Chapter 10: Rumors & Drama
Annabeth
"Annabeth?" A finger poked my left shoulder.
No, it can't be… The vector is totally off. I'll need to fix it tonight.
"A-Annabeth-th?" A finger poked at my left shoulder again, followed by her melodic sing-song voice.
Wait, but the alignment is off too… 'Sigh' There is no point fixing it then. I'll just have to redesign everything from scratch.
"Hey, A-Annabeth-th? Are you listening, Annabeth?" A finger poked at my left cheek.
Annoyed by the repeated attempts to get my attention, I wanted nothing more than to smack whoever it was that kept trying to distract me. I was thinking about something really important too, so if I did lose my train of thought because of it, I wouldn't hesitate to—
"Hello? Earth to Annabeth?"
Waving her right hand in front of my eyes, it seemed like my frozen state finally register the surroundings I was in. I was suddenly washed over with a blinking confusion. Even after a long moment had passed, I didn't remember where I was nor what I was doing before. I only noticed that my attention was snapped towards the digital clock on the wall. Unflinching, I was staring at it like time stood still.
"Huh?"
Where am I? …Oh right! It was the second day of my junior year at Goode high school.
Like always, I was sitting in the back right corner of a classroom. Someone's desk was right beside mine and a pretty girl with auburn hair occupied it. I also heard a small laugh coming from her direction as she broke me out of my daydream, "Wow. I've never seen you daydream this hard, Annabeth."
Being brought back to reality, I turned my eyes toward the girl with silky long red hair and her sharp green eyes, "Uhh… Sorry, Rachel. What were you saying?"
She held a pencil in her left hand before she beamed a radiant smile at me, "It's your turn…"
Rachel tapped the eraser end of her pencil on my desk. It made me remembered the stupid crossword puzzle that our literature professor wanted us to solve. Meanwhile, he was grading the impromptu quiz he gave us at the beginning of class, hence why we were paired up in groups and self-studying.
Except I wasn't paying attention to the easy crossword one bit. I had my small tablet on my desk where it's continuously syncing with the server at home. A complex file was opened and the blueprint of my design- God knows how long I've been working on this one- was on the screen. It was currently fixated on a corner of the design, with a cross mark over everything.
Oh! That's why…
Able to recall most of what I was doing before now, I apologized embarrassingly, "Oops, I didn't mean to ignore the—"
Her sudden smirk made me uneasy, "Don't tell me… you are daydreaming about someone, right?"
The girl's name was Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and she was a second year at Goode High School. Despite her relatively new status, she was already well known among every student pursuing a more creative degree. While not academically talented like most other students who attend here, Rachel was a master of her own when it came to painting, drawing, and just about anything related to displaying art. In fact, she was on a scholarship because of her skills with a paintbrush.
I didn't know much about her, but from what I've seen of her work around school, it's not hard to tell she had much talent in that regard. And being one of the people in school I could actually stand, it didn't take long for Rachel to become my friend after we met at an art class. I still remember that rainy day where she out of nowhere complimented on my terrible stick figure drawing. We laughed about it, then she even helped me get a passing grade that day.
A shinning personality like a sunflower, her happy genuine smiles, and the fact that she was very easy to get along with, Rachel was probably the only one in school who was popular among everyone, yet no one would have any beef with.
Unlike me…
"You have a thinking face again, Annabeth," Rachel poked my cheek with the soft end of her pencil, her face followed with a soft frown, "Muaahh, are you going to keep spacing out on me?"
I realized then that she was poking me with her pencil all along, "Sorry… I kinda have a lot on my mind."
Rachel wasn't usually the gossiping type, which was why it's a shocker when she pressed on with something totally irrelevant to our conversation, yet at the same time very relevant to me.
"Oh? Is it about him too?" Rachel seemed to light up when she mentioned it.
"Him?" I didn't catch on.
Rachel giggled, "The transfer student from Friday…"
"The transfer student from— Friday-yy?" I mumbled out loud, then it hit my head like crashing into a brick wall, "Wait, what?!"
"So you did hear about him…" My reaction made Rachel laugh before she said dreamily, "I only heard it from the other girls who were in the same class with him, but apparently he's a real hottie."
"I… I see…" My voice most definitely trembled.
Wait a minute… Is that why she looked so different today? I almost didn't notice it, but Rachel was wearing her uniform very differently. Even her look felt different too- switched from her usual soft frizzy hairstyle and replaced with auburn strands that were wavy and silky. I couldn't quite put my tongue on why until now. While she sometimes went without her grey school jacket- it's sunny and warm out today so it's no wonder, it seemed like she was way more revealing today than before. I mean, she was only wearing her white button-up blouse today; no doubt the top few were intentionally unbuttoned, and just her bottom skirt alone hinted that there was someone she wanted to impress.
Gosh, that skirt was at least a few short inches up from her knees, and she's exposing a lot of legs…
"I think his name is Perseus or something…"
I tried to respond to her revelation, but it turned out pretty pathetic because I was desperately hiding a bunch of my nervous chuckle and also my awkward glances "Huh? Is that right?"
Should I let her know that I met Percy that day? No! Why the hell would I even— that would be like asking for the grim reaper to show up at the front door when I was perfectly safe and healthy.
"Did you see him last Friday?" Rachel asked as her green eyes caught mine. I knew she meant well, but the uncomfortable curiosity as she smiled made me feel almost intimidated in a way. Somehow, her innocent question made me want to dash up and excuse myself for a restroom break.
