viii. Percy
"We're screwed up," Percy mutters while running his hand through his hair.
"Right we are," Annabeth mumbles. She's leaning on the wall of the janitor's closer she pulled him to, right after their confrontation with his friends.
Confrontation. Sounds about right.
Once they've concocted a believable backstory, Percy had foolishly believed that it will be the end of their problems. That it would finally convince his unbelieving friends on his and Annabeth's fake dating ploy. But no. It had to be replaced with a bigger problem: a double date with Piper and Jason.
"Ugh. I can't believe this," he says. The absence of light makes it difficult for him to see Annabeth, but he assumes that she's frowning too. "Double date with them? Pshh. As far as I know, they haven't been dating until now. They just probably made that up."
"I get the feeling that they still don't believe us. They staged a fake dating of their own to observe our relationship. They want to catch us faking it," Annabeth concludes.
"That's what I think too." Percy sighs. He's just tired of lying to his friends. Should he just cancel this whole arrangement? "Do you think we can pull this off?"
Through the thin light coming from the door, he sees her shrug. "I don't know. Maybe. But they're certainly going to expect more from us."
"How much more?" he can't help but ask.
"Enough to get them off our backs," she answers. Annabeth removes herself from the wall and tugs his hand. "C'mon. We can't be late. I don't want to get caught in the closet while classes are going on."
"Or you just don't want to get caught in the janitor's closet with me?"
"I don't want to be caught in a closet at all, thank you very much."
"Why? Cause it would tarnish your good girl reputation?" Even through the darkness, he can feel the heat of her glare. That's just how powerful it is. "I mean, being caught in the closet would definitely seal us as a couple. Don't you think that will make things easier for us?" he says with a smirk.
"Shut up," she retorts and shoves him to the side. Annabeth quickly opens the closet door and steps out.
Then she freezes.
Deciding that going to class is the better thing to do, he pushes against the doors and Annabeth's body. His eyes find the shocked look of a girl from their mythology class. Juniper, if he'd remember correctly.
Annabeth starts waving her hands frantically. "I swear, it's not what you think—"
Juniper, bless her, starts blushing and nods her head. "Of-of course. I really didn't see you two coming out of the janitor's closet. I'm just a regular student passing by a regular closet without any activity happening inside it at all." She gulps at the mortified look on Annabeth's face. It's so funny Percy wants to laugh, but he really doesn't want to invoke the blonde's anger upon him.
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone what I saw at all," Juniper mumbles before dashing out of the corridor.
"But nothing really happened...," Annabeth argues weakly. Then she rounds up to him, poking his chest repeatedly. "You! Why didn't you deny it?"
He raises his hands defensively. "It's useless arguing about it. She saw what she saw. We can't do anything about that. Besides, Juniper is trustworthy. She won't just tell anyone."
"You better be right or else I'm gutting you like a fish," she says. "Ugh. All those years of building my reputation, and I'm reduced to a closet girl."
"With me," he adds. "That's a very important fact."
"Not really," Annabeth says as she rolls her eyes. Then she struts off, leaving him alone.
"You're late," is what Annabeth says the moment he enters the diner.
To be fair, it's not like he wanted to be late on purpose. It just so happened that the diner is a little harder to find than what he initially thought. It's basically a hole in the wall, with its faded brick walls and warm atmosphere.
Percy sits across her. "This place is hard to find."
She smiles. "Can't have them spying on us."
"How did you come across this place anyway?"
"I was having a bad day then. I took off and walked aimlessly. And then I saw this. This has been my safe haven after that."
"Thanks for trusting me with this," he says with a smile.
"I don't really trust you. More like, I'm forced to trust you."
"Way to hurt my feelings, Chase." He makes a choking motion and pretends to hold his heart in his fist. He holds up his palm. "Look at my heart, it's all broken."
Annabeth makes a stabbing motion at his heart. "Oh no! I hope it's dead."
"Why you cruel girl."
"And you're a clueless boy who can't keep track of time."
"You're mean," Percy says while clucking his tongue. "Really mean."
"At least I can flirt," she teases.
"That's a low blow."
A waitress skips towards the table. Her dark brown hair is pulled into a high ponytail. And she looks regally bored as ever. Her name tag reads "Reyna".
"Welcome to CC's diner. How can I help you?" She recites in monotone as she hands them the menu.
"I'll have my regular," Annabeth says without looking at the menu.
"I'll have, um, a large fries and a guinea burger? Wait, is this made from a guinea pig meat?" He looks up questioningly at Reyna. The girl doesn't spare him a glance. "Who's this?" she asks Annabeth.
"That's Percy. My boyfriend."
Reyna's eyes peruse him like a scientist observing a rare species. Then she shrugs, unfazed. "He doesn't look like your type."
"Um," Percy interrupts. "He's just right in front of you."
"Guinea burger is not made from guinea pig meat. The burger is just shaped like one," Reyna answers to his previous question. "Now, will you order it?"
"Ah, I guess."
"Good." Reyna scribbles something on her note and then she skates off.
He faces Annabeth. "I didn't know we're still pretending here."
The blonde just raises her eyebrows. "Reyna goes to go to Goode."
"Oh." He hasn't seen her before. "Why are we here anyway?"
"I need to know how you will do on your first date before going on a double date with Piper and Jason. She pauses and looks at him. "This is your first date, right?"
He blushes at the question. So, he might not be the best guy around the dating department (and probably the only one in their school who is yet to go on a first date) that's why the question makes him extremely embarrassed.
