Aphrodite's Promise

We are selected to pick strawberries

Annabeth

I woke up to the sound of a creaking, wooden floor. I felt an annoying feeling was down my face, just like Percy's prank on the last day of school. I was ready to jump out of bed and kick the living spirit out of the person that woke me up. As you might have noticed, I'm not exactly the morning person. My face was covered by a grey blanket. I pulled my blanket down just a little, just enough to spot what was going on in the guest room. And I couldn't believe my eyes. I felt the urge to kill whatever was in my room fading away. Walking from the guest room to what I think was the kitchen was a stupid, handsome guy. He was carrying food on a wooden tray, constantly forgetting different types of food. I smirked. He had forgotten to wear a shirt, so I was switching, staring at his beautiful sea green eyes, then at his messy raven black hair, then at his six pack. He was tip toeing, stepping on the available spaces on my messy floor. I felt a warm feeling and was tempted to just get up from my bed and kiss his salty lips for trying to serve me breakfast in bed.

I was apparently wearing my PJs, because I noticed that my shoulders were covered, unlike when I was wearing my grey jumpsuit yesterday. Percy always did this. He knew how much I liked sleeping in my pajamas, so he would always forget it at first, then wake up, walk over to my room, help me remove my earlier clothes, before I put on my PJs. I smiled at the thought of that. Percy, however, was still wearing his blue cargo pants. It did look weird, half-naked, sleeping in cargo pants, but it did, nevertheless, look stupidly attractive. I burst out of my thoughts when I heard the creaking of the wooden floor slowly approaching me. I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep.

"Annabeth. Annabeth. Annabeth," I heard him whisper into my ear. I felt it tingle in my stomach. He was pushing my right shoulder, gently. I opened up my eyes and was staring straight into the sea. I could see calm and happy waves slashing against a beach, covered in grey sand. I saw a glint of mischievousness.

"Good morning," I said. I raised my head closing the gap between us. He noticed my wish and granted it. I felt a salty taste against my lips. It was a slow and short kiss. When we pulled back, he was grinning at me like a madman.

"Close your eyes and open your mouth."

I obliged and felt a sweet taste wash my mouth. I could taste the blue food coloring and the pancake batter covered in syrup. I smiled.

"Mom made them. I served them." I could tell he was impressed of himself. "You like it?" I remembered last night. All the incredible things Percy and I had done. First the incredible pizza in the restaurant by the sea, then the matching tattoos, then my painting of me and him. I was closer than ever to him, and I loved it.

"I love it," I answered, not only meaning the pancakes.

"The rest is ready for you, but you should probably get ready. Argus will be here by two hours, and we haven't even packed yet." I could tell he was nervous, probably because I hated when he told me what to do. To be honest, he was one of the very few that actually could tell me what to do, and still be able to walk the next day.

I kissed him on the lips and grinned evilly.

"You haven't packed, Seaweed Brain. I finished packing three days ago."

"Of course, you did."

I reached out with my right arm and he shook it. Our tattoos met. I almost looked like my tattoo, the trident was stabbing his tattoo, an owl, but I ignored it. He dragged my weight and I shot up, almost flying up from the bed. I was suddenly standing by the bed. He smiled at me and I felt a warm feeling snake its way through all of my veins in my body.

"You better hurry up; you know what blue food does to me."

"Don't you dare, Seaweed Brain!" I tried to act serious but had problems when all Percy did was start dancing, rubbing his hair, making it even messier than usual. He had these sudden bursts of goofiness. He then started throwing his head in all different kinds of direction, just like dancers did on stage. I pushed him out of the room and went to take a shower.

We just finished eating the blue pancakes, and let me tell you, no wonder why Percy loves them. I'm not entirely sure whether the blue coloring has an impact on the taste, but I learnt that those type of questions should be left in the dark.

"Thank you for everything, Sally," I hugged Sally and just now realized how lucky I was. She was like a mother I never had. Sure, Athena is amazing and a goddess after all, but there were these comforting hugs, words and gestures that made my school year a lot easier.

"No need to thank me. You're a part of this family now, Annabeth. I hope I see you here next year too."

"I would love to, but it depends on which college I get accepted to. And which college would be crazy enough to accept Seaweed Brain over here," I nudged Percy.

"Hey!"

Sally smiled and kissed Percy's forehead. Percy hugged Paul and I just shook his hand. My tattoo almost piercing through Paul's skin.

"Have a nice summer, you two!" Sally exclaimed. I nodded and was sure, this was going to be one of the best summers in my life.

"We will," Percy said.

We took the elevator down to the lobby, and saw Argus waiting there. He was leaning on the white van labelled Delphi Strawberry Service. He looked up from his book, and I got a creepy feeling. I don't know, personally, I get kind of freaked out when I see about a hundred eyes glancing at me at the same time, all of them coming from the same person. His blonde hair was pointing upwards, and he was wearing an orange camp t-shirt with blue jeans shorts. He never talked, though. People said he even had eyes on his tongue, so I wasn't eager to see him talk. He gestured for us to get in, and so we did.