Chapter 11

Annabeth

Twenty minutes later, I'm sitting in Grover's car; with Percy in the back seat, drumming his fingers on the window pane. I turn on the radio, flipping to a random station. Grover rolls his eyes at me as I change it, and change it, and change it.

"Can you pick a station already?" He protests and I grin. I've gotten very good at setting Grover on edge over the years. Percy chortles and grins at me. Surprising myself, I grin right back. When Grover finally pulls up in front of my house, a little yellow cottage with white picket fences and childrens' toy spread across the lawn.

Opening the door of Grover's sedan, I beckon Percy out of the car. He waves goodbye over his shoulder, and strolls over to stand beside me on my doorstep. I'm hesitant to open the door. The only people who have met my family are Thalia, Luke and Grover. I don't feel comfortable bringing complete strangers into my world, but Percy has a strange aura about him, it's very trustworthy and I don't trust effortlessly.

"Before we go inside…" I start to say, but Percy doesn't hear me, his hand reaches out for the doorknob and opens it before I can protest. The door flies open, revealing my half-brothers, Mathew and Bobby. They grin up at me, chocolate smeared across both of their faces.

"Hey, Annabeth, who's that?" Matthew asks, wiping his hand across his face, only managing to spread the chocolate farther. His eyes still have the dangerous twinkle in them that remind me of Luke.

"Is that your boyfriend?" Bobby asks before I can answer his brother. I feel the blush burning my cheeks; hugely humiliated. I glance at Percy, only to see he's blushing too. Oh lord.

Percy

I'll admit it, I've never been interrogated by seven-year-olds about whether I'm dating their sister; but Annabeth's brothers are changing that status abruptly. After the original question of "Is that your boyfriend?" They both jumped on me with "Do you like her?"; "Have you told Dad yet?", and possibly the most embarrassing "Are you going to kiss her?" I glance at Annabeth, who seems to have recovered from her earlier mortification.

"Mind your own business." She reminds them, scowling. Both boys mumble their apologies and scamper away into the living room. As they go, they're whispering to each other, I catch a few phrases, which only makes my discomfort increase.

"Your brothers?" I guess. To my surprise she shakes her head, and stares at her feet. I've never seen Annabeth this uncomfortable; I can't believe she ever is this uncomfortable. She's so ridiculously confident all the time, that I'd never think she'd be this uneasy in her own home. Fake gun noises and shouts resonate from the living room, along with Matthew's hushed predictions about me and Annabeth.

"Half- Brothers" She corrects, blushing. I decide pretty quickly to let that one go. Annabeth's warning glare helps my decision right along. Anxiously she adjusts the strap on her messenger bag and starts walking up the stairs.

"Um…" I trail off, hesitant to follow her upstairs. She casts a withering glace at me down the stairs, cocking one eyebrow. I know a dare when I see one. Annabeth manages to say a hell of a lot without ever saying a word.

"What?" She demands, her hands on her hips. Her eyes are daring me to voice my concerns; yeah, because that's going to happen. Annabeth's rammed into me enough times in soccer for me to know it's not a wise idea to take the challenge.

"Shouldn't we…." I trail off, feeling my face heating up. I don't know exactly how to phrase, "I don't want to go up into your room with you, and have your family thinking we're making out up there." I have the slightest suspicion Annabeth would take offense to that statement.

"You think we'll be able to focus with that racket?" She tilts her head, glancing at me scathingly. I'm not sure if she didn't think about that side of it, or if she did and is deciding to make me uncomfortable on purpose. Letting it go, I shrug and anxiously follow her up the stairs.

Annabeth

I lead Percy to my room, away from Bobby and Matthew's antics. I'm distinctly aware that he leaves the door open behind him, probably for my father's benefit. Not that my dad would come check on me. He's buried in his study, most likely. Perching on the corner of my bed, which is swathed in an old blue comforter, I gesture for Percy to take a seat on the couch. Adjusting his bag, he uneasily parks himself of the comfy fabric. Watching his eyes jump around the room, lingering on my photos and massive book case, I can't help but feel a little insecure. While the rest of the house is entirely an alien enviorment, my room represents me. My one comfort is that there's nothing judging in Percy's expression, and I doubt he's hiding it; the guy's an open book.

"So…" He starts, than trails off. I roll my eyes at his stupidity.

"So…" I mimic, come on Percy let's try for complete sentences. Suddenly his face breaks into a grin.

"You really like that don't you? The power of proving you're smarter." He guesses, striking a little too close to home for my taste. I bite back a feisty come-back remembering I actually don't hate Percy.

"Whatever, Doctor Phil" I joke, opening my notebook. I can see from Percy's expression he doesn't buy my carefree façade, but he doesn't push the subject.

"What sport were you thinking?" He asks, seeming to physically relax in front of my eyes. I grin a little, knowing a debate is sure to come. I am excellent at debates.

"Soccer" I answer.

"Wouldn't surfing be so much fun, field trip, new experiences…?" He challenges, a devious little twinkle in his eyes. I have the strange feeling he's seeing exactly the same image as me, lots and lots of wipeouts.

"Number one: they wouldn't permit a field trip; two: we'd have to get twenty-four surf boards, Three: you'd have to teach me, four: we're graded on how well they could play the sport, five: if someone gets hurt we're liable, six" I list off, ticking the reasons off on my fingers. Finally conceding the point, Percy rolls his eyes.

"Fine then, what's your idea?" He wonders; tilting his head to study me. I can't help but notice his eyes are a gorgeous green. Without realizing it, I lean closer to Percy, shrinking the space between us. Percy seems caught in the same trance as I am. His eyes lock onto mine, and he doesn't seem keen to look away at any point in time.

Percy

The edges of my vision seem to blur as Annabeth leans a little closer to me, those tantalizing grey eyes locking on mine. I lean a little closer, but as I do, I spot a picture, tacked up to Annabeth's cork board. She looks a year or two younger than she is now, grinning at the camera, the angle suggesting she's taking the picture herself. Luke's beside her, his arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders. Out of the corner of her eye, she's gazing up at Luke with adoration clear in her expression. I sit back immediately, blinking and shaking my head. Annabeth seems a little dazed, and surprised that I broke the moment. She instantly brings her hands to her hair, tucking a curl behind her ear, a rosy pink blush spreading across her face.

"So… what are you thinking?" I finally ask, trying to get back on topic. Annabeth shoots me a look like "You've got to be kidding me."

…

Forty minutes later, we've already picked a sport (soccer) and started brainstorming for the presentation and report. We haven't had any bizarre moments since earlier. I'm still not exactly sure what that was about. After a while, she regained her confidence but she seems just as disturbed as I am. We don't have feelings for each other, of course. That would be very weird.