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It’s official: being the new girl sucks.
Annabeth has only been at Goode High for five days, but these five days have lasted a lifetime. This place must be hell on earth, because only in hell could classes be so painfully dull, could so many of the teachers look like they’d rather be anywhere else, could her new classmates be so fucking annoying.
That she hasn’t been getting much sleep lately only adds to her misery. Last night she tossed and turned for hours and hours and had to use a shit ton of concealer this morning to cover the dark circles under her eyes. Because it took so long to do her makeup, she didn’t have time to eat breakfast or unpack the rest of her clothes, so now her stomach is growling and she’s wearing her itchiest bra.
Having arrived in this shitty town in mid-October only makes adjusting harder. Goode High is an entire ecosystem consisting of pre-established cliques and groups, and Annabeth is an invasive species. Even with time, even if she does find a place here, she will never fully belong.
With a pang in her chest, Annabeth thinks of Thalia, her best friend from her old school, who always brought a thermos full of coffee to share during homeroom and made snide remarks that had Annabeth snorting with laughter at the most inconvenient times. Annabeth would give anything for things to go back to the way they used to be.
English is usually one of Annabeth’s favorite subjects, despite her dyslexia, but today the class is torture. Annabeth slumps low in her middle-row seat, eyelids drooping as the teacher drones on about literary devices. She rests her hand on her cheek and her elbow on the desk to prop her head up and tries her hardest not to fantasize about coffee. She’d kill for an iced vanilla latte right about now.
Her classes this morning have been long and mind-numbing, but they’re worlds better than lunch surely will be. Since she spent half an hour this morning trying to select an outfit and forgot to pack a lunch, she’ll be eating a school lunch which will no doubt be shitty. And she’ll be all alone like a complete and total loser. Again. (At least her outfit is cute, though. High-waisted jeans with a cropped gray sweater and silver earrings. Great. She’ll be a fashionable loser.)
It’s sad that she’s starting to get used to it.
When the bell rings, Annabeth gathers her things and exits the classroom. She’s not in any sort of rush to get to the cafeteria. She’ll probably end up eating in the library again, anyway, listening to an audiobook while she nibbles on whatever shit the cafeteria is calling edible today.
Annabeth doesn’t even have to double-check the map the secretary in the office gave her to make sure she’s walking in the right direction. The noise of two hundred students packed into the cafeteria can be heard from all the way down the hallway and up the stairs. The inside of the cafeteria is even louder.
The lunch line moves fairly quickly, at least. Annabeth accepts a plastic tray from one of the bored-looking lunch ladies. Today’s crappy cafeteria meal consists of a burger, some sad-looking carrots, and a chocolate chip cookie. At least the cookie looks decent. She grabs a water bottle from the cooler and scans the cafeteria for a place to sit. Maybe the D&D club will take pity and she won’t have to spend another forty-five minutes avoiding the librarian’s sympathetic gaze.
Annabeth doesn’t notice the juice all over the floor until she’s slipping on it.
She manages to hang onto her lunch, but she crashes right into a girl who just happens to be walking by. The impact sends the poor girl and her tray flying. Annabeth latches onto the edge of a table to keep from tumbling to the ground, but the girl she collided with isn’t so lucky. She ends up sprawled out on the floor, her jeans now soaked with juice.
All too late, Annabeth sees the yellow sign that she knocked completely to the side when she slipped. She squints and rereads it a few times before she’s able to see that it says: CAUTION, WET FLOOR.
The students sitting nearby are all staring, elbowing their friends, waiting to see what will happen. Giggles come from a table of cheerleaders. (They’re wearing their blue and white uniforms to school like this is some chick flick. Each jacket even has the girl’s name written on it in swirly script. Fleetingly, Annabeth wonders if that’s in case they forget their own names.)
Then Annabeth remembers the girl she bowled over. She expects her to be pissed. She would be if someone did the same thing to her. But the girl is laughing and doesn’t seem angry at all. She flashes an I’m okay -type smile at the cheerleaders, which makes Annabeth think the cheerleaders weren’t laughing at the girl in a mean way, just in a friendly way.
This girl is friends with the cheerleaders. Who are probably popular. Shit, maybe the girl is a cheerleader.
Annabeth quickly extends her hand. “I’m so sorry!” She apologizes as she helps the girl to her feet. “I wasn’t paying attention and I didn’t even notice the juice until I slipped and-”
The girl waves her off. “It’s okay, really. Don’t worry about it.”
“But your lunch-” Annabeth glances at the girl’s food, which is lying in the middle of the puddle, ruined. Annabeth would buy the girl another lunch, but she doesn’t have any more money.
The fact that this girl doesn’t hate her is amazing.
“The school lunches are shit here anyway.” The girl says, shrugging.
“But it was your lunch. Here, at least have my cookie.” Annabeth says, plucking the cookie from her tray and handing it to the girl.
“Thank you! You’re so nice. You must be new. I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.” She smiles. “I’m Piper.”
“Annabeth.”
Taking Annabeth by the elbow, Piper leads Annabeth away from the mess. “Come sit at my table.”
Annabeth follows Piper, a bit shocked that this girl actually wants to be friends with her. This was definitely not included in How to Start a Conversation and Make Friends, that book her mom bought her during the move that she may or may not have read from cover to cover in a moment of desperation.
Piper’s table is near the back of the cafeteria. Two boys are already sitting there. One has golden hair, freckles, and the bright blue eyes. The other is of Asian descent, large and burly, with a buzz cut and brown eyes.
The blond boy smiles at Annabeth as she sits down hesitantly. The other boy nods in her direction.
“Frank, Will, this is Annabeth. She’s new.” Piper says, clapping her hands. “Annabeth, Will and Frank.”
Will, the blond boy, flashes another smile. “Welcome to Goode, Annabeth.”
“Otherwise known as hell.” Frank says.
Will, Frank, and Piper’s conversation is light and full of playful banter. Annabeth doesn’t contribute much to it, mostly just sitting back and listening to them argue heatedly about the best Pixar movie. (Clearly the cinematic masterpiece that is Ratatouille, but she figures it’s probably best for her not to put her two cents in on this topic right now.) This definitely beats eating in the library.
Her food is looking less and less appealing to her, but she’s starving, so she picks up a carrot from her tray and sniffs it cautiously. She pops it in her mouth and grimaces. “This tastes more like dirt than carrot,” she says.
Piper and Will laugh at this, and even Frank smiles.
Annabeth eats the carrots anyway because they're better than eating nothing. Piper, who Annabeth learns is a vegetarian, tries a few and looks like she’s going to cry.
After Annabeth finishes the carrots, she and Piper examine the suspect burger. The patty has that typical cafeteria meat look, complete with fake grill marks. As for the bun, it’s flat and pale and soggy from the ketchup.
Annabeth takes a cautious bite. It’s not that bad. She eats the whole thing and doesn’t feel the need to throw up after, which is a win in her book.
Before long, Piper asks Annabeth the question: “So, Annabeth, how did you end up at Goode?”
Annabeth knew it would come sooner or later, but she still hates the reminder of being uprooted from her old life and transplanted here. “Uh, so, my parents divorced last year, and my dad wanted a fresh start, so we moved. And now I'm here.”
“Do you like this town so far?” Will asks.
“I’ve always lived in Manhattan, so the suburbs are… different. And being the new kid is pretty shitty.”
“I’m originally from LA, so I get what you mean. The ‘burbs are a lot quieter. And I was devastated to leave my friends behind.” Piper says, munching on a Dorito stolen from Frank’s lunch box.
“My best friend Thalia and I still Facetime every day, but it’s not the same.” Annabeth says. “Though one pro to moving is that I don’t have to see my ex. We broke up the week before I moved so I was spared that awkwardness.”
Piper groans. “Ugh, awkwardness with your ex is the worst. When I broke up with my old boyfriend, Jason, in sophomore year after I came to the realization that the whole thing was comphet on my part, things were super weird between us. We had been a couple for so long that we had to relearn how to be friends. We’re cool now though.”
“Jason has the best parties, so it’s a definite plus that he and Piper are friendly.” Will says.
“His back-to-school party was legendary. I’m pretty sure I made out with Reyna in the bathroom at one point.” Piper says.
"Wait, is Jason's last name Grace? I think I've met him before." Annabeth asks.
"Yep." Piper confirms. "Golden boy, athletic, dorky glasses?"
Annabeth finds herself grinning. "He's my best friend's younger brother. Their parents are divorced, and Thalia lives with their mom, but he lives with their dad. I knew Jason went to school around here, but I didn't know he was a Goode student."
"Small world." Piper says, smiling as well.
"Pipes, did you start on the humanities assignment?" Frank asks, leaning over to take a sip from Piper's water bottle. It seems only fitting that Piper should have one of those big Hydro Flasks.
Piper swats Frank away. "Of course not. When have you known me to do my homework in advance?"
"Well, you know Wilson's tough on essays, so..."
As the conversation continues around her, a weight slowly lifts off of Annabeth’s shoulders. She has friends, or at the very least, people to sit with at lunch. The relief she feels is immense. Maybe there's hope of finding her place in the Goode High ecosystem yet.
Annabeth likes to spend her free periods in the library. The library is medium-sized, packed with tall shelves filled with dusty books, and smells of old paper. Mrs. Crompton, the librarian, is a stern-faced old lady who will scold you for talking in anything more than a whisper, so the only sounds are the hum of the air conditioner, the occasional turning of pages, and laptop keys clicking.
Today, Annabeth finds a table near the nonfiction section and takes out her calculus homework. She has ten problems to do on ratios of change, which shouldn’t be too hard, since her old school covered this back in September.
Calculus is her favorite class, and she breezes through the problems. Her dyslexia makes things hard for her sometimes, but years of putting in extra work have helped her combat it so she’s not too much slower than the rest of her classmates now.
Next, she has to read a chapter on the Industrial Revolution. This takes longer because her ADHD-brain loves to find distractions. First it’s the girl in front of her chewing gum way too loudly. Next it’s her phone lock screen lighting up with a text from Piper. Then it’s the boy next to her whose music is turned up so loud that she can hear it playing through his headphones.
The band he’s listening to is U2, which normally she wouldn’t mind, but the volume is turned up so damn high that she can hear it through his earbuds. It’s making her want to sing “With or Without You” instead of concentrating on labor unions and she really doesn’t need the extra distraction. She leans over to tap him on the shoulder.
He looks up. “What?” he mouths.
He’d be cute if he weren’t irritating her. He has dark hair in that cliche effortlessly windswept way and a face that she’s sure is handsome when he's not frowning so deeply.
“Can you turn your music down?” she asks, forcing herself to be polite when all she wants to do is rip his earbuds away from him and stomp on them.
He nods shortly, reaching over for his phone. Satisfied, Annabeth turns back to her textbook and continues reading.
She can still hear the music. He turned it down slightly . What an asshole .
She taps him on the shoulder again.
“ What ?” he groans, tugging one of his earbuds out.
“Can you please , for the love of god, turn down your music?” she huffs. “I’m trying to focus but you’re playing it so damn loud.”
“Sorry.” His expression almost passes for apologetic, but the corners of his lips are turning up like he’s trying not to smirk.
He turns down his music enough that Annabeth can only hear it if she really thinks about it.
Sighing, she turns back to her homework again.
For those in the industrial sector, organized labor unions fought for better wages, reasonable hours and safer -
He’s drumming his fingers on the table. Tap, tap-tap, tappity-tap-tap.
Annabeth digs her fingers into her palm, willing herself to focus. She looks back down at the page.
The labor movement led efforts to stop child labor, give health benefits and provide aid to-
Gritting her teeth, she turns to him again. This time she doesn’t even need to tap him on the shoulder.
“What now? I turned down the music!”
“Your fingers! You’ve been tapping the table and it’s so distracting!”
He looks down at his hands. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t even realize I was doing it.”
Annabeth hasn't even turned a page before he starts doing it again.
She throws her arms in the air. “You are impossible ! First the music, now this. Is your brain made of seaweed?”
“If you’re so bothered by me, why don’t you just go sit somewhere else?”
“ Please be quiet in the library.” Mrs. Crompton scolds them from her desk across the room.
Annabeth lowers her voice. “I shouldn’t have to move. You should be respectful of other people and not make so much noise.”
“Nobody else was bothered by it.”
“Just because no one came over to ask you to be quiet doesn’t mean that they weren’t annoyed by you.” Annabeth counters.
“Look…what’s your name?”
“Annabeth Chase.”
“Okay, Chase. I was here first, so I’d appreciate it if you left me alone.”
“Gladly, Seaweed Brain.”
“Name–calling now, are we?”
Annabeth shrugs. “It suits you.”
“Can’t you just…study or do your homework or whatever?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to do this whole time!” She doesn’t mean to say it so loud.
The boy opens his mouth to reply, but before he can say anything, the librarian marches over to them and points at the door. “Out. The library is a place to learn, not a place for this nonsense. Take it elsewhere.”
Annabeth slams her book shut and begins to throw her things into her bag. The boy beside her does the same, just not as forcefully.
