I'm back! I know I was gone for a while again. I blame it on addicting TV series and severe writer's block. I started this chapter like two weeks ago and it was only half written till just recently because I couldn't think of anything to write! As for the addicting TV series I became completely obsessed with the show One Tree Hill and I watched the whole thing over the course of two weeks. It was so good! Then I started watching Once Upon a Time on Netflix and I'm already obsessed with that now too (season 4 already). Anyway for this update it's a bit different towards the end and you get more of an insight into a specific characters mind. Alright I'll stop talking.
Review Responses:
ThatCrazyFangirlTho: Now that's dedication! 2:15am just to read my story? I love you! I would've thrown my phone across the room and went back to sleep! (just kidding my phone is my baby) lol.
Natalie (Guest): Third time reading a story that's not even finished? Aww you're so sweet! Thanks for taking the time to read it and I'm really happy you're enjoying it!
RunawayGirl8125: Yes you could definitely give me some input from time to time on how competitions work I'd love that! Just PM me! It's cool that you play street hockey too and thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: Don't own
"Uh…M&M's or Skittles?"
"Oh Skittles for sure." Annabeth replied without hesitation. She finished taking a sip of cold water from her water bottle and then screwed the lid back on.
"What? No way, M&M's are definitely better!" Percy argued, putting his own water bottle aside and turning to face the girl by his side. She shrugged as she crossed her arms on her chest.
"I disagree" Was all she said back, stating it as if it were a clear fact.
"Well we'll deal with the whole skittles situation later. It's your turn." Percy said, still clearly shocked by the idea of someone liking skittles better than M&M's.
Annabeth laughed at his expression of disbelief. She turned to look forward. Her line of vision was completely filled with the rink she had become so familiar with over the years. She had never really taken the time to sit in the hockey player's bench and observe the ice from that angle. It was different. She was so close to the ice that it just seemed like she was skating without having to do anything. Percy sat next to her on the right hand side. Team practice between their two respective teams had finished about an hour ago and the two of them had the entire rink for their private practice on the ice now. They had taken a break about half way through the second practice and somehow they started a game where a person chose from two different options.
"Ok ummmm…books or movies?" She decided after thinking for a moment.
"Did you seriously just ask me that? I can't even remember the last time I opened a book. Movies all the way." He replied immediately and without question. The blonde next to him looked like she'd just seen a ghost.
"You're crazy. Books are so much better than movies! I mean half the time movies based on books get nothing right. It's like the director doesn't even bother to read the book before filming it! Books can have so much more meaning. It's like TV in your head because you're using your mind to read the whole thing."
Percy's lips unknowingly turned up in a smirk as he stared at the brainiac in amusement. She looked pretty cute when she was all worked up about something he thought. Her arms moved around in weird gestures and she looked so lost in thought as she tried to explain to him how books were so much better.
"You done?" He said after she had finished her small rant. Her cheeks colored briefly when she realized that she'd been ranting for the last three minutes.
"Shut up. Books are better than movies. There, now I'm done."
He shook his head, chuckling quietly to himself. She dropped the subject and then it was back to him to come up with something.
"Summer or winter?"
He realized almost right after he had said it that the answer was clear for him. She seemed to have the same reaction because they both ended up speaking at the same time even though he had been the one to ask the question.
"Winter." They answered in unison.
Obviously they would both pick the season that was well known for skating and playing hockey. There wasn't a doubt in either one of their minds. Percy smiled at her and she smiled back.
"Finally, we agree on something." Percy teased.
"That we do."
They sat in a comfortable silence for a while but then something caught Annabeth's attention across the rink.
"That thing wasn't used at all last night. Does it usually get used?" She asked, pointing across the rink to the small square glass box. It was one of the penalty boxes for hockey. She had only been to a few of the hockey games but had never recalled a player being put in there. Maybe she just hadn't paid enough attention.
"What the penalty box? Oh yeah. It's a part of hockey. Usually used for when people get into fights with each other. I was pretty surprised we didn't need it last night too." He explained informatively.
"Well you already know the next question I'm going to ask. Have you ever been put in there?" She turned back to him.
"Yup. On more than one occasion."
"Really? What did you do?"
He shrugged. "Got into a few fights. Hedge gets pissed whenever that happens but hey, that's hockey." She laughed lightheartedly.
"The next game is Friday right?"
"Yeah. Why, you wanna come see me again Princess? I knew you had a thing for me." He supplied cockily. Annabeth scoffed rather over exaggeratedly.
