Annabeth's Flashback

THURSDAY

Annabeth was leaving school with Barbara, when Jodi approached them.

"Hi, Anniebell, good to see you"

Annabeth answered, ignoring Barbara's look of surprise about the other girl's presence.

"Hi. Jodi, this is Barbara, my friend. Barbara, this is Jodi"

"I'm Peter's friend, nice to meet you"

Barbaba's eyes went round, but she played cool.

"Nice to meet you too"

Jodi started walking with them, Annabeth in the middle.

"So, what are your plans to Monday?"

Monday? Do we have something scheduled?

We finished all of our essays.

We'll teach your brother on Tuesday.

I don't know if we have something for Monday.

"What about Monday?"

"It's Halloween!"

Do we have any plans?

Not that I think of. Ask Barbara, maybe the other guys set up something while you were daydreaming about your boyfriend. And don't try to deny it.

Annabeth looked to Barbara.

"Do we have any plans?"

"No that I know of"

Jodi interjected.

"So, what do you think about going to a party?"

Barbara was surprised when Jodi looked at her with a questioning face.

"Wait, me too?"

"Sure, why not"

"Whose party?"

"I don't know"

Barbara was suspicious at this.

"How can you invite us to a party that you don't know who is hosting it?"

"Simple, I know Jordan and Jay. Don't ask me why, they always find the most awesome parties, but will only reveal which one when we get there"

Barbara was still hesitating.

"This doesn't explain why you're inviting US"

"Oh, sorry. It's because Peter and Annie are dating"

"YOU'RE WHAT??"

We should have told her...

NOW you think of it!?

"It's not really dating..."

"Not REALLY dating? What are you, fake dating?"

Jodi snapped her fingers in front of Barbara's eyes to attract her attention.

"Actually, yes, and it was my plan. Let me explain it to you"

***

"This makes sense"

"Now you can see why they need to be dating?"

"Yes... I just need to ask you one thing, Annie. Are you SURE you want to face Sirena? That girl is not... nice in any way"

Annabeth snorted.

"I can handle her"

"And she has Peter by her side"

Barbara arched her eyebrows at Jodi's statement.

"You mean Sirena's ex? Is that supposed to be good news?"

"Yes, because he protects the ones he cares, doesn't matter how cliché that might sound. And he cares about Annie, more than he's trying to make me believe. I'm positive he would do anything for her"

See? That's why he's worse than you. Doesn't matter how obvious you're,he's so much more. And now his friend know it too!

After staring at Jodi for a couple of seconds, Barbara blurted out a cliché question.

"Can I trust you?"

Annabeth answered for Jodi

"Yes, Barbara, you can trust her. I do"

Jodi blinked surprised at Annabeth, and smiled warmly.

"That was really nice, thank you! So, are you coming?"

Barbara was beginning to loosen up.

"Do we need a costume?"

"Of course, it's Halloween!"

Barbara smiled and did a little jump.

"Then I'm Hermione!"

"Why?"

"Because she's smart, and I have her hair"

Jodi did a once over.

"Your hair is more tamed"

Barbara rolled her eyes.

"When I wake up, its like her hair from the first movie, believe me. It'll be perfect!"

During this exchange, Annabeth was trying to decide what costume to wear.

Any ideas?

Please, don't say a Disney princess, like Cinderella.

Do I look like someone that would dress like a princess?

Fair enough. Hum... army?

I could go as a camper from CHB?

What about Athena? She's your mother, right?

I don't know... I mean, she's my mother, I'm just not sure to wear a costume about her. Can you think of any blonde characther?

Marilyn Monroe?

Really?

Legally blonde?

Are you kidding me?

Maybe Dany?

Who?

Daenerys Targaryen. Believe me, she's a strong characther, you would like her.

"I don't know which costume to pick..."

Jodi answered her.

"I know! You'll be Maid Marian"

"Why?"

"Couple costume. Peter will be Robin Hood"

It's not a bad costume...

I never knew Percy like Robin Hood that much...

"Did he tell you this?"

"No, which reminds me, I need to tell him that. Oh, forget, I'll just give him his costume on Monday"

"You chose his costume? Why?"

