I don't own Anything you know or recognise.
ANNABETH
I have been dreading this day. I am gonna make a fool of myself again. I shouldn't have talked to Piper. She has increased my anxiety level from 10 to like 200.
Today we have the parents and teacher meet. It happens every 6 months. The kids are gonna come in any moment, and their parents will start coming around 12 pm. First, we have 3 hours of class and then, we have the meet in the order parents start arriving, after seeing the teacher parents leave with their kid.
I was perfectly fine, till, like, 45 minutes ago. Now, I am worried and uneasy. Piper brought it up. She- I m gonna kill her later if I did something stupid.
" Annabeth? I hope you are excited!" She laughed.
" For?" I said.
" You get to talk to Percy again!" She emphasised Percy.
" Shit!" I rubbed my head. " That's barbaric. I can't. I am gonna stutter like an idiot again."
" No you wont," She picked up her phone and slipped it in her bag.
" OH DUH! I will," I repeated. " You know what I did last time, I saw him."
" Yeah, umm... you did tell me."
I had told her what I did around a month ago, when Percy Jackson, accidently, knocked on my door. She had laughed at me. And I wanted to sink, and drown and die.
" I m gonna tell him something like- for instance, the teacher is over there while I point to the wall or the door."
" W- why would you d-do that?" She burst into laughter.
" I don't know. I mean, look at his face. And those eyes, gaze in them once, and get lost forever."
" Stop. He's not that great," She lifted a hand. I made a face at her and walked out.
Now here I am, pacing up and down in my class room.
The same will happen today too. I had managed last time, though. I avoided seeing/talking to him. When it was Perrie's turn, I left to go see the principal for some task(intentionally) and didn't return till they had left.(I heard, Fred had taken care of them.) I can't repeat the same this time now. What will I doooooo?
My thoughts are put to rest, the moment kids start entering. I stop pacing around, and sit down on my chair.
" Relax Annabeth, you'll be fine," I close my eyes for a moment and tell myself.
" Good Morning Miss Chase," A few kids greet as they enter. I smile and greet them back. In a few moments, almost everyone has arrived and settled down.
Three hours of class pass by quickly. We continue with Maths and English. Maths is where most kids face problem in higher classes, so we make sure they do it properly now. If the base is strong, the building will be too. Fun fact is that I love maths, so teaching maths is euphoric for me.
And as the clock strikes 12, I greet the first set of parents. It always starts with ' Welcome Mr and Mrs their surname' and ends with 'Bye Mr and Mrs their surname'. Sometimes, they thank me some times, they don't. Some are in a hurry while others have got all the time in the world. I talk to them one by one about their child's performance and behaviour at school. Time goes by, as, I keep meeting parents. I have 25 children in this class. It takes about 4 hours by maximum.
This day is the longest day in the history of my job. I feel tired already and a lots of kids are still left. The kids are leaving with their parents. The strength of the room is reducing. The plus point is if I mess up, not many people there to see. That's a relief.
Perrie's dad is not here yet. Its 3 pm.
I have met now all the parents and everyone has left.
Mr Jackson's not here yet. Its 4 pm. Does he not remember?
" Miss Chase, why is daddy not here yet?" Perrie turns to me.
" There's got to be a reason, I am sure, lets wait up."
" OK," She says softly.
Its 4:30 and still no sign of him.
" Miss Chase. I want to go home," Perrie stands up from her chair and walks up to me.
I bite my lip before, I consider ringing Percy Jackson.
" Alright I'll do it," I flip out my phone.
I dial his number. NO Answer. I call 3 times, still no answer.
" He's not picking up," I say after a pause.
" Oh!" Perrie says disappointed. We can't stay here for another hour. School will close at 5. Its only 25 minutes remaining. I can't even take her to my place because his dad won't know where to find her. There is very low chance he would call back an unknown number.
