My dear friends,
I am so sorry. Sorry it took so long to post. I encountered writer's block, and then a member of my family was diagnosed with cancer so I lost the motivation to write.
But enough excuses. Thank you to those who have stuck with my story. Thank you so much. I love you all.
"Hey Annabeth. Or should I say Anna-bitch? We're gonna make you pay for what you did to us."
Annabeth knew she shouldn't turn around. She was smarter than that. She should keep walking.
She turned around, and he stood right in front of her. "Luke," she gasped. Luke smirked and grabbed her wrist. Ethan, who was standing behind Luke, grabbed her legs and they lifted her up. They carried her to a more private area, between two buildings. Annabeth struggled, but it was no use. She was outnumbered and overpowered.
They dropped her on the ground, but before Annabeth could get up, Luke slapped her. Hard. Pain erupted in her face, and her vision became blurry.
"You didn't think you could get away with getting us expelled, did you?" Luke crouched so that he was at her level. His eyes traveled from her face, down over her body. "Well, I can't waste a hot babe like you. I guess it's time for some fun. Ethan, go keep watch." Ethan nodded silently, walking off to make sure no one saw what was going on.
Annabeth couldn't escape, even if she wanted to. Her head was aching, and the whole world was spinning. She could barely keep herself upright. Luke leaned in closer and closer until his mouth finally met hers. Annabeth wanted to scream.
Fingering the bottom of her shirt, he pulled it all the way up, exposing her bra. Luke kissed her stomach, slowly making his way up. At the same time, her was groping her butt. Annabeth suddenly lashed out at him with her fist. It connected with Luke's jaw, and he groaned in pain. "You fucking bitch!" Luke slapped her across the face, again. He stood up and kicked the girl in the stomach. "That'll teach you. Now, are you ready to have more fun?"
Blood trickled down from a cut on Annabeth's cheek where Luke's nail had torn through the skin when he slapped her.
Luke approached her, and pinned her to the ground with his weight. He rubbed his fingers on the insides of her thighs. "Behave, and you'll be fine." He slid her shirt off, and was starting with her pants, when he heard a groan from where Ethan was. Luke whipped his head around to find an unconscious Luke, and a boy standing over his body.
"You," snarled Luke.
Percy surveyed the scene. He had seen Ethan and knocked him out as revenge for getting him suspended. Luke had Annabeth pinned to the ground with his weight, and... her shirt was off. Don't get distracted, Percy.
He strode over to Luke, but before Luke could get up, Annabeth used the distraction to bite him on the hand.
Luke howled in pain, clutching his injured hand with his other hand. Percy strode over to Luke and punched him in the face. "Aghhhh dammit!" Blood dripped down from Luke's nose. Luke aimed a punch at Percy's gut, knocking the breath out of Percy. Percy grabbed Luke's arm and twisted it. Luke cried out in pain, and Percy let go.
Grabbing the front of his shirt, Percy slammed Luke into one of the two buildings that they were between. Percy brought his face close to Luke's, a menacing look on his face. "Run." He dropped Luke, who ran, dragging Ethan with him. "I won't forget this, Jackson," Luke spat as he retreated.
Annabeth was frozen in her spot. She hadn't expected him to come save her. Percy turned around to face the girl. I'm not wearing a shirt. Annabeth thought, dumbly. Embarrassed, she blushed. Percy tossed her shirt to her and turned around quickly so that she had privacy. "Put it on." he mumbled.
His cheeks were tinged pink. Is he blushing? Annabeth didn't dwell on the thought, and hurriedly pulled on her top. "You decent?" Percy called out. She fixed her hair, and wiped the blood off her face. "Y- yeah." He grabbed Annabeth's bag, and began walking to school. Annabeth followed.
The teenagers were silent, until Annabeth spoke. "Why did you help me? And why are you still helping me?" They'd reached the school by then. Hesitating, Percy opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off when Annabeth's friends came running over. "Annabeth!" Thalia called out, followed by Jason. How they were siblings was beyond Annabeth's understanding. The only thing they had in common were their blue eyes.
Leo and Piper followed those two. Seeing her friends, Percy dumped Annabeth's bag, and headed off inside the school.
"Annabeth, where have you been? We've been waiting for yo- whoa you look like a mess. Is that a cut? Why did you arrive with Jackson? Wasn't he suspended? Did he do that to you? I'm gonna kill him." Thalia dumped questions onto her best friend, and was about to chase after Percy until Annabeth stopped her. Still shaken up from the incident, she shook her head. "Thalia, stop."
Her eyes followed Percy as he entered the school. She was the girl who had almost been raped today, and he was the boy who saved her.
Annabeth visited the bathroom before going to class to fix her appearance. She wasn't the type of girl who obsessed about her looks, but right now she didn't look presentable. When she took her seat in English and Percy came in, it occurred to her that she'd never thanked him. She tried to, but couldn't build up the courage.
At lunch, Annabeth sat at her usual table with her friends. She was quiet and didn't contribute to the conversation. Her friends noticed, but didn't say anything. Leo, Piper, and Thalia had told the rest about her arrival at school with Percy in the morning.
As usual, Percy came out carrying a tray and passed their table. Before he did, though, Annabeth stood up and approached him. They were close enough to the table for everyone to hear, especially considering the table had gone silent once Annabeth walked up to Percy.
Taking a deep breath, Annabeth let out the three words she had been meaning to say. It was short, but the meaning was clear.
"Thank you, Percy."
Percy cleared his throat. "I should be thanking you. You know, for... lifting my suspension and all. Thanks."
They both nodded, Percy heading to his table and Annabeth sitting back down. Her friends stared at her as though she had forgotten to do the homework (which, for Annabeth, was completely uncharacteristic).
