Hey guys! I'm going to try to update this story as fast as I can because I know before it was slow. Before you read this chapter let me say something. I don't under any circumstances ship Percy or Annabeth with anyone but each other. When you read this update you'll see why I said that. Ok that's it, enjoy!
Disclaimer: Don't own
Annabeth didn't do much for the rest of the weekend after Saturday's practice. Sunday's were usually her lazy days that she spent watching TV on the couch and finishing up the mountains of homework her teachers gave her for Monday.
When Monday came around she got up rather exhaustedly. The mornings were usually like that for her after the weekend had just passed because it was hard to go from staying up late two nights prior and sleeping in to waking up twice as early for school at the start of a new week. Taking a shower in the morning always helped her wake up though.
She was never one to dress up for anything unless it was super important so she decided on some dark denim jeans, a knitted burgundy sweater and her pair of white low top converse. She brushed her teeth and ran a comb through her messy hair after only half drying it with the hair dryer. It would probably be a bit frizzy but what did she care? When she got downstairs she saw her mother making what looked to be French toast for breakfast. Smiling thankfully at her mother, Annabeth took a seat at the kitchen table with the plate of food in front of her. She wasn't running late this morning, which was surprising considering it was Monday.
"Get all your homework done Annabeth?" Athena asked, taking a seat at the table with her own plate.
"Yes mom, it's all done." She answered as if the line had been rehearsed. The older woman nods in approval before going back to her plate of breakfast.
Athena made sure to keep on top of her daughter's grades. Annabeth thought it was nice that she cared so much but sometimes it was tiring to talk about the same things. Her mother had to know she was a good student, one of the best in her class. She was in so many clubs and never failed at getting all A's on her report card while at the same time spending every afternoon at the ice skating rink training.
That was another thing. Annabeth knew her mother didn't mind her skating but she could tell that Athena only saw it as a side activity rather than a potential career. She never said it out loud but Annabeth could tell her mother wanted her to pick a more realistic path for her future such as a doctor or an architect like her.
"I should get going mom. I'll see you later on tonight." She says, placing her now empty plate in the dishwasher and grabbing her backpack.
"Bye Annabeth. Oh! Don't forget to pick up that list of possible scholarships from the main office!" Athena shouts just as her daughter is shutting the front door.
She sighs. It sure was hard being the daughter of Athena Chase.
"I'm telling you Annie. Ms. Dodd's is trying to kill me!"
Annabeth opens her locker, rolling her eyes at her overdramatic best friend while placing some of her books inside the enclosed space and grabbing some money for lunch.
"Thals it's the lunch period. You haven't even had her class yet."
"Yeah but she gave me the meanest glare when she walked past me in the hall after third period. That could only mean one thing, she wants to kill me!" Thalia exaggerates.
"Or it could just mean you're being a drama queen like usual." She hears another voice cut in. Recognizing the voice, Annabeth looks over to see her troublemaker of a friend with his arms crossed on his chest. His eyes swirl with an unknown depth to them as he approaches them and turns towards her best friend.
"Shut up Nico. Where did you even come from? You're way too quiet." Thalia says, punching her cousin in the shoulder.
"I guess I must have magical powers that let me travel from place to place. That or you know, you're hearing is just really bad." He replies, receiving a harsh look in return from Thalia while rubbing the spot she had punched him.
Annabeth laughs, bringing him in for a friendly hug. She'd met Nico not long after she had met Thalia considering they were cousins like Percy and Thalia were. This in turn meant that Nico was also Percy's cousin. She chose not to dwell on the subject too much. He had dark black hair and pale skin. His style was somewhat similar to Thalia's. He always dressed in black and some kind of band t-shirt. He was probably the most mysterious one out of their friend group and he often had a very carefree attitude toward everything. As soon as Annabeth pulls out of the embrace she slaps Nico's arm rather harshly.
"Ow! What is this? Beat up Nico day?" He whines, rubbing his arm.
"Why did you skip school on Friday?" Annabeth demands seriously, all friendliness gone from her voice.
He shrugs. "Slept in. Plus I had an English exam that I didn't want to take."
Annabeth sighs. "If you keep skipping there's a chance you won't be able to graduate this year. You of all people should be the one doing everything they can to get out of this place."
"Geez you sound like a mother."
