Chapter 4: First Impression

Annabeth

"Annabeth."

I wondered who was talking to me.

"Annabeth…"

Whoever it was, it sounded eerily familiar. The voice kept getting farther away, and the curious side of me decide to chase it.

"Annabeth…"

The closer I got to the source- or at least thinking that I was getting closer, the further it seemed to be getting away. Finally, when I felt as if I couldn't run after a voice that's playing wild goose chase with me, I heard it made a sort of warning.

"Be careful, Annabeth…"

The world faded into nothingness.

"Be careful…"

A sudden ray of light broke through from the darkness, and I heard a different voice.

"Oh! Oh, I think she's waking up!"

Aching almost everywhere, my head felt so constricted like someone was squeezing my skull with a hydraulic press. Getting a sense that I was asleep before this, I woke up to small muffled sounds beside me before lights filled my eyes. Everything was hazy and uncomfortable. I blinked and grimaced at the bright surroundings, trying to block out the impossible lights with my hands.

"Hey, you okay?" I heard someone asked.

A figure suddenly moved above my vision. His dark silhouette was enough to block out everything from view. Grateful for his help, it still took a while for my eyes to adjust, and after blinking a few more times I was finally able to see, just not as clearly as I normally would.

There was a boy leaning over me. A warm smile over his lips as he hovered above my eyes. I was able to notice his dark messy hair, his deep green eyes. More importantly, I could smell the strong scent of sweet caramel all over his body… Wait, caramel? Oh my God! Why is he leaning over me?!

Recalling everything from before, I immediately jerked upward when my memories fully returned like a shock to my system.

"Whoa!" I heard him scream.

Followed by a loud thud, our forehead bonked each other. It hurt, but that would have to wait because I grasped the first thing I could before I fling it at him.

"Ahh! Creep! Pervert! Stay away from me!" I screamed.

He recoiled just like I wanted, but I wasn't about to let him come back next to me so I grabbed the next thing I could and fling that at him too.

"Whoa! Hey! Hey, it's me!" He shouted.

Surprised by my aim, I didn't fail to hit him with the second thing too. He flinched as it connected, and seconds later I realized what I just threw at him. It was a pillow. The muffled sound when it smacked into him put me in a pause.

Wait? Where am I?

When he was far enough away, I finally got a chance to look around my surroundings, noticing right away that I wasn't where I thought I was.

"Calm down, Annabeth. You are in the nurse's office."

As tense as I was, I calmed down when I saw a young woman in a medical gown standing behind my target before she approached me, walking right past the boy who was still recoiled back from when I threw a bunch of things at him.

"Here…" She handed me a cup, "Drink this, you'll feel better afterward."

Nurse's office? Oh…

Getting the hint that I was safe, I was pretty sure a huge blush surfaced at what I just did before I let myself relaxed on the bed. She was still holding the cup for me, so I took it from her hand and sat back down. After taking a few sips- it was seltzer water, I was thirstier that I realized before I took huge gulps one after another, drowning the glass in seconds. At the last gulp, I heard myself gasp at bit and immediately regret drinking it so fast. Apparently she found it amusing because I heard her sigh softly at me before she took a long and exasperated look around her examining room.

I picked up on her subtle annoyance right away, "I am sorry. I'll pick it up later."

After giving me a pointed look, she nodded, "Good. Now please refrain from moving too much anymore. You have a concussion after hitting your head, and I've also applied some anti-infection cream to the bleed so you should be okay."

As hazy and head throbbing my memories felt, I was able to recall bits and pieces of what happened before I ended up in the infirmary of our school. My eyes scanned over the room from right to left, ignoring the mess that I've made earlier and caught my gaze at the boy with green eyes.

"So long as you promise to stop chugging stuff around my office, I am sure you'll be more than fine, okay Annabeth?" She stared at me.

On the receiving end of her friendly, one-of-a-kind passive-aggressive remarks, I almost flinched away myself because her eyes were cold and devoid of human emotions. Scary….

"Thanks, Ms. Umm-" Embarrassed, I asked for her name.

Looking like a recent college graduate, she smiled at me again and this time life returned in those blue orbs, "You can just call me Clara. I am not a professor here…"

Clara. I repeated her name in my head.

