Encounters
AN: I'M BACK. OH MY GOSH YAYYY. I've been dying to update but I really really haven't had time, I started band camp a couple weeks back and it's been hell, I've barely had any time to breath. Anyway, I'm so incredibly happy with the amount of reviews I got last chapter! I got so many more than I thought I would, so thank you guys! Also, one of the reviewers mentioned something about where the dance team would fit into the rivalry, I tried to incorporate that in there a bit. I'm not gonna spend too much time on my AN because I've kept you guys waiting long enough, so yeah. That's it.
Annabeth
My morning, to sum things up, was a complete and utter piece of shit. You'd think that after that nice and heart warming night of bonding with Percy, everything would be all warm and fuzzy and we'd be the best of friends, waking up in the best of moods and skipping down the hallways of Goode. Well, no. Sorry. Apparently life isn't just for shits and giggles.
First, it started when I woke up. I had a sore wrist because my wrist was being strained from the handcuffs and there was nothing I could do about it until we got hand on the keys, so there I was, trying to ignore the pain in my wrist, and doing anything in my power to keep my eyes closed, desperate to perserve the little sleep left in my body.
After I couldn't possibly fight off the feeling of waking up any longer, my eyes sprung open and adjusted to the dim lights of the bandhall. I glanced around until my eyes landed on the guy lying next to me. His hair was so long in the front that it fell into his closed eyes, and his mouth was slightly ajar, a small puddle of drool pooling up by his cheek. I tried to hold in my laughter as I scooted away from him as much as I could without A) straining my wrist even more and B) waking the idiot next to me up.
That guy was more caring than he would ever let on, and it shocked me. I would've never thought he'd be the type of person to stick around. The thought banged around in my head while I examined his thick dark eyebrows as they scrunched up together as if he was deep in thought. Suddenly, his eyes flipped open and I was met with the most intense stare I'd ever witness.
For half a second, the humming from the lights above us stopped and I took time to admire how deep and profound Percy's eyes really were. And then that time ended and I looked away quietly, blurting out the first thing that came to mind.
"You know, you drool in your sleep." I glanced at him as his eyes widened and he wiped the drool from the edge of his mouth while I tried and failed to hold in my laughter.
"Alright smart ass, you win the trophy, congrats." He replied, his voice sounding rough and raspy from just waking up. The sound brought chills to my spine and I didn't know why. He took his right hand to rub his eye and ended up dragging my left one with it. "What time is it, Blondie?"
"Well, considering the fact that we decided to sleep in the middle of the band hall and not anywhere near an outlet, I can't tell you what the time is because my phone is completely dead. " I'd snapped, and that led to the second horrible event in my morning. The argument. Remember when I said Percy and I still bicker? Well, this was one example. Now, I couldn't even remember what we were arguing about, but I did remember that it completely spoiled my morning.
After we were both heated and so red at the face we looked like lobsters, Percy suggested we go back to the gym so we could get our cuffs unlocked. That, my friends, was when the third horrible event commenced. This next event will be split up into three parts.
The first part, was what most would expect. The usual. The yelling and arguing between the cheerleaders and the footballers. Malcolm was yelling at Drew and pointing at her with his free hand, people were running solely for the purpose of dragging their buddy around, and the screams that filled the gym were so loud you could break an eardrum. It was complete chaos.
The second part occurred after everyone grouped back into the gym. Apparently, we got word that one of Goode's dance team members was found vandalizing the football locker room last night. Now, the dance team and the cheerleaders, though previously despising each other, bonded over our one common denominator. Absolutely loathing the football team. Ever since what the entire population of Goode calls "The Bond", the dancers and cheerleaders have had each other's backs like you wouldn't believe.
No one ever knew exactly why the dance team had it out for the football players, they just did. In addition to that, it was just a known fact that the football team was known for screwing with people-not like that- so it wouldn't be a surprise to me if suddenly the chess club announced their hatred for the football team too.
