#8: Prom Beats

This is the second to #5, Heart Beats.

"Elle, I swear, if you bring it up one more time," Annabeth started, rounding on the girl.

"Annabeth," Mr. Sharpe said from his desk. "An almost-agreement is an agreement. You'll go to prom with him." He pointed at Percy, who waved. "And Elle will go alone."
Annabeth was speechless. "But—but—you weren't even in the room!"
He shrugged. "I have my ways."
"Ugh!" She threw herself in her seat. Percy materialized in front of her.

"I won't be that bad of a date," He reassured her.

She shook her head. "Sorry—It's not you. It's just..."
"You don't like prom," He finished.

"Yeah. No. Yes, I don't like it."
He laughed at her stutters.

"That's okay. We can go as friends."
She blew a hair out of her face with relief. "Thanks."
He shrugged, his face impassive and amused and—maybe a little—disappointed. But she was probably imagining it.

"When is it."
She sighed. "Two weeks."
Two weeks isn't actually a lot of time to get ready—she had to get a dress, and he had to rent a tux, and maybe even a corsage (Although she definitely didn't want one, no matter what everyone insisted).

Two weeks passed in a mix of dread and anticipation.
Then it was time.

Percy was supposed to pick her up in about five minutes, and, standing in front of her mirror, she had to admit she'd cleaned up pretty nicely.

She'd pinned part of her hair back and picked out dangling diamond earrings. Tammy had giddily done her makeup and done her hair, making it more curlier than usual. And her dress was pink, not quite hot pink, but warmer than that. Annabeth couldn't believe she was wearing pink, but, hey—it was prom. It had a silvery sash across the ribs and sparkles above it. And it was actually strapless, and it was staying up.

Annabeth slipped on her silver sandals and went downstairs. Her dad got tears in his eyes, moaning that she was growing up, and Tammy exclaimed over and over how beautiful she was.

Annabeth didn't want to crinkle her dress, so she propped herself in the kitchen and watched the clock for the last few minutes.

Watched as five more minutes ticked by. Then ten, fifteen, twenty. Thirty. An hour.

Annabeth wasn't sure if she should panic, cry, or be angry. Or maybe just shrug it off and go upstairs, change into her PJ's, and watch a movie.

After an hour and a half, the phone rang. Annabeth didn't bother checking the number; she just grabbed it and hit the green button.

"Hello?" She demanded.

"Hi, is this Annabeth Chase?"

"Yes..." It was a female voice.

"I'm Sally Jackson—Percy's mom."
Annabeth frowned. He had his mom call her? What? Then she had to refocus, as Sally was talking again.
"I'm so sorry—I completely forgot to call you earlier."
Annabeth was halfway to fuming. So he'd gotten sick, or something.

"I just—with everything—the ambulances, and then-"
Annabeth's almost-anger melted. "Ambulances? What happened?"
"He—Percy was on his way to pick you up and he got hit at the intersection. He's in the hospital."
Annabeth nearly dropped the phone. "What? Which—which hospital?"
"Memorial, he's in room 5D. But visiting hours are over-"
"Thanks for calling," Annabeth said, and hung up. "Dad! Tammy! I'm going out!"
They protested, but she ignored it and ran to the garage. She flung herself into Tammy's white van, grabbed the keys from the flip-down mirror, and was out before her parents were out of the living room.

I'm probably going to get grounded, Annabeth reflected as she sped off. Or arrested. She was blasting the speed limit to bits.

Annabeth reached the hospital in record time. It was dimly lit, but she pushed through. There was a nurse waiting who looked up as Annabeth flew in.

"Sorry, miss, but visiting hours are over."
"Please," Annabeth pleaded. "I—it was prom—he got in an accident and I've only just heard—Please."

The nurse hesitated for a second, then sighed. "Follow me."
As they clicked down the hallway, she muttered under her breath. "You girls and your sad stories—wanting to see your boyfriends."
"He's not my..." The words died on her tongue as the nurse pushed the door open to room 5D.

