Sorry this chapter took so long... But I wanted to post this chapter from a specific location! I am at the Hoover Dam right now, where our fine feathered friend Percy Jackson met Rachel Elizabeth Dare and the "Dam" jokes were born. This is a fine day, folks.
Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or the song, "Jump Then Fall".
"Annabeth." Percy shook me in an attempt to wake me up, but I merely snuggled my face into the cotton of his shirt. "Ugh, Annabeth, we're going to be late! Get up!"
"Nooooo..." I whined into his chest, curling my legs up so that they were pressed up against Percy. I breathed in his scent; ocean salt, mint, fresh photocopies, and... lemon? That damn boy was using my shower gel again!
"Annabeth, please stop being adorable. You're making it really difficult get out of be right now."
"Mmmm..." I hummed, thinking about how much I liked the way Percy talked in the morning.
"Come on. Up. Quit trying to be cute," he said, nudging me.
"Trying?" I asked, my head shooting up. Percy chuckled, and I realized it was probably the best sound I had ever heard.
"Okay, okay, you're cute. You'd be even cuter if you got up so so can get to the airport on time!" Percy told me.
"It's two thirty in the morning, I can only move so fast," I complained, dragging myself out of bed.
"I don't care how fast you move, as long as you're ready by three so that we can get to the airport where we're meeting the students- who, by the way, can't wait to be introduced to 'Mr. Jackson's Girlfriend', so brace yourself," he warned, getting out of bed himself.
"Oh, joy," I said, squinting as I turned on the bathroom light to survey my reflection and try to determine how much work was needed to look socially acceptable enough for a seventeen hour flight to Athens.
As the AP Greek Mythology teacher of Goode High School, Percy chaperoned trips to Greece each summer. At the end of June, the few seniors who had managed an A in Percy's class were allowed to embark on a voyage to Athens for two weeks of Grecian fun.
Oh yeah; and the students on the trip were promised quality time with yours truly, because apparently I was a source of immense interest to Percy's pupils.
After pulling on yoga pants and an old sweatshirt, I tossed my last minute items into my duffle bag and strapped my dagger to my waist. (Thank goodness the mist worked well on the TSA.) By three we were in the car winding through Manhattan on our way to the airport in New York. The streets, though still occupied, were considerably less congested than daytime. We pulled up to the airport just as I was tying the elastic at the end of my braid.
"Do you want to park, or go check us and our bags in?" asked Percy, putting the car in park.
"Uh, I'll park," I said, scooting over to the divers seat as Percy got out.
"Alright," he said, pulling a suitcase put of the back. "So, the students..." he quickly explained where the kids were, and talked about some other stuff. Still sleepy, I spaced out just watched him talk. He didn't seem to notice, though, kept of jabbering.
"Got it?" he asked after a while. "Annabeth?"
"Huh? Got what?" I said, snapped out of my stupor.
"We're meeting by security. Okay?"
"Yes," I said, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before driving off. After a grueling search for a parking spot, I rode the shuttle back to the airport with my carry on backpack in tow. Due to the ungodly hour of our departure, the airport was nearly empty as I navigated toward security. Rounding the corner, I saw Percy standing among a small huddle of students with a ring of suitcases encircling them. Grinning to myself, I hitched my backpack up on my shoulder and walked toward the group.
Time to have some fun.
Meeting Percy's kids was always an experience. Since Percy always talked to his class about what a "genius" I was, they usually expected a nerdy girl... which, while I could out-geek the best of them, I kinda had the whole Cali-girl look going. I also had a sneaking suspicion that they figured a dork like Percy would never have a girlfriend, much less a normal looking one.
As I got closer to the group, I could hear snippets of their conversation. The five kids going on the trip with us all had their backs to me, apparently grilling Percy about...
"I can't wait to meet your girlfriend!" gushed one girl with long, chocolate brown hair.
"I still don't believe that he has one," said one guy, who looked like a serious trouble maker. A red haired girl next to him smacked him.
"Of course he has one, idiot," she said, tossing her hair. "Why would he make that up?"
"Uh, to motivate us to get an A in his class," said another boy, who was a tall and lanky dark-skinned kid. "Thats the only reason I worked for an A! I mean come on, Mr. Jackson is totally the kind of guy to do that."