"So that's a yes?" Annabeth asks as she gestures to his blushing face. He nods. "Don't worry, everyone is awkward in their first date."
This catches his attention. "You? Awkward? No way."
She laughs at the disbelieving look on his face. "Yes, I was. Remember 7th grade when I still had my braces? That's how awkward I was."
He grins at the thought. She had really been awkward then, especially around the girls their age who were more flawless and more feminine. Her insecurity is the one thing he's glad she had left.
"Who's your first date?" he asks out of curiosity.
The smile on her face slips a little. She shakes her head. "It doesn't matter. You don't need to know who he is."
Something feels off, like she knows he knows the guy, but isn't willing to tell him who. Nevertheless, he respects her privacy. "Okay."
Reyna interrupts them as she brings their order while skating. He doesn't really know how she can manage to do that without spilling anything or bumping into a table at all. If that was him, he'd surely broken a bone or two as soon as he starts. Balancing is really not his thing.
Reyna places the food on their table, including a chocolate smoothie with two straws that he's sure they didn't order.
"Um," Percy begins but interrupted by Reyna's stare.
"It's on the house. Hylla says that it should make things exciting for your date."
Annabeth frowns. "I don't really know how sharing a smoothie will make things exciting, but give Hylla my thanks."
"Sure," Reyna says before skating to another booth.
"You surely have been on this place a lot," Percy comments as he unwraps his burger. "Oh! It really does look like a guinea pig." He looks at her food. "Why does yours look like a Parthenon of fries?"
"What can you do, I love architecture." Annabeth dips a fry into the smoothie and eats it. She grins. "Best trick in the book."
A chuckle bubbles in his throat. Despite all their ridiculous fights, he never ceases to find her amusing. "I think everyone knows that trick."
"What? No."
"Really."
"I'm not believing you."
"Fine. But you should know that you're not the first one to do—ow. Why would you throw a fry at me?"
"Shut up."
"But it's true!"
She throws another fry at him, but this time, he manages to catch it in his mouth. A wide grin splits his face.
"Would you look at that? I have extremely good reflexes," Percy says as chews the fry. He beckons to her. "Throw another one at me."
She throws him another one, and he catches it again. Percy mimics a bow at her like he's a magician who just finished performing his tricks in front of the crowd. "Bet you couldn't do that," he taunts with a smirk.
If he still knows her well, he can perfectly predict what she'll do next. Her thirst for competitiveness is always a blow he'd like to strike whenever the opportunity presents itself. And just as he thought, she sits up straight, her eyes shining with a challenging glint. "I really can."
He raises his eyebrow, disbelieving. "Really?"
"Yes." She inches the fries closer to him. "Try me. "
He throws her one but it just lands on the empty space beside her.
"That was just a warm-up," she explains. "Another."
Percy gives her another and another and another. And she missed every single one. The closest she got to catching it was when it hit her nose and slid down the inside of her shirt.
"Ew," he says.
She just rolls her eyes and sticks her hand inside her shirt to get the fry. An old lady happens to glance at her and looks away, scandalized.
He bends over their table laughing. "Look at what you did to that old woman."
Annabeth's leg delivers a swift kick to his legs. There's a fierce look on her face, but it's betrayed by the chuckle that escapes her mouth. "It's not my fault, you Seaweed Brain!"
The smile on his face grows. "You know, you should be wiser than to rise up to my taunts, Wise Girl."
The bright grin she sends him when she hears that old nickname makes it worth it. "You're crazy," she says.
"Crazy in love with you," Percy retorts with a wink. Annabeth raises one eyebrow at him.
And then he slams his palms on the table. "See?! That's how you flirt! Was I good? Did I earn cookie points? Did I pass the test?"
"That's pathetic," Reyna quips as she cleans the booth next to them.
"First of all, no. Don't ever repeat that to any girl ever again because that sucks. You did not earn cookie points. And you still haven't passed the test." Annabeth sips at smoothie. "Where did you pick that up?"
"A wikihow blog."
"Ah, that's why."
"Listen, wait I've got more." He brings out his phone.
"No more please."
He looks at Annabeth confidently. "Are you a water?"
"Ooh. I want to hear this." Reyna stops cleaning and stands by their booth.
"No. I'm not a water."
"Ask why."
She huffs. "Why?"
"Because you make me wet. Oh, wait—that's wrong! That's not it! Hey! Hey, stop laughing!"
Reyna laughs so hard, she doubles over. Annabeth facepalms, but there's a smile behind her hand.
Percy just groans in mortification.
Ah. So much for a first date.
A/N: Hello! Here's a quick update for now. This is just a filler chapter, as you may have noticed. I know this is shorter than usual but I hope you liked it. And just because I can't resist, I hope you noticed that little B99 reference.
Tbh, this should've been up days ago, but I haven't had the time (classes suck!) to type the whole chapter so I had to use a speech to text program.
Also, thank you to The Edgy HalOUrious Loser, AnnabethGinevraJacksonPotter, Alexxx100, FutureFamousAuthor108, Multi-Fandomz-Fangirl, johncahill, and guest for reviewing last chapter. Your reviews made it so much easier to write this chapter.
Hopefully the next chapter won't take too long, but I still doesn't have a draft, so good luck to me. Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter, so leave a review!
Lastly, if you want to see some fanarts or ask me some random questions, feel free to follow me on tumblr at: thisisawesomeness1825