" Come on. Lets take you home," I stand up from my chair, pack my stuff and lock the class room. Perrie and I drop the key at the Office and get on road. I take her hand and we start walking, as she gives me directions.
Perrie looks sad.
" Did he forget about me?" She asks suddenly.
" No of course not. No, Perrie, he must be caught up with his boss and dying to come to get you," I grasp her hand tighter.
" I hope so," She says with a nod.
We walk 40 blocks to reach Perrie's house. I take a look at it. It's not very big and neither very small. I can tell from the outside, it has like 2 rooms and a porch and probably one living and dining room.
" Do you have the key?" I ask Perrie.
" No, Daddy says I'll lose it." She shakes her head.
" Should we wait outside?"
" Miss Dare has a spare key."
" Who's that?"
" Miss Dare is daddy's childhood friend. She lives nearby. I could run and get the key."
" Where does she live?"
" Come!" Perrie walks forward. I follow her about 20 feet to a big mansion.
WOW! THIS IS HUGE.
I ring the door bell. A lady with a warm smile, opens the door.
" Mrs Vin, can I get the key?" Perrie asks her as the lady ushers us inside. She works for Miss Dare probably.
The lady nods and walks towards a room with a closed door.
I wait along with Perrie until Mrs Vin comes back holding a bunch of keys. She looks through it, stops at one key and hands it to Perrie.
" Thank you Mrs Vin. Tell Miss Dare, daddy and I said hello," Perrie says brightly. The polite lady nods and we get out of the house. Its getting dark.
" Mrs Vin, doesn't she talk?" I ask Perrie as I m walking beside her.
" She can't," Perrie looks at me.
" Okay," I nod two times.
" Miss Dare hired her after daddy told her he couldn't see her jobless and homeless. Mrs Vin's sons do not care for her and her husband needs medical attention. She needs a job, so Miss Dare said, ' She needs a job, I need a helper.' And bing she hired her," Perrie explains.
" Wow!" I am astounded.
" Yeah Miss Dare she's nice. Comes over a lot."
We unlock Perrie's house, and, step inside. Just as I said before, it does have 2 rooms, one living room and a kitchen. I was right.
" She fancies daddy," Perrie giggles. My attention is piqued.
" A-and he?" I hesitate before asking.
" He," Perrie puts down her bag on the living room table, " never notices. Miss Dare is just too obvious. I can see it. "
Lord! I hope I am not.
" She's cute by the way," Perrie adds before leaving for the kitchen.
Okay, so he doesn't have a girlfriend. Just makes me happy to know that.
I can't leave Perrie alone here now. I call Mr Jackson again. This time he does pick up.
" Hello?" I say loudly because I hear some harsh background noise, like some machines.
" Sorry, I gotta run," He hangs up.
What's he upto?
I call the school and make sure, they tell the watchman, if a guy comes around, looking for his daughter to tell him, ' She is home and safe.' I scan the house to look for any photos of Perrie's mum, but, the only ones I see have Perrie and her dad, at the beach, at his office and one has a middle aged woman and Perrie sitting on her lap. That would be Mrs Jackson, Percy's mother.
Not 10 minutes later, I see a car pulling up and a guy running inside.
" I am so sorry. Really sorry. Didn't know how I forgot. I didn't mean to."
" Mr Jackson, Perrie is fine."
" Oh my god Miss Chase. Thank you, you brought her home. Where's she?" He notices me standing.
" In the kitchen," I point to the kitchen.
He dashes towards the kitchen.
" Daddy's really sorry, Perrie." I can hear him saying.
" I am fine daddy," Perrie assures him.
" Didn't mean to. I was caught up with some work. I-"
" Its okay, daddy."
I take this as my cue to leave.
When I am half way out, I feel some one grab my arm. I turn to see Perrie holding my arm and Percy standing behind about 5 feet.
" Miss Chase thank you," Perrie says and darts back inside.
