Goodbye New York
Percy took a glance at his calendar. He noticed the box with a red circle around it was two boxes away from today's date. The box with the red circle around it marked the day he was leaving New York. Two more days of my life in New York, he thought.
Annabeth sat on Percy's bed, back against the headboard and hugging her knees, watching him pack his clothes into a black suitcase. Her eyes followed every moment that Percy made; when he folded his shirt and shoved it into the black empty hole of the bag. Every piece of clothing that he packed only made Annabeth feel more hurt and guilty for how she's been treating him over the year. She wanted to get up from the bed and stop Percy from packing his things up and leaving her. But instead she sat on his bed, watching him.
Percy could feel Annabeth watching him. And it hurt him to see that she was sad but he couldn't do anything about it. He wanted to comfort her, hug her, or whatever it took to cheer her up. But instead he kept packing his clothes.
The silence and intensity of the atmosphere disappeared when Percy's mother walked into the room.
"Percy, make sure you – " Sally stopped when she saw the sight in front of her. She could literally feel her heart shatter into pieces as Annabeth stared at her son with a blank expression and her son shoving his clothes into the bag. This was her worst nightmare; seeing her child so sad. Sally took in a deep breath, "– make sure you check with the principle tomorrow to get your paperwork."
Percy didn't even bother to respond so Sally left the room leaving Annabeth and Percy alone again. After he was finished packing one of his suitcases, he took a seat at the edge of the bed, back facing Annabeth. Percy sighed, hating the awkwardness in his room. He took a good look around. The walls were painted with a deep-sea ocean blue. The mess that was scattered all over the floor was now gone and clean, showing the white carpet underneath. Against the walls were boxes containing Percy's things that will soon be shipped to his new home in Hawaii.
He was going to miss all this. While Percy and his mom are gone, another family will be renting the apartment. It made him sad that another boy or girl will be using his room as their own. Percy's thoughts were interrupted when a hand was placed on his shoulder. Percy turned his head around to see who the hand belonged too.
Annabeth gave Percy a half-hearted smile, reassuring him that she was there for him. Percy returned the same kind of smile.
"I should go," Annabeth said with her voice slightly cracking.
Percy nodded. "Yeah, your dad is probably worried for you," he replied, noticing that the sky was getting pretty dark. Annabeth gave another squeeze on his shoulder before leaving his room to go home.
Percy went face first into the soft pillow once Annabeth left the room. Usually a kid is supposed to be excited for the last day of school, but it wasn't for Percy because the last day of school is his last whole day in New York. And like the other nights since he found out that he's moving, Percy drifted into a trouble-some sleep.
The next day came slowly to Percy. It surprised Grover and Nico how Percy didn't even look like something was wrong. He wore a smile up on his face and walked confidently in the school's hallway. It kind of creeped both Nico and Grover.
But during lunch, Nico couldn't stand it. "What's wrong with you?" Nico almost yelled at Percy. Percy looked at the olive-skinned boy confusingly. "How could you be so calm and happy when you're taking off on a plane to a place a thousand miles from here tomorrow?" Nico had a take a deep breath after saying that. Percy's face fell a little when Nico mentioned it but shook it after right after.
Grover looked at Nico. "Dude, seriously?"
"Well, it's true!" Nico yelled.
"You're not helping," Grover argued.
Nico was about to protest but Percy cut in. "Guys, stop. Don't ruin my day when everything was just about to feel normal again."
Nico back down and Grover pouted a little but they both shut up.
"Sorry," Nico mumbled. Percy looked towards Luke's table – where Annabeth usually sat during lunch – and noticed that she wasn't there. Thalia caught Percy's eyes lingering her lunch table and then they locked eyes. She gave Percy a slight shrug, knowing that he was wondering where Annabeth was. Thalia and Percy aren't close friends, but they get a long pretty well. Annabeth introduced him to her in the beginning of the school year and, well, they didn't agree with each other at first. But Thalia realized that he was a kind kid afterwards and Percy realized she was a pretty cool girl. Also, Thalia knows that Percy likes Annabeth, so she had to be friends with the kid anyways.
After lunch, the three friends split up to go to their electives. Percy went on his way to Greek class. When entering, he noticed Annabeth already sitting at her table with her iPhone and laptop out. Annabeth's laptop was like her baby, she got it from an uncle who was a great inventor. Percy cocked his head to the side, wondering what his best friend was up to. Considering there were ten minutes left until class started, he decided to join her.
