Hey everyone... *waves shyly*
I have missed posting for this story so I finally decided to finish this future-take I started many months ago to celebrate a few things.
I have officially entered the adult world and it was confirmed with my first job ever! I started this week and I am still excited about it. Yay! Another good thing to celebrate is my sister's graduation that just happened. And I thought to myself, what better way to celebrate with a few more of Geek, Goth, Love.
I hope I still have someone interested to read what I have for you guys, it's not much, bit it's something. All mistakes are mine.
I hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.
Their Year Apart (sort of)
Percy
You know how everyone says that senior year will be the highlight of your high school career and that it would a blast and that you will never forget it? Yeah, well… for me, it was anything but. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad by any means, I just sulked a lot… Like a lot.
All throughout high school, my only friend was Nico and occasionally Hazel, but they're my cousins, so they don't really count. I wasn't really bullied, not in the traditional sense, anyway. But I was ignored. I didn't really mind, since I always managed to bore the people who decided to grace me with their presence every blue moon.
That is why junior year was different, because out of nowhere I found a girl who didn't care about the outside, she didn't care about what others thought. She just got to know me and what she saw, she loved. With that, came more friends other than my cousins. But now, since my soul mate and said friends were off to college, I became a pouty teenager. I did have Hazel and Rachel to keep me company on occasion however. They had bonded over the summer a lot, since Rachel started dating Nico and now you could say they were best friends. Good news was that my final year of high school wasn't a total waste.
My shy-ness and geeky-ness never left me, however, and I never expected it to. But I had become more confident in myself, I guess having a girlfriend can do that to a person. At the beginning of the year, I decided to do some volunteer work in the local aquarium and ended up becoming friends with a guy named Tyson who volunteered there and went to school with me as well. He was a huge guy with a tough exterior but he is really just a goofball. I also managed to befriend a guy named Grover. He reminded me of myself actually, back when I was a shy geeky sophomore and I actually managed to bond well with him and prompt him to ask out the girl he was crushing on. The worst that could happen is she says no and laughs in his face, but there was also the possibility of her saying yes.
She, of course, said yes.
Overall, senior year was fun. I made new friends, participated more in class as well as school events. But I missed Annabeth terribly. The first few months, I saw her all of three times just because she was so busy settling in and getting the hang of her new environment. She even managed to snag a job in the campus music store, which she loved.
But the worst time we ever had was when we had our big fight. The hurt we suffered from the other was indescribable, and the words said in the heat of the moment will never be able to be unsaid.
But, somehow, we pulled through…
GGL
Around October, I became jealous over the fact that she was having so much fun, while I was over here moping and missing her. Let me explain…
"Oh my gods, Percy! My roommate Thalia is so amazing. She got tickets for us to go see Linkin Park this Saturday." Annabeth mentioned over the phone one Wednesday afternoon.
"What? I thought you were coming home this weekend? Remember we had a day planned?"
"Oh, shit. I'm sorry Percy. It's just that Thalia's dad knows their manager and got us free tickets and backstage passes. I couldn't say no."
I sighed, disappointed. "It's all right. I can probably make time to come over earlier then. At what time is the show?"
"Oh, um…" Annabeth paused for a long time, and I realized she didn't mean the tickets were for us. "Well, they're kind of for Thalia and me…" her voice was regretful, and maybe a little sad but I was too humiliated to care.
"OH, ok. That's fine. I hope you have fun. C-call me when you can," I rushed out.
"Percy, I'm sorry. I love you." Annabeth whispered, which only made this more embarrassing.
"Me too." I hung up.
She didn't call until Sunday morning. Her calls were less frequent now, and when I would call her, she wouldn't pick up, or it would go to voicemail. She mostly apologized and planned to make it up to me by coming over after her classes ended on Thursday. I didn't dare get my hopes up.
It was a good thing too, because Thursday evening rolled around and she called saying she wasn't going to make it because she was getting behind on her work and forgot to study for an exam she was having Monday morning. I was heartbroken, but I understood.
I ate the dinner I had made for her, watching the movie marathon I had planned, all by myself.
After school ended on Friday, I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself. My girlfriend was working her ass off in school and I wasn't doing much but begging for her attention like a lost puppy. So, I decided I was going to surprise her by bringing lunch and moral support to make her studying easier. At exactly 4:30, I parked outside her dorm with Chinese takeout and climbed up the stairs to her room. I heard laughing inside, so I assumed her and Thalia were busy studying together. I didn't bother to knock I just opened the door with a big smile on my face.
My smile vanished when I saw Annabeth laughing with a guy sitting on her bed. She looked up at me surprised.
