Hey guys! I'm so so sooo sorry I haven't uploaded in a long time! I've had the BIGGEST case of writer's block. But don't worry! I've gotten an idea. Oh and make sure you read the authors note at the bottom. Enjoy.
Favorite Color: Blue
Disclaimer: I don't own any PJO characters or any of the songs used in the story.
Chapter 4: We Got Popular
Percy's POV:
Ugh…
Thunk
Ow! What did I just hit? I opened my eyes, slowly to see that I hit my head on a window. And not just any window, Beck's window. When did I get into Beck's truck? I picked my head up, hearing my neck crack from the uncomfortable position I was in. I looked outside and saw that we were on our way to school. Wow… that was fast.
Last thing I remember was leaving Annabeth's. I had stayed over at her house for the night. I had told my mom that I was stayed at Nico's house. Annabeth and I stayed up watching movies until 3:00. So you could say that I was tired. When I realized that I had to go to school, I woke up. And being the nice guy I was. I couldn't leave without telling Annabeth. That would've been rude.
*Flashback*
"Why do you have go now, so early in the morning?" Annabeth said sleepily. I walked towards the door and stopped in front of it. "Because I have somewhere to go right now." Annabeth looked at her watch. "At 6:23 in the morning?" I stuttered out an answer. "I, uh, have j-job interview." She rolled her eyes. I opened the door and walked into the hallway.
I turned around to look at Annabeth. She yawned, rather cutely if you ask me. I resisted the urge to kiss her right then and there. "I'm gonna go now." I said. She looked disappointed, which made want to stay. But then I thought about how my mom would feel about me skipping school and decided against it. What can I say? I'm a mamma's boy.
I gave Annabeth a hug. "I'll call you later okay?" I said. "Okay." She murmured against my collarbone. She was shorter than me. I still tease her about that.
She pulled away from the hug first. She looked like she was thinking about something. Then all of a sudden, she kissed me. Well, it wasn't really a kiss kiss. It was a kiss on the cheek. She blushed and muttered, "Bye." Before closing the door. It wasn't the first time she kissed my cheek but I still felt shocked. I reached up and touched the cheek she kissed. One day, I'm going to get more than a kiss on the cheek. But for now I'll have to settle for it.
*End Flashback*
After I got out of her apartment complex, I called Beck and asked for a ride to school. I normally get a ride to school from my mom but considering the situation, that would be a bad idea to call her. Beck arrived shortly after I called and I had to go to school in yesterday's clothes. When I got into the car, I realized how tired I felt. That was until we got to the school.
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"That crowd last night was awesome!" I heard Leo whisper-yell to Nico. Nico chuckled. I shook my head, still trying to wake myself up. Beck kept driving while Nico and Leo talked in the back. Beck parked the car and we got out. When we got into the school, everyone was staring at us. Especially the girls. They looked like they wanted to tackle us and kiss us to death. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. We started walking to homeroom. Then they started murmuring to their friends as we passed by.
"Is that them?"
"They look hot."
"Yeah especially Leo."
I could practically feel Leo's grin when we heard that comment. They kept talking about us as we walked. When we got to homeroom, the people in there stared at us as well. It was starting to get annoying. We took our seats in the back and tried to ignore the stares. Nico isn't the kind of person that loves attention, so he snapped. "What?!" He yelled at them. The girls just giggled. A girl next to us said, "Are you guys the Demigods?"
My face went pale. So did the others. How could they know about the band? Wait…
I turned towards Nico. "The gig?" I asked. He nodded. "The gig." I turned back to the girls. "Why, yes. We are the Demigods." Leo said before I could say anything. "Would you like an autograph, a free t-shirt, or perhaps a kiss on the cheek?" Leo questioned. The girls blushed and giggled yet again. The bell rang and we all casted our attention towards the teacher.
