Chapter 3 is out! Sorry it took so long, I've been neglecting this story. I'll try to get Chapter 4 out this week. I apologize in advance for any spelling/grammar mistakes. Once again, give me your honest opinion.
The rest of the day went by annoyingly slowly. By the time lunch came, Percy was glad to be free from the clutches of knowledge. After buying his lunch, Percy carried his tray into the cafeteria but then realized that he had no one to sit with. "Hey Percy, come sit with us!" Leo was grinning and waving Percy to his table. Unwillingly, Percy trod over to their table.
"That's Thalia Grace." Leo pointed to a girl with short, choppy, black hair wearing mostly black. She had dark eyeliner which made her electric blue eyes pop out. "She's Jason's sister." She was attractive, yet didn't look like someone you'd want to mess with.
"I can introduce myself, thank you very much," growled Thalia. "I'm Grover." A thin boy with curly hair introduced himself to Percy who was still standing beside the table, not sitting down. "That's Nico," Grover pointed to a pale skinned boy with dark clothes and black hair sitting across from him. Nico mumbled a greeting. A big asian guy introduced himself as Frank, and the small girl with curly hair sitting next to him politely introduced herself as Hazel. "You're turn." Piper said, as she looked at Percy.
"Excuse me, you're blocking my seat." Percy turned around at the sound of a girl's voice. His sea green eyes met her gray ones. "Oh lookie here. It's the nerd." he smirked. Leo, not noticing the tension, tried to introduce Annabeth. "That's Annab-" "I know who she is." snapped Percy. "Move. Please." Annabeth was gritting her teeth, frustrated. "Make me, nerd." Thalia stood up abruptly and marched over to Percy. "Don't talk to her that way," she snarled. Percy's eyes flashed, it looked like her was going to do something, but he just spun on his heel and exited the cafeteria.
"Hey, you drove him off!" Leo said, indignantly. "Didn't you see the way he talked to Annabeth?" defended Thalia. "Well maybe..." Grover began, as he subconsciously chewed on a napkin. "... maybe we should've given him more of a chance...?" His suggestion came out more like a question. Challenging Thalia was a feat only the brave would attempt. Before Thalia could react to what Grover had said, Hazel jumped in. "I agree with Grover. He might just be having a bad day." "He's a jerk and I want nothing to do with him." Annabeth declared as she sat down.
The bell to signal that school was over rang at 4:30 pm. Percy gathered his things and practically ran out of the school. As he headed out the door, he saw a familiar blond haired girl making her way out the doors. Her gray eyes shone with amusement as she laughed at something Conner Stroll said. Her mouth curled into a smile, a few blond strands falling out of her ponytail. Percy suddenly felt a pang in his chest. He wished he could make someone smile, especially someone as adorable as Annabeth. Wait, what? Percy shook his head and told himself that he was just tired from school. The boy decided to skip the bus and walk home instead. He'd get more privacy that way.
Poseidon wasn't home when Percy reached. He went straight up to his room, dumping his bag on the floor. Turning on the computer, he logged into Skype and called an old friend. "Hey Perce!" A pretty girl with frizzy red hair and green eyes appeared on his screen. Freckles dotted her face, and she grinned widely. "Hey Rachel." She raised an eyebrow. "I'm guessing school is over in New York, but it's one o'clock here in San Francisco. Good thing I'm in Study Hall." Percy smirked. "It's not like you would've minded me disturbing class."
"So... how's New York? You make any friends?" Rachel asked. Percy's expression hardened. "No." Rachel sighed. "As your best friend, I have to make sure you're all right. I'm guessing you haven't adjusted to living there. " Percy once again replied with a firm no. "How about girls? Anyone you have an eye on?"
An image of a blonde haired, gray eyed girl flashed through Percy's mind. Suddenly, her hateful expression flashed through his mind, and his thoughts were shattered. "Nope. There's no one I'm interested in." Rachel smiled, sadly. She couldn't bear seeing her best friend so lonely. He had plenty of friends in California, but now he didn't want to connect with anyone. "I gotta go, Perce. Study hall is about to end. Talk to you later, ok?" "Ok. I'll see you later. I wish you were here, though." Rachel nodded. "Me too. I'm leaving now, bye." "Bye." Percy was about to end the call until Rachel spoke again. "Oh, and Percy? Don't close yourself off. Make some friends." she said before ending the call.
The rest of the week went by uneventfully. Every time he passed Annabeth's lunch table, he could here Rachel's voice in his head. Oh, and Percy? Don't close yourself off. Make some friends. On Friday, Grover attempted at being friends with Percy. When he entered the cafeteria, Grover approached Percy. "Hey Percy. So... um.. I was wondering if you'd w- want to sit with us f- for lunch...?" Percy was about to decline his offer. Make some friends. "Dammit Rachel." he muttered. Grover looked at him weirdly. "Fine, I'll sit with you." Percy grumbled in response. Grover practically leaped in the air with excitement.
Grover led the unwilling boy to the table. "Guys, Percy's gonna join us for lunch today." Thalia glared at Percy, and Juniper shot him a sympathetic look. Percy took a seat between Grover and Thalia. Not that he wanted to sit by her, but it was the only empty seat left. An awkward silence fell over the table.
"So... Percy," Juniper began, trying to break the tense atmosphere. "... where did you live before you came here?"