Now, the fact that a member of the dance team had vandalized the locker room wasn't the bad part- at least for the cheerleaders. The bad part, was when one of the football players accused the squad of letting the dance team member into the school to vandalize the locker room. Let me remind you that every person from our squad was handcuffed to another member from the football team, so this accusation would've been impossible to accomplish without waking up a football player.
Of course I tried to explain that to the team and both coaches, but none of these lunatic asswipes would listen to me. Both Coach Hedge and Ms. Valor knew that I was right, but apparently the football players were too busy sticking their heads up their asses that they couldn't use their common sense. After arguing with the football players for what seemed like forever, Coach Hedge and Ms. Valor decided that this whole bonding idea wasn't working, and decided to let us go early.
This, was the last part of the third horrible thing that happened in the morning. Now you might be wondering why getting released from a lock-in that I was mandatorily forced to be at was a bad thing. Well, let me explain. You see, in order for us to leave, we had to be un-handcuffed from our buddy. Well, Percy and I are the last ones, yeah? The coaches are looking for the key. Five minutes pass. Ten minutes pass. Twenty minutes pass. And then they come back. And then, they shoot us grim faces. And then, while Malcolm's leaning against the doorway waiting for me, Coach Hedge and Ms. Valor inform us that yes, they did misplace the key, and they're oh so sorry, and they'll get a copy from the company they got the cuffs from as soon as they can.
So I'm trying to breath. Trying to stay calm. You know, trying to do all the Annabeth like things I'm required to do because I'm, well, Annabeth, and if Annabeth doesn't act like Annabeth, it's bizzare, and wrong, and some strange abnormality because apparently I'm not allowed to feel things just like everyone else. So I ask them how long they think it'll take for them to get a copy. And you know what they said? Probably, a day. A DAY. And that, ladies and gentleman, was when I completely, lost my shit. Race to the current time, where I'm currently dragging Percy out of the gym, past my brother, and to the band hall.
"Annabeth, calm down, alright?" Malcolm yelled as Percy tried to keep up with my brisk pace. I barged through the doors and headed for the middle of the room, stooping down and shoving my belongings in my bag. "Anna, listen, this'll all be-"
"Okay, yeah, I know. I don't need you to tell me what I know. I don't wanna be more of a bother to you than I already am." I snapped, swiveling around with my bag in hand. Something flashed through Malcom's bright blue eyes, and for half a second, I felt horrible for hurting him. But then I remembered last night, and the guilt washed away.
"Look, Anna, I was hoping we could talk today. About everything." He glanced at Percy for a split second as my face softened. He seemed sincere, and I did have to remember what Percy said. I had to give him a chance. I let out a breath quietly and squeezed the bridge between my eyes.
"I want to talk. But not today, while I'm handcuffed to this one." I paused, thinking about what the next twenty four hours meant and tried not to cringe. What was supposed to happen when one of us needed to go to the bathroom?
"Okay. Look, I'll take you guys' stuff and take them down to Percy's place. I'll probably drop his car down there too since you guys can't drive handcuffed to each other." He said, ruffling his hair. I nodded quietly as Percy handed him his stuff. "You guys are gonna have to walk, you know. All of this stuff will fill up the back, not both of you will be able to come, and since you guys are handcuffed..." I shut my eyes and groaned. Of course, this morning was just getting better and better.
"Blondie, will you slow down?" Percy asked for the billionth time since leaving Goode. I was walking so fast, the track team at our school should've thought of recruiting me. We were walking towards some downtown area in Long Island, trying to head to Percy's house. We were misguided, hungry, and still handcuffed. I was so infuriated with the whole situation, and this was one of those times where I couldn't run away. I'm sure this problem was minimal when in comparison to other problems in the world, but whenever I faced a problem I just ran away.
I know that's a horrible strategy, but maybe I didn't always want to step up to the plate and do the right thing. Maybe I needed liberation somehow. Maybe running away from my problems was my way of accomplishing that.
