AN: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, don't worry, I'm well aware. It's been more than a little while since I updated. I'll give a bigger breakdown at the end of the chapter. Just note, this chapter has some texting in it. Percy's text messages will be in bold, like this AN. Annabeth's will be underlined. If there is a "/" in the middle of a text message, that's to signify a new message bubble. It's not a perfect system, but it works.

Percy POV

"F… Frank… I- I can't… I can't breathe…"

"That's the point, Percy. Text her."

"…" A gasping breath. "… please…"

"No. Text. Phone's right there, Perce. Just text her."

"…" A groan. "Fiiiiine. Now get off me, Zhang."

"Text her first. I know you."

Pery's head thumped on the floor. "Ugggghhhhh."

"Do you want to breathe?

"Yes, but no."

"Do you want me to be arrested and sent away for a long time for murder?"

"No, but yes."

"Okay, ouch. Do you want my grandmother to suffer a heart attack due to me being imprisoned and you dead?"

"… Not fair, Zhang." Percy reached for his phone, typing in the number he had accidentally memorized. Hey. He held up the phone, showing Frank the sent message. "There! Now let me breathe!"

Frank chuckled and smirked before sliding off of Percy's back and onto the floor. "Finally, man. We've been here for ten minutes. It's one text."

Percy scrunched up his nose and mocked Frank's voice, "It's just one text." He looked down at his phone, watching the three dots in the thinking bubble appear on the screen. Adrenaline rushed through his system as his fight-or-flight instincts began to override coherent thought. What would she say? Would she know it's me? I should've mentioned my name. Ugh, I'm an idiot for not saying it's me. Just hey? She might think it's a creep…

Percy?

Oh. Right. She's smart. She knows it's me. I'm an idiot for not realizing she would know.

Frank peered over Percy's shoulder, "Are you gonna tell her that it's you or just keep her wondering for the next ten minutes?"

"Eff you, man." Percy rolled his eyes and pushed Frank away before responding. yeah, sorry bout not getting back to u.

A minute later, his phone lit up as the response arrived. No problem, Percy. I am glad you did not freak out.

Geez she's hella formal.

don't worry about it / see u saturday?

Of course.

Percy waved his phone in front of Frank's face, "There! See? I did it. Now can we please go play basketball before I absolutely freak out?"

Eyes rolling with the practiced slowness of an elephant avoiding crushing her child, Frank shook his head, "Yeah, let's go, Perce. Proud of you."

Annabeth POV

Annabeth had absolutely no idea that the two boys had put down the phone and escaped outside to relieve some stress. How could she? In all her wisdom and foresight, and despite Percy's growing opinion to the contrary, Annabeth was not an all-knowing goddess. Perhaps if she had known the basketball player better, she could have anticipated that he would be out on a driveway or court as soon as he could.

However, at this point, they had met each other less than six months ago. It was early November and Annabeth had first visited the café in June. She knew he was good at basketball and grew more condient because of it. Yet, she still did not understand the extent to which he was obsessed with the sport. Because of this, after a short pause of about ten minutes, she sent another text to him, hoping to learn more about the paradoxical barista athlete.

How long have you played basketball?

She would wait two hours for a response because Percy and Frank had decided to play three games against each other to 21.

Percy POV

Slow dribble with the right. Lean forward. Stare him in the eyes. Percy jabbed his right foot, crossing the ball behind his back to his left hand and exploded forward. Years of practicing this move had made it one of his favorites. The jab step would make his opponent slide slightly to the right and the cross behind the back to the left protected the ball from any steal attempt. That moment when the defender had to hesitate is the exact moment that Percy would explode to a sprint, straight towards the basket.

Frank, having played against Percy for years, saw this coming. Whenever Percy needed a basket, he always went to this move. Frank knew it and the moment the jab happened, slid to Percy's left.

Percy then saw this and reacted in turn. The moment the ball hit his left hand, he bounced it back towards his right hand. A double behind the back crossover. Frank did not see this coming. The big man was left stumbling a bit as Percy now sprinted down the right side and jumped for a big time dunk. Arm outstretched overhead, tomahawk style, Percy began to throw it down with absolute authority.

