Hey guys new update! You guys have been giving me some really awesome feedback on my chapters so I want to specifically thank you for that and then also for reviewing my story in general, it means a lot to me. As I've said Percabeth is slowly inching its way up but other things have to happen as well. I'm sorry that there haven't really been a variety of locations in this fanfic but there will be (*cough cough* starting this chapter) so enjoy!
Disclaimer: Don't own
Saturday practice for Annabeth ended up being pretty tolerable for the most part. The hockey players still made annoying comments from time to time but there seemed to be less insults going around overall. Things were finally starting to take a turn for the better. There would still be strong disagreements between the groups and the drills they did together were still a bit tense but it was an improvement. Either way, Annabeth didn't think her good mood could be ruined today anyway. It was their weekend practice meaning it was also the day she would get to stay after to skate on the big rink individually.
After several drills and exercises the combined practice is finally over and everyone heads to their respective locker rooms to change. Since she was staying longer, Annabeth didn't have to change out of her skates just yet. The others give her strange looks when they see her not changing but she didn't care. As a matter of fact, Annabeth didn't even have to follow the others into the locker room in the first place. She only went because she wanted to freshen up a bit and use the restroom. The only people who knew that she was going to be staying after on Saturdays were Piper and Calypso.
After Annabeth waves goodbye to her two close friends and the locker room is clear of everyone else, she starts on her way out and towards the big rink once again. She carries nothing but her now refilled water bottle in one hand. She would take all her stuff out later when it was time to leave and she had to change. Suddenly, she's hit with a big flash of déjà vu when she sees Christina, Coach Hedge and Percy all outside the doors to the big rink. Percy looks as confused as she feels when she walks up to them.
"There seems to have been a miscommunication on our part." Christina starts, gesturing to herself and Coach Hedge. Annabeth's stomach twists. Those were never words you wanted to hear.
"Coach Hedge had promised Percy the rink the same time as I had promised you it Annabeth. We should've talked about it beforehand and for that we apologize but I'm afraid both of you will have to share the rink on Saturdays after practice. We would switch one of you to a different day of the week but unfortunately we can't because the time slots have been taken by other leagues." Christina explains.
Annabeth tries to wrap her head around the situation as best she can. Her supposed to be individual practice time had now turned into not being individual. She had to share the rink with one other person and that person was Percy. There really was something that could ruin her good mood after all and this was it. She sighs in frustration. This wasn't happening.
"So you're saying we have to share it every Saturday afternoon after practice? The two of us?" Percy asks annoyed. His expression showed that he was both frustrated and irritated, just like how Annabeth felt. This was supposed to be the time she had to practice for upcoming competitions and now she had to share it just like they had to share the rink during regular practice.
"Yes. Again, we apologize. Christina and I can open the small rink up for one of you to practice on if you want." Coach Hedge offers.
"I don't plan on using the small rink. I'll stick with the big one." Annabeth replies. She had her mind set on using the larger one. It was actual competition size which is what she needed to be practicing on. She spots Percy in the corner of her eye shake his head.
"Me either. Guess it looks like we'll be sharing Princess." He says, turning towards her. Annabeth huffs in annoyance. Like she said, she could somewhat tolerate Percy now but that didn't mean he didn't get on her nerves still. Their coaches nod their heads, addressing the two again.
"Well you guys can stay up to two hours but no more. I'm heading home but Coach Hedge will be in the office if you should need anything. One of us will always be here each week if you should need us. Now I'll see you both at practice on Monday." Christina says before grabbing her bag and exiting the rink. Coach Hedge lets us go through the doors to the ice rink a minute later and then leaves in the other direction towards the office.
"Will you keep it down. I'm trying to focus on my landing!" Annabeth shouts, turning to face Percy on the other side of the rink where he had set up a goal and was trying to practice shooting the hockey pucks into the net from different angles. Each time the stick made contact with the puck a noise that sounded like a loud pop sounded, distracting Annabeth to no end.
They'd been practicing for about half an hour and there hadn't been any problems. Percy kept to his side of the rink and she kept to hers. She was able to skate around the perimeter though because Percy had told her he wouldn't be using the edges of the rink. It had all been working…well up until now.
