What I Dreamed Last Night, chapter 9
A/N: Hey, everybody! Sorry for the late update, but I hope that you'll like this! Lots of love to SoulHourse, Sherlock-Jim-Stole-the-TARDIS, thebiggestbookworm, Forfun100, PoeTheDragonWillEatYou, percyjackson1234 and Blackberry Explosion for your reviews! I've recently hit 80 stories, and I am hoping to reach 100 by the end of the year, but my hopes aren't as high. But please, leave your reviews and ideas for fanfiction, (look at my profile if you want to see what kind of fanfiction I write), cause even though I have a note that has a ton of ideas, I'm running slow! I love you all! It's a shorter chapter then before, but please enjoy!
Annabeth hated to admit it, but Percy's mother baked good cookies.
June 21st. Late afternoon. Upper East Manhattan. It's five fourty five, and Annabeth Chase is sitting in a place she wouldn't expect to be: Percy Jackson's apartment. Sitting on the dark blue leather couch, it was about 20% leather and 80% foam. Percy sat across from her on the opposing couch, his hair mussed up in swirls and a few crumbs lingered at the side of his mouth, from the blue chocolate chip cookies that his mother, Sally, had set on their work table, thrilled that Percy has brought a friend home from school, especially one who was a girl.
Annabeth hadn't expected to become actual friends with Percy, but in the past few days, she began to understand him. He wasn't a complete idiot as it may appear, but he's pretty smart. He's loyal, funny, and didn't take their schoolwork way too seriously, as Annabeth did. His friends weren't jerks, they were kind and funny, a little odd it may seem at time. Percy Jackson has respect for all of her friends, though he did occasionally tease Thalia after the incident in drama class, but after a good jab in the ribs, he let it go. It's Percy who had suggested they study at his apartment, as it wasn't too far from school. It's Percy who paid for her bus ticket, and when she raised an eyebrow, he replied it was because it's what his mother taught him, anyway. She hadn't expected to like Percy Jackson as much as she did
He annoyed her. He made her laugh and want to shake her head at the same time. That's just how he was.
"So, does that mean that Dally wanted to die, or was he having an insanity episode?"
"I think it was sort of both. He loved Johnny, and when he was gone, it drove him over the edge, and didn't want to live in a world without the one thing he loved."'
Percy writes down what Annabeth says into the red notebook, as there were about three of them on their work station. One blue notebook, explaining the background and the aesthetics of the sixties. The next one, a green notebook, had notes about the plot and the morals of the tale, and the red one is filled with information about the characters, their analysis about the characters and whether their actions were justified. The notebooks were bought from a dollar store nearby, with a fair amount of pages, as they would only use them for the report. Afterwards, they would be able to throw it out without feeling too guilty.
"But what about Ponyboy? He wasn't exactly in the greatest shape after the rumble, isn't he...whatcha call them again? Unreliable...unreliable writers?"
"Unreliable narrator."
"I knew that!"
"Sure, Seaweed Brain." she laughs, brushing a lock of curled hair behind her ear. Letting Percy scribble the last note, she gathers the notebooks and shoves them in her satchel, smiling as she did. They had made a lot more progress then she had expected, and she was glad. She isn't expected home until about eight, and it's only a quarter to seven. They had come home around five and haven't taken a break since, minus the moment where they thanked Sally Jackson for her cookies.
"So what should we do now? I'm not expected home until eight."
"Hm, I don't know. I would suggest we go to the skate store if you were one of the guys, but you're one of the girls, so I don't know." He scratches the back of his neck, looking slightly abashed as he admits that he didn't know what she would do. She smiles, shaking her head. Taking another blue chocolate chip cookie, she bites into it as Sally Jackson walks into the living room, a tired smile on her face. Annabeth watches as she takes one of her own cookies and ruffles Percy's hair affectionately. One thing Annabeth noted about Percy was that he was a lot compassionate towards his mother then most teenagers she knew. He would hug her without hesitation, wasn't ashamed to kiss her cheek when he arrives home and help her reach one of the ingredients since it was on one of the top shelves.
