Hey! I'm a day early so yay! This chapter has a lot of drama and I think everyone will like it! This is the stepping block for a huge super awesome chapter coming up in the next one or two weeks! You guys will love it and I'm so excited! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson series Rick Riordan does.
Percy's POV
"Rachel!" I greeted, forcing myself to plaster a fake smile on my face.
"What are you doing here?" Rachel smiled back completely oblivious at the change of atmosphere.
"This is our special spot silly!" She said this looking at Annabeth and Annabeth frowned slightly her grey eyes filling with something I couldn't identify.
"We come her all the time!" Annabeth didn't say anything, but I could tell she wanted to. I felt the need to explain it to her so she wouldn't get any wrong ideas.
"We come here all the time with our friends!" I explained stressing the word friends.
"Maybe you could meet them sometime." Annabeth smiled at that tucking a blonde curl behind her ear. God she's so cute.
"I-I'd love too!" Rachel scoffed flipping her red hair over her shoulder. I gave her a waring glare. She ignored it continuing to give me an innocent smile.
"So I stopped by yesterday to talk to you, but you weren't there. Why?" She asked. I glanced at Annabeth, which didn't go unnoticed to Rachel. She darted her green eyes between us before they narrowed slightly.
"I was busy." I replied curtly. Rachel raised her eyebrows cocking her head.
"With what?" She asked skeptically.
"What is this, twenty questions?" I asked, before I could stop myself. Annabeth snickered and I smirked.
"God knows how much you love that game, right Annabeth?" Smiling Annabeth was about to say something, but once again refrained. So close!
"Anyways…" Rachel dragged out rolling her eyes. I narrowed mine. Was she always this rude?
"When I went by, your mom was pretty upset. She didn't know where you were either and she told me how strange you've been acting. She's worried it might be some of the people you hang out with." She purposely glanced at Annabeth when she said that last line and I stiffened.
"I just wanted to make sure you haven't been hanging around Leo a little too much, or…other people that may be of bad influence!" She shot me a sickly sweet smile, but I gave her a blank stare in return. I saw Annabeth shift uneasily in her seat and I immediately started to feel guilty.
"I-I'm going to go t-to the bathroom!" With that Annabeth hurriedly got out of her seat and speed walked to the bathroom. Her shiny blonde hair swayed as she walked mesmerizing me. Once she was out of sight Rachel snorted.
"Quite the social butterfly you got there Percy-"
"What the hell is your problem?!" I growled. Rachel frowned.
"What?" Rachel asked trying to appear innocent again, but I wasn't buying it. I narrowed my eyes leaning in closer.
"You know what! Why are you being so rude to Annabeth, she's done nothing to you!" Rachel's green eyes flared slightly at the mention of Annabeth and it only fueled my anger.
"Whatever." She muttered slumping back in her seat. I gave her an incredulous look. She thought this conversation was over?!
"Seriously what is your problem?!" Her green eyes flared again and she grit her teeth.
"My problem is that dumb, stuck up, blonde chick you ditched your best friends for!"
"Don't you dare talk about Annabeth that way, you don't know a thing about her! And I never ditched anybody!" Rachel shot me an irritated look.
"We haven't heard from you in two days Percy! Two days! You went from texting and hanging out with us twenty-four seven, to completely ignoring us for two days straight!" I rolled my eyes.
"Well I'm sorry Rachel! I'm so sorry that I actually have a life and can't be at your beckon call every second of the god damn day!" I retorted sarcastically. Rachel's eyes widened and she pointed an accusing finger at me.
"See! That too! You've got this sudden attitude lately, you even called me a bitch a couple of days ago-"
"Maybe cause your acting like one!" I snapped. Rachel looked hurt for a second, but for once in my life I didn't care. My phone rang and I used it as an excuse to leave.
"I gotta take this." I stood up and went to the bathroom, leaving Rachel behind.
"Hello?" I said once I was alone in the bathroom.
"Hi Percy! It's Paul." I froze for a second.
"I didn't know you'd contact me so early." I admitted. When I first called I didn't think he'd give me the time of day, let alone call back! Paul chuckled on the other line.
"Well it seems pretty serious, how's the girl?" he asked.
"She's fine, still a little shocked, but we're moving on…I feel bad though!" Paul let out a deep sigh.
"Look you want this girl to be safe right?"
"Yeah, but-"
"Then do as I say! You'll only put Beth in more trouble if she gets involved."
