Breakfast the next morning was fun. They had to get up early, of course, but it was worth it (and it wasn't nearly as early as one time last fall, when they'd had to track down a god near Washington Square Park). Percy seemed in a good mood at the restaurant, but he grew quieter on the subway ride over to Queens. By the time they were walking down the block towards AHS, holding hands, he just seemed resigned. Which, again, hurt Annabeth's heart. She hadn't fully settled on her plan; she had a couple of ideas, but she was waiting to see how things looked before settling on any specific one.
When they reached the school, students were standing in clumps around the steps and spilling along the sidewalk, enjoying the last moments of freedom before heading inside for the school day. A few waved and called to Percy, and he smiled and waved back. But Annabeth felt his hand tighten around her own as they approached the steps. Her eyes fell on the guy standing there, holding court with a handful of friends. It was the same one who'd made a fish face at Percy after the swim meet, then spilled a drink on him a few hours after that. Annabeth narrowed her eyes.
"You promised," Percy said in a low voice.
"I'm not going to punch him," Annabeth reassured him, even as the guy's eyes fell on them and a nasty smile spread across his face. "That's too easy anyway."
Percy shot her a sideways look. "Do I want to know?"
"No."
Percy shook his head. The guys on the steps were now starting to jeer and make snide comments. Percy's free hand clenched.
Annabeth moved to face him, taking his clenched fist in her free hand and forcing him to loosen his fingers by sliding hers through them. "Hey. Babe. Don't worry about them. Just stay focused." She wanted to say 'You're better than all of them put together', but couldn't quite get the words out because she was afraid it would sound super cheesy. So instead, she stepped closer to him, let go of one of his hands so she could put hers on his neck, pulled him in, and kissed him very thoroughly. Probably way more than she would have normally done in public, but too bad. Maybe she had a point to prove to those jerks on the steps, but more importantly, she just wanted to remind Percy that she was on his side and that she was crazy about him.
She hoped she'd made both her points because when she pulled away, Percy looked a little shell shocked. And the guys on the steps had shut up.
"Wow," Percy said. "You know, any day you want to trek all the way to Queens to walk to school with me, go for it."
Annabeth laughed and squeezed his hand. "Have a good day, Seaweed Brain. I'll see you later."
As she continued up the street, purposely walking past the guy on the stairs in order to get a better assessment of him, the gears in Annabeth's mind were turning. The guy narrowed his eyes, watching her as she passed. In her peripheral vision, she saw his head turn and his eyes narrow farther as Percy passed him, heading up the stairs into school. Percy's shoulders were tensed, but the guy let him pass. However, after Percy disappeared through the doors, the guy muttered something to his friends and they all followed.
That decided it. Annabeth mentally ran through her schedule for the day, just to double check what she'd already been sure of last night, and it reinforced her decision that she could pull this off. She ducked behind the corner of the building beside the school and rummaged in her backpack until she found what she was looking for, partially squashed under her textbooks.
Percy knew Troy and his buddies had followed him into school. It was not lost on him that it was ironic that a guy named Troy had been giving him a hard time all year. At least, with any luck, he wouldn't spend the next ten years in high school. It just felt like it.
Immediately after entering the school, Percy ducked into the crowded, noisy cafeteria, which also happened to have roving teachers weaving between the tables of students finishing a quick breakfast before class. He grabbed a seat at a table about a third of the way across the room and glanced behind him. Troy had come through the door. His eyes fell on Percy, near the middle of the packed room, two tables from where the geometry teacher was having a conversation with a student, and his mouth twisted down in a scowl. He turned to one of his friends to say something, but he must have lost his balance while turning because he stumbled forward two steps. He looked around, maybe wondering if anyone had seen. Then he gestured to his buddies and they disappeared back into the hall.
