CHAPTER 6

I'm Not A Geek

ANNABETH

Annabeth was waiting. Her parents and family weren't home, so she was alone. And like always, she and Percy would have a movie night. She even rented a DVD, which was one of Percy's favorite movies, The Amazing Spider-Man. She laughed at the thought. Annabeth was never the geeky type, but her best friend was. He'd forced her to go on a date with him to watch The Avengers in the local cinema.

Wait. It wasn't a date. Annabeth forgot. When was she starting to think that it was a date?

Speaking of Percy. . .

Gods, where was he? It was already 4:47 pm, and Percy still wasn't at her house. She eventually got bored, and tried to call him. She dialed Percy's number (which she memorized) and tried to call him.

No answer.

"Where are you, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth muttered to herself.

She tried calling him again, without any luck. No answer.

Ugh. She hated it if Percy ignored her. Then her smart-ass brain thought of the worst scenario possible.

What if Percy was ignoring her again. Like he did at the past 3 months? What if he was back to being moody again? What if he realized he didn't really like Annabeth?

Wait a minute, hold up.

Why would Annabeth be worrying that Percy wouldn't have a crush on her anymore? Because I don't, Annabeth thought to herself. She was not worrying about Percy's crush on her. She just wasn't. Why would she be? She doesn't even like him.

Right?

Annabeth didn't hesitate to text Percy. She pulled out her phone and immediately typed words into her text.

Hey. Where the hell are u? Ur late.

She rested her head on her pillow and clicked send. But she was so tired from school, that she drifted off.

~oOo~

She opened her eyes, and just like that, she had a few minutes of sleep. At least she thought so, until she looked at the time on her phone.

7:04pm

Realizing the time, she quickly scrambled around the house looking for Percy.

"Percy?" Annabeth ran around the house, trying to find Percy.

"Percy?! You here?!" Annabeth shouted.

No answer.

She resorted to the only option possible. Looking at her cellphone, there were no texts or missed calls. Then she went to the house's telephone.

There was one voice mail in it.

PERCY.

She clicked the play button and played her Seaweed Brain's message to her.

"Hey, Wise Girl. Uhm, how do I say this? Uh…. I'm sorry I couldn't make it to your house. It's a bit late. And I got a little sidetracked, hehehe. I was with a club in school and our meeting lasted two hours. Yeah. Look, I know you're gonna be mad at me so, just do it tomorrow, kay? Yeah. I'm a little exhausted, so I'm gonna go to sleep early. Bye. See ya tomorrow.

Percy out."

Then the message ended.

Annabeth was a little annoyed. Percy never missed any of their meetings or "dates". And he never got a little sidetracked. Because that was explainable since Percy had a crush on Annabeth. And a club? As far as Annabeth knows Percy, he's doesn't belong to any clubs. And since when did Percy care about something more than Annabeth?

Unless you count the Swim Team.

And Percy was right. Annabeth was going to be mad at him.

When Percy's car arrived at Annabeth's doorstep first thing in the morning, Annabeth fumed. He was at the front door, hoping to see Annabeth.

Annabeth was still annoyed and didn't look to happy to see him.

"Perseus Jackson!" Annabeth shouted in front of him.

Percy recognized that look on Annabeth's face. The face he'd known for 11 years.

Percy's face turned sour.

"I've been worried about you yesterday! Where were you?! I even rented a movie for us! Why didn't you answer any of my calls?!" Annabeth was mad at him. Percy just grimaced weakly and scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry, okay?! I'll make it up to you, later? Okay, Wise Girl?" Percy smiled weakly, the smile that has comforted Annabeth after all these years.

Annabeth let out a huge puff of air and closed her eyes.

"I can't get mad at you forever, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth smiled.

"That's the spirit." Percy smiled back. "Now come on. We gotta go to school." They walked to his car as he put his arm around Annabeth's shoulder that made Annabeth blush a little bit.

Wait, again. Annabeth never blushed when she was with Percy. And to make things worse (worse, according to Annabeth), there was someone else in the backseat of Percy's car. It was a girl with caramel hair, wearing classes and wearing a simple white t-shirt that had sort of sci-fi theme and faded jeans.

