Chapter 6

Percy's Pov

Nervous butterflies zipped around in my gut, demanding my attention. I'd recently joined the swim team at Yancy and today was the big swim competition I'd trained feverishly for. And as you can see, I was extremely nervous. Granted, it wasn't my first competition, but it was my first one here at Yancy and I wanted to show them that they didn't make a mistake by putting me on the team. Plus, the other team from a rival school was pretty intimidating. With their sculpted arms that'll no doubt be like an ore in the water and feet that are big enough to be paddles, they really work that whole intimidation factor. And let's not forget the glares they keep throwing at me, like they'd love nothing more than to snap both my arms in half, preventing me from swimming.

To help calm my nerves, I thought of my friends and the Chases, excluding Annabeth who was vigorously writing songs in her room like no tomorrow, sitting in the stands out there, cheering for me, supporting me all the way. The butterflies settled a bit and my nerves that had previously been going haywire were now tamed to only an anxious flutter. The nail-biting, stomach churning feeling had been evicted from my gut, which sent a surge of relief through me. The last thing I needed right now was a distraction from my upcoming swim.

Once I had on my swimsuit and grabbed my goggles, I headed out with the rest of the team to the pool area. As we walked out through the doors to the pool, my ears immediately protested the boisterous voices and conversations echoing throughout the wide expanse of the room. Due to the high ceilings, noises typically echo, sounding like your shouting into a cave, making it really hard to hear if everyone in the stands is talking all at once, which they were. But somehow, I managed to catch familiars voices through the crowd.

"Percy."

I turned my head toward the sound and my eyes landed on my friends and Bobby and Matthew seated in the top row of the bleachers furthest from me, but high enough to get an aerial view of the entire pool so they could see all the action at a better angle. They were all wearing matching black sweatshirts zipped up all the way to their necks, which was insane. It was like a thousand degrees in here; I was already sweating and I was wearing nothing but swim trunks. Once they were sure I was looking, they yanked off the sweatshirt and I laughed as I took in what they were wearing.

They had gone all out for the occasion. Each of them wore matching cobalt blue, custom made t-shirts that had GO PERCY! scrawled in white lettering. Beneath the words, there was a picture of me, grinning like an idiot, printed on the shirt. It was blurry and made me look like a smiling fool, but I loved it nonetheless. And to make the whole thing even better, Thalia, with Grover's help, held up an enormous, white poster board with the saying Kick ass or I'll kick yours painted in blue, bubble letters. Thalia's own personal encouragement. She smiled as she watched how much her sign made me crack up. If that wasn't motivation, I don't know what was.

As the stomach-clutching chuckles left me, I felt the rest of my nerves disappear completely and I couldn't even remember what I'd been so nervous about earlier. But that's why I had the best friends ever. Grover was just flat out supportive and always there for me, Nico was just plain goofy and always managed to bring a smile to my face, and Thalia, Thalia was an M&M. Despite her rough exterior, her hard outer shell, she was really a kind person, all mushy gushy. They may be social outcasts at Yancy Fancy Proper Academy, but that's what makes them so great. They're not your normal, everyday kind of people; they're kind and goofy and maybe even a little weird, but to me, that's the best kind of friends.

"Alright, cupcakes. No messing around. Let's make this a good, clean win." Couch Hedge, the swim coach, bellowed, blowing his shiny, silver whistle for emphasis. "Swim as quickly as you can. And no joking around; I'm looking at you, Stolls." Taking two fingers, he made the I'm watching you sign before reading off the order for the relay race.

"I don't understand why he always does that. It was only one time." Travis Stoll complained, but you could tell it halfhearted because of a proud smile tilting up the corners of his lips.

"That was the best prank yet." Connor sighed, a dreamy expression decorating his face.

Their freshman year, the Stolls had first joined the swim team and because of their love for pulling a good prank, thought it would be hilarious to pull one on an opposing team. They'd taken a thick, durable sheet of glass, similar to one around hockey rings, and had bolted it to the bottom of the pool in the lane of a rather mean boy from the other team. They'd said it blended so well with the water, that you could be an arm's length away and still have no indication that it was there. So when the race began, the boy had taken the lead, but promptly lost it shortly after when he hit face first into the glass. They said the best part of the whole thing was that his expression was priceless. It ranged between pissed and utterly confused. He had two choices: A) cut into the other lane next to him, which was grounds for disqualification or B) just sit in the middle of the pool until the end of the race. Taking option B, he sat there and received boos from fellow classmates who saw this as a refusal to even try to beat us. Connor had won, but eventually, the win was revoked after the furious prank victim explained the situation to his coach.

