"So," Piper started, the three of them walking down the street. "Where are we eating? I can feel my stomach growling already."
"Its a small Cafe up ahead. I know the owner of the shop." Calypso smiled.
"Sounds great!" Annabeth said.
A few minutes of walking, and they finally had arrived. Quiet friendly chatter from the people inside made the whole place seem welcoming and nice.
The Cafe had a beige colour scheme and green vinous plants that hung from the walls. Shining rays of sun met at a perfect angle through the tainted window, illuminating the room with all kinds of colours.
"Oh, Calypso!" A waiter greeted. She wore a sage green apron that accentuated her chocolate skin. "Are these your friends?"
"Yes! Annabeth, Piper, meet Cora. She's my cousin." She introduced the two.
"Hi!" Piper and Annabeth waved politely. She waved back, smiling brightly. Cora seemed lovely. She had a nice voice and long, tightly braided hair that ran down her shoulders.
Cora had a table ready for them in a few minutes. They had all ordered fluffy pancakes and a wide array of fruit salad. Pineapples, kiwi, strawberry, cantaloupe and a few othersー the flavoured bursted in their mouths, the sweetness making them smile in estcasy.
And the pancakesー so fluffy and airy, not to mention warm and fresh. The powdered sugar on them had also made it a bit sweet along with the maple syrup.
"Delicious." Annabeth managed to say in between mouth-fulls. She took in a mouthful of juice and swallowed happily.
"Oh. My. Gods. I could eat this everyday for the rest of my life." Piper gasped, taking in more bites of food.
"You should thank the cooks and Cora for that. They truly are amazing." Calypso said.
"I wish there were more places like here in my kingdom," Piper sighed dreamily.
"You mean there aren't cafes where you live?" Annabeth questioned.
"There are, but I can't really go anywhere without being recognized. Being the daughter of a famous actor, after all." She pointed to herself. "I wish I could've went out more back home."
"Same here. My father was always limiting myself to people and everything. He even resorted to sending me off to a distant island. So I decided to enter the Selection." Calypso said.
"It looks like theres a lot more things alike between us than what meets the eye, huh?" Annabeth laughed, trying to lighten the mood.
Calypso and Piper nodded. The girls. All from different places across the country. What were the odds of them becoming close?
After brunch at the Cafe, they decided to part ways.
"Sorry, but I have to go to meet someone." PIper apologized. "I'll see you guys soon, right?"
"Don't worry about it, you go on ahead!" Annabeth yelled as Piper walked away. She turned to Calypso. "Do you have anything in mind?" She asked.
"I don't know," Calypso said. "Could we go check out Central park?"
"Sounds great."
Along the way there, Annabeth and Calypso chatted about a lot of things. The selection, family- you name it. It wasn't long before they reached their destination, a smaller and quieter part of the large park. Annabeth had been here a couple of times, going out on early moring jogs on school days.
"The air seems so much fresher here," Annabeth inhaled deeply and grinned.
"Hm." Calypso nodded. They now sat beneath a huge oak tree, the long wide-spread branched making shade from the rising summer heat. Calypso made flower crowns with dasies and wore them, matching with Annabeth. There was a blissfully long silence between them. It just felt so good being able to relax sometimes.
"Hey, Annabeth?" Calypso asked finally. She sat up from the grass covered ground. "Have you noticed something going on with the Prince?"
"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked.
"He hasn't asked you out yet. It's almost like he's avoiding you."
Annabeth nearly choked. She was right. In the past days, Percy hadn't even acknowledged her, other than when they talked alone. And better yet, Percy didn't even eliminate her yet. To someone, it might've looked suspicious.
"I guess. But we've talked before, actually!" Ananbeth made up an excuse.
"I don't really think thats fair. I mean, just because your not that well known doesn't mean he should ignore you, right?" Calypso said.
Annabeth was touched by Calypso's words, but was also extremely stressed out. All she was there for was to help Percy, not make people turn on him! Annabeth had to make up a better excuse than that, and quick.
"You see, we've met in the local library a couple of times. He's really charming, and i'm sure I'll get a better chance to know him better soon!" A visible bead of sweat appeared on her face.
'Charming? Is that really an appropriate word for that peice of crap people call the Prince?' Annabeth thought of Percy, with his trouble-making demanor and all the times he'd bother Annabeth when they were younger. 'I can't even remember why he's my best friend.'
"Alright. If you insist. I'm probably just being paranoid. I mean, we are competing against each other, right?" Calypso said unsteadily and layed back down on the ground. Annabeth let a strained sigh and nodded curtly.
ー Time skip lols ー
When Annabeth finally went back to her room at her place, it was about seven thirty in the afternoon. The lowering sun could be seen, welcoming the pale moon the the other side of the sky. The tall lampposts along the sides of the roads started to light up as Annabeth walked.
She was tired. Her feet hurt. If that wasn't enough, a couple of kids decided to have a water gun fight while she was walking. She managed to dry some her clothes off, but her curly hair decided to get all frizzy from the water. It was a fultie attempt to get her hair back in check.
"I'm back," Annabeth said when she entered her place. As expected, Dana, Elizabeth and Julia greeted her.
