Annabeth's Mortal Friends

Chapter Thirty-One

Caleb Pierson's POV:

I knew that I would have to be lucky if I was going to be able to catch up to Percy. The pretty new teacher distracted me for so long that Percy must've been on his way home by now. I could only imagine what he was going to tell Annabeth about our "encounter." He'd probably make up something stupid about how I was the one who attacked him, playing the innocent victim and painting me as the villain yet again. Annabeth is practically a genius, I'll never understand how she doesn't see right through him.

I walked through the doors Percy had exited earlier, scanning the parking lot for any sign of him or Annabeth. To my surprise, they were both still here. Percy held Annabeth's hand, leading her toward a car that I had never seen before. I had a bad feeling.

I crouched down behind a car on my end of the lot, watching carefully. Percy laughed at something Annabeth said, raising his arms above his head, miming something giant. I couldn't hear what they were talking about as they got closer to the suspicious car.

It was parked at the furthest corner of the lot, covered by the shade from the looming trees nearby. There were skid marks on the pavement behind it as if the car had pulled into the lot at highway speeds. It sat diagonally across two parking spaces. The windows were tinted, but I could still see slight movement inside. It seemed like a nice car, but there was a huge, three-pronged scratch along the side of it that made it look like it'd been mauled by a bear.

Percy opened the side door of the car and Annabeth gasped at whatever was inside. I couldn't see her face from this angle, but a hand reached out of the door, clear as day, and yanked her inside. Percy laughed again, climbing in after her and shutting the door behind him. There was more movement inside, and then the car started up, reversed over a curb, and peeled out of the parking lot just as quickly as it had entered. This can't be good...

———

Percy Jackson's POV:

I scrambled to put my seatbelt on as the car started up, ducking down as an unidentified object sailed over my head and into the backseat. I whipped my head back up, glaring at the occupant of the driver's seat.

"Who even let you take the wheel?" I asked, exasperated.

Leo turned toward me, his familiar, crazy smile plastered on his face. "I could single-handedly sail the Argo II. I've ridden a metal dragon. I can handle a mortal car."

"Eyes on the road!" Hazel scolded. Leo threw his hands in the air in defeat, which only seemed to make Hazel less confident in his driving capabilities. "Hands stay on the wheel!"

"Alright, alright!"

Annabeth just laughed, leaning her head back against her chair. "Gods I missed you guys."

Thalia rubbed her head affectionately. "We missed you too, Annie." She added a light punch to my arm. "You too, Kelp Head."

"Hey Thals," I smiled, returning the punch.

Annabeth held her arms out, splitting us up. "If you two are gonna fight, don't do it over my lap."

I opened my mouth to respond but was interrupted as Leo jerked the wheel to the right, sending everyone flying into each other. He hit the brakes, and we all flew forward. He hopped out the car, which made everyone realize he wasn't even buckled, and stood in the grass, admiring his parking job.

"That was a pretty solid stop, right?" He asked, gesturing toward the car.

"Sure thing, Leo. I think I only had about three heart attacks that time," Thalia joked, stepping out of the car. Leo rolled his eyes, heading into the pizza place we stopped at.