Percabeth's Selection

39: Misunderstandings

⚠️Warning: Alcohol and drug abuse.

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"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. It is dreadful what little things lead people to misunderstand each other."

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The days passed by quicker than she realised, and before she knew, an entire week had gone by. It was already Friday morning before the reality of her situation hit in.

Annabeth got nervous every time she thought about the movie date with Percy. She had made it awkward enough for them, thinking that she'll probably never see him again, but now that she was here again, her feelings went haywire. Please, she always knew she liked Percy to some extent, maybe had a crush on him. But, going on an actual date?

Wait. Is it a date??

Of course, it is!

Then how am I supposed to behave? What do I do???

She felt weird entering the palace without an ID. She felt weird that they didn't check her and scan her belongings like usual. It was the same sizeable alien place, but suddenly, it felt like she was being welcomed and not forcing her way in.

Green cards mean they're allowed in on certain safehouses and routes that are otherwise only accessible to the top-ranking guards. Percy had convinced his parents to let some of his friends become green cardholders. However, he can only issue one green card per year. He had used the last one on Grover's request and this one for Annabeth.

Unusually, the entrance to the palace was buzzing with activity. Before she could ask anybody about the situation, she saw Percy coming out of the entrance in a designer tuxedo. She felt out of place. She was only wearing skinny jeans and a crop top.

Should I have dressed better than this?

It is not like I can afford it, her mind reminded her.

Percy saw her immediately, and his eyes widened like he'd just realised something. He murmured something to his guard (i.e. Jason) before giving her a hand signal to come to stand next to him. Annabeth was involuntarily blushing, and her mind wouldn't stop noticing weird, useless things like-

That black shirt and the green pattern overcoat. How does he have such good taste-

Since when am I attracted to tuxedos-

He smells so good-

So much so that she zoned out part of what he was saying.

"Annabeth? Hello?"

"Yeah. Yeah." She had butterflies in her stomach.

Jason gave her a teasing smile.

Oh shit, the guard knows I missed all of that.

Percy continued. "So yeah, it had to be like this. I swear I didn't know about this until the day before yesterday, and I've just been busy-"

Jason stopped him. "VIP 2 is here."

Percy looked annoyed at him. He turned around to her to say, "I'm sorry, Annabeth."

He soon changed his expression when none other than Princess Elayne came out of the hallway. She was wearing a long green dress, the colour matching Percy's. Her hair was all straightened, and she gave a fierce look as she walked out of the entrance. To Annabeth's surprise, Percy went forward without a word and linked her arms around his. Eddie, the other guard, spoke with them. Few royal escort cars arrived, and Percy, Elayne and about a dozen guards got in and left in a hurry.