Percabeth at high school

Chapter 7

It'd been two weeks since the agreement with Percy had begun, and Annabeth was finally starting to understand why he was the go-to guy for a fun time.

He took her on motorcycle rides when they were supposed to be in study hall, his arm was around her waist at every party, and they even went on late-night ice cream runs occasionally. It was surprisingly fun having a friend like Percy; he was a good listener and witty in conversation. Annabeth found herself wanting to be around him more than she had expected.

"Don't tell me you two are dating," Thalia Grace, a mutual friend of Annabeth and Percy, said on the two-week mark of their agreement. "Never thought I'd see the day."

"Come on, Thals," he said, his hand releasing from Annabeth's. "You know we're just friends."

The blonde nodded her head. "Percy doesn't do dating."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Men and their commitment issues."

"Hey!" Percy protested. "Leave my commitment issues out of this."

The three friends shared a laugh before Thalia continued, "you know, this is the longest Percy has kept someone around for."

"That's because we both established a stable dynamic before proceeding with this," Annabeth said. "Neither of us wanted anything serious, so why not have some fun?"

Percy caught her eye for a second, and she could read his thoughts. Thalia doesn't know?

"And by fun, you mean sneaking around and making out in closets."

"Thalia!"

"What?" She held her palms up defensively. "I've seen y'all at parties."

Annabeth wondered if they were weird because even after two weeks of hanging out constantly, she had never found the courage to actually kiss Percy. Their secret meetings in closets during parties consisted mostly of Annabeth sneaking away to cry about seeing Luke with someone else, and Percy following to comfort her.

That was much too lame to admit, though, so Annabeth let her friend believe the prior assumption.

Soon the interaction ended and Thalia left for her cooking class, leaving her friends alone by their lockers.

"I thought she knew," Percy said. He towered over Annabeth, and he'd grown a habit of leaning into her ear to speak to her. She'd found it irritating at first, but she had become accustomed to the gesture.

"I think it'll be better if fewer people know the truth," she said.

"Scared Luke will find out?"

She nodded. "I mean, that is the whole point of this, right?"

Percy gave her a strange look, like he wanted to say more. "Yeah."

Annabeth smiled. "So...I'll see you after class?"

"Uh, I've actually got to babysit Estelle after school tonight. Mom and Paul are having a date night and I promised I'd take care of her."

She wondered if this was how he got so many girls hooked on him; by opening up and sharing his complete devotion to his family. "Okay."

"You can come over if you want."

Annabeth blinked. "You mean, like, to your house?"

He laughed, but his slight blush gave him away. "Well, yeah. It's cool if you don't want to."

"Yes," she said. "I mean no! I mean--yes, I want to go."

His smile was brighter than anything she'd ever seen. "Alright. I'll meet you at your car after school." He glanced to his right and noticed Luke, so he reached for one of Annabeth's curls and tucked it behind her ear. "See you later, beautiful."

She inhaled deeply. She had to admit, it was difficult to remember Percy was just messing around when he looked at her like that.

She just hoped she could get through the night without accidentally falling in love with him.