"Yeah, I could see him pulling something like that that," agreed another girl, who was African American with beautiful black hair knotted in a braid much like my own.
"What's she like, Mr. J?" asked Red Head, her tiny stature bouncing with curiosity.
"You'll just have to wait and meet her," Percy said. "She should be here any time now..."
"Or never, because you made her up!" said one of the guys, who high-fived the other male. Just then, Percy spotted me and grinned.
"Okay, guys, grab your suitcases, lets get through security..."
As each one grabbed their bag, only one lonely yellow duffle bag was left on the floor.
"Whose is that?" asked the girl with brown hair, pointing to my duffle bag.
"My girlfriend's," said Percy, glancing at me once more.
"Really?" asked the black girl excitedly.
"Really," I said, walking into the group and pulling my bag up onto my shoulder. "Hello, everyone," I said brightly, smiling at them and secretly gaining immense satisfaction from the stunned looks plastered to their faces. This never really got old.
"Guys, this is my girlfriend Annabeth," said Percy with a flourish, looking triumphant.
Their faces were hilarious.
The first to snap out of it was the slender olive skinned boy. "Hi," he said. "My name is Rajesh." Rajesh shook my hand, skepticism obvious on his narrow face. "How much is he paying you to be here?" he asked, jerking his thumb toward Percy. I laughed and looked at my boyfriend, who looked highly offended.
"Oh, don't pay attention to Raj. I believed you existed," said the girl with red hair, whose delicate elfin features were lit up with excitement. "I'm Abigail."
"Nice to meet you," I said, grinning.
"I'm Nick," said the other boy, extending his hand for me to shake. "No offense, but I'm with Raj... No way Mr. J could get a girl like you."
"Hey! I'm right here!" protested Percy indignantly.
"Seriously, you could do better than him," Nick told me under his breath.
"Still, right here," said Percy flatly.
Passing him a sympathetic look, I turned to the African American girl, who looked like she was highly amused by the situation. "Your name is..."
"Merci," she said, smiling warmly at me as we shook hands. She had a tall athletic stature and was standing close enough to Nick for me to assume they were dating.
"And I'm Kate," finished the girl with long brown hair, whose blue eyes were glowing with enthusiasm.
"Well," it's nice to meet you all," I said cheerfully.
"Just peachy," grumbled Percy.
"Is he always this sarcastic?" asked Raj.
"Pretty much," I told him, grinning.
"Okay, now that we've established that Annabeth exists," said Percy snappishly, hoisting his bag up. "Lets get through security and go to Greece."
"Oh, someone's touchy," muttered Merci as we followed Percy like ducks on a pond.
"Just a bit," said Nick, and Kate nodded.
"He's not a morning person, I whispered to the kids.
"Neither are you!" Percy called back.
"I know!" I told him. "I just obviously deal with it better than you," I muttered under my breath, and the six of us snickered as Percy herded us through security.
Percy, after having a heated debate with the TSA officer ("Sir, it's just a pen"), lead us to our gate. I threw my stuff down on the floor and collapsed into the chair in between Abigail and Percy, tired but still awake from the thrill of traveling. The seven of us made ourselves comfy for the next hour and a half of waiting.
"Percy?" I asked, snuggled my head into his shoulder.
"Hmm?"
"Have I ever told you that you're the best boyfriend ever?"
Percy looked at me suspiciously. "What do you want?"
"Nothing! I just-"
"What is it?"
"There's a Starbucks over there," I said with a guilty smile. "And you would be the best boyfriend ever if you went and got me some coffee..."
"Fine," he said, pretending to be reluctant even though I knew he didn't mind.
"Mr. Jackson?" asked Kate as Percy got up.
"Yeah?"
"Have I ever told you you're the best teacher ever?"
"Yeah, Mr. J!" said Raj immediately, puffing his chest out and batting his eyelashes. "You're like the best teacher ever. Buy me coffee!"
"That's a horrible Annabeth impersonation," said Percy, grinning.
"Yeah, that's almost offensive!" I said.
"Will you get me coffee anyway?" asked Raj.
"And me!" said Abigail.
"Me to?" asked Merci.
"I'm taking you all to Greece; I have to get you coffee too?"
"Yes," we all said in unison.
