Annabeth's POV
There was complete silence for a few seconds. I was sure that I was going to wake up from this horrible dream any day now, but that didn't happen. This was real.
I had really thrown up on his shoes. His shoes were covered with the contents that were supposed to be in my stomach. My mouth really projected the vile liquid that was on his shoes…Just kill me now.
I slowly looked up to see the utterly shocked expression etched across his face.
"I…am so sorry."
Percy was looking down at the mess that covered his feet as he began to take off his shoes without touching them. The smell was absolutely horrid and I gagged.
Quickly turning away from him and towards the bushes to the left of my house, round two came up and out of me. My stomach felt like it was trying to jump out of my body and onto the bushes. My eyes watered and soon tears streamed down my face by the forcefulness of the whole…experience.
The whole process lasted about a full minute but somewhere along that time I felt the cool air hit the back of my neck as Percy lifted my hair up. He slowly rubbed my back as I tried to catch my breath between gags.
"What the hell is going on here?" A voice yelled as my stomach continued to jump towards my esophagus.
"Just run inside and get me some salt." I heard Percy command as I gagged uncontrollably.
Afraid more vomit would come out, I didn't turn to see who it was. I kept myself stationed at the bushes, waiting for this horrible feeling to subside. My stomach hurt and my throat stung from it all.
Rushed footsteps came out, but I didn't dare turn around.
"Try to stick out your tongue Annabeth."
I could barely hear him over my own belching, but was able to stick just the tip of my tongue past my mouth.
I felt him put a sprinkle of salt on the edge of my tongue before putting a bit more down the rest of my mouth. A few seconds later the gagging subsided. I breathed in deep short breaths as I tried to supply my body with as much oxygen as possible, having been deprived for a good minute. It was a little terrifying.
Percy rubbed my back with one hand as the other continued to hold my hair.
"You okay?" He asked, and I slowly nodded my head. I straightened up, but felt the world turn upside down. I began to stumble but Percy quickly steadied me. He grabbed onto waist before gently sweeping me off my feet.
"God, Annabeth what did you eat?" A voice exclaimed as Percy began to turn towards the door. I saw a blur of spiky black hair and knew it was Thalia.
"And why are you barefoot, Percy what the-"
"Give us a minute Thalia. She just threw up." Percy snapped as he brought me inside.
Thalia muttered something vaguely along the lines of "Yeah, I can see that".
"Just call Piper!"
"Can you carry me to the bathroom?" I muttered tight lipped.
Percy nodded his head in response, quickening his pace. Dizziness settled in as moved and when he finally put my feet down on the bathroom tiles I held onto the sink to steady myself.
I quickly unscrewed my mouthwash to wash away the disgusting stench and taste in my mouth. However, I could still feel it lingering and chose to scrub my mouth clean with my toothbrush, before rinsing out and repeating the whole process again.
I was aware of Percy's presence as he leaned against the bathroom door. When I turned off the faucet complete silence entered the room. You could hear a pin drop, and I was sure that Percy could hear my pounding heart.
It was not long before Percy broke the silence. "Throwing up is one of the side effects of a concussion, but I guess we already know that now…Sorry, that was a stupid thing to say-"
"No." I rasped, my throat still burning. "It's fine, how did you know that."
"Google."
"Oh."
I let go of the sink and started to wobble towards him. Percy quickly rushed to my side and helped me walk towards my bed. Even in my cloudy state, I couldn't help but notice how fast he moved away from me as soon as I sat down.
"I guess it's safe to say you got your wish." I remarked trying my best to keep the bitterness out of my tone. "I definitely won't be doing any packing."
He didn't respond. He wouldn't even look me in the eyes but focused on something else in the room. I watched as he casually walked to my dresser, my closet and then back without uttering a single word.
"Okay." I muttered adjusting myself on my bed as Percy picked up a small marble looking object at the corner of my dresser. His back was towards me but saw his muscles tense as he examined his palm. He paused for a second before sharply turning around to face me just as I asked,
"Shouldn't we have boxes-"
"Do you know what this is?" Percy interrupted as he walked towards me. I cocked my head when he practically shoved a tiny black cube in my face.
Shifting away I took it into my hand and inspected the object. It was tiny, black, cube shaped figure that couldn't be bigger than a small rock. I frowned and shrugged my shoulders. I'd never noticed such an object in my room and held it out towards Percy.
"No, I've never seen it before."
I barely had time to finish my sentence before Percy ripped the cube out of my hand and threw it against the wall. I stood transfixed for a moment. His eyes were wide and had a wild, bizarre glint in them.
"W-What are you doing?!" I yelped as he rushed towards the now shattered cube. He collected the pieces in his hand before presenting them to me.
"This," He said showing me various wires and fragments. "was a camera."
My stomach dropped and I felt like I was going to throw up again. He put the broken pieces in my hand and I examined them. My throat was tight as I held the now shattered nanny cam, feeling utterly violated.
"I found one in my room today as well."
"You found a c-camera…Oh my God."