"Percy! Oh my god you're here!" she screamed running towards me and tackling me with a hug. My body tensed as I tried to return it, eyeing the guy who was still laughing. Annabeth noticed and smiled up at me, pulling me inside the room. "Percy this is Malcolm. Malcolm, this is Percy." Malcolm stood up, eyeing me carefully. He was tall, and buff, and other stuff. I didn't like it.
"Ahh, so this is the famous Percy. It's good to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you." Malcolm said extending his hand for me to shake.
I shook it out of politeness. "I can't say the same," I replied bluntly. He seemed to catch my meaning and smirked. I shook myself out of my funk, ignoring his face. "I uh, brought you lunch. I didn't want you to starve yourself while studying," I explain somewhat sarcastically, motioning towards the bag in my hand.
No one seemed to catch it though. "Awesome, did you bring eggrolls?" Annabeth asks yanking the food from me. When she found them, she cheered and gave me a sloppy kiss on the mouth before sitting down and ravishing her meal.
"Ok, well, I-I'ma go…" I said awkwardly pointing towards the door.
"What? You're not staying?" Annabeth exclaimed, eyes wide.
"Um, no, I-I am doing some errands for my mom. I have to go now." I didn't know I could be such a good liar, when the moment presented itself.
"Oh, ok." Annabeth replied quietly. She stood up and kissed me chastely. "Call me when you get home." I nodded, and made my way out the door.
I didn't bother to call her. Childish, I know, but I was having trouble processing what I just saw. I didn't want to jump to conclusions but I didn't know what to think.
GGL
Annabeth called many times that night. I didn't bother to answer, instead I laid in my bed and pretended I was tired and falling asleep. Although inside, I was the complete opposite.
I was reeling… and very much awake.
I had so many questions, but I wasn't ready for the answers. I just did not want to think about what I saw and what has been going on the past few months. I was too much of a chicken shit to think about it.
Saturday morning I woke up to a quiet house. My parents were off too work and I had the whole house to myself. Or at least I thought I did, until I saw Annabeth sitting on my living room couch. She was wearing the same clothes I saw her in yesterday, leggings, loose Bon Jovi t-shirt and converse high tops. Her blond curls were pinned together in a messy bun, with some strands falling off and when I looked closely at her face I noticed she was glaring at me. Eyebrows scrunched, bloodshot stormy eyes, and eyeliner smeared at the edges.
She had been crying.
"Do you mind explaining to me why the fuck you didn't answer your fucking phone?" her voice was calm and cold.
"Have you been crying?" Yes, I ignored her question. I am a coward.
Her eyes narrowed and she stood up then. "I called you twenty-five times yesterday. When it was late and you still hadn't called me, I called you. After a while, I thought you might still be busy. So around eleven I called you again only to get your voicemail. You can't imagine how worried I was. Thinking something could have happened to you. And so I called your parents asking them if you were still out doing stuff. Only for your mom to tell me that you've been home since five…" she stops her rant, takes a deep breath and glares at me again. "So I will ask again. Why didn't you answer your phone?"
I feel like shit for making her worry, but not enough to forget what she's put me through for the past months.
"I will answer you only when you tell me why there was a guy in your room when you were supposed to be studying?" my voice is surprisingly cold and un-shaky.
"Are you fucking kidding me right now? You're jealous?" she bursts angrily.
"Why didn't you ever tell me about Malcolm hmm?" I continued, spitting out his name.
"I don't fucking need this right now. You are acting like an asshole do you know that? An immature jealous asshole!" she yelled back grabbing her keys and heading for the door.
Before she could go further I snatch her arm and pull her back around. "Really? I'm an immature asshole? Don't you think I have a right to be since for the past few months I don't even know what is going on in your life anymore? Or how about the fact that you canceled on me three times in a row and didn't even fucking tell me until the last minute? Or how about every time I would call, you never fucking answered?! What do you expect me to think when I decide to stop feeling sorry for myself for how much my girlfriend has neglected me and go to surprise her only to find her with another guy? ALONE!"
Annabeth stays quiet, then her eyes start to water and her lips start trembling. "I can't believe you would even think that-" she croaks out, cutting herself off. Her whole body starts to shake, she shakes her head and runs out the door to her car, driving off. Leaving me frozen behind.
Gods, I am a fucking idiot. And an asshole.
I quickly grab the keys to the car and drive off hoping to catch up to her before it's too late. For what? I'm not sure. I really don't want to think about that.
Surprisingly, I only drive about five minutes before I see her car pulled to the side, right before the freeway entrance. I stop behind her and get out of the car only to find her crying outside of the passenger side. Sitting on the dirt, knees to her chest, sobbing uncontrollably.