"What are you up to, Wise Girl?" Percy asked while leaning over Annabeth's shoulder to look at her laptop screen. There were a bunch of windows open and a lot of things going on in the screen, it made Percy dizzy.
"Hold up," Annabeth said. She was in focus mode. Her hair was put up into a messy ponytail and her eyebrows were scrunched up. Once and a while she'd look at her phone and then look at her laptop screen.
Percy laughed at how focus Annabeth was. He decided to ruin it by ruffling up her hair. Annabeth turned around and glared daggers at Percy. He laughed again.
"You should see your face," Percy said in between laughs.
Annabeth wasn't in the mood for Percy's immaturity and punched him in the gut – hard. Percy groaned causing Annabeth to have a smug smile upon her face. She turned back around to finish up whatever she was working on.
Percy, who was clutching his stomach, lifted up his short, exposing his bruised stomach. The bruise wasn't from Annabeth, but it was from Luke. It was a circle with a purple color ringing it. He didn't bother to ice it or anything because he was afraid his mom would catch him and become a worried-sick mother. But Annabeth just had to punch him in the exact spot, making it worse. Percy poked the bruise, flinching a little when feeling it throb.
"Finally, done!" Annabeth sighed and turned back around. Percy immediately put his shirt down but Annabeth noticed. "What was that?"
"N-nothing. So, what's that you're working on?" Percy said trying to sound casual.
Annabeth ignored his question and took Percy's shirt into her hands.
"What are you doing?" Percy tried stopping Annabeth's hands from lifting his shirt.
But Annabeth was stronger than Percy, unfortunately. She lifted his shirt, exposing the large round bruise located in the middle of his abdomen.
Annabeth gasped, "Hell, Seaweed Brain, I'm so sorry!" But then she examined the bruise. It looked like it was given to him way before Annabeth had punched him. "What the hell, Percy? Who gave this to you?" She was starting to sound protective over Percy.
Percy knew that she wouldn't believe him if he told her it was Luke that gave him the bruise. So he lied for her sake, "No one. I ran into a railing the other day."
Annabeth looked at Percy skeptically. Normally she would know if he's lying, but Percy being such a Seaweed Brain, it's possible that he could to such thing. Annabeth gave a good chuckle at his clumsiness but went back to concern mode. "You better get that checked."
"Yeah, yeah, Wise Girl," Percy rolled his eyes while putting his shirt down. "So, what's this you've been stressing over?" He asked gesturing to the phone and computer.
Annabeth grinned down at it and grabbed her grey-cased iPhone. "I created a new app for you and I to use when you're gone. Give me your phone."
Percy searched his pockets for his iPhone with a blue case around it and gave it to Annabeth. She plugged it into her laptop and pressed a few buttons. After a few minutes, she took it off the cord and gave it back to Percy. He was just watching her the whole time, not knowing what the hell she was up to.
Then Annabeth held her iPhone up and spoke into it. "O Iris, Goddess of Rainbows, show me Percy Jackson."
There was a little shimmer sound that came from both their phones and a click. Percy looked at his screen and saw Annabeth on top.
"Woah, cool," was all Percy could say at the new app. It was a video chat app, except only Percy and Annabeth had it for themselves. "Wait, Iris? Really?" he grinned.
Annabeth shrugged, "We're Greek freaks, so minus well. But you have to say that sentence and my name if you want to chat with me. Figured it'll be a good way for us to keep in contact while you're in Hawaii."
"Wow, thanks, Wise Girl." Percy hugged Annabeth. But before she could respond, he decided to comment on her. "You're such a nerd."
Annabeth scoffed and gave another punch on his shoulder – hard.
"Ow," Percy whined. "Why so violent?"
"Oh suck it up, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth retorted while closing her laptop. Then the bell rung, warning that class started in five minutes. Percy took a seat next to Annabeth and the rest of the students started to come.
Mr. Brunner entered into the class in his wheelchair. Mr. Brunner was the Greek class teacher and a good one at it. He had long, wavy hair that reached the bottom of his neck and a trimmed beard. No one knows how or why he is in a wheel chair, but he would tell weird stories about monsters attacking him. He was basically considered a nut-job in school but was a very wise man when teaching Greek mythology. He actually ran his own camp called "Camp Half-Blood" and it was a camp for dyslexic or ADHD kids.