“Look what you’ve done,” Annabeth whispers to him as they walk out, voice so scalding it could iron the wrinkles out of a blouse. Her face burns with shame. Her, Annabeth Chase, kicked out of the library. Her !
“I don’t see how this is my fault.”
“Don’t see how this is your–I give up. Just don’t ever speak to me again and we can pretend we never met.”
“Happy to.” He puts his earbuds back in and walks down the hall in the opposite direction.
Annabeth finds a place to sit in the hallway and pulls her textbook back out. She manages to read the rest of the chapter and takes a few okay-ish notes. When she gets home after this day finally ends, she’ll take more in-depth notes.
Annabeth is already walking to her next class when the bell rings. It’s bio in room 118 and on the complete opposite side of the school. Even with her head-start, the classroom is already half-full when she walks in. There was a substitute last week, so this is the first time she’s seeing the teacher: a young woman with long brown hair and blue glasses.
Annabeth had just taken a random seat in the back before, but she figures that today she should get an actual assigned seat. The teacher is sitting at her desk when Annabeth approaches her.
“You must be Annabeth Chase.” she says. “I’m Miss Garcia.”
“Yeah, that’s me. Hi. Where should I sit?” Annabeth asks.
Miss Garcia scans the room for a moment. “Hmm… you can sit behind Percy Jackson.” She points at the seat, and Annabeth’s heart sinks.
Jackson is the boy from the library. Go figure.
Miss Garcia seems nice, and Annabeth doesn’t want to get on her bad side, so she trudges over to the seat and slides into it. She can hear Jackson tapping his feet on the ground under his desk and bites back a groan.
This will be a long year.
“Quelle heure est-il?”
Jason ends up being Annabeth’s partner in French class a few days later, which is convenient because she's been meaning to talk with him. She's met him before, but they never really shared more than a few words. It turns out that Jason's pretty easy to get to know and his sense of humor reminds Annabeth of Piper's.
“Your accent is awful.” Annabeth tells Jason with a laugh after he butchers the phrase for what time is it?
“I’m trying!” he says, grinning. “And you didn’t answer the question.”
Annabeth sighs. “Il est deux heures.”
“See, why is your accent so good? You actually sound French. I just sound like an American trying to imitate a French accent.”
“Maybe because I’ve been taking French since eighth grade?” Annabeth says. “My old teacher put a lot of emphasis on accenting words correctly. Though I still can barely conjugate verbs, so.”
Jason laughs. “Piper, my ex-girlfriend, used to invite me over to her house to study. Her mom would bring us baguettes and macarons and shit and we’d only talk in French. She was the one who helped me figure out conjugation.”
“I actually met Piper the other day at lunch and we’ve been hanging out a lot lately.”
Jason’s eyes widen. “Wait, are you the one who slipped and knocked her over last week?”
Annabeth nods, wincing. “Not my proudest moment. I still feel shitty about that.”
“Piper’s the most forgiving person I know. I’m sure she’s already gotten over it.” Jason says. “Anyway, did you know that Piper is fluent in French?”
“Wait, seriously? That’s so cool.”
“I don’t hear much French over here!” Madame Laurent, the French teacher, croons.
Annabeth hastily switches to French. “Tu fais du sport?”
“Oui, je fais du cross.” Jason replies. “Et toi?"
“Non, mais j'étais dans l'équipe de débat de mon ancienne école.”
Jason nods. “That’s neat.” He says, reverting back to English now that Madame Laurent has moved on to help another group practice their pronunciations.
“When did you move here?” Jason goes on. "It's so crazy that you ended up at the same school as your best friend's brother."
“My dad and I got here a few weeks ago, but I didn’t start at Goode until last week.” Annabeth says.
“It seems like you’re already making friends. Piper, Will, Frank. And now you’ve got me.”
Annabeth feels a rush of pleasure hearing him refer to her as a friend. The people here are so much more welcoming and friendly than the kids at her old school ever were. It may have taken her a few days, but she thinks she’s found her people.
“You should come to my Halloween party, you’d make tons more friends there.” Jason says suddenly.
“Uh… I don’t know.” Annabeth says. “I’m not really one for parties.”
She’s really not. Thalia would drag her to parties sometimes and Annabeth always ended up in the corner, scrolling through Instagram on her phone to discourage anyone from attempting to talk to her. It wasn’t like the parties were fun. The beer was always warm and tasted like piss and the music was too loud and she hated dancing. And at the end of every party, she was the one who’d have to haul Thalia’s drunk ass home.
It’s safe to say that parties are definitely not Annabeth’s thing.
“At least consider it.”
“...I’ll think about it. I’d have to come in costume, right?”
“Yep. I’m going as Superman.” Jason says. “Your costume doesn’t have to be super elaborate or anything, I just thought it would be fun for everyone to dress up.”
“I just-”
Madame Laurent gives them a look from across the room, and they quickly switch back to French once more and actually try to do the assignment until the bell rings.
Piper is waiting outside the French class when Annabeth walks out.
They scurry down the hallway, jostled around by groups of people in a rush to leave. Piper is nearly slammed into a locker as some football players push their way past.
“Watch it!” Piper yells at them, flipping them off with both hands.
They manage to get to the end of the main hallway and reach the staircase.
“Jason invited me to his Halloween party.” Annabeth says as they clomp down the steps, the clatter of their footsteps echoing in the stairway.
“Now you don’t have an excuse to say you won’t go.” Piper says, smirking.
“Parties just aren’t-” Annabeth starts.
“It’ll be so much fun, Beth.” Piper interjects. “Look, you don’t have to go, but come on. How many times do you get to go to a high school party wearing a potentially slutty costume?”
Annabeth finds herself relenting. “Fine. I’ll go, but I can’t promise you that I’ll have fun.”
Piper beams. “We gotta go shopping for stuff for our outfits. Are you free on Friday after school?”
Annabeth's free tomorrow, Friday, and every other day. It’s not like she has a lot going on. It's not like there's a lot to do in this town. “Yeah. Sounds like a plan.”
Piper loops her arm through Annabeth’s as they walk through the doors. “This'll be so great!”
As planned, Annabeth and Piper drive to the mall on Friday to go shopping for their costumes. The party’s on Saturday, so they’re pushing it in terms of last-minute shopping.
They catch a movie at the mall’s IMAX, stop in H&M to find a black top for Annabeth’s costume, (She’s going as Sandy from Grease) and buy several boba teas (Piper’s on her third.) Their next stop is Hot Topic. Thalia was a bit of a fixture at their local Hot Topic back in the city, so Annabeth's very familiar with the store.
The closing notes of "Sweater Weather" are fading into an Arctic Monkeys song when she and Piper step inside. They begin to browse the racks of accessories, towers of merchandise from various bands and fandoms, and the wall-to-wall shelves of graphic t-shirts. Before long, Piper finds a pair of sunglasses with pink lenses for her elle Woods getup, and Annabeth spots a pair of leather pants.They fit her perfectly when she tries them on, and Piper says they make her ass look great.
She and Piper buy their items and move on to their final stop, which is Goodwill. When they go in, Annabeth is skeptical that they’ll find anything suitable, but then she uncovers the perfect pair of red heels and a leather jacket that still smells faintly of motor oil to complete the look.
Annabeth helps Piper find a shiny pink minidress that matches a cropped jacket she already owns, then locates a knockoff Prada bag on a shelf for Piper to put her stuffed dog in.
“You really have an eye for thrifting.” Piper says as they walk out the sliding glass doors, toting their bags of purchases.
“I guess I do.” Annabeth says, slurping up the last of her boba tea.
They trek through the maze of vehicles in the parking lot for Piper’s car. In the end, it’s more Annabeth searching for the car and Piper being there for moral support while she texts and slurps up the last of her boba tea.
Eventually, they reach Piper's sedan. As Annabeth throws their bags into the backseat, Piper waves her phone in Annabeth's direction. “Hey, so I just texted my friend Hazel, and she says that she just got off of work at Target. She wants to know if we’ll meet her for dinner.”
“Food sounds great.” Annabeth says. The bucket of popcorn they split in the movie theater was hours ago, and they haven’t had anything since then but boba tea.
They slip into their seats, and Piper shoots a reply to Hazel.
“Okay, we’re meeting her at Bruce’s Diner.” Piper says as Annabeth buckles in.
Annabeth closes her eyes. “Oh, I'd kill for a burger and shake right now.”
“They have really good vegetarian options too.” Piper adds. She bites her lip as she backs the car out of the space and merges with the traffic on the road.
Annabeth fantasizes about food during the drive to the diner. She and Piper sing along to Madonna and Prince on the car radio’s eighties station, and Piper tells Annabeth about Hazel.
“She’s so sweet and nice,” Piper says. “Hazel's such a mom friend and we all love her to pieces.”
“She sounds wonderful.”
Hazel is just like Piper described her. She hugs Piper as soon as they walk into the diner, and unexpectedly hugs Annabeth too. Annabeth feels her shoulders relax, tension she hadn’t even known was gathered there leaving her. Hazel smells of lilacs and has a laugh like honey and Annabeth knows they're going to get along great.
They sit down at a booth near the back of the diner. Annabeth stacks the sugar packets into a tower while they wait for their server to come take their drink orders.
“...as a fairy? I love that.” Piper's saying to Hazel.
“You’re going as Elle Woods, right?” Hazel asks.
“Yeah, I still have my blonde wig from my Malibu Barbie costume from last year and Elle Woods is an icon, so it’s perfect.”
Annabeth is still contemplating whether she wants a chocolate or strawberry milkshake when the waiter finally arrives. Both flavors are delicious, so the decision is impossible.
“Thank you for your patience," their server says. "Can I get you started on drinks?”
Annabeth looks up so fast she nearly cracks her neck.
The waiter is Percy Jackson. What the hell. Why can she not seem to get away from him?
Recognition dawns on Jackson as a scowl crosses over his face. He hurriedly replaces it with a pasted-on smile.
Hazel sets her menu down and waves at Jackson. “Can I have an iced tea, please?”
"Yep." Jackson nods and scribbles this onto his notepad.
This is a surprise, Percy. Since when have you worked here?” Piper says conversationally.
Before she can stop herself, Annabeth bursts out, “You know him?”
Jackson keeps his rather pinched smile on his face. “What do you want, Chase?”
“For you to go to hell.”
“To drink.”
“Oh, a chocolate milkshake. Please.”
Piper has been watching their exchange with an intrigued expression. “I’d like a Sprite, thanks.” When Percy is finished jotting this down, she goes on. “I didn’t know you and Annabeth knew each other. She never mentioned anything.”
“We have a bunch of classes together” The look on his face adds an unspoken unfortunately.
Jackson clears his throat. “Well, I’ll, uh, be back with the drinks.”
As soon as he is out of earshot, Piper turns to Annabeth. “Well?”
Annabeth scrunches, faking confusion. “What?”
Piper rolls her eyes. “Spill. How do you and Percy know each other?”
“Since when do you know Percy?”
“He’s one of Jason’s best friends.” Piper responds easily, before putting the focus back on Annabeth. “Now, how do you know him?”
“I met him last week, on the same day I met you. He was being obnoxious in the library and I yelled at him and… we got kicked out.”
Piper raises her eyebrows, amused, as Annabeth goes on.
“He’s just so annoying. He plays his music so loud and is always tapping his feet or his fingers and it’s so damn agitating. He’s just… ugh.”
“I know, I just hate those damn ‘ugh’ bastards too.”
Annabeth flips Piper off and Hazel looks mildly alarmed. “I just don’t like him.”
“He’s actually really nice, though.” Hazel says, a bit shyly. “I’ve spoken to him a few times.”
“He must just save it for me, then.” Annabeth says dryly.
Piper looks at Annabeth. “Let me get this straight. He gets you kicked out of the library one time, and now you’ve sworn to hate him?”
“It wasn’t just that one time. He’s annoying and distracting every day. And then there was the incident in gym class the other day that was the final nail in the coffin.” Annabeth says.
Hazel and Piper both gaze at her curiously, so she gives them a brief explanation of it.
Coach Hedge, the PE teacher, makes the class run laps around the track. Annabeth hates running laps because she always is sticky with sweat for the rest of the day after, and she has never been especially athletic.
On the day of the incident, she’d bent down to tie her shoes since they had come undone while she was jogging. Of course, Jackson was in her gym class, because the gods love to torture her, and of course, Percy ran right into her while she was relacing her sneakers. He caused her to lose her balance and she fell over on her ass.
She yelled at him for not watching where he was going. He yelled that she shouldn’t have been in the way. Coach Hedge made them run extra laps for their ‘disruption’ and Annabeth cursed Percy Jackson to hell and back under her breath the entire time.
If Annabeth had disliked Jackson before, this was the final event to seal the deal.
Piper frowns. “As much as we love petty Annabeth, I think she may have gotten the wrong impression of him. Percy’s just a massive dork. You two probably just got off on the wrong foot.”
Annabeth crosses her arms over her chest. “I am not being petty.”
Jackson comes back with the drinks, and Hazel and Piper thank him as they accept their sodas from him. He accidentally gets a bit of whipped cream on Annabeth’s hand, and she scowls at him.