Thoroughly in disbelief, I didn't know Rachel was this type of girl… In fact, I was shocked to see this side of her personality because there was rarely a boy that would make Rachel put in so much effort, let alone a boy she had never met before.
There's no way rumors about Percy would spread this fast if the other girls weren't already pinning for him, or having a huge crush on him right away— But I mean, is Percy really that a-attractive-ee—
An unnecessary memory of my time with the boy with onyx hair filled my head at the worse time possible. With that, I shivered wildly and forcefully stop a sudden blush from creeping up my face.
"No— I haven't seen him, and it's not like me to bother with a new boy, right?" I lied.
Rachel hummed right away and said absentmindedly, "Mmm, I just wish someone could tell me something about him, you know?"
Her gaze was on nothing particular, but as soon as she turned her eyes on me again she blurted out sheepishly, "O-Of course, it's not like I am in a hurry and trying to get a boyfriend or anything. I am just interested, that's all… So don't get the wrong idea, okay Annabeth?"
I laughed nervously, "Anyways, I thought you didn't really care about boys?"
"I still don't…" Rachel's voice faltered. She hid her face with a rosy pink blush, "But… I guess I want to know how it feels, you know, being in a relationship and stuff…"
I didn't know how to reply to her admission. After all, the only relationship experience I had was one of the worse mistakes I have made in my entire life. I would be the last person you seek for relationship counseling. Plus, it's not like people in school didn't already know about what happened between me and Luke, so I didn't want to say anything and bring up the infamous Goode disaster again.
"Yeah, I guess." I let out an empty sigh.
Just then, the digital clock jumped another interval. It was 12:30 pm, and the bell rang accordingly throughout the classroom. It was now the end of morning lectures, and it's also time for lunch.
"Well, I'll see you later, Annabeth." Rachel beamed as she packed up her bag before me and stroll out the door with her other girlfriends.
I didn't even get to say bye, but I told myself it was better this way. After all, we weren't too close to begin with so I shouldn't expect anything more than that. Rachel was only a friend, and the current relationship I had with her more than satisfied me.
"See you around," I said to myself and packed up.
-Line Break-
Lunch…
It was a different kind of hell compared to going to class.
"Umm…" I was a bit scared.
All I heard was the sound of harsh slurping from my best friend sucking on the straw of an almost empty juice bottle. I couldn't look away. It wasn't hard to tell she was grinding her teeth on the helpless plastic straw like it personally did something wrong to her.
"I can't believe—" So began her first acknowledgment of my body sitting beside her.
Now chewing the poor white straw, her tunnel vision was so focused on her subject that it might very well lit her direct line of sight with pillars of raging fire. Piper Mclean's eyes barreled through a swarm of people going about in our school cafeteria, her hazel eyes burning passionately the likes of I've never seen before.
"I'm… I am definitely going to—" She clenched the juice bottle and almost crushing it.
Even people began to notice what's going on now. Piper's death stare was like a loaded double-barrel shotgun that's pointing directly at the girl with straight black hair. I could almost see two searing hot openings being burned and melted in the back of the girl's head. In normal circumstances, I would have expected a similar response from the target of Piper's animosity.
Instead, it seemed like the girl didn't even realize what's going on. Her friends and a group of people sat together, laughing among themselves and totally oblivious to my best friend.
"Uhhh… Piper? What's going on?" I finally asked.
Piper slammed her fist down at my question. Her juice bottle basically exploded on impact.
Oh you poor juice bottle… you and the straw don't deserve this…
"Oh I'll tell you what's going on!" Piper bellowed in rage.
Not at all used to this Piper I was seeing, my body flinched away in shivers and I held my hand up just in case her anger somehow turned towards me. Wow, something must have REALLY pissed her off.
"That girl's name is Drew, the #1 bitch of this school… and I freaking despise her!" Piper gritted her teeth again. Luckily, the straw wasn't being harmed anymore. In any case, whatever might have happened between her and this girl name Drew, it seemed like they had a history of some sort. I doubt it's anything positive or good…
"Uhh… Come again?"
Taking on the demeanor of a demonic spawn from the depths of hell, I wasn't expecting Piper to suddenly collect her composure with just one huge breath and swap her mood with a sharp U-turn. I was surprised she didn't "wreck herself and had an accident" either.
Her eyes took on a softer expression when she turned to me before explaining herself, "So I was in calculus class again, right? And you know how Mr. Know-it-all likes to gloat and embarrassed people all the time?"
I nodded as she painted a vivid picture for me, yet I didn't shy away like I usually would. I was fine with this particular gossip. After all, making fun of Mr. Wilson was a fair game in my opinion.
"So there was another girl he was picking on, right? And I felt bad because she didn't even stand up for herself when he kept putting her on the spot." Piper was going for a full story, "So I said fuck it and stood up for her. Then of course he began to pick on me too. Not that I care though…"
It was as I expected from being in Mr. Wilson's class, so I nodded for her to continue. However, her story took a strange turn from that point. I thought Drew would somehow fit into the scenario of what happened with the girl being pick on, and I was sort of right… Just not how I expected it.
"Then I thought about checking up on her after class, you know… I wanted to be nice."
