I'll be here forever

chapter 11

The first thing I noticed when walking into the restaurant was the monsters.

They crowded into the play area, sat talking at tables loudly, people eating around them, not paying them any mind. Occasionally a server would scold a table for being too loud, and the table full of cyclops would nod, waiting until the server walked away, only for them to go right back to yelling.

"Act like you don't see them," Percy muttered under his breath. I hadn't realized how near he'd gotten to me; he'd moved closer protectively. And still he plastered a smile on his face, hand on my lower back, leading us to the line to get ready to order.

I followed in suit, casually hiding my sheathed dagger under my sweatshirt.

I glanced up at the menu, getting ready to order the first thing that I'd seen. I paid no mind to the telkhines that took a huge handful of mints out of the free mint basket right next to us. They snickered and walked away, not even glancing our way.

Finally it was our turn, and we stepped up to the register, Percy pulling out the bag of cash from the backpack.

The waitress was gorgeous, with eyeliner to rival the sharpness of my dagger, and long rose-gold dyed hair pulled up into an elegant messy bun. She looked up, and her eyes were a thousand different colors; they didn't seem to want to settle on a single one.

"Oh! Hello. What can I get for you today?" she smiled sweetly at Percy, and he looked to me. I startled a little bit, still on edge from the harpies that were squawking at the table nearest to us.

"Um... can I please have the 12 piece chicken nugget meal, with a large lemonade?" I laughed nervously.

"And I'll have the same, but with a... Diet Coke instead, please," he ordered, and the waitress put his order into a little register machine.

"Is there anything else I can get for you today?" she asked, almost flirtatiously. It went right over Percy's head.

"Uh, nope. Thank you."

"Well there's something you can get me," she smiled, and I felt my throat constrict. She really was pretty.

"What's that?" Percy was so oblivious, it was almost funny.

"Could you maybe give me your number? I'd love to take you out sometime," she purred. I bit the inside of my cheek anxiously.

But without missing a beat, Percy said, "Sorry, I'm here with my girlfriend."

Percy reached over and grabbed my hand , and I found myself looking at him in shock. Her gaze shifted over to me, and she looked me up and down distastefully.

"Oh. You could do much better than that," she pulled her lips back in disgust.

"Better how? With you?" Percy snorted. She blinked in surprise.

"Can we just pay for our food, please?" I smiled warmly, pulling out a twenty from the bag of cash that we found in the backpack, handing it to her. She gave me a glare that could've rivalled an empousa's before giving us our plastic restaurant number.

"Have a nice day," she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"Thank you, you too!" I smiled and waved as Percy and I walked away with our plastic number, still hand in hand.

We sat at at an empty booth, and Percy let go of my hand. I'd never tell him, but I missed it.

"Girlfriend?" I asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow.

"Shut up," Percy grumbled, his face turning red.

I laughed at him, and he buried his head in his arms on the table in embarrassment. I was secretly relieved, though.

"She's probably going to spit in our food, you know," I chuckled, and Percy lifted his head back up, his face still red.

"I don't care. I'm hungry," he grumbled.

I rolled my eyes and peered over the side of the booth, trying to pretend like I didn't care about what had just happened. In reality, I cared very much. Percy had just turned down the prettiest girl I'd ever seen... for me? It didn't make any sense. He could've ditched me then, but he didn't. I didn't know why. And him just effortlessly grabbing my hand? We might as well have been actually been together. The thought made my heart race.

"Uh, Daisy?" Percy asked, and I turned back around. He was sitting back up, leaning over the table, and for some reason, it was one of the most attractive things I'd ever seen. I pretended it wasn't, though.

"Seriously, do not look, but the table of one-eyed dudes are eyeing us," he said in a low voice. I leaned over the table as well, bringing my face a bit closer to his and then my eyes quickly darting to the side to catch a glimpse of them.

Sure enough, the table that had gotten scolded for being too loud earlier was not-so-subtly eyeing us, like we were the dinner, and not the chicken in the kitchen.

I turned back to Percy, only for him to pull back a bit, his face flushed. I just then realized how close our face had been, and I felt my cheeks burn as well.

I cleared my throat.

"What are we going to do about it?" I asked him, chewing on my lower lip. I was a bit worried about the cyclops, but I was more worried about them attacking us before we got our food.

"Nothing, for now. Wait for them to make the first move. There's too many other monsters in here, we might be overwhelmed. Just pretend they aren't there," he said quietly. I think he really wanted the food too. Chicken and lemonade sounded so much better than blueberries and trail mix.

Finally, I spotted our food coming out, thankfully from a different waiter than the one that took our order. He carried our food to our table and set it down, taking our plastic number and wishing us a good day. I smiled and wished him the same, before Percy and I stared at the bags in front of us.

"Let's take it to go," I said, and Percy nodded in agreement.