"Good luck."
Annabeth barely heard her—she was rushing across the room to Percy. Collapsing in the chair next to his bed, she buried her face in her hands and cried.

His right arm was in a cast and there were stitches across his collarbone and a large bruise on one side of his head, surrounding a cut.

He appeared to be sleeping, although it could be drug-induced.

He was hooked up to an IV and a heart monitor, as well as several other instruments. Dressed in a dark blue hospital shirt, the sheet was pulled up to his waist.

After Annabeth had cried herself out, she pulled her face up and scrubbed it. She probably looked like a raccoon, but there was no one around to see-
He was looking at her. Looking at her through half-closed eyes, a small smile on his lips.

"Percy!" She gasped.
"Did my mom call you?" He asked blearily. She nodded. "At's good. I wanted her to." He turned his face up to study the ceiling. "Sorry...sorry you didn't get to go to prom."
She let out a choked laugh. "That's what you're worried about? It's fine, Percy. It's okay."
He looked back at her. "You look beautiful, Annabeth."
And then his eyes closed and he started drooling.

"So you're Annabeth," A voice said. She gasped and whirled, coming halfway out of her chair. A doctor stood there holding a clipboard, studying her through spectacles. "The boy kept mumbling about you."
He came forward and started checking instruments.
"Is he—is he going to be alright?" She managed.

"Oh, he'll be fine. Once that arm heals. He's lucky, all right. That car came at him, but didn't hit him that hard. Looks worse than it is."
Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief and settled down in her chair.

"Now, you can stay, but not too long. Visiting hours are over, after all."
And with that, he left.

Annabeth took a deep breath and put her hand on her heart, feeling it and listening to Percy's on the machine. Perfectly aligned.

Prom had been on a Friday night, so when Annabeth got home, got yelled at and hugged and apologized to, she crashed right away, not having to worry about setting any alarms.

It was almost noon when she went downstairs in an oversize tee and short shorts. There was a note on the table, something about going to the park, which Annabeth ignored since she hadn't had any sugar yet.

And then the doorbell rang. Annabeth stumbled to it, moaning.

"Of all the freaking times..."
Percy grinned at her, waking her up fast.

"You're...you're..."
"I am," He agreed. She tried to glare but couldn't.

"What are you doing here?"
"Um, I wanted to come, so my mom dropped me off. See?" Annabeth peered over his shoulder where a blue minivan was pulling off.

"Okay...but...why?"
He shifted. "I don't actually know. I just...I dunno. But she's not coming back for a while, so I can..."
"Come on," She sighed, pulling him through the door.

She got him a bowl of cereal and they both chewed thoughtfully, studying each other.

"You drool when you sleep," She finally told him. He raised an eyebrow.

"And you let your cat sleep in your hair."
Then she did glare, but only for a second. Then she sighed. "I'm sorry I-"
"I'm sorry."
She blinked. "Um, why?"
A pink blush started spreading up his face. "For not having someone call you, or something. I should've done something."
"No!" Annabeth was horrified. "Percy, you didn't have any control over the situation—you can't say that."
He looked surprised. "But I made you wait..."
She shook her head. "It's not your fault."
He regarded her skeptically and decided to change the subject.

"Did you have a pink dress?"
She started going red. "Yeah."
"I thought so."
"You weren't sure?"
He shook his head. "You know, they hook you up with painkillers and the doctor is a squirrel and the nurse is a walnut tree."
She titled her head to the side. "I don't get that."
"No?" He sighed. "Just me, I guess."

And then came the awkward silence that always came when a statement like that was made.

"Percy," Annabeth said.

"What?"
"I...don't know. Sorry."
"Stop apologizing," He said softly, coming close to her and cupping her face in one hand. The other hand stayed firmly at his side, wrapped in a cast.

Annabeth drew her arm up and laid a palm on his chest. His heart was beating fast, still the same as hers.

"We're aligned," She murmured, and then he leaned in and kissed her.

That's all for now. Review!