Callie.

Annabeth stopped dead in her tracks.

"What is she doing here?" Annabeth asked, trying to hide resentment in her voice.

"Oh, she's coming with us. I promised her last night after our club's meeting that I could get her a ride to school since she didn't have transportation." Percy explained with no problem.

Ah, so that's what he did yesterday. Annabeth thought. He was with her.

Annabeth was a little annoyed. Gods, what is happening with her? She was never like this before. And Percy never let anyone inside his car except Annabeth and his mom or stepdad or his half-brother. And Callie was with Percy a day after she had her second conversation with him.

Annabeth's annoyance, she explained to herself, was just because maybe she was used to driving to school only with her and Percy alone.

Yeah, that's it.

At least Annabeth still had the front seat. Callie, to her, at least knew her true place in the backseat.

Alright, Annabeth seriously needed to go to the doctor right away. She was acting weird today. But because of Percy's obliviousness, he didn't notice.

As Annabeth entered the car, she tried to smile as best as she can. Just then, Callie herself went up to her from behind the front seat and introduced herself.

"Hi!" Callie said joyfully. She had this joyful aura in her, which made her a little more cute, Annabeth admitted. "I don't think we've met before properly, before? I'm Calypso. But people call me Callie." She reached out her hand to Annabeth.

For a split second there, Annabeth hesitated shaking her hand.

But she eventually did and managed to put on a fake smile. "Hi. I'm Annabeth. Percy's BFF." And she put emphasis on the word BFF.

"Nice to meet you, Annabeth." Callie said.

"Likewise, Callie." Annabeth replied. Though she really wasn't enthusiastic in meeting her.

Just then, Percy came into the car and started driving.

"Ready ladies?"

~oOo~

"So, what is this club of yours?" Annabeth was curious about the club that made Percy forget about her. She wanted to know. She needed to know.

"Oh, it's uh, maybe I'll let Callie explain." Percy said, and he smiled at Callie through the rearview mirror.

"Oh, it's the SGC, Annabeth." Callie explained. "The Super Geeks Club. We're a club for geeks to hang out with and we hold discussions on what we like in our world and have a weekly marathon. And we have meetings right after school. We go to cosplay events in school competitions too."

Annabeth heard all of that quite right. So that was what Percy was "sidetracked" to yesterday. He was hanging out with her and his fellow geeks. But she wanted to act like she didn't care about what any of Callie's words explain.

"Uh huh." Annabeth muttered.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, Wise Girl. It's just that I like being with these guys." Percy chuckled. Annabeth merely smiled back at him.

"Speaking of which, Callie, did you watch the new episode of The Flash?" Percy asked, now turning to Callie.

"Not yet. Haha." Callie replied and smirked at Percy through the rear.

"Well, Peek-A-Boo's in the episode." Percy added

"Peek-A-Boo? You mean the girl who could teleport? Yeah I read about that in one of my dad's old comics! I can't believe they're using her as a villain!" Callie replied. "I'll watch it tonight."

"Yeah, at the end of the episode she—" Callie cut Percy off.

"Don't spoil the ending, Percy!" Callie jokingly scolded him.

Percy jokingly put cupped his chin, pondering. "Maybe I will, Cal. Just for you. So it'd be less fun for you."

Annabeth couldn't handle this situation without a twinge of jealousy. No girl, has ever scolded Percy except Thalia, Annabeth and Sally. And that's his cousin, best friend, and mother. Annabeth was completely left out in the conversation since she knew one thing:

She was not a geek like Percy or Callie. She was just the intelligent, know-it-all named Annabeth.

After a single short argument with Percy, Percy had promised her they'd watch a movie after his swim practice. And after countless of a desperate hour, class was finished. And it was the end of another day in school. So what did Annabeth usually do after school? She either went home or went studying in the library. But this time, she went to the school's swimming pool, waiting for her best friend to finish swim practice.

Annabeth sat at the very top of the bleachers watching Percy swim.