"That was the by far the dumbest idea you guys have ever had." I told them, earning two glares from both twins.

"You're just jelly that you didn't think of it first." They said simultaneously. I have no idea how they do that. Must be a twins thing, like what Bobby and Matthew have. Not going to lie, it's pretty creepy.

I lined up behind Beckendorf, a burly guy obsessed with mechanics and constructing new technologies. He was a nice guy, congratulating me for making the team the moment Hedge had confirmed it, and provided very entertaining conversation, which mainly consisted of his girlfriend, Selena Beaugard. Apparently, she thought he needed to get out more, meet new people instead of locking himself in his workshop, so she'd convinced him to try something new. And he figured swimming would be more fun than anything else. But despite his hesitation to join the team, I think he thoroughly enjoys it now and he's actually pretty good. But how could he not be? The guy was pure muscle and flew through the water like a torpedo.

The first guy in line was Travis Stoll who, pushing aside his pranking nature, is a fast swimmer. Travis readied himself, adjusting his stance and placing his fingers on the white platform. The second the whistle blew, he was off the platform and zipping through the water like a minnow being chased by a bass. For such a lazy jokester, he was a remarkably good swimmer and fast as a bullet. Before I knew it, he was already at the other side and Connor had dove into the pool.

Nerves bundled in my stomach as I watch the line dwindle down to just Beckondorf and me. And then, Beckondorf was gone and I was the only one left, standing all alone on the other side.

"Swimmers ready?" the ref bellowed, raising his whistle in the air, preparing to bring it to his mouth and emit the shrill noise.

My palms began to sweat, my stomach flopped, as the nerves returned full force, threatening to overtake me completely. But as I looked up at the my friends once again, their faces full of pride and unending support no matter the outcome of the race, I mustered up enough strength to push those pesky butterflies out of the way.

The whistle sounded and I was off the platform, diving head first into the water.

A shiver rippled through me as the chilly water rushed into my pours and soaked me to the bone. But despite the cold, I didn't falter and I didn't let it deter my determination to try my best. If anything, the freezing water temperature, only made me increase my speed, pushing myself harder.

I didn't dare look around at the other competitors for fear that would mess up my pace. Stroke. Breathe. Stroke. Breath. Stroke. I inhaled deeply as my right arm broke the surface and then, my head was back down by the time my left was out of the water.

Freestyle had always been my favorite swim, the one I found was more efficient than the others. The overall quickness of the stroke and built-up speed releasing adrenaline into my body always encouraged me to faster and brought me a little rush along with it.

The thing I love most about swimming is that the water is just so calming. It takes your mind off of everything and locks your focus on nothing but the feel of the water against your skin. I'd always felt like my problems were lighter, feather soft, and seemed far away, which oddly made them seem more bearable, solvable even. Ever since I was little, I'd felt this way. I remember when I was six years old and had just gotten into a fight with a friend at school. He'd told me he didn't want to friends anymore and me, being six, was crushed. The moment my mom had come to pick me up at the end of the day, I'd burst into fits of tears. She'd tried to consol me, telling me that everything was going to be okay, but it hadn't worked. And later that day, she'd taken me to the beach and somehow, she knew it would do wonders for my attitude. And it did. The moment the water touched my little toes, I felt like everything was going to be okay, just like my mother had said.

With one last kick, I reached the wall at the other end of the pool and slapped my palm against it. Upon breaking the surface, I had expected cries and cheers for the victor sounding throughout the entire pool area, but all my ears picked up on was silence. Shocked, I lifted my goggles off my eyes and surveyed the area, taking in my surroundings, and was stunned to find everyone in the crowd staring at me in open-mouthed shock.

Confused, I turned my attention to Nico, Thalia, and the Chases only to find them in the same position, eyes wide, mouths unhinged, jaws practically hitting the floor. What? Why are they looking at me like that? I can't be that bad of a swimmer, can I?

Still having not the slightest idea of what the big deal was, I figured I'd ask the guy in the lane next to me, but was shocked to find the spot empty. Scanning my eyes over the lane, my eyes bulged as I saw that the guy hadn't even made it half way across the pool yet.