"Annabeth, you're not going to accomplish anything by just pushing everyone away and not accepting help." Percy declared, stopping in his tracks and making me stop with him. He flashed me a smile and I wanted to curl up in disgust, but I couldn't find it in me.
"How can you be so happy in the situation we're in? Do you even realize what this means?" I replied in a bored tone, wanting to move, wanting to leave, wanting to do anything other than stand there, avoiding his eyes and trying to deal with my life without involving anyone else other than myself. I was forced to look up, though, when Percy let out a small chuckle, slightly pressing the back of his hand against mine.
"Why? Because we're gonna be okay, Blondie. You gotta have a little faith."
"Faith?" His eyebrows scrunched together at my bewildered expression and he laughed.
"Well, yeah. Look on the bright side." I scoffed loudly, gesturing down to our cuffed wrists and wondering how in the world there could be a bright side for this.
"What bright side?" He pretended to think, running his fingers through his hair with his free hand, and biting on his lip. Finally, after a minute, he looked up and smirked.
"Ah, well, you see young Blondie. I'm currently handcuffed to an amazingly bright girl with amazingly bright eyes and an amazingly bright future. I could be handcuffed to anyone, I could be handcuffed to Drew for god's sake. But I'm handcuffed to you. And you're pretty fucking awesome. You see, Blondie, this situation could be so much worse. We could be handcuffed to someone we absolutely despise. Luckily, we're not. We're handcuffed to each other, which means that this situation is significantly easier for the both of us because we're moderatley comfortable with each other. And you know what? There's no one I'd rather be handcuffed to." We'd started walking again, headed towards the water fountains around all the shopping centers in the downtown area.
I held my breath and shook my head at him, supressing the smile that was threatening to come out. Something inside me stirred, but I pushed it down, trying to picture Malcolm' brotherly vibe surrounding Percy, while at the same time thinking about my seemingly endless crush on Jason, that recently, had started to become not so endless.
I didn't know what it was, I really, really didn't. But when Percy brought up Jason at the lock-in, I didn't automatically flutter inside like I would before. Maybe it was just because I was in the moment, but I knew something had definitley changed. Problem was, I didn't know what it was.
"Oh, whatever, Percy. You're just screwing with me."
"Umm, actually no, I don't think I am. If I was I'd probably get arrested considering the fact that we're in a public place, and probably die because you're my best friend's sister, and-" I cut him off by punching him with my free hand.
"You know that's not what I meant you little pervert." He laughed, his eyes crinkling on the sides, and I was momentarily captivated. He seemed so relaxed, so care free, and somehow so completely happy.
"Come on, you know you wanna laugh."
"There's nothing funny about this." I said, but I couldn't even believe my own words as my facade started to falter. Apparently what I said wasn't the right answer because next thing I know, he's walking ahead of me, setting our stuff down on a bench, and turning back with determination written all over his face. I would've cowered away if there was any way to.
"There's nothing funny about this? Are you sure?"
"Well-"
"Because I can make it funny." He assured, getting even closer than we already were to each other and flashing me a small smirk.
"Percy-" Before I could even blink, he scooped me up in his arms- which let me just tell you is difficult to do with one of his wrists tied up with mine- and ran into the water fountains. I let out a scream of protest as the cold water hit us, and thrashed against his chest.
"What the hell are you doing?!" I yelled over the roar of the water and his loud laughter. He set me down and flashed me a huge smile.
"I'm making you smile, Annabeth. You need to lighten up." And then he ran around, dragging me with him and stepping on the water shooting up from the ground. Parents sitting on the benches, and the little kids playing in the fountain stopped and stared as we, or in their eyes two weird teenagers, who they probably thought were criminals considering we were in handcuffs, ran around a fountain. I yelped as Percy took a sharp turn, and I whipped to the left after him, finally realeasing the smile that I'd been holding back for so long.
