Chapter 3

Annabeth

Annabeth woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Maybe it was the hangover she had from one too many beers last night, or the fact that she completely regretted everything that had happened with Luke. She had thought she was ready. She had worn her cutest bra and underwear, the only ones that weren't purely for comfort. But then they had done it, on a pile of muddy leaves and she had gotten dirt in places she didn't want dirt, and she totally and completely regretted it.

And then Percy had said that thing about rolling around in mud and she knew he didn't know, he couldn't have meant it so literally but it still hurt.

She rolled over, checking her phone for the first time that morning. 7 missed calls from Luke, 2 from Piper, a text from Piper saying headaches suck :( and about thirty texts from Luke, all saying he missed her, they should do it again, can they talk.

Annabeth threw her phone across the room and went back to sleep.

The second time she woke up, her mom was pounding on her door. "Annabeth!" Athena called out. "Are you awake? You're missing your riding lesson!"

Annabeth shot up. Shit. "Yeah, I'm awake." Annabeth called back. Her mom took that to mean she should come in.

Athena sighed when she saw the mess that was Annabeth. "Why aren't you in your riding clothes?" She sounded tired, like she was wishing Annabeth was a senior like Luke, leaving for college in the fall so she wouldn't have to deal with her anymore.

Annabeth rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Can I skip my lesson? I'll ride on my own, promise."

"Fine." Her mom said, rolling her eyes. "You need to go for at least an hour, though, to make up for the lesson with Lilliane."

Annabeth nodded. The more she agreed the more likely it was that Athena would leave her alone. Athena took one last glance around the messy room before she exited, mumbling something about teenagers before shutting the door.

Annabeth rolled out of bed, putting on some slippers to walk to the bathroom in. The shower felt nice, and she let the steam rise instead of turning on the fan. Within twenty minutes she was ready to go, tan breeches and a vest on since it was slightly cooler today.

She was peeling a banana, hastily stuffing it down her mouth for a makeshift breakfast as she ran out of the house when she saw him. He was laughing with another farmhand, Scott maybe, and they were hanging up spare saddles after a lesson. His green eyes were brighter in the day light, rather than the dark ocean she saw last night. She watched as he lifted up a plain white tee, and wiped his upper lip clean of sweat. His abs flashed her, and Jesus she should look away but she couldn't. The v of his hips was clearly present and her body temperature was rising despite the slight chill today.

"Annabeth!" Percy called out, catching her eye. Annabeth looked down, completely embarassed. Did he see her? She was sure she was as red as a tomato right now. "Annabeth." He said, breathless this time and she realized he was running towards her.

"What?" She snapped, pushing past him. Gods, why was she so rude to this guy?

"Wait up!" He said, undeterred, and followed her into the stables. "I wanted to say -"

"Save it." Annabeth held up a hand. "Look, just because you ended up being the person to find me down by that lake last night does not mean we're like friends and you have to apologize for all of the rude things you say now." She took down the saddle, brushing out her horse Lily. Annabeth and her parents had bought Lily when she was only twelve, and she had trained the mare pretty much all on her own. Lily was her pride and joy, and favorite thing on this ranch.

"I'm not trying to apologize." He said, his eyes narrowing at her. Great, he was mad now. Wasn't that what she wanted, though? The more distance she put between herself and this boy, the better for her and her relationship.

He looked like he wanted to say more, but instead watched her saddle up her horse. "Look," He said, sighing. She didn't turn to face him. "I'm gonna be working here the whole summer. We might as well get along if we're going to see each other everyday."

Annabeth mounted Lily, nudging her into a walk. "I don't hang out with the staff." She said, tying her hair up and moving into a canter, leaving Percy quite literally in the dust.

There was something so therapeutic to her about riding. The wind in her hair, the feeling of her horse beneath her, the way the tall grass swayed in the breeze she created as she passed by. She didn't know where she was going, but she veered off the trail into an open field, cutting through and ending up on a different trail on the property.

She didn't really know why her mom made her take lessons still. Maybe because her jumping still needed work, and she was slightly unbalanced in a gallop, but she never participated in competitions or anything. She just liked to ride for fun, and lessons were anything but fun.

By the time she got back to the house, Percy's shift was over and Piper was already texting her about tonight's party.

8 PM at Simpson Creek? She asked

thought you were hungover. Annabeth responded, brushing out Lily before she let the farmhand take over cleaning the stall.

over it. Ready to party again.

