(After The Heroes of Olympus)
~Percy's POV~
"Where are we going?"
She peered out of the Prius window, her wavy blonde hair fell down the sides of her face. It was Saturday. Which meant Percy was going to spend it the same way he always did: hanging out with Annabeth.
He smiled at his girlfriend as they pulled up outside the cinema, "Have a guess, Wise Girl."
She turned back at him smirking, "So you want to fight monsters while watching a movie this time? I think the park would have been nice."
Percy sighed sarcastically, "Well. You know me, I always love making our lives more difficult."
Annabeth laughed as she stepped out of the car.
————
The cinema was packed full of mortals, most of whom were teenagers. Percy didn't see any problem with it. Since he'd been expecting a big crowd on the weekend, he had gone ahead and bought the tickets online.
Annabeth waited patiently behind him while he collected their tickets. Percy smiled as he ordered two large boxes of popcorn, knowing full well that Annabeth would be rolling her eyes behind him.
Which of course, she had good reason to do so. Annabeth didn't want to eat any, the popcorn was all for Percy.
Percy had finished paying and he turned to face Annabeth. He beamed triumphantly as he presented his popcorn, just as a voice called, "Percy!"
He turned. Uh oh.
It was Percy's worst nightmare: his friends. (Not monster attacks, he was too used to those happening now.)
His mortal friends. From school.
Kyle and Dom approached them. They were good friends, but they were mortals. And as far as he could tell, they had no clue who he really was.
"What's up?" Kyle clapped him on the shoulder, smiling, his brown hair messy as always. "We thought you had homework."
"Yeah. Or not you could've come with us bro," Dom laughed, his teeth as white as his shirt.
"Yeah, uh..." Percy trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. He offered a nervous smile in return, "I-uh, um...I finished early?"
"But training was only an hour ago."
They both frowned, and Percy silently cursed himself.
It was getting awkward. They were his swim team buddies, and they had invited him to the movies today. Only Percy had wanted to hang out with Annabeth. So, he'd made up an excuse.
As it turned out, it was a pretty lousy one as well.
"Yeah..." Kyle's tone was suspicious, "Are you trying to avoid us?"
Then, his gaze landed on Annabeth, who stood a few feet away- arms crossed as she stared at the boys quizzically.
"Wait," Dom's blue eyes narrowed, as they moved from Percy to Annabeth, and back to Percy again. "Who is that?"
"Hold on a sec." Kyle mirrored Annabeth's confusion, "Are you with that girl?"
Percy cursed again under his breath. Why did he have such bad luck?
He'd brought Annabeth to the one place his friends had asked him to hang out at, and he'd lied to their faces.
He should have brought Annabeth to the park.
He turned back to his girlfriend, desperate for some help. But she simply raised an eyebrow at him. As if to say: Well? I'm waiting!
"Um yeah. I am." Percy smiled awkwardly, immediately he felt bad for blowing off Kyle and Dom. They were good people.
But Annabeth was waiting, and Percy was pretty sure the movie would start soon. "Listen, guys, I need to-"
"Wait! Isn't that the girl from the photo?" Dom's eyes widened as if something had clicked in his brain.
"What photo?" Kyle looked even more confused.
"You know!" Dom exclaimed impatiently, pointing at Annabeth. "She's the photo in Percy's locker."
"Ahhh..." A look of realization took over his face. "It's Mystery Girl, the one Percy wouldn't tell us about."
Dom and Kyle continued to examine Annabeth as she checked her phone. Percy cringed. It was a sure sign she was bored. He was taking too long.
"Huh," Kyle looked back at Percy, "You know, for a while, I thought she was a fake girlfriend."
"Yes! Except she's real. Like..." Dom stared at Percy in disbelief. "That's your girlfriend?"
"Well, yeah." Percy shrugged his shoulders casually. His arms were starting to tire, who knew popcorn was so heavy?
Kyle started to say something which sounded an awful lot like Wow. She's hot, but his voice quickly shrank away as Annabeth approached.
She stopped by Percy's side and glanced at her boyfriend, "Percy, who are these people?"
"Um yeah, they're on my swim team," Percy explained. "Kyle, Dom, this is my girlfriend: Annabeth. Annabeth, this is Kyle and Dom."
Annabeth waved, though she didn't look too pleased to meet them. Kyle and Dom stood still, their eyes bulging.
Percy figured they were either really scared of Annabeth, or really shocked at how pretty she was. It was probably both. To be fair, Percy often found that he felt the same way.
Kyle managed to squeeze out a greeting at last, with a grand "Hello."
Though Dom looked like he was trying his best not to cower, "Uh. Nice to meet you, Annabeth."
She smiled, though Percy had a feeling it was more out of courtesy. "Nice to meet you guys too. I'm really sorry by the way, I had no idea Percy had blown you guys off today."
"Yeah..." Dom trailed off as if the idea had finally entered his brain.
"Not cool lying to your bros Percy." Kyle chimed in, shaking his head.
Annabeth stared accusingly at her boyfriend.
Percy suddenly felt like all the attention had shifted to him, making him nervous. They were waiting for an explanation. Or an apology? Percy had no idea, he really didn't want to upset both his girlfriend and his friends.
"But...I mean..." he mumbled, still holding on to his mountains of popcorn, "uh, I- I just... wanted to spend time with Annabeth?"
It sounded more like a question. Annabeth tsked and shook her head disapprovingly at him. "You see what I'm dealing with here boys?"
"Yeah. Jackson, you suck."
All three of them laughed. Which didn't surprise Percy at all.
Of course, because suddenly everyone was best friends when it came to having a go at Percy. He stood there, blushing until the laughter died down.
"Nah, don't sweat it, Jackson," Dom clapped him on the shoulder. "It's cool man. We get it."
"Yeah, enjoy your date guys." Kyle smiled cheekily, turning to leave. They waved as they walked away.
Percy faced his girlfriend, relieved his humiliation was finally over.
Annabeth had her hands on her hips as if she was angry. But she was smiling when she said, "Wow Seaweed Brain. Am I not important enough for you to tell your friends about?"
"Hey! You're super important." Percy protested. "Besides, you heard them. I even have a photo of you in my locker."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, they must've thought you were some perv."
Percy frowned before she carried on saying, "You know since I'm wayyy out of your league."
"Hey!"
She laughed, before grabbing a handful of popcorn from his arms. "Come on Percy, we're going to be late."
She kissed him on the cheek and smiled sweetly, her grey eyes full of amusement. Percy smiled back.
Right then, she looked so happy. So beautiful.
So perfect.
And Percy couldn't help but think that she really was right.
—————
Quite a while later, as the film credits rolled and after she'd fallen asleep, Percy smiled.
He stared, lovingly, at the pretty face on his shoulder and he couldn't agree more:
Annabeth Chase really is way out of my league.
Hey guys! This story took me a while. I'm wondering, should I do a contest? Tell Me what you think here.
