.

"Thanks Piper, I really needed a break. My brain was very close to exploding."

"Well, I know you better than you know yourself, so you should always trust me when it comes to this stuff."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Coffee's on me, you want your usual order?"

"Actually, I just want a black coffee today"

"Okay, coming right up."

Annabeth stood in line and waited for her turn to come while revising her syllabus for her test mentally. She was so engrossed in her own world, that she didn't realize when it was her turn to order. The person behind her nudged her sharply, clearly annoyed and told her to go ahead.

"I am going! You could have asked me politely and there is no need to have any physical contact with me.", she retorted

"I don't have time for this shit. Just go!", said the boy behind her

"Ugh Fine."

Normally, Annabeth would have picked a fight with such a person but she didn't have the energy to do so at that point, so she chose to ignore him. She went up to the barista and placed her order, still thinking about her coursework.

"I am sorry about that jerk behind you. He really didn't need to do that. Some people just don't have manners.", said the barista, loud enough for the boy behind Annabeth to hear him.

Annabeth looked at him and was momentarily stunned. His eyes were the prettiest colour she had ever seen- sea green, his hair was jet black and messy and his smile was mind-blowingly charming. She quickly collected her thoughts together and said, "It's fine. I am used to dealing with idiots so it doesn't bother me anymore."

He chuckled and began working on her order, while she tried to not stare at him. This was very uncharacteristic for Annabeth as she was not really the type of person who instantly developed a crush on someone. She collected her order, thanked him and went up to the table where Piper was sitting.

"Thanks Annabeth! I really needed coffee. I have been working my ass off for my women studies test."

"I know. You are almost as bad as me. By the way, I got a text from Thalia and she wants to meet up with us after our finals and before we head back home."

"That's great! I miss that weirdo"

The two girls chatted and caught up with each other. They could rarely spend time with each other, even though they lived with each other because of their busy schedules. Piper told Annabeth about Jason, a guy who was in one of her classes and was really cute while Annabeth talked about her plans for the summer. She was going to intern in her mother's architecture firm in Boston and was extremely excited about it.

Annabeth kept getting the urge to look at that guy again and finally gave in. She turned and her heart flipped after seeing him serve coffee to someone with that amazing smile of his.

She kept telling herself that she didn't have time for a crush and forced herself to stop thinking about him. I don't even know him so he shouldn't affect me so much, she thought to herself.

Piper saw Annabeth look at him and smirked.

"Are you looking at the barista?", she asked knowingly

"What? No!"

"His name is Percy, he is Jason's friend so I have seen him around."

"I don't know who you are talking about"

"Mhmm Sure. Annie, you don't need to be ashamed of being attracted to him. He is cute, you should ask him out."

"I am not attracted to him and even if I was, I don't have time for distractions."

"We are young, if you don't let ourselves be distracted now, then when will we?"

"Can we just change the topic?"

"Okay, fine."

The girls finished their coffee and went back to their dorm to resume studying. Annabeth allowed herself to think about the guy whose name was Percy apparently, for 5 minutes.

She studied till dinner time, had food which Piper had ordered and went to bed. It had been a long day for her and she had an early class the next day.

….Author's Note

Yay! This is the first chapter of the first Percabeth fanfic I have ever written.

Please let me know your views about it in the reviews!

I will update every Monday and Wednesday.