Hey guys! What? Is that... a new story? Even crazier, it's a oneshot? That's right! I just wrote this today (like I forced myself to sit down and write this in one sitting) so I definitely didn't catch any grammar errors. But I hope you enjoy it!
I hate morning people.
Annabeth glared at her classmates as they eagerly chatted with each other on their way into the lecture hall.
How anyone can be so chipper at 8 a.m. I will never understand.
After struggling to stay awake throughout the lecture—whoever thought teaching calculus at 8 in the morning would be a good idea was wrong—Annabeth stumbled her way to the campus coffee shop to get some dearly needed caffeine in her body so that she didn't collapse before her 3D modeling class.
She nearly got knocked over by some guy skateboarding through the courtyard, but Annabeth finally reached the shop in one piece.
The little jingle of the bell announced her presence as the groggy blond ambled inside.
Ah, the smell of coffee never gets old.
The rich aroma flowing from the espresso machine beckoned her forth as she joined the typically long line of freshmen who required the nectar of the gods to brave through their early morning lectures.
This campus coffee shop (one out of three) was fairly popular because of the surprisingly cheap prices. The others on campus or nearby were overpriced as the University tried to empty as many pockets that they could before graduation.
But this one was a quaint little shop run by the students. Some club or organization had established it so that their comrades wouldn't go broke while suffering through early morning classes and all-nighters—those gallant, generous souls.
The line moved quickly and soon Annabeth was at the front.
She looked up from her phone, ready to give her order when the sight of the barista at the register made her freeze.
He was gorgeous. He was tall, almost a full head taller than her and she was 5 ft 7, and had marvelous tanned skin as well as jet black, messy hair that fell into his eyes.
And what beautiful eyes they were. They were some strange exotic mix between dark blue and emerald green and they sparkled at her as his lips pulled up into a lopsided smile.
"Hi! What will you be having today?"
Your number would be great.
The two stood there, Annabeth trying not to gape up at this unexpected beauty and the barista maintaining their cheerful customer service attitude.
As time stretched on, the guy's smile started to shrink and he raised an eyebrow.
"What? Is there something on my face?"
I wouldn't mind putting my lips on it—wait no, focus Annabeth!
"Oh, uh, sorry. Just had a brain fart."
I don't think I've ever seen this guy before, and I've been coming here almost religiously since spring term started. He must be new because I would definitely remember a face like that.
"Uh… I'll have an iced caramel macchiato, 3 shots, venti, 3 pumps hazelnut, and 2 pumps vanilla."
Annabeth rattled off her order quickly to make up for her stumble. She never really liked talking to customer service or making an order. She had a tendency to sound rude, or so her friends would say, and would accidentally insult the waiter, barista, or cashier more often than not. Although, Annabeth thought she rattled off her order too fast because the guy's (thick yet amazingly straight) eyebrows shot up.
"Uh… anything else?"
She frowned and looked at her phone for the time. It was a quarter past 9 and her next class started at 10.
I guess I have the time to sit and eat.
Annabeth scanned the baked goods on display. It seemed like they were trying out a blue color scheme today.
"What's with the blue food? Did someone go crazy with the food dye?"
She realized only a second too late that this might have sounded insulting, but before she could backtrack the guy spoke up.
"Ah, I guess you could say that." He rubbed his neck and looked up shyly from behind his (roguishly messy) fringe. "My favorite color is blue so the manager let me do a 'Blue Food Tuesday' special." He chuckled sheepishly. "I, uh, guess I went a little overboard on the dye though."
Damn it, Annabeth. For the first time in a while, you meet a cute guy and you immediately embarrass him. Good job, genius!
"But I swear it tastes good. The blue chocolate chip cookies are my personal favorite, you should try them."
Annabeth latched onto the suggestion immediately. "Yes! I'll have two of those please."
Now shut up before you embarrass yourself even further.
Tall, dark, and handsome smiled brightly and wrote down her order.
"Name?"
"You can call me Annabeth."
His customer service smile dropped for a second before resurfacing, this time it was a little more genuine though, and there was laughter dancing in his (stunning) blue-green (maybe sea-green?) eyes.
"Nice to meet you Annabeth, but I meant the name for your order."
"Oh, right!" Her cheeks were on fire and Annabeth thought she could hear the girl standing behind her in line muffling a laugh into her hand.
Wow, I'm really struggling today. I need that caffeine pronto.
The guy chuckled again, and the warm sound totally did not make her shiver so shut up. "I'll just write Annabeth then. Nice name, by the way."
And then he winked.
Dear lord above, please don't let me swoon in a shop full of nosy freshmen.
