"Did you really just ask that?" Percy read my mind.
She nodded, "Sorry, it was just running through my mind. I kind of blurt things out every once in a while."
"Do you really wanna know why I can't go back to my family?" I asked. "My mom couldn't take care of me when I was born. She left me with my father. He loves me now, but back then, he didn't appreciate me. When I was still young, my father married his new wife, Helen. She had two boys, Bobby and Matthew. Together, they made my life miserable. I ran away when I was seven after one really bad night. That's when I found my camp and some of my best friends. That's when I found Percy. I can go home, but it's like torture. Sure, I get along with them better than I used to, but it's not like they really are my family."
"I'm sorry," Andromeda mumbled.
"Don't." I demanded as I crossed my arms.
"Annabeth, calm down," Percy instructed. His hands held my shoulders, and he looked into my eyes. They were pleading with me to relax. He knew that I couldn't, but he could still try. I nodded.
"How come we didn't know that?" Austin asked.
I scoffed, "I never wanted anyone to know about it. It took some coaxing out of Percy when we were twelve for me to tell him. By that time, we were pretty close. I didn't want to tell any of you."
"Please, don't be mad at me," Andromeda begged.
"Andromeda, this probably isn't the best time for that." Percy advised her.
"We're sorry about all of that," Riley muttered.
I took in a deep breath. I was still really mad. How could I not be? Percy coaxed me into looking into his eyes. I probably looked murderous. Percy's eyes were calm, though. He was trying to make me relax. Lightly, a smile formed on my lips. It wasn't a big one, but it was a smile. My smiling caused Percy to grin from eye to eye. He looked like he was getting blue cookies. I wanted to laugh at him, but it wouldn't come out. I took in some more calming breaths. Slowly, my eyes closed. I saw Percy and I at the beach after our second kiss. When I looked up into his eyes after opening my own, Percy realized that I was calmer.
All of our friends were looking at us like we were crazy. They were probably thinking how could he calm me down like that? I mean, all he did was look at me. That's just what he can do to me. He's always been able to do that to me. When I glanced at our friends, they were guffawed. This caused me to laugh at them. Percy looked at them, too. He joined me in my laughing fit. Riley and jess glared at us like we were lunatics. Brian was scratching his head. Andromeda and Austin were trying what to decide. I wanted to punch Andromeda. I really did not like her. After laughing, Percy gave me the look: do not punch Andromeda in the face or hurt her. I sighed, but nodded at him.
"I'm not going to kill you…yet," I assured her.
"Yet?" Andromeda asked.
"Don't question Annabeth. I thought we already told you that you don't question her." Austin mumbled to her.
"Yeah, she can definitely hurt you. She could hurt anybody." Brian joked.
"Don't you forget it!" I told them with a smile.
Percy sighed, "She's not going to hurt you or any of you. Don't worry; she'll be fine."
"Are you sure about that?" Jess muttered.
"It's not like she's the most controllable person." Riley added.
I laughed, "Guys, I am controllable! You should see some people. You guys have seen Clarisse; she has no control. Well, she has a little bit of control."
"She tried to kill me in capture the flag on my first day!" Percy reminded me.
Austin did a spit take. "She tried to kill you?"
Percy nodded, "It was my first day at camp. I kind of made toilet water spill all over her and Annabeth. It was a mistake. That night during the game, she tried to kill me. It was all a misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding? How could that be a misunderstanding?" Andromeda practically screamed.
"It just was." Percy answered with a shrug.
"You guys wouldn't understand. I'm not saying that you're stupid or anything. It's just that it is a camp thing." I added.
"That's…not normal." Brian stuttered.
"And you're still friends with her?" Jess asked. "Why?"
I laughed, "She's a good friend. We got over all of it."'
"I really want to go to that camp." Austin reminded us.
"You're not going to!" Percy informed him.
"Why not?" Austin whined.
Riley punched his arm, "You can't go. Remember about that? We've had this conversation multiple times before!"
Jess cut in, "Austin, none of the girls there would date you, anyways. You're…Austin."
"What's wrong with Austin?" Andromeda asked.
"There's nothing wrong with him." Brian explained. "Girls just don't really go for him."
"That's sad. I'm sorry, Austin. It kind of looks like Austin and Annabeth have some chemistry. Do you?" Andromeda informed us.
I got mad, again, as Percy wrapped his arm protectively around my shoulders, "What? Austin and me?"
"She'd never leave Percy." Riley told her.
"I've never seen Austin in that way! He's just a really good friend." I answered her.
"You haven't seen Percy and Annabeth when they're at their most romantic times. You should have seen them when Annabeth first got here!" Jess cooed.
"They were inseparable until about two weeks ago." Brian added.
"We weren't inseparable. We just liked being together. Is that so wrong?" Percy exclaimed.