"Because guys are terrible doing this! He'll be Robin Hood for the whole thing with Vanessa and that goth guy. Robin takes from the rich to give to the poor. Peter protects the weak from the bullies and all that. And you, are his Maid Marian, a strong female characther, with more education and class than our dear thief"

It does makes sense. And I like Maid Marian.

What should we wear for it?

No idea.

Barbara was asking Jodi.

"What is your costume?"

"Well, we have an habit of choosing a group costume. Last year, we were four, so we chose to dress as the ghosts from Pac-man. This year, Peter will match with Annie, so we're only three. I'll be the Cat in the Hat, and Jordan and Jay are going to be Thing 1 and Thing 2. It was this or Powerpuff Girls, but that wasn't going to work"

"Why not?"

"Well, Jay said he was Bubbles and wasn't going to change. I wanted to be Blossom, but Jordan refused, saying he is the red-head, so he should be Blossom. They said I should be Buttercup because my hair is black and I'm angry like her. I punched them because I wanted to be Blossom, not Buttercup. So we decided to change. We thought about going as Jessie, Woody and Buzz Lightyear. But Jordan was saying he was Jessie, because of the hair, and Jay started to complain he wanted to be Rex, because he saw an awesome costume of T-rex in the internet, except it wasn't green, so wasn't going to work too"

Wait, why only three? Wasn't the asian demigod hanging with them?

You're right.

"What about Fr... Felix? Is he not going with you?"

Jodi's shoulders slumped and she wore a vague expression while looking to the distance.

"No... I tried to convince him, but he said he already promised to go with another friend..."

Jodi stayed looking at nothing, with just a little scowl, for about three seconds, before blinking and shake herself out of her sad mood and become her radiant self again.

"Anyway, are you two up to go look for costumes this weekend? I'm always the one responsible for the costumes, because guys cannot be trusted to do it"

"I can't tomorrow, Per... Peter is coming to my place, I'm tutoring him"

"What about you, Barbara?"

"Me? You want to hang with me?"

"Sure, why not? You're going with us too, right?"

"Yeah, but..."

"I don't have any girlfriends, will be nice to have some company for a change. And that way, you can help me choose a costume for Annie in the right size"

"Okay, just give me your number, so we can text each other"

Barbara is really cool with Jodi.

Yeah, I think they can be good friends.

Flashback over, back to present

(A/N: And now, the second thing I wrote for this fic! Sooooo happy)

SATURDAY

Annabeth opened the door to a Percy with a black eye. She and Anniebell cringed at that sight.

"It got worse."

"Well, I don't have nectar or ambrosia to heal bruises, so I guess I have to wait for time to do its thing"

And then he gave her his lopside grin. She rolled her eyes, and opened the door wider so he could come in. She heard her step-mother asking from the kitchen.

"Who is it, Annie?"

Annabeth scrunched her nose at that.

It's Annabeth!

I like Annie, can't see why you don't like it.

Not now!

Okay! But don't forget to call her mom, unless you want her to hold us for another 'mother and daughter' talk.

Both shuddered at remebering the first talk.

"Hey, mom, it's my friend who I told you would come"

When she turned to Percy, she saw both of his eyebrows raised as he mouthed the world "Mom?"

She shook her head, mouthed "Later" and turned to her step-mom, who was coming from the kitchen, drying her hands in a apron.

She approched them and offered her hand to Percy "Hi, I'm Helga, Annie's mom"

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Per... Peter"

"It's good to meet you too, Peter. And if you don't mind me asking, why do you have a black eye?"

Annabeth interjected at that.

"A boy was being bullied and Per...Peter went there to protect the boy, and the bully punched him instead."

Helga raised her eyebrows at that, and then smiled at Percy "Oh, so you are some kind of hero then?"

Oh, you have no idea.

"Anyway... mom, we are going to study, is that okay with you?"

"Of course, would you like something to eat? Cookies, maybe?"

Percy was almost beaming at that.

"I never say no to cookies"

Annabeth and Annie rolled eyes at that, and started dragging Percy to the dinning room.

"Wait, I almost forgot!"

"What is it, Percy?"