" Miss Chase... you... umm... called me?" Percy says pulling out his phone from his pants pocket and showing me.
" Y- Yup, that's my number," I smile.
" So? What... umm... I was gonna save it. What-"
" Annabeth. I am Annabeth Chase," I cut him off, making it less awkward for him.
" That's a pretty name," He saves my number.
" Thank you," My cheeks flush red.
" I am Percy."
" I know."
" You should stay for Dinner."
He did not. Should I? No. I'll make an excuse and leave.
" No Mr Jackson I can't-"
" Please I insist," He smiles.
" Please."
" I well... alright," I follow him inside.
That's an awesome day. Dinner with your crush and his daughter. My heart is hammering already.
Over dinner, Perrie won't stop talking. Her chatter's too cute. I can imagine how happy they are together. And Percy won't stop taking about how thankful he is to me. He's thanked me like 15 times already.
" I should be leaving now. Thank you for the food Mr Jackson," I say after Percy has put Perrie to bed.
" Call me Percy, Miss Chase."
" Same goes for you."
" OK...Annabeth. Do you like coffee?"
" Yeah."
" Great," Percy picks up two mugs. " People say I make good coffee."
" Fine," I chuckle and sit back down.
I watch as he picks up a pan and pours water in it. He stirs the coffee grounds right into the water. I stand up feeling stupid, just staring, so I clean the mugs by that time.
He has boiled the coffee and stir it. In five minutes, coffee is ready. I take the coffee, transfer it in the mugs and hand one to him.
" Thanks," I say sipping the coffee.
" I am the one who is grateful to you and I will be forever."
" You've thanked me like 25 times already, Percy."
" It's never enough," Percy smiles.
" Don't mention it please, I know what she means to you." I take a long swig of the coffee, " By the way, this is really good."
" I know," He has a smug expression on his face.
" You are a good dad Percy," I say. " Perrie loves you a lot. "
" I can be irresponsible some times," Percy says quietly. " I don't want her to think of me as a unconcerned, nonchalant guy."
" She doesn't. She admires you. Managing a kid, a job and doing all household chores at 23 is quite remarkable. I mean, I could never."
" You are 23 too?"
" 25. Last month."
" We are around one year apart but, wait how do you kno-"
" Perrie told me, " I place the mug down and put up my hands in defence before he can suspect me of stalking.
" Does she... umm...talk about me?"
" All the time, " I pick up the mug again.
" Wow."
" Can I... Ask you something?" I say hesitantly.
" Ofcourse, " He smiles and there goes my stomach flipping.
" Perrie's mum-"
" She doesn't live with us anynore," Percy cuts me off. " Left when we were quite young."
" Oh," I can see he doesn't want to continue the topic.
" Okay enough about me. Tell me... okay...about your boyfriend," He looks delighted.
" I don't have a boyfriend," The truth flows out of my system before I can even think what to answer.
" Whoa! Not even a crush?"
" Well yeah I have liked this guy for a while now-" I hear myself saying.
" How long?"
" 11 months," I say putting down the empty mug.
" Where's he now?" Percy asks,eyes fixated at me.
" Dunno! Probably somewhere having coffee, I guess," I shrug.
" Does he not like you?"
" Nope," I say amused. " He's a busy guy. He doesn't notice."
" He'd be an idiot for not noticing a beautiful soul like you," Percy scowls.
*** Skip***
Since that day, I have been great friends with Percy. He says hi to me every time we have met since the past two weeks. I got invited to Percy's birthday party which is next week. He also introduced me to his childhood friend Rachel. Poor girl, she is head over heels for him. I also met Grover and Leo. On the other side, I introduced them to my friend Piper. Piper got well along with Leo.
Long story short, I am friends with Percy Jackson now. I am going to his 24th birthday party and Perrie's super happy about it.
There are only two problems with the situation
1. I don't know what to get him
2. My crush is getting bigger and bigger.(This better stop.)
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