Piper's eyes burned a little brighter, "But it turned out that she was a part of Drew's inner circle or whatever, and they were waiting for me in the hallway, telling me to fuck off and not bother helping her out because she doesn't want my help…"
"You have a history with Drew?" I asked.
"Damn right! I was the only one who stood up to her when I came to Goode. I still can't believe she is doing it even now. I mean, this social hierarchy bullcrap is so messed up. I doubt the girl even wanted to be part of Drew's stupid group. It's not hard to see that…"
I realized what's going on now…
"Maybe just leave her be for now… I mean, I am sure you helped her a lot with Mr. Wilson already, and I doubt she didn't appreciate it when you stood up for her."
"I know… but- I don't know… I just don't feel right that stupid Drew is putting so much bad influence on these new girls." An increasingly calm Piper spoke with slumped shoulders. Her voice's gotten to that stage when I could hear her genuine honesty from deep in her heart, "Plus, I really wanted to help her out more than anything."
I could only nod in agreement, yet I didn't know how to help my best friend out in the slightest. Her heart was too righteous for her own good sometimes, but I didn't think it was a bad thing. Not one bit. If only the world had more people like Piper Mclean, surely we wouldn't be where we are now.
Piper sighed in defeat, "Well. I guess that's a problem for another day."
I nodded.
Meanwhile, I began stuffing down the sandwich I brought from the school's café. It was a delicious turkey, tomato slices, lettuce, and mayonnaise sandwich. However, it was anything but the best when it's compared with my mom's homemade ones. I loved her cooking more than anything else from the outside.
"Hey, Beth… Look!"
Out of nowhere, something must have riled up my best friend again because she began to pat my left shoulder rapidly and kept tapping more than a few times. She was consistently hitting me like something wild just happened in the cafeteria and she wanted me to look right away.
"What?" I was curious.
I shot my eyes in the direction she gestured without having second thoughts about her motive, and right away I regretted my decision. My face immediately turned bright red at the boy I notice. His messy onyx hair… His emerald eyes with ocean waves inside them… His athletic and well-built body in that tight school uniform… Oh my God you did not just think that! Lucky for me, he didn't look over at this way. I breathe a sigh of relief.
"It's your future boyfriend…" Piper whispered into my left ear with sardonic amusement.
I gasped at her wild assumption. It was anything but a lighthearted joke to me and I almost got offended if not for how my brain was still processing the shock. Embarrassed right away with pink flusters, I wished for nothing more than the fact that Piper wasn't secretly a psychic or something.
"I'm not…! UGHH- You are such an asshole." I made a half shout/half whisper.
Piper giggled at me. She picked up a helping of Caesar salad on her fork and ate it, "You can't deny it to me, Annabeth… I know you obviously have some feelings for him."
"No, I don't." I explained calmly, "And even If I did, you can't just blurt it out like that."
Just then, a group of boys I wasn't familiar with rolled by our table so I lowered my voice. Hopefully, they didn't catch what we were talking about. Piper was sensible enough to let them pass first, then once we were alone again she stared back at me with a doubtful mewl-like cat look. Her hazel color eyes were gleaming- or rather shining as bright as night stars that danced across them, while looking at me with so much sarcasm, "Oh yeah? Then why are you blushing now just because Percy is here?"
It was useless. Piper wasn't listening to any reasoning so it didn't make sense to keep fighting her on this. Despite the onslaught of teases, I gave up completely.
Am I really blushing that bad because Percy is here? Wait… Why is my heart beating faster?
For real, I did my best not to pay any attention to him, but my eyes refused to listen to me and not for lack of trying either. Reluctantly, I was glued to his figure as my grey eyes follow his movements much to my resistance, watching as he went over by the café and order some stuff before he paid for it.
Stop looking… Why are you…? Stop looking so much…
"See? You can't take your eyes off him already." Piper whispered and added the unnecessary line that made me blush a thousand times worse.
I finally had enough and smacked her arm hard.
"Oww-ouch… That's so mean, Beth." Her complain didn't bother me one bit, but soon after I hit her, Piper's playful taunt began to sound annoyingly smug— the type that I hated to love when it came from my best friend, "But that only proves what I've been saying since last Friday, princess. Haha..."
"I can leave if you want…" I used my ace card and shut her up.
She threw her hands up in surrender, but left me with one last teasing smile, "Okay-okay…"
It was silent for the next five minutes which I was glad, and in that brief amount of time, my sight settled on Percy while I did my best to hide the obvious staring from others. It was borderline stalker-ish no doubt, but I couldn't stop. He took a seat at an empty table far enough away from me and Piper, meaning that he probably didn't see us yet. It didn't take him long before he was scrolling through his phone and eating what looked to be curry beef rice.
So he's a loner? I would have thought he made a few friends? My mind thought up pointlessly.
"Um, you are drooling…" Piper spoke up next to me.
Alarmed, I wiped my chin only to realize my best friend was a humongous jerk. I was literally a hair away from strangling her with both hands and tackling her on the ground.
"I fucking hate you so much…."
I wasn't one to curse most of the time, especially when I did it to someone who I held dearly. Though she made it impossible for me this time and didn't hesitate to laugh her ass out loud at my expense.
"Oh my God… Did you see that face you made? Hahaha—"
A huge self-conscious blush couldn't fade away from my cheeks. It continuously grew redder much to my irritation, yet to some strange degree, I didn't care as much about it anymore. Instead, I felt a small smile creeping up my lips even if it was still embarrassing. Damn her and her ability to infect me…
I sighed in brief despair.
