CHAPTER 8

START OF A FRIENDSHIP

-Percy-

She was crying.

I noticed her sitting by the seam of the beach with her legs crossed and she was crying. I was standing on top of a hill when I saw her crying. It looked like her… could it be Annabeth?

I could spot her a mile away.

Her blonde hair was wet from the rain that was pouring. Her clothes were completely soaked. She must've been freezing; but it looked like she didn't noticed, because she was sobbing. What happened? I thought. Why is she here? I suddenly felt the urging need to protect her. I've never seen Annabeth cry before, ever. I always thought of her as a strong person who could hold herself. But here she was, breaking down in front of my own eyes.

I decided to walk slowly near her. I wanted to help her for some reason. As I got closer to her, I could see how miserable she was.

She didn't seem to notice I was there, so quietly, I said, "Annabeth?"

She looked up, surprised to see me, "P-Percy?" She choked out. Her gray eyes were filled with hidden sadness.

"What happened?" I asked gently.

"Nothing," she sniffled.

I kneeled down next to her, "I think you're lying." She didn't say anything, so I continued, "Annabeth, why were you crying?" She stayed silent. "What are you even doing here?" I ask.

"I can ask the same to you." Annabeth said. She had a point.

From there on, Annabeth and I talked. Really talked, not just make snide comments to each other, or me smirking, or being a jerk. We just talked about our problems. I told her about Steven and how mom wants us to visit him at the jail. And in return, Annabeth told me about her dad dating again and her fight with him.

It felt good to share all this with someone else. I noticed Annabeth shiver, so I wrapped my coat, and put my arm around her shoulder, and we talked some more. I like talking to Annabeth, it was…different.

It was a change.

We stayed like that for about an hour and then I told her it was getting late and we should probably go home. I walked her to her front door, and she thanked me for everything.

She turned her doorknob and went inside her house.

I watched her leave, then I was alone standing in the rain.

When I got home, my mom was asleep on the couch. I felt really bad when I realized that she was waiting for me. I checked my phone, it was already almost 9. I took off my shoes and I walked over to mom and covered her with a blue blanket.

"'Night, Mom." I whispered, and went upstairs to my room.

I crashed on my bed. Lying down, I had a lot of things going through my head: Dad, Mom, and a pair of gray eyes that I kept seeing.

Finally, I fell asleep.

The next morning, my mom and I talked about our 'fight' last night. Mom said that she understood why I resented dad so much, but she thinks that it would be good idea to see him to get some closure.

"Closure?" I asked, my mouth full of pancakes.

Mom nodded, "Yes, Percy. I think it what be good to talk to your father one more time."

I sighed, I didn't want to upset my mother again, but I also didn't want to talk or see Steven. At last, I say to her, "I don't know, Mom."

Mom inhaled, "Percy, can you just… just think about, please."

"Ok, fine."

Mom smiled, "Thank you, honey. It means a lot."

I heard a HONK! and I grabbed my backpack.

Mom gave me a weird look, "Is that Rachel again?"

I shook my head, "No, I asked Thalia to pick me up today."

I headed to the door and slammed it. I saw Thalia in her red '87 Ford truck. 'Cameron,' she told me he was called.

I got in the shotgun seat, "Hey."

"Hey," Thalia greeted. She continued to drive to school.

"Are you picking Annabeth up?" I ask my cousin.

"Yeah, like always." She rolls her eyes.

"Oh, cool." I reply. I wasn't sure if I was nervous or not. Should I be? I kept wondering if things would be different with Annabeth and mine's relationship. Would she still think of me as the inconsiderate jerk, or will she start to think of me as a friend?

After a couple of minutes of driving, Thalia pulled up to Annabeth's house. She honked the horn and a few seconds later, Annabeth showed up, walking toward the truck. She looked beautiful. She was wearing a simple green shirt and blue jeans. Her curly blonde hair was bouncing as she walked. I didn't know I was staring at her.

"Are you drooling?" Thalia asked.

I wiped my mouth, "No." I muttered.

Thalia smirked, "Very settle, Perce."

I was about to come back, when the back door opened, and in came Annabeth.

"Hey," Annabeth said.

"Hey," Thalia and I greeted.

There was an awkward silence between the 3 of us; well really me and Annabeth. Thalia was focused on the road.