Something had to be wrong, there's no way in Tartarus I was that fast. Maybe it was mistake and he started late or something. Or maybe he already made it to the end and was just doing an extra lap as practice. But my theories were squashed as the announcer came over the loud speaker and spoke.

"Attention, Ladies and Gentleman, we have a winner. Mr. Perseus Jackson of Yancy Academy who is not only the faster swimmer to attend Yancy, but has just broken a school record." Cue the cheering I'd been expecting earlier.

Needless to say, I was shocked. My first race here at Yancy and I not only come first place, but also break a record. This was just phenomenal. I hadn't expected this upon joining the team and I doubt anyone could. It was just so crazy, but at the same time, truly amazing, and filled me with a feeling of euphoria.

"He'd beaten the previous record of 23 seconds for the 50 meter freestyle with a time of 22.04." The cheers increased to an ear-splitting pitch with that announcement and along with them, my joy.

I was yanked from the water and was congratulated and pounded on the back for my success. Crowds of people surrounded me, asking questions and fighting for my attention. Searching the crowd, I tried to catch sight of my friends, but instead, my eyes found a man snapping photos of me with his camera as a medal was looped around my neck, a wide smile plastered to my face. The flash was blinding, but I managed to catch him put up his hand in a thumbs up and slink out the door and out of sight as if he hadn't been there at all.

My teammates hoisted me up on their broad shoulders and paraded out of the pool area toward the locker room, which upon our entrance broke out into celebration. The support from my team was immensely strong, each and every one of them congratulated me. They even invited me to celebrate at someone's house later, but that plan was shut down by the Stolls who weren't able to attend. Connor had suggested we rescheduled for tomorrow, which the team happily agreed to.

The crowd of awe-filled spectators hadn't dissipated until long after the Chase's stretch limo had sped from the parking lot, exhaust flumes wafting from the exhaust pipe. A goofy smiled still clung to my face as we made our way home, a surge of giddiness rocketing through my system and consuming every other thought and emotion I had.

Mr. Chase leaned forward in his seat and patted me on the shoulder, pride on his face. "Great job, Percy. You're a remarkable young man who has a bright future ahead of him. You have an amazing talent." He removed his hand, sinking back into his seat. "Titleholder of a school record. Who would've thought?" Mr. Chase murmured more to himself than me, disbelief running off his words.

He was right. Who would've thought that I, ordinary Percy Jackson, could have not only won a medal his first swim meet, but broken a record in the process? Certainly not me.

"Percy, honey, we are so proud of you." Mrs. Chase added, sending a warm smile at me.

Before she could add more, the twins, who'd been silent the whole ride and had an almost star-struck look on their faces, piped up.

"Oh. My. God. Percy, do you have any idea what you just did? Wow, I'm shocked. That was amazing. You are so awesome." Matthew was practically fangirling as rambled on and on about how cool I'd been and how much he wanted my autograph.

"Can you teach me how to swim like that? I want to be just as good as you." Bobby asked, shooting me a look I just couldn't say no to. His wide brown eyes locked to mine and his lip pouted out a little.

"Of course." I replied, ruffling his hair, to which, he smacked my hand away.

"Woah, no messing with the hair. It's my best feature; the ladies love it." He smoothed his hair down, arranging it back into its normal style.

"You don't to impress anyone yet; you're like seven."

"I'm ten, thank you very much, and yeah, I do." I rolled my eyes as he popped his collar and threw on a random pair of sunglasses that had been placed in one of the cup holders.

The rest of the ride home was filled by goofing around with the boys and Mrs. Chase starting conversation occasionally. Both twins had groaned the moment we'd pulled into the horseshoe driveway at the house. For the umpteenth time, they explained yet again how much more they like the limo than their rooms. They claimed the limo was more homey, which I completely disagreed with. And oddly enough, they even said they'd give up all their toys just to live in one, which sounded insane coming from them. They were crazy about all their toys, including those little Lego things they played with. One time, I'd asked if they needed help building something with the tiny blocks and before I could even pick one up, the boys had dove head first for them, scooping them up before I could lay a finger on them. They'd kicked me out of their room the moment their "babies" were safe. I'd never seen anyone more possessive of those things than Bobby and Matthew.

The moment Mr. and Mrs. Chase had opened the door, Bobby and Matthew had dragged me up the stairs so they could go reenact how cool their "brother" was to Annabeth. It brought a smile to my face when they'd said that and it surely warmed my heart that those adorable little boys thought of me as family.

