Sunday, 4-29-18

I was excited and nervous and feeling all of the things.

Maybe I wasn't as manly as I thought.

Annabeth and her family were arriving in less than twenty minutes, and I was pumped. I really wanted to have a good, hearty conversation with her. I missed her. She had been busy most of the week, off doing something she didn't bother to share with me. I was curious about that too, but I decided I wouldn't press her too much.

I dressed in plain black skinny jeans and a white tee shirt with a black Nike swoosh on it. I didn't even touch my hair, knowing that Annabeth would have her say on it no matter what. I put on a pair of blue socks with fish on them to complete my attire and wandered to the kitchen to assist my mom.

I had forgiven her for practically mortifying me Friday night. To be honest, she didn't even do anything wrong. I was just acting like a sensitive little boy.

"Hey, Percy. You look nice."

"Thanks, Mom. You too."

She was dressed in a pair of medium wash jeans and a nice blue blouse that brought out her eyes.

"Thank you, sweetie."

"Need any help?" I asked.

"Could you toss the salad for me?"

I nodded and set to work.

I quickly finished my assignment and plopped on the couch, suddenly anxious. Not only was Annabeth coming, but also her family. Many of her family members disliked me. Ahem, Malcolm. I wasn't really sure why, although I did recall one instance where I was definitely not so pleasant with Annabeth's older half brother.

I had just gotten out of my final class of the day, my final class of the school year. I rushed out of the class and down the hall to my locker. It was eighth grade, the last year of middle school, which meant we still had those measly lockers, and not the big lockers that high schoolers got.

I finished cleaning my locker out and stuffed everything into my backpack. I shut the door and turned to search for my best friend, Annabeth.

I didn't have to search for long. She had just burst out of the girls bathroom in the eighth grade wing, and she didn't look happy.

I ran over to her.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I'm sure it's fine," she said in a small voice.

"No, what is it? Tell me, please."

Instead of answering in, she did something that really surprised me. She blinked back tears and put out her arms.

I stepped forward and hugged her. Butterflies started turning my stomach into a mosh pit

"Hey, it's...it's okay." I patted her back.

I was aware of everything in the wing. I felt like I could read the posters all the way at the end of the hall. Annabeth's hair smelt like lemon soap. She was shivering.

"He might be right," she muttered. "I'm disobeying everything I've been taught. But I don't know what else to do. I need you. It just feels right."

"Who?" I managed. "Who is he?"

"My brother. He thinks I need to stay away from...all of you people."

Behind me, somebody cleared his throat.

It was Annabeth's half brother, Malcolm. The guy we were just talking about, I couldn't help but notice. His face was bright red. "Um, sorry," he said. "Your dad said to come find you."

I stepped away from Annabeth. "Uh, we were just talking."

Malcolm stared at me. "Okay." He frowned. "What about?"

I stepped closer to him, hoping to intimidate the freshman. "Nosy siblings," I said.

"You would know all about people getting into other's business, huh, Jackson?" he retorted.

I was furious. "Maybe you should watch what comes out of that mouth of yours."

"Well, maybe you should - "

"Tell Dad I'll be right there," Annabeth said, and Malcolm left in a hurry.

I hadn't meant to be so forward with Malcolm. I was blind with fury, solely focusing on protecting my best friend.

Before I could reminisce over any other memories, I heard a knock on the door.

"I've got it!" I called.

I jumped from the couch and rushed to open the door. I revealed a family with evident mixed emotions. The twins were smiling broadly, the adults were in a deep conversation, Malcolm was pestering Annabeth about something, and she was standing with her arms crossed.

"Hi guys, come on in!" I said.

Annabeth's negative expression morphed into a smile. "Hey, Percy!"

I grinned back. "What's up?"

I stepped away from the door and allowed the family into my home. I led everybody to the living room, seeing as Mom wasn't quite finished in the kitchen yet.

"I can't believe I survived the trip here," Annabeth mumbled, plopping beside me.

"Why, did your brothers do something?"

She sighed and leaned back. "They always have done something. But yeah, they were being unnecessarily irritating. All three of them."

She took the time to glare at each of her siblings. They all recoiled, as anyone in their right mind should do when met with Annabeth's piercing grey eyes.

I chuckled. "Oh, leave them alone. I'm sure they didn't mean it."

Annabeth directed her scary gaze to me. I held my ground, shooting a look at her.

"Yeah, yeah. It's not that big of a deal."

I smiled. "So, how was your run with Luke yesterday?"

Her eyes dimmed. "Oh, it was fine."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "You sure?"

She nodded.

"Okay."

Just then, my mom rushed to the living room.

"Hello, every one! Dinner is ready, go find a seat."

Seeing as our typical table only sat six people, we had to press another table against it to accommodate for the extra three people. That way we could fit ten people, giving us an extra place.

On the long side of the table, seated with their backs to the door, was Matthew, Malcolm, Helen, and Frederick. On Frederick's right sat Paul. On the other long side of the table, my mom sat across from Frederick, then sat Annabeth, me, and finally Bobby.

"Before we grab our meals," Mom began, "I'd like to thank you all for taking the time to come here. Now let's dig in!"

Everybody grabbed their servings of lasagna, salad, and garlic bread. We also poured ourselves drinks, some soda, some water, and some had juice.

I scooped into my lasagna and began eating. As always, Mom's cooking was wonderful.

The adults had their own chatter, but the twins began bickering almost instantly about what juice flavor was the best.

I laughed under my breath and turned to Annabeth, who was on my right. She rolled her eyes at her little brothers.

"So, I have a swim meet Wednesday. You're coming, right?"

Annabeth nodded. "Yup. I will make sure I'm free. Who else is coming, that you know of?"

"Well, Mom and Paul should make it. Grover said he's coming, and Calypso too. Rachel isn't sure yet, and neither is Beckondorf or Silena."

She nodded. "Sounds good. Um, speaking of swim, sorry I haven't made it to your practice in a while. I've been pretty busy."

"With what?" I asked curiously.

When Annabeth recoiled, I almost cursed. I told myself not to press her too much tonight. Why couldn't I listen?

"Oh, nothing important. School stuff, home stuff, a combination of the two."

I nodded. "No worries. I'll be happy as long as you make it to my meet. Plus, Caly has been watching anyway, so it's isn't like I'm lonely."

She frowned. "Are you guys good friends now?"

I shrugged. "You could say that. We hang out quite often. After Mom met her, she told me that Caly...you know, likes me. I'm not so sure, though. I think she thinks of me as a friend, to be honest."

"That's good." She paused, sending me a look. "Right?"

"Yeah, definitely." I nodded. "I really don't have those types of feelings for her."

Annabeth smiled. "Good."

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First of all, I want to say that the flash back scene was modeled after a part from Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians; The Battle of the Labyrinth, chapter four, page 79. Also, a reminder that none of these characters are mine, just the plot.

Anyway, sorry this was kind of slower and boring. I wanted to give you guys something though, so I hope it was good enough.

Leave a vote of you enjoyed, and comment your favorite PJO book! Mine is number four, The Battle of the Labyrinth.