Frank Zhang could cover ground quickly, especially for a big man. Despite his moment of stumbling, his long strides were able to cover ground and get to Percy, meeting the 6'5" senior at the top of his jump with his own 6'9" frame. Percy did not end up dunking it. Instead, Frank grabbed the ball from Percy's hand with his own.

When they both landed, Frank spoke, in that quiet confident way of his, "No."

Percy groaned. "I thought I had that, Zhang."

Frank shrugged, "Someone smaller than me, you have it. Can't coach size, Perce."

Percy waved his hand, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know.

Frank took the ball to the three point line and they resumed play. Fadeaway from Frank. Pull-up jumper by Percy. Drop-step dunk by Frank. Miracle layup by Percy. Back and forth, scoring baskets on each other. Frank just a little too big and a little too strong for Percy to consistently stop him. Percy just a little too quick and a little too athletic for Frank to consistently stop him.

"20-20. Next basket, Zhang." Percy's eyes danced with competitive light, his mind thinking of how to defy Zhang's expectations. Frank stood in a defensive stance, his tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth as he prepared himself for Percy's next move.

Dribble. Cross. Between the legs. Sprint to the corner. Percy finally shook Frank, his speed getting him open to the right corner. He jumped, falling out of bounds, the ball releasing from his hands, a high schoolers imitation of Kawhi Leonard's buzzer beater in game 7 of the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals. Unforuntately for Percy, and fortunately for Frank, he was not quite to the level of Kawhi; his jumpshot still a little raw. The sideways movement threw off his arm placement and the ball bounced off the side of the rim.

Frank grabbed the rebound and the two faced off again, their positions flipped. Percy bunched up his shorts, slapping the concrete ground beneath them. "C'mon, Zhang. Let's go. No easy buckets. I'll get you back."

Frank merely grunted before working his way down to the right side post position. Percy's legs locked in, right hand on Frank's back, left hand jabbing, trying to disrupt Frank's rhythm. They both knew what move was coming. Six years had prepared themselves for Frank's patented fadeaway over his left shoulder. The only question: would great defense or great offense win this matchup?

Frank pivoted on his left ankle, launching off of it as his knee bent. Arms in a perfect shooting position, the ball left his hands. Percy jumped, following Frank's movement. His outstretched hand reached for the ball, hoping to catch a little bit of it, just enough to disrupt the shot.

SWISH!

"Game." Frank stood with his hand still up in a shooting position, his eyes dancing with glee. The gentle giant never reacted with the drama or excitement of his best friend, but his joy was nevertheless equal to Percy's current disappointment.

"Oh come on! I was so close! Why you gotta be so fricking tall, Zhang? It's not fair."

"I told you earlier, Perce. You can't coach height."

Percy dropped to the ground, laying on his back in the cold November air, the sun weakly giving a vestige of heat. He took a deep breath before eyeing his best friend.

"If I had been able to eat Grandma's cooking from birth, like you, maybe I'd be able to block it."

Frank rolled his eyes. He did that a lot around Percy. "You are not seriously blaming my grandma for my basketball ability."

Percy grinned teasingly, "And I'm not saying she didn't have a hand in helping either."

"Percy, she's five feet tall in heels."

"And she's seven feet tall in spirit. We both know that."

Frank chuckled, shaking his head, "Whatever, man. That's game." He held out his hand, helping Percy back to his feet. "See you at the Heights tomorrow night?"

Percy nodded, "Yessir! You know it."

The two boys grabbed their phones and assorted belongings before heading their separate directions. Frank, into his house, and Percy on his way back to his apartment.

As Percy walked, he checked his phone, heart plummetting when he saw Annabeth's text that read it was delivered two hours ago. Ahh… oops.

sorry, i was hooping with zhang / been playing for the last 6, btw

A couple minutes later, his phone dinged as her response came in.

Do not worry about it. We have lives outside each other, remarkably.

Without thinking, Percy responded rather flirtatiously. mine could revolve around yours, princess

Is that a promise, Percy?