"So Annabeth," I cleared my throat, I decided to make some conversation. "Did you make up with your dad last night?"

"Oh, yeah, I did." Annie answered. "Uh, how 'bout you and your mom?"

I nodded, "Yeah, this morning. She said to think about visiting him."

"Oh, well what are you gonna do?"

I shrugged, "I don't know."

"Wait," Thalia interrupted, I almost forgot she was there, "What did I miss?"

"Nothing." Annabeth and I said at the same time.

Thalia rolled her eyes, "Whatever."

I'm not sure of it was true or not, but I thought I saw Annabeth blushed. "I'll tell you later, Thals." She said.

The rest of the car ride was short. Finally, we got to River Side High School. Thalia found a parking space and parked. Us 3 got out of the car, and went toward the school.

When we got in, I followed Annabeth to her locker. "Hey, what's up?"

She shrugged, "Nothing." She said, as she opened her locker.

"Um… so," I wasn't sure what to say. What are you supposed to say? I wanted to tell her that I was glad we bonded yesterday and I wanted to become friends, but instead, it came out like, "Um, uh, ugh."

Annabeth tilted her head, "Are you ok?"

I mentally slapped myself, "I'm fine. It's just… about yesterday…" I trailed off, but Annabeth understood what I was referring to.

She stared at me, "Um, you mean at the beach?"

I nodded, "Yes, do you think we could, maybe…"

"What?"

"Be friends?" I finished.

I didn't know how Annabeth was going to react, but I was sure she wasn't going to burst out laughing. She did.

"What are you laughing about?" I asked.

Annabeth smiled, "Sorry, it's just that you looked like you were going tell me you're a wizard or something."

"Huh?" I said in confusion.

Annabeth just stood there and grinned, "I would love to be friends with you."

My eyes widen, "Really?"

"Yes, you were so sweet to me yesterday, Percy. It really meant a lot." She blushed.

"No problem." I said, surprised that Annabeth actually admitted that.

"Cool."

The bell rung and Annabeth and I went to our separate classes.

I said bye to my new friend.

We had a pop quiz in math class today. Oh no.

After the last meeting with Mrs. Leshman, I had totally forgot to study. I forgot to do my homework too. When I looked at the sheet she handed out, all I saw were numbers and letters. I didn't get any of the questions. This was so not good; I thought I was going to fail. Unfortunately, that was the only question I got right.

Mrs. Leshman graded the quizzes while we had to do the activity for the day. At the end of class, she handed all the quizzes back. She handed mine back: F.

When the bell rung, Mrs. Leshman called me to her desk, "Mr. Jackson?"

I sighed, not really surprised, "Yes, Miss?"

"Percy, you failed another quiz. Do you not remember our talk the other day?" She asked.

"I remember. I'm sorry. I just had a lot on mind this week." I confessed, apologetically.

Mrs. Leshman shook her head disappointedly, "Percy, that is no excuse. You have to pass my class; if you don't, you'll have to repeat the 10th grade."

"I know, I know."

"Then do something about it. You already have an F in my class. There is a final coming up, if you get an A on that and do some extra credit, you can bring up your grade to at least a B." Mrs. Leshman concluded.

I nodded, "I'll do that."

"It's not going to be easy. I suggest you get a tutor." She advised.

"A tutor? Who would teach me?" I ask.

She sighed, "I'm sure you have some friends who could help you, Percy."

A familiar blonde popped into my mind.

"Ok, I'll get a tutor and pass that final." I said.

Mrs. Leshman smiled, "Good, now you are dismissed."

I thanked her and got out of the class. I was a little relieved. Hopefully, Annabeth will help me. She's my only hope to pass math. I quickly rushed to my locker, put my books away, and got my lunch money. I went to the cafeteria and saw Annabeth and Thalia sitting at their usual table.

I walked over, "Hey." I greeted.

Thalia sneered, "What do you want?"

Huh, this kind of reminded me of yesterday. Hopefully, this time, I won't have chocolate milk dumped on me.

"I just wanted to talk to Annabeth." I said, looking at Annie.

"What?" Annabeth asked me.

"Well," I began, sitting in one of the chairs, "I kind of need a tutor for math."

Annie raised an eyebrow, "You want me to be your math tutor?"

I nodded.