Fairly certain that I was still blushing from that crazy little stunt I threw- literally, I watched as Clara took a seat on the chair beside the bed, "Well, can you tell me if you are still feeling dizzy?"

"Yeah, a bit…" I admitted while she leaned over to check behind my head.

"Hmm." She hummed at herself, then she put a flashlight in my eyes without warning which blinded me for a few minutes, "You probably still need a while to recover then, so stay in bed, okay? I don't want you to hurt yourself again."

I rubbed my forehead at her reminder, "Okay."

Out of nowhere, she suddenly smiled at my gesture.

"Also, don't worry… Percy here told me everything already, so you can rest easy." Clara reassured me as she pointed backward at the boy standing far enough away from the bed. I didn't blame him…

I made a small glance at him, "Sorry to cause you so much trouble."

Suddenly unaware if I was talking to him or not, I quickly shifted my gaze away from the only boy in the room and turned towards Clara. She looked almost like she was going to laugh.

"Are you kidding me? This is the most fun I've had in a while thanks to you two…" Somehow, I hoped Clara was joking around with that, "Plus, watching the two of you was really amusing."

Not making sense with her comment, I was about to protest when she abruptly moved away from the bed. Clara stood up and smiled at me with a subtle smirk, then she turned back around to the boy who helped me here and told him, "Make sure she stays in bed, okay?"

He made a slight nod without any verbal confirmation. Somehow, his green eyes were kept on me so I returned his gaze. Feeling a bit awkward- I could tell he was feeling the same way, it looked like he wanted to say something but I couldn't tell what when all I heard was silence.

Meanwhile, his response must have satisfied Clara because she began to walk away from the examination room, "Well, if you two need anything, just call me because I'll be at the other side of the room."

I was about to ask something when she added, "Oh, and since you two are so late for school, I've added your names to the front office, so just go there when you feel like you are ready, okay?"

Answering the question I had, I watched as she disappeared from around the corner which left me and him alone together. He was watching her slip away too, and I wondered he picked up on what I was beginning to realize too. It's so obvious why Clara left, but that hidden gesture seemed so ridiculous I almost wanted to call her back and explain everything to her- to tell her that we don't know each other and we were certainly not a couple like she thought we were.

My lips stayed shut instead…

Now that my gaze was broken from Clara, I easily caught my eyes on his figure standing beside the entryway. He took a long few seconds to himself before he turned around to face me too. Again, we stared at each other yet neither one of us could break the ice first. It's no surprise that I felt really uncomfortable. The awkwardness of not knowing what to say or what to expect was enough to kill an elephant in the room.

Suddenly, a soft smile moved across his face and I gulped nervously.

There was a part of me that had to hold my breath when my eyes caught up to his smiling expression. As I began to watch him; well, watching was a real nice way to put it because I was honestly just staring rudely at him, I couldn't pull my gaze away from scanning him top to bottom. I recognized his messy onyx hair and his deep emerald green eyes. Besides that, he was wearing the same casual outfit as when we first met. Despite being so normal, my first impression of him was that he's definitely good-looking. Maybe not gorgeously handsome, but also not bad by any means.

Shut up, Annabeth! No you didn't just say that! I scolded myself.

Taking him in, I was beginning to heat up when I noticed his gaze staring amusing back at me. I realized it too late though because he made me blushed out of nowhere and I had to turn away immediately. It was wishful thinking at this point, but I was pretty sure that I just gave him the wrong idea.

"Sorry about that…" He finally said.

I wanted to say something along the lines of 'I am fine' or 'It's okay', but every time I tried the words just get stuck in my throat, and I didn't want to say something stupid or embarrassing to making our situation even more awkward.

I opted for a soft nod instead.

A look of relief rested upon his face, though it quickly disappeared when I didn't say anything back because he must have anticipated me giving back a response. I didn't, so now a veil of awkward silence fell on us.

"Um… So, you are Annabeth?" He tried again.

For a while, I thought he might be a dumbass because Clara had already mentioned my name more than a few times, but soon I realized he just wanted to dispel the awkwardness between us. Wait, what us? I cringed. The mere thought of something between us was enough to make me laugh out loud.

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, and you are Percy. I remember."