Frank broke the silence. "What just happened?"
Annabeth didn't tell her friends about what had happened before school. They knew something was up and tried to pursue the matter, but seeing that she wasn't going to spill, they gave up. She wasn't ready to tell anybody about the events that had taken place.
You see, Annabeth was never a very emotional person. She kept her emotions mostly to herself, locked up. Her friends used to be worried about her refusal to open up completely, but soon grew used to it. It's not like the blonde girl didn't feel anything. She did. There were few moments when she would have a burst of emotion, such as when Percy had gotten her riled up the day they met.
Percy. Percy confused Annabeth. She couldn't figure him out, and that frustrated Annabeth. She is the type of person who has to know everything. Maybe its genetic, or not. Whatever the reason, she hated the fact that she couldn't figure out exactly the type of person Percy is.
When the last bell rang, signaling the end of school, Annabeth gathered her things and met up with Hazel and Nico, who were step siblings. They walked home together most days since Hazel and Nico lived across the street from Annabeth.
Before they went to their respective houses, Hazel hugged Annabeth. "If you ever need to talk, I'm here." Annabeth smiled, filling with gratitude for her friend. "Thanks, Hazel." She waved to her friends, and entered her house.
"Annabeth, is that you?" called Ellis, Annabeth's step mother.
"Yeah." Annabeth answered.
"Annie!" Two twin boys came hurtling towards her, and tackled her with hugs. "Hey Bobby. Hey Matthew." Annabeth smiled and hugged her step brothers. Even though they were annoying and not related to her by blood, she still loved the boys a lot.
She couldn't say the same for her step mother.
Everything Annabeth did, Ellis seemed to disapprove of. The two fought often and Annabeth sometimes found herself wishing that her real mother would come back from wherever she was, and take her away. Of course, Annabeth would never leave her brothers and father behind.
"How was school?" Ellis asked.
LIke you care. "It was fine." answered Annabeth, stiffly. She didn't mention the part where she almost got raped, and was saved by a delinquent.
"Bottling up your feelings like that won't help." That's what Piper would say. Even Nico, who didn't seem to have much emotion, would agree with Piper. Annabeth didn't care. She just wanted to be left alone in her room. She shut herself in her room and dutifully began her homework.
Hazel Levesque was worried about her friend. First, Annabeth had arrived at school looking slightly disheveled and with a few scrapes and cuts. She refused to talk about what had happened, and barely spoke at all. Then, there was the weird scene at lunch. Why did she thank Percy? And why did he thank her? He said something about lifting his suspension, didn't he?
It was all confusing, and Hazel needed to talk to someone because she was concerned for Annabeth, who was like a big sister for Hazel. Hazel's concern didn't just come from the fact that she was a sweet person, but also due to the fact that Annabeth befriended Hazel and Nico, even though she and the rest of her group were two years older than the step siblings.
So Hazel called the person who she found it easiest to talk to.
"Frank?"
"Hey Hazel. What's up?"
"I called you because... I'm worried about Annabeth. She wasn't her usual self at lunch today and I'm really worried that something happened, and we're her friends so we should be looking out for her cause that's what friends do, and when she came to school she had those cuts and scratch-"
Frank cut off the rambling girl. "Hazel, you should probably stop before you collapse from loss of oxygen."
Her cheeks turned a fiery red out of embarrassment. Glad that Frank couldn't see her, Hazel cleared her throat. "Umm... sorry." Frank laughed lightly. The sound put a smile on Hazel's face.
"It's fine, Hazel. You're right, though. Annabeth was quite out of it today. I don't think she was paying attention in history today. Annabeth. Not paying attention." Frank paused. "Maybe what she needs is some space. I don't want to push her and make her angry. You saw how she was with Percy when he pushed her buttons."
Hazel giggled, her worries almost completely vanquished. Frank always managed to do that to her. "I guess you're right. Plus, she wasn't willing to talk anyways. Thanks, Frank."
"Anytime, Hazel."
Leo entered his apartment. "Hello?" No answer.
"Sweet, I have the place to myself." Leo grinned. He crossed the apartment to his small, yet sufficient, room. Dropping his bag on the floor, he walked over to his desk where blueprints for his latest invention were laid out.
Pencils were scattered across the surface of the table as were a couple of crumpled papers. Leo pulled out his chair and sat down to work on his project, but was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and a voice calling out.
"Leo!"
Reluctantly, he trudged towards the voice.
"Took you long enough. Bring in the groceries, boy." A lady stood in the doorway, grocery bags sitting on the ground all around her. She brushed past Leo and into the kitchen.
"My day was fine, thanks for asking Aunt Rosa," muttered Leo. Grabbing the several heavy bags, he made his way to the kitchen and began putting away the groceries. Aunt Rosa had left the kitchen by then. As Leo was stocking the fridge, Aunt Rosa stormed back in, holding his blueprints.
"What are these?!" she shook the papers in Leo's face. "Those are mine." Leo attempted to snatch back the papers. His aunt held them out of reach. "I thought I told you to quit with this nonsense! Why come up with these inventions when you're too much of an idiot to build them? You have no skill, you're worthless. Diablo niño. All you do is destroy!" her face was red, and at this point she was yelling.
Aunt Rosa shredded Leo's designs into tiny pieces. "Clean that up," she barked. Leo hung his head so that his aunt couldn't see the angry etched into his face. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed a broom and pan and cleaned up the mess.
Just one more year. One more year and I can get out of here.
I will try to make the chapters longer, as requested by Im torn (thanks for the tip, I appreciate it). This chapter isn't as long as the rest will be cause I wanted to publish something. :)