Annabeth relays her order to him in an icy voice. He makes her repeat it three times over “to make sure he got it right” and Annabeth just knows he’s doing it on purpose.
“You are being petty.” Hazel says as Percy walks away. “You didn’t even thank him!”
“He got whipped cream on me and made me tell him my order a million times. If anyone's being petty, it's Jackson”
Hazel and Piper shrug and move on to discussing the latest school drama. Annabeth doesn’t particularly care to hear about people she doesn't know and doesn't have any desire to know, so she stares down at the table and tears her straw wrapper into tiny pieces.
She wasn’t being that petty, was she? Her reaction to his distractions in the library may have been a little harsh, she’ll admit, but her response to the incident in gym class was completely valid…right?
Maybe she is being a bit mean to him. She’ll be a little more nice when he comes back with their food. After all, maybe he really hadn’t known that he was distracting her in the library and maybe running into her in the gym had truly been an accident like he claimed it was.
When Jackson comes back with their orders, Annabeth forces a smile and even manages a thank you, though she wants to tear his annoyingly perfect hair and face to shreds.
Then she realizes that even though he made her repeat her order three times, her food is still screwed up. She specifically ordered a burger with cheese, ketchup, mustard, onions, and no lettuce, because lettuce is an abomination. Seriously, if she wanted to eat leaves, she’d pick them off a tree. (She actually ate half a leaf once for a dare in kindergarten during recess, so she knows firsthand what leaves taste like.) But there, sitting ever so innocently on her burger, is lettuce.
Annabeth curls her fingers into a fist in her lap. It’s fine, she can just pick the lettuce off. But it’s the fact that she told him her order multiple times that really irks her.
“Excuse me,” Annabeth says as Jackson is turning away. “I ordered my burger without lettuce, but there’s lettuce here.”
Jackson frowns. “Would you like me to take it back to the kitchen to have the cook peel it off for you?” he asks in a monotone.
Annabeth shakes her head. “I’m just wondering how my order was fucked up when you made me repeat it several times.”
Hazel and Piper exchange looks.
Jackson has the same apologetic look on his face that he wore in the library when they first had the misfortune of meeting, the one that would be genuine if it weren’t for the quirk of his lips and the glint in his eyes. “I apologize. There must have been some sort of mistake in the kitchen.”
Annabeth isn’t convinced, but since she has no way of proving it, she just lets the matter slide and plucks the lettuce off her burger. Hazel thanks Jackson, and he walks over to another table to refill their drinks.
Piper rolls her eyes at Annabeth and clucks her tongue. “Petty.”
“I do actually hate lettuce, though.”
“You do realize you’re talking to a vegetarian, right? Like, a fourth of my diet is salad.”
They all laugh, the light conversation resumes.
The food is actually pretty good, and Annabeth's shake is divine. Chocolate heaven. While they eat, Annabeth, Piper, and Hazel chat about a wide range of topics. Piper’s personal favorite seems to be Frank Zhang.
“He likes you back, you know.” Piper says as she takes a bite of her veggie burger.
Hazel lowers her eyes. “If he did, wouldn’t he tell me?” she asks. “And how do you even tell if a guy likes you?”
Annabeth dips one of her fries in her milkshake. “Most guys make it pretty obvious that they like you and as soon as you drop enough hints that you like them back they ask you out. But Frank seems like the type who would never do anything unless you made the first move.”
Hazel sighs. “I like him a lot, it’s just…the idea of putting myself out there scares me. What if he says no?”
“He’d have to be really stupid to.” Annabeth says, which makes Hazel smile.
“But really,” Piper says, “if he likes you, and he definitely does, why would he say no?”
“Well, my ex Luke rejected me the first time I asked him out. He later told me that he said no because he wanted to ‘make me chase after him’.” Annabeth says as Piper scoffs. “But he was a jackass, and Frank clearly is not.”
“Why did you even date him, then?” Piper asks.
“He didn’t seem like such a jackass at first. It was only when I got to know him that I realized that he wasn’t as great as I thought he was. But I stayed with him until he dumped me.” Annabeth says, brushing the crumbs off her hands and reaching for her jacket. “Enough about me and my failed relationships. You still won’t tell me what’s up with you and Reyna.”
They pay for their food and tip Jackson, (Annabeth has to admit that he was a good waiter, even if he messed up her order slightly. She finds it even more impressive that he managed to be semi-polite to her the whole time, because she isn’t sure if she’d be able to do the same.) then head out. Hazel parts with them in the parking lot, waving goodbye before she opens her car door.
Annabeth and Piper buckle up in Piper’s car and turn up the radio. The eighties station from before is still on, and they sing along with Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl.”
When Annabeth gets home, she curls up on her bed wraps herself in her fluffy comforter. She turns on Saved By the Bell, her favorite sitcom and guilty pleasure, and binges a few episodes from season 3.
The whole time, she can’t help thinking about what Piper said about Jackson. Percy’s just a massive dork. You two probably just got off on the wrong foot.
Annabeth thinks about his stupid face for what must be the millionth time, and is thoroughly unconvinced.
Since Piper is at Jason’s helping him set up for the party, it’s just Hazel who comes over to Annabeth's get ready.
Hazel shows up lugging her costume in a giant black trash bag. Annabeth helps her carry it upstairs, and they and play Justin Bieber songs while they change into their costumes and do their makeup.
Hazel’s fairy costume consists of a poofy tea-length green dress covered in sparkles, glittery wings, and a pair of battered Dr. Martens. When Annabeth sees the dress, she actually gasps.
“Hazel!” she shrieks.
Hazel lowers her eyes, which Annabeth has come to realize is Hazel’s own lovely way of showing she’s embarrassed but also pleased.
“Spin around for me.” Annabeth says.
Hazel twirls around a few times, her skirt swirling out around her.
Annabeth’s still in awe. “Where did you find that dress?”
“At a thrift store. It was in pretty bad shape so I made some repairs and re-dyed the fabric.”
“That’s so cool, Hazel. You look stunning in it.”
Annabeth changes into her leather pants, (She uses a belt with a big silver buckle to secure them at her waist.) off-the-shoulder top, leather jacket, and red stilettos while Hazel gathers her cosmetics. They chat about Justin Bieber’s discography while they do their makeup and agree that Purpose is his best album.
Hazel sprinkles shimmery glitter powder on her dark skin and applies gold shadow to her eyelids. Annabeth helps her pull her thick hair into a bun, strategically leaving a few curls to frame Hazel’s face.
Annabeth goes all out with her own makeup, because she’s only going to get to do this once. Maybe the super dramatic eyeliner and bright red lipstick are a bit much, but what the hell, she loves it.
She and Hazel watch a Youtube tutorial to figure out how to do those iconic big, teased curls, and after a few attempts and a lot of hairspray, they manage to make Annabeth look like she stepped right out of the seventies. After Hazel straps on her fairy wings and Annabeth douses herself in perfume, they pose in front of the mirror for some pictures to post on their Instagram stories.
They’re still taking photos when Frank and Leo pull up in Leo’s car. Leo lays on the horn, making them both jump. Annabeth stuffs her phone in her bra and she and Hazel bound down the steps. Annabeth yells to her dad to let him know that she’s going out, and hurries behind Hazel down the front walk.
Journey music blares from Leo’s car speakers, practically making Annabeth’s eardrums bleed before she even opens the door. She and Hazel dive into the backseat and Leo pulls away from the curb.
Leo is another member of Piper’s massive extended friend group, which unfortunately includes Jackson and his friends. Leo is one of Jackson’s closest pals, but he’s surprisingly okay. He never shuts up, which is annoying, but Annabeth doesn’t mind most of the time. His endless chatter makes for good background noise when she’s thinking, and every once in a while he says something that’s pretty funny.
Frank and Leo are in costume, too. Leo’s going as Michael Jackson and somehow sort of pulls it off, and Frank’s wearing an army green Top Gun flight suit with aviator goggles. Annabeth smiles to herself when Hazel stares at Frank’s forearms as he rolls up his sleeves. They’d be so damn cute together.
Leo drives fast and whips around curves, but there’s never a point when Annabeth questions his driving ability. He’s more comfortable behind the wheel than anywhere else she’s ever seen him.
They arrive at the party in record time. Annabeth can hear the music blasting from inside Jason’s house, the drum beat keeping time with her pounding heart. She fiddles with her seatbelt as Leo and Frank hop out of the car. Hazel steps out as well, and now it’s just Annabeth sitting still inside.
“You coming?” Leo calls to Hazel and Annabeth as he and Frank start up towards the front door.
“In a minute!” Hazel calls as she slides back into the car beside Annabeth.
Annabeth doesn’t know why she can’t calm her pulse or her rapid breathing. It’s not like it’s her first party. But it has been a while since the last one she went to, and this party will be full of people she doesn’t know that she could potentially embarrass herself in front of. The prospect’s pretty fucking intimidating.
“Are you okay?” Hazel asks, touching Annabeth’s arm.
Annabeth nods, swallowing. “I’m just…nervous.” Ugh, nerves. Life would be so much better without them.
“We can sit in here for a moment if you need to.” Hazel says.
Annabeth takes a few breaths. She wants this. She wants to go in there looking sexy and have a great time and get hammered. This anxiety she’s feeling just has to be shoved aside. Annabeth’s bigger and stronger than it.
Hazel, wonderful Hazel, patiently waits for Annabeth to reply. After a minute, Annabeth does.
“I think I’m ready to go in now.” she says softly, feeling a rush of gratitude for Hazel, a girl she only met a few days ago but already feels loved by.
Annabeth clambers out of the car, her legs still a bit shaky. Hazel loops her arm through Annabeth’s and leads her up to the front porch.
“If you need fresh air, just step outside.” Hazel says as she pushes the front door open. “And so you know, the bathroom’s upstairs, first door to the left of the landing.”
The noise from the party spills out the front door, and Annabeth grips Hazel’s arm a bit tighter.
“The Hills” by The Weeknd is playing as they step inside. People are everywhere, packed into the giant living room, lining the hallway, crowding into the kitchen. (Annabeth’s pretty sure there’s some kids doing crack in there, but she pretends she doesn’t see.)
Piper waves to them as she makes her way through the crowd, holding two red solo cups high in the air. She offers a cup to each of them.
Hazel declines, but Annabeth accepts and takes a sip. She grimaces but continues drinking it, knowing she won’t mind the taste once the alcohol kicks in. Piper downs the contents of the other cup in a few long swigs.
She leads them over to the couch, where Leo, Frank, and their other friends are already sitting. Hazel grabs some water bottles from a case on the ground and begins handing them out to Nico, (He’s wearing a black t-shirt that says This Is My Halloween Costume on it in big letters that Will probably made him wear.) Will, (Dressed as Peter Pan from the 2003 movie) and Jackson.
Annabeth frowns when she sees him. His costume is a blessing in disguise, which is equal parts clever and dorky. If anyone else wore the stupid red BLESSING shirt and that fake mustache and comically large glasses, they’d look like an idiot, but Jackson looks unfairly good, which pisses Annabeth off more than she cares to admit.
Apparently he hasn’t drunk enough to not hate her, because he frowns back before twisting the cap off his water bottle.
The party is already in full swing. A bunch of people are dancing to someone's delightfully chaotic Spotify playlist. The Stoll brothers, channeling the Weasley twins in Gryffindor robes and orange wigs, are playing beer pong in the corner, surrounded by a large group of cheering spectators.
Frank and Hazel have their heads together, talking and laughing. Leo is making out on the couch with his girlfriend, who’s dressed as a goddess in a gauzy white dress, lace-up sandals, and a gold headband. Will and Nico get up to go play Mythomagic, some geeky card game, with their friends. Annabeth can only imagine how that will go considering how drunk the whole group is.
Annabeth turns to Piper. Now that she’s mostly overcome her nerves from earlier, she’s ready to have fun.
“Do you wanna dance?” Annabeth asks Piper, practically shouting in her ear to be heard over the noise.
Piper nods and allows Annabeth to pull her to her feet.
They dance. Annabeth may be the worst dancer in existence, but her first cup of beer has hit her full force, and the second will soon kick in as well. Everyone around her is drunk and she doesn’t worry about embarrassing herself and just lets herself be free. She downs another cup, then a fourth, and then her wretched singing voice starts to accompany her dancing.
When she and Piper are drenched in sweat and completely out of breath, they flop back onto the couch that Frank and Hazel are still lounging on. Annabeth last saw Leo outside with Calypso, and Jackson playing beer pong.
Annabeth is pretty drunk, and this is the point where her memory of the night will become blurry when she looks back on it.
After hanging out with Piper, Frank, and Hazel for a bit, she wanders up to the bathroom. While she’s washing her hands (She uses a million squirts of soap and marvels at the bubbles that cover her hands and gather at the bottom of the sink.) she stares at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair is ruined, her face flushed and sweaty, her makeup smudged and smeared. She realizes that she doesn’t care, makes a giddy noise, and goes back downstairs.
Piper is drunk too, but unlike Annabeth, who suddenly has the energy of a two year old, Piper lazes around on the couch, whining about how tired she is, and how her head feels fuzzy.
These people are fucking boring, Annabeth thinks. Without an explanation to them, she gets up and starts walking towards the kitchen.
