soulmates ⋮ heroes of olympus au

thirty-one.

P e r c y

☼

When Annabeth mentioned to Percy that she would probably come to the swim meet that afternoon, two very different emotions went through him simultaneously.

The first was excitement, which was to be expected. The thought of Annabeth coming out to see him was enough to make Percy practically bounce up and down in his seat – something he had to stop himself from doing in English class right in front of her.

The second emotion, however, was complete and utter panic. Percy was already nervous for this upcoming swim meet. It was the most important one the entire season, as it determined whether he got to compete at the state competition or not, and Percy really wanted to go to state.

However, the fact that it was Annabeth going to his swim meet made his panic grow even worse. The girl he had a major crush on for the past couple of months but hadn't gotten the courage to say anything to was coming to watch him swim.

Yet it didn't seem as if Annabeth had any idea about Percy's massive crush on her. Percy was sure everyone in their AP Lang class –including his own step-dad – knew he liked her. But Annabeth seemed to have no clue about Percy's feelings towards her.

When he reached the guys locker room after school, it seemed as if all the guys were already there getting changed into their swimsuits. Percy made his way over to Travis and Connor, the two guys Percy was probably closest to on the team. The two brothers were nearly identical and were in the same grade, yet to many people's surprise, they were about eleven months apart in age.

"You ready for today, Little Mermaid?" Travis asked him with a small smirk on his face. Out of all the nicknames Percy had on the team, Travis knew it was one of his least favorite nicknames.

Rolling his eyes, Percy hit him over the head with the green long-sleeved shirt he had been wearing at school earlier. "Don't call me that, Stoll," He told him as he put on his swimsuit and unzipped swim team jacket. "And to answer your question, no, I'm not ready for today. This meet is kind of a a big deal."

"I hear a special someone is also coming to the meet today," Connor wiggled his eyebrows. "Care to comment on that?"

Percy felt his blush creeping on the back of his neck. "Rather not," He responded quickly as the trio stepped outside the locker room and into the pool. "You two make fun of me enough as it is already."

"You know, we don't mind that," Travis began with an almost maniacal grin, making Percy worried about what was about to come next. "Because Annabeth's standing right over there and I think your mom just invited her to sit with her, so I'm sure that we'll get all our answers from that."

The two boys both shoved Percy so hard towards the bleachers that he nearly fell over across the floor. When Percy managed to regain his footing again, he nearly tripped over his own feet when he saw that his mom had in fact invited Annabeth to sit with her and Estelle.

Estelle was practically beaming with excitement when Annabeth sat down next to them, which was about how Percy felt at that moment. Percy's mom grinned at the sight, and she ushered Percy over when she noticed him across the pool. Annabeth, however, didn't seem to notice him, as she was preoccupied by pulling her water bottle out of her backpack and taking a large sip out of it.

"I see Estelle enjoys your presence more than she enjoys mine," Percy commented with a teasing smile.

Finally noticing him standing there, Annabeth suddenly began to cough on the water she was previously drinking. Wide-eyed, Estelle asked, "Annabeth? Did you drink too much at once? Sometimes I do that and Mommy has to help me drink more so I stop coughing."