Her Cowboy

Chapter 6

You know what feels awesome when you're drenched with freezing rainwater and mud and manure? A hot shower. I loved it.

However, it didn't turn out to be as spectacular as I had planned. I was in the midst of rinsing out the shampoo in my blonde hair, feeling the hot water run down me and warming my bones, when I saw something in the corner of my eye. My hands froze, and my head whipped around, praying with all my might that what I saw was not what I thought it was.

Unfortunately, the fates weren't on my side. My eyes landed on a furry, eight-legged creature, the size of my big toe. It was about a foot away from my elbow, still and menacing.

If you don't know anything about me, at least know that spiders are my worst fear. The worst. I hate them, and I was convinced they hated me as well.

I let out an ear-piercing scream, stumbling back so quick I almost fell out of the shower. My hands flailed as I tried to find balance, stepping out and getting tangled in the shower curtain. I shoved it off of me, grabbing a towel and quickly wrapping myself in it, still staring at the arachnid. It hadn't moved. It's going to kill me.

I was still gaping in horror at it, my backed pressed up against the opposite wall as far away as I possibly could be, when I heard a pounding at the door. Apparently my scream hadn't gone unnoticed.

"Annabeth?" Percy's voice sounded worried. "Annabeth, are you okay? What happened? Let me in!"

Wordlessly, I reached out and undid the lock with the hand that wasn't holding the towel around me. Percy burst through the door and took in the scene with one glance. He had just showered, his hair still damp, and he was back in his joggers and a sweatshirt.

"What's the matter?" he asked frantically. "Why'd you scream?"

I pointed to the shower, the water still running, managing to croak out a stammered word. "Sp-sp-spider!"

He raised an eyebrow, then followed my finger to the shower. Walking over, he shut off the running water, then peered into it. Reaching back, he grabbed a tissue, then disappeared behind the shower curtain. I waited with my breath held. In the foggy mirror, I could see my room through the open door, and a blast of cooler fresh air flew into the humid bathroom, making me shiver. I heard a smack, then Percy emerged, the tissue folded. He walked over to me, an amused smirk on his face.

"No, stop it, Percy," I said, backing up as far as I could, flattening myself against the wall again as he approached.

"It's just a spider."

"I hate spiders. Get it away."

He shook his head, but he stepped away, throwing the crushed demon into the small trashcan next to the sink.

I let out a huge breath, water dripping from my hair onto my hand. Percy turned around to look at me. "Scared of spiders?"

Narrowing my eyes, I said threateningly, "Something wrong with that?"

He held up his hands in defense. "No, no—nothing wrong. But I would just never think of you as scared of spiders."

"And why would that be?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, you're just so... scary. I wouldn't believe you to be scared of harmless spiders."

"They're not harmless!"

"Well, maybe in, like, Africa or Asia they aren't."

I rolled my eyes, then went into lecture mode, telling him the many spiders in America that were poisonous, and that they could easily be here. However, I noticed he wasn't really soaking it all in as I gabbed away.