"San Francisco," he replied, nonchalantly.
"So, why'd you move all the way here?" asked Piper. Percy looked at her, slightly surprised that she was making an effort. "My mom decided that I needed some influence from my father, so she sent me to live here for 1 and a half years." He shrugged and took a bite out of his apple.
The rest of lunch was quiet, with small conversations breaking out occasionally. The silence was a comfortable one, though. Not awkward at all.
Actually, it was incredibly awkward.
Percy struggled in school. Well, the academic part of it, at least. He had tried out for the school's swim team and made it. Not surprising considering Percy was the best swimmer Goode had seen in years. Anyways, being ADHD and dyslexic made studies hard for Percy. He tried hard, but the words swam in front of his eyes. Normally, Percy didn't care too much about school. However, when he thought about his poor mother who worked hard to support the two of them, he decided that he might as well try. He wanted to see his mom smile, and not worry about her troublesome son.
That's how Percy ended up sitting outside with his back against the school during his free period. A textbook was sprawled across his lap, notebook and pen in hand. "The quadratic equation? Who the fuck comes up with this?" he groaned, not understanding anything in the textbook. Numbers and words swam in front of his eyes. Percy leaned his head back, resting his hand on his forehead. "I'm so gonna fail."
Annabeth walked swiftly down the hall towards the exit. She had a free period and, being the studious girl she is, wanted to spend it studying. The sky was clear and it was cool. No better time to go outside to study than now. Tucking her Physics textbook under her arm, she pushed the doors open, and walked outside. Locating an empty picnic table, she made her way over until she spotted a familiar figure leaning against building... was he studying? Annabeth strode over to him, curious.
"I thought someone like you wouldn't care about school." she remarked. Percy looked up, his sea green eyes sparkling under the sun's light. Annabeth's breath caught in her throat. Doesn't this stuff only happen in books and movies? she thought. His tussled black hair swayed very lightly in the wind. Annabeth focused her gaze on his face, not daring to let her eyes wander down to his fit body, his arms with were muscled but not crazily so, or his- shit, she looked. Thankfully, she hadn't been obvious about it, and Percy didn't seem to notice.
"Maybe you should get to know someone better before making assumptions." Percy's voice brought Annabeth back to reality. "Yeah, cause you're such an open book." Annabeth retorted. Percy's eyes widened for a split second, but then returned to their normal size as though nothing had happened. He looked back down at his book and continued to study. "Just leave me alone and let me study, Chase." Annabeth stood there and watche
d him struggle, before sighing and taking a seat by the, admittedly, handsome boy.
"x = [-b + or - sqrt(b2-4ac)]/2a." Percy looked at her, puzzled. "What are you doing, Chase?" "That's the quadratic formula." she replied, simply. "You can use it to find x in an equation ax2 + bx + c = 0, where a, b, and c are replaced by numbers. Say you have the equation x2 – 4x – 8 = 0. Plug in a one for a since there's only one x2. Plug in -4 for b, and -8 for c. You get it so far?" Percy nodded. "Ok, then you simplify. Annabeth went through the rest of the steps with Percy. "And the answer is... x = 2 + or - 2 sqrt(2)." Annabeth set Percy's pen down after finishing the problem. "Try this next one by yourself." She was surprised when Percy did as she asked, obediently.
"I'm done." Percy set his pen down and waited for Annabeth to check his work. She leaned over to see his notebook, which was resting on his lap. Stray blond hairs fell from her ponytail, giving her a casual look. Her stormy gray eyes scanned the paper as she deciphered Percy's handwriting. When she pulled back, Percy was a little disappointed.
"You did it correctly." Annabeth smiled a small smile. "Wait, really?" Percy was shocked. "Yup. Nice job." Annabeth replied. "Wow, none of my teachers have been able to make me understand something as well as you did. How did you do it?" Annabeth blushed, pleased that she was able to accomplish such a feat. "You're dyslexic, right?" Annabeth asked. Percy nodded, wondering how she knew.
"I'm dyslexic, too, and I know all the techniques to make studying easier. I wrote in a way that makes it easier to read." Percy raised an eyebrow. "Wisegirl, you sure know how to study."
"Wisegirl? What kind of insult is that?" Percy shrugged, staring at his notebook. "Maybe it's not an insult." he mumbled, softly. He suddenly swung his head around to look at Annabeth. "Why did you help me?" Annabeth hesitated in her answer, as though she wasn't sure herself. "Tutoring looks good on college applications," she finally replied.
"Hey, why don't we set up a schedule for tutoring?" she proposed. Percy scowled. "Just cause you helped me this one time, that doesn't mean we're frien-" Annabeth shook her head. "This is not about bonding. You obviously care about your grades, and I seem to be the only one who can help. Meanwhile, I need good things for my college applications, and this will help. It's a win-win situation." Percy contemplated the situation. Finally, he sighed. "It's a deal. When should we meet?"
"Does every Thursday after school at 4:45 sound good to you? That way you have 15 minutes to get to the library," Annabeth suggested. Percy nodded. "Alright, it's all set. Meet me at the library tomorrow and we can get started."
The blonde haired beauty stood up and walked away, towards the picnic table she was headed towards before she saw Percy. She waved at Percy as she left, but he was already looking back at his notebook. Oh gods, I just signed up to tutor Percy Jackson. This is not gonna be easy.