You guys must hate me. I feel like such a rotten writer. My last chapter ended with a bad cliffhanger and I didn't update in what-3 months? Anyways, I could give you a laundry list of excuses, but it won't really make a difference.
Also, I was reading over my last chapter and saw some glaring mistakes. (That's what I get for decided that it would be okay to type the entire chapter on my phone.) So, I apologize. It is so bad that I might replace it.
I really appreciate how patient some of you have been and how willing you are to still read my story! I immensely appreciate all the reviews, follows, and favorites!
Now, finally, please enjoy!
Annabeth:
"Our second date," I replied but a part of me started to regret what I said as the words escaped my mouth, but, at the same time, the other part of me felt relieved that I said that.
After staring into Percy's eyes for about a second after my reply, I quickly turned my head the other way to face the window instead of him. It was a, somewhat, bold thing to say, but I had a feeling that, deep in Percy's subconscious mind, he was hoping that it was a date. Percy is sometimes just too oblivious sometimes to know what other people are thinking or even what he (himself) is thinking.
I not sure what I expected him to say, what I wanted him to say, or if he was going to say anything at all, but I was kind of hoping he would say something like "Yeah, totally! We should go to [blank] next time!", as if it was no big deal, and he had seen it as a date the entire time but, honestly, I would be surprised if he said anything at all.
I turned back at him to see his slightly vacant expression. He looked like he was about to say something but he didn't say anything, which made me a little bit worried because I knew that he was thinking about what to say, and if he is thinking about what to say, he is thinking about how to reply to what I said, which means he is thinking about what I said, which is exactly what I didn't want—him thinking about it.
Pushing all my irrational concerns away, Percy spoke up, "Of course it will", he said in a almost nonchalant voice while grinning at me.
XXX
It was too late. I originally vowed not to make any friends, date anyone, etc. because I have to leave every time I start to feel like I finally belonged and I was a part of the foster care. I had to leave every family I had and start a new life, at a new place, and lose everyone that I had lived with.
But I felt like I was a part of this place. I had friends; I had family. No matter where I go, who I met, or whatever happens, they will always be my family and nothing can ever change that. At first, I looked at this place as a temporary home; I felt that this was just a stop on the way to my home, but now I realize I am home.
Suddenly I heard a knock on of the door. I shot up from my chair, hoping that Percy would be at the door. When I opened the door, I quickly realized that it was exactly who I wanted it to be.
"Hi," I said while smiling to him. "Whatcha doing here?"
"Nothing, I'm just bored. If you're busy, I could leave-" He said as he began to turn around.
I pulled him in before he could.
"I'm not busy. I'm actually really glad you came. I was basically just tediously staring at the wall for the past few minutes," I told him while I closed the door behind him.
We mainly talked about school, which is usually one of my favorite-if not my favorite-things to talk about, but it wasn't what I wanted to talk about at the time. Percy made me not want to talk about school; all I wanted to do was to have some fun together.
"Hey, Percy? Wanna go do something fun?" I interrupted him in the middle of his little rant of complaints about tests that I wasn't genuinely listening to.
"What is this? Annabeth Chase wants to have fun?" Percy teased. "I'm so proud. I'm beginning to influence you!'
"Unfortunately."
"Hey!"
I smiled at him. He exaggerated my boring-ness, right? I'm not really that boring or am I? If he thinks I'm boring, he really is oblivious because I think I have too much fun sometimes.
"So what do you want to do?" I asked him in an attempt to rear the conversation back on point.
"Me? What do you want to do? You're the one who suggested on doing something."
Percy was actually right. There were plenty of places I wanted to go and several things I have always wanted to do, but I never mentioned them. Think Annabeth-what is a place I have always wanted to go? I went through my small mental checklist. Amusement park? Check. Lincoln Memorial? Check. Then suddenly it hits me. I love architecture, and I have never seen one of the most famous, amazing pieces of architecture in this country-The Statue of Liberty.