"It's Annabeth!" I chuckled.
"Same difference!" Paul mumbled.
"But different name." I countered back. He laughed and I smiled. I always thought they were supposed to be mean and serious, but Paul was anything but.
"Wait!" I exclaimed remembering something.
"Why'd you come to my house yesterday night?"
"I thought you'd be home so we could talk more, but your mom said you weren't there. You scared the crap out of her too, so don't ever do that again! A good woman like her shouldn't be staying up all night waiting for her son to come home! Don't you know women need their beauty sleep! Not that she needs much anyway…" he murmured the last part, but I still heard him. I frowned.
"You stay away from my mom and worry about the other one! Annabeth's mom is the real problem here!" Paul cursed and took a second to recompose himself.
"Ahem! Anyways what would be a good time to meet?"
"Uh…I'm not sure. I'll text you when I can okay?"
"Fine, I'll talk to you later." He hung up and I ran a hand through my hair. Back to Rachel. I thought stepping out of the men's bathroom. I ran into a guy on the way out and quickly apologized.
"Sorry man!" We said at the same time. The guy looked up and I gasped.
"Grover?" I asked at the same time he said
"Percy!" We laughed giving each other man hugs.
"Where've you been dude, I haven't seen you around lately!"
"It's been less than a week Grov." I deadpanned. He shook his head his brown curls shaking everywhere.
"I'll see you when I get out…" He turned to walk away and I was about to too, but he shouted
"Oh! I almost forgot to tell you that Leo and Calypso finally got together! It happened yesterday when he… Oh, I'm not gonna spoil it! He'll tell you at the table." I froze. Oh dear god.
"A-At the table! There here?!" I squeaked. Grover gave me a weird look and nodded his head like he was speaking to a two-year-old.
"Yeah! Is that bad-" I didn't let him finish his sentence as I speed walked to the table. No, no, no, no, no…
Annabeth looked ready to die as all five of my friends Leo, Calypso, Beckendorf, Selina, and Juniper crowded around her, throwing her question after question. She looked extremely uncomfortable and I saw her grey eyes frantically search around the room looking for someone…me. I gulped. I rushed over to the table just in time to hear my friend Selina another question
"So you just invited yourself into his house-"
"Hey guys! What are all of y'all doing here?" I interrupted sliding into my seat. I saw Annabeth shoot me a grateful look from the corner of my eye. Charles Beckendorf, a tall African American with dark brown hair and brown eyes, stood up.
"Hey man!" I gave him a man hug, but before he pulled away he whispered
"We gotta talk." I stared at him for a second before looking at Annabeth. She was staring at me with hopeful eyes glad I was here. I was torn for a second before I decided to get up. Annabeth frowned slightly.
"Sorry, I'll be right back." Annabeth's face crumbled and she glanced at my friends before looking down at her hands, a habit she did a lot.
"It'll only be a minute." I promised. Annabeth nodded her head, still looking down. She tried to act nonchalant about it, but I could tell she was nervous.
I quickly went into a corner where no one could hear us, Beckendorf trailing behind me. I checked making sure no one could see us, before facing him.
"What'd you wanna talk about? And make it quick, I wanna talk to Annabeth!" Beckendorf gave me an uneasy look and shifted his feet.
"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. We were talking to your friend and…" He trailed off his brown eyes falling onto the floor. I narrowed my eyes. Where was he going with this?
"And what?" I questioned. He took a deep breath before saying
"We don't think she's right for you." I bit back a growl at the statement, gritting my teeth.
"Who's we?"
"The group as a whole-"
"Well last time I checked it wasn't the groups life, it was mine! You guys don't tell me what to do!" I seethed. He looked at me like I was from another planet.
"See! She's right, you've never acted like this before! I think that girl's a bad influenc-"
"That girl has a name, alright! It's Annabeth! And who's right?" I asked already knowing the answer.
"It doesn't matter-"
"Who the hell is she!" I shouted. Beckendorf shushed me and I glared at him even harder.
"If you don't tell me I swear to god I'll-"
"Rachel! Rachel told us okay? Now will you stop screaming?!" I saw red. I paced back and forth running a furious hand through my hair. She makes me angry to the point where I want to pull my hair out!
"See this is what I don't understand! How does Rachel claim to know so much about Annabeth when she's only met her once?! Once! And why would you take her word for it-"
"Hey, it's not just me!" Beckendorf exclaimed defensively.
