Annabeth's Mortal Friends

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Caleb Pierson's POV:

"Caleb, get up!"

I sat up quickly, groaning at the dull pain in my head. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

"Caleb!" The voice was getting closer.

Mom?

"I-I'm up!" I called back, looking around my room in confusion. How did I get home? That entire trip to New York is such a blur now...

The door to my bedroom swung open. My mom stood in the doorway, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Why are you still in bed? I told you that we needed to leave early today." She pointed to her watch. I obviously couldn't read it from here, but I think she just wanted to make a point.

I threw on whatever clothes I could find, brushed my teeth and ran my fingers through my hair, then met my mom by the front door. She looked me up and down and sighed, but I guess we were too late for her to criticize my appearance. She swung open the door, and we headed to the car.

————

My memory of the trip hadn't gotten much clearer even though I was wide awake now. I had made my way through Greek, Math, P.E., and Biology, but I still had no recollection of the trip. I considered telling my mom, but I really didn't feel like reminding her of my past few weeks. The dog attack made her worry about me enough, I don't have to tell her that I have borderline amnesia now. She probably wouldn't let me out of her sight ever again.

School was over now, and still nothing made sense. It was upsetting at this point. I know I was attacked by a dog earlier in the school year, but everything aside from that was pretty normal — except for this damn New York trip. I think we went on a tour of something, or maybe we'd gone out to get food?

Whatever I could piece together, it wasn't enough to cover the whole trip. So what am I forgetting?

————

Swim practice was usually therapeutic for me. Sure, it was exhausting, but something about being in the water was just calming.

Now, it just felt wrong, like the water didn't want me there. I was happy to be done for the day.

I started to jog down the front steps on the school, the ends of my hair still dripping a little bit. I just wanted to get home.

Percy and Annabeth stood a few feet away from me. Annabeth, glowing as usual, and Percy, completely dried off from head to toe. I'll never understand how he does it.

"You ready to go home?" Annabeth asked, tilting her head just slightly. Percy nodded in response. He patted the side of his backpack before groaning.

"Left my water bottle in the locker room. Be back in just a sec!"

Annabeth glared at him, although she didn't actually seem mad. Percy gleamed, leaning down and kissing her softly.

My stomach lurched. I had to grab the handrail on the staircase to keep myself from falling over. I'd had enough of a headache all day, but now this?

The kiss had barely lasted a few seconds before Percy pulled away, smiling happily, and dashed back into the building. However cheerful the guy looked, he'd basically just pulled my heart out and stomped on it. I didn't even feel jealousy at this point. It was all anger.

My head was hurting worse now, and my knuckles were turning white from gripping the rail.

I'm pissed off, tired, and confused, and while punching Percy Jackson in the face might not fix that, it'll definitely help.