Hi everyone! I'm excited because this is my 15th chapter! I'm so happy that I am able to update on time. Thank you for supporting my story! I want to especially thank Athenasisters for dedicating time to try to help me be a better writer and always supporting me no matter what.
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Enjoy!
Percy:
I stood there for a few seconds after Annabeth left. I noticed that Annabeth was gone and probably already in her room by now. I stood there like a painted person. Patiently and quietly (two things I am usually not), I waited for Mr. D. to notice that I was still there. I may not have been doing anything, but I was defiantly still there.
After awhile of quietly waiting, Mr. D. finally bothered to look up and noticed that I was still there. I glared at him, making sure that he knows that I wasn't happy with him. He didn't care, and, usually, I don't care either.
I just felt like Mr. D. could have, and should have, agreed to "chaperone" us. I don't usual pout when I don't get what I want, but this isn't about me anymore. All Mr. D. has to do is come with us, which would probably be good for him, but he refuses probably to blatantly annoy us.
"Why are you still here, Peter?" Mr. D. questioned.
"You know, Annabeth has always felt like no adult would never be there for her. All you had to do was agree to make her happy, but you aren't even willing to do that. All Annabeth has ever known in her life is that no adult ever even cared enough to give a second thought-"
"Annabelle-" Mr. D. started to interrupt me.
I interrupted him and spoke louder in an attempt to talk over his interruption, "And you just confirmed to her that the majority of guardians she has had really don't care. All Annabeth has ever wanted were friends; all Annabeth ever wanted was a family; all Annabeth ever wanted were parents, but you obviously don't care. Now, Annabeth is probably in her room thinking that no matter where she goes, she will never have the parents that she dreamed about."
"Annabeth now knows that when she needs you, you're not willing to help her," I said to Mr. D. who was about to say something but didn't.
Chiron did care about her, but you don't think that it doesn't hurt when someone who is supposed to be a guardian isn't even willing to learn your name?
XXX
I knocked on Annabeth's door to see how she was doing, and she quickly answered,"Hey!"
She pulled me in and closed the door behind me, "Why were you down there with Mr. D. so long?"
"I just wanted to talk to him about some things. That's all," I answered.
The facial expressions on Annabeth's face showed that didn't answer all the questions she had, but she didn't ask any else.
She started to tell me about the book she was reading, but, as much as I tried to pay attention to what she was saying, I couldn't. This is another reason why I think we need to go to places and do activities-we are desperately running out of things to talk about.
I nodded and grinned at her as she gave me her little review, but I think she knew that I was not listening. Annabeth finished her review anyway, and then we just sat in silence. My brain was scanning through a list of things that I could say to break the silence.
"If you had to give up one of your senses, what would it be?" I asked. It was random and not a normal question, but I just spat out the first 'conversation starter' I could think of.
She thought for a second but not very long," My taste."
"I couldn't go through life without my taste. The taste if junk food is irreplaceable. I think I would give up my smell," I responded.
"Percy, your taste and your smell are extremely closely related. You wouldn't lose how the foods taste to you, but the foods wouldn't taste good anymore. You don't realize that you lose your sense of taste physiologically instead psychologically, not because your sense of taste is affected but because 80% of what we consider to be tasty food comes from how they smell."
"Wow" I answered.
"When you give up smell you are giving up the thing that makes taste important to you. So basically, you lose both senses by choosing smell, but if you chose taste, you only loose one," Annabeth exclaimed and smiled at me.
"Well that changed by mind..."
"Did I just blow your mind?" Annabeth asked with a smirk on her face.
"Yes, you did. You are too smart."
Annabeth thinks through everything and that's one thing that makes her amazing. Someday Annabeth is going to achieve all of her goals because she deserves it. Annabeth has spent thousands of hours studying and, that is what is going to make her successful. Annabeth really does deserve more than life has been giving her.
"Annabeth, but if you lost your taste but not your smell, you would have to through life smelling things, but you will never be able to taste it. So, basically, a big part of your life would just be wanting things that you will never be able to have, "I mentioned to her after awhile of thought.
