Hey guys, thanks for your wonderful reviews! I really like hearing what you have to say! Please say more! Anyways, Annabeth might be getting a little ooc soon. Sorry, it's just really dramatic with everything going on. I think that maybe her relationship is causing her to be softer or something. You'll see what's going on soon. I hope you like it!
Suddenly, I froze.
Let me tell you what was happening. I was at school, just minding my own business. Okay, that's kind of a lie. Percy and I were talking to Austin because he still really wanted to get with one of our friends. We told him about all of our single friends. Believe it or not, there weren't that many that we were close to. I told him about a few of my sisters, but that's really it. There were a few campers from the Hermes or Hephaestus cabins. It's not like the girls at camp don't like guys. Most of their parents don't have bitter rivalries like ours.
Clarisse and Chris had left in the middle of the night. They hadn't even said goodbye. They left us a note saying that it was urgent that they got back to CHB. They would IM us after school that day. I wasn't all that sad that they left. I would get to see them soon enough.
Let's get back to what's happening. I was talking to Austin about a daughter of Hephaestus named Bella. She was really sweet and pretty smart, too. We didn't know her very well. Well, I knew her better than Percy did, of course. Percy wasn't really into the whole meeting new campers thing. I was, though. I tried to meet them all. I had to drag Percy along with me. He obeyed, but never really paid attention to them.
That's when I froze.
There he was, standing six foot two. He had incredibly dark brown eyes that were the same color as his hair. He wasn't that in shape, like Percy was. He was a linebacker on the football team. His eyes caught mine as he talked to his cousin, Zach. Two guys who wanted me started to make their way over to me.
I gripped Percy's arm, hard. "Percy, that's him."
At first, Percy didn't know what I was saying. Then, he saw the look in my eyes. Tears were building up, but I wouldn't let them fall. I couldn't let them fall. Percy followed my gaze to Zach and Evan walking over to us. Percy pulled me away without saying bye to Austin, so Austin just followed us. He seemed really confused, but he kept on going like it was normal.
We weren't moving fast enough.
"Annie, baby, I've missed you so much!" Evan shouted through the halls.
Everyone turned to us. I stopped abruptly in the halls and squeezed Percy harder. My eyes closed as my eyebrows scrunched together. I was told that this look was cute from Percy, but everybody else thought it was weird. Percy's arm made its way around my waist as we turned to face them. A tear tried to trickle down from my eyes, but I whipped it away. Austin waltzed over to my other side. He knew that whatever was going on was bad. I liked the fact that he wanted to protect me. I squeezed his arm, too.
"Where have you been? We've missed you in San Fran!" Evan shouted. He tried to lean in to a kiss, but Percy got in his way.
"I'm guessing you're Evan?" Percy posed it more like a question than a statement. He was almost standing in front of me. His arm was off of my hip, and was in a fist by his side.
"Oh, so you're the boyfriend. Perry, is it? He isn't really that good in the looks department, if you ask me. Why would you go out with him?" Evan mocked.
"It's Percy, and he beats you in any department!" I screamed.
Evan and Zach laughed. Zach sighed, "Was she picky when you were with her?"
"Unfortunately, she was. Annie, have you told him about our little car ride?" Evan added.
"Yes, she has." Percy replied, "And don't call her Annie!"
"Oh, so I've offended her boyfriend! I'm so scared!" Evan teased.
Austin butted in, "You should be scared. Percy could beat your butt any day. He beat your idiot cousin's just the other day."
"That wasn't fair! I was too busy thinking about Annie over there. She was wearing those tight jeans. Plus, you had that gorilla that you guys call a girl." Zach defended himself.
"Her name's Clarisse!" I shouted.
"And I was thinking aboutAnnabethwhen I beat you up. That didn't slow me down any," Percy laughed.
"So, Annie, how about we finish that car ride that we started that day. Maybe Zach could even join us," Evan winked.
"Why would she go anywhere with you?" Austin asked.
"Oh, you don't understand! See, me and Annie, here, were getting it on in my car when some dog attacked the car." Evan countered.
I interrupted, "We were not getting it on! You were trying to take off my shirt and I was fighting against you!"
"Why don't you just do us all a favor and go back to your little city and leave us all alone," Percy suggested in probably the most polite voice that he could get out.