In saying that, I've involuntary pull back that memory for us. Still vividly recalling our accident- the pure stunned look on his face before his smile took me away, I was reminiscing on our encounter at the store when I suddenly blushed out of nowhere again.

I said sheepishly, "And if we are going to get the formality out of the way first, then I… I am sorry about earlier too."

He affirmed my apology with a nod as well.

"It's okay," He kept his smile at me, "At least we can call even now."

There was never any doubt in my mind when I quipped back at him that his comment set off a spark inside me. I didn't understand it at first- the way it made me felt, but I definitely wasn't going to let him off the hook so fast.

"Naw-ah, not even close." I let him know as a matter of fact, "I was actually hurt. You just got a cup of coffee spilled on you."

"So if anything, you are the one who's more at fault since you were rushing at me out of nowhere," I added, "I wouldn't call us even at all."

Pulling out a reverse card, his smile grew to my surprise, "I'd have you know, this is my favorite shirt and you've ruined it completely with caramel and coffee."

Not likely to happen, I didn't expect a smile to creep up my lips out of the blue. Of course, I held it back because I've already given him so many wrong ideas already.

"Besides, didn't you just accept my apology?" he added.

When I saw his smile grew until it resemble a smirk, I had to force myself to stay still and not storm up from the bed to smack him in the head. I've always hated it when people make fun of me, even more so if it was a boy who dared to tease me. They would regret it though because I would always give them cold glares and avoid them like a plague for the rest of my high school journey.

It couldn't be helped, not after what I've gone through in the past.

And yet, I had a slightly different reaction when Percy made fun of me. Not only did I forget to shoot him a dangerous you-are-pushing-your-luck type of gaze, but I have also managed to completely ignore my rules about boys and hid my gaze away from him again. For a brief moment, I must have smiled at his remark because my head was suddenly filled with happy thoughts.

"You are really annoying." I heard myself say.

Percy chuckled, "Sure, and you are a klutz…"

This time, I rolled my eyes and shook my head at the same time, "First of all, the only reason why I was rushing out the door was because I was late. Second, that was an accident. I didn't mean to throw a cup of coffee at you like that, and I have said sorry many times already. Plus, you were rushing at me too."

I wanted to add the fact that I offered to pay for his laundry bill too, but somehow I couldn't bring up that part of our encounter.

"And what the hell do you mean by that anyway? I am not a klutz…"

Smirking like he had the perfect response to throw back at me, Percy held up his fingers and began to count each one. Of course, he made sure to tease me while counting up, adding his case for why with each finger, "Let's see, rushing out of the store and almost bumping into me. One… almost falling over but I held you back in place? Two… throwing a cup of sticky caramel on my face? Oh yeah, definitely three… dodging to the wrong side after I've warned you to move. Hmm, four…."

"… Need me to continue?" He asked.

Pretty sure my cheeks were steaming red, I scoffed, "Please, by all means… Enlighten me."

Percy must not have picked up on my mocking sarcasm because he had the audacity to continue like it's an open season, "Well then—you actually falling over face first but I stop it, five…. then there is you hitting my forehead earlier. Six… Oh! Not to mention when you were throwing a bunch of stuff at me…"

My fists were clenched over my knees before I apprehensively blurted out for him to stop, "Okay-okay, you can stop now…"

His green eyes twinkled a bit at my outburst.

He added, "Seven…"

At that point, I was way too frustrated with his ability to make me feel so annoyed- never did I expected a boy I barely knew to make me wanted to laugh so much, that I momentarily forgot my promise to Clara. Because of it, I involuntary flung another thing at him. It was another small pillow.

Gosh, how many pillows does this bed have?

"I was being sarcastic, jerk." I huffed and settled back down.

My aim was surprisingly impeccable even when I was under a skull crushing headache. As the fluffy pillow hit him square on the chest, Percy laughed and infected me with a rush of dopamine. I suddenly couldn't help but chuckle at him. So far, my interaction with Percy had been nothing but embarrassment for me one after another, yet to some strange degree I didn't mind it, not as much with him compared to others. I didn't know why…

"Throw anymore and I am sure Clara is going to come give you that glare again," He told me playfully.

Throwing me off guard - how many times had it been since my heart raced when he smiled at me, I decided to veer off-topic and prevented him from making fun of me anymore.