Percy stops in the middle of shooting and turns to face her as well. She has her arms crossed over her chest and an angry expression appears to be present on her face. For a split second the thought that Annabeth looks pretty hot when she's mad crosses his mind but then it's gone.
"Can't exactly make hitting hockey pucks quieter." He responds coyly. She narrows her eyes at him slightly. He was not making it easy for her to get along with him.
"Well try because I've got to perfect my landing for regionals." She says annoyed. He brings his hands up in an 'I surrender' motion.
"You know you could give me a break from time to time. You're too high strung and serious. Maybe that's why you can't get the landing." He says, beginning to spin around to the goal again.
"What are you talking about Jackson?" Annabeth scoffs. Percy sighs, facing her again before speaking.
"Just that you need to stop thinking over everything so carefully and just do it. Not everything can be studied you know. Try doing it without thinking about it." He explains hastily.
She thinks it over. It sounded crazy to her. To learn something you were supposed to think about the dynamics of it all and study it not just empty your head. Maybe she could make a deal out of his idea though.
"Fine. But if I do you need to agree to stop making so much noise."
"I'll do my best." Percy agrees.
With that Annabeth begins her approach to the double axel she was trying to land. She tries to clear her head of everything, letting herself feel the movement in her legs. When she has enough speed she jumps, swinging her leg back and spinning in the air. She hears the crisp crunch of the ice beneath her when her blade hits the ice. She doesn't wobble a single bit, much less falls on her butt. It was her most perfect landing yet. She smiles, coming to a stop before looking across the ice to see Percy smirking at her.
"I believe the words you're looking for are 'thank you'." He says, skating over to wear she was standing.
"How did you know that would work?" She questions suspiciously, ignoring his previous statement.
He shrugs. "I do it all the time in games."
Annabeth struggles to fight back a laugh. By the way he said it, it sounded like Percy was saying he did double axels all the time during games. The image in her head of him doing that almost makes her burst out laughing. Percy must realize it too because she swears she could see his cheeks redden and it wasn't from the cold air.
"I-I meant the clearing your thoughts thing. Not uh, you know." He says, scratching the back of his head and not making eye contact with her.
"Well thanks. It helped." Annabeth says, nodding at him before going back to practice the jump again as well as some other jumps. Percy moves back over to where the hockey goal was and the two continue to practice in silence. A little over an hour later Annabeth decides to get going. Surprisingly the practice hadn't gone as bad as she'd thought it would.
Maybe it wouldn't be too bad after all.
"Wait let me get this straight, you and…Jackson have to share the rink for your individual practice now too? That defeats the whole purpose hence the word, individual." Piper claims annoyed.
Annabeth sighs, it was Sunday and she had just finished telling her friends about her newfound weekend practice arrangement. They had all decided to go out for some lunch at the 50's style diner a few blocks away from Annabeth's house. She takes in the different reactions across the table and next to her. Piper seemed angry. Calypso looked sorry for her. Thalia and Nico grimaced, thinking about how many bad outcomes there could be from the arrangement.
"I know. That's exactly what I said. I need the practice time though, you guys know how important regionals are." Annabeth says, looking to Piper and Calypso who nod understandingly.
"Well who knows, maybe your life will become like one of those cheesy movies and you'll end up falling in love with him." Nico comments jokingly. They all share a laugh and Annabeth shakes her head at the ridiculous statement.
"Ok sure, that'll happen." She replies sarcastically.
"Yeah Nico, we all know she's got her eyes on someone already." Thalia adds teasingly. Annabeth feels her cheeks heat up and looks down at her half eaten cheeseburger.
"Speaking of…look who just walked in." Calypso adds, nodding towards a boy with blond hair and bright blue eyes as the bell at the top of the door dings to show that new people had just came in.
Annabeth looks back up to indeed see Luke. He was surrounded by some of the other jocks at their school. They picked a booth near the door and Luke sat on the side facing the back wall, where Annabeth was. When he recognizes her, his lips turn up in a smile. Feeling more heat rush to her face, she grins shyly back before looking down again.
"He's coming over here." Piper says, looking to Annabeth who felt her heart rate quicken. Why was he walking over to their table? To see her? No, maybe he saw someone else he knew at a table near where they were seated and wanted to talk to them.
