Chapter 6

Percy

Annabeth looks like she's going to throw up when Mr. Mason assigns us partners. Her stormy grey eyes flick back and forth between me and Luke. I watch as she starts fidgeting with her hair nervously while Mr. Mason assigns the project.

"I want you to pick a sport you enjoy, and teach the class a part of it." He dictates. I grin, thinking about the easy A.

"Your presentation has to be twenty minutes long, include a written report on the sport and your peers will be grading you." He says. I watch as the class sits up a little straighter and listens a little more intently.

"They will be graded on how well you kept the class engaged, how well you explained your sport, and how well they were able to play the game." I can just picture it now; failing because we were so boring.

"The classes grades will be average together, and the person with the best grade will be exempt from the final exam and the twenty page research paper on Cricket." He smiles. Cricket? I raise my hand.

"Why are we writing about bugs in sports and society?" I ask. The whole class laughs, even Annabeth.

"Cricket is a sport, kind of like baseball, played primarily in India, Britain, the West Indies, Southern Africa and Australia." She explains, taking pity on me.

"Exactly, Ms. Chase, you already have a head start on the research paper." Mr. Mason says. "But I doubt you're planning on losing this competition." He raises an eyebrow and she just blushes. He laughs and turns away.

"I'll be showing you the winners from the last few years." Mr. Mason tells us as he turns off the lights.

Annabeth

As Mr. Mason turns off the lights, I cannot help but zonk out, half of my brain is planning the project: soccer, duh. The other half is regretting how I acted towards Percy and Luke. I like holding Luke's hand, a lot, but I just felt uncomfortable knowing Percy noticed and was thinking about it. Then, when Mr. Mason assigned us partners there was a little, can I say it? Jealously in Luke's eyes.

Before I know it, the bell has wrung and we're heading out. As I'm gathering my books, Luke taps my shoulder.

"We're still on for later, right?" He asks. You'd think he was laid back and relaxed, but I can see in his eyes, he's worried. I blink, to make sure I'm not hallucinating.

"Yeah, definitely" I say preoccupied. I watch Percy slowly slink away with the crowd.

"Annabeth!" Luke blurts and pulls me back. I quickly find myself up against his chest. I almost want to just close the few inches of space between us and kiss him. But I don't, instead I just try to relax and act like it's no big deal.

"Um... hey?" I bite my lip.

"Annabeth, thank you for helping me with all this; you have no idea how much it means to me." He murmurs while linking his arms around my waist. I look around, probably hitting him in the face with my , I relax a little, noticing that Mr. Mason isn't around.

"Geez, Luke, What did you think I was going to do, leave Thalia out on the streets?" I demand, laughing a little to make sure he knows I'm joking. He brushes my hair out of my face.

"I know, it's just I miss her a lot, and I'm very freaked out over all of this." He hides his face in my neck and sighs. I feel so safe now, just being in his arms. I lay my head on his shoulder and we stand there for a moment before Luke backs away.

"You should get to class." He sighs. I nod.

"What about you?" I ask, catching his words. He just smiles and shakes his head.

Percy

I'm sitting in American History, wondering what's going on. My teacher, Mr. Felix, is talking, but I really couldn't care less. History was never really something I was into. Sure, I liked the older stuff, like Greek and Roman history, but American History, puts me to sleep. Now don't get me wrong I love our country, I like my freedom, my rights, etc. it's just listening to teachers drone on and on and on about stuff no one cares about.

"The new kid," He checks his list, "Umm… Percy, what do you think?" He asks, surprisingly remember my nick name. The issue is I have no idea what he's asking.

"I don't know." I admit honestly. He just shakes his head and moves on, calling on a girl who gives an exact description of Columbus. I roll my eyes and go back to pretending to take notes. Somehow, I find myself avidly doodling the name "Annabeth" I quickly crumple that paper. Loser much?

Sure, I like Annabeth, she seems nice, sweet, and funny; but she's also damaged, and totally into Luke. Even I could see it.

…

I'm sitting at lunch with Grover, discussing the finer points of new grip tape on my skateboard, when Annabeth and Luke sit down.

"Um hey?" I say, it sounds like a question.

"Hey," Luke nods at me. "So, Grover, where are you thinking about going to for college?"

"Not sure," Grover mumbles around his lettuce wrap; I don't know how he eats that stuff, it's like tin cans. I realize a little awkwardly that Annabeth chose to sit next to me instead of Grover or Luke…

"What about you?" Annabeth asks, "Jokingly" elbowing me; It kind-of hurt.

"No idea, somewhere along the coast, definitely" I admit. Annabeth laughs.

"Let me guess, surfing?" She asks, with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, and swimming" I grin. She shakes her head.

"Where on earth did you surf in New York?" She asks, I can see her grey eyes, light up as they calculate all the possibilities.

"My mom inherited this tiny cabin up in Montauk,"**** I explain. Annabeth nods again.

"So, please don't tell me you want to do surfing for the Sports & Society project…" She rolls her eyes. Luke laughs.

"Annabeth's not a fan of obscure sports." Luke laughs.

"What's wrong with soccer and football?" She asks, shrugging. "And I don't have any problem with non-streamlined sports; I just prefer the streamlined ones."

"You know in some countries "soccer and football" would've been redundant." Luke points out. "I spend way too much time around her." He says to me.

"Of course I know." She throws a wadded up napkin at him. He laughs.

"You ready for soccer?" Luke asks as he picks up his tray and chucks it in the trash. I glance at Annabeth.

"I think so." I mutter.

*** Authors note: I know it's not exactly like it is in the book, but it's mine, not Rick Riordan's version. So don't bother with flames about inaccuracies.***