AN: hi there! my name's moochi, and this is my very first fanfic on this account! i hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: all characters belong to Rick, not me.
…
Percy stood up, tired of his seat next to the wailing baby and its mother that just would not quiet it down. He stretched his legs and threw on his black swim team jacket. He had wandered to the very back of the train when an announcement came from the train crew, "Ladies and gentlemen, please sit in your seats and buckle your seatbelts to prepare for a few minutes of bumpiness."
Shoot, I don't think I can get back to the front in time, Percy thought.
"I suggest you sit down before you get your ass handed to you by a bumpy train ride," a voice said dryly.
"Thanks," he responded, almost grudgingly, and buckled himself into a seat.
He spent the next hour in that seat because he didn't want to move back to train car A. But his backpack was back at his seat. And he was indescribably bored.
The only other person in the train car with him started to hum. His brain clicked. When she finished the first verse of the song, he started the second one. He only realized that she had stopped humming when he finished the verse.
"Sorry," he said, "isn't that how it goes?"
She was silent for a moment. Then, softly: "Yeah. That's how it goes."
…
The awkward tension since he had hummed along with her got worse as time went on.
Dammit, Percy, he thought. What made you think that singing along with a stranger was a good idea?
Almost ten minutes later, he heard a thud on the floor of the train as her water bottle slipped out of her backpack.
Shoot! she hissed.
The bottle started to roll away from her, out of her reach... and toward Percy. He caught it easily and dusted it off.
"Thanks," she said, relieved.
He stood up and handed her the water bottle, staring at his own hands, and sat down across from her casually. He glanced up momentarily.
His breath hitched.
She's gorgeous, he thought.
She looked up at him. Her stormy gray eyes stared into his. Blond curls framed her tanned face prettily. Her frame was lean but muscled. She looked like a princess. An independent, kickass warrior princess. Wearing jeans.
He looked away, ashamed.
You can't just ogle random strangers that happen to look attractive, Percy, he chided himself.
He bit his lip and turned back to her.
"What's your name?" He blurted out. As soon as the words left his mouth, he mentally facepalmed himself.
She looked up, surprised.
"Annabeth," she said slowly, like she was afraid he wouldn't hear her right.
"I'm Percy," he replied in the same tone, a little shocked that she even bothered to respond.
She laughed, a pretty melodic sound. Then she looked at him.
"It's nice to meet you, Percy," she said, her eyes still on him. Percy could see her eyes sparkle with amusement.
...
Percy got off the train with a smile on his face and picked up his phone.
"Hi Assistant, call Jason," he commanded.
"Calling: Jason."
He heard the phone ring once, twice, before he heard a voice connect on the other side of the line.
"Jason?" he said.
"Yeah, what's up dude?"
"I'm here."
"Okay. You know where my apartment is, right?"
Percy hummed affirmation.
"Great. Don't forget- the complex has a blue sign at the entrance. You can't miss it."
"Thanks, bro."
Percy ended the call and started walking toward the EaZ Mart convenience store around the block that sold fantastic sandwiches. He paid for an egg sandwich and left the store, munching on whole wheat bread, fried egg, lettuce, and tomato. He walked to the bus stop and purchased a ticket, yawning. Percy boarded the bus sleepily, blinking his eyes drowsily multiple times.
When the bus lurched to a stop, he jumped a little. Then, rubbing his eyes, Percy looked outside the window and saw an apartment complex.
That must be Jason's place, he thought.
He exited the bus and started to make his way toward the entrance of the complex.
Don't forget- the complex has a blue sign at the entrance. You can't miss it.
Percy looked at the sign in front of the apartment complex. It was a nice, calming light blue.
Perfect. He grinned.
He entered the elevator and pressed the button for the fourth floor. He put his hands in the pockets of his jacket, humming. Finally the elevator dinged, and he stepped out onto the fourth floor. Then he realized that he didn't know Jason's apartment number.
Oh, what the hell, I'll just check all of them, he thought. There's not that many anyway.
He got no response from the first five apartments. On the sixth one, a lady came out with at least six cats around her feet.
"Oh, do come in, darling," she said.
One thing he knew for sure: he did not want to be kidnapped by some random cat lady.
"Um, I'm allergic to cats," he blurted, though it was one hundred percent false. Then he sprinted off to the other end of the fourth floor, even though he was extremely tired from travelling all day.
He groaned. Then he knocked on all the other doors. No one responded.
Well, I don't blame them, Percy thought. It's one am after all.
He crossed his fingers as he knocked on the very last door on the fourth floor.
If this person doesn't respond then I'll have to check all the floors in the whole building, and there's, like, thirty seven of those. What if Jason is out grocery shopping? Then I'll have to recheck floors-
When the door opened, he grinned from ear to ear.
"Ja… son…?"
Cue the opener of the door, who was none other than a Native American teenager with dark, unruly hair in a braid and kaleidoscopic-like eyes. She raised an eyebrow at him, which slightly scared him.
"Piper, who is it?" He heard a familiar voice say.
"Um, I don't know who this guy is."
"What does he want?"
"I don't know, Annabeth," she said, then turned to him. "What do you want?"
"Wait, hold on," he said. "Annabeth?"
He saw Annabeth- the Annabeth from the train- poke her head out the door.
"Percy?" she said incredulously.
"So I'm assuming you know each other," Piper said.
"Um, yeah," I responded, still looking at Annabeth. "We sure do."
...
aaaand that's a wrap for chapter one! please r&r, and i'll see you in the next chapter!
- moochi
p.s. follow my instagram m0o_chi for sneak peeks of upcoming chapters!