I woke up the next day with a massive hangover. Those damn strawberries. My head was pounding. I was also aware of a very naked boy laying next to me. Okay, well not completely naked. I was also wearing a thin t shirt that smelled like a salty ocean breeze. Comforting, strangely. I didn't remember a whole lot from last night, but I definitely remember the encounter I had with Percy in the bathroom at the Zeus house. And I remember watching Percy undress. And him helping me undress...
I sat up and put my head between my hands. My head was killing me. I needed to do a little damage control and go get breakfast with Piper. Oh, Piper! I hadn't told her where I was going last night, I just straight up left, no text, nothing! I reached down and looked for my phone in my jean shorts, but when I found it, it was dead. Great.
I felt Percy shift next to me.
"Ugh, what time is it?" He groaned. I looked at the clock.
"It's 10:04," I replied, and then looked him in the eye.
He smiled cockily at me. "Told you I'd have you in my bed by the week's end. I gotta admit, it was pretty damn easy."
I was shocked. Where was the sweet boy who held my hand the entire way home? The one who admitted he had nightmares at night? The one who held me in his arms as I drifted off to sleep?
"I can't believe you just said that." I said to him through gritted teeth.
"What? I'm just tellin it like it is. No hard feelings, babe." He smiled.
"I told you not to call me that!" I exclaimed, collecting my things. I stalked over to the door and swung it open. Just as I walked out into the hall I saw our door swing open. Out walked Jason, who turned and gave Piper a sweet kiss on the cheek.
Piper gasped when she saw me, and Jason straightened when he saw me. I stood frozen, not really sure what to say.
"Hey bro!" I heard Percy yell to Jason.
"Hey dude! What's shakin baby?" Jason shouted back. I rolled my eyes and walked into my room. With a last glance, I saw Percy still in bed, looking like a million dollars, smiling at me triumphantly. I slammed the door.
"Annabeth what happened?? I saw you flirting and dancing with that cute guy, I figured you slept at his place or something last night! I had no idea you would be in Percy's room!" Piper exclaimed.
"Oh, Piper I don't know what happened! I was really enjoying dancing with Aidan, but then Percy showed up and he- he kissed me in the bathroom and then, oh I don't know..." I paused. "But Percy drives me absolutely mad. I mean, the nerve of him! Ugh!"
"Gurllll, you got it bad for Percy." Piper laughed.
"I do not! As of today, I'm done with him!"
"Surrre." Piper said, knowingly.
"Um hello, though? Are we not gonna talk about Jason?"
"Oh isn't he so precious! We stayed up all night talking and cuddling! And he didn't push me to do anything I didn't want to do! He's perfect!" Piper exclaimed.
"Oh, Piper, I'm so happy for you! He's totally into you!" I was really happy for my friend. I just wished a certain boy I knew was as nice as Jason.
"You wanna go eat? I need food therapy. My headache is killing me!" Piper said in despair.
"Yes please, I've never been this hungover before!" I told her.
I quickly changed from the night before, folding Percy's shirt and putting it on my nightstand. I'd have to give him that back later.
We spent the rest of our Saturday just hanging out and talking about the party. At about 4, Selena called me and asked if Piper and I wanted to go out to the local college bars with her and her friends. I had never been to a bar before, I didn't even have a fake! Selena told me that wouldn't be a problem and we made plans to meet up at about 9 at a bar called The Golden Fleece.
Was this how college was? Study all week, party all weekend? Sounded good to me! I had lived a pretty tame life, and I was definitely looking to change that.
That night, Piper and I decided to get a bit dressier, since we were going out to bars.
I wore a short, blue sundress with white flowers over it paired with some heels. Piper wore a black mini dress too, but would not put heels on. She stuck with her ratty black leather boots. I laughed, they fit her look perfectly.
We headed on over to The Golden Fleece and found Selena and her friends waiting outside for us.
"Piper! Annabeth! Hey guys!" Selena said to us with a smile as we approached the group. She gave us both hugs. "I didn't see either of you at the party on Friday!"
"Oh we were there! Some of us were a little preoccupied." Piper said, giving me a knowing look. I shoved her and coughed, hoping to not dwell on the subject.