"Don't make me punch you again." She threatened. His smile dropped and Annabeth could swear she could see fear in him.
"Ok, ok." He said quickly. She rolled her eyes.
"I just felt like last night sitting in the stands was such a different experience. There's so much excitement and cheering. I'm so used to being the one on the ice not in the stands. It was fun. Plus I'm sure Piper's going to go as well and wants someone to sit with."
Percy nodded. "Piper and Jason. Who would've thought? Oh wait, everyone. Just took Grace a while to finally man up."
She laughed breathily. "They're good together. Although I'm sure Piper's going to have him watching chick flicks and romantic comedies in no time."
"Ugh. Chick flicks. I never understood why girls liked those kinds of movies so much. They're so unrealistic and it's always the same story that ends up with someone getting into an accident but then a miracle happens and they survive."
Annabeth rose her eyebrows. "Well you sure sound like you've seen a lot of chick flicks in your time."
"Not true! Well…alright fine but that's only because a lot of the girls I've been with have made me. Especially Drew."
"Knew it!" She teased.
"Whatever."
They sat in silence for another few minutes just enjoying the quiet atmosphere of the ice rink. Annabeth got up after a couple minutes and adjusted her skates a little more so they fit snugly.
"Well I guess we better get back to practicing." Percy nodded and followed the blonde out of the bench area where they had been sitting.
It was safe to say they didn't get much actual practice done that day because of how long they had spent talking and because Percy kept trying to crack a joke every second of the last hour they had left. Surprisingly, Annabeth found herself not minding the company at all.
Annabeth gasped, holding a hand over her heart that had probably stopped beating for a second after she had closed her locker. Her next few breaths were heavy as she tried to regain her composure. She readjusted the textbook she had to one arm while the rest of her things lied safely zipped up in her backpack.
"You have got to stop doing that." She said.
The other blonde laughed. The two of them started on their way down the hall like everyone else. They seemed to be the only two walking at a normal pace while everyone around them practically ran to the buses or their cars, happy that the worst day of the school week was over. Annabeth had a fairly relaxing weekend but now that it was over and the school week had started again she was dreading what her teachers would make her do that week.
"Sorry Blondie…again. You know you're pretty easy to scare." He teased. Annabeth scoffed sarcastically.
"I am not! You're just way too quiet Luke." She fired back.
"I'm having a hard time trying to figure out if that's a good thing or a bad thing but since we're friends I'm going to go with good thing."
Annabeth smiled as they continued on the path to the school's student parking lot where their cars were. She felt a strange set of déjà vu when they finally reached the lot and remembered the last time she had been with Luke in that very spot and he had helped her change a tire so she wouldn't have to walk home and leave her car not to mention get a lecture from her mother.
"So, why do I get the sense you want something?" Annabeth asked.
She turned to him when they were in front of her car. He had followed her instead of going to his car so she knew there was something he wanted to tell her. Luke looked shocked for a second that she had been able to gather that but it soon turned into his carefree expression once again a moment later.
"You're pretty good at reading people blondie."
She shrugged. "We've all got our hidden talents. So what is it?"
She noticed his face get a bit red and he looked down. Whatever it was he seemed to be embarrassed about it. He spoke in a sort of quiet voice but Annabeth could still hear him because they weren't too far apart.
"I need you to tutor me in math. I'm totally flunking Dodd's class right now and I don't get any of the material. I've seen the way fly through the quizzes we take in record time and still manage to get an A and I know you're really busy with skating and everything but I really need some help because if I fail the class I can't wrestle. So… what do you say?"
He looked at her with hope filled eyes. She may have been pretty good at reading people but she definitely didn't see that one coming. Luke wanted her help or scratch that, he needed her help. She tried to imagine if their roles were reversed. If she was ever in danger of not being able to skate anymore she didn't know what she would do.
"Why me? Why not ask one of the students who actually is a tutor for people struggling in classes?" She asked curiously.
"I told you. You're the smartest person I know Annabeth. If anyone is can help me change my grade from an E to at least a C it's you."
She pondered the idea more in her head as the two of them stood in silence still next to her car in the parking lot. She already had so much on her plate but she couldn't just let him fail. He was a friend. Their eyes met as he waited for her answer anxiously.
She sighed. "Alright, fine. Tuesday's and Thursday's before school in Central Park. We start at 7AM sharp so don't be late."
Luke sprouted a huge smile. She had never pictured him as the type to care much about his grades but she was glad he did. He took her completely off guard when he brought her in for a hug.