Annabeth sent a rolling eyes emoji, followed by pick me up?

always.

Three hours later, she was sitting shotgun in Piper's Honda sedan, with Percy, Jason and Thalia in the backseat. She was getting a little tired of always having Percy there, but she understood why Jason and Thalia felt like they needed to include him. She would want her own cousins to do that for her. Luke was driving himself and some football friends, and their truck was right behind them blasting the same radio and country song they were. Her feet, clad in brown cowgirl boots, were swung out the window and the summer breeze whipped them as they drove down the windy road.

Bridgeport was a weird town. There were people like her, and Thalia and Jason who had more money than they knew what to do with. And then there were people like Piper and Luke, who worked their farm with their family, lived off the land, sold their fresh vegetables to markets. And somehow, maybe because there was only one high school, they all mixed.

Her black tube top and denim cut offs were tight on her, and slightly uncomfortable sitting down. She had worn a lace bralette under the top so she could still swim. One thing she didn't think anybody in Bridgeport owned was a swimsuit.

By the time they got there, the party was in full swing. They were there later than they thought, around 8:30, and everybody was already drunk. Hazel was there with Frank, and she ran up to give Piper and Annabeth's hugs. Luke was trying to pull Annabeth away, to talk or not talk she didn't know, but she tugged her arm out of his grasp sending him a not now look.

"What are you gonna do?" Hazel asked. She and Piper were the only two that knew what had happened. Annabeth wanted to tell Thalia, but she wasn't sure how she would react. Most likely scenario is that she would kill Luke.

Annabeth shrugged and accepted the beer some random guy passed her. She just wanted to get drunk and forget about the fact that she had done it with some guy that she didn't even love.

Annabeth wanted to throw up. She was laying there, half naked and Luke had interlaced his fingers with hers.

"I love you." He whispered, so soft and her heart ached. Because he really meant it. He loved her. He wanted to spend forever with her.

She couldn't bring herself to say it back. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. So she just gripped his hand tighter, and laid there, silent.

"Let's dance." Annabeth said instead, grabbing her best friends hands. They went over by the fire, laughing and dancing to the country music in the background. Two beers in, and Annabeth, a complete lightweight was totally buzzed. She and Piper and Hazel and Thalia jumped and

giggled and almost fell into the fire a few times and drank more beer and danced some more and she felt more happy than she had in a long time.

It wasn't long before she realized why. This was the first time in a long time that she wasn't tied to Luke's hip at a party. Without him over her shoulder, commenting on how she was having too many beers, or getting annoyed when she paid attention to a guy other than him.

She was four beers in when she noticed the green eyes on her. He was standing across her, on the other side of the bonfire. She and her friends had calmed down and were now giggling softly on a log, a wool Pendleton blanket wrapped around them. Percy's eyes were intense, the fire bouncing in the green, making them seem dark and harsh.

He could have been staring at any of them, actually. It was hard to tell with the fire in between.

She hoped it was her.

Was that wrong?

She had always liked attention. That feeling when all the boys in her junior class were staring at her at Sean's birthday while she and Piper were showing everybody the dance they had made up. Or when they would go swimming at Simpson's, and she could feel all their eyes on her. It made her feel powerful.

But when she got all this attention, she had always known she was with Luke. These boys were fun, but she had been with Luke for two years at this point. She liked the attention not because she cared if they found her attractive or cute or beautiful, but because it boosted her own self confidence.

With Percy's eyes though, she found herself wondering what he thought of her. Was she too loud? Was she too giggly? Was he annoyed with her still from this afternoon?

She shook these thoughts from her head. She had never been like this before. She was Annabeth Chase. She didn't care what people thought of her. Her hair was barely brushed, her clothes usually a tee and cutoffs. Before she could think further, she felt a calloused hand on her shoulder.

"Can we talk?" Luke's voice asked behind her. She turned, and he had a mischievous smile on his face. Probably thought he was going to get laid again tonight.

Piper squeezed her hand and Annabeth forced a smile. "Sure." She said, getting up to follow him. She shivered, and Luke noticed. He immediately took off his sweatshirt and offered it to her. She thought about refusing, but shivered again and took it from him. It was another USC sweatshirt,

just one more reminder that Luke was going to college after this summer and she still had her senior year left.

