Chapter 26: What You Mean To Me
Annabeth
What does Percy mean to me?
Is he a random guy I accidentally met at a coffee shop? A classmate? A friend? A boy who's slowly growing into my life? Or is he all of the above?
There was no concrete answer I could come up with. Everything about him was just a swirl of mixed emotions that I couldn't possibly analyze with logic or reasoning. It was all irrational…
… And that's the one thing that I couldn't stand about my relationship with him.
To think that someone like me, a brilliant girl who seemingly got all the answers figured out, stuck with a silly boy's problem. It was so unlike me, and my previous self would most definitely laugh and make fun of how stupid I was at the moment.
But I couldn't help it.
Every time I was with Percy, my mind automatically drift away from everything else. All I could focus on was him- how comfortable he made me feel… the many different ways he could make me smile, laugh, angry, annoyed, every kind of joy and sad emotions… how our growing bonds and trust slowly evolved into what it was now... And who could forget, the effortless way I could be myself around him and I didn't need to hide who I was.
Unlike my standoffish persona with all the boys in school, or just about everyone else, Percy was the first person in my life to make me feel something other than what I've gotten used to, that there was still some form of hope clinging within me, and because of it, I was beginning to fall more and more in love with everything about him. It was a scary feeling, one that made me hesitant to follow through with how in sync my heart and mind were growing for him.
What does Percy mean to me? Am I really falling in love with him? I— It shouldn't be possible, yet... very deep down, there was no denying the truth because I clearly do have some feelings for him in a way that's beyond what's possible right now. Otherwise, nothing like this would have happened between us in just a mere week.
Of course, I surely wasn't romantically in love with Percy, but at the same time, I couldn't rule out the possibility of what Thalia blurted out earlier. Is falling for him the right choice? Is it going to turn out the same way if I put my feelings for Percy before my reasoning? What about him? Does he even like me that way? What if he doesn't? What then? An unrequited love?
"AHhhh!" I slammed my face into both hands and shook my head side by side, heat growing on my redden cheeks coming off to my sweaty palms and vice versa, creating a feedback loop.
The pure frustration of thinking too deeply about this made it difficult to reel me back to a separate situation at the moment, neither of which was doing me any good.
"Um…" The following voice belonged to the boy with onyx messy hair. It's damp wet after a shower.
Standing in the middle of my room, looking far beyond unsettled, Percy wasn't sure how to react now that we've found ourselves like this.
With all that overthinking I had, I was feeling the same way.
Ever since Thalia left me with Percy, a minute had passed by where we were being just as awkward as we were speechless. It was a waiting game, and it would take a tremendous amount of willpower for whoever to open their mouth first.
I didn't have that willpower.
Thankfully, Percy knew I wouldn't say anything so he opened his mouth instead.
"Ahem… Don't worry. I'm not going to try anything." His awkward voice replied to what I said earlier. I'd almost forgotten about it completely.
I tilted my gaze in his direction and saw him doing his best to avoid any eye contact with me, fidgeting on the same spot beside the couch nervously.
As a result, I hugged the pillow tighter around my body, "Better not…"
Being needlessly thrown into a situation where it was impossible to ease up, it's easy to tell that both of us were tensed and uncomfortable around each other. It didn't help that the boy I had taken a strong liking to was forced to stay in my room, and I didn't doubt that Percy was feeling too different than I was, just in the reverse.
Of course, he easily earned my trust with his reassurance; after spending a full week together, I trust my feelings enough to know, just as well as he did, that he wasn't going to try anything funny. But even then, it didn't make me feel any better about having to stay with him together, in my room no less.
I cleared my throat and offered an alternative.
"Look, I don't like this any more than you do, so the least you could do is act normal, okay? Gosh, Percy… It's not like we are-" I paused right there before I could utter something regrettable, "A-Anyway, if we keep at least five feet away from each other, I think that should work."
I almost cringe at my solution. Look at me… Coming up with some scientific way to solve a problem that couldn't be solved with logic. How stupid could I be?