Shoot, shoot, shoot. What have I gotten myself in to?

only if you want it to be / hows ur day been

It has been good. A cute boy texted me today.

Of course she's not actually into me. Should've seen that coming. Oh well… Percy took a deep breath before responding.

oh that's cool / where'd you meet him

There was about a five minute pause where Percy watched the thought bubble constantly come up and then go away. Then he almost walked headfirst into a light pole.

That was close. Finally, Annabeth apparently decided on her response.

I am talking about you, dumbass.

In Pixar's 2015 movie Inside Out, there is a scene where a boy runs into the main character, Riley, and the viewer sees the inside of the boy's mind as he completely freezes. His emotions are running around his control center panicking as the control center itself is awash in red alarm lights. Everything is in complete panic mode and the overhead speaker of the control center simply calls out "Girl! Girl! Girl!" on repeat. Percy's mind, upon reading Annabeth's text, was in a very similar state. His face also matched the aforementioned lights.

With all the suaveness that Percy had in his being, he responded in a way that would make any person absolutely fall in love with him.

oh / thanks / ur pretty cute too

Luckily, he arrived home and was able to distract himself with helping his mom prepare cooking dinner. He could feel his phone buzz in his pocket, but chose to ignore it. The anxiety surrounding the conversation with Annabeth meant that he would push off talking to her, for now at least. He knew, inevitably, he would have to respond, but he would ignore it for now. Because what better way to deal with anxiety than simply avoiding the thing casuing it?

Finally, at 2 am, on his way to the Heights, he glanced down at his phone.

That was incredibly smooth, Percy. That was sent immediately after his last text.

Are you okay? That was sent at 7pm.

Did I cross a line? Then nothing. That last one was sent at 9 pm. Percy gulped and shook his head to himself before responding.

no, ur good / just got busy with some things at home

Finding his best workout playlist, Percy put his earbuds in, turned off the phone, and drowned himself in shooting. Obviously, he was alone. It was 2 am. No one put up shots at this time of day. But something else had been eating at him all day, besides his conversation with Annabeth.

I missed that game winner against Frank. Right corner, moving out of bounds. I gotta be able to hit that.

He held his beloved basketball at the top of the three point arc. Dribbling, he sprinted to the corner before pulling up right as he would head out of bounds and shot it, falling into the grass next to the court. CLANG.

Damn it.

Getting up and grabbing the runaway ball, he walked back to the top of three point arc. He repeated the action, adjusting his takeoff point for his jumpshot just a little. Another miss.

He repeated again. And again. And again. Trying the shot over and over, adjusting either his takeoff spot, his arm placement, his wrist flexion, anything that could change the shot, a little each time. Eventually, he began to hit it consistently.

Last one. He took off, feet moving just as fast as his first rep. He stopped on a dime, jumping and shooting the shot, just as he fell out of bounds. He tumbled across the grass, but the grin crossed his face as he heard the tell-tale SWISH. Ten in a row. That was acceptable. He could go home now.

He checked his phone. Obviously no texts, but the time read 3:47am. Shrugging, he started the trek home. He'd shot for a lot longer working on weaknesses of his game before; under two hours was nothing crazy.

However, as he made his way home, the adrenaline slowly started to die away and that's when Percy started to feel it. The constant falling into the grass after the shot had taken a toll on his body. His right lower leg especially burned, the skin more than a little raw and scraped. He ignored it.

No pain, no gain.

AN: Hope everyone enjoyed that! Their first text conversation with a bit of flirting on the side. Filled with some basketball action, because honestly, writing basketball scenes is really fun and gets my adrenaline going, so there's always going to be some of it. I know some people won't really understand what's happening or be able to picture it, but hope it's still enjoyable. Also, we got a little look into more of Percy's psychology when it comes to basketball in this one. It's summertime now, so hopefully I'll be able to write more and post more consistently. Sorry for such a long wait, but I appreciate everyone's reviews and encouragement. Keep doing that, if you want, obviously, I can't control you xD

Til next time

~KCReal