"I don't feel like it. I'd rather take your girl here for a joy ride," Evan sighed.
"That sounds good to me," Zach added with a laugh.
"Pervs," I muttered under my breath.
"I'm pretty sure that she has a boyfriend," Percy told them. "Now, I think that you should leave her alone."
"Why are you even here?" Austin asked. He wasn't being nice about it, either.
Evan's eyes widened and he turned to Zach, "Oh, cuz, you didn't tell them?"
"Sorry, I forgot to mention it," Zach smirked.
"Anyways, I've moved in with Zach, here. Won't this be fun, Annie? It'll be just like San Fran!"
A single tear ran down my cheek.
Zach laughed, "Aw, look. She's so happy to see me that she's crying. That's so sweet! Now, Perry, why don't you let go of my girlfriend?"
"It's Percy, and I won't let you have my girlfriend!"
"I'm not going anywhere with you, Evan. I'm with Percy. I was never with you, so don't call me your girlfriend!" I shouted at him.
"We'll see about that," Zach murmured.
"Watch your back, Jackson. Someone's gonna come and take her from your grasp before you know it!" Evan threatened.
"Like Annabeth would ever go anywhere with a creep like you! She's way too good for you!" Austin yelled.
"See you in English, Annie," Zach shouted as he left.
Zach and Evan sauntered off down to their first class. Lucky for me, I saw Zach in two of my classes every day. That's third and fourth block. I sat nowhere near him, though.
Immediately, I grabbed Percy and wrapped my arms around him. He held me as I let out a few tears. Percy tried to calm me down by kissing my head and telling me things, but I was too scared to listen. Austin tried to ask what was going on, but Percy told him that he would explain later. I didn't want anyone to know. I knew, though, that they needed to know. They would all find out anyways.
"Annabeth, calm down. He's gone. I won't let him touch you. I'll protect you no matter what!" Percy whispered into my ear. "Do you want to just stand here?"
I shook my head and actually laughed, "We should get to class."
"I meant, do you wanna go somewhere? We could skip first through third. Hades, we can skip all day if you want to. I just want you to feel better."
"Percy, I wanna go to class. It'll help me get my mind off of him." That's when I realized that I had to suffer through English with Zach. Luckily, Percy would be there. I don't know about my other classes. Zach wasn't in any of them, but that didn't mean anything about Evan. I was just hoping that, if we did have classes, Percy would be in there with me.
We walked into math, and my face fell. Literally, I cringed in fear. There, sitting right next to my seat, was the devil himself: Evan. He smirked as we made our way to our seats. I was lucky that we had actual desks. I scooted mine a little bit closer to Percy's. We were really close to begin with. Percy wrapped his arm around me in a protective way. Evan didn't give up, though.
I tried to concentrate on the easy lesson, but Evan kept on glaring at me. Percy would just glare right back at him. He sent me a note. Regretfully, I read it.
Hey, Annie, baby, why don't you ditch lover boy over there and come to me? I'm sure he won't mind. I did have you first! Plus, I called dibs. You're mine! Meet me by my car later and we can finish what we started ;)
-Your love, Evan
I cringed and handed the note to Percy. I'm guessing that Evan didn't expect me to show it to Percy, because his face hardened. Percy got furious as soon as he saw the note. The second he finished reading it, his face burned a new color of red that I'm sure Ares would have liked. The teacher noticed this.
"Percy, is something wrong?" She asked him.
"Um, yeah. Can we talk to you outside?" He asked and gestured towards me.
She nodded. Percy grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the classroom. She closed the door, but cracked it a little bit.
"Now, what is this about?" She asked.
"We would like to move seats, please." Percy muttered.
"What has brought this on?"
"The new kid, Evan. I don't feel comfortable sitting next to him." I answered.
She sighed, "I saw you two passing notes back there. Is there something that I need to know about?"
"I'd rather not tell you. It's just really personal," I murmured. Percy grabbed my hand.
"Well, I could move you, Annabeth, but I don't think that both of you can move. Is that okay?"
"Yes," I muttered.
"Wait! Why can't you move me? I want to sit next to Annabeth! I need to sit next to Annabeth. You don't understand!" Percy nearly shouted.
