Chapter 2

"You've gotta be kidding me."

I shook my head, though my mind was wandering elsewhere. "No, it really happened."

My friend, Grover, rose one eyebrow. "So that's your first kiss? To some random girl at the concert?"

"She wasn't random," I said and then realised that she probably was. "I got to know her a bit."

Grover snorted and then stopped because he figured that it was a weird noise to make. "Are you going to call her?"

I shrugged. I'd added her number on my phone but I couldn't exactly find the courage to press 'call'. What if it didn't mean anything? What if she didn't want me to call her?

Then why did she give you her number?

For the fun of it? I don't know.

"I think you should, before it's too late. I mean, she kissed you – it obviously means that she likes you."

"I think it was the other way round."

"Did she kiss you back?"

"Yeah..."

Grover rolled his eyes. "You are so blind. Just ask her out and see how it goes."

"I never knew that you'd be so interested."

"I'm your best friend, Percy. Of course I'm interested."

I smiled and stuffed my hands in my pockets as we walked through the college gates. My phone felt like it weighed a ton, burdening me with anxiety and hope.

I only wished with all my heart that it wasn't a one off occasion. I'll phone her tonight, I thought.

XXX

"Mum, I'm home," I called, closing the front door gently.

She hurried out from the kitchen, wearing her pink apron that had a few specks of flour on it. Her brown hair was pulled back in a bun, though a few strands hung out.

Leala ran up to me, barking madly. I grinned and stroked her head, pushing her back down to the ground.

"How was your day?" she asked, ushering me into the kitchen.

"Fine, nothing too spectacular."

She nodded, pulling a baking tray out of the oven. "I invited Annabeth and her father over for tea – so don't go eating the bread."

I pulled my hand away from the tray of freshly baked rolls. "We barely even know them."

"It doesn't matter – he accepted my invitation last night. Oh, and you seemed to be getting along pretty well with Annabeth."

I avoided her eyes. "Uh..."

"So I saved you the job of asking her out – it'll be nice a nice change of company won't it?"

"I suppose..."

"You could show her the stream, it's a nice evening tonight, have you seen all the gorgeous colours in the sky?"

I sighed in defeat, though inwardly my heart was racing...either from the nervousness or the happiness. It was probably both.

"When are they arriving?"

"Five o'clock."

My eyes widened as I glanced at the clock on the kitchen work surface. "They'll be here in five minutes; I need to take Leala out on her walk."

"Then take Annabeth with you," she replied with a devious glint in her eyes.

I took a deep breath and pushed the hair out of my face. "Right, ok. I'll just...go and get changed."

I ran up the stairs with Leala following me with her tongue hanging out and her tail wagging. I rummaged through my drawers and quickly changed into something more casual and wiped the sweat away from my brow. Seriously, why was I getting so hyped up about this?

I ran down the stairs and took Leala's lead from a hanger in the hallway and picked up a few spare poo bags. I could hear voices just outside the door and I recognised them immediately.

The bell rang and I answered it, feeling almost as shaky as I did before my performance.

"Hello," I said with a nervous smile. "Um – "

"Frederick, Annabeth, it's so good to see you," interrupted my mum as she hurried up towards us. "Do come in."

Annabeth's Dad smiled and started talking easily with my mum, they both headed off towards the kitchen – chattering and laughing on the way.

I could feel Annabeth's gaze on me and suddenly felt self conscious. Hesitantly, I looked up and my nerves seemed to vanish. She was smiling at me with a calm confidence. I couldn't see a trace of make up on her face and she looked just as beautiful as she had last night – more so in fact.

Her clothes were nothing fancy, a simple light blue top and jeans that were ripped at the knees. There were tiny little earrings shaped like owls that only added to her beauty...

I realised I was staring.

Leala brought me out of my thoughts by hitting me with her tail, as if to say 'What about the walk?'

"Um...Hi, again."

"Hi Percy."

We stood there looking like idiots, with the front door still wide open. "I...was just going to take Leala for a walk – mum didn't give me much notice about today."

Annabeth nodded. "Need some company?"

"Sure, that would be good."

I fastened on my trainers and headed outside, shutting the door behind us. I never usually put Leala on a lead, but I kept it with me in case. Sometimes she could get very excitable.

We walked through a field that was full of buttercups and long wavy grass. There was a style at the end that led to a trickling stream that glittered with the orange colours of the sunset.

We made small talk on the way, laughing occasionally and walking close to each other.

"About the...um..."

"Kiss?"

I nodded, rubbing the back of my neck. "Was it...uh, you know...real?"

Annabeth smiled, showing her straight white teeth. "Depends if you want it to be."

"What about you? What did you think?"