Her thoughts are interrupted when Luke stops in front of their table. He looks straight at her and she feels like she's frozen on the spot. So he was coming over to her. She feels her palms get sweaty as the nerves take over in her.
"Hey Annabeth." He says casually with a smile on his face. He addresses the others at the table as well before turning back to her. She smiles back and opens her mouth to speak, hoping that she won't say anything stupid.
"Hi Luke." She manages to get out. She says it rather quietly but luckily he still hears her.
"So what's brought you all here?" Luke asks, mentally face palming himself for asking such an obvious question. There weren't a billion reasons why someone would come to a diner.
"Hunger." Annabeth replies teasingly. He chuckles lowly back.
"Right. Uh, anyway are you coming to Silena's party on Friday night? I heard it's gonna be huge." He asks, not taking his eyes off of the blonde.
Silena was a girl in their grade who was known for two things. Her immense beauty and her ability to throw some pretty awesome parties. Annabeth had never been to one of them but she'd often heard people talking about them in between classes. It wasn't that she never got invited to them but rather that she just couldn't go because her mother would probably kill her. They were always on Friday nights too and Annabeth had to wake up early the next morning for Saturday practice. When Annabeth doesn't say anything Luke takes it as a moment of hesitation.
"Oh come on, you should really come. All of you." Luke interrupts, finally looking away from her and to the other people at the table.
"Um, I don't think-" Annabeth starts.
"She'll be there. We all will." Piper interrupts. Annabeth turns to look at her, looking surprised and not knowing what to say.
"Great. Well I should be getting back. I'll see you at school tomorrow. Bye guys." He says, making his way back to his own table where his friends were now ordering what to eat.
"Piper! You know there's Saturday practice. We can't go to a party!" Annabeth claims after Luke is out of earshot. Piper just smiles and ignores that detail.
"Come on Annabeth, live a little. Luke obviously wanted you to go to that party and we can even leave early so we won't be too tired in the morning ok?" She asks.
Annabeth sighs. She knew she wasn't going to get out of this one. When Piper had her mind set to something there was no stopping her. "Fine."
The bell sounds at the top of the door again and she looks over to see a guy with messy black hair wearing a blue jacket paired with some dark washed jeans and converse. Percy Jackson. Was their whole school just going to come to the diner today or something? When he walks in the staff smile upon recognizing him. He must have been a regular here.
Luke stops in his tracks on the way back to his table when he lays eyes on him. Percy soon spots him as well and you could literally feel the air become uneasy. Annabeth watches as the two stare each other down. Percy easily had about two inches on Luke but neither one backed down. Luke approaches him until they're only a few feet apart with his arms crossed.
"Jackson"
"Castellan" The two greet each other coldly.
She wasn't sure if it was only her but it seemed like everyone in the diner stopped their conversations and were focused closely on the two.
"Don't worry. I'm not staying long, just picking up some food so you can continue lunch with your little group of followers." Percy says harshly, glaring at him. He gladly returns it.
"Oh well don't let me stop you from leaving." Luke retorts. Percy turns to grab the carry out order he came for, paying the lady as well.
Whatever happened between the two of them seemed to be the biggest mystery in the school. Annabeth was determined to one day find out what exactly caused all the fighting and tension between them. Before Percy exits he sees Annabeth and her friends across the room. When his eyes meet hers he looks almost…ashamed of his behavior but it quickly disappears and he shakes his head, pulling the door open and leaving the small diner.
That's when Annabeth realized there was more to Percy Jackson than she had thought. He was one big mystery waiting to be unraveled.
I hope you liked the chapter. I'm trying to update as fast as I can. Let's try for 15 reviews again on this update. It'd be so amazing if that happened. Again, thanks to everyone who is taking the time to read my story it means so much and if you have any ideas for future chapters feel free to tell me cause I could use some help coming up with stuff as this is a really hard fic for me to write.
There are going to be inaccuracies in this story by the way. My other fanfic has them too. It's because I create some things that go better with my story line rather than trying to keep everything one hundred percent accurate. Let me know what you thought of the update. Love you guys!
REVIEW, REVIEW AND REVIEW!
-M