The Library Book

#29 - The Careers Convention

Chapter 29 - The Careers Convention
published: Wednesday, 6 May 2020

"So," Percy trailed off uncertainly, looking just about everywhere except at Annabeth.

"So," she repeated similarly, fiddling nervously with her hands.

It was their first official date; coffee at Walter's. Pretty fitting.

Annabeth had underestimated how weird it would be. Sure, they were making the jump from friends to a couple, but she hadn't expected it to be this hard.

Some of the most random conversations of her entire life had been held with Percy. Now that they were dating, it seemed like they were both a whole lot more jittery about the whole thing.

Annabeth was deathly worried she'd mess it up like the rest of her relationships, and Percy looked as pale and jumpy as a ghost.

"Why is this so weird?" she groaned.

Percy released a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God, I thought it was just me."

"It shouldn't be like this, right?" Annabeth waved her arms around helplessly. "I mean, it should be easy — smooth. We've been friends for a year now; we hang out all the time alone; how is this any different?"

Percy scratched the back of his head. "Well, I'm now incredibly aware that you're my girlfriend. Girlfriend, and I have had my fair share of bad relationships, so don't blame me if I'm a little nervous."

"As my boyfriend," Annabeth pointed out. "Maybe you should listen to me and stop drinking coffee?"

"Coffee is, like, 50% of who I am at this point."

"Caffeine dependency," Annabeth noted sarcastically. "Healthy."

Percy chuckled. "Alright, you can save the glares. I feel like I'll be seeing a lot more of them from now on. How's things at home?" He frowned. "Your dad's back, isn't he?"

Annabeth pulled a face. "I can't even remember when that used to be a good thing."

It was Saturday evening, the day after the entire Mortelli fiasco. Annabeth's sleepover at Piper's had involved an interrogation tougher than than the detectives', and hours upon hours of beauty sleep.

Her dad was back in town for the weekend, so family dinner and movie night was in order.

Annabeth had arrived home, all pumped up with her renewed appreciation for life and her mind giddy with the idea that Percy was her boyfriend, only to walk into a warzone at home.

The first warning had been Bobby and Matthew playing video games in the living room, the atmosphere more subdued than usual.

Then Annabeth entered the dining room to start setting table, accidentally interrupting a fight between her parents.

"You're never around, Frederick!" Helen shouted. "You leave on business trips just to be away from me!"

"So what if I care about my career?" Frederick snapped. "It's important to me."

"What about your kids?" Helen demanded. "They should be just as important to you as your work! I'll retract everything if you can tell me what's going on in just one of their lives' right now!"

The two of them had promptly stopped short once Annabeth arrived on scene, but she'd already overheard enough. After stammering out a few "sorry"s, she retreated out to the living room.

"That bad?" Percy asked warily.

Annabeth sighed, prodding at her ravioli. "Yep. I wish they wouldn't fight in front of my brothers. It's not good for them to be around this much arguing before they're even teenagers."