She was a beautiful woman, Annabeth had to admit to herself. Long brown hair that tumbled down her shoulders in waves, bright green eyes, though, sometimes it was blue, or even a sea green. There were light freckles on her cheeks if you looked close, and she smelled like some of the sweetest scents Annabeth had ever inhaled: Sugar and chocolate.
"Hey, Percy. You and Annabeth done studying?" She asks, as she takes a seat next to her son. Percy nods, as he shrugs off his grey hoodie, revealing the bright orange t-shirt he wore underneath, with a black sort of horse displayed on the front.
"Yeah, Mum. Annabeth isn't expected home, so I'm not quite sure what to do now."
"Well, why don't you two go and explore the city? You're young and deserve to live a little, sweetie." She smiles, kissing his cheeks. Percy only blushes, but wipes his lips, the blue crumbs lingering on the back of his hand.
"You in, Annabeth?"
After a moment of consideration, she nods, smiling to Sally. Clearing off the coffee table, she was grateful for the suggestion, and with a quick thanks to his mother, Percy and Annabeth head off, the sun just beginning to set over the great and sleepless city.
"Annabeth, what're you-"
"Sh."
"But Annabeth!"
"Sh."
"Annabethhh-"
"Gah, what, Percy?"
"Hi."
"Ugh."
Somehow, though Percy wondered why he was surprised, they ended up in the Strand, located on at the corner of East 12th Street, two blocks south of Union Square. Under the glowing lights of the city, the pair had ended up stopping at the Strand Book Store, "18 Miles of Books." Entering the large bookstore, Percy should of known they would end up in there. At the moment, Annabeth was sitting on the floor next to a stack of beaten old paperback mysteries, her head buried in James Patterson's "Private London." He was currently sitting in front of her, trying to pay attention the novel in his hands, an old Stephen King thriller, but he couldn't quite concentrate. He couldn't figure it out, but it was just...Annabeth.
The way her eyes were narrowed as she squinted at the book, that lock of hair that kept slipping in front of her tanned face...what was it about her? She was so damn distracting, Percy felt the urge to lean forward and push the strand back himself from her face, but he couldn't. He knew somewhere inside of her, she still despised him. Loathed him, maybe. At first, he had always thought Annabeth a bit of a stuck up, a bit of a teacher's pet, but underneath all that, was someone kind. Someone brave and intelligent. Someone he couldn't help but like. He had always figured he had some sort of feelings for her, but when they agreed to go to Prom and were partnered, it was something that began to grow, until he couldn't stand it anymore and would have to slap himself to get himself together. He had to face it. He liked her. He really liked her. Course, there was no saying whether she would like him in return.
"Annabeth?"
"Yeah?" She looks up from her novel, her grey eyes piercing his heart, and he swallows nervously, setting down the black and green book in his hands.
"Thanks."
"For what?"
"For..." He hadn't quite thought it through, but the words tumbled out of his mouth before he could fully think it through. "For being my friend."
"Well, you have a lot of friends, Percy, I don't know why you're thanking me." She began to lift the novel again, about to distract her, and he fumbles for a moment, accidentally knocking down the stack of hardcovers next to him. A loud thud is heard, and he fails to save the books that fall onto the ground. Paling, he looks around just to make sure nobody kicks them out, he lets out a sigh of relief. Close. Annabeth looks up from her book to see Percy's relieved expression, and she smiles.
"I mean...well...thanks for being my friend. Usually, my friends hit me before letting me express my opinion. Just...thanks."
"Well, you're welcome, Percy."
A bemused smile crosses her face before she returns to her book. Percy smiles to himself, before looking down at the Stephen King novel and trying to read again. 'The kids in these books were really bastards', he thinks to himself, 'if they dump pigs blood on a girl at her Prom.'