In the hallway, she bumps into Jackson. But instead of yelling at her like he probably would if they were sober, he hugs her. Annabeth hugs him back just as hard. He’s warm and his shirt smells nice.
“Annabeth!” he cries, still gripping her shoulders. His hands are warm too, Annabeth notices.
“Percy!” If her brain weren’t so muddled, she’d realize that this is the first time they’ve called each other by their first names.
They end up dancing together. It turns out that Percy also has the energy of a two year old when drunk, so they feed off of each other’s exuberancy. Annabeth isn’t sure how many songs they dance to. Her perception of time is completely whacked at this point.
Percy tugs on her elbow. “They’re playing Catchphrase!” he says, leaning down to speak directly in her ear. His breath is hot against Annabeth’s skin and she finds the sensation pleasant. It sends goosebumps running up her arms.
“I don’t think I’ll be good at it.” Annabeth says slowly.
“Eh, we’re all drunk. Nobody plays good when they’re drunk.”
Annabeth shrugs. “Sure, then, let’s play.”
Percy pumps his fists in the air. “Yes!”
Piper, Jason, Leo, and Calypso are all playing. The game is incredibly chaotic, especially since Calypso and Leo are making out more than actually participating.
Annabeth and Percy naturally team up. Even though they’re probably the two most competitive ones playing, they somehow are awful.
The funniest moment of the whole game occurs near the end. Percy squints at the disk for what feels like forever to Annabeth. The ticking seems to match Annabeth’s heartbeat as it grows faster and faster.
“What do you do when you exercise?” Percy asks at last, finally giving her some sort of clue to help her guess the phrase on the disk screen.
“Want to die?”
Jackson looks exasperated. “It’s a substance that comes from your body.”
“Oh…sweat?”
“And this is the opposite of sweet.”
“Sour?”
“No, but it’s a synonym for sour.”
Annabeth wracks her brain desperately. “Um… uh… tart?”
Percy nods enthusiastically. “Now put it together.”
“Sweat…tart?” Even to Annabeth’s drunk brain, this seems wrong.
Jason leans over to rip the disk out of Percy’s hands. Percy squawks indignantly as Jason reads it.
“It says sweat-tart!” Percy insists as the ticking clock on the disk goes off.
Jason begins to laugh as he shows the disk to the others. “Percy, it says sweet—tart, not sweat-tart.”
Annabeth roars with laughter. “You idiot! You thought it said sweat-tart!”
The others laugh too as Jason gives his team another point. Percy pouts and Annabeth gives him a side-hug.
“You’re stupid but we’re all stupid so it’s okay.” she whispers to him, making him smile.
Jason’s team wins, much to Annabeth and Percy’s dismay. To escape Jason’s gloating, they slip outside. The backyard is massive, with perfectly-tended sprawling lawns and an inground pool with a slide.
Annabeth and Percy jump off the edge of the deck, even though it’s not even a foot off the ground, and lay down in the soft grass. Jason’s rich-people grass is like a pillow beneath Annabeth’s head.
Percy rolls onto his side to face Annabeth. “We sucked at Catchphrase.” He says. “I sucked at it.”
Annabeth giggles until she starts hiccuping. How much did she drink? She’s never been this drunk in her entire life.
“I’m glad I came to this party.” Annabeth says. “It was really, really fun.”
“What the hell are you dressed up as, though?”
“Sandy from Grease.” At Percy’s puzzled look, Annabeth rolls her eyes. “Grease is a seventies movie.”
“I dressed up as a blessing in disguise.”
“I actually got that.”
Percy raises his eyebrows. “Thank you! Everybody else just seemed confused until I told them.”
“I think it’s really clever.” Annabeth says, and giggles again.
“I really didn’t mess up your burger on purpose.” Percy says, completely out of the blue. “It was just an accident in the kitchen or something. A biggg mistake.”
Annabeth continues laughing. “I know. I just hate lettuce.”
“It’s disgusting!”
“Exactly!”
Their faces are really close. He has a nice face. Annabeth likes his face. It’s really pretty. He has great eyebrows and the most adorable nose and cute little freckles that she never noticed before and oh, his teeth are really nice, and so’s his smile. His lips are nice too. Kissing him would be be fantastic.
Annabeth presses her lips to his before she can think about it. Percy makes a noise and begins to kiss her back. Drunk kissing really is the best. Annabeth feels giddy and she probably won’t even remember this in the morning. Wait, is it already the morning? She doesn’t know and she doesn’t care. Percy’s lips taste like beer, which makes sense, because that’s what he’s been drinking.
Annabeth only pulls away when she hears the back door slide open. “Annabeth, Hazel says she’s- ”
Leo stares at Annabeth’s hands tangled in Percy’s hair and Percy currently trying to kiss her neck. He looks a little surprised, but seems too drunk for it to fully register.
“Hazel’s getting ready to leave. She says you need to find her inside.” Leo pauses for a moment. “And she asked me to ask you if you have your phone.”
“Thanks, Leo!” Annabeth says, reaching down her bra to retrieve her phone. Percy looks away, which makes Annabeth giggle hysterically.
She jumps to her feet and skips across the porch. “Bye, Percy!” She cries as she flings open the door.
Hazel is waiting for her in the hallway. The house is starting to clear out. Annabeth glances at her phone. Holy shit, it’s three a.m. How is it so late? (Early?) She swears that it was just ten.
“Hiii, Hazel!” Annabeth says, giving Hazel a big hug because apparently she’s also really affectionate when she drinks. Like kissing Percy Jackson even though she hates him affectionate.
“How much did you drink?” Hazel asks as she hands Annabeth a bottle of water and begins to lead her out the front door.
“A lot.”
Hazel sighs and hooks an arm around Annabeth’s shoulder to keep her upright. Annabeth is a giggling mess. When she sees Frank puking into a potted fern, she laughs even harder.
Annabeth plops down in the backseat of Leo’s car. Leo and Frank are staying the night at Jason’s, so Hazel pulls away from the curb without waiting for them.
On the way home, Annabeth talks Hazel’s ear off. None of what she says makes any sense to her brain, so it’s probably just a string of assorted thought, but Hazel smiles and nods.
Hazel drops Annabeth off at her house. The light in her dad’s study is out, so he must be asleep. Exhausted, she throws herself onto her bed after slipping into a massive t-shirt and a clean pair of underwear, and is out like a light.
When Annabeth wakes up, she has a splitting headache and little recollection of the night before. It’s all kind of a hazy blur, and trying to remember what happened is like trying to remember a childhood vacation; a few moments stand out in vivid detail, but the rest is fuzzy.
Annabeth does remember dancing with Piper and screaming the words to Taylor Swift’s “Love Story.” She definitely did the limbo with Jason and Leo at some point, and Frank puked into a potted plant on the front porch, though she has no clue when. Jackson’s hair smelled like chlorine (Why she would remember that of all things, she has no idea.) and she keeps recalling something about a sweat-tart.
It must have been fun, the party, because Hazel says they stayed at Jason’s until three. Annabeth has the nagging feeling something important happened, but no matter how hard she tries, she can’t piece together what. Probably nothing.
Still, she does wonder what the sweat-tart thing was about.
"Luke found the squirrel I slipped into his locker today."
Annabeth twists around to adjust her pillow, keeping her phone tucked into the space between her neck and shoulder. She's on the phone with Thalia even though it's a school night. They normally FaceTime every Friday so they can stay up as late as they want talking and won't be miserable in the morning, but Thalia texted her tonight and said that she had to tell her about the squirrel.
"Yeah? How did that go?"
"It was so funny, Beth. They probably could hear him screaming in the math department." Thalia snickers. "The backseat of my car may be covered in squirrel shit, but it's worth it solely for the look of pure terror on Luke's face. I think he actually pissed himself. That damn squirrel got shit on the roof but I'll scrape it off with a smile."
Annabeth's shoulders shake a little as she tries to laugh quietly. She heard her dad's bedroom door shut a few minutes ago and she's trying to keep the volume down so he can get to sleep. "So what happened after all the screaming?"
"The principal made everybody clear the halls so he could get the janitor to lure the squirrel out of the locker and release it outside. I had to spend an extra half hour in shop class but I got a perfect view of the squirrel latching onto Mr. Roy's leg. He had to hobble all the way down the stairs to get outside!"
Annabeth snorts. "I would give anything to see that."
"Don't sweat it. I got a video."
"This is why you're my best friend." Annabeth says. "A squirrel in my ex's locker and my least favorite principal harassed by said squirrel. I only wish you did it while I was still at school."
"Obviously I couldn't do it right after the breakup. Luke would be expecting it. And besides, finding and transporting a squirrel takes time."
"How exactly did you get that squirrel into school?"
"I kept it in the empty dumpster behind the gym during the morning, then snuck it into his locker while everyone was at lunch. It turns out that all those times I walked with you to his locker were good for something, because I knew his lock code."
"You memorized his lock code?"
"Just in case anything was to happen."
Annabeth laughs.
"So, how are things going with Percy Jackson?"
Annabeth stops laughing. "Thalia, the other day he swapped the filling in my oreos for toothpaste and cackled as I ate them."
"You have to admit, that's prank gold."
"Please, a five year old could come up with something better than that." Annabeth says. "Besides, I got him back by putting pictures of him photoshopped over the Megamind 'no bitches?' meme all over the school. I even hung one in the girls bathroom."
"Annabeth, that probably cost you, like, fifty bucks to make copies and pay someone to photoshop the pictures."
Annabeth smiles to herself. "Actually, I made the copies with my dad's work printer and photoshopped the picture myself using my knowledge from that class I took freshman year."
"Impressive." Thalia says. "A lot of time and effort for a silly boy."
"The same thing could be said about you."
"That was revenge, Beth. You're just allowing a prank war to escalate."
Annabeth huffs. "Don't tell me I'm being petty. My friend Piper already seems to think I am."
"Well, she's right."
"I hate you."
"I just think you're taking this a little far. Though I would appreciate it if you sent me a copy of the Megamind-Percy picture."
"Of course I'll send you one."
They're both silent for a few minutes, the only sounds being Thalia's sheets rustling and Annabeth's bed's box spring squeaking as she shifts positions. Then Thalia says, "Do you want my advice on the Percy situation?"
"Not really, but I have a feeling you'll put your two cents in anyway."
"In my personal opinion, you and Percy just need to get your shit together, realize you have mad sexual tension, and fuck."
Believe it or not, Annabeth was not expecting Thalia to say this. "What? Jackson and I do not have sexual tension!"
"Defensive much? And come on, you can't say that you aren't at least a little attracted to him."
"Just because I find him…slightly attractive doesn't mean we have sexual tension!"
"Oh, Annabeth. You silly, naive fool."
Annabeth frowns. "You don't know what you're talking about. Nothing's going to happen between Percy and I."
"We'll see." Thalia yawns loudly on the other end. "I'm gonna go to sleep. You do realize that it's three a.m., right?"
"Hey, you're the one who texted at one a.m." Annabeth says, smiling. "Night, Thalia."
"Night, Beth."
Annabeth hangs up, empty and whole at the same time.
The crisp October air has been replaced by a November chill. Annabeth's breath clouds in front of her as she walks to school in the mornings now, her freezing hands buried in her pockets. Others may appreciate this time of year, but Annabeth fucking hates it.
Today is especially cold, so her whole body feels like ice. For once, she's happy to walk into school. The rush of heated air when she steps through the doors warms her to her toes.
The morning is uneventful, but the bio class is loud with chatter when she walks in, so she knows something's up. Sure enough, written in green marker on the big dry erase board is FIELD TRIP, NOV 12.
Miss Garcia formally announces the field trip at the start of class. "Since you all have been working so hard, the science department decided to reward you all with a field trip to the aquarium!"
Annabeth's a little underwhelmed. She was hoping they'd go somewhere interesting, maybe a museum, or (and she knew this was a long shot to start) fun, like an amusement park. This honestly is disappointing.
Everyone else seems to share the sentiment, except for Jackson, who looks like he's about to piss himself from excitement.
Weird.
Despite her lack of enthusiasm, Annabeth still has her dad sign the permission slip. (The fact that she's seventeen and still has to get parent permission honestly makes her feel like a little child and she hates it.) Miss Garcia looks harried and busy when Annabeth arrives to class on the day of the excursion.
"We're going to get on the bus in fifteen minutes, so use the bathroom before we go!" Miss Garcia cries as she throws things into an open backpack on her desk.
Annabeth slides into her seat and pulls her phone out of her pocket. She's got several episodes of Saved By The Bell downloaded and a Hunger Games fanfic queued up on AO3, so she's good to go.
"Chase."
She doesn't look up from the screen. His voice makes her soul turn ink-black. "Jackson."
"How's it going?"
They haven't talked much, except to swap insults or fling curse words at each other. Unfortunately, they kind of have the same friend group, so they're forced to hang out more often than she'd prefer to. (Which is never.)
"I'm fine." Annabeth says.
Miss Garcia is still talking. "...so I'm going to assign your field trip partners. We shouldn't have to do this, but after the marijuana debacle last year, the district's making us."