Annabeth continues to stare him down. Not willing to accept his response to her statement. They shared a very unique relationship. It was similar to how a sister treats her brother. A minute passes before he breaks.
"Okay, okay. I promise I'll try harder to come to school. Happy?"
"Very." Annabeth replies, shutting her locker.
"Great now lets get to lunch I'm starving." Nico comments, heading in the direction of the cafeteria with Thalia and Annabeth in tow.
"Are you actually hungry or do you just want to go to the cafeteria so you can stare at Will Solace the whole period?" Thalia asks teasingly while nudging him.
Nico's cheeks color and Annabeth laughs.
"He's blushing!"
Nico groans in response. "I regret ever telling you guys anything about that."
Will Solace was one of the rare guys in their senior class who wasn't a complete jerk. He had tan skin and bright blond hair. He seemed to get along with just about everyone so he didn't really have one friend group he hung out with. He was very social and always positive. Annabeth didn't think she'd seen him mad once. He'd moved to New York in their sophomore year from Florida and since then Nico had had a huge crush on him. Will and Nico however were like complete opposites when it came to character and personality. They were real life examples of the saying "opposites attract."
"Oh come on Nic. You know you love us." Thalia says, using the nickname she'd given him as they walk through the double doors and into the all too familiar lunchroom.
The lunch line is pretty short so they get their lunch rather fast and find their table where the others are sitting. Annabeth takes a seat with Thalia and Nico filling in on either side of her.
"Oh look who's back." Calypso says once she spots Nico across the table after they place their trays down on the round surface.
"Yes, let's just throw a party shall we. I've finally come back to school after skipping one day!" Nico shouts sarcastically.
"Gosh what's up with you?" Piper asks.
"Oh he's just embarrassed cause Thalia and I were teasing him about the love of his life that he's too scared to talk to." Annabeth explains innocently, taking a bite out of her pizza. The others shake their heads in disapproval towards him.
"I never said he was the love of my life!" Nico defends.
"Oh yeah he's not the love of your life and I'm George Washington." Calypso states exaggeratingly.
Nico huffs in annoyance, going back to his cheeseburger and taking a rather aggressive bite before mumbling something under his breath.
"You guys are the ones to talk. Annabeth I heard a rumor that a certain blond haired, blue eyed jock is back from his trip." He teases, staring straight towards the grey-eyed girl.
"What, no way. Luke's back?" Thalia speaks up surprised.
"If the rumors are true which I'm pretty sure they are." He replies.
Annabeth's cheeks flush and she looks down at her food. She hadn't known he was back but it didn't matter much anyway. Sure he would talk to her from time to time but there was no way that he liked her in that way.
Luke Castellan. Also in their class, he was another one of the most well known guys in school. He hung out with the popular group but unlike a certain sea green eyed hockey player, Luke wasn't full of himself and knew just about everyone in their senior class. He was captain of the wrestling team and had tons of girls swooning over him, Annabeth included.
The only person Luke didn't seem to get along with was Percy. Annabeth wasn't sure of the reason why the two had so much hatred towards each other but it was always there. They sat at the same table and hung out with a lot of the same people but never with each other.
A second later she's broken out of her thoughts by a French fry flying towards her and hitting her right in the nose. She freezes, momentarily stunned by the action before looking up to find the culprit. Calypso gives her a smug look, not even trying to hide the fact that it was her who did it. Annabeth's eyes furrow in confusion towards the caramel colored hair girl.
"What was that for?"
"Just trying to snap some sense into that head of yours. When are you going to get over yourself and ask him out already? What's the worst that could happen?" She asks.
"Uh…she could get rejected." Nico comments like it's common sense. Piper responds to the statement by flicking his forehead with her finger.
"Gods. I need some new friends who won't try to beat me up everyday because this is just getting ridiculous!" He moans in pain, his hand coming up to rub the spot.
"Oh please. You bring it upon yourself." Thalia replies.
"Anyway" Piper starts, stopping the side conversation. "Back to the matter at hand, Calypso's right Annabeth. You've been crushing on him forever and the only way to find out if it's going somewhere is if you ask him out."
Annabeth sighs, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear carefully. "I-I don't know guys. I mean even if he said yes it's not like I would even have time for a boyfriend. Between school and skating…I just don't think there would be enough time." She explains honestly. She fails to mention that her mother would also probably never allow it because it would be a huge distraction in her eyes.