I wasn't paying attention. I was thinking about how everyone knows about our band. I've never been popular before so I don't know what to do. Do I pretend to be someone I'm not or do I just be myself? I kept battling my inner self. I was so in thought that I didn't hear when my teacher called my name. "Mr. Jackson?" He called again. Nico hit me on the shoulder and I came back from my thoughts. I looked at Nico. He pointed towards the teacher. He's calling you, he mouthed.
I looked at my teacher. He had his arms crossed. "Oh, um… yes Mr. King?" I asked. He sighed. "I said that you and your band should enter the battle of the bands that's coming up in January." Even he knows about our band?! Wait… battle of the bands? We've never thought about trying out for that. I turned back to the guys. "You guys want to?" They all nodded. I looked back at Mr. King. "We're going to try."
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"Can we sit with you?" was a question that I will never get out of my head. Yeah, it was repeated that much. The guys and I just wanted to eat our lunch peacefully in the back of the cafeteria like we normally did but everyone tried to sit with us. One girl even tried to kiss me. I told her that I had a girlfriend. What? Annabeth is a girl and she is my friend.
Even when lunch ended, they were still trying to sit with us. Unfortunately, we had to go to 6th period so we said, "Tomorrow." Before we ran to our class. In case you're wondering, the guys and I have the same classes. It's one of the reason we were best friends.
"Wait!" I heard a girl yell. I knew it was probably a fangirl but since I'm such a gentleman, I stopped. I braced myself to be tackled. But instead a pretty girl with wavy red hair and green eyes came up to me and said, "You forgot your backpack." She was slightly out of breath. She was really pretty but I kept in mind that I liked Annabeth and Annabeth only. "Oh," I took it from her. I heard Nico yell. "Come on Percy!" I looked at her. "Thanks." I said before running back.
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We were the first ones to get to English. When we entered, I heard our teacher, Ms. Edwin, quietly singing our song.
"And so kiss me, kiss me, kiss me. And tell me that I'll see you again. Cause I don't know, if I can let you go." I cleared my throat. "Um, Ms. Edwin?" She jumped. "Oh!" She blushed. "I'm sorry. Um, why don't you guys take a seat and get ready for class?" I nodded. Wow, even Ms. Edwin knows about the band. She doesn't seem like the kind of woman that listens to our kind of music.
Just then, a red head walked into our class. And not just any red head. It was the red head that found my backpack. She looked at me and grinned. She walked over and sat in front of me. "Hey." She said. "Hey, um, you know I never actually got to know your name." She smiled and held out her hand. "I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare." I smirked. "R.E.D.?" I asked. She laughed. "Yeah, I know."
"Well, Red. I'm Percy Jackson."
Ms. Edwin spoke up. "Okay class! We need to get started! Lots of things to do today!" We all groaned. "Oh calm down! I was kidding. We only have to go over your project. And yes you will be working on this over Christmas break." We all groaned again. Ms. Edwin rolled her cerulean eyes and tied her brown hair up.
"Okay, so our project is going to kind of be like a song writing project. Only we aren't preforming it. You can if you want extra credit." The class murmured. I heard a few people say, "I should partner up with the songwriter for the Demigods." I think Ms. Edwin heard them because she said, "I've assigned partners." Drew Tanaka spoke up, "Wait, this is an English class. Why do we have to make a song? That's music not English." She said it with attitude and if there's anything that Ms. Edwin hates, it's attitude. Ms. Edwin raised her eyebrows.
"English is like writing and writing involves words. Words is a part of a song. Music and English are more alike than you think, Ms. Tanaka. Now, if you ever speak to me with attitude again, I will have you do the alternate assignment. You want to know what the alternate assignment is?" She went back around to her desk and pulled out a booklet larger than an encyclopedia. "This booklet is half reading and half questions which will take you all of Christmas break. Now do I make myself clear, Ms. Tanaka?" Drew visibly gulped. "Um, no. T-thank you, Ms. Edwin." I wanted to laugh. Drew was one of the school bullies and no one except her friends liked her. Even Ms. Edwin hated her. Ms. Edwin put the book pack n her desk and took out a clipboard.