Annabeth exchanges a look with Jackson, who stifles a laugh. "Assigned partners?" he whispers to her. "Are we five?"
Annabeth grins. "You gotta follow the buddy rule at any age."
As long as Jackson isn't her field trip buddy, she'll be fine with anyone.
"…Caroline and David, Annabeth and Percy…"
Jackson cusses under his breath. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."
Annabeth punches Jackson's shoulder. His misery almost makes this whole thing worth it. Almost. Nothing could make having to suffer through his presence for a whole day acceptable. "Looks like it's you and me, field trip buddy."
She knows better than to ask for a new partner. Miss Garcia's clearly flustered and Annabeth doesn't want to bother her. When Miss Garcia gets mad, it's pretty terrifying.
Before long, they're boarding the field trip bus. The driver looks stoned. Annabeth mutters a little prayer to the gods that she'll end up at the aquarium in one piece. Considering she's stuck sitting next to Jackson on account of the field-trip buddy thing, the odds are unlikely.
Annabeth puts her earbuds in and turns her phone's brightness down, tilting the screen in an attempt to shield it from view. It's practically guaranteed that Jackson will tease her ruthlessly if he discovers her love for Saved By the Bell.
She selects an episode from season 3 and leans her head against the cold window glass. Jackson slides in next to her, staying as far away from her as possible, to the point where his ass is hanging halfway out of the seat.
"I won't bite, you know." Annabeth whispers to Jackson, who's gripping onto the seat back in front of them to ensure he doesn't crash into her as the bus makes a sharp turn.
"You could have gonorrhea or some shit like that."
Annabeth raises her eyebrows, pausing her show. "Gonorrhea can only be spread by having sex, Jackson."
"You get my point."
"No, really, I don't. Is this some way of saying you want to fuck? Right here of all places?"
"I wouldn't have sex with you for a million dollars. I wouldn't have sex with you if my best friend's life was on the line. If my own life was on the line."
"Glad the feeling's mutual."
She presses play on her show again and tries to focus on the storyline. (She's watching episode 9, Fake IDs, which is normally one of her favorites, but it's ridiculously hard to follow right now because Jackson's right beside her and he smells dizzyingly good.)
"What are you doing?" Jackson asks, leaning over to glance at her phone.
Annabeth blocks it with her arm. "None of your business."
A teasing glint appears in his eye. "Watching porn? Airdropping sexy pics?"
"Of course not. I only watch porn and send photos of my tits at home."
"My mistake." Jackson says.
"And for your information, I'm watching a TV show."
"Can I watch, too?"
Annabeth shoves him away. Despite his insistence that he wants to stay away from her, he's slid nearer and nearer so she can practically feel his breath on her shoulder.
Jackson mutters something unintelligible under his breath, and turns around to talk to some guy Annabeth doesn't know.
Annabeth turns the volume up and settles back, propping her knees up on the seat in front of her and resting her phone on her lap. She's able to finish the whole episode and start episode 10 before Jackson interrupts again.
"Ah-ha."
She looks up. Jackson's face is unnecessarily close to hers. His eyes are wide.
"Is that Saved By The Bell?"
"Yeah."
"I love that show. I used to watch the reruns on TV all the time. There was some free channel we had that played episodes every night."
Who would've thought? "Really?" she asks, sitting up straight.
"Yep. So can I have an earbud?"
Annabeth makes the mistake of staring at his face. He's making this sad little pouty expression with his eyes that should be outlawed. "Fine."
She passes him an earbud and resumes the episode.
Within five minutes, Annabeth learns that Jackson chuckles, without fail, every time the laugh track plays under a slightly funny gag. It's a little annoying but she doesn't mind it too much.
They arrive at the aquarium just as the episode is ending. Annabeth stands to disembark, desperate to stretch her legs after being scrunched up in the bus seat for so long. That's one of the downsides to being tall.
Jackson gets up as well, but takes his good old time getting off the bus, letting everyone out before him, even the kids in the seats behind him. Annabeth taps her foot impatiently. Jackson is doing this on purpose to irritate her, and it's working.
Finally, Annabeth practically pushes him into the aisle and corrals him down the stairs. Jackson's laughing like a lunatic and Annabeth wants to punch him in the face.
The class gathers on the outside steps so Miss Garcia can relay their instructions. Miss Garcia brought her fiancé to help "chaperone" the field trip, but Annabeth has a suspicion that they'll find a dark corner of the aquarium to hole up in instead of supervising. Actually, she has a feeling a lot of her fellow field-trip-goers have the same idea.
As for Annabeth, she still has that AO3 fanfic to read, so she's hoping she'll be able to find a quiet place to sit and finish it. But of course, Jackson has other plans.
"We've got to see the sharks, Chase! They have great whites here!"
Reluctantly, Annabeth allows Jackson to drag her around the aquarium to various exhibits he just has to see. Facts spew from his mouth like molten ash out of a volcano. His eyes are shining and he looks so excited that it's almost endearing.
Wait, that's disgusting. She does not find him endearing.
Still, she finds some of his marine life trivia interesting ("Did you know that the ocean sunfish makes more eggs than any other species of fish?"
"No."
"Well, a single female can produce up to 300 million eggs at a single spawning. Isn't that crazy?"
"Actually, kind of.") and she's almost disappointed when it's time to eat lunch in the aquarium's cafeteria.
Jackson even gives her one of the cookies he brought. (It's blue, for whatever reason, but a cookie's a cookie, so she eats it and hopes he didn't poison it)
On the bus ride back to school, they split Annabeth's earbuds again.
"This doesn't mean I like you." Annabeth says as she turns on the next episode. "I just appreciate a kindred soul."
"Oh, you love me, Annabeth Chase."
"I do not."
(She doesn't love him, not yet, but she's starting to think she could.)
Annabeth isn't sure how she ended up here, sitting on the cold metal bleachers in the loud stadium, swaddled in two sweaters and fleece jacket but still shivering.
For whatever reason, football games are a big deal at this school. Goode High's football team is absolute shit, but the games are a prime-time for socializing. The bleachers are packed on both sides of the field, and below the bleachers, there's several couples locked in passionate embraces. Piper somehow convinced Annabeth to come tonight with her and Hazel, so here she is, freezing down to her fingertips because forgot gloves.
Piper's on her feet, cheering for Jason, who apparently plays football as well as doing track. Jason's a running back, and seems to do okay at it. Annabeth isn't sure though, because her knowledge of football extends as far as her uncle's borderline incoherent screaming at the TV during Giants games.
Hazel's sipping hot chocolate from a thermos, a pleasant expression on her face. Like Annabeth and Piper, there's orange and purple stars on her cheeks, done by one of the cheerleaders when they arrived for the pre-game tailgate.
"How much longer is the game?" Annabeth asks Hazel, rubbing her hands together.
"It's almost halftime." Hazel says. She offers her thermos to Annabeth. "Cocoa?"
"Please." Annabeth says, gratefully accepting it from her and taking a large sip of the rich drink. Hazel makes her hot chocolate homemade, so it's a thousand times better than the watery shit from a packet.
After drinking her fill, Annabeth passes the thermos back to Hazel, her fingers already missing the warmth.
"We're here!"
It's Leo, stomping towards them. He's wearing a grass-stained jersey that hangs off his scrawny frame and his whole face is coated in paint, one half purple, the other half orange. The look is a bit unsettling.
Trailing after Leo is Will and, of course, Jackson.
Jackson's wearing a Goode High swim team hoodie and, thankfully, a normal amount of face paint. His hair sort of flops over his forehead, and his cheeks are flushed pink from the weather.
"Finally!" Piper cries, giving Leo a hug. "What took you guys so long?"
Jackson and Leo exchange a look. "It's a long story."
"Well, sit down." Piper says, patting the bench beside her.
Leo flops down beside Piper. Will claims the spot in between Piper and Hazel, leaving Jackson to take the only available place next to Annabeth.
"Hey, Chase. How are you doin'?" He's got gloves on, Annabeth notices, jealousy curling in her stomach.
"Cold." she mutters back. She blows on her hands in an attempt to bring some heat back into them.
"Yeah, it is like thirty degrees out here. Why didn't you bring a scarf or mittens?"
"I don't know! I didn't think the stadium was outside!"
"Haven't you ever been to a football game before?"
"No? You could tell me the players have to sing Lady Gaga karaoke every time the other team scores and I'd believe you."
Jackson chuckles. "Well, stadiums aren't indoors, Chase. I guess you've learned that the hard way."
"My football knowledge is nonexistent. I don't know how Hazel and Piper convinced me to come."
"I can teach you the basics. If you want. So you'll understand what's going on." Jackson's biting his lip, and it's weirdly adorable.
Annabeth shrugs. "I think I might be a bit of a hopeless case, but you can try."
He grins, looking far too excited about. "Okay, so there's eleven players from each team on the field at a time. But there's offensive players and defensive players that play depending on whether their team is on offense or defense."
"So there's twenty-two players in total."
"Technically. But there's forty-five to fifty players on a team."
"Oh, okay."
"So anyway, when Goode is on offense—which basically means we have the ball—we have four chances to get the ball ten yards towards the end zone. The chances are called downs, and you really only have three of them, because on the fourth, you almost always punt the ball instead of going for a first down."
Annabeth scratches her head and sighs. Her breath comes out an icy cloud. "Ummm, so why don't they go for a first down on the fourth down?"
"Unless they're really close to making a first down, they punt the ball so the other team is forced to start farther up the field than they would've been."
"That makes sense." Annabeth says. "Go on." It doesn't really make sense. She still has no clue what the hell a first down is or why there's so many players, but it's kind of hot when Jackson talks about it.
"Let's move onto scoring. You get six points for a touchdown, three for a field goal, and one for an extra point, which is a field goal you can attempt after scoring a touchdown. You can also try for a two-point conversion instead of an extra point. Two-point converts happen when there's a pass or running play into the endzone right after the touchdown."
Annabeth nods, making a humming noise. "I think I get it a little better."
"Now you'll actually understand what's going on when you watch the game." Jackson says, then leaps to his feet. "GO JASON! GO!"
Everyone else jumps up and starts clapping, so Annabeth joins them. Apparently Jason's about to score a touchdown.
"LET'S GO!" Jackson yells, pumping his fist.
The crowd erupts with a thunderous roar of cheering and applause as Jason leaps into the end zone. Jackson looks like a proud parent. It's really funny.
After this moment of excitement, the game turns boring again. The bitter air seeps through Annabeth's chilled skin into her bones. Her nose is an ice cube. Her hands are so, so, so cold. She rubs them again.
"Here."
Jackson's holding out his gloves to her. "Here," he repeats. "Take them. I have pockets."
Annabeth shakes her head. "No, they're yours."
He presses them into her hands."You're literally gonna get frostbite."
She opens her mouth to protest, but Jackson slips her fingers into the gloves. The insides are warm from his body heat. He pulls the gloves, which are a bit too big, up over her wrists. Then, as if he's been scalded, he moves his hands away.
The whole thing makes Annabeth's heart race. There's something strangely intimate about him giving her his gloves.
"Thank you." Annabeth murmurs.
"WHAT THE FUCK! FLAG, FLAG!"
Piper's standing on the bleachers, waving her fist in the air like a cantankerous old man. "'Not unnecessary roughness' my ass. That linebacker could've killed him!"
The moment is over. Annabeth tries to focus her attention on the game, but she's so uninterested it's actually painful. Since Piper drove her, she doesn't have a ride home, so she's stuck here, tortured by daydreams of an evening otherwise spent rewatching Drive Me Crazy and painting her nails.
"Do you want to leave?" Jackson whispers in her ear. His breath on her skin makes goosebumps prickle all over her back.
"I wouldn't want you to miss the game." she says. "And I wouldn't trust you behind the wheel in a million years."
"I happen to be a great driver, thank you very much."
Annabeth considers this offer. She's itching to leave, and here Jackson is, asking her if she wants to do just that. How can she turn it down?
"Fine." she says, standing up. "But your car better have heating."
They say goodbye to their friends, who are so engrossed in their conversation about types of honey they hardly even register that she's going home.
It's a long, silent walk to Jackson's car. The car's, predictably, a piece of shit, but it has all four doors and tires, and, blessedly, heat. Annabeth sinks into the passenger seat and turns the vents on her. She sighs as she's hit with the hot air.
She's never attending a football game again, at least, never one when it's thirty fucking degrees outside.
Jackson fiddles with the radio as the car warms up, changing stations before finally plugging his phone into the AUX. He adjusts the sound until the New Order album he selected plays at a comfortable volume, then backs the car out of the space. Annabeth's strangely pleased to see that he does that guy thing where he puts his arm around the back of her seat.
Neither of them talks for a long time, until Annabeth clears the throat. "So. Jackson."
"You can call me Percy. We're…well, I don't know what the fuck we are, but we don't hate each other anymore."
"I will miss the prank war." Annabeth says, injecting false fondness into her tone. "It'll be strange to not be afraid to open my locker for fear of finding half-rotten cheese left inside it."
"That was one time!" Jackson—Percy—says. He wrings the steering wheel under his hands as he comes to a stop at the red light.
"I had to keep a Febreze air freshener in there for weeks."