"Okay, okay..." Percy held up his hands in surrender and, stepping over several duffle suitcases, walked away to fetch us coffee.
"Ah, he's such a gem, isn't he?" asked Nick fondly.
"Annabeth sure thinks so," said Raj devilishly, and I could help but smile at his playful mockery.
"Well, I wouldn't call him a gem..." I said slowly.
"What would you call him?" asked Kate, clearly playing devil's advocate.
"Oh jeez, I don't know. A dork, probably," I told them, and they laughed.
"How long have you been dating, anyway?" asked Merci, who was sitting Indian style in her chair and holding Nick's hand.
"About eight years," I said proudly.
"Seriously?" asked Kate. "That mean you would've been..."
"Sixteen," I told her. Raj whistled appreciatively.
"And you're not bored of him yet?" asked Nick, who was promptly punched in the arm by Merci.
"Are you gonna be tired of me is eight years, Nicholas?"
"Probably tired of you punching me, yeah."
"Oh, look who's a comedian," Merci oozed sarcastically, though she kept holding his hand. Oh jeeze, they were just like Percy and I.
"Anyway, if you two are done over there," said Abigail pointedly, looking at the couple, "I'd like to know where you guys met."
"Oh, we met at summer camp when we were twelve," I told them. "We were best friends, practically inseparable."
"And you both speak fluent Greek?" asked Kate.
"Yep," I said.
"Wow, what a coincidence," said Abigail.
Oh yeah. Complete coincidence.
"So... I've been dying to know a few personal things about Mr. Jackson," drawled Raj evilly.
"I'm sure you have," I said dully.
"Yeah! Mr. J says nothing about his life outside of school," said Merci, glowing with enthusiasm. "Tell us about him!"
"What about him?" I asked warily, wondering faintly why I was agreeing to this.
"Like... I dunno, what's his favorite movie?"
"Finding Nemo," I said without hesitation. "Or maybe Titanic."
"Just as I suspected," said Nick. "He's into children's movies and chick flicks."
"Titanic isn't a chick flick!" protested Raj. "It's a cinematic masterpiece!"
"Oh, shut up you two," said Kate. "So there's tons of rumors that an English teacher at the school is Percy's dad. Is that true?"
"Paul is Percy's step dad," I explained.
"Oh," she said thoughtfully.
"I have a question," said Raj mischievously. "Does Mr. J wear boxers or briefs?"
"What makes you think I'd know?" I asked with a straight face.
"Well..."
"Hey guys, I'm back," said a familiar voice, and we all turned to see Percy with a tray of hot coffee in his arms. "And I have caffeine!" he declared cheerfully, sitting downs be passing out cups. "What were you guys talking about?"
"Your underwear," said Raj.
"Uh..." stammered Percy, looking at me in horror. "Please tell me that's a joke."
"Unfortunately, no," I said, grabbing my caramel macchiato from him.
In an hour we finally collected our stuff and shuffled onto the plane.
"Next stop, Germany!" I said cheerfully.
"Excellent," said Nick to Merci. "I don't think there's any age restrictions on alcohol there!"
Merci rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm.
"Ow!" cried Nick, earning himself a glare from a somewhat frazzled looking stewardess. "I bet Annabeth doesn't punch Mr. Jackson relentlessly!"
"Oh, yes she does," said Percy, pretending to wince as I punched him playfully. "But seriously," he whispered when he thought I wasn't listening. "She does."
When we took off, Percy gripped my hand tightly; it was always freaky for a son of Poseidon to be flying. Even though Zeus had promised not to zap him out of the sky, it was nothing less then nerve wracking for Percy to be suspended in Zeus's domain for such a long period of time. After the plane reached cruising altitude he finally relaxed and entertained himself by playing with a loose curl of mine while I dozed with my head on his shoulder. I gave up on trying to sleep when I realized Kate and Abigail, who were sitting directly behind us, weren't going to stop 'awwing' anytime soon.
I passed the time by tinkering with blueprints on my laptop, reading the entire Great Gatsby in one sitting, and doing the crossword with Percy, which was really him just telling me "good job" whenever I filled one in. The flight was fairly uneventful until about halfway through when they started playing Titanic on the TV's. As soon as the kids recognized the film, they all looked pointedly at Percy.