"Me?" she stared at Leala bounding away in the grass. "I thought it was real. Love at first sight, huh?"

"It was," I agreed, wondering how I even had the courage to talk about it. I knew from experience that I sucked at talking to girls.

And from that moment, everything clicked into place. She responded by taking hold of my hand, which made warmth shoot up my arm and a smile grace upon my lips. Even with the little knowledge I knew about her, I couldn't deny that it was love. Pure innocent love.

We finished the walk and returned back to the cottage, the sun had almost set now and shadows darkened the way. I unlocked the door and we stepped inside, only to be met with a sudden cocoon of warm air.

I tugged off my trainers and dried Leala's paws gently, whilst she helpfully licked my face. Annabeth laughed at my expression and hung her coat up on the rack and then petted Leala's head fondly.

"Percy, Annabeth – I thought that you were lost in the woods somewhere," my mum said, poking her head from the kitchen door. "The dinner's almost ready."

"You go, I'll just get cleaned up," I advised, feeling sticky after the saliva face wash.

Annabeth laughed again and headed towards the kitchen, Leala padded after her with a pleased expression. I still couldn't process what had just happened. We were in love? It felt too farfetched. But then why did my heart thump loudly when she looked at me, why did my head spin when she smiled?

Maybe it was love at first sight.

XXX

I remember ever since that day, we spent every spare time we had together. We would go out into the woods with Leala and holding hands with the occasional kiss. My mum was delighted that we were together – which gave her more free time to talk to Annabeth's dad.

On the 21st of February, I remembered waking up to see snow falling outside in beautiful crystallized flakes. I looked out of my window and saw the entire landscape around my house completely white and unmarked by footprints.

My mum was down in the kitchen, reading a book with a cup of tea rested in her hand. She smiled as I went in, tightening the scarf around my neck.

Leala bounded up to me, with her tongue hanging out and her face full of excitement. I ruffled her head and poured out some food in her bowl.

Annabeth hadn't called this morning, which I found strange since it was a Saturday and she would always ring at around eight o'clock. I shouldn't be worried, but I had this nagging feeling that it was more than just a one off.

"Are you taking Leala for a walk?" my mum asked.

"Yeah, Annabeth hasn't called – maybe it's the snow."

She looked at me with a slightly surprised expression, though her eyes seemed sad today. "She hasn't told you?"

I creased my eyebrows, not understanding. "What? Told me what?"

My mum looked away with a film of tears in her eyes. I took a step towards her, wanting to comfort her but she shook her head.

"It's not my place to tell you," was all she said.

I started to panic, what if she was breaking up with me? What if it wasn't real for her? Maybe she didn't love me anymore; maybe I was being too boring for her.

My heart raced, but I turned away not letting my mum see my pain.

Maybe I had done something wrong? What if I said something to her the other day that she didn't like? I tried to think but I couldn't work it out.

"She's not breaking up with you," my thoughts were interrupted.

I spun around with a wild fire starting inside of me. "Then what is it?"

"Oh Percy, I'm sorry," she whispered hugging me gently. "But you should ask Annabeth, not me. She hasn't forgotten you, I promise."

I nodded, feeling anxiety coursing through my veins.

"Go take Leala for a walk," she told me. "She's got too much energy."

"Ok, I'll see you soon, then."

"See you."

I left the warmth of the kitchen but before I went, I noticed my mum sitting motionless in front of the television with her hands clenched around her mug. I couldn't read her expression, but I knew what she was watching.

It was him. He was on the TV a lot now. Time after time I would tell mum to stop watching him, but she refused and said that maybe one day I'd understand. But I didn't get it – why would she watch him if just by seeing his face made her sad.

Leala nudged my knee and whined; her excitement seemed to have evaporated. She stared up at me with her beautiful blue eyes, saying: 'Why aren't you smiling? I don't understand.'

"Me neither," I muttered as I opened the front door, blinking back the blinding light of the pristine snow. "I don't understand any of this."

She stayed by my side as we crossed the frozen steam and headed up towards the woods; she had picked up on my mood easily and didn't bother to find any sticks for me to throw.

Not that there were any, the wood was buried in the thick snow, the trees were void of any leaves and the flakes kept catching in Leala's eyelashes, making her whine and shake her head.

I spent about an hour just walking, with Leala at my side. My hands were frozen numb, so were my feet and my nose was probably red from the cold. The snow had stopped falling but the air was still bitter and whipped around my face.

Leala suddenly barked; her ears stood upright with curiosity. She looked up at me and motioned her head happily to a little chapel that stood on the side of a road. I frowned and looked at it, before spotting a familiar cascade of blond curls.

