A/N: Back sooner than expected with a little idea. I've realized recently how badly I want to write an original book, and I know I've got a ways to go before being able to write something up to my standards. So, I'm going to try and use this story to hone my style and improve my ability. It'll be a much calmer story than Divergent Path (for sure) and hopefully you enjoy. Please review and let me know what you think, all criticism very welcome :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson OR the title of this story (Are these disclaimers actually necessary or did someone just start and we never stopped?)
Chapter 1: A Couple Run-ins
Annabeth loved southern California. Though she'd grown up in the Bay Area, specifically San Francisco, she'd been zeroed in on Los Angeles for almost as long as she could remember. And it wasn't for any of the normal reasons people seem to be dead-set on the City of Angels. None of her dreams involved Hollywood's silver screen or being an "influencer," like several of the people she'd met here claimed to be. Annabeth's affinity for LA stemmed from its architecture.
"The architecture? Of Los Angeles of all places? You're kidding," her dad had originally scoffed, and Annabeth had watched in real time as his Crimson pride bled through.
Mr. Chase had gone to Harvard, so naturally, he'd had something to say.
"If you're looking for architecture in this country, you're not finding anywhere better than Boston."
Annabeth vehemently disagreed, leaving her father's pride wounded. Her reasoning?
"Because it's done."
She had a deep love and fascination for the subject and would find it beyond heretical to deny the stunning beauty that was the city of Boston. Those feelings extended to New York City, Chicago, even San Francisco as well. But when Annabeth's father brought up those cities, all of which he preferred over LA, she'd give him that same response.
"They're all done."
During their summer vacations over the years, one after another, each of those cities had mesmerized Annabeth. She had learned everything there was to know about their architectural foundations, their influences, their origins. She could point out exactly where any feature of any building had originated from, and map out specifically when the historical influence had cemented.
And, after years of explanation, Mr. Chase finally realized that that was exactly what Annabeth meant by those cities being "done." Their rich architectural histories had an endpoint, after which the cities stagnated and any new construction just repeated the pattern. The cities had stopped developing.
But LA, like the rest of SoCal, was a hub of modernism, structurally and otherwise. Though Annabeth wasn't a fan of "modern" buildings at all, she found them uninspired, she loved what they and the city represented: where architecture could go next.
Immensely prideful herself, Annabeth's dream was to be the pioneer of her own architectural movement, and she knew that there was no better city to pursue that in. Which is why, to the further anguish of her father, she had impishly shredded her Harvard acceptance letter in favor of committing to the University of Southern California.
(Line Break)
Annabeth was only a month into her first semester at USC, and she already loved it. She quickly found that every day was another opportunity to get lost in the unfolding story of the modern city and the more-historical campus that was still new to her. Walking to her first class of the day, Architecture 1102: Design, Annabeth's head found itself in the clouds.
She'd never lie and talk up her campus as some impossible architectural feat home to an unparalleled historical framework, but Annabeth prided herself on her ability to find something she loved about every building. Still walking, her eyes traced the shallow Roman arches that adorned the outline of Memorial Hall to her left. She inhaled deeply, breathing in a century of the building's history, before she crashed directly into someone turned away from her.
Annabeth stumbled back as the man in front of her tripped forward. Quickly recovering, he spun around with a confused expression drawn across his face. Annabeth finally regained her focus, dragged out of her own thoughts, and her accidental victim's face shifted to a smile.
"Woah, you alright?" he asked.
Annabeth flushed red in embarrassment, realizing she had walked face-first into some random dude on campus. She moved to meet his eyes and apologize, but didn't make it past his mouth. He had a lopsided smile; it was roguish, almost teasing. And it immediately agitated her as she figured he must be mocking her mistake.
Her eyes narrowed, her mouth becoming almost a sneer. The expression came with practiced ease for Annabeth; it was nearly instinctual after growing up with two younger brothers and spending four years trapped in a building with high school boys.
"Excuse me," she snapped, though she almost immediately regretted her slicing tone.