"What?" he said, raising his eyebrows.
"Isn't this one of your favorite movies?" asked Nick.
"What, this chick flick? Nah," denied Percy, though I knew he was lying.
"It's not a chick flick!" Raj whirled around in his seat to face us. "It is a cinematic masterpiece!"
"Whoa, sorry, bro," said Percy, holding his hands up in innocence.
"No bro of mine calls Titanic a chick flick," said Raj dramatically, acting offended and sticking his nose up into the air, causing Kate to giggle.
Settling into our seats, we sailed over the Atlantic as we watched the Titanic sink in the very same ocean. Towards the end of the movie as the iconic smokestacks began to tumble, Percy leaned over to me.
"Did you know the Titanic didn't sink because of an iceberg?"
"Oh?" I asked, eyes still glued to the miniature screen.
"It was actually a Ketea," he said quietly. "In ancient times, my father sent Ketea, which is a huge sea serpent, to devour Princess Andromeda. But it was slain by-"
"Perseus," I said with a smile. "No, I actually never knew that. You're such a good teacher," I told him with a wink.
"Hey, they don't pay me the big bucks for nothing," he said, grinning cockily and simultaneously crossing his legs while putting his hands behind his head. Unfortunately in the process of moving his leg Percy slammed it into the tray table in front of him, causing his coke to go toppling off and splashing him and the walls.
"Oh, very suave," I said, suppressing a laugh.
After apologizing repeatedly to a cranky stewardess, Percy ate a granola bar while holding my hand. He rubbed circles into my hand as he munched. Gods, only he could make eating processed and dehydrated grain pressed into a suspiciously pristine rectangle look so attractive.
Sometime while I dwelled on how Nature Valley should really offer Percy a commercial contract, I fell asleep. Normally I couldn't doze on a plane to save my life, but with Percy it was so easy to drift off since I felt so safe. I was brought back to consciousness by a bit of light turbulence, shaking me into reality. Still half asleep, I drowsily shifted positions and prepared to go back to sleep.
"...I'll give you props Mr. Jackson," I heard someone say, and my ears perked up. "Either you have a smokin' hot girlfriend or you're managing to convince us she's actually dating you. Whichever it is, I'm impressed," said Raj.
"Gee thanks," I heard Percy mutter. Even though I had my eyes closed, I could practically see Percy roll his eyes.
"What does she do, anyway?" Merci asked.
"She's an architect," said Percy quietly. "She's been babbling about architecture and columns and god knows what else for as long as I've known her. She goes bonkers for that kinda stuff."
"What are you bonkers for, then?" asked Kate.
Percy laughed. "Isn't it obvious? I'm bonkers for her," he said, and my heart melted.
"Awww," they all chorused.
"Yeah, yeah..." mumbled Percy bashfully.
"You guys are beyond adorable," sighed Kate, sounding impeccably like a daughter of Aphrodite. "Like every time she smiles, you smile, and you're both just so wrapped up and it's just sooo..." Apparently unable to find a good adjective, Kate trailed off.
"Uh, thanks... I think," said Percy.
"Gonna marry her?" asked Nick.
"Yeah, I am," said Percy without hesitation.
A normal girl would've probably jumped up at this point and started freaking out, but for some reason this didn't even surprise me. Even though we hadn't ever really talked a lot about getting married, I realized at that moment that I had just assumed we would... because I couldn't imagine anyone else I'd rather spend the rest of my life with. So instead of getting mushy and squishy and emotional, I continued to pretend to sleep until I actually dozed off.
I woke again to the grinding of landing gears, and then Percy shaking me. "Bon jour," he said with a grin.
"We're in Germany, not France, Seaweed Brain."
"Close enough," he said, yanking my hand.
We passed the four hour layover by roaming the streets surrounding the airport and trying schnitzel. However when I began to lecture lightly on the local German architecture, the rest of the group unanimously agreed to go back and wait inside the airport. The next flight was only three hours, which was spent by Percy making drops of water drop down the back of the student's necks. This caused them to jump in their seats, and caused us to turn blue in our efforts to not laugh. Hey, we promised parents that we were responsible chaperones, not mature ones.