Ignoring my best friend completely, I was able to stop minding her heartless tease, only for a stroke of wild 'good luck' to bestowal upon me. I forcefully looked away without heeding my attention, and soon pay the price when I unintentionally caught my eyes with Percy. My grey eyes widen in surprise.
Shit! You are such a clueless jerk, Pipes… Stop laughing so loud!
Percy was still holding his phone while he looked over at us. I didn't want it to be true, but it seemed like he was looking at me more than my best friend. We shared a staring contest with each other for longer than what a brief friendly glance was supposed to— at least it felt that way to me. The world around the cafeteria slowed down to a crawl. Piper's laughs droned far away from my left ear and out my right. The other students pretty much disappear from my peripheral vision.
I wanted to believe it was just an error of some sort on the both of us, but I soon realize it wasn't a mistake because he smiled at me and made a subtle friendly wave afterward. Heat rose from deep in my body in a way I haven't felt before, and there were sudden strong thumps in my chest. I also tensed up, unable to respond to his welcoming gesture nor smile back like a normal person. It felt awkward and inorganic because I was pretty sure my reaction was anything like his.
"No way…" A voice spoke up and filled with shock.
I wasn't sure if I said that or if it was my best friend, but that was the least of my concern. After all, the heat rising from within me was so intense that white steams must have blown from my ears outward. It took longer than I hope, but a minute later I finally was able to move my gaze away from Percy in a very awkward manner.
No no no... What was that? Why are you blushing so much! Stop it, Annabeth!
It turned out Piper was the one who exclaimed in shock and not me, though it wasn't for what I was expecting. Following her gaze, my eyes wandered back to the direction where Percy was only to see a sudden swarm of girls appearing out of nowhere and now sitting around him. They were already trying to get his attention and flirt with him.
"Damn… I thought they were only joking around." Piper mumbled abruptly, "I guess not."
It was now my turn to be shocked, "You talking about the rumors?"
Piper nodded, "Yep. I thought most of the girls who were in class with him last Friday were joking around, you know? Wait?! You heard about it too?"
"Yeah, Rachel told me she had a crush on him too." I explained.
Training my eyes on the suddenly filled table, I wondered how Percy felt with the influx of girls all sitting around him. I would have imagined he was in heaven right now, but— it's most likely my eyes playing tricks on me— To me, Percy looked real uncomfortable with all these girls trying to flirt with him. It reminded me of someone… However, he was nice enough to keep responding to their onslaught of smiling questions.
"Rachel? Rachel Elizabeth Dare? Whoa…" Piper exclaimed, "I thought she didn't really care for boys?"
"Beats me." I shrugged nonchalantly, "It's not my problem anyways…"
I stared a little longer… and somehow amid the group of girls, I saw one that stuck out to me. It was a girl with auburn wavy hair and green eyes, and she was sitting pretty close to Percy. Most of her friends were there too, no doubt for the mental encouragement. Being a bit shy away from her usually confident personality, it's not hard to tell Rachel was trying her best to fill that cute cliché tropes of being that typical adorable school girl.
I rolled my eyes.
Wait, why do I feel so tense staring at Percy right now?
"Anyway, why don't you go and try your luck too, Pipes?" My mind blurted out without thinking.
Crap! I wasn't watching my tongue at all.
Right away, the smoldering heat in her hazel eyes quickly return and she stared right into my grey eyes with her signature livid disapproval look. I winced at the double-barrel shotgun pointing at me, ready to fire at will.
My shoulder and body shrunk back, "Sorry-sorry… It just slips out."
"It better be…" Luckily, Piper backed off and her burning gaze calm over a short period of time.
I sighed.
While Piper might be an unofficial relationship counselor of the whole school, it came with a surprising twist. Being her best friend, I knew this from experiences. Piper would always help anyone out with their romantic troubles, but when it came to her, it was totally off the limits. Only those foolish enough would dare suggest a romantic partner for Piper Mclean.
You'd think a beautiful girl like Piper would draw a lot of boys' attention… and yes, you be totally right about that. I mean, just her carefree demeanor and cheerful style in school suggested that she was one of those girls that guys would give up everything for. The only problem…
… Piper despised almost every single guy who hit on her. While I didn't blame Piper because the boys in this school weren't really— well, you know… I couldn't totally blame the boys either. Piper usually wore her uniform a lot more cheerfully, in the sense that her clothes were always a bit revealing. So I could understand a bit from the guys' perspective.
The fact that Piper never used her charm to her advantage just made it even stranger, but what did I know anyways… I wasn't Piper Mclean, and if being her best friend only gotten me this far, then I doubt I would understand her reasoning behind it even if I asked.
"Let's finished quickly… we have the same classes for the afternoon, right?" I asked.
Giving up on those topics for now, Piper nodded, "Yep."
-Line Break-
Now that school had officially ended, it was time to take two staircases down to the second floor. My feet took me forward with each step while my head began to wander aimlessly. Is he going to the library now? Did he even remember about our tutoring session?
Of course, it went without saying that my best friend was annoyingly tagging along. Showing off a bright, gleaming smile while accompanying me side by side, I wished she would leave me alone and go home for the day. However, I had serious second thoughts about it. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have her with me while I met up with Percy, just in case what happened last Friday somehow happen again.