Annabeth shrugged, "I'm kind of used to it."
This made me even madder at Mr. D. then I already was. Annabeth shouldn't have to get use to not being able to have things that she wants.
After talking a little while about how much of a crazy genius she is, I asked, "You want to go out and eat lunch?"
"Yeah, I'm hungry, and I'm bored from staying in this room," She answered.
"Where do want to go?" I asked.
"I don't care. We can just go to the first restaurant we see."
"Awesome," I replied while running to my room to get my wallet.
Annabeth knows that I like to pay when we go out, regardless of where we are or what we are buying. It makes me cringe to even see her pay parts of the check. Call me old-fashioned, but when you take someone out, I don't think that they should be forced to pay because it is suppose to be like your gift to them. After a while, I think Annabeth realized that it is going to be a while before I relent on paying.
As we were on our way out the door, I heard a familiar voice, "Hold up, Peter and Annabelle!"
I turned around and looked at him to indicate that I was waiting for his words.
"Make sure that you buy anything that you want for our visit to the Statue of Liberty while you are out," Dionysus relied, casually.
I looked back at Mr. D. with a almost grateful look.
"Now leave me to my peace before I change my mind!" He hissed at us.
I think that he didn't want to admit that he had done something nice to us.
XXX
"Hurry up!" Mr. D. screeched at us as he headed out the door as Annabeth and I as we shuffled out of our rooms.
I grabbed the backpack out of the corner that I had prepared. Despite the fact the Mr. D. was rushing us, I felt the need to check through the backpack probably for the fourth time that day. You know when you have I-know-I-forgot-something-but-I-don't-know-what feeling? Well, I was having a terrible case of that.
There must be something that I hadn't remembered. Maybe it was an item; maybe it was a rule; maybe it was an idea. I want to make sure that whatever it is, that it isn't an important item. Like, you don't know how worried I am-I'm so worried that I made a list. I know-Percy Jackson making a list and organizing materials? Unheard of.
Bottles of water. Check. Camera. Check. Snacks. Check. This thing is starting to make me pull out my hair.
"Annabeth!" I yelled. Annabeth's room is directly next to mine. She could hear me, and I felt too lazy to walk all the way out the door.
"What?" I heard her yell back.
"Do you need anything else that isn't on the list?"
"No! Percy, stop worrying about that! We need to hurry!"
"I'm on my way!" I responded.
I looked down at the floor, desperately tried to recall everything. Now, I felt like I could almost guarantee that I haven't forgotten an item. I tried to go through my checklist one again; Annabeth interrupted me by telling me to hurry up.
I used my arm and just started sweeping random items into the backpack. My backpack was very heavy afterwards, but I felt much better.
"Coming!" I ran outside to see Mr. D. with an impatient, annoyed expression on his face
"You take longer than the girl," Mr. D. said to me as I opened the car door.
I ignored him and sat down next to Annabeth.
"Are you okay?" Annabeth asked, probably because she could notice that something was wrong.
"I forgot something,"I blatantly said to her.
"Well, go get it!"
"I don't know what I forgot!"
"What?"
"I just have a feeling that I'm forgetting something, "I replied to her.
Annabeth nodded her head at me, "Don't worry about it."
Her words didn't help me calm down; I didn't expect them to. I don't know why I was stressing out so much about it. I just felt like it was important. Also, I wanted to make sure everything was perfect, so it was bothering me that I had a feeling that I forgot something-something important.
Annabeth reached for my backpack and checked through it to reassure me that I didn't forget anything.
"Everything is here, "She shuffled through it a little more,"...Maybe even more than needed, "She said as she pulled out a bottle of toothpaste. It was probably one of the items I had randomly swept in.
We sat in the car for only about ten minutes as the ferry we were suppose to ride to Liberty Island came into view.
As we stepped out of the car, I took a deep breath of the ocean breeze. The ocean made me feel safe and at peace, I felt less vexed being around it. I felt free;I felt liberated. I wish that I could just live around the ocean. Someday, I going to get a beach-house, and I'm just going to sit on the shore and swim in the ocean all day.
