Chapter Text
“Annabeth, seriously? You're spacing out again, mid conversation,” Hazel said, her usually sparkling eyes darkening.
“Okay, okay. I'm sorry,” Annabeth mumbled, and she pushed her hair out of her eyes. “Just . . . thinking about the test in Kane’s.”
Hazel raised an eyebrow. “Please. You're worried about it? Math is your best subject.”
“I haven't studied. At all. What if I don't pass, a bad grade, maybe? What will my step-mother say then?”
Hazel’s face shifted, probably into something of regret. “Hey, I'm sure you'll do great.” She put her hand on Annabeth's arm, and she gave her a confident smile.
It made Annabeth feel better, so she nodded. “Thank you. You're the best.”
Hazel opened her mouth to speak, until Annabeth realized her eyes caught on something. She bit her lip and twirled her hair around her finger. Annabeth followed her gaze, and it was . . . Frank Zhang.
Seriously?
“Please. I can’t with you. You are so hopeless. He doesn't even talk to you,” Annabeth reasoned.
“I know. But he looks lovely. He's handsome, and those chocolate brown eyes, and that one time in history, and he's one of the nicest . . .”
Annabeth realized she was about to listen to her best friend go on an hour long rant about some guy she didn't even really know . Yes, they went to school together, but what did Hazel know about Frank Zhang anyway? Sure, he was nice. He’s kind of cute, like a panda bear. But he wasn't hot or dreamy like Hazel said. And yes, he picked up Hazel’s pen for her in Mrs. Benner’s class, but it was a one time thing. A meager act of kindness, nothing more. And yet he was looking back at Hazel.
“I think he's into you, y’know. You should definitely go talk to him,” Annabeth teased. She watched as her friend's face reddened.
“No,” she said, her voice small. “No, I think it'd be better if . . . if I didn't speak to him.”
Okay, now Annabeth felt bad. She didn't want to see Hazel — her best friend — pine over some guy Annabeth thought didn't notice her. “What if I helped you out?”
Hazel's gold eyes met Annabeth's brown ones. They were shining, filled with eagerness and gratitude. “Really? You'd do that? For me?”
Annabeth fought back a smile, and she nodded. “Of course. I'd be happy to.” That wasn't entirely a lie. She'd be happy to make Hazel happy, but she wasn't ecstatic about playing match-maker. Great, now she was Hazel's personal Cupid.
Hazel cleared her throat — something she only did when Annabeth wasn't listening. Annabeth rolled her eyes. “Yes?”
“I asked you what you thought of that new boy. He’s kind of cute.”
Annabeth tried to remember who she was talking about. Then it clicked. “Peter Johnson?”
Hazel tried to hold in a chuckle, to no avail. “I heard it was Percy Jackson.”
“Whatever,” she replied, pursing her lips. “I hate how everyone flocks to new kids. That’s what I think about him. I haven’t seen him yet, anyway.”
“Ouch. Nobody talks good about him, though. I wonder what he thinks of that.”
Annabeth sighed, and she crossed her arms. It was intriguing. She wanted to know more, but she shook her head. “Why do you care?” she asked, her tone getting snappy. She regretted it immediately, but she thought Hazel had it coming. She already knew what Annabeth thought about new kids. She talked about it every time there was one. And even after.
“Thought maybe you’d change your mind. That maybe you’d actually give someone a chance, instead of it just being the two of us. But I was wrong,” Hazel countered, abruptly standing up, the grip on her lunch tray tight.
Annabeth wanted to open her mouth, tell her that she liked it more when it was just the two of them, but she left before she could. She thought that Hazel understood that better. That she liked to be alone, that she couldn't deal with a lot of people. Annabeth groaned, stood up, and left the cafeteria. She knew that she shouldn’t, that she’d probably get caught and into trouble and wind up in detention, but she didn't care. She was wandering aimlessly, just walking around, until she ended up in front of her next class. Mr. Kane’s. She knocked on the door, hoping he's in his classroom. If Annabeth was lucky, he would be.
She heard footsteps come up, and then the door opened.
“Hello,” he started with an uninterested voice, before looking up. Then in a happy tone: “Oh! Annabeth, hi. Come in.” He ushered her into his classroom.
“Okay,” she said. Even if she was scared of this test in ten minutes, Mr. Kane was still her favorite teacher. She closed the door behind them and walked over to the closest seat to his desk. “Can I study? For the test?” The cream-colored walls were a comfort to her, even if they were boring.
“Of course. Though, Annabeth, I don't think you need to.” Mr. Kane got up, pulled a paper from his desk, and handed it to Annabeth. “Here, your study guide.”
Annabeth took it from him gently, gave a nod and a smile. “Thank you,” she mumbled. She went over it. Once, twice. Three times. And still she was so sure she was going to fail this algebra test. She sighed and set it down, almost ready to give up. Until a nagging voice in the back of her head — that sounded suspiciously like her step-mom — reminded her how bad it would be if she failed. Plus, this was below her own set of expectations. This was algebra . Algebra wasn't really all that hard, it just took a while to do. Sometimes she liked it when she could focus on something, that way her mind wouldn't be all over.
“Mr. Kane?” she called. “I don't think I understand.” And he went over it with her until the bell rang and the class inevitably filled with students. That's when Annabeth — before she was too lazy to care — noticed the new boy was in this class. She didn't know what he looked like before, but she did now. He had a deep frown on his face and his blonde hair, styled messily, curled over his eyes. She didn't know where Hazel got cute from, but seeing him made her want to recoil. Of course, she didn’t.
She watched as he sat down in the back, a desk over from where she normally sat. So he sat there , and Annabeth still didn't notice him? She was going to have to be more aware of her surroundings.