My stomach twists, and my heart aches. What have I done? I don't think, I just run to her and sit down enveloping her in my arms. I'm half expecting for her to shove me away and tell me to leave her alone but she doesn't. She holds on to me, her hands fisting in my shirt. As she sobs into my chest. "I am so, so sorry. I didn't mean what I said. Annabeth, my love, please don't cry I'm sorry…" I beg her, soothing her, kissing her head, stroking circles in her back.
We sit for forever sobbing away the hurtful words we said to each other, until Annabeth finally quiets down with a few hiccups and a quaky sigh. I let out shaky sigh of my own and lift her chin between my fingers, lifting her tear-streaked eyes to mine.
Even in sorrow, she looks beautiful.
"You have to understand that I- I mean not for a second-" I stop, because my thoughts cannot seem to form the right words and I don't make any sense. I close my eyes tightly releasing a gust of air, and with my hands cup her delicate face, leaning my forehead to hers. "Annabeth, I know what I said hurt you. It hurt me so much to hurt you. And I know I can't take it back, but not for a second did I think that you would do that to me, to us. I know you, I was just scared of what I was seeing. I don't want to see us drift apart and when I saw you with that guy, I just- I was scared that someday, I-I wouldn't be enough anymore."
She stares at me, with her intense pain-filled eyes not letting anything out. Her head lowers and she starts shaking again and I feel like such a dick for making her go through this. When she looks back up at me my heart breaks at the guilt and regret in her eyes. "You were right. E-everything you said before…" she states, her voice a shaky whisper.
My eyebrows scrunch in confusion. No. she wouldn't. "W-what?" my voice cracks at the pain I'm reliving with those words. Her eyes widen, panicked.
"No! Percy, gods no, that's not what I meant," she says grabbing my face in her hands this time. "I'm sorry for neglecting you. I was such a bitch for ignoring you. I was just happy with my classes and my friends and I wanted to tell you- I just- well I got distracted with everything and then I would feel so guilty every time I couldn't be with you," she stopped, sucking in a breath. "I wanted so badly to see you Thursday, to apologize for last week, but then Malcolm came begging me to help him with some personal issues. Percy, I couldn't just leave him."
I look away from her, trying to control the jealousy that is coursing through me. The thought that she would help him instead of being with me hurts more than it should, knowing that it's a very selfish thought. "Why did you lie to me then? Why couldn't you just tell me that you were going to help him?"
"Because I knew how you would react, just like you did today. Just how you are now. For goodness sake I hadn't even told you about him yet, you wouldn't have even understood that he's gay and he had a fight with his boyfriend because you would have been so jealous to hear me out," she exclaims.
"He's gay?" I splutter. Annabeth sighs, smiles and nods. "Why didn't you tell me? I wouldn't have been such an asshole. I wouldn't have hurt you like I did."
"I'm sorry. Honestly, I don't know why I never did. I don't really have n excuse for neglecting you as much as I did."
"We are such idiots," I declare, a weight lifting off my chest. Annabeth chuckles half-heartedly leaning her forehead against mine again.
"I'm sorry," she whispers again.
"I'm sorry too," I reply, reaching for her lips. She meets me, latching her mouth to mine as we kiss like we have been starved for affection. I pull her on top of me my arms around her waist as she straddles me hugging me to her like a vice and making me bleed with the intensity of our mouths clashing. I can taste the metallic of the blood as well as the salt from her tears as I caress the softness of her cheek with my palm.
"Let's not do this to each other again. Promise me, Percy. I can't go through that again. I just can't." Her voice cracks at the last sentence.
I stroke her hair, pulling it behind her ear, and wipe away a drying tear. "We won't." I kiss her mouth one more time before we get in her car and drive back to my house.
My parents can pick up the car later.
GGL
Safe to say, that was the first and last time we ever fought. For now, at least.
Afterwards, Annabeth would tell me about everything going on, no matter how unimportant it seemed, and I managed to not be a jealous asshole and not take things personal when she had to study or go to work.
I kept busy of course.
When my acceptance letter to NYU came in the mail in the middle of January, the first person I told was Annabeth. She screamed on the phone for a whole two minutes.
My right ear was never the same after that.
For Valentine's Day, we strolled through Central Park all day long enjoying the chilly air and the bright sunny sky. We didn't have much planned but being together was enough. Later in the day, we ended up in her dorm room, with our clothes off and our heated bodies dancing with each other. It wasn't sweet and slow, it was desperate, rough and hot. The last time we were together like this was New Year's and I had needs. Annabeth seemed to feel the same since she was the one who opted for round two.