Percy glanced behind him as we heard a thud. I was too busy glaring at Andromeda to notice any noise. Why did she have to talk to us? She was really getting into people's business. I noticed Percy tensing up beside me. I pried my eyes off of Andromeda who was cringing at my glare. Percy looked back into my eyes. He was worried.
"Wise girl, I have to go call my Canadian cousins." Percy warned.
"Canadian cousins? I didn't know you had any of those, Percy." Brian said with a shrug.
"Yeah, they were here when I was 13. That was the first time I'd seen them. The last time was two years ago at the Empire State Building." Percy informed him, but he was talking more to me.
"Canadian…they weren't very nice, if I recall." I cocked my head. I knew what he was talking about. He wasn't talking about actual Canadians. He was talking about Cyclops from the north. I always called them Canadians. Nobody in our group would understand, though. Where were they? I couldn't see them anywhere. "Where are they?"
"They're around. I have to do call them. Don't worry; it's only one of them. It won't take that long. You can stay here, if you want." Percy explained.
"Are you sure that you don't want me to come?" I asked.
"Why would you need to come with him?" Andromeda scoffed. "Can he not handle his cousins?"
I shot her a glare, "It's not that. You wouldn't understand. You don't know our family."
"Our?" Andromeda mocked. "What do you mean? They aren't your cousins, too. They can't be."
"Look, Andromeda, can you just shut up?" Percy shouted at her which made her cringe and cross her arms.
"Thank you!" I praised. "You're finally quiet!"
Percy looked back into my eyes, "Wise girl, I can't stay long. They won't be able to talk for long. I need to go now!"
I started to get up after him, "I'll come with."
He pushed me down, "No, you stay here. Last time you talked to my family, something bad happened. You need to stay here and talk with them."
He was talking about when I got knocked down. Was he going to hold that against me forever? I've fought more monsters than him! Okay, that's a lie. He's probably fought more monsters than I have. I've trained longer, though. That has to count for something! No matter what, I still nodded and sat back down. I wasn't protesting or pouting. True, I wanted to go, but Percy wouldn't let me. He's very persistent. He wouldn't let me go no matter what. When I sat back down fully, Percy ran away into the halls. I saw him pull out Riptide as he left. My friends stared at me like I was crazy, again.
"What was that?" Jess asked.
"What was what?" I asked in response as I started to eat my burger.
"Why did you have to go with him? Better yet, why did you want to go with him?" Riley elaborated.
I shrugged, "It's a long story."
"Is that your answer for everything? Seriously, we want to know." Austin nearly shouted.
"It's not that we don't want to tell you; we really do. It's just not our place to tell you. It's about our parents." I answered.
Brian put a hand on my shoulder, "Annabeth, we get that you can't talk about it. You don't have to tell us."
"What happened last time you talked to his family?" Riley asked me.
I laughed, "I got a little hurt. It wasn't a big deal, but Percy doesn't like me talking to them. He's never gotten over it."
"When was it?" Brian added.
"A while ago," I answered honestly. I looked to Andromeda, "What, no witty comment?"
"Annabeth-" Austin started.
Andromeda held up her hand, stopping Austin, "Honey, I was listening to your boyfriend. Didn't you want that? I thought you wanted me to be quiet."
"Oh, I did. I just expected you to make some comment about us. You haven't been able to stop saying whatever's on your mind." I countered.
"Are you serious? I don't know how, but we got off on the wrong foot. I'm not normally this kind of person." Andromeda replied.
I huffed, "Are you saying that this is my fault?"
"Well, I'm not saying that it's mine!"
"You're being serious? That's hilarious! I can't believe this. You are just like Sierra: asking all of these questions and being a jerk! I don't flip out on people. You can ask them: I haven't flipped out on them like I have to you. I really do not like you. You can't be blaming me for this."
"Too bad because I am blaming you. I'm normally not this kind of person. You're bringing out the worst in me! Trust me, I don't like you either. You're annoying, self-centered, uptight, private, bossy, afraid, and blonde."
Did she just say that I'm blonde? Is she serious?
"Are you being serious right now?"
Brian cut in, "You don't call Annabeth blonde, Andromeda. That's not allowed."
"Did you just say that I'm blonde? Please, tell me that you did not just call me a blonde." I begged her.
"I. Just. Did." She answered.
I stood up, "You do not call me a blonde! I am not even close to being a blonde. I might be terrified of spiders, yes. I might be all of the things that you just called me, but blonde is not one of those things. You may not know this, but I am the smartest person in this school. I'm not trying to brag. I hate people who brag. I just had to tell you that I am not blonde. At every school, that I've been to, I've been the smartest person there. Hades, I'm the smartest person at camp, and that's saying something. Normally, I wouldn't admit it because it makes me seem self-centered, but they tell me it all of the time. Why do you think Percy calls me wise girl? It's not just some stupid nickname made up for no reason. It's serious. You don't call me blonde. Nobody calls me blonde!"