My face lit up just to think of the opportunity to see the amazing monument, but I hesitated to mention my request to see "Lady Liberty". I didn't want to tell Percy that I desperately wanted to go because I was afraid that it would be too much to ask. Making someone stop what they're doing and take you to a national monument seemed like a heavy request. Maybe I could go in the summer.
"What did you think of?" Percy questioned. He could tell that I have thought of the place that I wanted to go and I just wasn't telling him.
"It's nothing," I replied letting the excitement in my voice die back down to where it was before.
"It's something"
"Nothing!"
"Something!" Percy retaliated. "I would be more than happy to take you wherever you want to go. I need to go out and 'smell the daisies' anyway."
"Well, I have always wanted...,"Percy got a little closer and put his hand behind his ear to initate that he was listening, "...to see The Statue of Liberty."
Percy looked at me with an enigmatic have-you-been-living-under-a-rock? expression as if I was an alien and I had just fell from another planet, "You, an architect guru who has lived in New York, has never, up close and in person, seen The Statue of Liberty?"
"I've always wanted to," I answered.
"Well, we have to go immediately!"He insisted.
I thought he was joking. The effort he was putting in to try to get me to see The Statue of Liberty was very much appreciated and all, but you can't just go to a national monument without any plans to or any other type of preparation.
Everything needs to have some type of planned structure, or it is condemned to fail. Maybe that's why I am sometimes hesitant to do things. I am afraid that I didn't prepare enough, and I will fail because of it. I learned that there will always be an extra second; there will always be another way that you could have executed something that would've been a more efficient way.
"But-"
"You can see The Statue of Liberty from here. There is no excuse why we can't go," He said, cutting my explanation even before I was able to begin it. "As soon as we are able to go, we are going to go!"
XXX
"Do you know an adult who could accompany us on the trip?" Percy asked me later that day while he was making reservations.
My thoughts immediately went to Chiron. Isn't Chiron the obvious choice? It made me wonder why Percy was even asking me. Maybe he was curious of which adult I preferred to be with. There were only two adults-Dionysus and Chiron-and I preferred Chiron greatly over Dionysus.
"Chiron," I answered with a duh! tone in my voice.
"Yeah, I was thinking of him too, but we have one problem..."He answered.
"What is it?"
"He might be too tall," Percy answered. "The height limit for traveling up to the crown is 6'2."
That sounded almost unfair to me. A tall person isn't allowed to have the amazing experience of being able to look down onto the city on a national monument. But they are tall, and tall people get a lot of advantages. That's life. People aren't always equal, but there are pros' and cons' for everything.
I didn't realize, but while I was thinking through that little dilemma, Percy was already halfway down the hall, most likely heading towards Chiron's office to ask his height. I followed behind him, also wanting to know Chiron's response or if Percy was even going to ask the question I thought he was going to.
Percy knocked on the door and waited for Chiron to answer. He rocked from foot-foot, obviously trying to avoid being still. Percy was hyper-being still and quiet just isn't his thing. This is one of his many qualities that make me go crazy sometimes but, at other times, make me smile.
The door suddenly opened breaking me out of my train-of-thought.
Chiron greeted us with a welcoming smile, "What do you need?"
"How tall are you?" Percy randomly asked.
Wow, really smooth Percy! Seriously I need to teach this boy to stop being so impulsive. First you need explain the situation before you ask a completely random question, so you don't seem...weird, I guess you could say. I gave Percy a you-lack-common-sense look.
"Um...,"Chiron began to reply. The question obviously caught him off-guard.
So, I began to explain what the situation was that caused us to need to know his height. I did not tell him the height he had to be under because I didn't want him to be hesitant to tell me his actual height if he wasn't under 6'2.
"Um, I think I am 6'3," Chiron replied while looking up at the wall, trying to recall the memory.