"The whole thing wasn't even worth it. I had to bribe one of the office aides for your locker combination by doing her biology homework for the next month."
"Ouch." Annabeth smirks.
"So now that our enemies-thing is on pause, what are we?"
Annabeth has been asking herself the same thing. They're no longer enemies, more than acquaintances, but less than friends. And certainly they're nothing more than friends. God. Imagine that.
"I don't know what we are." Annabeth says at last. "But whatever we are, I'm glad. For how annoying you can be I…I like spending time with you."
"You know, that sounds a lot like being friends."
"We are not friends, Jacks—Percy."
"Wouldn't it be funny if we were, though?"
Her and Percy as friends. What a concept.
"Hilarious."
He turns on Main Street. Annabeth will never not find the uncreative street names in this town amusing.
"Where do you live?"
"On Elm and Fifth."
"Mmm."
Ja–Percy hums along to the song currently on. He really does have a thing for 80's music, evidently. This current song is filled with all the sounds of the decade: gated reverb, synths, and electric guitar which punches through a catchy chorus.
"This song is good." Annabeth says, tapping her finger on the door to match the drumbeats. "You normally listen to music like this?"
"Yeah. My dad's the one who got me into all the eighties stuff. He gave me his CD collection when I was a little kid and I got hooked."
"That's cool. Are you and your dad close?"
Percy snorts. "He left my mom and I years and years ago. I barely even remember him. I was like, seven, when he went."
"Oh, that sucks."
Jackson clears his throat. "So what about your family?"
Annabeth shrugs. "My parents just got divorced a few months ago. We used to live in the city, and Mom and Dad are both professors. Mom still lectures in person at Columbia, but Dad's doing virtual lessons now."
She doesn't want to get into her complicated relationship with her mother or her present-but-absent father. Not with Percy of all people.
"Do you have siblings?"
"No. Just me." Annabeth answers. "You?"
"I have a half-sister, Estelle. She turns one in March."
"Aw, so you're a big brother."
"Estelle's the greatest. I would do anything for her."
Annabeth smiles to herself. They're pulling onto her street now. "Mine is this house on the right."
"Alright." he says, parallel-parking on the street in front of her house.
Annabeth prepares to get out, her fingers wrapped around the car door handle. "Thank you." she whispers.
"Yep."
The Christmas lights on the house next door turn Percy's face green and red. His eyes almost seem to sparkle in the glow. Annabeth's pulse leaps.
She should see a doctor. She's probably about to experience a stroke.
Percy hasn't blinked, and neither has she. He's so pretty, and now he's licking his lips, and all she'd have to do is lean over a little to bridge the distance between them–
Are they having a moment?
They can't. Not today. Nope.
She coughs loudly. "Well, bye."
Percy startles, bashing his cheek against the window. While he's cursing and rubbing his face, Annabeth opens the car door and steps into the frigid night air.
"Bye!" Percy says, raising his free hand in a wave.
She won't look back. That was not a moment. Her heart doesn't feel like it's about to burst out of her chest. No, no, no.
Annabeth walks inside her house and shuts the door.
Nope.
"I'm having a Christmas party!" Piper sings, throwing her arms in the air.
They're sitting at their table at lunch. These benches are only supposed to seat six, but the nine of them are making it work.
Piper continues, still beaming. "We're going to drink hot chocolate and watch movies and we'll even do a secret santa exchange!"
This sounds like it'll be a good time. "What day, Piper?" Annabeth asks.
"I dunno. The 11th?"
Percy shrugs. "Works for me. I'm up for it."
This sends the rest of the table into an excited flurry of conversation. For the gift exchange, Piper whips out a sheet of notebook paper and rips off pieces to write everyone's names on. She tosses them in Jason's empty milk carton and slides it to Nico.
Nico pulls a paper, then passes the carton to Will. When it finally makes its way to Annabeth, there's only a few slips left. She selects one at random.
Percy.
Of course. In what world wouldn't she get the one person who's impossible to buy for?
Her excitement about Piper's Christmas party deflates. She has to choose a gift for Percy Jackson. What the hell does he even want?
Annabeth scrolls through Amazon that night as she lounges on her bed. Gifts for teen boys, she types into the search bar, before feeling like a grandma and backspacing. Funny gag gifts, she tries again.
Nothing feels right. Annabeth puts several items in the cart, but she knows she's not going to purchase them.
She kicks around the idea of calling Will or Jason to ask what she should get, but there's a high chance they'll let it slip that she's buying for Percy and ruin the surprise, so she doesn't. Instead, she opens up Ebay and selects the ten dollars and under filter.
Sifting through repackaged toys from the nineties and used lingerie, Annabeth finds a gem. It's an XXXL t-shirt with Poppy from the Trolls movie on it, and she knows Percy will hate it. This is the perfect gift.
Over the years, Annabeth's learned that there's two routes you can take when buying someone a present. One, choose an actual heartfelt gift. (and risk that person hating it) Or two, choose a gift that's ridiculous enough that the person will hate it so much they'll actually love it.
Annabeth's chosen the second option.
She buys the t-shirt, and when it arrives in the mail a few days later, she excitedly rips through the packaging. With care, she folds the shirt and wraps it in paper patterned with elves and polar bears. She writes For Percy on the tag, then, on a whim, adds an XOXO.
Why, she isn't sure. Does it matter? It's not a big deal. They're barely even friends.
Except, this really isn't true. She and Percy are growing close, alarmingly close. The next day at lunch, it's glaringly obvious.
Lunch is Annabeth's favorite time of the day now. Even if Will and Nico sometimes start making out right there at the table, even if Leo sprays everyone with crumbs when he talks with his mouth open, she loves sitting with friends.
"...I'm literally going to shit myself, I'm so nervous." Percy's panicking about his calculus midterm. God knows how this boy ended up in a calculus class to start.
"We talked through half the textbook last night on the phone for hours. You'll do fine." Annabeth says.
Unceremoniously, Percy dumps his coleslaw on her tray. He always gets coleslaw from the lunch line but hates it, so he gives it to her. She likes it, so the arrangement works beautifully.
"I'm just anxious, Annie."
"Don't call me Annie." she says without looking up from her food.
"Beth?"
"Annabeth. No nicknames."
"I took the midterm yesterday. It wasn't too bad, Perce." Piper says.
"Can't we stop talking about it? I actually think I might puke."
Annabeth rubs his shoulder. "Don't puke, that's gross." Before she even realizes she's doing it, she's massaging his back muscles.
"Mmm, that feels nice." Percy says.
"Your entire spine is in knots. That's from the stress, because muscles tense as your body's way of guarding against injury and pain. Try to relax." Her ex, Luke, wanted to go to school for physical therapy, so Annabeth knows all about stuff like this. That's one good thing that came out of dating that piece of shit.
Percy sighs. "So good."
"This foreplay is entirely unnecessary while I'm eating." Leo complains.
"This isn't foreplay." Percy says. "She's being nice. For once."
"Don't be a bitch, Percy." Annabeth mutters. "Or I'll stop."
"Sorry, Beth."
"Fuck you, I'm done."
Percy is incredulous. "What's your deal with the nicknames? Would you prefer a more affectionate one? Baby? Honey? Darling?"
"We can go back to a last-name-only basis if you'd rather." Annabeth threatens.
"Come on, love, be charitable."
She actually really likes that one.
"Call me love or honey or baby again and I'll slice your balls off."
"Can't you two just get married already?" Piper groans, Leo nodding in assent.
Annabeth crosses her arms. "Shut up."
"Yeah, lay off, Pipes." Percy says, standing up. "I'm gonna go study. Catch you all later." He and Annabeth perform the complicated handshake they made up one day when they were bored with a useless sub in bio, grinning.
"Bye, Jackson."
"That's Percy to you."
They both grin wider.
So maybe she and Percy are friends now.
It means nothing!
Piper's house is massive. That's the first thing Annabeth observes when Leo pulls into the driveway.
Piper's parents must be seriously loaded. The house—mansion—has turrets and a huge front lawn and two bay windows. Candles flicker in all of the windows, and the sparkling Christmas lights are tasteful, icy white and blue.
Stepping inside, Annabeth's suspicions are confirmed. The foyer stretches two stories, and the floors are marble. Annabeth takes her shoes off and follows Leo and Hazel deeper into the house.
Piper, Frank, Jason, and Percy are all gathered around the huge island in the kitchen. Percy's stirring a bowl of punch, while Jason and Frank toss grapes into each other's mouths as Piper watches, laughing.
"This place is beautiful, Piper." Annabeth says, giving her a hug.
Piper shrugs. "Thanks. Feel free to take whatever you want from the fridge. There's snacks in the pantry too, and wine under the sink."
Annabeth smooths her green skirt. She hadn't been sure what to wear, so she settled for a white top, white tights, and the velvet skirt. She may be a little overdressed, considering everyone else is wearing some variant of a t-shirt and pants, but she doesn't mind. It's not embarrassing like it would be in another social situation.
Once Will and Nico arrive, everyone migrates into the living room. The couches, pillows, and carpet are all white, and Annabeth's hesitant to sit down. Everything in this house feels so pristine and elegant that she's afraid she'll contaminate it just by breathing. Sighing, she perches on an armchair.
"Let's open the gifts!" Piper says, jumping up excitedly.
So, the presents are unwrapped. Piper gets a pickle from Leo, which everyone seems to think is hilarious. It's probably an inside joke she wasn't there for, but Annabeth still finds herself laughing at the absurdity of it. Jason receives a box of candy from Hazel, Will a hat from Frank, Nico a Nirvana CD from Piper. Then it's Percy's turn to open his gift.
When he sees the t-shirt, he pauses. "Who the fuck would buy this?" he asks, scanning the room. His gaze lands on Annabeth. "It was you, wasn't it?"
"I thought you liked trolls, considering they're your own species." Annabeth says innocently.
Percy puts the shirt on, laughing. "I hate this so much. Thank you."
Annabeth pulls her present from the pile. The gift's inside a bag, with tissue paper stuffed at the top of it. She tears inside eagerly, then frowns.
Lettuce. A head of fucking lettuce.
"What the fuck."
Only Percy Jackson would do this.
She holds the vegetable up so everyone can see. "Thanks, Percy."
"I love you too, Annabeth."
There's also a rubber chicken, two ketchup packets, and a voucher for a free Subway sandwich in the bag. Annabeth thought she outdid herself in the shitty gift category, but she may have been beaten by this.
"I'm floored, honestly." she says as she packs her "gifts" back into the bag. "I can't even imagine the amount of thought that must've went into picking these things out."
"You got me a fuckin' Trolls t-shirt!" Percy cries.
"I spend hours on Ebay searching for that, I'll have you know."
"I had to walk into the grocery store and face the middle-aged ladies who kept giving me tips on how to pick the perfect lettuce. Our struggles are incomparable."
"Whatever, Percy."
After all the gifts are opened, Annabeth and Hazel make hot chocolate for everyone in the kitchen while listening to Under the Mistletoe by Justin Bieber. Or, more accurately, Hazel makes hot chocolate for everyone and Annabeth sits on the counter eating handfuls of marshmallows.
She's there for moral support, okay?
They squirt dollops of whipped cream on each mug of cocoa (Annabeth does help with this) then bring the piping-hot beverages out into the living room, where the others are watching the Polar Express and making fun of the shitty animation.
Annabeth sinks down onto the couch beside Percy, sipping her drink and burning every single taste bud on her tongue because she's too impatient to wait for it to cool. Percy's arm is pressing into hers, sending sparks flying down her entire body.
When the sky darkens outside, Piper plugs in the Christmas tree lights. The white light bathes everything in a magical sort of glow and when Annabeth closes her eyes, she feels happy and fulfilled.
This is what she's craved her whole life. To belong. At her old school, she had Thalia, and though Thalia is wonderful and literally her soulmate, having one friend is so different from being in a room surrounded by them.
Even if these friends weren't exactly what she envisioned she'd find here at Goode High, Annabeth wouldn't trade them for anything.
"What's the deal with you and Percy?"
Annabeth shuts her locker. "How about hi? How are you? Good to see you?"
Piper rolls her eyes and falls into step beside Annabeth. "I can't put up with it any longer. I need to know."
"There's nothing to know."
"You're telling me you two haven't hooked up?"
"What? No!" Annabeth holds the front doors open for Piper, then steps out of the school. It's the end of the day and she just wants to go home, watch Saved By The Bell, and eat chocolate. Being confronted by Piper about Percy is not on her agenda.
Piper's skeptical. "Really?" she asks, sounding thoroughly unconvinced. "Leo says he caught you two making out at the Halloween party."
Annabeth actually laughs at this. "What's he talking about? That never happened!"
Why is this ringing a bell, though? Did they kiss? She's getting a headache thinking about it, and Piper's talking now.
"He claims it's true. Says you two were drunk off your faces."
Annabeth wrinkles her nose. "Wasn't he drunk off his face at the party? To be honest, I don't remember much from that night, but I vividly remember Leo dancing on a table shirtless."
"Look, Annabeth, I'm just asking: do you like Percy?"
"No." Annabeth says, though her cheeks are growing warm.