In March, Annabeth surprised me one Friday after school with our friends and we went out for a night of mischief and adventure. A bonfire at the beach was the best and we ate sticky marshmallows, munchies and greasy finger foods. Everyone talked about their college experiences, their classes and their jobs. Hazel attached herself to Frank the whole day like a monkey. Frank puffed up with pride, of course. Jason and Piper were swapping spit and dry-humping each other every thirty minutes, it was sickening really. Nico and Rachel were still going strong and Annabeth had the suspicion that it wasn't too long 'till they said those three little words to each other. Annabeth and I sat quietly, she leaned back against me as we sat on the soft sand. My left hand reached for hers and I twirled her promise ring in my fingers as we clasped hands. She sighed and lifted her head to look back at me, smirk in place as I grinned widely down at her.
May was a rush. Annabeth had finals, and I had scholarships to finish. But we made the best of it when I told her that I was the official valedictorian for the class of 2014. She screamed for a whole minute this time.
My left ear was just as deaf as the right one.
Now, the day had finally arrived. I will announce my speech with my white cap and gown instead of red, as an honor student and top of the class. A whole year had passed and now, my future was within my grasp.
No. Fucking. Pressure.
GGL
As I took the podium, my nerves were shot, my cap was slipping from so much perspiration accumulating in my forehead and my hands were shaking as I placed my speech on the stand and checked the mike. As I looked at the bleachers, my eyes found my friends and family among the sea of faces, holding signs up with my name on them, declaring me as number one.
And just like that, my nerves were gone… and I began.
"A wise man once said, 'Do, or do not. There is no try.' This wise man was Yoda. Now this might sound funny, but ever since I could remember I have lived by this motto. Nothing is ever achieved with the thought of thinking you can't do it. It is achieved by knowing you will do it.
"Good evening everyone, we are gathered on this sunny June day to celebrate the fulfillment of these words. Because let me tell you graduating class of 2014… That is exactly what we did."
My words flowed freely after that, but it is all a blur. Everything is a blur. My mind can't process the thrill of this situation because all I can think about is the future. My future… and the people that it is meant to be spent with.
The crowd bursts in applause, and I realize that I have completed my speech as everyone stands to cheer and whistle. Once I take my seat, with my diploma in hand, I wait for the rest of the ceremony to end.
An hour later, I make my way through the sea of red gowns and proud parents, searching for my own.
"Percy!" I hear someone yell my name. I whirl around and I see my mother running towards me, arms extended. "Oh my goodness! I am so proud of you.., your speech, it was amazing. Oh my beautiful, smart boy!" my mom gushed all the while breaking my bones in the process.
She finally let go and my dad embraces me next. "You are a great man, son. I am so proud of you." I didn't know how much it would mean for me to hear my parents say this, and it affects me more than I thought it would.
"Percy?" I let go of my dad, and there a few feet away is my girl, as beautiful as ever, grey eyes bright and glistening, smiling widely at me with her plump red lips. She wraps her arms around me tightly, and I have no choice but to reciprocate just as fiercely.
GGL
I am officially a high school graduate. It doesn't feel real, but then again, it did just happen a couple of hours together. I need to let it sink in.
My family and friends decided to have a party for Hazel and myself. I was just glad to finally have this over with… and of course, have Annabeth with me and devour her with kisses all night. She didn't seem to mind that much.
"So, now that we are both NYU students, what do you want to do about it?" Annabeth asked me, nibbling on my ear and straddling my lap. We were currently in my room, needing to break away from the cheerful crowd.
I groaned into her collarbone, gripping her hips and grinding her into my body. "I don't really know," I whispered huskily. She wrapped her arms around my neck and tugged my hair, tilting my head so she could kiss my lips. I happily obliged. "As long as this is included every day, I am so good."
"Hm…" she thought sucking on my jaw. Gods, I love when she does that. "That can be arranged."
"With study dates?" I asked distractedly. Her grinding body was making me lose my train of thought. She hummed in approval and kissed up my neck then stopped at my mouth again. I tightened my arms around her and lied down, aligning our bodies. Perfection. "And quickies in our dorm rooms, or the l-library?" I added.
"Ooh, scandalous," She moaned. "I love you, Percy." she groaned. I couldn't hold back anymore, and flipped us over, devouring her with my whole being.
"I love you too, Annabeth."
Suffice to say, we didn't come back down for the party.
GGL
So, how was it? Any feedback?
I am currently working on the next future-take, but I don't think it will be completed anytime soon. However I do promise that it will be completed. Someday.
I miss you guys and hopefully you guys did to? By leaving some love?
Anyways... See you soon...
DLP