Percy heaved a sigh. Since there were still about ten minutes until he needed to be at his first class, he pulled out his notebook, wanting to grab a few more minutes of studying for a quiz today. And, he could admit to himself, to look at the picture taped to the inside front cover. It was of him and Annabeth, taken by Hazel at Camp Jupiter last fall, when they'd gone for a weekend visit and Argo II reunion party. Hazel had been absolutely delighted when she discovered Polaroid cameras and it had been a current obsession. She'd gone through several cartridges snapping photos of all their friends at the party. But Percy wasn't complaining. Hazel had caught this moment: Percy with his arm around Annabeth, who was laughing, probably at something he'd said, judging by the way she was looking at him, her hand on his chest. The picture was one of his favorites mostly because his girlfriend looked so cute laughing at him (it was a familiar look), but also because of his own expression as he was grinning at her. Somehow, Hazel's Polaroid snapshot had caught how he felt about Annabeth on his face. The picture was a perfect reminder of why he was fighting through all the crap of high school—because the future with the girl he loved was worth it.
Percy exhaled, then shut his notebook. A shiver went down his spine. It almost felt like fingers had brushed the back of his neck. But when he turned his head, no one was there. Assuming it must have just been a gust of wind, Percy tucked his notebook back in his backpack, slung the bag over his shoulder, and trudged out of the cafeteria.
Unfortunately, Troy was in his first period class. Typically, he made this obvious by knocking hard into Percy's desk on his way to his own, and trying to catch his shoulder or something as well. Percy braced his hands on either side of his books, hoping to keep the stack from toppling on the floor again as Troy strode through the door and narrowed his eyes, zeroing in on Percy. Percy's jaw clenched. He forced his fingers to stay still and not curl into fists. The classroom was about half full, and their teacher was nowhere in sight yet. Troy's lip curled and he started towards Percy's desk.
Then his eyes widened in shock and he jolted forward. His pile of books flew out of his arms and several other students shrieked and ducked, trying not to get hit. Troy flew forward like he'd been tripped, even though there was no one near him, and crashed into three different desks, which toppled onto him as he hit the tiled floor, hard.
"Fuck!" Troy roared. He tried to push himself to his feet, but a tilted desk finished falling over, smacking him right on the butt, which elicited another curse.
"Language, Mr. Walsh," their teacher said, choosing that moment to come into the room. He raised his eyebrows. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah," Troy mumbled. "Just tripped."
He pushed himself to his feet, while a couple of other students moved forward to set the desks upright again. Some others nudged his books back towards him with the toes of their shoes. One of the books had landed near Percy's foot. He debated for a second, then bent down, picked it up, and handed it to Troy. The other boy stared at him for a moment, then grudgingly took the book and walked to his own seat.
"Alright then," their teacher said. "Let's get back to it."
Nothing quite as dramatic happened for the rest of the day. Troy stayed on his feet, but little things kept going on. His pen kept leaping out of his hand. His papers slid off his desk. His books unexpectedly slammed shut. By lunch, he was starting to look pretty spooked. And pissed off. But mostly freaked out. It didn't take Percy until lunch to figure out what exactly was going on here. And it seemed to be working. As he walked into the cafeteria, Troy was just sitting down at a table with his tray. Percy was weaving his way between people and tables, but he kept half an eye on Troy. And he couldn't quite keep the smirk fully off his face as he saw the trouble the other boy was having. Every time Troy tried to spear a bite of Salisbury steak with his fork, his tray would shift. Just an inch or so, but enough to be annoying. The same thing happened when he went for his mashed potatoes. And his peas. And even his cookie and his milk.
Finally, Troy slammed his hands on the table on either side of his tray, making it bounce up. "What the hell is going on?"
Heads flicked towards him from all over the cafeteria, everyone on the lookout for drama. So most of the student body witnessed Troy's bright red, angry face suddenly turning pale as the blood drained away. His spine straightened like he'd received an electric jolt. And then, very slowly, he turned his head to look directly at Percy. There was raw, naked fear in the bully's eyes.
Suspecting what was happening, Percy kept his expression calm, but he leveled his wolf stare at Troy. It hadn't been super effective before, but now, the other boy flinched. He looked away from Percy and turned his attention back to his tray. Jerking his head in a nod, as if he were agreeing to something the peas had said, he picked up his fork and tried again to take a bite of his food. This time, the tray stayed in place.
Once the promise of drama faded, most of the other students' attention returned to their own tables and conversations. Percy was watching the space between himself and Troy, though. He just needed a small indication…ha.