She stood up, and she walked to the back of the class. She could feel Percy's eyes on her, and she gave a small grunt of discomfort. She sat down in her chair, her back straight, her feet sat firmly on the floor. Her hands were clasped tightly on top of her desk, and she was biting the inside of her lip. Was he still watching her? Annabeth didn't know, and she didn't want to look in case he took notice of it. She pulled a pencil from her pocket, sat it on the desk, and then accidentally knocked it onto the ground towards him. Silently, she cursed herself for being an idiot. She bent over to pick it up until he beat her to it. He held it out to her and said, with a smile, “Here.”
Immediately she was annoyed that he even dared to do it. Annabeth forced herself to breathe. She returned his smile and took it from him. “Thank you,” she murmured, giving a nod. She noticed he had blue-green eyes. They looked like the sea.
He nodded as well, then turned back to the front of the room. She noticed that he wasn’t sitting correctly. His knees were tucked into his chest, his arms wrapped around them. He’d get into trouble sitting like that into any other class, but not this one. She rolled her eyes, then focused on Mr. Kane. She watched as he passed out the tests to each of the students, and Annabeth’s eyes widened looking down at the thin sheet of paper. She was 100% going to fail this. Her right leg started to bounce rapidly, and she sighed. She decided to work it out, just putting whatever answer she thought was right. She went over all her answers when. Once, twice. Then she waited for someone to get up and turn it in, following right after. It was somehow embarrassing being the first to turn a test in. She slumped into her seat, resting her head on the desk, accidentally drifting off to sleep.
She woke up when Mr. Kane asked if everyone was done with their tests. She heard Percy mutter a meager “Yes,” and she turned her head to look at him.
They moved on, and Mr. Kane turned on a movie, since he had nothing else for the class to do. Annabeth fell back into her sleep, coming to when she felt someone shake her shoulder. She groaned, stirring. Her eyes squinted in the bright light, and she realized that Percy woke her up. Why did he have to keep helping her?
“Um, thanks,” she said, standing up. Her hair was probably terrible right now.
“You're welcome,” he replied, offering a small smile. He grabbed his backpack, and then he was gone. Out of the classroom.
Annabeth stood up, her bag over her shoulder. Then she was out of the room, too. She wondered if Hazel would be at their “meeting spot,” which was really just the water fountain by the restrooms outside of their 6th hour. Hazel did get mad at her, so she might not be there. She guessed she would just have to find out.
And so she did.
Hazel was standing to the right of the water fountain, her back to Annabeth. Though, Annabeth could still tell it was her from the way she was standing — and her clothes, of course. She built up the courage to go up to her — because Annabeth was always afraid to talk to Hazel after an argument, no matter how small or huge.
“Hey,” Annabeth said, her voice a little tentative.
Hazel turned around, her face scrunched up. “Hi. You startled me.”
Annabeth cracked a grin. “Sorry. Sorry I kind of snapped at you during lunch.” She paused, letting out a breath she wasn’t entirely aware she was holding. “I just— You know I don’t like people. I like it when it’s just the two of us.”
Hazel shrugged her shoulders, her lips curled down at the corners. “Yeah, I know. I guess I can’t blame you. I’m sorry, too,” she said.
“I owe you dinner?” Annabeth joked. She moved her hand to rest on Hazel’s shoulder lightly, a smirk on her lips.
Hazel shrugged her hand off of her shoulder, shaking her head. “No. You don’t need to. I forgive you.”
Annabeth bit the inside of her cheek, and she took a deep breath. “Okay. Still, I’m sorry.” She looked to the nearest clock, squinting her eyes to see. It read: 1:08. “We should go to class. Come on.”
Hazel followed behind an anxious Annabeth. No doubt she was still mad. Hazel was silent, not engaging in a conversation like she usually does when it comes to Annabeth. Well, the silence was deafening.
They stepped through the doors to their sixth hour English class. The walls were a sage green — one of Annabeth’s favorite colors. The tall book shelf in the south east corner — it stopped just short of the ceiling — had an abundance of books, from The Inheritance Games to The Summer I Turned Pretty to The Hunger Games . It was messy, as usual. Annabeth guessed Miss Taylor didn’t have enough time to sort it. Sometimes Annabeth would volunteer to stay after school to help, but it would always go back to how it was an hour beforehand. But Annabeth didn’t care, Miss Taylor was her favorite teacher and it gave her a reason to not go home — to her emotionally unavailable father and a step-mother she constantly fought with and estranged half-brothers who annoyed her every two seconds.
She sighed and took her seat in the middle of the classroom, and Hazel to the right of her. Her hands were clasped loosely together on the top of the desk — Annabeth liked sitting in that way at a school desk. She stood out very quickly from others who would slouch or have their knees tucked into their chest (Percy, she thought).
Her teacher, Miss Taylor, walked into class. Her long blonde hair was up messily today, like she didn’t get enough sleep and was running late, and the bags under her eyes could just about confirm that. She immediately announced a project with partners. Annabeth’s eyes met Hazel’s before the teacher could get a second word out.
“This project will be in four groups of four. You may choose your partners. You will be reading a book of your group’s choice, and you will be doing a book and character analysis.” Annabeth heard quiet groans from across the room, but she stayed silent. “This will be due right before winter break. Go on, pick your partners.”
Annabeth and Hazel went right to each other with smiles on their faces — even though Annabeth was 100% sure that Hazel was still mad at her. Everyone else got together in their cliques. The popular girls (Annabeth was surprised they all got into one class) were in a group. All of the athletic boys were together, except for tall, stocky Frank Zhang. Then the “weird” kids were a group. The only people left were Frank and . . .
Percy Jackson.