"All right, students," Mr, Brunner started, "Since today is the last day of school, we'll go around the class and everyone will say one important thing they learned this year."
Each student explained their thought to the classroom. Some passed, not knowing what they learned. The next person was Annabeth. She stood up and cleared her throat.
"Well, I learned that . . . " then she trailed off into something about math and science and everything else she thought was important. She almost put the whole class to sleep with her outcome of thoughts. After a few and long minutes, she concluded her speech. " – and that's some of the important things I learned this year."
The whole class gave weak claps and it was Percy's turn.
"Well, I don't know much to say after that," Percy joked and the class laughed. Annabeth shot a glare at Percy. "Kidding," he said flashing a lop-sided grin at her. Percy thought for a moment of what he learned this year, and then he started to think about what he's been going through for the past few weeks. "One important thing that I learned this year was," he paused, "well, to live everyday like it was your last. Do what you want to do and don't hesitate because tomorrow isn't promised to you. One day, you may just find out that you're moving thousands of miles away." Percy stopped himself before he could get all emotional in front of his peers. Annabeth looked up at him with sorrow. "So, yeah. Live life to the fullest."
The class laughed as his cliché quote. Mr. Brunner looked at Percy while he sat down. Annabeth glanced at Percy, noticing the sadden expression on his face. Soon, everyone took their turn in the class discussion and the bell rang.
"All right, class, thank you for sharing today. Have a great summer!" Mr. Brunner announced. Percy got up from his desk and headed towards the door, but Mr. Brunner called out to him. "Percy, can I see you for a minute?"
At first, Percy felt nervous, like he did something wrong. But hearing the secureness in Mr. Brunner's voice calmed his nerves.
"Yes, sir?" Percy asked after he arrived at the front of the desk.
"Perseus Jackson," Mr. Brunner started. Percy flinched at the mention of his full name and Mr. Brunner just continued. "I heard that you are moving. Am I right?"
"Yes, Mr. Brunner. You heard correctly," Percy tried to sound less nervous than he was.
Mr. Brunner lifted his fingers to under his own bearded chin. "Good. You know, boy, I've always considered you like my own son - " Percy flinched again. He didn't have a dad but it was true. Mr. Brunner was like Percy's dad; always giving advice and watching over him like he was his son. " – and since you are going, I want you to have a little something of mines."
The Greek teacher pulled out his desk and took out something skinny and shiny. Mr. Brunner took out a gold colored pen that had symbols engraved to it that looked familiar to Percy. It was interesting how delicate and fragile he held this one pen. It was important to him and you could tell by the way he held it. Then he handed the pen to Percy. He looked sad and his hands were shaky when handing it over to the boy. But before he could stop, Percy already held the pen in his own hands. Percy examined the pen. He saw the symbols that were engraved in it. It was soon mixed up to show one word.
"Riptide?" Percy looked at his teacher in confusion.
"Ah, yes, the best of the best." Mr. Brunner replied.
"But this is a pen," Percy exclaimed, "A pen."
"Wait till you uncap it," Mr. Brunner told Percy. Percy just looked at him like he was that crazy nut-job of a teacher everyone talked about. "Well, go on." Mr. Brunner waited.
Percy slowly took off the cap of the pen, expecting just a tip of a regular pen. But in Mr. Brunner's eyes, he looked like he expected the pen to turn into a sword. Crazy. But neither of them were right, but it was close to Mr. Brunner's guess. Instead of the tip of regular pen, there was a sharp, knife-like object sticking out. It was kind of like the end of a scalpel – the sharp side of course.
Percy gasped, dropping the pen on the table. "Why are you giving me this?" He whisper-yelled.
Mr. Brunner chuckled and picked up the pen and capped it. "I have a feeling you will need it."
Percy just stared at Mr. Brunner in shock.
"Oh, c'mon, boy. Don't look at me like that, it's rude."
Percy snapped out of it. "S-sorry. But I can't accept this. I'm going to get in trouble." Bringing a weapon to school is against policy and it will get him kicked out.
"Last time I checked, you're moving," Mr. Brunner smirked. That's the wise man that's kicking in.
Percy sighed and shoved the pen into his jean pocket. "I suppose so. Thank you, Mr. Brunner."
