Annabeth's Mortal Friends

Chapter Eighteen

!!!note the pov change!!! :)
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Percy Jackson's POV:

I'd do anything for Annabeth.  I know that for a fact; I'd die for her.  This loyalty also means that I have to go to school and try.  Anything to make her happy, right?

I'm kind of regretting the promise I made to work hard here.  Spending time with Annabeth during the day is great, but there's definitely some things about school that I'm not the biggest fan of.  To start, I have to deal with Caleb every day, who has it out for me for gods know what reason.  He's wanted to kill me since I met him.  He gets way too close to Annabeth for my liking, too.  I wouldn't say I'm threatened by him, but it'd definitely be better if the guy learned how to back off every once in a while.  Or forever.  Whichever works best; but preferably forever.

I kind of have to keep my mouth shut about that, though.  He's Annabeth's friend, and I can respect that.  I'll just keep my dislike of him quiet.  That's what I still don't understand; I've been nothing but nice to him and he's just so angry at me.  It's pretty obvious why he's one of the downsides of going to this school.

I shuffle through the books in my locker, looking for my biology textbook and drowning out the voice of another downside of this school.  I don't know what this one's name is, and I can't quite say I care.  She's been talking my ear off about her weekend plans since the end of last period.  No one's weekend is that entertaining that they can talk about it for this long, I'm sorry.

I glance over at her, smiling and nodding to give the illusion that I'm paying attention.  I don't want to be rude to her; she's done nothing wrong.  I just don't have the energy to deal with this many girls talking to me.  I'm always happy to make new friends, but there's just...so many of them.  I still don't understand why they're flocking to me.

I shut my locker, turning to face this girl.  Lucy?  Lacey?  Lindsey?  Something along those lines.  I take note of her stance for a second.  She's leaning against the lockers, balancing her weight on one foot and resting her shoulder against the wall, bending her spine a bit.  Why is she standing like that?  Does her back hurt?  I glance back up at her face and notice that she's blushing slightly.  Uh oh.  I'm really hoping she didn't think I was looking at her like that.  I just want to know why her back seems injured.

A familiar hand intertwines with mine.  Impossibly soft, but still resilient from the years that it's handled a knife.  I completely forget Laney's standing there, turning my attention to the only reason I'm sticking around in this school.

"Hey, Wise Girl."  I whispered, smiling down at her.  She gives me a quick grin, but she was definitely hiding something behind it.  Her free hand was fiddling with the beads on her necklace, like she always does when she's upset about something.

"Uhm, hello?"  Lexy asks, waving her hand close to my face.  I blink in confusion, lightly pushing it away from me.

"Hi?"  I responded with equal question in my tone.  Lizzie huffs in annoyance at me.  Lizzie!  That's her name!  Well, I guess it doesn't matter now, because she just left.  Oh well, I only need one girl.

"How was your first class?"  I asked casually, squeezing Annabeth's hand.

"I need to talk to you."  She blurted, completely disregarding my question.  I tilted my head a bit, thinking quietly about what might be wrong.

"About what, Wise Girl?"

"Not here..."  She mumbles, glancing around the hallway like she's looking for an escape route.

"Alright, then where-Wah!"  I yelped in surprise as she tugged on my hand, pulling me a few paces down the hall before opening up a door and dragging me inside.