Yet, Percy seemed more than satisfied with that rule. If anything, it was at least a stopgap measure to keep us separate while we waited around my room, which was a private place where no boys should be allowed. It was then I came to realize: Percy was the first boy who had the chance to enter my room. He was the first one to see all my stuff, laying out bare for his eyes.
I swallowed hard at that embarrassing thought.
"Perfect. I'm fine with that." Percy agreed. The fidgeting gradually stopped as he took a small step toward me, closing our distance by three feet but still leaving a distance of more than ten comfortable feet away, "So, are you still mad about-"
"What do you think, genius?" I cut him off with a scoff, yet another bout of blushes was heating me up from beneath the surface. I grew rosy pink.
Rolling my eyes at him, I averted his gaze which grew more and more curious as seconds passed. I could ignore it well enough, but what I didn't expect was him fighting me back.
"Hey! It's not my fault!" Percy whined in a very, very cute way. His lovable pout induced a wild shiver from me, and I couldn't help but kept glancing at his lopsided frown in intervals, "Plus, your AI buddy has some serious lack in humor, kinda reminds me of you."
His sudden jab didn't go unnoticed in my head. I immediately shot him a cold glare, yet Percy didn't back down one bit. He grew with amusement looking at my reaction.
Not having the intended effect whatsoever, I soften and grumbled in annoyance. It's just part of my luck that as we've gotten closer to each other, Percy could figure me out way too easily now.
To be honest, I didn't blame him too much, if at all, for abruptly barging into my room, and I wasn't really mad at him in that same sense. More likely, I was frustrated by how it turned out because if I really was mad, I would have done a lot worse than flung my diary at his forehead, just saying…
"It's your own fault for being stupid that you couldn't figure out the joke sooner." I quipped back, then my words paused and phased out in broken stutter, "B-Besides, who gave you permission to come to my r-room in the first place?"
You know none of this would have happened if you didn't knock on the door and let Owlfred play you like an idiot, you idiot!
Despite all these thoughts about Percy being a clueless dummy, there were some conflicting feelings within me. As such, I was all smiles inside another part of my head, a sort of parallel universe where I was feeling completely different things.
The fact that Percy took it upon himself to check on me after hearing a loud crashing sound in my room, for whatever reason, made me glow with warmth, and I felt way more attracted to him then.
He cares about me that much…
Percy sputtered out some unintelligible words, as he obviously wasn't expecting me to hit him with such a tough question. I knew it was unfair, but that's exactly what I wanted because it shut him right up.
Finally, he attempted to respond, "Th-that's because— you know, I- I…"
I smiled briefly at how lost for words he was.
Having our usual banter like before, our awkwardness soon faded into the background and it eased me a great deal. Before I knew it, I wasn't too hung up about Percy staying in my room anymore, nor wasn't I too worried about him seeing all of my stuff. It was a strange feeling, but… it almost felt like he belong here, with me…
Of course, I knew who gave him permission, as Owlfred most likely persuaded Percy to come along with him, but the fact that he actually had the guts to do it… It made me feel goosebumps and I had to hide an uncontrollably excited side of my alter-self deep underneath. Doing my best to keep up a strong and unassuming front, I wasn't ready to let Percy know how I really felt about this.
Thank you, Percy, for checking up on me, for keeping me safe today, and for being here with me even though we weren't-
"C-Come on…" Percy tried to dismiss my suggestion outright, "Like I've said, Owlfred did that. I wasn't the type of person to just barge into a girl's room like…"
I finally giggled at him and cut him off.
Once he saw my reaction, his frown turned upside down and a mocking smile moved across his lips. He sighed in despair, "Really, wise girl? Can't you give me a break?"
My own smile grew wider in response. He even used his nickname for me again, and surprisingly, I liked hearing it more and more now.
"Nope." I grinned, "You deserve at least that much, Percy."