The teacher, Ms. Strew, sighed, "Percy, I get that you want to sit next to your girlfriend. I can't show the kids that they get to sit by whomever they want."
"But, Ms. Strew, you really don't understand." Percy complained.
"It's not that I just want to sit by him. I need to." I tried to explain.
"Look, why don't you two go talk to the councilor. I'm sure she can help you with whatever your problem is." She suggested.
"No, I don't need to talk to the councilor. Please, I just want to move seats!" I begged.
"Please, Ms. Strew. As much as the school thinks, the councilor can't fix every problem. This is something that we can't really talk about. It's something that happened a while ago. I need to sit nex to Annabeth. Please?" Percy pleaded.
"How about I just move Evan? Will that work?" She sighed.
We both nodded after she said that she would move him tomorrow. The class only had about ten minutes left in it, anyways. Ms. Strew let me pull my chair over to Percy as she let the class have some free time. Percy whispered things into my ear. He was being really sweet.
"Are you sure you don't wanna ditch?" He asked as we walked out of the class for break.
I nodded, "We don't even know if he's in any of my classes."
"I just don't want you to be left alone with him. That would kill me if he were to do something to you."
"Percy, I can survive it. Besides, Hannah is in my science class. Austin is in history with me. I can survive. Neither of them will let anything bad happen to me."
"Are you sure? We could come back for Paul's class."
I laughed, "Why are you the one worrying and I'm not?"
"Because I'm worried about you. I don't want anything to happen to you. As I said earlier, I would die if that happened."
"Percy, I can't skip. I don't think my mom would like you any more if we did skip. You know how much she hates you already."
He had to laugh at that one, "Yeah, you're right. If he does bother you, I want you to just walk out and come get me. We'll do something. It'll be just me and you."
I wrapped my arms around his neck, "We'll be in class, seaweed brain. I doubt he can do much when the teacher's talking."
"Oh, you'd be surprised at what people get away with here. Your teachers are some of the worst. I don't want anything to happen to you."
"Okay, seaweed brain. You know that nobody can replace you, right?"
He pecked my lips, "I'm just too awesome! Now, come on, I have to get you to your class."
Science went by pretty smoothly. Luckily, Evan wasn't in there at all. I talked to Hannah about what happened this morning. She made me tell her everything. I didn't cry this time, though. I stayed strong. Nobody eavesdropped in on our conversation. I was really happy. Nobody really needed to know about any of that except for my friends. They had a right to know.
After class, Percy picked me up. I told him that Evan wasn't in there. He guided me to lunch. I was hoping that Evan wasn't in any of my other classes. Percy bought me my lunch today as I sat down. I had to explain the story, with Austin's help, to them. Percy came over with our lunch as soon as I finished the story. They were in shock. This was the first time that Austin heard about what had happened before I moved here. Peter was the only one who wasn't there.
When Peter sauntered over to us, I almost broke down into tears.
There, by his side, was the devil. No, he was way worse than that. He was worse than Kronos. Evan. He smirked as he came over to me. Percy didn't see him, and I think I was the only one who did. Surely, if Percy or Austin saw him coming over, they would have punched him in the face. I really wanted them to, though.
"Hey, guys, is it okay if my friend Evan eats with us?" Peter asked as they sat down.
Nobody realized that he was the Evan that we were talking about. Nobody but Percy and Austin.
"Ah, Annie, happy to see me again?" He asked.
I squeezed Percy's arm, hard. Austin scooted closer to me, as did Percy. They looked very protective. I had no idea why Austin was being like that. I mean, we were friends, yeah, but I wouldn't call us close. I guess he just protects his friends.
"What are you doing here, Evan?" Percy snarled.
"Can't I eat lunch with my girlfriend?" Evan asked.
Suddenly, everybody realized who Evan was. Well, Peter didn't, since he wasn't here to hear the story.
Jess smacked his arm, "How could you bring him here?"
"What?" Peter asked. He was clearly confused.
"Do you not know what happened?" Jake asked Peter.
"He wasn't here to hear the story. How could he have known?" Riley reminded them.
"Still, I'm sure this creep would have told him when he saw our table," Brian added.
