Annabeth's Mortal Friends

Chapter Four

Caleb Pierson's POV:

I sat down on the bench, running my hands through my hair and shivering as my back hit the cold wall of the pool room.  The familiar smell of chlorine wafted through the air, allowing me to relax my shoulders and let out a sigh.  The relaxation didn't last long, because Coach Wilson started to rattle off the names of the people who signed up for tryouts.

"Caleb?"  He glanced up, smiling as he recognized me.  I nodded in response to him.  "Good to see you again.  Peter?"  He called out, raising an eyebrow at the confused crowd.  "Peter Johnson?"

At this, Percy laughs to himself and raises his hand.  "That might be me.  It's Percy Jackson, sir."

I held back my eye roll, choosing to instead stare in confusion at his outfit.  He seemed to have a tall, muscular build, enough to make most other guys feel jealous, and yet he chose to wear a swim shirt.  Not that I'm complaining, because it could slow him down enough to remove any threat from my races.  I loved the guys on my team, but no one had beaten my records in a long time.  I watched as Damien tugged on the sleeve of Percy's shirt, probably questioning him about it.  Percy shrugged him off, turning his attention back to Coach Wilson, who had just finished listing off the rules for tryouts.  I've been appointed team captain, so technically tryouts don't apply to me, but that doesn't mean I couldn't use the confidence boost that comes from destroying Percy Jackson in all of my races.

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It was mortifying.  Percy and the water were practically one entity.  He shattered my records by entire lengths, and then climbed out of the pool and laughed with Henry like nothing had happened. It was like he had no idea how good he was, and it pissed me off. I keeled over, attempting to catch my breath. I'd beaten my personal record for the 200m butterfly, and Percy still crushed me. I already didn't like this guy, but now I'm starting to have a real problem with him.

"Hey man, that was really fun!"

I flicked my eyes up, locking my gaze onto Percy as he took a sip from his water bottle. I sighed, standing up and heading toward the locker room, Percy trailing behind me. "Yeah, me too." I replied, trying not to sound too sarcastic.

I got my peace and quiet for a minute while Percy and I split up to change.   Just by looking at him, you could tell Percy wasn't in bad shape, so I have no idea why he chooses to change in a bathroom stall.   Deciding not to wait for him, I grabbed my stuff and left the gym.

I was walking at a decently slow pace as I headed for the front doors, because I wanted to look at all the locker decorations that I usually ignored.   Pictures of friends, family, pets, and random celebrities decorated for the cold grey lockers.   I would pay more attention to the lockers if they chose a different shade of grey, maybe like Annabeth's eyes.  I could get lost in that color forever.  I might bring that up with student council.  Not the part about Annabeth's eyes of course.  My crush might be blatantly obvious to a lot of people, but that doesn't mean I need everyone talking about it.

I stepped out onto the the pavement outside the school, looking up and noticing Annabeth leaning on a motorcycle against the sidewalk.  She looked up in my direction, waving and smiling, and I couldn't help but grin to myself.  I took a few steps closer to her, ready to say hi, when Percy jogged past me and met up with Annabeth, excitedly spewing out details about his day.  Annabeth just stared at him with amusement.

Hoping she didn't notice that I thought she was here for me, I glanced down at my phone, pretending to scroll.  I mentally kicked myself.  If I wanted to get closer to asking Annabeth on a date, I can't afford to be awkward, so I'm going to have to join their conversation somehow.  I took a deep breath, mentally preparing myself to have to compliment Percy.

After an awkward hesitation, I ended up saying "Nice bike."   It could've been worse, I guess.

"What?"  Percy asked.  He was staring at me like I had two heads, and I have no idea why.

"He means your motorcycle."  Annabeth hinted, patting the seat of the bike and emphasizing the last word, which seemed to clear up any confusion on Percy's end.  I could've sworn that the motorcycle revved when Annabeth took her hand off of the seat.

"Oh yeah, of course!  Thanks man, I like it too.  Mrs. O'Leary's been my go-to ride for a while now."  He said, smiling over his shoulder at the bike.

I raised an eyebrow at him.  "You named your motorcycle Mrs. O'Leary?"  I questioned, frowning a little bit.  Annabeth laughed a bit before casually coughing a few times, although Percy had no problem laughing along with her.

I could tell by Annabeth calming down that my confusion was visible on my face.  "Sorry," she said, smacking Percy's arm to get him to shut up, "it's an inside joke."

Great, first the camp and now this, I have a feeling that there are going to be a lot of inside jokes I won't understand, which pisses me off.   Annabeth is my best friend, and I don't understand why this Percy guy gets to steal her away from me.

"Alright, you ready to go?"  Percy asked Annabeth, putting a helmet on top of her head and sitting down on the bike seat.

Annabeth nodded, getting on behind him and wrapping her arms around his waist.  I clenched my fists, jumping a bit as my nails dug into my palm.  Percy kicked the stand up, turning the bike and heading down the street.  I watched in envy for a bit, mesmerized by Annabeth's curls blowing in the wind as they drove off.

I started heading toward my car, running my hand through my slightly damp hair.  The hair dryer could only do so much.  I unlocked my car, tossing my bag into the passenger seat and sitting down before pausing.  From memory, Percy's hair looks thicker than mine, yet he was perfectly dried off by the time he got outside, which was only seconds after me.  Even with a hair dryer, that's basically impossible. How did he dry off so quickly?

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1/17/20

Sorry it took a little while for me to get another chapter out, getting back into a school routine after winter break was tough.