He slumped forward in defeat, "And you are literally impossible Annabeth." Percy reassured himself with a long relief sigh, "Please don't do that again. Seriously, if you are not actually mad at me in the first place, then…"
"Oh, I am definitely mad at you, Percy…" I offered a sardonic smile back, "But don't worry, I don't blame you for barging into my room, not too much anyway…"
"Huh? How does that make any sense?" A mix of annoyance and confusion plastered over his face.
I just grinned in response and casually moved away from that topic, "Anyway, I am sorry about hitting your head with my uh… book. It was in the heat of the moment, you know? You just show up out of nowhere, so it's partly your fault too."
A knowing glint in Percy's green wavy eye told me that he knew what kind of book it was, but being the gentlemen he was, he didn't point it out or say anything about it. My heartbeat grew much faster knowing his reason why. It was just so much like him, and it was this obsessively caring personality of his that made him so endearing to me.
His charm worked like literal magic, and I felt myself falling deeper and deeper into his life without holding myself back. I just couldn't, not anymore.
Interesting, funny, so approachable and friendly with all others, it's no wonder why so many girls at school, including me, found something so irresistible with Percy.
"H-How is it my fault?!" He exclaimed, rubbing his forehead at the mention of my crazy stun, but a second later, his expression soften. He let out an exasperated sigh, "Fine, whatever… But hey, since it isn't totally my fault, care to tell me what happened with you and Thalia now? Plus, I think I deserve to know why for almost getting a concussion."
I shook my head and gave him a sideways smile, "Keep dreaming, Percy."
I had no plans to tell Percy what happened before. After all, I overheard what Thalia asked Percy, and if he didn't hear what I've said- Gosh, I could still feel all those embarrassing things I've said playing over my lips - then not revealing what went down between me and Thalia's wild goose chase was probably for the best.
"W-What?! Wow… and after all that, I don't even get to know why I was hit with your dia-"
Never mind. I took back all that I've said about him. He was annoying, a pain in the ass, and his head is literally filled with seaweed- his messy mop of wet onyx hair looked just like seaweed after all.
"Whuh!" An out-of-breath sharp yelp escaped me.
Alarmed by what he almost blurted out, I gasped and stared at him before he could finish that word. A smirk on his lips, he paused specifically at that point, not saying the rest. He knew I wouldn't hit him if he didn't say it, so he got right up to the edge and stop there. It was then I realized what he was doing, and also how much he was able to figure things out for himself.
Ugh! This cheeky bastard.
"I mean, that hurt so much, wise girl." He had to be all dramatic now, "If only I know why you throw your diar- I mean, your book, at my head, then I would feel so much better."
My voice dripped a few degrees below sarcasm, "Do you want to die?"
Instead of scaring him, Percy continued much to my horror, only I hadn't realized how far he was ready to go just yet, "No. I don't want to die."
"Good." I sighed a breath of relief.
Then it happened. His cheekiness returned as if it had never left in the first place, "But I do want to know what happened, wise girl. Pretty please?"
"So you do want to die?" I glared at him now.
"No. I still like to live." He said cheekily.
"Then stop asking me… you idiot."
Finally, Percy backed off with a huff, "Well, fine. I guess I won't keep asking if you are not going to budge, but you should know, wise girl. I am not one to give up so easily."
Challenge accepted.
"Me either," I smirked.
Percy was never going to win. No matter what sort of tricks or guilt-tripping methods he's got under his sleeves, my victory was most certainly guarantee. He would never find out-
But that's when my overconfidence ended right there and then, shattering into tiny pieces.
Percy smirked back, and the next second, I was absolutely befuddled by how observant and smart Percy could be sometimes. The on switch for his intuitiveness flicked up, and he surprised- no, he dropped a nuclear bomb down on me with what he said next.
"Good. As long as we are in agreement. " The horror of his next sentence sent me straight to the depths of hell, "Now I guess it wouldn't hurt to let me take a wild guess?"
I blinked as his abrupt mischievous demeanor only served to confuse me, throwing me off guard, "Huh? A wild guess? What are you—?"