Two feet away from him, a guy stumbled with his lunch tray, as if he'd bumped into someone. But there was no one there. Percy reached out. He must have timed it just right because he felt an arm under his fingers, even though the air looked empty. As he took his seat, trying not to draw attention to himself, he slid his fingers down until he could lace his fingers through Annabeth's. There were too many people around for him to say anything, so he just squeezed her hand.
She returned the pressure, then let go of his hand. Invisible lips brushed his cheek. Then she was gone. Percy saw the ponytail of a girl at the next table rustle in a waft of air, like someone had just passed behind her, even though there was no one around. He smiled to himself, then opened up his lunch bag.
Annabeth was waiting, fully visible, Yankees cap once again tucked safely in her backpack, down the street from AHS when Percy came out of the doors at the end of the day. She watched him look up and down the street, then the familiar smirk appeared when he spotted her. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he jogged down the steps, then strolled up the street.
"Hey," he said when he reached her.
"Hey," she told him, leaning against a building, arms crossed.
"Haven't seen you all day," he said, the smirk still dancing across his face.
She shrugged. "You know, busy day. But I've been around."
Percy cracked. A grin spread across his face and he took his hands out of his pockets to pull her close. "You're the best. Seriously." Then he kissed her.
Annabeth pressed closer, kissing him back, a hand on his neck. She hoped she'd made her point with his bully, and reminded Percy that she always had his back, no matter what, but that wasn't what stood out to her now. She was thinking of the moment when Percy had reached down to pick up the book and hand it to the guy who had been hitting him for the last two months. There was no question about who was the bigger person in that situation. And it had reminded her of just how genuinely good of a person her boyfriend was, and how lucky she felt that he was with her.
A bit later, as they were walking down the street towards the subway station, holding hands, Percy said, a little regretfully, "Today was great, but Troy'll probably be ten times worse tomorrow. He'll be out for vengeance."
It was Annabeth's turn to smirk. "I doubt that." She recalled the bully's face when she'd whispered in his ear in the cafeteria, telling him "Leave Percy Jackson alone. Or I'll be back. Do you understand?" The guy had looked ready to pee his pants. She doubted he was going to risk another day like today. But if he was…well, she could always take another morning off school and reinforce the lesson.
The next weekend, Annabeth met Percy in the hallway at AHS after his most recent swim meet.
"Nice work, Seaweed Brain. Three second place finishes and a first place in the relay!" She kissed his cheek.
"My teammates helped with that one," Percy said.
"First place on the high dive was all you, though. That was a great dive." And it had been; he'd thrown three twists and a double somersault into his last dive, which had secured him the first place medal.
"Thanks. That was my interpretation of 'Boy falls off St. Louis Arch, but much cooler this time'." Percy grinned when Annabeth laughed. It had been fun to watch him compete today. She was also happy to see no fresh bruises. The last few had faded to faint yellow and purple splotches on his skin.
Just as she was thinking that, the gym doors opened and that Troy guy walked out, accompanied by some friends. She watched his eyes fall on Percy, then quickly look away. Gesturing to his friends, he hurried off down the hallway in the opposite direction. Annabeth allowed herself a small smile. Problem solved.
"So," she said, turning her attention back to her boyfriend, who had apparently been watching her watch his former bully with a slightly amused smile, "how about pizza for dinner? Just you and me?"
Percy's smile became much warmer at that suggestion. "Sounds great. And maybe a movie afterwards? We can make it a date."
"Perfect." Annabeth shoved his still-bare chest lightly. "Go take a shower first, though. You smell like chlorine."
"Whatever you say." Percy started to walk away, but before he'd even taken three steps, he came back, pulled her close, and kissed her. Probably a little too much for a crowded high school hallway filled with a post-swim meet and post-wrestling match crowd, but Annabeth couldn't find it in herself to really care. Especially not when he pulled away and said quietly, just for her, "Love you."
"I love you, too," she told him. She gave him another quick kiss, then said, "Now go. You're making a scene."
"It's one of my many talents." Percy grinned at her as he backed away. "Don't go anywhere."
"I'll be right here." She smiled as he disappeared back into the pool area to head to the locker room to shower and change.
The hallway was beginning to clear as Annabeth leaned against the wall, unable to keep a smile off her face. But things were good. And she was hopeful that, if they could just get through these last few months of high school, the summer and then college were going to be even better.
It was nice to feel hopeful.