Percy Jackson was absolutely positive that Annabeth Chase was the smartest student at Goode High.
Which is entirely unfair, since she literally just got there. She shouldn't even understand what the new teachers are saying, but she just does. She gets it so quick and easy that all Percy can do is watch in amazement.
And Percy is honestly trying his best not to exaggerate her good qualities and put her on a pedestal, but he's pretty sure she knows everything... like ever.
He actually only had AP Biology and History with her, but he'd seen more than enough.
Finishing off her first week of school in New York, Annabeth had answered nearly every question she heard and aced everything put in front of her big manic brain, and Percy's test scores had risen just from being in the sheer presence of it. At least that's what he thinks, and hopes he hadn't accidentally cheated off of her whilst basking in her magnificence.
The look on his mom's face when he had said something along those lines had been alarmingly sly. He knew that look, and knew that nothing good could come of it. He didn't want to hear what she had to say, so he ushered her into the kitchen to make celebratory cookies.
She then began to ask questions about Annabeth with more than one "So when am I gonna meet this girl?" thrown in. He was getting increasingly flustered as finally, the timer mercilessly signaled that the cookies were ready. They were blue of course, but he saw one that looked suspiciously like a heart. When he looked questioningly at his mom, she had innocently shrugged her shoulders and taken a bite out of it. She then drifted away humming something he couldn't identify. It didn't really hold his attention for long, since he then had the entire tray for himself.
Suffice to say, life was good.
Life wasn't going too well for Annabeth.
She was starting to get a little suspicious. Okay, she was downright wary. She had initially understood Percy wanting to spend the first few days getting her acquainted with the school and the inner workings, but she's sure they could have squeezed in time for her to get acquainted with Percy's friends. He had spent every single lunch of the week with her, alone. She had enjoyed it of course, he was great company. Plus Sally packs him the greatest lunches. But she just didn't get the point anymore. She had seen the amount of people who greet him every morning and didn't know why he would completely abandon them for her. He was practically ignoring the whole school. She knows he's not the type to completely ditch his friends for a new girlfr- girl.
Who is a friend.
A friend that is also a girl.
He'd only really introduced her to the guys on his water polo team on that first day because he needed to go to practice and he was her ride. Even then the guys just squinted at her, some asking how long she's known Percy. When she had self-consciously said a few days, they had nodded knowingly, and then continued looking searchingly at her. They all seemed to have the same question on their minds and she wasn't sure why they couldn't just outright ask.
So that had definitely creeped her out, but things had just kept on getting weirder.
By the end of the week some people were actively staring at her and whispering back and forth to each other. As if she couldn't tell when they immediately stopped talking when she gets too close. She had honestly been expecting all of it when she had first arrived, but didn't understand why it would start up so much later. She needed some answers. So when Percy met up with her for coffee that Saturday, she decided to get them.
"Why don't you ever hang out with your friends?" was how she decided to start.
Percy spilled a bit of his coffee as he spurted it back in his cup. Annabeth supposed she could have started a tad more light. And maybe less interrogation-esque. Oh well...
"I-uh I don't really umm… hang out? With anyone…" he says hesitantly, grimacing.
Annabeth hadn't prepared herself for such a response and ends up dumbly responding, "What?"
"I mean, yeah I go and eat with the team sometimes but uh… I…", he trails off, shrugging.
"So what did you do before, before I came, I mean", she asks, suspicious.
"Like at lunch?", he asks. She nods, lifting an eyebrow.
"Well I kind of just ate with Paul you know?", he says softly.
At her horrified face he backtracks, "Not like everyday, okay?" He licks his lips nervously and swallows harshly.
"Sometimes I sat with the team, or like some people I know. It's not like- it's not like I'm a… social pariah or something. I just... don't know anybody that well.", he scratches at the Styrofoam cup in anticipation as he searches her face.
She's shocked and confused to put it mildly. She's pretty sure blinking is her only working function at the moment. Out of every possible theory she had come up with, the truth was way out of her realm of probability. Out of all those people who practically kiss the ground he walks on, he doesn't call any of them his friends?
"Percy", she starts softly, "Do you have any friends?"
He looks down at the initials he had marked into the cup with his fingernails. PJ
"I mean… I feel like I do, or did at least", he looks up slowly then back down again.
"But people just kind of… leave… after a while", he looks at her nervously without actually meeting her eyes.
And finally things start to make some sense for Annabeth. Because this begins to explain some of his rather concerning qualities. But she still doesn't quite get why this happens to Percy. He was… Percy.
So she grabs his hands and says the only thing she can.
"I'm not gonna leave", she tells him, the "you" being left unsaid. It felt way too dramatic… and romantic.
He didn't look too convinced but he still smiled brightly at her. It made her feel uneasy. Like he knows she means it... but doesn't believe it'll really work out.
So she lifts her head high and grabs his hand because Annabeth Chase does not placate. She tells the truth and always keeps her word.
And so they walk in silence for a while, drinking until their cups are empty. And when Percy pokes some holes into his cup to make a little face, she goes ahead and makes a better one. They leave the two cups standing on top of an overflowing trashcan. The two pseudo Styrofoam faces face out sporting their respective initials on the sides. One of them being noticeably more scarred than the other.