By the time we landed, we were positively stir crazy. Though we'd been traveling for seventeen hours, we had slept most of the time an were wide awake and ready to go. We practically sprinted off the plane and into the sunshine flooded airport, grinning ear to ear. It was seven in the morning, the day after we had started traveling.
"Welcome to Athens!" said Percy grandly, spreading his arms wide. Not wasting a moment, we picked up our bags and grabbed a taxi. As we tore off into the hectic metropolis of Athens, I fixed my eyes on the Parthenon on the horizon and tried to fangirl as nonchalantly as possible.
We ate breakfast on the terrace of a little cafe that overlooked the sea. Stuffing ourselves with pita bread, olives, feta cheese, and other Grecian food staples, we tried to figure out our game plan.
"Okay, well usually on these trips we get here pretty late and are all messed up because of jet lag, but we're really early in the morning this time. I think if we go to be early tonight, tomorrow morning we'll be good to go." Percy propped his sunglasses up on his forehead, poring over a map of Athens. "So, that means we have the rest of the day."
I popped a shred of pita in my mouth, happy to be in Greece again. Since we defeated Gaea, monsters weren't nearly as aggressive as they were; in fact, we rarely saw them in New York anymore. There were bound to be more in the homeland, but the numbers had decreased considerably. Nonetheless, I still was on full alert and had my dagger strapped to my side. I peered over at Percy's maps, easily able to decipher the Greek lettering that marked up the paper.
"Why don't we just hang out at the hotel?" I suggested.
Percy looked at me in surprise.
"Really? I thought for sure that you'd want to charge off to the Parthenon," he said.
"Tomorrow," I told him. "Today, lets go swimming."
The kids all smiled and nodded, but Percy gave me a wicked grin. What the students didn't know was that the swimming we were talking about was authentic Greek style... they were in for a surprise.
We went to the hotel after breakfast, traveling through streets lined with different shops and vendors. The hotel shuttle that we had arranged to come collect us took us down a road lined with olive trees, around a corner and-
"Woah," breathed Kate. "This is where we're staying?"
"Uh huh," said Percy with satisfaction.
The hotel was built into the cliffs of Greece, surrounded by a grove of olive trees and built of gorgeous white marble. It was almost Olympus worthy. Almost.
"This place is amazing!" cried Merci in delight as she and everyone stared.
"Wait until you see our rooms," I said merrily, shouldering my bag as we came to a halt.
As we always did on these trips, Percy and I had booked a room for the girls and a room for the boys. After much excitement and anticipation while we checked in, our group nearly raced to our rooms. Percy handed me the key to our room, and, with a mock salute, turned to open the door to the room next to ours. I snickered and wiggled the key in lock, finally throwing the door open.
"Oh my gosh!"
The room was impressive; pale blue walls adorned with different paintings of Greece, lush white carpet that sank beneath our feet, and high ceilings that were painted intricately in a delicate dark blue and gold pattern. It was lavishly furnished with two fluffy white beds, dark ornately carved furniture, plush couch, large television, white marble bathroom, and incredible fireplace off to the side. But all of this was nothing compared to the far wall of the room, which was nothing but glass from floor to ceiling, allowing an unobstructed view of the cliffs and the sea outside.
"Wow," gasped Abigail. "This is just fabulous. Absolutely fabulous."
"It must be costing a fortune to stay here!" said Merci, turning to look at me. "Our parents only paid for airfare and allowed money for food and activities and stuff!"
"Oh, don't worry about that," I said, tossing my bag. "Percy and I have it covered." Actually, my mother always offered to pay when I stayed in Athens... but I felt like I should just leave that part out.
"So," said Abigail, unzipping her suitcase and pulling out a birthing suit. "Swimming?"
"Swimming," I confirmed, and went to change into my own.
Twenty minutes later the guys burst into our room, wearing swim trunks and identical grins.
"Who's ready for pool time?" asked Raj enthusiastically.
"Oh, we're not swimming in the pool," I said.
"What?" asked Kate, confused.
"We're doing a little thing that the Greeks like to call γκρεμός καταδύσεις," Percy told them.
They stared at us with blank expressions.
"Cliff diving," I translated.
"No way!" Nick shouted, looking like Christmas had come early. "You're gonna let us do that?"
"Why not?" I asked, shrugging. "When in Greece, do as the Greeks do."