"Annabeth," I breathed, relief sweeping through me.

I ran up through the snow and opened the small metal gate that led into the grave yard. She saw me and smiled, but I could tell that she had been crying. Her usually bright grey eyes were now rimmed with red and shimmering with tears.

Hastily, she wiped her sleeve across them and gestured towards me. I slowly made my way towards her, the skin prickled down my spine as it dawned on me why she was here.

Without talking, she buried her face into me and hugged me. I wrapped my arms around her waist and stared deep into her eyes.

"I'm sorry I didn't call," she began. "I...just didn't know what to say..."

I was silent, not knowing how to respond. She started talking – almost as if I wasn't there. Her voice was distant...vacant.

"It's my mum's birthday – she died when I was thirteen. No one could fully understand why it happened, she was in perfect health...but I saw it. I remember hearing her crying at night, when my Dad was asleep. It carried on like that.

"I watched her every day for the next few months getting steadily worse. The months passed into years. Her face was so pale, it was almost grey. She hardly ever ate and my Dad started noticing it as well. The doctors diagnosed her with depression; they said that she might be able to get better with the right treatment and care.

"But it didn't happen. She never got better. She lost the will to live and I had to watch every stage of it. I had to watch her stare blankly at nothing in particular; I had to watch her live like a ghost for three years. She had given up talking...but I remember holding her hand as she shut her eyes, she smiled at me – it was weak but I saw it clearly.

"Then she was gone."

I knew that she didn't need any words of sympathy; she just wanted someone to hold on to. Someone who understood.

"Shall I tell you the reason she died?" Annabeth said – almost bitterly.

She didn't wait for my answer and showed me a small tombstone that stood next to her mother's. It was a pure white; amongst the flowers was a violin bow.

"I had a younger brother - Corey Chase. He...he was the sweetest child I knew – he was four years younger than me. He started the violin at the age of two – he said that if I got to play it, he wanted to try to. He meant the world to me...but my mum took it the hardest when he...left.

"It was late at night and my mum was getting really worried because Corey hadn't returned from his violin lesson. I should've walked home with him...but he wanted to walk back with his friends. But at seven o'clock I decided to go and find him, part of me wondered if he had gone to his friends' house.

"On my way I saw a crowd of people, I remember running up to them and pushed my way into the centre. It...It was Corey. He was lying so motionless with his violin case stranded next to him. There were bruises all over his face, but I was certain that it was him.

"The ambulance arrived, but it was too late. The paramedics said his heart had stop beating and there was nothing they could do. My mum took the news the hardest and then she followed Corey's footsteps. She was gone as well."

Annabeth didn't say anything after that. Her expression reminded me of my mum...broken and longing. But longing for different things.

I pulled her close, warming her frozen body. There was a lump in my throat and I couldn't get rid of it.

"I'm so sorry, I never knew...I – "

"It's ok, I should've told you sooner," she turned around to face me with a small smile. "I'm glad you came. It helped me let go, you see? It's all been weighing me down..."

She stood up and brushed the snow off her knees and adjusted her hat. "I – I better go."

I stood up after her. "Don't you want to go to my house? I don't want you to be lonely...especially not today."

Annabeth's eyes seemed to regain their former glow. "Are you sure?"

"Completely," I replied, taking her hand. "My mum won't mind, she loves having you around."

"Ok, well if it's ok with you..."

"It is."

We walked out of the graveyard with Leala padding after us with her tail wagging at the sight of Annabeth. Together, we ploughed through the snow – not saying much, but that was ok. We both knew that sometimes silence could be just as meaningful as talking.

I opened the door and quickly dried Leala with a towel. We hung our wet socks and coats over the radiator in the hall and stumbled into the kitchen laughing.

"Hey mum we're ba – "

My voice stopped and my smile suddenly faded.

My mum stared up at me with a pleading expression. Next to her was the one person I never wanted to meet again.

"Percy, I – "

"I don't want to hear it."

In a wild a movement, I was gone. I raced up the stairs with Leala at my heels and sunk down on my bedroom floor. He was back, after four years. After four years of pain, he decided to turn up – out of the blue and expect that everything would be the same.

But I couldn't hate him, no matter how much I tried to. He was still my Dad and it only hurt because i loved him. I could never hate him. But I hated the things he did. When he walked out of the door in the middle of the night. Gone, just like that. Without a note saying 'goodbye' or even 'sorry'.

"Percy?" Annabeth's soft voice wafted in through the door of my bedroom.

I was over reacting. Annabeth had far more troubles than I did, but she had remembered me through her pain.

I opened the door and hugged her as if it would be our last. "I love you," was what I whispered in her ear.

"I love you too."