"You having fun yet?" He questioned with a quirk of his brow. I smirked and ran in front, causing him to have to follow me.
"You could say that." I answered after a minute, and he pulled on the handcuffs till I had to turn around. I crashed into his chest, and for the first time since I met the guy, was envious of the fact that he towered over me.
"Oh, admit it. You love me, you're happy, and right now, you're having fun." The water made his long hair fall into his eyes and I smiled wide as I reached up and pushed it back, away from his forehead. His eyes softened as soon as my hand made contact with his skin, and I raised an eyebrow before dropping my hand.
"Okay." The look of surprise that etched his face was completely priceless, and I busted out laughing before I could get another word out. The small plaza suddenly filled with some unknown song, and Percy gave me a look before bowing and flashing me a grin.
"Well, Blondie, now that you've declared you're oficially having fun, may I have this dance?"
"Well I don't really have a choice, but yes, of course." And no sooner had I answered, he grabbed my hand, and we danced our afternoon away in the fountain.
After some debate, Percy and I finally decided that, since one of us had to stay the night at somebody else's house, I would make the sacrifice and stay at his house. We decided on the grounds that I was still pretty shaken up over what had happened before the lock-in, and Helen would go ballistic if she realized that being handcuffed together meant sleeping in the same place as Percy.
As soon as we got to his house, the problem rose. You know. The problem. It was around early evening, and I was sitting in the living room couch, waiting for Sally to get home. Percy had called ahead and told Sally that I had to come over because we were in a situation.
We were just minding our own buisness, watching tv, and then I just happened to glance Percy's way and realized his eyes were screwed shut and he had clamped down on his bottom lip. He gave me this look, like he was so sorry, and that's when I knew.
"Annabeth, I really have to take a piss." My eyes grew wide, with realization that there was no way that we could hold in our bodily fluids for an entire twenty four hours. So now, here I was in Percy's bathroom, with towels in hand, discussing the game plan. We had initially just decided to pee and be done, but after some time, we realized that at some point, some way, we were gonna have to shower, and if we already had to be in the bathroom with each other, why not try to get everything done at once?
"Alright, so this is how we'll do it. I'll pee while you take a shower, and then we'll switch. We can undress in the shower. Do not pee in the shower Percy, or I'll never speak to you again. The towels will be on the top of the toilet so we can reach out and grab them as soon as we're done. Sound good?" Lucky for us, the toilet in the bathroom was incredibly close to the shower, which meant that one of us could go while the other washed.
"Yeah, let's do it." And so it began. I sat down on the toilet, letting Percy step into the shower before I unzipped my pants. I grimaced as he started throwing his clothes over the top of the shower, watching it land in a pile in the corner. The water in the shower flipped on, and then there was no going back.
"Annabeth, why didn't you just let me pee first? I really need to pee." He whimpered, and the mental image that popped in my mind was not decent in the slightest. I shut my eyes and groaned. What a situation.
"Percy be strong and hold your pee in!"
"I've been holding it in for hours!" I could almost imagine him scrubbing himself down in a hurry, trying not to waste time.
"Well then another five minutes shouldn't be that hard! Just hurry, okay? I don't wanna step in your pee." I said, tying up my hair and preparing myself for when it was my turn to step in the shower.
"Okay, I'm done, pass me the towel." He asked, his voice sounding slightly irritated. I passed him the towel and no sooner had I given it to him, he stepped out of the shower with it wrapped around his waist. I instantly looked up, averting his eyes as blood rushed to my cheeks. I'm not blind, I mean the guy is attractive, and I knew that if I ogled him like any other girl would take the chance to, I'd turn this situation a thousand times more awkward.
I climbed into the shower in a rush, peeling off my clothes, tossing my clothes out, and washing myself down quickly, only earning one perverted comment from Percy where he said he didnt peg me as the Victoria's Secret type of girl in regards to my undergarments.