"Okay. Now partners!" She said going back into her cheery self. "First, Drew and Octavian." Drew grimaced. Octavian was the weird kid in class. He talked about world domination all the time and was in love with Drew. "Yes!" Octavian said in his nasally voice. "Next, Leo and Calypso." Leo smirked at Calypso, who rolled her eyes. I saw a hint of blush on both of their faces but decided not to comment on it. "Frank and Hazel. Jason and Piper. Silena and Charles." Beck smiled towards Silena. "Nico and Thalia." Nico blushed. He's had a crush on her for about 3 years now but he's never actually gotten the guts to ask her out. Thalia just smirked at him. Ms. Edwin called out a couple more names before actually calling my name.
"And last but not least, Percy Jackson and Rachel Elizabeth Dare." I smiled at her when she turned around. "Okay for the last 10 minutes of class, you could get started on your project." And with that she sat down at her desk.
"Um, what kind of song do you want to do?" She pondered for a moment. "How about a slow song?" I nodded. We worked on the song for a while and only got the first verse done. Then the bell rang, signaling that school had ended. Rachel gathered her stuff and got ready to walk out. Just ask her, I yelled at myself. I sighed. "Wait, Rachel." I gathered my stuff and told the guys to meet me at the truck. And I ran after her.
She was waiting for me by the door. "Hey. Can we meet at my house later? You know to continue working on the project?" She bit her lip. "Um, sure. Where do you live?"
"3647 Samson Avenue." (A/N: Don't look it up. I made it up.)
She put the address in her phone and then looked back up at me. "What time do I come over?" I thought about that. "How about… around 5:00." She smiled and nodded. "Okay."
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Rachel arrived at 5:10. She brought along a sketchbook and two pencils. I didn't question her on it. My mom was still working at the candy shop. I led Rachel to my room and we stayed in there, working on the song. After about 20 minutes of working, I stood up. Stretching and wincing when I heard my bones cracking. Rachel chuckled. "Tired?" She asked. "Yeah." I sat back down on my bed, right next her. I looked at her as she sketched a drawing a tree. She noticed me staring at her. She blushed. "Why are you staring at me?" I looked away and rubbed the back of my neck.
"I, um, no reason." I tried to change the subject. "Hey, do you know how people found out about the Demigods?" She looked up from her drawing and said, "Yeah… I thought you knew. Considering you're in the band." I shook my head. She sighed and closed her sketchbook. "Do you know Thalia Grace?" Know her? I used to be best friends with her. She is one of the most popular girls at school. She has this group that every girl wants to join. Except what everyone doesn't know is that once you join, you have to give up men. Thalia thought that good men were rare and the world was full of pigs. She didn't think about men that way until her ex-boyfriend Apollo cheated on her. Thalia was the leader to the group. Anyway, instead of telling Rachel all of that, I just nodded.
"Okay. Well Thalia went to the Demigods gig and took a video of you guys performing. Then she sent it to the whole school with the title, 'Best Band Ever.' Being the popular girl she is, she got you guys popular. Frankly, I think you should thank her." Rachel said. Thalia did this? Maybe we should thank her…
My phone rang before I could continue talking to Rachel. I picked it off my desk and looked at the caller ID. It was Annabeth. I looked at Rachel. "I, um, have to take this." She nodded and started sketching her tree again. I went out into the hallway and closed my bedroom door. "Hey Annabeth." I said into the phone.
"Hey Percy. How did your interview go?" I frowned. "What interview?" I heard Annabeth chuckle. "You know the interview that you left for." Oh… my lie. "Oh, I d-didn't get the job." I said while rubbing the back of my neck. "Aww. I'm sorry. Better luck next time. Hey look at the bright side." I waited for her to tell the 'bright side'. "Um, what bright side?" I asked after she didn't say anything. She laughed. "I'm sorry Percy, I don't think there is a bright side." Her laugh made me smile. Annabeth was the kind of person that would make you feel better by just smiling at you.