I became highly aware of everybody in the cafeteria glaring at me. Everyone was quiet. I mean, I was going off on the new girl. That wasn't expected from me. Sierra, who was in front of our table where I could see her, was smirking at my outburst. Evan and Zach were sitting by her. Zach was staring at my body while Evan had a smile on his face. How was he happy because of this? I couldn't think too much about it because Andromeda stood up. Hate was burning in her eyes. Desperately, I wanted to reach and grab my knife. I couldn't do that, though. I knew that.
Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Instantly, I knew who it was. Percy. I didn't even turn to face him. I was still glaring at Andromeda.
"What's going on here?" Percy asked.
"Andy called Annabeth blonde," Jess answered.
"Yeah, I did, and I don't regret it. Annabeth, you are a blonde. It doesn't matter how smart you are. Who cares about that? You are still a blonde." Andromeda added.
"Do you know what you just said?" I scoffed.
"I do. I know what I've been saying. I'm right. You can try to reject it and prove me wrong. I don't care. I know that I'm right."
"You have no idea what you are saying! If you really knew me, you wouldn't think that I'm blonde. Do you know where the comment of blonde came from? It came from brunettes and everybody who don't like blondes. My mom told me that long ago."
"Your mom? She told you that? Do you know how lame that sounds?"
I pushed Percy's hand away and walked to Andromeda, "Are you seriously doubting the knowledge of my mom? You can insult me all you want. You do not go after my mother. Nobody goes after my mother. Nobody can. Most of them don't live to see another day. Trust me, it's happened."
"Is that supposed to scare me?"
"Really? That's all you care about right now? You do not know how hard I want to punch you in the face right now. I don't think you get that."
"Go ahead and punch me. Go for it. I dare you."
I brought my hand back, but someone lifted me off the ground. Percy. He flipped me around so where my face was facing his back. I was thrown over his back like a sack of potatoes. I did not appreciate that. I was banging on his back like there was no tomorrow. Really, I didn't want to get down because I was afraid of what I would do to her. If I really did want to get back to her, I would hit him in the small of his back. He knew this, too. He knew that I didn't want to hit her as badly as I was going to. That's why he started to walk out of the cafeteria. People started to talk and point at me.
I crossed my arms as he sat me down on the stairs. Slowly, I started to get up and leave, but Percy pushed me back down. He sat beside me and wrapped his arms around me. I snuggled my head into his chest. No one came out to interrupt us, so I was okay. I didn't cry. I didn't need to. Percy held me closer and tried to calm me down. I was still angry. He knew this, but he didn't let go. If he did let go, I would probably attack her. Even though I didn't want to do it, my instincts would make me do it. I didn't want to think like that.
"She insulted mom." I barely got out.
"I know she did. She's stupid." He replied.
"It still hurt. I know that she doesn't know about Mom, but it hurt when she said it."
"Annabeth, no matter what she says, you are not blonde. Your mom is not stupid. She doesn't know how wrong she is."
I sighed, "Why would she say that, Percy?"
"She's jealous of you. Why else would she say it? There was no reason to say it. She's just trying to get under your skin."
"Are you sure she's not a monster?" I joked.
He laughed, "She's not a monster. You need to trust me."
"Can I punch her?"
"You don't want to do that. We both know that you don't want to really do this."
I smiled, "I know that I don't want to, but there is a really big temptation to do it. If I punch her, I'd feel a lot better."
"Why don't you imagine me as her and punch me? You can't actually hurt me."
"Why would I be hugging her?"
He chuckled and ran his fingers through my hair, "Well, when you let go, you can picture me as her. I'm not her right now."
"Okay, let's stop talking about her." I said as I pulled away, "How were your cousins?"
"They were good. It was only one, though. There wasn't even a fight."
"Are we moving schools?"
He hugged me, "Nah, there wasn't much damage. All that happened was a dented locker and a dead Canadian."
"That's always good. I'm glad we don't have to leave. I like it here."
"Don't worry about it, Annabeth. We won't have to leave."
I smiled and pushed back, "Percy, I mean it. I really like it here. I don't want to leave. The only other place that I felt this good was at camp. Can we not mess it up?"
He kissed the top of my head, "I will try my hardest not to mess this up. I like it here, too. The people actually like me here. They like you, too."
"If we could get rid of Zach, Evan, and Sierra, this would be the best school ever. Too bad that they are here."
"We could kill them." He joked.
I hit him, "Are you serious?"
"Hey, it's a possibility. I just thought that I'd think of all our options."
"You shouldn't be the one thinking of that. I'm the one they are torturing, not you."
"Trust me, when they torture you, they're torturing me even more."
"That's sweet, seaweed brain. That's really sweet." I told him as I leaned in to kiss him.