"Wrong answer."
Annabeth crosses the street at such a fast pace that Piper has to jog to keep up. Why can't Piper go bother someone else? Dissecting her feelings for Percy requires too much brainpower at the moment.
"I don't like him!" Annabeth calls to Piper as she steps onto the sidewalk. "Really, we're just friends. I couldn't even stand him like, a month ago. He's just nice and we're just friends and I don't want to be anything more than that."
"Annabeth, your face looks like a cherry."
"I'm jogging."
"No, I think you have a crush on him."
Annabeth flips her off. "Drop it, Piper."
"You're only pissed off because you know I'm right." Piper says, her eyes gleaming.
"You're an asshole, you know that? A fucking asshole."
She doesn't need this. She's already having a hard enough time figuring out how she feels about Percy without Piper's teasing.
"Would you believe me if I said Percy had about the same reaction when I asked him?"
Annabeth freezes. "You asked him?"
"He's obviously into you. He's always staring at your ass when you walk."
"He does not."
"For the record, I ship you two."
Annabeth won't discuss this anymore. Consider this discussion closed.
Thankfully, a distraction in the form of their lovely Hazel is walking up ahead.
Annabeth points her finger in Hazel's direction. "Oh look, there's Hazel! Why don't we say hi to Hazel?" she practically yells, grabbing Piper's arm.
Piper scoffs. "Fine. But you know the dance is coming up, right?"
"He's not going to ask me."
She wouldn't go to the dance anyway. They're calling it a Snow Ball, which is the most stupid name Annabeth's ever heard.
"I wouldn't put it past him."
Whatever. Piper's wrong, and kidding herself if she thinks Annabeth would say yes if Percy actually did ask her.
On Saturday, Annabeth and Thalia meet up at Bruce's Diner for lunch. Annabeth almost cries when she sees her best friend standing by the entrance.
"Thalia!"
She throws her arms around Thalia , who squeezes Annabeth tightly. Annabeth's crying a little and Thalia's sniffling. God, Annabeth's missed her so much.
"Why don't we go inside?" Thalia says, nodding in the direction of the building. "It's fucking cold as balls out here."
Annabeth's happy to oblige. Inside, the diner is warm and relaxed, just as always.
While Thalia's admiring a piece of abstract artwork hanging near the doors, Annabeth walks up to the hostess.
"Is Percy Jackson working today?"
"He is."
Dammit. "Okay."
The hostess shows Thalia and Annabeth to a table for two. Annabeth sits down and thumbs through the menu, cursing herself out internally. Why does Percy have to be working right now?
"They have really good burgers here." she says, instead of voicing her distress aloud.
Thalia nods. "The milkshakes look incredible."
"They have strawberry."
"You know me so well." Thalia says, smiling because a strawberry fiend. It's honestly a little scary how many of the berries she can consume in one go. She even buys strawberry vape cartridges.
"Hello, welcome to Bruce's Di–oh, hey."
Annabeth looks up. Percy. This is just great. He's only the last person she wanted to see today.
"Hi," Annabeth says as Thalia kicks her under the table, whispering who is this? as Annabeth forces a smile onto her face.
"Can I interest you in a burger without lettuce?" Percy asks, grinning back at her.
"Wait, are you Percy?" Thalia exclaims, connecting the dots.
"Yeah?"
"The Percy?"
"Uh, I think so?"
Thalia starts laughing. "Wow, you're better-looking in person than in that Megamind no-bitches meme."
"Thanks." Percy says dryly. "So can I get you guys started with drinks?"
"We'll have two strawberry milkshakes." Annabeth says, leaning over Thalia, who's staring at Percy like a starstruck little girl seeing her favorite popstar in person.
Percy jots their order down, then dashes off towards the kitchen.
"This is the guy you hate slash hated?" Thalia asks, scrunching her eyebrows.
Annabeth sighs. "Yeah, it's him. I didn't think he was working today, or I wouldn't have suggested coming here."
"I don't understand why you aren't into this guy. He's, like, really hot."
Annabeth nods slowly. "He is. He's also absolutely infuriating."
"But aren't you two friends now?"
"Sort of? It's complicated. We aren't bickering all the time anymore, so that's something."
They sit in comfortable silence for a moment. Annabeth folds and unfolds her napkin. Thalia stares out the window at a couple bickering in the parking lot.
"I miss being in school with you." Thalia says.
"I miss it too. I wish we could see each other more. Just wait until college."
"Our Facetime calls single-handedly keep me going. That and grape five-hour energy."
"Ew, grape? That's nasty, Thals."
Percy returns from the kitchen, balancing the two shakes on a silver tray. He passes them each their drink, then tosses two straws on the table.
"Thanks." Annabeth says. She peels the paper from her straw and tucks the straw into her milkshake. The first sip of strawberry perfection is chilly on her tongue.
"So, what can I get ya you eat?" Percy asks, uncapping his pen with his teeth.
Annabeth swallows. The pen-teeth-thing is hot as fuck. "A bacon cheeseburger. With no lettuce." she says, making sure to place emphasis on the most important part of her order. If Percy fucks her meal up again, she's going to have to reconsider their friendship.
"Noted." Percy says, then nods at Thalia. "And for you?"
Thalia sets down her menu. "I'll have a chicken wrap with extra tomatoes. Thanks."
"Of course."
Percy writes this down, then tucks the pad of paper into his pocket. "How are things, Annabeth?"
She shrugs. "Fine. Just out for lunch with a friend. I was hoping for a Percy-free afternoon, but alas."
Percy chuckles. His laugh is such a wonderful sound, flooding her body with warmth. "Annabeth and I are the best of friends, as you can see." Percy says to Thalia, resting an elbow on the tabletop.
"Don't you have other tables to wait on or something?" Annabeth asks.
"Nah, business is slow at the moment. The lunch rush doesn't start for another hour."
"I'm Thalia." Thalia says to Percy, filling the temporary pause. "I commend you for putting up with Annabeth. Honestly, she can be aggravating."
Annabeth turns to Thalia, affronted. "Excuse me? Aggravating? Try amazing."
"She can be a bit aggravating. Kinda mean, too." Percy says. A sly smile plays at the corners of his lips.
"I'm at least nicer than you." Annabeth retorts.
"That's just not true. For god's sake, you once told me my dick was small, and you've never even seen it."
"It's one of those things you can just sense, Percy. And I haven't forgotten the time you made fun of the gap in between my front teeth. That was personal."
"The little gap, it's actually sort of cute." Percy says, squinting at her.
"I can't say the same about your tiny penis."
"Shut up. It's not even small."
Thalia roars with laughter. "Go put in our orders, Jackson. I'm starving."
Percy salutes her and whisks off to do just this. While they wait for their food, Annabeth and Thalia chat about everything from friends (Thalia's apparently befriended a girl named Zoë in her stats class, which is great) to the new Netflix series that's popular all over social media.
Their meals are splendid, and Annabeth devours every bite of her (lettuce-free) burger. Percy swings by more times than necessary, refilling their drinks when they're barely half-empty and bringing a shitton of napkins. Annabeth's starting to wonder what all this lingering-at-their-table is about when Percy clears his throat after he comes with the check.
"You know, we should go out sometime, Annabeth." He's acting nonchalant, but his eyes dart back and forth with obvious anxiety. He's nervous.
Annabeth raises her eyebrows, though her stomach is doing somersaults. "Would it be a date?"
"It could be whatever you want it to be."
Thalia looks like she's about to shit herself from excitement. SAY YES! she mouths.
Annabeth only hesitates for a second. Her relationship with Percy has already come a long way. This seems like the clear next step. She wants to spend more time with him.
What's the worst that can happen?
"Fine." She says. "But I'm choosing the place and time."
A grin breaks out across Percy's face. It's actually breathtaking.
"Okay."
Annabeth and Thalia step through the doors outside. Once they reach the car, Thalia starts giggling. Annabeth can't help but join her. She feels stupidly happy.
And now they're jumping around and clapping their hands because she's going on a date with Percy Jackson and it's crazy and maybe she's a little crazy about him but it's going to be alright.
More than alright. Fantastic.
Annabeth has full control of the planning of her and Percy's date. She loves taking the reins and doing it herself, instead of him surprising her. This way, she knows exactly what to wear.
Her outfit for this afternoon consists of leggings, a zip-up hoodie, and a t-shirt from a mathlete tournament. Since she's decided they're going to play laser tag, these are suitable clothes to wear.
Annabeth's putting her hair in a ponytail when her phone rings. Using one hand to hold her curls in place, she swipes to accept the call with the other. It's Piper.
"Annabeth! Hazel, Jason, and I are going bowling tonight. You up for it?"
"I can't go, actually. I've got other plans." Annabeth says.
"With Percy?" Annabeth can practically see Piper wiggling her eyebrows.
"No."
Piper cackles. "You're lying. Percy already spilled all the details about your little date. That boy can't keep secrets to save his life."
"Seriously." Annabeth says, giggling. She secures her ponytail with a hair tie, then grabs some hairspray to flatten down the flyaways.
"So, are you nervous?"
"A little." This is, of course, a lie. Annabeth literally is so nervous she thinks she might implode, which would suck, because though she's nervous, she's also really excited for this date.
"Laser tag's a fun date idea." Piper goes on.
"Percy's basically a child, so it just made sense."
"He's in for a treat, playing with you. I still have flashbacks to that five-and-a-half hour game of Monopoly."
"Frank should've given up. We all knew I would be the ultimate victor."
"You were fucking terrifying, Annabeth. Frank started crying after the game finally was over. Honestly, we all wept."
"What can I say? I play to win."
"More like play to demolish the competition into a sobbing mess." Piper mutters, making Annabeth giggle again.
At the sound of Percy's car horn, Annabeth jumps. "I gotta go, Pipes. He's here."
Piper blows kisses over the phone. "Good luck! I hope you beat his ass at laser tag."
Annabeth dashes downstairs and through the front door in record time. Percy's leaning on the side of his car. He's just wearing jeans and a fleece zip-up, but he looks incredible, his hair wind-tousled and cheeks flushed from the cold.
"Hey." Annabeth says, walking up to him.
Percy opens the passenger door and allows her to enter the car. She plays around with the radio to find a Christmas music station. After a minute, "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" hums through and instantly puts Annabeth in a good mood.
"So, where are we going?" Percy asks as he fiddles with the mirrors. "All you told me was to be here at two thirty."
"I put the address in my phone GPS. You'll see when we get there." Annabeth says, resting her phone on the dash so he can follow the route.
"Sounds like a plan."
Percy starts driving. He has a little quirk of tapping the sides of the wheel that's really kind of cute. Annabeth hums along to the radio while Percy tries his best to belt out all the lyrics, muttering gibberish when he doesn't know the words.
When Percy pulls into the parking lot of the arcade, he starts grinning like a little kid. "Are we going to play laser tag?"
"Of course. What other activity could we possibly do on our first date?"
Percy rubs his hands together. "This is gonna be so fun. Prepare to have your sorry ass whupped, Annabeth Chase."
"You're sorely mistaken if you think you're winning."
When they step inside the arcade, Percy leads her towards the laser tag area. It's quieter over here than it is in the main section, though Annabeth can still clearly hear the shitty pop song blaring over the beeps and crashes of games.
"We'll play a couple rounds." Percy says, pulling a ten dollar bill out of his pocket.
The man behind the counter frowns. "We've already got a group of kids lined up to play five rounds. It's a birthday party, I think. You can join that game if you want since it's not private, or you can wait."
Percy turns to Annabeth, who shrugs. She doesn't mind playing with a bunch of kids. They're no competition.
"We'll join the kids." Percy says.
The employee leads them to the "debriefing room" where they have to watch a training video on the rules delivered by the "Gamemaster". Annabeth doesn't pay much attention, especially since Percy puts his arm around her and now her whole body feels like it's going to melt.
In the actual game room, they receive their vests. Percy helps her put hers on, then fastens his own. The aforementioned party of little kids soon come barreling in and the birthday boy, Ethan, almost immediately throws a temper tantrum when he gets a vest with blue lights instead of red lights. Unfortunately, since this isn't a team round, everyone has the same blue lights and he can't trade.
Annabeth's stomach is full of anticipatory butterflies, the same way she always felt before soccer games and ballet recitals as a little kid. The laser tag "arena" is space alien themed, so there's neon green barricades and silver saucers to hide behind. Some synth-filled background music comes on, and then the Gamemaster comes over the speakers to go over the rules again, then officially announce the start of the game.
Annabeth tries to keep track of Percy, but he's much faster on his feet than her and soon disappears. Annabeth darts behind barricades and around corners to keep out of sight of the kids, who already seem more interested in shooting each other than her. Only once does she get hit, and her vest is only deactivated for ten seconds before turning blue again.
Percy ends up finding her first, but she ducks and manages to nail him on the left shoulder.
"Shit!"
"He just swore!" one of the little kids shouts.
"I didn't!" Percy shouts back. "I said, shoot! Because I'm about to do it to you!"
Percy dashes off in the direction the kid ran off in, laughing like a lunatic. Annabeth snorts before heading in the opposite direction to pick off a few of the other children.