Without even knocking, the boys barged into her room, but stopped short, looks of disgust mirrored on their faces. It was odd to see them like that; after living with them for so long, you learn that not much appalls them. Heck, they'd found a decapitated snake in the yard the other day and had picked it up like it was nothing.

I directed my eyes to what they were staring at and was met with a sight I was definitely not expecting.

A familiar head of curly blond hair was lip locking another head of blond hair, this one was stick straight.

Instead of Annabeth hunched over her pink notebook, scrawling away on her songs, she was kissing someone. And not just any old someone, but Luke Stupid Castellan. A twinge of pain zipped through my heart and a vile, green feeling unfurled in my stomach as I watched the two.

Bobby, still unable to speak from the horrors of watching his sister swapping spit with his least favorite person, clapped his hands loudly, startling the couple apart.

Both sets of eyes, gray and blue, locked onto us. Luke's were full of annoyance as he glared at the boys and I, but Annabeth's, Annabeth's were consumed by an emotion I couldn't name. They appeared conflicted, confused, as they darted from Luke to me, her cheeks a rosy red.

"Well, this is awkward." I said, turning to walk back out the door with Bobby and Matthew on my tail, not wanting to see another minute of her clutching him.

"Percy." Annabeth called, her voice hoarse and tight with emotion.

I turned and looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to speak.

"I-" But before she could finish, Luke cut her off.

"Come on, Annabeth. We're going to have to leave now if we're going to make it on time. In case you've forgotten, I have that big movie premiere tonight." He briskly walked to the door without even waiting for her, his shoulder bumping mine as he left.

Annabeth locked eyes with me, hers searching mine, but whatever she was looking for she didn't seem to find. Shaking her head, she gave me one last look as she hesitated to leave, but then followed silently behind Luke.

The remainder of my night was spent locked in my room, thinking over today's events. I'd won a medal, broken a record, and had witnessed my sort of friend making out with the guy I despised most. That last part is what took up the majority of my thoughts, but I didn't understand why. Why should I care? It's her business, not mine, but as much as I tried to tell myself that, it didn't go away.

I didn't get an ounce of sleep that night; too much was on my mind for that. That nasty feeling in my gut hadn't receded, only manifested into a muddled blob that made me feel sick inside.

And I knew it all had to do with that kiss, but why? I didn't have a clue.

Annabeth's Pov

I couldn't sleep; every time I shut my eyes, the scene with Luke replayed like a broken record, skipping only to the part I dreaded most.

The kiss had been so unexpected that I nearly toppled over the moment his lips touched mine. I hadn't known he felt any romantic feelings toward me at all. I'd thought our whole relationship was platonic, friendly, but obviously, it had been more to him. But to me, I wasn't so sure.

I'd had a crush on him ever since I was little, looking up to him, nearly swooning whenever he sent me one of his striking smiles, but things felt different now. My emotions were scattered all over the place. One moment, my heart was pitter-pattering for Percy, but the moment I see Luke, it always switches course. It was like my heart couldn't make up its mind, leaving me clueless as ever.

Part of me enjoyed the kiss while another, larger part dreaded it. I shouldn't have returned it, not when I was so unsure of my feelings. But I hadn't pulled back. Maybe it was to preserve Luke's feelings from being ripped apart. Maybe for a deeper reason that hasn't quite revealed itself. I don't know why, but I'd kissed him back and I should be giddy after getting kissed by my childhood crush. But instead of being wrapped in a soft, passionate blanket of bliss like I'd fantasized about for years, I was only thinking of Percy and what he thought. What did he think? Did he even care or was it merely a bug on the windshield that he could simply push away with the wipers? Was he awake right not, the same things zipping through his mind at the exact moment?

My heart craved to ask him, but I knew I wouldn't even be able to get the words out of my mouth. Even if I had, they wouldn't make a bit of a difference. The gap between Percy and I was slowly closing, but not enough to ask him a question on such a personal level. And besides after the way I'd treated him, he probably wouldn't think twice about my kiss with Luke.

So why did I keep hoping he did?

Yuck! Lukabeth! Not my favorite scene, but I wanted to give Percy a little hint on his slowly growing feelings for Annabeth.

Anyway, that's the chapter. Hope you enjoyed it and let me know what you think down in a review.

~TwistedTrident~