Hey guys, I'm back! Love all the awesome comments/reviews.. Keep supporting! And I would like to thank my friend, Seema, who has done a wonderful job of supporting me with comments as awesome as she is! Thank you.. and I hope you like this chapter! Happy Reading!
After her hectic Saturday, Annabeth enjoyed a Sunday thoroughly in her solitude. She immersed herself in studies so that she couldn't remember the happenings of yesterday. The day passed better than she could imagine. As the nurse had said, her ankle healed perfectly within the stated time, and she had started to walk without limping or hobbling. Monday morning dawned and Annabeth packed her bag to go to college. She was now looking forward to any reason that made her spend time away from home.
Annabeth reached the main building and was about to go to her locker, when a boy rushed past her, causing the books in her hand to fall on the floor. She glared after the disappearing figure in annoyance and then bent down to pick up her books. A familiar voice sounded, coming from a person standing next to her. "Here, let me help you."
She looked up to see Percy, who now bent down to help Annabeth with her books. Annabeth flashed a grateful smile at him, which made his heart falter. They both picked up the books and made their way to their lockers, which were surprisingly, quite close. Percy unlocked the door of his locker and a framed photo of him and his mum fell out. He caught it in one hand, almost missing it, and let out a relieved sigh. A few steps away, Annabeth laughed and said,"Nice catch!"
He smirked,"I'm always like that.. You know.." He hurriedly cleaned his locker and looked at Annabeth, who was doing the same. Percy walked towards her and started,"Hey Annabeth.. I'm sorry about Saturday. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and-"
Annabeth interrupted him by saying,"Percy, I know it was your fault. You acted like a jerk." Percy's hopeful expression turned into a sad and hurt one. "But.. Unlike the guy who just knocked into me and didn't help me with my fallen books, you did. You took me, or rather carried me, to the nurse and dropped me home. Which, unfortunately, rules out my hope and the possibility that you are a jerk."
Percy's face lit up with a smirk,"Nice way to say thank you, huh? So, are we friends?"
Annabeth put a finger on her chin and pretended to think."Hmm.. I think we can be friends.. that s, if you don't knock me off my feet again."
Percy laughed, a laugh which warmed Annabeth's heart, and said,"Deal."
Annabeth smiled,"You are a seaweed brain, aren't you?" She was looking into his eyes all the time, eyes which were sea-green, her much loved color.
Percy frowned,"Seaweed Brain? Where'd you get that from?"
"Well, you can't think logically. So, it's like you've got seaweed in your brain which stops it from functioning." Annabeth reeled off, in a single breath.
"Wow. You've got quite an imagination, wise girl." Percy smirked, making a nickname for Annabeth himself.
"Thank you for the compliment, seaweed brain!"
"Right back at you, wise girl!"
Just then, someone spoke behind them. "Ooh! I see my two lovebirds again." Blushing, Percy and Annabeth, turned around to look at Thalia, who was suppressing a laugh with difficulty. She had been listening to their conversation for quite some time now, and couldn't hold her laughter any longer.
"Lovebirds?" The former pair said together. Thalia let out her playful laugh that she had been holding for a long time and put one arm around both of them. The three made their way into the hall towards their classes. "Speaking together now, are you?"
Percy and Annabeth looked at each other and started to laugh. Well, that's Thalia to you, they both thought.
"Hey, Annabeth!" three voices, in unison called out. The trio turned behind to see Piper, Hazel and Reyna rushing over towards them. Thalia smiled at Annabeth,"Your friends, the 'Fantastic Four', right?" Just then another voice, from the opposite direction, called out."Hey, Percy!" The trio turned again to see Leo, Jason, Frank and Nico racing towards grinned again, turning towards Percy this time."Lemme guess, your friends?"
The three flashed each other evil grins, with an equally evil look in their eyes, as they each made the same plans in their head. Both the parties of boys and girls were rushing towards Percy, Annabeth and Thalia. They stood facing the wall looking at neither parties. Just as the boys were about to reach Percy and the girls Annabeth, the former three slid out of the way towards the wall. Both teams dashed, obviously confused and amazed at the trick of their friends.
Six of them lay over each other and only Leo was standing above them, grinning and gaping at the same time. It was only he who had realized the trick of the three before it had happened, and had stood back to avoid the impact. But, it looked like Thalia had had another trick up her sleeve. While they had rushed toward the wall, Thalia had moved toward her right instead of crashing gently to the wall, beside Percy and Annabeth. This change of plan had confused Annabeth and she ended up crashing into Percy. All this happened in a flash of seconds.
So, now, the only two who were left standing, alone, were Thalia and Leo. Hazel lay over Frank, looking as if she had accidentally poisoned her teacher. Piper was looking at Jason, and Jason at Piper, both wearing blank expressions on their faces. Reyna and Nico looked horrified, as though they had swallowed plastic or even worse, garbage. And Annabeth was crammed into Percy, her hands over his chest, and Percy's around her waist. Their faces were centimeters apart.
Leo recovered first. He groaned and looked over at Thalia."Couldn't you have fallen over me? I feel so left out now." Thalia laughed and punched him playfully in the arm.
"You know I wouldn't have done that in a million years. So dream on!" Thalia said, smiling over at Leo, who returned it. They both were staring at Percy and Annabeth, still looking at each other, fixed in their close position.
Hazel, Frank, Reyna, Nico, Jason and Piper, all stood up, apologizing to each other. As for Percy and Annabeth, they both muttered the same thing together, again,"We should stop meeting like this." They entangled themselves and rounded up on Thalia, but were soon surrounded themselves but the other six. All but Thalia and Leo were furious.
Nico approached Thalia first."Hey, Thalia! What do you think you're doing? Making us crash like that! Are you crazy? And you, man,"he said, turning to Percy. "I thought you were on our side! But you too? What's up with you?" Before Percy could reply Jason burst in."Yeah, Percy! When did you start supporting her?"
Meanwhile, Annabeth was having her own friends to answer to. With a simple, but true, answer, she shut the girls up."Hey, you guys were making fun of me over a boy whom I do not like. Well, this is your revenge." She smiled a sweet, cruel smile at them.
Percy had started explaining,"Hey, I know you guys are furious, but it all happened in a matter of seconds and I didn't have the time to think. Besides, Thalia betrayed me too!"
"You mean, us! Since when did you start attacking your best friend?" Annabeth frowned at Thalia.
Thalia laughed again,"Woah, guys! Don't take this so personally! Was just a joke.. Take it easy! Chill out.." Her voice trailed off when she noticed the expressions of the eight faces around her. She amended."Uhh.. okay. I'm sorry. Just calm down. I won't do it again I promise."
Piper broke the tension by laughing."Hey, guys! It's okay. We just fell over each other. We didn't murder someone. So, calm down." Her merry eyes twinkled and fluttered over to Jason, who was standing beside Thalia. Jason gave Piper a smile which made her heart skip a beat.
It seemed as though, Piper's infectious laugh had done the job. The air cleared of hatred and everything seemed back to normal.
Before going, Thalia said to the others,"So, how about we meet each other in the ground and get to know each other better?" Everyone agreed to meet in the ground opposite the college and parted ways.
So... This was the eighth chapter! I am soo happy the story is going so well! I never imagined I would get this far! Please leave your comments/reviews! Thank you for loving this story till now.. Hope to warm your heart a next time too!