Annabeth really did admire Percy whenever he was swimming, as he was fast as a dolphin every time he swam. Annabeth pondered what Percy would want when he was an adult. Would he be a marine biologist? Would he opened up a zoo for underwater animals?

Just then, a girl entered the auditorium holding all her books. It was Callie. She sat at the bottom bleacher, watching Percy swim and not even noticing that Annabeth was there, too.

What was she doing here? And what has she got to do with Percy?, Annabeth thought. Had they been becoming a bit closer since yesterday, but just as she tried to pause her thoughts, Percy came out of the pool and the sight of his body made Annabeth blush like a tomato.

It was the growth spurt that got Annabeth. There was a four year time gap where Annabeth was 3 inches taller than Percy. And Percy was this scrawny little kid that Annabeth loved to hang out with. But as high school got nearer, Annabeth taller than Percy shortened to 2 inches taller. Then it was just an inch. Then they were almost at the same height. Right now? Percy's 4 inches taller than her. His scrawny body turned into a lean, muscular body with six-pack abs. Annabeth would never admit it, but she always thought Percy was hot. Under normal circumstances.

Percy grabbed a towel and let himself dry, then immediately went up to Callie. They talked about something that made Percy laugh, and she left.

Percy, still in his swimming trunks and wet with a towel, saw Annabeth at the top bleachers and went up to her.

Annabeth's beating heart pounded a lot more. He was coming up to her, only in swimming trucks.

Wait, wait, wait. Since when did Annabeth's heart beat when Percy's abs were shown. She wasn't like this. She was used to this.

He smiled as he saw her and sat down next to her.

"Hey." He smiled.

"There's Seaweed on your brain, Percy." Annabeth commented.

"What?! Where? I just got to—" It took Percy only a second to realize Annabeth was messing with him. "Oh, you got me, Wise Girl." Percy chuckled. Annabeth smiled back.

"Percy?" Annabeth asked, willing to ask a very serious question to him.

"Yeah?" Percy said while wiping his hair with his towel.

"What's your dream job in the future?" Annabeth asked.

For a moment, Percy stopped doing anything. He looked at the top of the roof of the swimming pool area and pondered. Annabeth liked seeing him this way.

"I don't. . . know." Percy replied honestly. "I mean, I got my priorities set, I get decent grades, and I got my swim team with me, but honestly, I don't know yet. Heh." Percy smiled back at her.

Then it hit Annabeth like a sniper bullet.

She liked Percy.

Not the usual best friend like, but the like "like." She liked how he looked so handsome with his messy black hair and sea-green eyes. She liked that he had always been there for her all these years. She liked that he was nice and caring towards the people he meet. She liked how he was loyal to his friends. And she liked him because he was just who he is.

Just Percy.

Annabeth blushed at her realization and shock of new revelation that she tried to look down.

Then she suddenly felt bad for Percy. Percy had liked her. Percy had liked her. Back then, her brain wasn't functioning properly. She felt bad for breaking his heart and for killing the old Percy for 3 straight months and bringing him back again. She felt bad for trying to keep telling him that she didn't return the feelings, when in reality she actually did.

She'd always loved Percy. She just didn't know it yet.

Before she could continue thinking, Percy patted her in the shoulder.

"Anyways, I gotta dress up first and meet with Callie for a minute, okay? Then we'll hang out at your house and watch that movie."

He left her there in the bleachers and went to the locker room.

That was the moment that Annabeth knew, on Valentine's Day three months ago, Annabeth had made the biggest mistake of her life. And she couldn't undo it. And it was her fault all this had happened. Then a sudden realization left her something.

She was not a geek.

Not a geek like Callie.

Callie.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

AND PERCABETH SHIPPERS? DON'T GET TO EXCITED. ANNABETH MAY HAVE REALIZED SHE LIKED PERCY, BUT THIS ISN'T PERCABETH'S TIME YET.

AS FOR CALERCY SHIPPERS, YOU ARE IN FOR A SURPRISE!

ANYWAYS

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NEXT CHAPTER:

Chapter 7 – Certain Date

Percy mans up to ask a certain girl to a date. Even though they already have a date scheduled.

-OTPMaker22