We reached the third floor when my best friend began to hum in a melodic tune.
"Really?" I groan exasperatedly.
Piper shot me a huge smile, "Come on… Cheer up, Beth."
"No." I refused with a sidelong pout.
Shaking my head unwittingly, I wasn't likely to listen to her advice anytime soon, leaving soft grumbles at how happy she seemed to be while I was suffering a miserable fate that awaits me in the library.
Life is so unfair…
Just as I step into the second-floor hallway, someone appeared from around the corner of the stairs at the worse time possible. I was pretty sure neither one of us was rushing, but at the same time, I wasn't paying attention. Neither one of us was... Most likely because I skipped my way off the last step, my body crashed into the boy who shouted in an alarming surprise.
"W-Whoa!" He lost his balance, "A-Awwhhh…"
I squealed with a high pitch scream.
Falling with him, we crashed onto the floor together with a sudden thump and got tangled up. It was a rightful mess. His hands were around my back, my arms were securely pressed on his chest. What's worse, I was pretty sure I broke my fall on him- not that I was complaining because his body was— ah-hem… soft and comfortable but strong and muscular too, yet that only mean that my body was at least somewhat straddling him up top.
"O-Ouch…" I groaned.
He was groaning underneath me too. I tried to get my center of balance again, but his voice made me pause on the spot. I had an uneasy feeling as I tilted my head up and look at him. I noticed his messy onyx hair and wavy green eyes. Oh Gosh- No it can't be… Afterward, it didn't take much for me to put the piece together and figure out who he was.
"H-Hi there, A-Annabeth—" His greeting sounded a bit strain.
I threw myself off from his body, "P-Percy-yy?"
He managed a soft smile at me, "H-Hello…"
I was frozen in place. While I knew his arms weren't around me anymore and I wasn't laying on his chest, I somehow forgot that I was still sitting on him. It took me by surprise when he pointed that out in an embarrassed tone while doing his best to be expressionless.
"Uhh… Do you mind getting off me?" He asked nicely, but I noticed he was blushing.
I looked down.
"Ahh!" I squealed loudly, followed up with a reverberant smack across his face, leaving a fine parting gift that's my red palm print, "P-Pervert!"
I promptly scramble off his waist and stood up, clutching my school skirt as far down as possible. It was too humiliating being here in his presence, especially when I w…was… Oh my God! Oh my God!
Of course, it had to be him… again! It's almost like a running joke now, this whole crashing and bumping into each other scenario that kept finding its way between us. Meanwhile, Percy rubbed the left side of his cheek and blink in confusion.
Don't look so puzzled, you damn jerk! That's what you deserve!
"Uhh…" Percy tried to speak.
Even though either one of us had anything to say to each other, I heard suppressed chuckles from above the stairs, her amusement could actually be felt from where I stood, "M-Mmm…Mwwahhh!"
Laughing out loud like a total loon, Piper skipped the rest of the way down the stairs and cried out with joy. Cracking up at the expense of how embarrassed I was, I had enough of her teases all throughout today and stormed over to her with only one goal in mind.
"Whoa! Hey! H-Hey…" Piper only laughed harder, "Come on, Annabeth! Stop it! Haha…"
Even my death glare didn't deter her from making fun of me, and with my last attempt being an utter failure as such, I gave up all the way and stopped strangling her with my hands. I huffed in complete annoyance, turning away from my best friend and back to Percy who was still laying on the floor with a shocked look on his face.
"You idiot…" I called him out in a low whispering voice.
Despite what just happened, I reluctantly went back over to Percy and reached out my right hand. Percy gave me a questioning look- his face still fluster pink, as if he was expecting me to hit him again. I blew another heavy huff from between my lips, "Are you going to keep staying on the floor or what?"
Senses finally came back to him before he reached out. Our hands brushed but I ignored the warmth of his being spreading through me as best I could. I held him firmly, then with as much strength as I could muster, I pull him back up on his feet. To my surprise, he wasn't too heavy even though he was twice my size.
"Thanks…" He mumbled in a manner that multiplied the awkwardness between us.
I nodded away from him to hide my own pink blush.
"Well, let's get going then."
It was mean to be a divergent from the current embarrassing topic at hand, but again I never expected Piper to do something so horrible to me right after what happened with me and Percy.
"Actually…" Piper's sing-song voice spoke from behind me.
A nature shiver broke from inside my body. I fear this was coming when Piper shot me smiles after another, all suggestive and filled with hints while the whole thing happened.
"I think I'm going to go home today… I have some stuff to take care of." She revealed, but I knew it was bullshit.
While prideful in my own way, I was desperately pleading her for anything but that. I gave her soft looks, hoping that she wouldn't do this to me. Of course, it had the opposite effects.
"Plus, I wouldn't want to disturb you two studying." Piper added with an obvious sly wink at my direction.
Curse you a million times, Piper Mclean!
Before I could physically grab her from leaving, Piper saw right through me and skipped halfway down the rest of the main staircase to the first floor. I automatically reacted when I reached out emptily and blurt out, "Wait! Pipes… I- I— Wait a minute…"
"Have fun!" Her smug voice rang from the floor below.