I winced and looked at Percy. So close--He had to be just one inch too tall. I started to think. You know 6'3 is very close to 6'2, and he said he thought he was that height. There is a chance that he recalled the wrong height or he incorrectly measured his height.
"There is only one way to be sure," I said as I ran upstairs, looking for Leo, a boy very handy with tools, to see if I could borrow his tape measure.
XXX
"So who else is going to take us?" I asked Percy right after I returned Leo his tape measure.
My mind immediately went to the person I was hoping we could avoid-Mr. D. No. I will not be chaperoned by Mr. D. Nothing is wrong with him. He just doesn't like people in general. It is almost as if he is a god and everyone else in the world is a mistake. He doesn't really care about people enough to even learn their names. I can't imagine him being our chaperone.
"I think that Mr. D. might be our last resort," Percy answered, not sounding very euphoric.
"He's going to say no. I don't even think we have to ask," I don't think Mr. D. is willing to spend that much time on us, honestly.
"We can at least try to ask," Percy insisted as he headed toward the direction of the living room, which is usually where Mr. D. is.
There is no way that Mr. D. will agree to this. If he does, I will most likely be suspicious of what type of set-up he is planning. Percy has known Mr. D. longer than I have, so I think he knows it is unlikely that Mr. D. will agree, to be honest. I think Percy just wants to ask him to keep me hopeful that we will be able to go, but I was smarter than that. I could see right through.
"Knock, knock!" Percy said to indicate that he wanted to talk to Mr. D. when we reached the living room because there wasn't exactly a door to the living room.
"Yes, Peter?" Dionysus answered without even looking at Percy.
"Percy," I corrected unhesitatingly.
"Whatever, Annabelle!"
"Anyway, "Percy began, trying to change the subject back to what it should be, "We-"
I quickly cut him off, recalling how badly impulsive Percy is. Chiron is much more understanding than Mr. D. If Percy says something stupid to Mr. D., it could reduce the very small chance that we already had of getting him to cooperate. I explained the situation in my nicest voice with a tone of pleading. Mr. D. must have a heart deep down.
"So could you please chaperone us?" I said, closing up the conversation in my sweetest voice. You know begging is not my thing; I prefer threatening.
"No," Mr. D. answered without hesitation nor did he look at us in his response.
I wasn't surprised at all, but Percy persisted, "Why?"
"I have better things to do," Mr. D. responded without much thought.
Mr. D. still didn't care enough to peel his eyes off of the television screen to look at Percy to notice that he was glaring at him.
I felt a little gloomy. Not because I wasn't able to go sight-seeing; I was upset because the one time I ask a person just to be my acquaintance, they aren't willing to. Every adult I grew up with was the same way. If my wishes didn't benefit them, they weren't worth the time. That was one of the reasons why I was almost fine with leaving. I thought I would finally be able to get away from that, but I guess not.
"Don't worry. We will be able to go," Percy whispered to me.
I turned around and started walking back to my room, but Percy remained still and didn't move a muscle. I want sure what he was waiting for. Percy still didn't step out of the living room by the time he rendered out my eye sight.
I thought it was so sweet that Percy was being so persistent. He was doing all of this just so he can fulfill some minor trip that I have wanted to take. Someday, I'm going to have to repay him for everything he has done just to try to make me happy; I'm going to repay him for making me feel like I belong; I'm going to repay him for being that one person that believed in me before anyone else did or would no one would.
Man, it's good to be back. Writing this chapter made me realize how much I missed this story. Not much happened in this chapter, I know, but I'm trying to set it up and save the best parts for the next chapter. I am going to update as soon as possible (yet, I said this on my last chapter, but I didn't update for months, but I promise that won't happen!).
Okay, anyway, my author's notes are getting too long, so I better get to the point. The next chapter will be in Percy's POV (Yea! I was dying to change POVs in the middle of the chapter, but I never do that, so I couldn't).
Please review, follow, and favorite! These were the things that made me start writing this sorry again!
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this story alive!
-h0a4l2e1y