The whole time they were having their conversation, Evan was staring at me. It seemed like me was picturing me naked. I didn't like that feeling.
"Oh, I knew that Annie was sitting here," Evan told them.
"Why are you here?" Austin chided.
Evan brushed his foot up against my shin, "I just wanted to tell Annie, here, how much I like her skirt."
I looked down at my outfit. I picked the worst day to wear a skirt. Seriously, why did I have to wear a skirt today? I also had on a three-quarter sleeve shirt that matched Percy's eyes almost perfectly. My skirt was gray, matching my eyes. My hair was in its signature high pony-tail with the curls hanging off my shoulder. I didn't have any make-up on, which I never did.
"Stop, only I can compliment my girlfriend!" Percy commanded.
Half of the cafeteria had stopped what they were doing and looked at our table. Apparently, we were pretty interesting to watch. Zach was one of the ones listening to us. He was smiling as if his evil plan was working out.
"Seriously, guys, I didn't know!" Peter begged.
"It's okay, Peter." Alice sighed.
"Evan," Brian started, "I think you need to leave."
"You can't tell me what to do! I'm here to talk to Annie about what we're going to do later!"
"Which is nothing! I'm not doing anything with you, Evan!" I shouted at him.
"Oh, come on, Annie. I know you want to come back to my car with me. We can finish what we started in San Fran and maybe go further!" He explained.
Percy interrupted him, "Her name is Annabeth, not Annie! Stop calling her that! Besides, she's staying with me."
"You're living with this fool?' Evan asked.
Peter looked like he wanted to laugh, but he held it back.
"Seriously, Annie, I thought you had better taste!" Evan laughed.
My head felt like exploding, "Evan, Percy is a million times better than you! Yes, I am living with him. I even sleep in the same bed as him! That's right! You heard it right here. I never liked you! I will never like you! You are a pig and a creep. Why would anybody go out with you? You and your cousin, Zach, are disgusting!"
I heard a lot of "OMG"s and "She's living with him" and some "I wonder what they do in bed". I didn't really want everybody to know. I guess it all slipped out. I blame the ADHD. Percy didn't blush like I expected him to do. Instead, he looked pissed. Evan was in shock. Hades, my whole table was in shock. They didn't really know that we slept together. Percy didn't mind telling them. I was the one who was worried about it. I thought the rumors would float freely around me.
I pulled Percy up and dragged him out of the cafeteria. I was beat red. He glared at Evan the whole time, who was still questioning what just happened. All of my friends glared at him. Even Peter did. I guess he felt used or something. I could really care less about Peter's feelings right now. All I wanted to do was be with Percy. That wasn't going to happen, but I had to try.
Percy caught up with me once we left the cafeteria. I led him to the stairs and sat down on his lap. He held me close. Tears weren't falling down my cheeks because I was holding them back. I wouldn't let them fall. I took in a deep breath. People weren't coming out of the cafeteria like they normally would. I guess they were all in shock.
"Are you okay? Is this because you told them about us sleeping together?" Percy whispered to me.
I nodded, "I didn't want them to find out like this."
"It's okay. Is that it?"
"No, it's Evan. He's bothering me! Why won't he leave me alone? I just want him to leave, Percy." I whined.
He kissed the top of my head, "I'm sorry."
"We've defeated the hydra, hellhounds, empousis, Canadians," Percy laughed when I said Canadians, "minotaur. Hades, we've even defeated Kronos. Why can't we beat a puny mortal?"
"He's not a monster, that's why. We've been trained to fight monsters, not mortals in high school. High school is a whole different matter."
"I still just want to stab him or rip his head off whenever I see him!"
"I know you do. How about we skip the rest of school? I mean, we only have Paul's and the next one. We're already half way through the day."
I looked into his eyes, "I want to. I really do, but I don't know if I can."
"Let me guess. You've never skipped before?"
I laughed, "Is it that obvious?"
He chuckled into my hair, "Only to me. Nobody else would realize this. I just know you too well!"
I stood up and held out my hand, "Are you coming or what?"
"Let me just get this straight. The daughter of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, is asking to skip school. Is that right?" Percy joked.
"Ha ha, very funny."
He grabbed my hand and stood centimeters from me, "And I thought you were supposed to be the wise one, wise girl."