Of course, not before Clara gave me another friendly warning from the other side of her office, "I heard that, Annabeth!"

I sighed gently, "Anyways, how did you get me here?"

Thinking that was a fairly simple and basic question, I didn't expect his smile to disappear before Percy tensed a bit at my question, "Umm… I- I… Well, you know…"

Percy ran his right hand through his hair and I watched him with renewed interest, that's until it took me seconds to realize why he was being so shy and sheepish all of a sudden, unable to tell me how he got me in here in the first place. Thinking back, we were probably more than twenty feet away from reaching the nurse's office before I blacked out, meaning that if he did— what I suspected he did, then at least it wasn't for too long. Still, not that it comforted me in the slightest with that reassuring thought.

Oh no… Did he—

"He carried you in here, Annabeth. Just in case you wanted to know…" Clara shouted again. Her voice was dripping with amusement.

Cursing her for eavesdropping on our conversation- though it shouldn't be a surprise, I was still reeling from the fact that Percy, a boy whom I barely knew anything about, put me over his arms and carried me all the way to the infirmary.

My cheeks must have blushed way more than I should.

I guessed I wasn't wrong in saying that the things happening to us were going right down into the typical romance cliché tropes. Oh God…

Clearing my throat, I made a decision to ignore that fact altogether. Luckily, Percy was on the same thinking boat as I was after we shared a brief glance. I let out a sigh of relief.

"So, are you new here?" I asked.

He blinked a few times, "Yeah, how did you know?"

Given that he wasn't wearing Goode's standard school uniform, it was plenty obvious when we crashed into each other back at the foyer of the main entrance. I began to wonder if Percy was a freshman, but he didn't look like one… Maybe a transfer then?

"You are not wearing your uniform." I pointed out.

Percy looked down at himself and chuckled, "Oh. Ha-ha… I guess so."

"Freshmen?" I asked him.

Shooting me a curious gaze, Percy's eyes twinkled again, "Do I look like one?"

I sighed exasperatedly and shook my head, "Gosh, you are a real pain… Are you one or not?"

He chuckled at my reaction, "Junior… What about you?"

"Same," I paused and decided to dig deeper, "Did you get transferred then?"

"Yeah. I won a random school lottery from the city that gives one insanely lucky student a chance to study here, so that's why…" Percy shared his explanation with me openly, "I guess I was lucky enough to be picked out of the millions."

"You don't sound happy about it though…"

Percy shrugged, "Meh… I mean, it's a great opportunity and all that so I am happy for the chance, but—I- I don't think I am cut out for it. And it's not like I have—"

I noticed a sudden paused.

It was only for a few seconds, but Percy picked up on his words right after, "Anyway, if I'd known we were going to the same school, I would have followed you instead of getting lost taking the train somewhere else. I ended up more than ten blocks away…"

"Oh." I blinked at his words, "Wait, what?!"

"Yeah, that's why I was running at the main doors without fully paying attention." Percy told me and chuckled a bit, "I guess I never expected anyone else to be just as late as I was, nor did I expect to bump into you again, literally."

Did he not realize what he just said?

As I pieced together his morning, it wasn't hard to see why we had so many accidents now. Coincidental or not, we were both going to the same school which we were both running late for. We were both getting coffee from the same store, leading to that huge sticky disaster for him. As a bonus, both of us arrived at the school at about the same time while he was rushing over the paved walkway, and then— well, bumping into me hard and causing everything that followed afterward.

After a small reflection of my day, I would be surprised if nothing else happened to us later on.

Maybe I should stay away from him for now…

Getting to know him despite not having much intention to, I finally decided to bring up what he said earlier, "You are creepy…"

Percy gave me a confused look, "Wait, what? Why am I creepy-yy…?"

As if he suddenly picked up on what he said in the first place, I watched as his cheeks flushed a bit before he clarified his meaning, "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that… It's not like I'll just follow you from like ten feet away or something like that… you know? That's creepy."

I sighed with relief.

"I guess what I meant is following you for directions…?" Percy added which only made his comment even worse. He must have sensed it too because his words were muddled at the end.

I must have blinked at his fail attempt to reassure me.