By that point, my best friend was already long gone. Faced with the reality that I was left alone with Percy like how it was last Friday, I couldn't mentally grapple with the small differences between this time and last time… because I— I just fell on him and… and…
No! That shouldn't matter! Even though it was only the two of us now, things were definitely going to be just like last time. I was sure of it, except… why was my heart beating so fast? And why couldn't I stop staring at him? Oh Lord, I am not… a-attracted to him, am I? There was no way in hell I would be feeling something for him like this… Piper was wrong about it from the beginning… Right?
While I didn't want my inner turmoil to end with such an open-ended question, I definitely wasn't in a hurry to answer it. And after falling on each other like that, I wasn't surprised when Percy could barely look at me. Similarly, I couldn't fully look at him either.
"Oh my god! I think I actually like him…" An abrupt thought enter my head.
"Haha… good one." I mentally calmed myself.
"Umm…" Percy ran his right hand through his messy straight hair, "I am okay if you want to go… we can skip today's tutoring if you… I mean, I don't mind."
I couldn't breathe all of a sudden when he looked on aimlessly at the wall beside me, his green eyes staring nervously at nothing while he mumbled out some nonsensical things. Curse me… It was such a cliché move on my part, but it couldn't be helped right then. I guess I'm— I… I don't even know what I am doing anymore. I just acted.
"Hey, w-wait… What are y-you— Whoaa!"
He was pretty shocked when I grab his hand along and pulled him hard, "Let's go, Percy. I don't like it when people keep me waiting."
Percy stumbled along behind me. Meanwhile, I led him onward with a never-ending blush that pushed my legs to walk faster and faster. It might have been my overactive imagination, but I was sure I heard a small chuckle from behind me, followed by a softer and quiet sigh.
"Alright. I am following Annabeth," Percy spoke so impassively I couldn't pick up on any of his subtle feelings, "Don't pull so hard…"
It was only for a minute or so, but during that time I was holding hands with a boy while I lead him to the library. If classes were still in session and students roamed the pack hallways, this gesture surely would have given everyone the wrong idea. Luckily, no one was here after the day ended.
I clear my throat when we were now walking side by side instead. Our shoulders kept in a comfortable distance away, at least a feet apart. Our hands let go soon after we paced ourselves, yet I couldn't help but missed the touch of his hand for a really weird and strange feeling.
Percy did the same thing after me though it didn't seem to do anything between us, then he awkwardly brought up, "So, I didn't think I'd see you again after today."
"Why?" I knew where he was leading but decide to keep it to myself.
Percy spoke with a bit of uneasiness in his voice, "I thought you only took on tutoring me that day because it was right after the principal's, you know… ask you to."
"What do you mean? Are you saying I don't keep my promise?" I stared at him accusingly, ready to unleash a fist of fury into the back of his head.
"Hey-Hey… Don't be mistaken. I am glad you are here. I mean, I… I actually do have a lot of things I need your help with, so…" Fear overwhelmed Percy as he flinched back, his hands were up in surrender mode already.
Given me a small mid-pause, I watched Percy a little more only for a series of chuckles to well up in my throat. My face contorted into many expressions and even my chin began to hurt when I held back the laughs, but to no avail in the end.
Even though I only meant it as a joke, the way he responded to my death glares threw me off sideways and I couldn't hold back a small smiling laugh. The fact that he looked so defeated after mentioning the work for his classes was just the icing on the cake I needed for me let out suppress laughs for real.
You really are an idiot. I thought up in my head.
It was only a brief talk- if that even counts as brief, but in that short amount of time, I was already in a space where I momentarily forgot everything that happened between us earlier. The whole falling on top of him thing… The uncomfortable tension thing… Why does he have such an effect on me?
"Of course you do…" I even let out a few girly giggles at him without realizing it.
Oh no… Am I actually having fun talking with him?
Percy relaxed his shoulders and a visible sigh of relief left his mouth, unconsciously making me smiled more at him, "Just don't hit me, please?"
I pursed my lips to hide another smile, "I don't think I can't guarantee that, Percy."
And while I didn't want to give him another wrong idea, I wasn't as apprehensive about teasing him this time around. Compare to the Annabeth Chase last Friday, I didn't feel much resistance in terms of hanging around Percy. If anything, I quite enjoyed his company now. Feeling weird about it, naturally I began to wonder what changed?
Strange, indeed…
Percy then ended our surprisingly enjoyable conversation with a friendly smile of his own before he gulped nervously, "Um… Let's just leave it at that, yeah?"
My heart skipped a few beats, but I shrugged nonchalantly, "Sure."
It couldn't be overstated to say that I was feeling ten steps lighter now in contrast to before I met up with Percy. Reaching the end of hallway B, we soon turned around the corner to the north end of hallway 2A. It was still a bit awkward being together, but I was fine with it. It was a shock on its own.
"To be honest, I actually thought you weren't going to come either," I added a few minutes later and actually initial first. I bit my lip out of habit.
"Huh? Why?" It was his turn to ask.
His eyes searching for an answer while looking at me with keen curiosity.
"I don't know…" I paused and ended up giving him a friendly smile, "You just seem like that forgetful type, you know?"
Right afterward, there was a short pause and he didn't say anything back. Given his lack of a reaction, I automatically reasoned that I crossed some line that I shouldn't have crossed.
"Umm…" I tried to take it back while Percy kept walking beside me, yet the feelings on his face were like that of a sphinx, I couldn't read it.