"Oh I want all the juicy details. Let's get drinks inside first! Come on guys, first round is on me!" Selena exclaimed, ushering us towards the door.
I thought we'd all be denied, but they let us right in! Perks of being girls, I guess!
The Golden Fleece was actually beautiful inside. The walls were all gold, and there were faux fleeces hanging up around the bar. There were lots of booths surrounding the interior of the bar, and there were tons of people talking or dancing or drinking. We went to the bar and Selena ordered all of us Vodka Redbull's, to keep our energy up. I took a cautious sip of my drink and actually liked it! I took another sip and almost choked on my drink when I saw Percy and Jason walk into the bar. I tried to hide my body behind the group of girls.
"Piper, did you text Jason to come here?" I asked her quietly.
"No why, do you want me to?" She asked.
"You don't need to. He's already here. And Percy came too." I seethed.
"Oh, gods. Okay well he hasn't seen you yet so maybe he won't notice! There are a lot of people here." She offered.
She was wrong though. When I looked at him again he was looking straight at me through the tousled black locks hanging in his face. Fuck. Why did he have to look so good all the time??
Before I could do anything, leave, scream, puke, I felt someone tap me on my shoulder. I turned around and Aidan was behind me, with the most gorgeous smile plastered on his face.
"Aidan! Hi!" I exclaimed.
"Annabeth, it's good to see you! You look amazing!" He said as he pulled me in for a hug. I welcomed his warm embrace. He smelled of pine trees and I could feel his muscles through his thin maroon shirt.
"Thanks," I said, blushing as I released him.
"I was hoping I'd see you again. You took off at the party, and I didn't even get your number or anything. I hope it was nothing I did?" He asked me, worried.
"No, no, nothing like that. I had to deal with something, I'm really sorry I ran off like that!" I told him, hoping my vague answer was good enough for him.
"No worries," he said smiling at me. "I'm just happy to see you now." I smiled back, blushing again.
"This is my roommate, Piper!" I said, introducing the two.
I stole a glance over where I had seen Percy last and didn't see him anywhere. Good. I couldn't deal with two hot demigods. And what was I going to do about Aidan? He was so adorable, and super nice. But then I thought about Percy, and... oh gods, what am I saying? I should be moving on from Percy thoughts! He was no good for me, and always said the worst things possible. I needed to get over that boy.
Piper and I talked to Aidan for a while, just chatting about the upcoming year and everything we were excited for. Then, out of nowhere, I saw a figure hook his arm around Aidans neck and started messing up his brown curls.
"Ah there he is! Aidan, whatcha doin talking to the prettiest girls in the bar?" Jason said laughing, and giving a quick wink towards Piper. She giggled. Jason was so cute towards her. I wish Percy had the same charm. He was a total rebel without a cause. Speaking of Percy, he came right up behind Jason, looking straight at me.
"Yo Jason! Percy! What's up guys?" Aidan said, laughing at Jason who still had his arm around him, pretending to choke him. "Do you know Piper and Annabeth?"
"Very well, actually." Percy said, a mischievous grin on his face. I prayed he wouldn't say anything about Friday night. I didn't want Aidan to know I had left him for Percy. He cleared his throat. "They live across the hall from us. We're practically roommates."
"Oh, cool! Well-"
"Annabeth, can I get you a drink?" Percy said, cutting Aidan off.
"I already have one." I told him, a bit caught of guard.
"Really? It's empty." He said with a smirk. I looked down. It was empty.
"Oh. Well okay I guess," I said. He grabbed my wrist and stalked off towards the bar. I shot a look behind me and saw Jason giving Piper a kiss on the cheek, and a confused Aidan staring at my retreating form. Dammit. I needed to explain something to Aidan. I didn't want to lead him on.
When we got to the bar, though, all my attention was on Percy. He looked incredible, smelled incredible, and I couldn't stop looking at his full, pink lips.
"I don't like to be stared at." He said shortly. That caught me off guard.
"Oh-um. Sorry, I-" I stuttered. Gods, he was rude.
"I'm kidding Annabeth. Lighten up." He said, cracking a smile.
I glared at him. He was so annoying.
"Can I get two blue whales?" Percy asked the bartender.
What the heck was a blue whale?