Travelling on the ferry made me feel even more serene. Being in the ocean made me euphoric in the most settle and clam way. Everything feels okay because I feel safe, with the bright sun beaming down on the waves in the horizon.
The tour guide was saying things about the island and the history of the statue, and I could tell that Annabeth was captivated by the presentation, but I wasn't listening. To be honest, I thought I was going to fall asleep if I haven't been so engrossed by the ocean.
"We will arrive on Liberty Statue in a few minutes!" The tour guide's voice rang.
I looked over at Annabeth and saw her covering her eyes with her hands, trying to block the sun.
"You do know there is a hat in the backpack,right? "I said to her.
She turned to me slowly, "You're trying to tell me that I have been squinting and blocking the sun with my hand for the past fifteen minutes, and, now, when we are about to get off, is when you tell me?"
I grinned, "I didn't notice that the sun was bothering you."
She snatched the hat from the backpack, "You're such a Seaweed Brain."
XXX
"I think I'm going to pass out. It's so amazing!" Annabeth exclaimed looking up at the statue.
I have been to The Statue of Liberty several times, and it looks more amazing every time. The large statue made me feel light-headed because it was so unrealistically tall.
"Nothing special, "Mr. D. said without even looking up from the newspaper he was reading.
The words didn't even seem to get to Annabeth's ears. Nothing could wipe the smile off of her face. She inventively listened to the tour guide even though I was sure that she already knew everything the tour guide was saying.
We began to make our way into the building. The view was a beautiful portrait of how far we have came in humanity. It's always nice to look back to a world that is simple and isn't developed, but I appreciated living in a city.
"We will be climbing up the stairs after the tour of the base!"The tour guide announced.
Suddenly we approached the staircase that led to the crown of the statue, and it hit me. I knew exactly what I had forgotten. I quickly tensed. All the color drained out of my face. Annabeth noticed and she got concerned.
"What?" She asked putting a hand on my shoulder.
I thought that she would have figured it out by now,so I simply replied, "Space."
Immediately, she knew exactly what I was talking about. When we went to the amusement park, I told her that I was claustrophobic. Looking at the small space of the staircase made me feel so light-headed, that I was barely able to stand. I desperately wanted to run back out to the ocean where there were no restraints and there is unlimited openness, but I felt like the more scared I got of the small space, the more I was ruining Annabeth's trip.
"I'll be okay," I reassured her, but I was genuinely afraid that I was going to pass out. Oh well.
"I don't believe you."
"Why not?"
"You don't look good at all, and we aren't even on the stairs."
"This is a chance to get over my fear, "I answered.
"Why are you so insistent on going?"
"I'm more afraid of disappointing you than I am of small spaces," I assured her.
Annabeth voice got a little gentler, "You are crazy in the most endearing way, but I don't want to go if it means seeing you so stressed."
She thinks I'm endearing? Well, I felt like a dream-killer. I'm making Annabeth give up something she has always wanted to do because I am too much of a chicken. I have to go up the staircase.
"No, I'm fine,"I answered her.
"Listen, the fact that you are so willing to make me happy means so much more to me than going up to the crown."
I thought Annabeth was just being too sweet. She was giving up something she has always wanted to do for me.
XXX
Even though we were home, sitting in my room, I still felt guilty because I think that I still disappointed Annabeth. If someone else would've taken her, she would've been able to go to the crown. It hurts my heart that I couldn't do the things for her that someone else could but aren't willing to.
"Stop it," Annabeth said to me.
"What?"
"Stop feeling bad!"
"But-"
She interrupted me with a kiss.
What do you think? How was it? Let me know in your reviews! The next chapter will be in Annabeth's POV. I hope you guys enjoyed my fifteen chapters. Thank you so much for all the support I have seen in the past fifteen chapters!
I also want to apologize for any errors that I might have missed because I made hundreds of corrections. I would've updated a few days sooner, but some storms have been hitting us pretty hard, so I hope everyone is doing okay.
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-h0a4l2e1y