"Maybe I shouldn't have said that…"
Just when I was least expecting to see any sort of reaction from Percy, his response was so dramatic that it might even rival that of Piper Mclean. I knew how much of a drama queen she was, so to see Percy's reaction like something out of a stage play, I couldn't hold back.
"You cruel words wound me with a thousand cuts over my fragile heart, sensei…" Percy went as far as to put on a show by clutching his chest and leaned over in agonizing 'pain'.
I couldn't stop myself at his silliness, "You are such a dramatic idiot…"
I could see his smile before he continued with more poetic nonsense, instantly making me laugh.
"Gosh… Stop it or I am going to hit you, Percy…" I repeated with a bright smile that threatened to stay on my face until we reached the library, "Muaawww! You are so stupid!"
Dismissing my plead, he kept it up much to my annoyance but this time I was feeling things besides those usual 'you are impossible and I don't like you' type of thoughts in my head. I was irritated for sure, but at the same time, I was also… Is it happiness that I felt? What is this strange feeling that kept my heart beating so rapidly?
Right when I wasn't paying attention, Percy finally put a stop to his stupid impression. All that left was the humorous smile on his face, his green eyes twinkled a bit when the orange glow of the setting sun bounced from the window and reflecting them back to mine.
Again, I felt a strong thump in my chest while we shared a look of amusement for longer than a few seconds. The hallway was soon going to run out of space for us to walk, meaning that we were pretty close to the library by only a few classrooms away.
"Sorry for being stupid… But I am glad you like my impression though." Percy apologized in a soft and playful voice.
I shook my head and replied just as lightheartedly, "I'll forgive you this time, idiot."
Smiling back, Percy left us with one final grin, then we continued onward.
As much as I hated to admit it, I was honestly feeling a bit happier with Percy than I was expecting. More likely, I was dreading our tutoring session to be awkward and filled with these silent pauses that could kill an elephant in the room. The way I feel now… It just up and showed that I didn't know what I was thinking about at all.
I can't believe Piper knew right away… I rolled my eyes at that thought, but of course she would…
We were coming up on the library now, and this time I was sort of looking forward to tutoring him. The fact that we somehow got rid of this huge awkwardness between us made the whole thing seem more comfortable. At the same time, I wondered what kind of work he was looking for help with, though given my impression of his ability last time, probably just about everything…
"Hey Percy," I wanted to say something when—
Out of the blue and without warning, my nerves tingled and I sensed real dread in front of us. It was only a split second instinctive feeling, but it was enough to bring my attention to a tall figure leaning against the windowpane that overlooked the middle courtyard of the school building. I knew who he was right away. He tilted his head over to us like he was expecting us to pass by here sooner or later.
"Well… Hello Annabeth." He said.
The one person who I dislike the most in school was standing in front of me, and his name was Luke Castellan before he greeted me with a sly smile. I grimaced.
"What do you want, Luke?" I asked straightforward and left nothing to imagination.
More than five feet apart from the boy with short blonde hair, Luke didn't dare come any closer than that. Of course, if he knew what's good for him then he shouldn't have shown up in the first place. I held my place, and luckily Percy stopped beside me, though I didn't know what he was thinking…
Luke didn't respond right away.
"If you don't have anything to say then please move away." I said calmly, "I am going to the library."
Luke finally moved from the windows and stood in front of us, "Whoa… you aren't even going to greet me after I said hi? That's cold, Annabeth."
I held it together, "I've got nothing to say to you, so please move if you are done with this charade."
Leaving me no choice, I was about to grab Percy's left hand and lead him away like nothing had happened, but of course, that's anything besides the case because there was a sudden splash-like sound from two feet beside me. I looked around with wide eyes.
Behind us, Luke's usual group of male friends stood around Percy with buckets over their hands. Their obnoxious laughs made me angry right away. I quickly stared daggers at them with burning anger which worked to back them off from Percy. They walked over to Luke and cheer among themselves.
"Luke! Why can't you just leave me alone?!" I shouted at him.
Meanwhile, their infuriating laughers were sent so far down each side of the hallways that they scrambled off together quickly to avoid trouble.
"Don't worry, Annabeth. I don't mind, but I think your new friend is feeling much colder than me!" Luke laughed his way out of sight from the second-floor hallway and disappear soon after.
Anger… Resentment… Hatred… These feelings manifest like a virus spreading over my body but I couldn't do anything about it. I stood at the exact same spot for more than a minute.
"Hey," I realized it was Percy calling me, but I couldn't respond like I normally could.
"I am sorry…" I balled my fist in anger.
I didn't want to look at him.
"It's okay Annabeth…" Percy said a bit later, "Don't worry. Are you okay too?"
Sensing something warm as it brushed over my hand, I didn't realize how hard I was clenching my fist until Percy reached out and made a light rub on my fingers. Surprised by his gesture, I finally gave him a long look and saw nothing else but worry. Despite what they did to him, Percy seemed more concerned about something else instead.
"I am fine," I said with half-honest truth.
Able to calm down after a while, I repeated, "I am sorry about Luke. He and I… He was…"
Percy didn't even hesitate at my explanation.
"I get it. Don't worry…" Even knowing what I meant, Percy's shot a lighthearted smile my way which made my heart flutter, "You don't have to sweat about what happened. It's not your fault."
I nodded at how easygoing he was being with this, though I wasn't going to keep prodding the subject if he wasn't going to. Instead, I began to look at him for real.
"You are soaking wet," I noted.