"But... is this the sort of responsible behavior a Goode High employee should be encouraging?" Merci asked jokingly.
"Eh," said Percy with a noncommittal shrug.
"Mr. Jackson, why did you not tell us you were a badass before?" asked Nick, practically jumping up and down. "And to think, al this year we thought you were a boring stick in the mud!"
"Hey!" spluttered Percy with indignation.
"I speaketh the truth," said Nick.
"You don't speaketh any truth-"
"Okay," I said loudly, cutting of Percy. "Either we could speaketh about how exciting Percy has turned out to be, or we could get going and jump off some cliffs."
"Cliffs," voted Abigail.
"Agreed," said Kate.
"Well I'd like to speaketh some more about-"
"Shut up, Nick," Merci advised her boyfriend.
"Lets go," I said, rolling my eyes.
Ten minutes later, we were up on the cliffs in the spot where Percy and I had dived before. It was a good spot; there was a big ledge for us to stand on and leave our towels, it wasn't too high, and it was easy to climb back up. Standing on the damp ledge, I breathed in the salty air, feeling faintly like I was in a home away from home. It was the feeling I got at Sally Jackson's apartment.
"Okay, there's not much to it guys," Percy said. "Make sure you jump off far enough so you don't get dashed against the rocks, don't slip climbing back up... that's pretty much it."
"Is this allowed?" asked Kate.
"Sure it is," he said casually. Truthfully, cliff diving wasn't exactly encouraged, but if anyone tried to stop us we could easily patch stuff up with the mist.
"Well in that case..." Nick winked at Merci and gave us all a dare devil grin and dove off, cutting into the water below. Percy followed, executing a flawless backflip.
Show off.
Soon everyone was in the water, splashing merrily in the water.
"Come on, Wise Girl!" called Percy from below. "Jump! I'll catch you!"
"I don't need catching!" I yelled back, laughing.
"Are you sure? You look like a damsel in distress up there!" That was laughable, seeing how many times I'd saved his ass. But I played along anyway.
"Oh yes, come save me!" I said, a making my voice high and girly.
"Don't be afraid! You just gotta jump... then fall."
"Fall?!" I asked in false terror. The students had started to take notice of our banter and were watching in amusement.
"Fall into me," Percy amended. "Just take a deep breath and jump and fall!"
Grinning, I threw myself off the cliff. My hair was whipped back away from my face as I feel, held up by nothing, held back by nothing, only plummeting into Percy's waiting arms.
"See? What did I tell you?" he asked, setting me down into the water to tread beside him.
"I wasn't scared, Percy."
"Well, if you ever are, I'll be here to catch you," he said softly.
I turned to look at him.
"I mean it, Annabeth," Percy said. "If the bottom drops out from under our feet, if people say things, if you're mad, if you're crying, I'll always be here to hold you."
"Percy-"
"And I'll be there, and I'll never leave you," he said fiercely. "Because I like the way your curls fall in your face, and each and everyone of your freckles..." I was blushing profusely at this point, and I thanked the gods that Percy's students were way out of earshot.
"You're everything I've ever wanted," he said with a smile.
"You're all I've ever wanted too, Seaweed Brain," I told him, pecking him on the cheek. "Who knew you could be so romantic?" I joked, nudging him playfully.
"Greece gets me every time," he said bashfully.
"Aw," I said, taking his hand underwater.
The moment was somewhat ruined by Raj cannon balling inches away from us, effectively dosing both of us.
"Hey!" I cried.
"Sorry dude," said Raj, grinning evilly. "Although it's not like you were gonna get lucky tonight anyway," he told Percy under his breath. "You've got roommates, pal."
Percy smacked Raj upside the head.
"Hey! I'm being abused by a teacher!"
"Technically, you've graduated," said Percy. "You've just gotten smacked by a friend."
"You're a terrible friend," mumbled Raj.
"The feeling is mutual," said Percy.
Ah, and Romantic Percy had left the building. But that was okay... I had a feeling he'd be back when we snuck out to the bars after the students feel asleep.
PLEASE REVIEW! And any ideas for the next chapter "Untouchable" is more then welcome. Also... any ideas for a new story? I'll need a new project after I finish Red, which will still be way down the road.