"You're welcome, my boy. It'll come handy one day, and you'll be thanking me!" Mr. Brunner called out when Percy exited the classroom.
Percy made his way to his last class – P.E. And like every other P.E. class, he hated being there. Grover and Nico soon accompanied his side, walking towards P.E.
During P.E., they had their 2-mile final run and well, Nico and Grover weren't the best running partners. The whole time, Nico and Grover were arguing about death and nature. Nico would tell Grover about forest fires and that made Grover sniffle up a bit. But after everything, Percy got them to shut up and they were able to finish their run in 17 minutes. Not bad for their age group.
This time, the three friends really needed to shower. They all just hoped that the eighth graders finished their run late, and they did. As the three friends exited the locker room, Nico perked up.
"Shoot, guys, I forgot something!" Nico said.
Grover groaned. "Dude!"
"I'm sorry!" Nico apologized and ran back into the lockers to get whatever he needed.
Grover and Percy waited hesitantly for Nico outside the lockers. Percy saw the eighth grade boys making their way out of the gym and towards the locker rooms. Grover looked at Percy nervously.
"You go to class, Grover. I'll get Nico," Percy said. Grover looked at him unsurely but nodded and went off.
"Nico, hurry up!" Percy called out.
"I can't find it! Stupid jump drive!" Nico called back.
Percy grunted and went in to help his friend. Nico's head was stuffed into his locker, searching. Percy pulled Nico by the collar.
"Hey!" Nico yelled.
Percy dug into NIco's locker. He threw out pieces of clothing that seemed weeks old. Percy almost threw up from the dirtiness of Nico's locker but his eagerness to get out of the locker rooms stopped him from doing that. Then Percy stuck his hand in the back of the locker, pushing his limits when he felt something gooey and wet, but after random hand searching, he felt something small, square, and hard plastic-like.
"Found it!" Percy yelled and took out the jump drive. But as he turned around, he came face to face with Luke and his friends. One of his friends, Ethan, had Nico in a choke hold with his arm curled around the neck of the kid.
"Well, today is our lucky day boys! We got ourselves two fresh losers," Luke smirked while his friends laughed.
Percy decided to play along. "Great, looks like I got myself a bunch of losers that have nothing else better to do in life than pick on kids half their size."
The whole group of eighth graders shut up. Nico smirked. "What was that, Jackson?"
"You heard him!" Nico yelled causing Ethan to choke him harder.
Percy didn't have time to stop Ethan because Luke already had him by the collar against the lockers. Luke smirked at Percy, admiring how he made Percy look like a bug comparing to himself. Percy saw it in his eyes.
"Just let Nico go, and we can handle this like men," Percy managed to say even though he had hard time breathing. He was seriously getting tired of this – being beaten up by Luke and his friends. Maybe today will be the day he can finally get things straight between him and Luke. Well, he is going to leave the next day anyways so why not.
All the boys started cracking up. "Y-you're kid-kidding right?" Luke said through fits of laughter. But he saw that Percy had a straight face and saw that he was serious. Luke faced Ethan, still holding Percy by his collar, and motioned Ethan to let Nico go. Ethan did exactly that and Nico dropped to the floor. Nico attempted to go for Percy but Ethan held him back.
"No, you don't loser. Go!" Ethan commanded. Percy mouthed to Nico, just go. Nico hesitantly got up and ran out of the locker rooms leaving Percy, Luke and his gang.
"Got to admit, Jackson, that's pretty brave of you to save your friend like that." Luke admitted, but then he gave a sharp punch to Percy's gut, hitting the bruise. Percy cried out in pain, "But very stupid," Luke smirked.
Luke continued shoving Percy into the other lockers and beating the hell out of him. Percy couldn't fight back because he couldn't even get up. It took one sharp punch to the jaw to knock out Percy cold. Luke turned around to his friends and they howled. When celebrating, Percy lay on the cold, hard locker room floor. Soon, though, he regained feeling in his body and stirred – groaning in the process. The sound of Percy caught Luke's attention.
"Stay down," Luke growled as he brought Percy up by his collar again. Percy's reflex brought his hands to his pocket and grabbed something. It was hard and good enough for Percy. When Luke brought his fist up to finish off his victim, Percy took out the object and took a slash at Luke's face. Luke screamed in pain and let go of Percy to cover his face.