He nodded and looked at himself, "Yeah…"
From head to toe, there wasn't a part of his new school uniform nor his body beneath it that wasn't soaked thoroughly. Even I could feel the brisk chilliness of freezing water soaking his body when I wasn't the one who got drench.
"Maybe you should go dry up," I suggested.
Thinking on it, there was an accessible bathroom just around the corner so he could definitely clean up in there.
"But what about tutoring?" I wasn't expecting that response.
He seemed genuinely concerned about that when that should be the least of his problem. I shook my head against his idea, "There is no way they will let you in the library like this, Percy. Even if they did, I wouldn't. Plus, you are drench. One, you'd just make a mess in the library filled with all sorts of fragile books. Second, you might catch a cold and I don't want you to get sick because of-"
I was about to say me, but I held it back at the last second. Like Percy said when he was reassuring me with comforting reasons, this wasn't my fault. It was my crazy ex-boyfriend for thinking that he's still got a hold on me even after everything that had happened with us.
Percy studies me for a little, but I wasn't going to back down from this.
"Okay." He finally said.
I nodded once he agreed and gestured at the hallway that split to the right, "I know where you can dry up. Come on,"
Lead him to a separate small hallway, we reached the accessible bathroom big enough for two people to fit inside.
"Here we are." I pointed behind me, "I'll wait here for you."
Percy hesitated, "You sure?"
It was only then I realized why he asked me about tutoring earlier. Throwing me off guard with a caring gesture, I now understood why. He didn't want to keep me here if we weren't going to study.
For a brief moment, I felt a glowing warmth in my heart and it continued to spread over the rest of my body. While I managed to put it aside from my focus, the feelings stayed with me even when I thought they would eventually disappear.
"Hey Percy," I wanted to say something- it was specific but the words weren't coming up.
He waited for me to say something with a bit of intrigue in his eyes.
"Hmm, never mind… Anyway, I am already here so I won't let you go so easily without working your butt off first." I smiled back and hoped he got my message.
It was comforting to see his sideway smirk at my response, then he slipped past the door into the restroom while I waited for him with a similar smirk on my face.
Given the chance to be alone with my thoughts, there was just one thing that kept reoccurring in my head. Softly and to myself, I mumbled with a stupid-looking smile over my lips, "Idiot…"
Percy was really different. Even though he's such a goofball from the time I met him- reminding me of someone I knew at home, the new boy with mexxy onyx hair was unlike almost all the guys I've met in school. Just his response to that whole thing with Luke and I could tell he wasn't like the others. To say nothing of the fact that he didn't have a 'crush' on me - I have had more than a few cringey confession approaches from other boys my grade who said they liked me, yet they couldn't tell me why except that I was smart and I look pretty… Percy didn't even see me that way, at least I hope so, yet he didn't hesitate to ask me how I was doing when he was the one who got drench…
I think I like him… I thought to myself.
Okay. Calm down now, Annabeth. Let's just say I am interested in him… My opposing thoughts weren't as intrusive as before.
Five minutes passed. Ten minutes passed. Close to fifteen minutes had gone by before Percy finally came out from inside the restroom. In essence, he was pretty dry up now. Surely, he must have taken off his clothes and squeeze the water out as those dispenser napkins weren't possibly good enough to handle how soaked he was. I'd give him that, all except for the wet mess that's still over his onyx hair.
"Your hair is still a mess." I pointed out.
He acknowledged simply, "Oh. I'll just let it dry out…"
There's no way it will dry out like this…
"Why don't you just wipe it with some napkins?"
He shrugged, "Why? Is it really that wet?"
I sighed in despair, "Come here…"
I dragged him back inside the restroom. Now there was one more person inside with him… Me. Ignoring the lump in my throat, I went over to the dispenser and took a handful. I turned around and said with a straight face, "Here. I'll help."
I could see his apprehension.
"Come on…" I was ready to blush, "Don't make me ask twice."
He came closer at my request and stood in front of me. Just a few inches taller, I didn't have to reach up on my tippy toes and could easily wipe his hair dry just like this. Still, it didn't help with how my breath was caught in my throat. Again, I ignored the feelings as they came up.
"Um… T-Thanks."
I nodded nonchalantly, "No problem."
With both my hands over the back of his head now, I was only a few brain cells short from growing red.
"There. You should be fine now…" I said while biting down my lip.
Percy gulped a few inches from me, "Yeah."
More than terrified by what just happened to us- it's most definitely an excuse, but a part of me wasn't even aware of what I was about to do in the first place. Now we were stuck like this. My hands wrapped around his head and his body just an inch from mine.
"Um…" I felt a different tension slicing every known particle around us.
Percy was silent. I was silent. The air around us felt stiff and suffocating, yet our faces drew closer on some unknown instinct. I felt lightheaded. I believe my lips parted a little bit too… It was only at the last moment before my senses to snap awake and made me panic.
"I am sorry!" I blurted out and shoved him away. It wasn't too forceful, but enough to send a message.
Finally, I got the mental capacity to pull my hands loose from around his head, dragging them back to around my sides. Percy cleared his throat right away and pulled back.
"Ah-hem… I uhh— I guess we should—"
I nodded with giant pink flusters on both cheeks, "Uh-huh… Yep. Totally. Let's go…"
There was only one thought in my head as we left from the restroom…
What in the world were you thinking, Annabeth!?