"Hey, why don't I come over? We could watch re-runs of Spongbob?" She asked. She sounded like she missed me. Like really bad. I rubbed the back of my neck. "Um, sure." She giggled. "Open your door." I heard the doorbell ring and my bedroom door open. Rachel came out with her phone in her hand. "Hey Percy, that's my dad. He said he was coming to pick me up because I'm going to an art convention later. Maybe we should continue tomorrow?" Before I could tell Rachel to stop, she ran downstairs and opened the door to a smiling Annabeth. As soon as Annabeth saw Rachel, she scowled. "Who are you?"
Rachel smiled. "I'm Rachel. Who are you?" I ran towards Rachel and put my arm around her. "Annabeth! Hey! How's it going?" I said in a cheery voice. Annabeth looked at the arm around Rachel with a hurt expression on her face. I removed it off of Rachel. Rachel was starting to put things together. "Oh…" She said. "Oh…" I mocked. Rachel looked at me. "I'm, uh, going to go now. See you later." Rachel moved past Annabeth while Annabeth said nothing. I opened the door wider.
"Wanna come in?" She walked in wordlessly. I closed the door and that's when Annabeth snapped. "Who was she?" I smiled sheepishly. "A friend?" I said it more like a question than a statement. She walked up and put her face up in my face. "Percy…" Her gray eyes were blazing with anger and hurt. "Who. Was. She?" She demanded. I scoffed softly. Why was she getting so angry? "Annabeth, I already told you she's just a friend-" Then the door opened. My stomach dropped. It was my mom. She doesn't know about Annabeth. Was is she going to do when she finds out Annabeth is 22?
"Oh! Well, hello there. You must be a friend of Percy. Sorry for startling you. I just got back from work." Annabeth's face immediately softened. I, on the other hand, was terrified. "Hey mom. Um, Annabeth and I are going upstairs. I'll talk to you later." I winced when my voice cracked. My mom frowned with a smile before shaking her head and walking into the kitchen.
I grabbed Annabeth's hand and pulled her upstairs. When we got into my room, I tried to reassure Annabeth. "A-Annabeth! That wasn't what it looked like. My mom was just visiting, like she does. She doesn't live here! I-I don't live with my mom!" Annabeth interrupted me. "Percy, its fine if you live with your mother but what I wanna know is who was that girl?" Oh my gods! Why does she care so much?!
"Annabeth. Why? Why do you want to know so much? I already told you she's just a friend. I-I met her at Starbucks. I went there after the interview." She scowled. "You don't just take a stranger home with you after meeting them in a Starbucks."
"I knew her from high school." I almost yelled that out. "You just said you met her at Starbucks." She sighed. "Percy, I feel like you're hiding something." I was starting to get angry. "Like I'm hiding something? Annabeth, you're the one overreacting about this! Maybe you're the one hiding something!" I yelled. Tears started streaming down her face. She reached up and furiously wiped the tears away.
"Yes, Percy. Maybe I am hiding something." She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. It didn't seem to work. I raised my eyebrows. I was genuinely confused. She chuckled humorlessly. "Percy, the reason I'm overreacting is because I'm jealous."
"What? Why?" She rolled her eyes. "You know why." I sighed and walked up to her. I grabbed her hands and looked her straight in the eye. "Annabeth? Why?"
She looked at me for a long time. She stopped crying. Her eyes were full of emotion. She squeezed my hands before saying,
"Percy, I love you."
Cliffhanger! Haha! Anyway, I'm sorry if this chapter isn't the best. I'm really tired and I feel like I'm going to pass out any minute. Okay, on to the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT:
Poll. I'm taking a poll. Should Annabeth be a singer? I've been thinking about making Annabeth having a secret past as a musician. I'm going to put the poll up as soon as I post this chapter. So go vote. Yes or no. I thought maybe I should ask you guys first before I make the decision. If you have any questions, PM me.
Okay I'm going to go to sleep now.
Bye!
R&R