Percy didn't have time to check up on Luke because he was already running for the exit. Luke's friends were too shocked to go after him, but when he was running, he saw blood dripping from Luke's hands. Percy cursed silently when he saw the blood knowing that he was in deep trouble. When running, Percy glanced at the object that he used as his weapon.
It was Riptide and it was uncapped, exposing the sharp scalpel-like end. The tip showed evidence of blood and Percy cursed again. Now he was in some deep trouble. Percy immediately ran to the boy's bathroom to clean Riptide and cap it again. Looking into the mirror, he saw that he had a ring of red around his eye. He looked around the bathroom to help cover it up.
Strangely and miraculously, there was a pair of sunglasses lying on the toilet paper roll in one of the stalls. Percy thanked god and grabbed the sunglasses and threw it on. He ran out of the bathroom, causing students in the hallway to look at him. Percy ignored all of them and pushed through them to get to the main doors to exit the building. Luckily, he saw Nico and Grover standing by a nearby tree outside. Percy ran out of the building to meet up with them.
"Hey, guys," Percy panted.
"Whoa, are you all right, dude?" Grover asked while handing a bottle of water to Percy. He instantly grabbed it and chugged it.
"Yo," Nico started, "Thanks back there. They would've killed us!" Then his face transferred in shock. "Wait, you're alive. Damn, Percy, you're alive!" Nico gave Percy a one-arm hug.
"What is he talking about, Percy?" Grover asked, completely confused about the situation.
"Percy took on Luke and his gang," Nico grinned and Grover stared at him with shock.
"Really?" Grover asked, astonished.
"Guys, we should go home – " Percy tried saying but was interrupted with a loud shriek that belonged to a girl and soon, a bunch of other girls.
Everyone's attention shifted to the main doors. Ethan threw open the doors and started towards Percy with others following.
"Jackson!" Ethan called out, walking towards Percy.
"Grover. Nico. Leave, now," Percy instructed his two friends. He didn't want them getting involved with his crap. At first, they refused but Percy just glared at them, causing them to back down and leave.
Ethan was getting closer and Percy started inching back. He couldn't run because Ethan would just catch him, so it was no use running. Ethan smirked, knowing that Percy had nowhere to go. There were no teachers around, school was over, and they were practically off-campus.
Percy backed into a wall and gulped. Ethan finally made it to Percy with everyone crowding them. He grabbed the seventh grader by the collar and dragged his back against the hard wall.
"You really are asking for a death wish, aren't you?" Ethan asked Percy. Before Percy could retort, a familiar voice called out.
"Ethan!"
He turned around and his face met some one's fist. Ethan fell cold to the ground and Annabeth stood over him, cracking her knuckles.
"Mess with someone your own size," Annabeth spat. Then she saw Percy against the wall and she immediately came to his aid. "You okay?" She asked him.
Percy nodded slightly. Annabeth wrapped Percy's arm around her shoulder, helping him up.
"What happened, Seawee – " she was cut off when Luke came through the group of students. He was holding his face, blood seeping through his hands. Annabeth almost dropped Percy when she ran to Luke's aid. "What the hell, Luke?" She almost screamed and held Luke's waist to stop him from falling.
"I-it was him," Luke stuttered like he was scared out of his wits. Percy knew it was fake, he could almost see Luke smiling through his hands. But Annabeth fell for it, like always.
"What are you talking about?" Annabeth asked.
Luke gestured his body to face Percy, who was sitting on the floor, struggling to stand up. Annabeth didn't bother to help him because she was too shocked. She couldn't believe that Percy would do that to Luke. She knew that he didn't like Luke, but to harm like this wasn't in Percy's nature. And it wasn't because it was an accident. But the way Luke explained it, made it seem like Percy did it on purpose.
Percy scoffed when Luke explained himself. He said that he saw Nico being held in a choke-hold by Ethan and so he went to try to help him. But when he tried to help, Percy came in with a sharp object and sliced his face. Total lie. Annabeth would be stupid to actually believe that story – but she did anyways.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Percy?" Annabeth yelled at Percy, holding Luke in her arms.
Percy looked at her in shock. "What's wrong with me? No! What's wrong with you? How could you believe that lie?" Percy shot back.
Annabeth gestured at Luke's face. "Excuse me but he's the one with the bloody face."
