See Me Now, Princess? | Percabeth AU

See You Later

Fun Fact:
Most of my published chapters were
written or edited on the day of publishing.
This is because I am a major procrastinator,
I do everything at the last minute.

~~~

If you ever find yourself on Half-Blood Lane, look around. The neighborhood shock you paralyzed with dozens of rowdy, rambunctious children, yet also a sense of tranquility. The nature of birds and trees surrounds you, but architectural houses round the block.

  It's easy to find yourself wondering the street and enjoying the calls of children in nature. Of course, don't be so surprised if one of those children almost runs you down with their Transformers-branded bicycle, and their parents decide to sue you for 'child endangerment.' Still, it's difficult for anyone to leave the flawed little neighborhood. I don't know how anyone could.

  Personally, I found that the flaws were what made it such a beautiful place. Adults regularly teased the kids for their make-believe games. While it sounded cruel and heartless to do such a thing, the kids laughed and pressured their parents into joining themselves—they never resisted.

  My family blessed me with Half-Blood Lane: I never knew any other childhood. Days that repeated and dragged on for others, brought only new activities and excitement for me. It always started the same, with an alarm clock and greeting to my family. After that, I would run outside to the residence next door, even if I was still dressed in pajamas.

Perseus Jackson. My next-door neighbor and my best friend. Despite our close friendship, he insisted I call him Percy. He wanted the shortened name because of Percy Weasley in Sorcerer's Stone (a character that he thought resembled me).

(RV: idk why tf i added a Harry Potter reference since i was a PJO kid, not a HP kid, but whatever)

He did everything and anything with me, despite what the boys at school said about girls and their apparent cooties. One time during the first grade, Ethan Nakamura shouted across the street that Percy would get a case of the good-for-nothing Cooties if he continued hanging out with me. Instead of joining Ethan inside to trade Pokemon cards, Percy rode his bike all over his front yard. Mister Nakamura's mood went down to the ditch for a month.

Percy's mother grounded him, of course, but from that day forward we never spent a day apart.

Until we had to.

———

The summer day started as it would any other with the annoying ring of an alarm clock. Neglecting my everyday clothes, I traveled downstairs. Only when I reached the kitchen, I realized there was no one in the room to say good morning to.

I shook a strange feeling away and stole a cookie as my breakfast. Hey, a growing future fourth-grader needs some sugar, I mentally defended myself. The thought reminded me to steal a few for Percy as well.

Not so long after, I found myself walking into the Jackson house with two cookies hidden in my pocket. Sally, my second mother, granted me permission to walk inside whenever the door was unlocked.

I stopped walking when I heard a strange sound from the living room. After a few moments, I heard the sound again. Curious, I slowly walked down the hallway leading to the living room, but before I could reach it: something grabbed my arm, pulling me to a stop.

"You're being too loud, stupid!" Percy whisper-shouted to me.

"Says the kid whose brain is made of seaweed!" I said back in the same hushed tone. Percy tried to make a comeback but only ended up succeeding in looking like a blowfish. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Well, when I—" Percy started. "When we get— I mean when we go— ugh!"

"Face it, shorty," I said, slightly looking down at him. "I am the queen at comebacks, and you are my peasant."

"Rude! Mama says that I won't be short forever and that when we get older I'll be way bigger than you."

"In your dreams."

"You only live in nightmares."

"You little—" I stopped when I heard someone talking in the living room. "Who's in there?"

He shrugged. I brought my finger to my lips and beckoned him to follow me. Silently, we crept close enough to the living that we could hear, but not be seen.

"—know what else to do! It was our only option," Someone said through muffled sobs. Had she not been crying, guessing who said it would have been easier. I heard shuffling before she spoke again. "We could barely pay the bills with both our jobs, how could I pay with just mine?"

"It's okay, it's okay," another woman said. This time, I was able to identify the voice as my mother's. "We understand perfectly fine, you do not owe us any explanation."

"You're sure we can't do anything to help, Sally? We have a pullout you could use for as long as you'd like." Dad said.

"No," said the first voice as she sniffled, "even if I hadn't taken the job offer in Manhattan, I can't ask you to do something like that."

After eavesdropping for a little, Percy and I grew too bored to even attempt trying to understand what the adults were talking about. Perhaps if I did, I would have cherished our last game of House a little bit more.

———

I did not come out of my room for the rest of the day. How could I? I needed to create a plan to keep the Jacksons on Half-Blood Lane.

Plan 8 consisted of tying them up and holding them in my closet until Sally understood that leaving would be the biggest mistake of her life. However, after deliberation with my parents, I realized that not only was that plan illegal, but it was also cruel. Like kicking a puppy type cruel.

Plan 10 was discarded shortly after it came to me. The idea had been so bad it made kicking a puppy look good. Therefore, I refused to even mention Plan 10 in my Hello-Kitty Journal. Say no to Plan 10 like you would say no to drugs.

Finally, Plan 17 came with the help of my parents. Instead of trying to get the Jacksons to stay, I would show them how much I loved them before they go. This plan might have made me sad, but sometimes you have to let the puppy go where it can be happy somewhere else.

And that's exactly what I did.

As my parents helped load the last suitcases into Sally's old blue car, I let Percy know that no matter how far apart we would be; he would always be my best friend. At least, that was what I was trying to tell him through all my playful teasing and jokes about his height.

"Bye Seaweed Brain," I said to him as he got in the car.

"Goodbye Wise Girl."

With those words, they drove out of Half-Blood Lane and the tears in my eyes fell. If only I knew that this would not be the end of mine and Percy's story.

***

A/N: last bit of childhood Percy and Annabeth. I honestly cannot believe that I finished this chapter two days before I wanted to publish (Republished Version: originally, ofc, considering this has been republished, lmao). Maybe it's because I know if I occupy my time with this, I can procrastinate my summer work for school (RV: mood).

Word Count: 1263 words