Percy went outside and came back with a bouquet of lillies. He winked when he gave them to Annabeth.

"For you, Wise Girl. I didn't have them the first time because I wasn't sure if your father was going to open the door, and wasn't sure if this would cause a good impression"

Annabeth blushed. It wasn't the first time Percy gave her flowers, but she wasn't expecting it today.

"I'm... going to put them in my room. The... dinning room is that way"

Annie?

...

What is it?

Remember when you kissed Peter?

Percy, but yes.

You asked me if it was my first kiss.

And you told me it wasn't. Was it?

No, I told you the truth, it wasn't. I was kissed before, but it was in a stupid game, so no boyfriend. 

So?

This is the first flowers I receive.

And?

And I have no idea what to think of it. I know he bought them for you, not me. Still, you're in my body. I kinda feel they're for me too. Does it makes any sense?

In a weird way, it does.

Does it bothers you?

No. As long as you don't fall in love with my boyfriend.

God, NO!

Then we're good.

***

"Percy, please, stop eating so many cookies and do your homework"

"You know, Peter's dyslexia is nothing compared to mine. The letters mix a little, but they don't seem to float out of the page. However..."

"However?"

"Math still doesn't make sense! Seriously, letters do NOT belong to math."

Annabeth just sighed.

"Do your homework, Percy."

Is he always that stupid?

Don't call my boyfriend stupid, only I can do that.

Fine, then he is not the most brilliant guy in the world.

Well, I don't call him Seaweed Brain for nothing.

That's what I don't get. Why would you date a guy that stup... a guy like him, when he is obviously not smart?

He IS smart, not for things like math, but for other things.

Such as...?

Well, I told you he is the son of Poseidon, right?

Yes, and I still think that hard to believe, but I guess I don't have much choice. Continue.

He fought so many enemies, that we lost track of the numbers. Some monsters were easy to defeat, just slash with a sword until you hit something vital and they turn into dust.

Is that how you fight?

Of course not, I'm a daughter of Athena, I always have a plan. What I meant is that you could defeat a monster like that, which is Percy's favorite MO. But some enemies are more complicated, you need a plan to defeat it. You need to know what kind of monster you are facing, its strenght, blind spots, speed. And sometimes you even need to know its parents, so you could discover its weakness. Percy doesn't like to study...

You don't say!

Shut up. As I was saying, he doesn't like to study, so sometimes he needs to fight a enemy whose weakness is hidden at its lineage or legend. Usually, I'm the one who provide him with this info, but the plans to defeat it are almost his alone. He always find a way to outsmart his enemies. He has a gift to think of the most stupid, reckless, weird, unexpected and suicidal plans, which is why they usually work. Obviously, it helps that he's so powerful, but he also should get credits for his plans.

Hum... still not convinced. Could you tell me some of his brilliant plans that were also stupid but worked?

Yes, but later, right now I need to teach Percy again, he is doing his homework all wrong.

...

Don't say anything.

I don't need to, I bet you're already thinking what I was going to say.

Around 6 p.m., Mr. Cullen came home, and saw his daughter and a boy at the dinning table, and went to introduce himself.

"Annie, sweetheart, who is this... young man?"

Oh-oh, dad doesn't like your boyfriend.

Tecnically, he probably thinks he is YOUR boyfriend.

Well,he is not, so I would appreciate if you made that clear!

Hush.

Annabeth stood up and faced her father, just as Percy.

"Hey, dad. This is my friend, Per... Peter. I'm tutoring him"

Percy offered his hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ch... Cullen, I'm Per... PeterJohnson"

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Johnson. So tell me, how exactly did my daughter was assigned to tutor you?"

Red alert, red alert, dad is getting angry! And suspicious!

I know, I know, stop screaming in my head!

Well, tecnically, it is MY head...

Really, not helping!

"He has dyslexia, so needed to be someone with patience"

She gave him her most bright and innocent smile.

"We were almost finishing our homework, so if we could go back to it..."

Her father smiled faintly "Sure, sure. I will go look for your mother"

Step-mother.

Really, again?

When her father disappeared on the stairs, she let go the breathing she was holding.

That was close.

I know.