Percy threw off his sunglasses, exposing his black eye. Annabeth gasped in shock and glanced at Luke.
"Self-defense," Luke mumbled. Annabeth glared back at Percy again.
"Oh, save it, Luke. This was the offense," Percy said pointing to his eye, "And that was my self-defense." He pointed at Luke's face.
"He's lying," Luke said directly at Annabeth.
Annabeth was caught between the both of them. She didn't know who to believe but seeing both of them in pain made her hurt. The fact that they inflected pain on each other made her angry also. Seeing Luke's face, bloody and pale, caused Annabeth to pity him.
"Why, Percy?" Annabeth almost snapped.
Percy couldn't believe that she's falling right into Luke's lie. He did feel a little bad that he hurt Luke like that, but he's glad he did it. "You really believe him?"
"Proof is right in front of me! How can I not?" Annabeth yelled. Everyone was now watching like this was a movie. Some people even had their phones out to record the scene.
"Well, maybe because I'm your best friend and you should believe me," Percy almost cried out to her but held himself together.
Annabeth shook her head making Percy's heart break. "Percy, you really screwed up this time. The least you could do is apologize to him!"
"I'm not apologizing for something I'm not sorry about," Percy said through gritted teeth. Everyone was surprised to see Percy like this, which made this more interesting to them.
Annabeth snapped. "Gods, Percy! Why are you so damn immature? I'm giving you a chance to fix your crap and you're throwing it away like a damn kid! The Percy I know would do the right thing and apologize!"
Percy snapped too. "The Annabeth I know wouldn't be standing by that jerk's side, aiding him. The Annabeth I know would be by my side and believe me when I say that he attacked me first." He took in a deep breath, "But I guess we were both wrong."
Annabeth stared at Percy, hurt by his words. Percy saw the look on her face and instantly felt bad, but he was relieved that he got that out of his system. He couldn't handle it and turned around to leave and the crowd boo'd.
Luke grinned during Annabeth and Percy's fight. He felt so accomplished. But once Percy left, Luke went back to the crying, in-pain, guy that everyone pitied. Thalia rushed to his side and gave Annabeth a concerned look.
"I'll take care of him, Annie. I think you have something to take care of," Thalia said obviously meaning the Percy-situation. Annabeth would've punched Thalia for saying 'Annie' but she was too busy running after Percy. She was not done with that boy.
Percy power-walked home, clutching his bruised up stomach. He was in pain. He would groan every now and then during the walk. To make the situation worse, it started raining . . . cats and dogs. Today was just not his day. Way to make a positive memory of the last day in New York, huh?
"Percy!" someone called from behind. He heard splashes of water come closer to him. Percy started to walk faster so that his feet picked up from the ground a little higher.
"Percy, wait!" the same voice called again. Percy didn't know what came over him but he stopped and turned around.
Annabeth was standing in front of him. She was completely soaked from the rain; her hair no longer showing their curls and grey eyes were dull. To make it worse for her, she was in summer clothes, meaning she was wearing only shorts and a simple t-shirt. She was completely freezing, causing her voice to come out into a stutter.
"W-we need t-to t-tal-talk," Annabeth's jaw chattered.
Percy was clearly not interested in starting with her again but gestured her to continue. Annabeth sighed thinking that he was not interested in moving the conversation somewhere cozy and warm.
"Wh-what's gotten in-into you, h-huh? Yo-you're not th-the same an-nymore," Annabeth said, folding her arms to contain warmth.
Percy decided this would be a perfect time to spill his heart out to Annabeth. Don't hesitate to do what you want to do. Every day is not promised to you. Percy's voice mocked him.
"I agree. I'm not the same anymore. I'm not that kid getting pushed around every day in school. I'm not that kid that walked around the hallway, afraid of bumping into bullies. I'm not that kid that everyone thought was a freak. And I'm glad to say I'm not that kid anymore because today, I stood up for myself."
Before Annabeth could say something, Percy continued. "I'm sorry, Annabeth. I'm sorry that I can't be that kid for you anymore. But you need to stop being my friend because you pitied me all these years and you need to stop wishing that I would be that kid again. I never want to be that kid ever again." Percy said in disgust.
Annabeth looked at him, shocked at what he thought. "You seriously think I became your friend because I pitied you? That's – "
"Sad? Yeah, exactly, but true. Hey, wouldn't blame you. ADHD, dyslexic, troubled, dumb, and raised by a single mom. I'd feel sorry for that person."