Seconds later, he tried to rectify his words, "I mean, that's creepy too, and I wasn't saying it like that either… I just— I would have asked first, you know… Not that I would have known back then, but that's what I meant when I said…"

Going off on a tangent, Percy paused before starting over with what he should have said from the beginning, "Anyways, I am not a creep, okay?"

Percy was looking very embarrassed now as he tried to explain himself. Even though I got what he meant from the beginning, I wasn't expecting his current expression to throw me in a complete 180. I wasn't too amused at first, but his ridiculous babble suddenly made me want to laugh out loud. I heard more than a few suppressed chuckles escaped me, and I couldn't do much to stifle them back.

"You are an idiot." I smiled.

I knew I might be giving him another wrong idea from this, but it honestly lapsed my judgment the more I laughed at him. Even my headache suddenly felt less and less painful. It stopped throbbing much to my delights and my vision wasn't spinning anymore. When my laughs ebbed away completely, any discomfort I felt in my head and the rest of my aching body seemed to disappear away with it.

Percy was smiling throughout before he approached me, getting closer to the bed.

"Here." He tossed me the three pillows I threw at him earlier one by one.

Landing somewhere on my lap, I put all of them back in their spots before I heard Percy asked me, "So, are you feeling better now?"

I nodded, "Yeah. I think I am good now."

I shifted my legs over the edge and sit up straight on the bed. For a moment, I was lightheaded and my vision blurred a bit. It soon returned to normal though so I decided to give it a try. I stood up and took a step, finding my balance easy enough without falling over.

"See? I am fine." I said and looked up.

Not paying attention to where I was heading, I wasn't aware that I took a step toward Percy. When I looked up, I was suddenly met with his face. Though we were far enough apart, the relatively close distance between us made my gut clench up. I probably stared at his green eyes for more than a few seconds before I finally backtracked from his figure.

"Ah-hem…" Percy made me clear my throat.

I've often wondered why I kept a safe distance from people, and I've never really tried to understand these feelings before. Ever since that eventful freshmen year for me, I've learned a lot about getting too close to someone I didn't fully know. It was the reason why I've been avoiding any interaction with boys who looked at me differently. They all wanted something from me in the end, and when I couldn't give that to them, things would just turn ugly for everyone involved.

That's why I kept pushing people away from me. If I didn't know them from the beginning, it was safe to say that I shouldn't even bother with getting to know them at all. I'd always told myself that it was for the best, and not being too fond of any social situation in the first place made it easy for me to keep myself away. It was a breeze to do, and I've learned to adapt and replace any social needs with outlets and hobbies I actually enjoyed.

And up until the start of my junior year, I have successfully kept others at arm's length without letting them get too close. Of course, I would have never expected one boy whom I just met today to break all these rules I've set from the beginning of my high school journey.

Instead of feeling an inexpressible void in my heart- the deep emptiness and dread that followed when I talked to someone new, my conversation with Percy was anything but feeling like I am a hollowed out shell. I was getting a feeling beyond what I would usually get, and it didn't make me recoil like I've instinctively learned to. Percy was different…

Or at least that's what I've been saying without really thinking about it.

My feet automatically shifted away from Percy, moving a few steps back while pulling my hands behind my back. I gave him a really small and subtle smile.

"Well, I guess you and I should get going? Classes are already going and I don't wanna miss more than I should." I added, "Plus, I assume you need to pick up your uniform and fill out some paperwork for the school, so…"

Since I was okay now and could stay on my feet, it was most definitely time for me to start my school day- regardless of how late it was already. I looked around and spotted my bag leaning against the bedside table. After I pick it up, I put the brown canvas strap over my shoulder and turned to face him again.

"Cool. I guess I'll see you around?" Percy asked.

I followed his gaze while he threw his own backpack over his shoulder. At the same time, I wondered if he realized what I meant when I said— Did he not pick up on my offer?

"Sure." I said, "But you know where the front office is?"

I watched as Percy blinked in confusion a few times, then his realization kicked in.

"Oh. Well, yeah… I don't, so you—"

I shook my head at him, "Idiot…"

Moving pass where he was standing, I decided to lead the way since he's being so clueless, "Keep up then, I don't wanna have you get lost in the school."

Out of the corner of my eyesight when I turned away, I saw Percy smiled behind me.

"Right-right… I am following you then… Lead the way."