"Thank you thank you thank you! I won't be late I promise." He assured her when they separated.
She didn't know what to say, still a little surprised by his actions. She could also feel that her cheeks were starting to color. Clearing her throat, she managed to gather herself.
"You're welcome. See you tomorrow bright and early then?"
He nodded. "I'll be there."
"Hey"
"You're late." Annabeth stated simply. She glared up at the boy who was out of breath probably from having to rush to make it to central park.
His blonde hair was tousled and damp from having taken a shower in the morning. His cheeks were tinged a light red color from the cool brisk morning weather. He was dressed in a red hoodie, jeans and some sneakers. He caught her stare and took his own seat at the wooden picnic table across from her.
"By one minute!" He argued, hoping the girl on the other side of the table would understand. She sighed before looking down at the math textbook she had put in between them.
"Fine. I'll let it go this time. You're lucky I tolerate you." She teased. Luke inwardly thanked the gods for that one.
"Great. So what are we starting with Blondie?" He asked.
"Not we, you. I need to figure out what areas you need the most help with in math and the only way I'm going to be able to see that is if you take a practice test first on some textbook questions I've gathered. When you're done I'll grade it and we can start from there." She explained. Luke's expression changed to one of horror as he took in the information.
"So I've got to just solve problems for the next, who even knows how long on a subject I'm already failing. I can assure you Blondie I need help on just about everything when it comes to math."
"I'm sure that's not true. We just need to figure out where to start. It's only thirty minutes worth of math equations and then we can go over the ones you missed. I promise it won't be that bad now get to it. The first problem starts on page 108."
Luke sighed deeply. He knew his new tutor wasn't going to budge. That's one of the things he admired about her though. She was determined on just about everything and she didn't give up until she achieved what she wanted to. She started the time a minute later and he reluctantly picked up one of the wooden pencils she'd laid out for him and started the small quiz.
Just as he'd thought, while he tried to solve the equations he found that he couldn't. About half way through the thirty minutes he had only successfully solved two problems out of fifteen. While he had been attempting to solve these impossible math problems Annabeth had been busying herself with her own schoolwork. Knowing the kind of student Annabeth Chase was he assumed the assignment she was working on was for next week or something. He had to admit that it shocked him a bit when she'd agreed to tutor him. Obviously it was something he'd hoped she'd agree to but she had such a busy schedule in the first place and he was asking her to add yet another thing into it. That's why he knew he had to try his hardest to understand during their tutoring sessions so it wasn't a waste of her time. That was proving to be a hard thing to do considering he was being tutored by a blonde haired beauty.
Yes, he still had feelings for her. In fact, he didn't know when those feelings were going to fade if at all. There was just something different about her and he hated himself for not noticing it sooner. He hated himself for missing his chance at Silena's party. He should've never even grabbed a drink at all.
The timer dinged at that moment, making him jump a little in surprise. Annabeth turned away from the assignment she had been working on and faced him once again. She gently took the piece of notebook paper from under his grasp and began looking it over. Luke blushed in embarrassment at the mostly blank paper with only two final answers that had been circled. Some of the other problems he'd started but not finished because he didn't know what the next step was and then there were also a couple that were just left blank because he didn't know how to approach them in the first place.
His tutor looked carefully over his math calculations. Luke studied her physical features. Her blonde hair always seemed to fall in almost perfect ringlets. Her grey eyes focused on the piece of paper with such intensity and concentration. He'd known of a girl named Annabeth Chase in his class for so long but never had he taken the time to see how pretty she was.
He knew she just wanted to be friends for the time being but he was insistent on changing that to something more. Through spending time during tutoring sessions and during school he was determined to change that. There was only one thing he could possibly think of that was in his way. Percy Jackson.
He had no idea why in the world Annabeth had decided to befriend that loser. Over the past few days he'd seen the two of them in the hall together talking as if they were old friends or something. Everyone noticed that something had changed between them since before they had clearly hated each other. The bottom line was he was not giving up on Annabeth. He'd win her over somehow.
"Alright Luke, let's start on this problem."
And that's it for this update! What did you guys think? Luke hasn't gone anywhere. Do I sense drama and jealously? You'll just have to stay tuned to find out! Sorry if the last scene was a bit cliché I was kind of iffy about it. If anyone has ideas for future updates please let me know I'm always open to suggestions. That's it for now folks! I love you guys!
REVIEW, REVIEW AND REVIEW!
-M