She'd gone on a few dates here and there. Mostly group dates that never really meant anything. She had never experienced what it was like to be in an actual relationship and most likely never would for a long time because of everything she had going on. It disheartened her. She remembered when she was little and always thought about what high school was going to be like, how she would have the quote "bestest boyfriend in the whole world" whom she would one day marry and they would live in a huge house together. The idea seemed stupid now but it wasn't back then.
Having said that, Annabeth wouldn't give up the many hours she spent skating at the rink for anything. As she's said multiple times, she loved it. It was more the idea that she couldn't allow herself to slack off even a little in school that made everything harder. When she got even just a C on a quiz her mother would look disappointed in her. For that reason, every moment she didn't spend skating she spent studying.
Lunch ends a few minutes later. After saying goodbye to her friends so she could go to her locker and agreeing to save a seat for Piper in her next class, she steadily walks out of the cafeteria and towards the hallway where her locker is. She grabs her textbook for history along with a few other materials. The hall where her locker was located had to be one of the busiest spots in the entire school. Tons of people sweep past her as she gathers her things.
When she shuts her locker after getting her things and turns around she's suddenly jolted to the side from another student who looked to be around the age of a freshman rushing to get to class. The action causes her textbook as well as her folders containing several papers to fall all over the floor in front of her. The papers scatter and the book falls on its spine, opening up the pages. Annabeth exhales annoyed before getting down on her knees to start picking up the mix of assignments.
She hears footsteps approaching her but passes it off as just another random person walking by. She fails to notice that the footsteps stop and a second later a certain raven-haired male kneels down to start helping her. She shoots him a surprised look but he doesn't look up at her and instead continues collecting papers. It's silent as the two work on putting everything together. Annabeth does so shakily, still in a state of complete surprise.
Why was Percy Jackson helping her? He had never shown her an ounce of kindness before. What was so different now? The thoughts fly through her head as she straightens out the papers in her hands, putting them back into the folder and taking Percy's stack as well. He picks up her textbook, closing it and holding it out to her. When she goes to take it from him their fingertips touch briefly for a split second and a weird tingling sensation shoots up her arm but it's gone as soon as it comes. At that moment the two meet eyes. Green on grey.
He was dressed in a plain blue hoodie with jeans. A pair of worn out black converse accompanied the look and his black hair lied sticking up in every direction. His eyes held something in them. An emotion that she couldn't quite figure out and no matter how hard she tried to, she couldn't look away.
They seem to snap out of it at the exact same time a few seconds later. She hastily grabs the book that was still being held out between them and stands up with him following suit.
"Uh…thanks." She finally says after an awkward pause, looking down at her now organized folders. Thankfully the hallway wasn't as crowded as before. She hears him shrug.
"Whatever." He mumbles lowly, walking past her as if he'd never stopped to help at all leaving Annabeth confused out of her mind.
She shakes her head, walking briskly to her next class. As she walks the situation replays in her head over and over again. She wanted to know what parallel universe she had gotten herself into. Percy Jackson, most popular guy in school, womanizer and all out jerk had just voluntarily helped her when no one else stopped in the hall to do so. Not only that, but what in the world was that strange tingling feeling that happened in her arm? She just didn't understand it, any of it.
She doesn't get to think about it much longer because blue eyes and blond hair fill her line of vision as she turns a corner. There were still others walking to class but she spots him almost immediately. The rumors were indeed true. Luke Castellan was back. His bright eyes stood out from the blue and white letterman jacket he was wearing. A fluttering feeling erupts in the pit of her stomach as he gets closer. She pats down her hair, cursing herself for the slight frizz in her curls. He smiles when he sees her.
"Hey Annabeth." He addresses her, walking past her and into one of the classrooms to her left.
She waves back, the smile not leaving her face.
Yay another chapter done! There wasn't much of any ice skating stuff in this one but they can't all be that. They have lives outside of skating haha. Plus I needed to introduce some new characters as well. So tell me what you guys thought. What did you think about Luke? What about Will and Nico? And the small little Percabeth scene? Hit that button below! Let's try to get fifteen reviews on this update. Love you all!
REVIEW, REVIEW AND REVIEW!
-M