"Woah. You look dead tired." Julia said aloud. She quickly covered her mouth at the thing she said.
"Its because I am!" Annabeth whinned, taking of her shoes. "I'm just way too drained."
"Ah... Well, Sorry to break it to you, but you have a visitor." Dana said. Annabeth's ears perked up.
"Who?" Ananbeth looked around, seeing no signs of anyone else.
"Hey, Annabeth...!" Percy said peeking from around the corner. Her mouth dropped into a tight frown as she closed her eyes.
"Awh, Don't look so sad to see me!" Percy said. "Whats wrong? Having a sucky day?" He said sarcastically.
"Oh, please." Annabeth said as she walked to her room. Percy followed. Elizabeth laughed with the others to herself as the others went into a seperate room, leaving the lovebirds alone.
In Annabeth's room, Percy sat on the floor as Annabeth sprawled out on a chair. They both had an intense staring compettition; neither one wanting to talk first. It was Annabeth who broke the silence.
"So why'd you come here?" Annabeth asked. Was there an emergency going on? Was she in trouble?
"Just because." Percy grinned.
Of course he came here. 'Just because'.
"You could've gotten caught! Your lucky that the girls aren't ones to leak secrets." Annabeth hurled a pillow at Percy, but he caught it as it almost hit his face. Stupid Percy and his stupid reflexes!
"Missed me," He teased.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. A thought popped into her mind suddenly, remembering something. "Oh, you have to ask me out."
Percy's face had a look of shock on it. He went quiet for a few seconds before he laughed. "I mean, if you insist-!" He said only half-jokingly, Before Annabeth shut him up.
"Not like that! I've just heard from people that they think you're ignoring me because i'm 'Middle class'. Not well known, I should say. They think you're a snobby, trash Prince." Annabeth extagerrated that last part.
He thought for a while. "I suppose you're right." Percy said, relalizing her point. Some part of him was dissapointed when she said that she didn't mean it like that. "Where could we go?"
"Literally anywhere would be fine. Just make it somewhere typical and low key."
"I can arrange that." Percy grinned. "Just leave it to me."
"Good." Annabeth stood up. She stretched her arms up above her head. "I'm gonna go take a shower. You stay here."
Percy's eyes widdened. "Just like that? But y-"
"Relax, its not like i'm going to walk in here naked." Annabeth said as she exited the room. "It'll be quick."
Annabeth kept her promise, only taking a few minutes to take a cold shower. Afterwards she changed into a oversized t-shirt and shorts, the shorts reaching lowly on her waist. The fancy silk pajama's were great, but Annabeth found herself waking up due to it being hot and stuffy. She preffered this anyways. She blow dried her hair, so it was now dry and less frizzy. She yawned, walking back into her room.
"I'm back." She announced, opening her door to Percy laying on her bed. Annabeth placed herself beside him, not bothering to chase him out of her bed. She wasn't in the mood to anyways.
"Hey," He said.
"If you lay here any longer you'll mark the place with your stentch." She said plainly. Percy just huffed at her comment. He already knew that she didn't really mean it.
For a while they just looked at each other, admiring their features. Annabeth could've sworn she could feel something, but just like that it was gone. Annabeth shuffled in bed, closing her eyes. She could feel herself getting drowsy. Percy noticed as well, so he decided it was time to go.
"It getting late." Percy said while getting up. "I should leave."
"W-wait." Annabeth grabbed his arm, tugging it lightly to pull him back in. "Can you stay? Please. Its just been a really long day."
Percy looked down. The stiff, cold, Ananbeth Chase wanted him to stay? He chuckled to himself as he gladly went back inside. "Of course."
Annabeth sunggled into Percy's arms, breathing in his smell of the sea. What Annabeth said about his stentch was wrong- he actually smelt good. Okay, that was pretty creepy and stalker-like. They had slept together like this at sleepovers when they were younger, but this time it felt different. In a good way at least.
Percy pulled Annabeth closer unconsiously, the soft sounds of snores could be heard from him. Annabeth felt like she was in heaven. It was soon when she had also drifted away to dreamland.
It was a wonderfuly surprising night. No dreams, none at all.
Chirp! Chirp~!
Annabeth opened one eye to the sounds of birds quite early in the moring. She felt something slither around her waist, so she looked down in alarm. She could also feel some shifting behind her back, and thats when she relalized what was happening.
Percy had Annabeth in his arms in a spooning action, his head rested above hers. Annabeth tried to shuffle out of his grip, but he only pulled her closer. The close contact caused a deep red blush to appear on her face, and only made the whole situation embarassing. She could feel his breath on the side of her face, causing a chill to run down her spine.
A much as she kind of liked it, Annabeth had to get out. It was only a matter of time before someone caught them-
Click!
Annabeth heard the sound of a phone camera flash as the sounds of feet shuffling and giggles were heard. Thoughts raced her mind as the blush deepened.
'Too late now, apparently.' Annabeth thought.
i just relalized that i didn't do a valentines day one shot.
A VALENTINES DAY ONE SHOT! out of all the holidays i just had to forget that one. i truly am dumb.
in return, i offer some fluffy percabeth.
also, i really hate school. its so stressful for NO REASON. anyways i didn't thouroughly edit this so you probably saw some typo's.