"The whole group thinks she's off-"
"You don't know shit about her! Especially Rachel! I don't need a group of so called 'friends' telling me what to do and who I should hang out with! Last time I checked my mother was at home!" I stormed out of the bathroom, and looked for our table. Once I found it I fumed at the sight. All of them except Grover were giving her distasteful looks as they spat questions out at her. Annabeth seemed to be sunk even further back in her seat and I couldn't see her face through her blonde curtain of hair. Rachel sat back smirking, watching the scene unfold while Grover looked over his menu. Talk about true friends!
I stomped over there not caring about the looks I received or even the glares. Rachel was in the middle of talking when I came to Annabeth.
"I mean how could you be so desperate for attention that you refuse to eat-"
"Shut the hell up Rachel!" I snapped causing all heads to turn to me. All of my friends looked at me shocked and Rachel's mouth twisted into another smirk.
"Told you he changed!" Some nodded their head in agreement and I lost it.
"You're a conniving bitch!" I spat and they all gasped, even Annabeth. I grabbed her hand startling her. She looked up at me and I could see the wetness building in her eyes. Had those dumb asses been paying attention they would've noticed she had been crying.
"Let's go." I pulled her up practically dragging her away from the table.
"I-It was nice m-meeting you!" Annabeth said as we left still trying to be polite, but all she got in return were nasty scowls. I glared at them walking even faster out of the place. Screw them!
We walked to the car in silence, me too angry to talk and Annabeth too shocked. Once we were safely inside I drove off. It was deathly quiet. Annabeth was turned away from me more than three quarters of her body facing the window. Her shoulders were tense and every now and then they would tremble. She was crying. They made her cry.
I still didn't say anything. I knew what they did would cost us. She was doing so good and now…we're ten steps back. I sighed frustrated. Damn you Rachel!
I parked in front of the park again, but she didn't notice. I sat there for a while trying to calm myself down. How could they be so cruel? They judged her without getting to know her! I never expected this from them…
A small sob escaped Annabeth's lips and I noticed her shoulders trembling even more. She sniffles pushing her head further into her knees. I placed a hand on her back, gently rubbing soothing circles on her.
"I-I'm sorry!" she sobbed trying to give me a watery smile, but failing. Her eyes were red and cuddled into my arm. If this were any other situation I'd be jumping for joy, but sadly it wasn't.
"No, I'm sorry!" I apologized.
"I shouldn't have left you alone with them…What did they say to you?" Annabeth shook her head.
"I don't want to ruin your friendship. They weren't mean they were just telling me the truth-"
"Whatever they said to make you feel bad about yourself, wasn't the truth! You're amazing." I gave Annabeth a few seconds to calm herself down before she started
"They s-said that I-I was a klutz and I should've watched where I was going when I bumped into y-you at the cafe. And then they said I w-was attention seeking and that I b-barged into your house uninvited. T-Then Rachel told them that I-I didn't eat and they thought I was a-anorexic-" She went into another fit of sobs and I couldn't believe my ears. What kind of friends were they to treat her that way? And for them to tell me who was right for me!
"I'm really sorry Percy! I-I completely understand if you don't want to be friends anymore-"
"It's their loss." I interrupted her. Annabeth blinked a few tears spilling from her grey eyes.
"W-What?"
"It's their loss Annabeth!" I repeated. Annabeth stared at me and I continued
"If they can't see how amazingly beautiful you are inside and out, then they're the ones that are missing out! You don't need them and I don't need them-"
"No Percy stop! Don't throw away your friendships for me, I'm really not worth it-"
"Yes you are! You're more than worth it and one day I'll make you see that! I promise…" I didn't mean to say that last part out loud, but she needed to hear it. Annabeth open and closed her mouth and I was afraid that I freaked her out. She was about to say something when her phone pinged. It startled her and she jumped blushing.
"S-Sorry!" She took a quick look at her phone before visibly paling. My stomach dropped and I already knew who it was.
"What did she say?" I asked. I saw her hands tremble slightly before handing me the phone.
Interview for Hermes Inc. at 9 o'clock sharp. Don't be late and don't screw up!- Athena
That's all you're getting! I'll try to make the next one longer. This is more of a fill in chapter because next chapter is going to be crazy! I promise. It will be so amazing your computers will explode from such awesomeness! Don't forget to review, follow and favorite and thank you so much for the SIX THOUSAND VIEWS! PERCABETH IS EVEN MORE AWESOME THAN NEXT CHAPTER!
See ya!