Before Annabeth suffered from any sudden fainting spells, she quickly paid for her order and walked (ran) away from the register to the farthest seat she could find. Once seated, Annabeth quickly pulled out her phone to distract herself from the chuckles coming from the cute barista at her hasty retreat.
If this place wasn't as cheap as it was, especially for this quality coffee, I'd never return.
A few minutes later, she heard her name called out in a familiar voice.
Annabeth glanced up to see the old barista, the guy that she was used to and now kinda friends with, holding up her cup with her cookies in a small paper bag.
She smiled and waved as she walked up to the counter.
The guy smiled back. "Well, hello there my fellow blond. How are you this lovely Tuesday morning?"
"Just give me the coffee, Jason," Annabeth deadpanned.
Jason pouted and handed over the bag, but refrained from handing over the cup. "Rude, after supplying you your fuel, your liquid boost to get you throughout the day, you won't even give me a simple 'hello'?"
She rolled her eyes fondly. "You know how I am in the mornings, Jason. I can't comfortably socialize until at least noon."
He smiled. "Yeah, I suppose that's right. Morning's just aren't your cup of tea."
Annabeth smiled back. "Nope." She popped the p as she reached for the coffee.
"Ah, ah, ah." Jason moved the cup out of her reach and his friendly smile became a mischievous smirk. "Not until you say hello and thank you."
Her own smile became a glare. "Why must you torment me so?"
Jason snorted, "I'd hardly call this torment."
Annabeth rolled her eyes, out of annoyance now. "Just give me my damn drink, Jason."
Jason faked a gasp, "Such language! I can't believe my ears! New Rome's very own residential genius swearing! What will the brainiacs say when they find out you're using such common foul words? Where are your typical Shakespearean blows?"
"If you want me to start reciting Shakespeare, I'd hand over the coffee, you three-inch fool."
"Taming of the Shrew, huh? I didn't think that was your cup of tea either."
Her glare intensified. "I'd beat thee, but I would infect my hands."
"... I don't know what that was from, but I assure you I value cleanliness first and foremost."
"Jason!"
Before Annabeth could snatch the coffee out of his hands, the barista from before beat her to it.
"Hey!"
He handed her the drink, giving Jason a little glare. "Here you go, Annabeth."
She started to blush, but her Californian tan hid it well (I hope). "Thank you, at least someone here has manners."
"You literally refused to say thank you when I was handing you your order."
Annabeth ignored him and smiled at the new barista. His eyes were really distracting, and she couldn't help but feel like she was drowning when he handed her the cup and their fingers brushed together.
They stood there for a moment, Annabeth just couldn't bring herself to look away from those beautiful eyes, when Jason coughed.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I have to go attend to the register as it seems that someone has left it unattended." At that, Percy lit up in a blush (that somehow was really cute on him, the red really matched his skin tone).
"I'm sorry, I'll go—"
"No, no. I've got it. I'll just leave you two to talk." Jason sent a meaningful look to Annabeth from behind Percy. He mimed a phone and pointed to the other barista before sending her a thumbs up and walking over to attend to the steadily growing line at the register.
The two stood there awkwardly for a moment before the cute barista spoke up.
"Uh, sorry about him. He likes to find entertainment anywhere he can during the morning shifts."
Annabeth waved it off, "Oh no, it's fine. I'm used to it," she said with a fond smile.
The barista frowned and some unrecognizable emotion flashed through his eyes.
"Oh. Are you two…?"
Annabeth frowned in confusion before it hit her and she rushed to explain. "Oh, no! No, no, no, no! We're just friends. I'm not dating anyone, completely single here!"
The barista blinked at her response, a little startled at her volume.
Annabeth groaned internally at her complete lack of filter today.
I hate myself.
Then he laughed, a loud, clear sound that warmed me up inside.
I take it back. Anything that can make him laugh like that is worth the embarrassment.
The (absolutely breathtaking) guy grinned and leaned forward on the counter.
"Do you have any other classes today?"
She was stunned at the turn of events but recovered quickly. "Uh, yeah. I have two more classes today, but the next one's not until 10."
"Perfect, my break is in 5"—he reached forward and gently brushed a strand of her hair away from her face—"so would you be willing to wait for me?"
For a lifetime.
"Uh, sure?"
His grin broadened. "Excellent. Oh, and the name's Percy by the way."
With that, he stood straight and relieved Jason of register duty, tending to the next person in line.
...What just happened?
Annabeth walked back to her seat, still reeling from his hand caressing her cheek when she finally glanced at her beloved drink.
She saw her name written in a sprawling script and beneath it was a phone number along with a winky face and a little note:
Call me sometime?
- Percy
Have a good night (or morning or day, depending on when you read this)!
~PJOandHP4Life