"You're avoiding my calls." He murmured. They had walked a few feet, where the trees broke and a creek appeared. Kids swam in the murky waters, screeching and laughing, but she and Luke stayed just out of earshot.

"No." She protested, sitting down on the hard ground. It was a cooler start to the summer than normal, but there hadn't been much rain. "I just…" She paused, running a hand through her sweaty, tangled hair. "I'm busy."

Luke raised an eyebrow, facing her. She avoided his eyes. She had always liked how harsh they were, the dark blue only softening for her. Now, they just looked fake - almost like he was wearing contacts. "I'm not stupid."

"I never said you were."

"Will you look at me?" He snapped. She did. She regretted it.

"What do you want me to say?" She asked, feeling close to tears.

Luke threw up his hands. "I don't know, Annabeth. Last night, that was the best night of my life. And you're looking at me like I'm making you vomit in your mouth right now."

She drew her gaze away, staring down at her hands. "It was a lot, Luke. It wasn't your first time." She said, each word getting quieter.

"Were you not ready?" He asked, softer now. She didn't respond, and he took it as a sign to grab one of her hands, pulling her against his chest. She didn't resist, but Annabeth would have rather been anywhere else. She felt dirty.

"I-" She started to say, but she couldn't finish the sentence before she started crying. Gods, this was so stupid. Why was she crying? She was pretty sure she wasn't even crying about sex or her first time or virginity or any of that bullshit. She was crying because she didn't love Luke.

Woah.

Her thought made her cry more, which just made Luke hug her tighter.

"It's okay." He kept murmuring, pressing soft kisses into her hair. She felt sick.

When she finally calmed down, he had tangled his fingers in her hair, pulling gently on the ends, just the way she liked it. "You said you were ready, babe."

It was all she could do to not cry again. Or vomit. Babe. The pet name alone was enough to make bile rise in her throat.

"Annabeth!" Leo said, loudly. She sat upright, turning to see Leo, Percy and Frank walking out of the woods. "Ooooh, sorry." Leo said, blushing. "We'll just be on our way." He said.

Annabeth laughed, wiping at her cheeks. "No, wait. You going swimming?" She asked.

Frank nodded. Luke stood up, pulling her with him and dusting off his faded jeans.

"I'll join you." She decided. "Gimme a sec." The boys obliged, walking off towards the water.

Luke wiped a stray tear off her cheek. "I gotta go home. I have an early day tomorrow."

"Okay." She whispered. He leaned down, and kissed her softly.

"I love you." He said. All she could offer was a smile, and he turned to walk back to his truck. Annabeth stood there, wringing her hands. The longer she stood, the angrier she got. Who did he think he was? He basically spoke for her, never asked her what was actually wrong. Was he trying to say it was her fault, with that last sentence? Gods, maybe Thalia was right, But how could Annabeth be so wrong? She had dated the guy for two years this September. She had been sure she was in love, that they could make it through anything. They had even talked about where they were going after college, where they wanted to make a family, how many kids they wanted.

He didn't listen to her. He didn't make her feel loved. In fact, she had felt like such a used toy after their first time that she had taken an hour long shower afterwards and still felt like she was disgusting.

"Beer?" Piper asked, coming up behind her.

Annabeth laughed, smiling gratefully at her friend and shaking any thought of Luke from her brain. "Swimming?" Annabeth asked in return, and Piper grinned, grabbing her hand and running towards the water.

They stripped down as they went, cutoffs and tiny tank tops flying in the wind. This time, she was hoping he was staring.

With a squeal, she and Piper jumped in the water holding hands. They spent the next hour with their closest friends, splashing each other and swinging off the rope.

Thalia splashed her, a huge blast of water sending Annabeth tumbling back. She lost her footing on a slippery rock and fell fast, preparing to hit the water. Instead, she slammed into a hard chest. She blushed, preparing to turn around and see a red faced Jason or Leo, making a snide comment

about taking her home. Instead, she came within inches of Percy's face. His lips were slightly parted, breathing hard and his arms had snaked around her bare waist when she had fallen.

"Sorry." He said quietly, untangling himself from her.

"Uh," She said, intelligently. "Thanks." It sounded more like a question and she wasn't sure where to go from now. He smelled good, salty and clean, with that slight sheen of sweat that all country boys had. Luckily, she didn't have time to do anything stupid because Piper attacked her and they were back to laughing and having fun.