Annabeth shook her head. "Really, Percy? Stop thinking about yourself for one minute. I'm ADHD, dyslexic, and raised by one father. Then I have a step mother who treats me like a dog, and all my life, I've been called a nerd, geek, and all those other names. And you think I felt bad for you? Percy, I became your friend because I finally found someone who I could relate to! And that kid, he was awesome until today, when he screwed things up between us."
Percy felt bad. But he couldn't stop his mouth from moving. "Well, I guess that's one thing that the old me will always have: screwing things up. But let's face it; the only thing I've been screwing up was you and Luke."
"What are you talking about?" Annabeth asked, irritated that he changed the subject to Luke.
"You know what I'm talking about, Annabeth. You two have been friends way longer than we've been friends. You like him and I really didn't care about it until you started believing his lies. And right now, you may still think I'm lying about earlier, but no matter what you think, I'll never be sorry for what I did to him today."
Annabeth was too shocked to respond. Percy pursed his lips and didn't get a good look at her until now. Seeing the word hurt written all over her face made Percy feel guiltier than ever. She didn't deserve that from Percy, but at the same time, she needed the truth from him. It's the best thing he could get off his chest instead of carrying it on him for the rest of his miserable life. He was going to miss her while he was gone. But now he screwed everything up. He knew that this would probably be the last time he would see her for the next four years. Seeing her in the rain, hurt, tired, and cold – that wasn't the last image Percy wanted to see of her.
Percy slid off his blue hoodie and tossed it to Annabeth. Minus well solve one of those problems. Annabeth caught it by the hood, and her eyes averted to the jacket. From there on, she stared at the jacket. Percy sighed, feeling bad for everything he put her through.
"Maybe one day, we'll look back on this and just laugh," He said, trying to relieve the situation. "Until then, I'm sorry." The next words hurt both Percy and Annabeth.
"Bye, Annabeth." It wasn't the happy goodbyes like they would say to each other. This was one of those sad, probably-never-going-to-see-you-again goodbyes. Percy painfully turned around and continued his way to his apartment, leaving Annabeth in the rain and holding his hoodie.
Both of them cried themselves to sleep that night – thinking about each other.
At the airport next day, everyone came to say goodbye to Percy and his mom. Percy promised Nico and Grover to email them once and a while. Mr. Chase also showed up to say goodbye. Percy was sad that Annabeth didn't show up, but understood that they both need their distances from each other for a while – a long while – and figure things out. The sad part is that his heart was broken and it didn't even belong to her.
Percy rested his head on the glass window of the plane. His life in New York flashed through his mind.
"Please buckle up and turn off your cell phones as the plane is getting ready for takeoff," a lady's voice announced. Percy heard the engines turn on and the wheels beneath him move. Soon, the plane was off the runway and high in the air.
"Enjoy your ride. Next stop: Honolulu Hawaii," the lady announced again.
Goodbye, New York. Percy thought.
(Characters belong to Rick Riordan)
ANNABETH, Y U NO BELIEVE PERCY? Lulz. She's blinded by love - it's a dangerous thing. Sorry, it took me a long time to write this chapter. I had a writers block on this one. I hate that crap. Anyways, it was hard trying to make Percy and Annabeth fight like that, but I guess I'm pleased with the outcome, idk.
And you like the new app Annabeth made. *Audience: "I see what you did there. .0."* Pft, thanks ;) Also, Riptide get's a makeover? OR, how Luke get's his scar? See what I did there? Too much? Oh, okay.
Next chapter will be about Percy's short life in Hawaii. You should probably read it because it's important. He meets some one rather important that will become an important role later in the story. No hints for you. Hehehehe, ya'll gonna have to read to find out.
Okay, review too.
REVIEW OR ELSE I AIN'T UPLOADIN'. (Just kidding, I would never do that to you guys.) *Evil part of me: Well, you would because you won't know if people actually like the story or not.* (Shut it, I love my readers too much.) You have no friends, do you? (._. ) (/._.)/ Review, favorite, subscribe, or whatever tickles your pickle! Review doe, lol, I like reviews.
-Breana
CHECK OUT MY OTHER STORY: Life After War: Curse. It's not an AU like this story. K~
