Wouldn't You Like to Know?

Chapter 4: The Greeks are Going Home

Annabeth's POV

Annabeth was heading down the hall with Percy to their next class. She was internally feeling very emotionally overwhelmed, but also the most peaceful she had felt in a while. Why do you ask? The reason of her tranquility and turmoil is because of Percy Jackson. All the time she had spent pondering and worrying about ideas how her first day of school here would go had been completely blown to the side. Never in a million years did she imagine she would meet someone like Percy. She never expected she would come face to face with a boy who had been timid at first but then became her friend.

Most boys would have flirted with her or even tried to touch her. Of course, she never let them. She never expected to meet a guy who sometimes seemed dense, but was actually very smart and intuitive, had an amazing and genuinely amusing sense of humor, and you know, actually had a sense of humor. She never expected this boy to be so dang hot, either. That last one was definitely a bonus. What Annabeth couldn't understand was why this guy didn't have girls trying to crawl all over him. He was what looked like to be 6 foot and 2 inches, had a light tan, smooth skin, raven black, windswept hair, and these blazing sea green eyes. They were so deep and full Annabeth felt like she was drowning in them whenever she gazed into them for too long.

But the thing that she expected least of all was for him to be the sweetest and most sincere boy she had ever met in her life. She had never met somebody so gentle in the way Percy was. Not only that, but he was a gentleman. He treated her like a lady, but also as a capable and rational human being. Annabeth felt confident in saying that he was the most perfect mix of the hottest guy she has ever seen and the guy with the most amazing personality she has ever beheld. It was so confusing because those were not qualities she had seen often mix nicely in guys her age. It's not like Annabeth valued good looks over personality though. Obviously, seeing as she has met plenty of hot guys and has never had a boyfriend.

And that's not because she has some overprotective dad who comes to the door with a shotgun giving members of the male species death glares while readying it for fire. She wasn't even sure if that's what you could call him anymore. You know, dad. Weren't dads supposed to love their daughters and show them concern, or any type of emotion at all? Weren't dads supposed to actually pay attention to their daughters or at least acknowledge their existence and not completely ignore them, lost in the world of his perfect little family? A world that did not include that daughter?

Annabeth was pretty sure dads were supposed to do that, and her dad didn't. Annabeth's mother, Athena, died in an accident with a motorcyclist when she was five. Athena had been brilliant, beautiful, and bold. She was the perfect woman for Annabeth's father. She had been a renowned architect and had owned a flourishing business that she built from dust. The business was still prospering and was being run by a close friend that worked for Athena. It's a good thing she had been on top of things and had already written her will, because in that will her mom's business had been to left to Annabeth to run when she was ready. Annabeth's career had already been guaranteed. Now all she had to do was work to become the clever, talented, and intuitive businesswoman and architect her mother knew she could become.

Her father had so many hopes and dreams for her too, but after Athena had died everything changed. He had come despondent, at a loss at how to cope with the absence of his soulmate. Drawing into himself, he slowly retracted contact with Annabeth, to the point where it became almost nonexistent. Even glancing at her had become a constant, painful reminder of what he was trying to forget. By the time he married Helen, this had been going on for a year and she was six. Annabeth had not understood at the time what exactly was happening or why, but she understood now. Oh, she understood. Helen was a rebound; a way to forget the pain.