"Why?"

"Well, we are friends now, aren't we?" I say.

Annabeth was about to reply, when Thalia beat her to it, "Friends? When did this happen?"

"A few hours ago." Annabeth answers coolly.

"What?!" Thalia exclaimed. "I don't accept this."

I smirked, "We don't need your blessing, dear cousin."

Thalia crossed her arms while Annie chuckled.

"Anyway," I smile to Annabeth, "Would you be my tutor?"

She shrugged, "Sure."

I sighed with relief, "Thank you, Annie."

Annabeth rolls her eyes, "When do you want study?"

"How about my house after school?" I suggest.

"Sure." She agreed.

The rest of lunch, we were talking. Like friends.

I was so happy when the final bell rang. I didn't want to admit it, but I was really looking forward to my tutoring session with Annabeth. Why was I so excited? I kept thinking about this as I ran onto Grover in the hallway.

"Hey, Perce."

"Hey, Grover."

"Wanna hang today? I got the new Halo game!" He said excitedly. I chuckled.

"Sorry, man, I can't. Annabeth's tutoring me today." I said.

"Oh really?" Grover smirked, "How'd you convince her?"

I grinned, "Actually, we're… friends."

"Really?"

"Yep."

Grover said, "Well, good for you."

I rolled my eyes, "Seriously, we're friends."

"Yeah, yeah, ok."

I sighed, "What about you and Juniper? Don't you have the party to go to at her house?"

Grover blushed, "Uh…"

I laughed, "Good luck with that."

I went outside to look for Thalia's old truck. When I found it, I got inside with Annabeth and Thalia.

"Hey, guys." I said.

The rest of the ride was just us talking and listening to Thalia's hard metal music. I swear, I thought I was going to go death.

Finally, we pulled up to my house and Annabeth and I got out. When we got inside, I asked Annabeth if she wanted anything.

"No, I'm good." Annabeth replied. She was sitting on the couch with the math text books already out. I sat next to her. I felt myself shiver as my knee touched hers.

"Ok, ready?" Annie asked me.

I shrugged, "I guess so. But heads up, I suck at math, so good luck teaching me."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Don't worry, it's really not that hard."

And she was right. It really wasn't that hard when Annabeth taught me. We learned about the Pythagorean Theorem, exponential functions, and linear systems. I thought I was a mini Einstein after the lesson. Annabeth was a great teacher; she made everything seem so simple.

Half of the time, she would have to repeat some things because I didn't focused on math, I focused on her. How her eyes light up when she talks, her dimples when she smiles, she natural blonde hair bouncing up and down. How could I think about something else when she was sitting right next to me?

A couple of hours later, it was already 6:30. Annabeth packed up her stuff and got up, "You're doing great, Percy. But I have to be home for dinner."

"Are you sure?" I asked, because I didn't want her to leave.

"Yeah, I promised my dad I would have dinner with him and his girlfriend." She answered.

"That's great." I say, "I'm glad you're getting along with her."

She shrugged, "I guess."

I walk her to the door, "Well, thanks for helping me."

"No problem." Annabeth's smile lit up the whole New York. "See yea tomorrow, friend."

I chuckled, "See ya, Annie."

"Don't call me that!"

I laugh some more while she rolls her eyes and turns around. But just before she could get any farther, I stop her, "Hey, Annabeth."

She slowly turned around, "What?"

"Don't I get a hug?" I mentally slap myself, the second time that day. Why did I say that? Why couldn't I have said anything else?

Annabeth raised her eyebrows, but came closer. "Um, a hug?"

"Yeah."

She shrugged, "Er, ok." She came up to me and wrapped her arms around me. I did the same. Her hair smelled like strawberries, then I realized I was sniffing her, and stopped. I wasn't sure if it was weird hugging her or not. But I liked it.

When she let go, I immediately missed her, "Ok, bye." She said.

"Um, bye." I answer. I watch her walk away. She didn't look back.

When she was out of my view, I thought it was crazy how much I missed Annabeth's warmth. There was no way I was going to get any sleep tonight.

I thought about Annabeth.

It was definitely the start of a friendship.

I just wasn't sure if that was what I wanted.

I HOPED YOU GUYS LIKE THIS CHAPTER, SORRY IF IT WAS A LITTLE FAST PACED.

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