"FIVE MINUTES LEFT IN THE GAME." The Gamemaster announces in his robotic monotone.
Annabeth literally bumps into Percy, crashing straight into his chest when she rounds a corner. He's out of breath, chest heaving, his hair glued to his forehead from sweat.
"Those little shits," he snarls. "Tried to triple-team me. They're fucking going down."
With this new goal set, she and Percy prepare to ambush the kids. Is it cruel? Yes. Is it absolutely necessary? Of course. This is war. She's going to give these ten-year-olds hell.
Percy and Annabeth huddle behind one of the barricades, a stack of canisters labeled "space mass". They're both sweaty and gross and Annabeth's smiling so hard she thinks her skull's going to break in half.
"This is so fun." Percy says, grinning just as widely.
"I'm brilliant for coming up with this. You can admit it."
"You're brilliant all the time."
"So are you."
He runs a hand through his hair. "You look so pretty right now. Your eyes are all bright and your smile–"
She wants to kiss him so badly, it's an ache in her bones.
Another thirty seconds go by. The Gamemaster comes on again to inform them that there's three minutes remaining. The kids are nowhere in sight. Maybe she and Percy should rethink their plan.
Annabeth sits down the rest of the way and leans her back against the wall behind her. "I think the kids have lost interest in us."
"That sucks. I really want to exact my revenge on them. They scared me so bad at one point that I actually pissed a little."
He's sitting directly across from her. In this corner, they're barely a foot apart. It would be so easy to clear that distance–
"You know, Annabeth, I'm glad you moved here."
"I am too. I thought I was going to hate it, but I think it's one of the best things to ever happen to me."
Percy moves even closer to her. "For me too. And seriously, you’re so pretty."
"I mean, I'm kind of sweaty, but yeah, I look hot. And so do you.”
Somehow the space between them all but evaporates. His chest is about an inch above hers, his knees on either side of her body as he basically straddles her. Annabeth may go into cardiac arrest, because he's so damn attractive right now.
Percy lays a hand on her face and gently traces the line of her cheekbone with his fingers. His breaths are shaky and uneven. The idea that she affects him as much as he does her sends a shiver down Annabeth's spine. Every inch of her skin is already covered in fucking goosebumps, but she's pretty sure another layer's prickling on top of those.
"God, Annabeth." Percy breathes.
"I really want to kiss you right now." she breathes back.
"Well, what are you waiting for?"
"Ewwwww! They're gonna kiss!" Ethan's shriek breaks through the little bubble she and Percy were cocooned in.
Percy groans quietly. "Fuck. So close."
Ethan stands above them, hands on his hips, an utterly repulsed expression on his face. "You guys may be in love, but you still can't be all ooey-gooey. Especially when there's young children nearby."
The other little boys materialize behind Ethan, making puking sounds and yelling "Gross!" or "Yuck!" which completely ruins the moment.
Percy clambers to his feet, laughing, and starts blasting the kids with his laser rifle. Annabeth's sort of annoyed because she really wanted to kiss him, dammit, but for the most part she's amused. She totally would've reacted the same way at their age.
For the next minute and a half, until the Gamemaster declares that the game is over and Ethan racked up the most points, Annabeth chases Percy and the kids around, loud laughter escaping her lips.
After the Gamemaster's final announcement, Annabeth and Percy hang out with the kids some more. They've all taken a particular liking to Percy. Annabeth hadn't planned how many games she and Percy would play, maybe two or three, but they play the next four rounds with Ethan and his friends.
It's honestly better than any dinner date, or anything she hoped for.
With the Snow Ball rapidly approaching, Annabeth knows she should probably decide whether or not she's going to attend so she can buy a dress.
At her old school, she never went to dances like this. But this isn't her old school, and she's not the old Annabeth.
Being the hopeless romantic she is, Annabeth desperately wants to be asked. Realistically, there's a good chance she and Percy will go. They haven't exactly defined their relationship (or their feelings for each other, for that matter) but she knows they'd have a good time at the very least.
Still, as the dance creeps closer and closer and Percy hasn't asked her, she's starting to reevaluate this. Maybe he isn't as into her as she is into him. The thought is crushing and Annabeth does her best to shove it aside. Her happiness isn't dependent on whether or not a boy asks her to a stupid Snow Ball.
Today she's in the library during her free period as she so often is, chipping away at a paper for Contemporary Lit. Her outline is finally finished, so she's currently working on her opening paragraph. It's slow work, though, and her mind is about to glaze over.
"Hey, Annabeth."
Percy's leaning across the space between their tables, (She refuses to sit at the same table as him on account of how distracting he is.) holding out one of the standard graphing calculators everyone had to buy as freshmen.
Annabeth eyes the calculator. Why the hell is he trying to give it to her? It's weird, but now she's curious. She takes it from him, and peels the covering off it so she can glance at the screen.
Her heartbeat quickens.
Written on the screen is U SHOOD GO 2 DANCE W ME
Annabeth reads it several times to make sure she's seeing it right, because between her dyslexia, Percy's grammatical errors, and her own disbelief, she isn't sure. But her eyes aren't deceiving her.
A ridiculously goofy smile threatens to overtake her face. Biting her lip to keep from looking like a lovesick idiot, she types out a response.
PICK ME UP AT 7.
Piper is ecstatic when she finds out Annabeth's going to the dance with Percy. They go shopping together to select their dresses, and the whole time, Piper can't shut up about how cute she thinks Annabeth and Percy are.
"I'm so happy you two sorted your shit out and finally got together."
"We aren't exactly dating yet."
"You've kissed though, right?"
"I don't think so. Unless you count the time at the party?" Annabeth isn't even sure if they did kiss at Jason's. She asked Leo about it, and he just started laughing. And anyway, she doesn't really want that to be their first kiss. They were drunk off their asses and still disliked each other at that point.
"I bet tonight's going to be the night." Piper says. "If he doesn't make it official, you should."
"I don't want to pressure Percy if he's not ready for a relationship. I'll take any of him I can get. I just want to spend time together and hold his hand and maybe kiss and…I don't know. I go insane every time I'm near him."
"You are so adorable it's sickening."
The night of the Snow Ball, Hazel and Annabeth go to Piper's to get ready. Piper's mom has enough beauty products to stock a boutique, so they steal her stuff and her en suite. The marble sinks and gold fixtures make Annabeth feel like she's royalty.
Piper turns on her "getting ready feeling hot af" Spotify playlist and they dance to the likes of Selena Gomez and Britney Spears while doing their hair and makeup. Hazel's wearing a pale blue drop-waist gown (Frank asked her! Or, more accurately, she dropped hints until it was glaringly obvious she wanted him to ask, then basically did it herself.) while Piper's in a black off-the-shoulder minidress that's probably going to get her dress-coded. She's going stag, as she puts it.
Their friends roll up to Piper's in a stretch limousine. Annabeth's seen them before, but she's never actually rode in one, so of course she squeals and jumps around at the sight of it.
Percy and Frank ring the doorbell. Frank's all but rendered speechless by the sight of Hazel, but Percy punches Annabeth lightly on the shoulder and says, "You look incredible."
"Thanks. So do you." she says, nudging him back.
He really does. His green tie matches his eyes, and he looks unfairly good in his tux. At least he's hers for tonight.
"Isn't the limo cool?" Percy says, offering his arm to her. She takes it with a smile. She has a feeling she's going to be smiling a lot tonight. She always does when she's with Percy.
"I think I might've screamed when I saw it. I feel like a movie star."
They go arm-in-arm down the front walk, and Percy holds the door open for her so she can slide inside the backseat of the limo. Nico and Will are in there, laughing at the driver in the front seat, who's trying to subtly pick his nose.
The drive is short, and as the limo pulls up to Goode High, Annabeth really does feel like a celebrity. Surprisingly, she doesn't feel nervous at all, just jittery with excitement.
Inside the school, the gym looks nothing like an athletic hell, as it usually does. Tonight, silver and blue decorations adorn the walls, balloons litter the floor, the principal's DJ-ing, and everyone's talking and laughing. Mariah Carey harmonizes through the blocky speakers and everywhere Annabeth looks is a tuxedo or floor-length dress. She's glad she chose to wear red, because it stands out against the blues and greens.
"Student council did a pretty good job." Percy says as he and Annabeth step through the curtain of streamers over the doors. He has to lean in close so she can hear him over the noise, but she isn't complaining. He smells really nice.
"It's like a winter wonderland." she agrees.
Percy holds up his hands. "Whoa. Don't be too hasty. It's still the school gym. If you sniff deeply enough, the scent of BO is still in the air."
Annabeth snorts. "Hey, do you remember the time you tripped me in here and we had to run extra laps? I was pissed."
"If I recall correctly, it was you who tripped me."
"Whatever. What I'm trying to get at is, that feels like it was forever ago. If you told me then that we'd go to the fuckin' snow ball together, I'd laugh in your face then probably puke."
"Yeah, we really did hate each other. I don't know why. Everything I hated about you are now the things that make me like you."
She pats his cheek. "Aw, that's so sweet."
The night turns into a blur of dancing and sipping glasses of punch (Annabeth's 65 percent sure it's spiked) and Percy's laughter in her ears. She does the Cotton-Eyed Joe with Piper and Leo, the Macarena with Frank, the Electric Slide with Hazel, Will, and Nico.
Then the lights go low, and the whole night coalesces into this single moment.
Percy holds out his hand. "Shall we?"
She giggles. "We shall."
He rests a hand on her waist, while she wraps her arms around his neck. "18" by One Direction begins to play and the lights from the disco ball give everything a silver shimmer. She and Percy sway side to side, lost in each other and the night.
"Tonight's been perfect." Annabeth says, softly enough so only Percy can hear.
"It really has." Percy says.
She rests her head on his shoulder. "I really like you."
"Well, I'm crazy about you, Annabeth Chase."
She tries to frown at him, but her smile is too hard to fight. "Are you trying to one-up me? Because I'll tell you that I'm falling for you and there's simply nothing I can do to stop it."
"Not everything's a competition, Annabeth."
"Says the boy who tripped a ten year old for a game of fuckin' laser tag."
"Hey, didn't you kick me in the balls during that same game? You're one to talk."
They both start laughing right there on the dance floor, and Annabeth's sure that she'll remember this forever.
After the final song is played, nobody's ready to go home yet, so they go to Bruce's Diner. The place isn't too crowded considering the late hour. Annabeth's sure they all look strange in their formal wear, but it's fun to eat greasy french fries and sip milkshakes wearing a gown and high heels.
They're all packed into the big booth at the back of the restaurant. It's a tight fit, and Annabeth's practically sitting in Percy's lap, but she doesn't mind at all. There's no place she'd rather be but here.
Giddy conversation flows, and Annabeth sits back, not contributing much, just listening, much like how it was during that first lunch with Piper, Will, and Frank. Percy's absently stroking her arm, tracing patterns on her skin, and Annabeth's just so happy to be close to him.
Piper taps her spoon on the side of her milkshake glass. "I'd like to propose a toast."
Percy raises his own milkshake. Annabeth instantly misses his fingertips on her skin.
"I'll go first." he says. "Here's to eating diner food at ten p.m."
"Here's to love." Will says, looking at Nico.
"Here's to friends." Hazel adds, holding up her Coke.
Now Annabeth has to chime in. "Here's to us."
Everyone groans because this is stupidly cheesy, but just the same they all cry "Cheers!" and clink their glasses together in the air.
As much as Annabeth never wants this night to end, she finds it coming to a close all too soon. Percy offers to walk her home, since neither of them have a car, and they hold hands. She's absolutely freezing and wants to ask Percy for his jacket, but then he'll be cold, and she doesn't want that.
They don't talk much, but their silence isn't awkward in the slightest. His hand is somehow warm despite the temperature, and his presence is enough to make her lightheaded.
When they arrive at her house, they stand there on the sidewalk, not wanting to part ways.
"Percy—"
"Annabeth—"
They both start laughing.
"You go first." Percy says.
Annabeth takes a deep breath. "I wanted to ask you to be my boyfriend."
"I thought we were already dating?"
She begins to laugh again. "I wasn't sure! I like things to be official!"
Percy grins. "This is a wonderful segway into what I wanted to ask you, which is if I can kiss you."
"Please, go right ahead."
So he cups her face in his hands and crashes his lips into hers. Somewhere in the distance, fireworks go off, or maybe the boom in her heart is because of Percy. How long has she wanted to do this?
Probably since the day she met him.
They kiss until they're both breathless, then break apart. Percy's face and ears are bright pink and Annabeth's sure she's flushed too.
"I can't wait to do that again." Percy whispers.
"You don't have to." she says, leaning in to kiss him one more time.
They're both grinning like fools. Percy messes his hair, looks down at his feet, while Annabeth's squealing internally.
"Well, goodnight, Annabeth." Percy says at last.
"Goodnight, Percy."
She starts to walk towards the door, then looks over her shoulder at him. He waves, and she smiles once more, before stepping inside her house.
After she's changed out of her dress and into her pajamas, after she's brushed her teeth and washed her makeup off, Annabeth's struck by a thought.
Being the new girl isn't so bad after all.