As soon as I was done, Percy passed me the towel and I wrapped it tightly around myself before stepping out of the shower and grabbing my clothing, locking eyes with Percy for half a second before we both headed out of the bathroom and into his room.
"That didn't go as bad as you thought it would, did it?" Percy asked as he held the door open for me, and I silently prayed that he didn't just jinx us. I slid in and shut the door behind me, rolling my eyes at him.
"I'd still rather be in a situation where I can take a shower without worry that some guy will see me naked because we're handcuffed to each other." I said, and that's when it all went down hill, literally.
Let me tell you something about Percy. He's not a very organized person. Which means his room was also not very organized. Which means there were random items all over his room. And me, not watching where I was going, just happened to trip on one of his shoes, sending me towards Percy's chest, and both of us to the floor.
The moments that followed that fall might've been the most awkward and confusing moments I'd ever experienced in the history of forever. The breath got knocked out of Percy's chest as we hit the floor and he wrapped his left arm around me as I landed on top of him, one hand slapped straight on his chest, the other right by his head, with a not very satisfying thud. And you'd think that at least one of us would make the effort to move, or do anything to change the current situation. But apparetly we're both idiots because we didn't, we just layed there staring at each other with some type of expression that I couldn't even read, and trust me, I can read everything.
Maybe all logic fled my body the instant we hit the floor, or maybe I accidentally hit my head and didn't notice. But once our eyes locked it was almost impossible to rip mine away from his. My hand seemed to burn from where it was touching his chest, and his grip on me seemed to tighten ever so slightly.
I'd never seen his eyes so big, and for some reason that scared me. Me, being the amazing problem solver I am, stupidly tried to fix the situation by muttering some random sentence about how he was really stupid, but there was no bite behind my words so it meant nothing. Whatever trance we were in ended when his phone started playing the Barney I love you song. His face errupted in flames, and I'm sure mine did too as I helped myself up and then offered a hand to him.
I tried to avert his eyes, cussing myself out on the inside and holding on to my clothes while he answered his phone, quickly explaining that the reason for the ringtone was because it was his mom. We stood there awkwardly next to each other as he assured his mom that we were fine, and said okay mom about one thousand times before he hung up the phone and threw it on the bed. And then there was silence.
I've always hated silence. If people are silent, it means something's different, or they're disinterested, or some situation has happened that has upset them. Silence was always a bad sign, on any occasion other than when you were in a classroom, and even then if the whole class is silent at once, there's definitley something wrong. Nevertheless, it was impossible to ignore the silence between Percy and I considering the fact we were the only ones there, and we always talked back and forth. After what seemed like forever, I looked up at him with a determined expression, completely ready to get out of this god damn awkard phase we were in. So I said what we were both avoiding.
"We have to change." His eyebrows raised in surprise and I inwardly laughed at him. Did he think we were gonna be in our towels until we got hand on the keys? We had to change, it was inevitable.
"Alright, how do you wanna do it?"
"I think we should just both turn around and hope for the best." I answered before turning around because in all honesty, there wasn't much else we could do. It's not like we could go to seperate rooms because of the obvious problem. To my surprise, he turned around without asking any questions, and hesitantly, we both began getting changed.
Let me tell you pulling on undergarments and pants with one hand proves to be just a tad bit difficult. The whole ordeal took just about ten minutes, with me having to grab one of Percy's extra long, extra large no sleeve shirts to wear because I couldn't wear any other shirts because I couldn't pull the sleeve up because of the handcuffs. It was a nightmare. I fell against Percy's back at least five times, and I silently thanked god that he had clothes on when I did.
"Annabeth, will you please hurry up? I'm starving. My stomach is literally eating itself." Percy complained as I set my clothes down by his drawer and stood up promptly. I turned to him and rolled my eyes.
"That's not possible." I informed as we left his room and headed towards the kitchen. Neither of us had brought up the awkward moment that had gone down earlier, and I was perfectly okay with that. I didn't know what had happened, or what was wrong with me, and I really didn't want to find out so I just shut my trap.