Embarrassment and anger fill my body as I try to process the idea of someone…of a family member stooping so low as to put a camera in my room. All those times where I thought I was alone and safe in the comfort of my room, flashed into my mind on replay, leaving me with a sense of utter violation. I let the pieces drop to the floor and neither of us said anything for a while. Silence fills the tense room as I struggle between wanting to cry and scream at the same time.
"You need to rest and I have to pack." Percy mutters standing up, shattering the silence as he did the camera. "We'll talk about this later."
He starts to leave and I almost let him, when I came to my senses.
"No."
Percy pauses mid step, his back still facing me. Letting out a sigh he shakes his head. "Just forget about it-"
"No." I say more forcefully. I hear him shift and finally look up. "Why didn't you tell me my mom put a camera in your room."
The question throws him off guard and he shakes his head, as I continue to reflect.
"Let's just-"
"Why didn't you tell me?" I insist.
I had a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach since our argument and I believe I know why. Looking at the ground Percy shrugged nonchalantly, though we both knew this was not a nonchalant conversation.
"I didn't know if your Mom was behind it or not. I wanted to make sure before-"
"Obviously, my mom's behind it all. She's behind everything that's happened but you knew that so…why didn't you tell me?" I stressed already knowing the answer in my heart. "You found the camera today, and you've could've told me earlier but you chose not to…why?"
"I just didn't want to worry you." He lied, our eyes meeting for a couple of seconds before disconnecting.
I felt tears well up in my eyes as the shock finally settled in. As I realized what he had done. "You didn't want to worry me?" I chuckled as a tear fell. "You act cold and distant the second we step out of your Dad's office, and you didn't wanna worry me? You ignore me, leaving me to wonder why and you didn't want to worry me?"
He doesn't respond and I shake my head. "No. See you might not think you're smart Percy, but I know you are. Smart enough to know that there's no way my Mom could've planted the camera's herself. Smart enough to know that she must've used someone…"
"We'll figure it out later, but you're in no condition to be stressing." He finally said his tone much softer and I laugh as I wipe away my stray tears.
"You actually thought I was capable of…that?"
A pregnant silence erupted as I held back another wave of tears and he refused to meet my eyes. "Look at me." I commanded and he reluctantly did so. "How could you think that?"
"I wasn't sure."
"But you were! You thought I put a camera in your room to spy on you! You thought I was working for my mother, that I would stoop so low as to befriend you, gain your trust, become more than friends, only to stab you in the back. You never trusted me-"
"That's not true." Percy said taking a step towards me but I crawl back so that I'm on the opposite side of the bed.
"Then what is?" My voice wavers and I swallow hard. "You don't trust me! But let me recap what's happened over the last few days. You bumped into me at the café,youare the son of my mother's biggest rival, youwere there when my mom threatened me on the phone and youare one of the only people I've let into my room. There's so many reasons why I shouldn't have trusted you, but I never once doubted you because I didn't care about who your father was. I didn't care about our parents' stupid rivalry because I saw you and only you…But you couldn't do the same."
The door opened and in entered Thalia along with Piper.
"Look who stopped by-" Thalia paused mid-sentence as Piper gasped.
"Annabeth! What happened, what's wrong?" Piper walked past Percy, to appear by my side as Thalia remained on the opposite side next to Percy. She wrapped an arm around me as I wiped more tears away.
"What's going on?" Thalia muttered standing awkwardly between her cousin and I.
"Nothing. Percy was just on his way out." I replied. "He didn't want to come here anyway."
Nobody said anything for a few seconds as I felt Percy's eyes on me. Piper's hands guided me towards sitting on my bed and suddenly my body was too weak to protest. Adrenaline was pumping through me leaving me with that weird jittery feeling in my legs and arms.
"You look pale, Anna." Piper noted concerned. "You should rest."
My lips quivered and I bit my tongue in an attempt to stop the tears from flowing. The room was quiet. I lied down on my side and felt Piper's hand rubbing my shoulder.
"I'm gonna go." I heard him say. "I'll have my dad arrange someone to pack your stuff and transfer it to your new place."
"Don't worry about it, I got it." Thalia cut in. "I'll pack her stuff, just leave."
A pregnant pause occurred and I felt Piper inhale before letting out a sigh.
"What?" Thalia muttered defensively. "He's obviously upset her so he should leave, like now."
After another short pause footsteps made their way towards the door.
"I'm gonna help with the packing as well." Piper comforted, though I'm not sure if it was for Percy or me. "We can load the stuff in my car."
I remained silent.
"Is that okay with you Annabeth?" Piper asked and I nodded my head. Another pregnant pause passed until I heard Percy mutter a thanks towards Piper and another apology in my direction. A few seconds later I heard the door shut and he was gone.
Well…that was a bit sad. Tell me what you guys think is going to happen! Next chapter is going to take place a little later and you're going to see a rather different side of Annabeth! The story line is going to pick up and things are going to get really interesting, some missing strings are going to get pulled together!
PERCABETH IS COOLITUDE (I'm just making up words now)