In A Perfect World

chapter four

Annabeth.

She saw Percy walking towards her. It was the day after the whole "Math Incident." She hadn't talked to him since. Part of her wanted to run away, the other part wanted to run straight into his arms.

"Are we cool?" He asked nervously, appearing at her side.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, pausing and slamming her locker door shut, "Yeah. We're cool."

Percy broke into a soft grin, "Great! Sorry about everything. I don't really know what came over me, but thanks, Beth."

Annabeth sighed. He was so stupidly clueless sometimes, "Don't worry bout it, Jackson. I'm sure you had more fun with Estelle anyways." Annabeth gave a small laugh.

Percy blushed and looked away, "Hah. Yeah, it was... lots of fun."

"You alright?" Annabeth asked, her brow furrowed.

"Fine! Perfectly fine!" Percy said, chuckling. His voice was forced, the laugh was fake, there was too much enthusiasm in his words.

Annabeth shrugged, too tired to push him, "Whatever, Jackson. A new pizza place just opened up not too far from here. I'm starved, wanna grab something?"

Percy smirked, although his eyes still lingered with a heavy emotion that Annabeth couldn't place. "You had me at pizza."

...

Percy.

"She said we were cool. I'm pretty sure we're cool. Well... I don't know if we were technically ever 'un-cool' but now we're definitely cool."

Jason Grace nodded absently, "Wow, Percy, that's great."

Percy sighed, "You know, I'm not sure how I feel about that girl."

Jason continued flipping through his chemistry notes, his glasses shoved firmly onto his nose, eyes scanning the paper furiously.

"She's my best friend" Percy said, leaning back on the bleachers.

"I thought I was your best friend," Jason muttered, eyes still trained on his notebook.

Percy promptly ignored him, "But... there's something about her... I don't know, Jason. She's gorgeous, and she's smart, and she makes me smile. I get this feeling whenever I'm around her, this feeling that I just can't explain."

"Then ask her out" Jason yawned.

Percy paused. "Yeah... but..."

"But?" Jason mumbled, exasperation filling his tone.

"But there might be someone else..." Percy winced slightly as he spoke, biting his lip awkwardly.

Jason slammed his book shut, his head snapping up to meet Percy's eyes, finally interested in something his friend had to say. "Someone else...? That's a pretty drastic change from talking about how you might be falling for your best friend."

Percy glared at him, shuffling his feet nervously and letting his expression shift to one of amusement, "Well... there is someone else."

Jason stared at his friend, his eyes shining mischievously. Jason's lips split into a wide grin, "Percy fucking Jackson. Are you shitting me right now? Do you seriously have a fucking girlfriend?!"

...

Percy flopped onto his bed, sighing. He flipped his phone on and scrolled through his text messages, landing on Jason's name.

I'm not dating her.

Okay there bud. Don't lie to me.

Percy muttered under his breath and typed out a reply.

Seriously! Nothing is official. I don't even know if I like her.

I hate you. I would literally slap you right now if I could. That's the biggest lie I've ever heard.

Percy bit his lip, his mind filling with images of a certain red haired girl. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts.

Shut up, Grace.

Percy held his head in his hands, waiting for Jason to reply.

Forget about Annabeth for a minute, Perce. I can tell that you like this girl. Don't let Beth get in the way of something that's going to make you happy.

Stop being all smart and shit. Your making me think too hard.

Percy clenched his fists, hating everything about the situation he was in.

Go for it. Ask her out to see another movie. It sounds like she's really into you.

Percy frowned. That was the last thing he wanted to do. He had already lied to Annabeth once, and no matter how much he liked this girl, he couldn't lie to his best friend again.

Idk dude. She didn't seem too into that Marvel one last week, maybe it was just the movie... but I don't wanna push it.

There's no harm in asking.

Percy closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

I guess so.

It was a couple of moments before Percy's phone buzzed again. He opened it quickly and read Jason's message.

What school does she go to?

Northmount.

Dude... you know that's where Castellan goes.

Thanks for reminding me.

Whatever. School doesn't matter. What's her name again?

Rachel Dare.

...

Percy closed his phone, exhaustion eating at his body. He dressed in pyjamas and slipped into his bed. His eyes were drooping and his breathing turned shallow. Percy's mind filled with swirling images of a girl with frizzy red hair and paint splattered jeans. He allowed a small smile to fill his lips as he continued to think about Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Despite all of his concerns and cautions, he couldn't help it.

He was nearly asleep when the sound of his phone buzzing aroused him. He groaned and grabbed it up, about to accept the call when he saw who was contacting him.

Annabeth's name blared on his screen.

Percy didn't answer the call, he let it ring out. The flashing screen displaying Annabeths name drifted off, revealing Percy's background.

A picture of him and Annabeth. His arms wrapped tightly around her, a smile burning on both of their faces.

Percy shut his phone off, the happy images of Rachel breaking apart in his mind.

Percy closed his eyes and let his head all gently onto his pillow. He made a silent note to himself. When he woke up, he would either get rid of every trace of Rachel that he had, or he would have to change his phone background.

Sorry for never updating. It'll be a weekly thing I hope, every weekend I'll try to get something up. I'm not even sure if this is a decent chapter but whatever. Love u guys.

-Annie