"Well according to the I'mStarvingAndIfIDon'tEatNowI'llDie foundation, it is if you're me."
"And who started that foundation exactly?"
"Me." He answered with a smirk as he reached into the fridge and pulled out a box of pizza. I glanced around the kitchen quietly as he put the pizza in the microwave and set the timer. As I was looking around, something taped on the refrigirator door caught my eye.
There was a picture of a man who seemed to be in his early thirties, and the guy looked exactly like Percy. His hair was combed to the side and his eyes were bright with amusement. A girl with long chestnut hair stood beside him with her back turned, and by her stood a younger depiction of Sally holding a little bundle in her arms who I could only assume was Percy.
"Is that your dad?" I asked curiously, running a hand over the picture. Something about it was tugging the back of my brain and I couldn't figure out what it was. I could feel Percy's body shift until he was right behind me and I held my breath. After what happened that afternoon, his short distance made the hairs on the back of my neck stand.
"Yeah, that was a couple months after I was born. It's really old, but one of the only photos we have of him, so we always keep it up here to remember him." He explained, and I nodded absentmindlessly.
"You look so much like him." I said quietly, and when he didn't respond I cautiously looked back at him, completely aware of how close we were. His face was blank, his dark eyebrows scrunched together, his lips pressed in a thin line. Left over water droplets from the shower ran down his neck, and his still wet hair was swept back. He looked so vulnerable that he reminded me of a lost puppy. "Percy?"
He looked down at me momentarily and flashed me a crooked grin, but it was plastered and broken, not believeable in the slightest. I raised an eyebrow at him and his face fell. He knew I wasn't falling for it.
"It's just... Sometimes I wish I had more than just my looks to connect with him. Everyone always says that I'm the spitting image of my dad, but no one who knew him ever says oh you have his work ethic, oh you have his ambition, oh you have his free spirit. It's always physical. Maybe I don't want to be his physical copy anymore. I want to be more like him in a different way." I stared at him for half a second before I grabbed his hand and dragged him to the couch, plopping down and crossing my legs.
"What do you know about him?" I asked after he had sat down. He looked stiff as a board, but I squeezed his hand to reassure him. He cracked a smile and leaned back against the couch.
"Mom used to talk about him a lot. She says that when I was small, he'd sit down by my bed and read me bed time stories until I fell asleep. So he was caring. Whenever she talked about him she raved about his cooking, said his food was the best she's ever tried. He was obsessed with the ocean, loved to surf, and loved the beach. Mom says that a lot of people were jealous of him because of how succesful he was. He was brilliant, always worked hard for what he wanted, but also adventurous and spontaneous. She always told me that he lived vicariously through others. He gave her the world and so much more. According to her, he was the most amazing guy she'd ever met. A lot of people cared about him."
"Well, seems to me like you guys do have something in common other than looks." I answered, and he shot me a confused look. "Percy, you're one of the most caring people I've ever met. Not just anyone would take the time to hear about what's wrong with me and my messed up my life. And can you make ramen noodles?" He nodded with a small smile. "Then you're a better cook than I am. A lot of people are jealous of you because of how great you are at sports, and you seem like a pretty improvisational kind of person. You're an amazing guy. And even though I know a lot of people care about you, I can assure you now that I do. So really, you and your dad have a lot more in common than you think." He stared at me quietly, something flashing in his eyes, and squeezed my hand.
"Thank you, Annabeth. You're something else." And as his fingers unlaced themselves from mine, I felt something inside me shift. I was just confused as to what it was.
AN: PERCY AND ANNABETH ARE HAVING SENTI TALKS. I actually really wasn't proud of this chapter, but I felt like if I rewrote it, it would take too long and I didn't wanna keep you guys waiting any more. Well, let me know what you think, was it bad, was it good? Review! Till next time- ShyGal