"It's my favorite drink. Watch out though. It's strong," Percy told me as the bartender set two vibrant blue drinks in front of us. I took a tentative sip. Holy crap, that was strong. I kinda liked it though, so I took another sip.
I felt a gentle tug on my dress, and I looked down and saw Percy toying with the hem of it. His hands started roaming my upper thigh, squeezing me and sending chills down my spine.
His hand gravitated towards the back of my thigh, and I felt him reach up and grab my ass. He gave it a small squeeze and I almost melted into a puddle. I sent up a silent thanks to the gods that the bar was dark and no one would be seeing Percy's hands under my dress.
He leaned in towards me and whispered in my ear. "I want to rip this little dress off your gorgeous body right now." Before he leaned away he pressed his lips to my neck, making me go weak at the knees. This boy had no idea what kind of effect he had over me. Or maybe he did...
"Percy," I breathed, loving the sound of his name on my lips. "Stop, we're in public." I said, only half hoping he would actually stop.
He pulled away. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "Couldn't help myself. You're too damn tempting in this short little dress."
Suddenly, Silena came up to us at the bar. "Hey Annabeth, I think we're gonna go to The Labyrinth. You coming?"
"Hey Silena," Percy said, giving her a flirty smile. Gods, did he have to flirt with every girl?
"Hi, Percy, how are you?" Silena replied nicely.
"A lot better now that you're here." He said back. Silena rolled her eyes.
"Lemme just finish my drink real quick! I'll be over there in a sec!" Percy and I both downed our drinks and walked back over to our group, which had grown quite a bit. I saw a tall, handsome guy talking to Silena that I hadn't seen before. One of the girls told me his name was Charles Beckendorf, and apparently Silena had a huge crush on him. From the way Silena was looking at the guy, I could tell. Our group headed out the door, and I fell in step with Aidan on the way to the next bar.
"Hey," he said.
"Hi," I said back nervously.
"So, you and Percy?" He asked causally. I looked around to see if Percy was eavesdropping, but I saw him walking next to Jason and Piper.
"Yeah, look Aidan. I'm not with him or anything but things are..." I paused, looking for the right word to describe what Percy was to me.
"Complicated?" He offered.
"Yeah." I sighed. "I think you're really cute, and I really enjoyed hanging out with you at the party, but I also don't want to lead you on. I-"
"Hey, it's cool. No sweat. We can be friends, right?" He smiled at me genuinely.
"Friends sounds amazing." I smiled back. Whew. I'm glad I had dodged that bullet.
"Just be careful with Percy, okay? Let me know if he does anything to upset you, I'll break his leg for ya." I laughed.
"Thanks, Aidan. You're really awesome." I smiled at him.
When we got to The Labyrinth, I was blown away. The entire front of the bar had a huge maze painted on it, and I could see it magically shifting around, just like the real labyrinth.
We got in again, just as easy as before. This bar was better than the last. There was a big dance floor with shifting tiles, and a disco ball in the center of the room. There were people laughing and just generally having a good time.
"Wow, this place is incredible," I heard Piper say in awe.
"I know. Wow." I said back, the words escaping my lips.
We headed over to the bar and had a few O-Bombs. I was starting to feel warm in the pit of my stomach.
I felt someone's eyes on me and turned my head to find Percy gazing at me from across the bar. He was so gorgeous, and the more I drank the more I wanted to kiss him.
"So, Aidan seems to have a thing for you," Piper said casually.
"Yeah, I kinda told him I wasn't interested though..." I said slowly.
"Really? Why? He's totally cute and he's super sweet!" Piper told me.
"I know, but I'm not really looking to get into anything right now. I mean we JUST started college." I said.
"Yeah, I guess you have a point there." She said quietly.
"What about Jason, huh? He seems to get more affectionate the more he's around you." I smiled at her.
"He's so precious. I think he might ask me out soon. Like on a date." She said happily.
"Really?!" I squealed.
"Yeah! Oh wait, he's waving me over now. I'm gonna go talk to him real quick, okay?"
"Yeah of course." I was happy for Piper. She seemed to really like this guy.
I turned my attention back to my personal pleasure, Percy, just to find that he was already walking over to me.