Love at first Fight

Belly Laughs!

Seriously, Annabeth thought, Could he be any more annoying!?

It was lunchtime, on Thursday, one day after Percy and Jasons arrival, and one day before Percy and Annabeths match. Shockingly, the subject of Annabeths annoyance, was not Percy. Instead, it was Luke Castellan.

He was the big jock of Goode High School, and he had a bit of a fetish for girls who liked reading. Aka, Annabeth. Today, he decided to annoy her and try to get her to sneak off with him and do whatever his perverted mind desired, by taunting Jason, Piper, Percy, and Pipers step brother, Leo. Annabeth had promised her dad she wouldnt punch anyone else at school, so that was out of the question.

Annabeth cared less about Percy, and Jason being taunted, so at first, she stared into nothing, eating French fries. But the moment his insults turned to Piper and Leo, her fists clenched, and she could see Percy's green eyes glance warily at her.

On the ride to his house the day before, he admitted that he was a tiny bit acared of being her target again, without gloves. Hed also touched his nose and nearly started crying, which satisfied Annabeth more than she was willing to admit. They werent friends, but Annabeth had agreed to not go easy on Percy during the fight. Now, she could see that fear building. He was closer to Annabeth than anyone else, so his worry was understandable.

The knuckles on one of her hands, resting under the table on her knee, had begun to turn white with her restraint. She felt a hand on hers, and was about to flip the person, until she felt her hand being moved from the skin revealed by the rips in her jeans. She felt pain begin to build in her knee, faint yet noticeable pain. Annabeth closed her eyes. Shed broken the skin, and she could feel a small bubble of blood forming where her nails had left their mark.

Percy gripped her hand in her fist, before getting up. Out of nowhere, he grabbed Luke by the back of his shirt and flung him across the room. Annabeth stared, stunned. "Back off, man. Alright? No one has done shit to you, so you have no reason to insult them for existing. Get lost."

Luke hardly looked affected. He brushed off his clothes, scowled at Percy, and moved towards him threateningly. Percy clenched his fists, and thats when Annabeth took the smart route.

She intervened, standing and grabbing Percys hand, pushing him back. She looked up at Luke, who was taller than Percy, who was taller than her. "Its never gonna happen, Luke. I told you that. No matter what kind of jacked up scenario you have going in your head, it will never happen."

Luke snarled, and swung at her. Annabeth grabbed his fiat in mid air, inches from her face. It hurt, but she teied not to show it. She twisted his arm, turning, and flipped him over her shoulder. He landed on the floor, groaning. "That was self defence! You all saw that!"

She put her hands up in surrender, and heard people clapping. The souns confused her, and she looked around, realizing everyone had slowly began to applaud. Piper stepped up, smirking, as well as the three guys from thwir table. "Alright Blondie, you gotta teach me that... But foe now... Run!"

Piper grabbed Annabeths arm and ran towards the cafeteria exit, and they both started laughing. They didnt stop running until they were outside, out of view, and hidden behind a car. Piper sat down, back against the rear bumper of her red Chevy Cadillac. Annabeth sat on the trunk, and Percy, Leo, and Jason all dropped onto the tiny strip of grass that was barely big enough for all three of them.

Annabeth didn't understand why she was smiling so much. Sure, Piper had a habit of making her grin, but not laugh, Leo and Annabeth had never even met before, Jason paid so much attention to Piper than Annabeth couldnt get to know him, and Percy had actually kind of scared her only momwnts before. Then again, if Percy hadn't been a very brave idiot, she wouldn't have stood up to Luke. That didnt explain her laughter though.

Glancing down at hwr knee, she could aee that the small amount of blood had smeared with her black jeans. She shrugged it off and looked at the person she was friends with, and the people she was considerinf befriending.

"That was epic!" Leo laughed, pumping his fists into the air.

"Totally awesome!" Piper agreed. Annabeth smiled at their weird way of celebrating a miniature rebellious act, and shook her head, before laying back on the trunk of the Caddy.

No one spoke for a while, and no one moved. They all just listened to the sounds of New York traffic, in blissful unity, with no words needed. Then Leo ruined it.

"Am I the only one who just realized they didnt actually eat lunch?" Everyone who wasn't already sitting, sat up and looked at one another. Annabeth had a sheepish grin on her face, Piper burst out laughing, and Jason and Percy collapsed back onto the grass, both locked in full belly laughs. Leo looked around in confusion. "What?"

"Your awesome, man!" Jason said, barely speaking through his laughs. His attempts made Annabeth start laughing, as she tried to stand. Percy, a little calmer than Jason, stood too.

Sadly for Annabeth, she was laughinf too much to stop from trippinf on the curb. Her foot nicked the edge, and she fell into Percy, who hit the ground. Everyone else laughed harder, but Annabeths laughter gradually stopped as she realized that Percys hands were on her hips, and their lips were only centimeters apart.

She shoved herself off of him, blushing like mad. Piper saw her face and snickered. "Talk about awkward!"

Annabeth grabbed her bag, the one Percy had apparently remembered to grab for her, and tossed a crumpled ball of paper at Piper. "I gotta go to class."

"Oh, come on, Annabeth! Have a little fun!" Piper pouted.

"I had fun, now I have to learn." Annabeth walked away, grabbing her phone. Little did her friends (yes, friends) know, she was not heading to her next class.