Percy grinned and explained, "Come on, you really think I am that stupid, do you? I figure out you were chasing Thalia around the room because she's got your book, right? I mean, that crashing sound earlier has to be when you two were falling on the floor. Then when you took your book back… I mean, let's be honest, Annabeth, it's your diary."
I mean, it's so obvious I couldn't be wrong… He silently pass that thought to me with a witty expression, infuriating me deeply. He even left me a wry smile when he finally crossing that line. I had to clench my pillow tight in my balled fist, wrapping it with both hands to prevent a total melt-down of my body and mind.
Meanwhile, he was thoroughly enjoying the utter failure of my reactions. Damn you! Percy!
I grit my teeth as he took a wild guess that somehow perfectly re-enact what had happened with me and Thalia, "S-Shut up…"
Percy's smirk was so wide and smug, I'd jump off my bed to hit him again and again, but that didn't work out as I expected, because…
"Eeeeh!" I shrieked to myself at what happened after.
The next thing I knew, I fell back further into my bed in response to him moving forward until his figure was barely five feet away, the exact distance we agreed to keep from each other. He was standing much closer to me now, enough for his towering figure of six feet to lean over me slightly. I gulped and felt even redder than if it was humanly possible.
"And after you got your diary back, you start tickling your best friend, that's why Thalia called you a tickle monster." He snickered at that part. "Then that's how I found you guys like that on the floor." He rubbed his forehead as an unnecessary reminder, "And how I got this red mark over my head…" His amusement was overflowing while he made fun of me.
"Did I miss anything?" He bounced that growing, mercilessly handsome smirk back at me.
I was at a complete loss for words as I stare- or rather, losing myself behind the gentle waviness of his playful green eyes, surprised by how vast and warm it felt, the way that deep emerald glow could swallow me whole with just one look, like right now…
D-Don't let… him get the b…better of you…
"Hmm… but that still doesn't explain why you would be that embarrassed by what happened." An inquisitive expression took over Percy from when he was relentlessly teasing me with smirks. Poised with another question, he thought about it for a second, "Did something else happened?"
He made me swallow hard. Because I said I like you out loud… so many times too…
But that's… That's the one thing I would never let him find out!
Seriously though, what the hell happened? Th-this type of teasing is beyond what I expected from Percy, especially when we… when our relationship-p… yet he- and just how much more am I going to tolerate this?
It was then something snapped from me drowning in utter embarrassment. For goodness sake, the Annabeth Chase before I met Percy would have already had him on the floor, crying out for mercy. I just wasn't going to stand for this anymore! Enough was enough!
"Annabe-tt-?"
I flung the pillow that hugged close to my chest right into his face, aiming right between his green eyes and launching it as hard as I could. It smacked so hard even I heard I loud muffled puff. His head was suddenly turned into a fluffy pillow, I was relieved because it blocked his smirks.
But then a sudden revelation hit me, a specific concern that Percy had my pillow up in his face…
Wait! Oh my God! His face is in my pillow... I- I can't believe I didn't think about that!
"Shut up, Shut up, Shut up, Shut up!" I forcefully grabbed another pillow on my bed to smack him repeatedly, "I- I… can't believe you…" Bright red blushes were holding my entire body hostage.
For whatever reason though, the first pillow was comically stuck on his face for longer than a minute. A hilarious image that's forever stuck in my head, my anger subsided and it brought me to the brink of tears and half-suppress chuckles. Soon, I wasn't able to stop them one after another. I gave up laughing and crying at what he made me do.
"You are the most annoying jerk I've ever met!" I threw the second pillow at his chest.
Percy was trying to mumble something, but I didn't hear a single word through it.
Of course, it wasn't enough for me because I promptly got off my bed and hit both my fists at his chest, again and again, unaware of how strong and firm his body felt, nor did I realized that his balance was beginning to tip backward. The sofa behind us soon heard a soft thump….
"W-Wwoooaah!"