He cocked his head, his expression returning to confusion.
"Wait, but you were the one that bumped into me?" he said, questioning it almost like he wasn't sure.
He opened his mouth to speak again, but Annabeth curtly sidestepped him and continued forward. For the rest of her walk to class, she ensured that her eyes stayed straight ahead. Annabeth couldn't have described that interaction as anything besides embarrassing, or maybe awkward. It also stuck with her longer than her stubborn mind would have liked to admit; she couldn't retain even a speck of information during her Design lecture.
(Line Break)
Next morning rolled around, and Annabeth found herself lost in another mind-wandering stroll on the way to class. This time, she was headed to Math 2260: Calculus II, meaning she'd get to pass the main stretch of Dornsife buildings. She walked along the red-brick road with palm trees swaying on either side as she neared the flagpole at the head of the path. Annabeth's eyes climbed the lofty bell tower that stood at the center of the buildings to her side, looming over her favorite corner of campus.
The tower had sloping ridges at its peak, and each corner was decorated by a wide minaret at the roof's base. Annabeth trailed past the bell tower, leveling her gaze and smirking at her favorite statue near the end of the road. It was a shiny bronze Trojan warrior, a gift from an alum she'd heard, and it stood protectively ahead of a row of Athenian columns. She didn't think the full-size Trojan would enjoy being there, spear and shield in hand, guarding a structure designed by the people that had destroyed his city.
Annabeth laughed to herself at her nerdy historical joke when a blur blew past her. It just barely nicked her shoulder and all she saw was a mess of jet black hair fly by, followed closely by a,
"Woah, sorry about that!"
The head attached to the familiar voice whipped around as it zipped past, and Annabeth lightly winced at the screech of a tipped skateboard grinding to an emergency stop. She looked at the rider, and immediate recognition flashed across her face.
"Hey, it's you again," yesterday's victim deadpanned, walking up to her, skateboard tucked into his hand.
Annabeth's calculating eyes sized him up, trying to decide what he'd say next and how rudely the words would be delivered. She was shocked to see him lean in slightly, narrow his eyes and exaggeratedly scrunch his nose.
"Excuse me."
Annabeth couldn't help but crack a small smile at his impression of her.
"You were the one that bumped into me," she accused, playing along.
He raised his hands in surrender, and Annabeth noticed that his smile came from his eyes as much as it did from his mouth.
"I was, and that's my bad. That's how you apologize," he teased.
"It's alright," Annabeth started, rolling her eyes, "And I'm sorry about yesterday. I don't know why I snapped at you like that."
He shrugged, still holding the lopsided smile that didn't seem so troublesome now that Annabeth had paired it with deep green eyes. Still, she could tell he wasn't some saint.
"It happens, whatever. We all have those days," he answered before he held out his free hand, "But anyways, I'm Percy."
"Annabeth," she said simply, shaking his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Annabeth. I bet we'll bump into each other again pretty soon," Percy said as he dropped his board and kicked off.
He waved a quick bye and Annabeth mirrored him before she continued her walk to class. She thought that this interaction went significantly better than the first, though it may have gone a little too well. She surprisingly found it took just a hint more effort to concentrate during the day's lecture on partial integration. But it didn't matter too much; she was already a few weeks ahead.
A/N: Little intro chapter, just testing out the waters. I'm still deciding if this is the story I want to stick to or if I should set it aside in favor of another. I have a few ideas waiting in the wings. One is a Pertemis where Annabeth dies (I cannot write another betrayal one, man, she's my favorite character besides Percy) and another is a ****** that starts in Tartarus at the end of House of Hades and involves several primordials, which I personally feel I've shown I can handle pretty well without it getting out of hand. Let me know if either of those ideas interest you. This story will be more of a "fluff" AU one, focusing on the characters (I expect basically the whole gang to show up in some way or another, also the gods, which will be fun) and it'll hopefully be a cute love story. Anyways, nice to already be back.