"Don't do it, Perce."

"Do what?"

"Shoot it."

"Shoot it?"

"Yeah, that."

"Okay, I'll shoot it."

"Wait, that's not what I - Perseus Jackson!"

"Yes, Annabeth?"

"Why did you do that? You betrayed me!"

I threw my head back and laughed.

"You could have waited until anyone else was in first place, but no. You had to hit me with the blue turtle shell, the most overpowered weapon in the game."

I laughed again, before making Yoshi pop a wheelie and speeding across the finish line.

"I win, you lose! In your face, Wise Girl!"

Annabeth dropped her Wii remote and crossed her arms, leaning back into the couch. "Whatever," she grumbled.

"Oh, come on. I never win, let me celebrate!"

Her plump lips quirked up into a little smile. "Yeah, you are a loser, aren't you?"

I grinned. "But I'm an attractive loser, unlike you right now!"

Annabeth fake gasped, while Bobby and Mathew cheered from the kitchen, where they were helping wash up at Helen's request.

"You're such a bad influence, Seaweed Brain."

"Whoops." I wiggled my eyebrows. "Want to play another round? I know you're dying to beat me again."

She sighed, before nodding vigorously and grabbing her controller.

"Yeah, but we aren't playing the Koopa Cape one this time. I want to do the Delfino Square."

"Yes, Lady Wise Girl. Whatever you say, Lady Wise Girl."

She rolled her eyes, before sitting up and preparing to race again.

After dinner - which was fantastic, by the way - an idea had sparked in my head. I grabbed Annabeth's wrist and dragged her to the living room like a little kid. Then I insisted that we play some Mario Kart, like we used to when we were younger. I think that remembering all of the times we had played Wii games at her house when I was hiding from Gabe convinced her to play more. We were on the final leg of the tournament, and I was currently in first place, while Annabeth was right behind me at second.

Let's just say that that didn't last very long.

Annabeth jumped up, tossing her controller back on the couch before turning to where I was mourning my loss beside her.

"I won! I'm the winner!"

She stuck her tongue out at me and danced ridiculously around the living room, taunting me. I laughed at her, and she rolled her eyes.

Annabeth grabbed my hands and pulled me up from the couch. She then forced me to dance like an idiot with her, making me laugh harder.

"Are you sure you're okay, Wise Girl?" I teased.

"I'm absolutely perfect, Seaweed Brain! I just beat you at Mario Kart!"

A few minutes later, after several long moments of dancing, Annabeth and I found ourselves crashing onto my bed.

"That was exhausting," I pointed out.

"You work out everyday, yet you're that badly out of shape?" Annabeth raised her eyebrow.

"Hey," I whined. "I'm very much so in shape. Look at these bad boys."

I then preceded to flex my arms. 

"Annabeth, I'd like you to say hi to George," I paused to kiss my right arm, "and Martha." I kissed the other, before motioning for Annabeth to do the same.

She scrunched up her face and scrambled back. "No way!"

"Come on, you're making them feel bad!" I laughed and crawled closer.

"Percy, back off. Why are you acting so weird?"

I flopped on my back and grinned up at a perplexed Annabeth.

"I don't know. I'm just happy. Is it wrong to be happy?"

She shook her head and smiled slightly. "No, it's just unusual behavior from you. I'm just wondering, what's changed since we last hung out that made you so...giddy?"

I hesitated, my smile faltering. Should I tell her about what I had recently concluded? That I had a tiny little baby crush on her? That I absolutely adored everything about her, and wanted to have her all to myself?

I mentally scolded myself. I had just figured that out a few hours prior, and I still needed to process everything. I couldn't throw all that information at Annabeth if I barely knew what to do with it.

"I guess I'm mostly excited for my swim meet. Wednesday is only three days away, you know."

Annabeth grinned. "I know, Seaweed Brain, because I'll be there. I promise."

"You better," I playfully warned.

"Don't you worry."

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The dinner with the Chase family went by without any confrontations with Malcolm Pace the disapproving brother, which was absolutely fine by me. The family left a little after eight, meaning they stayed for a total of three hours. Once they were gone, stomachs full with delicious food, I helped return our home to its previous state before hopping in the shower.

After my shower, I fell asleep pretty quickly, but not without sadly setting my alarm, preparing myself for Monday morning.

I had pretty strange dreams, but dispelled them quickly. I just remembered a feminine voice telling me off for something I wasn't quite sure I'd even done.

Monday, 4-30-18

I woke up in a surprisingly good mood. I quickly chose an outfit - ripped dark wash skinny jeans, a classic, and a plain olive green tee shirt that my mom had bought for me.

After dressing, I sauntered to the kitchen for breakfast. I plopped two frozen blueberry waffles into the toaster before pouring myself a glass of orange juice. When the toaster finally sprung up, I happily grabbed my waffles and dressed them with butter and syrup. I dug in, at first savoring the flavors, but eventually scarfing them down as I always seemed to do.

In time, I realized I needed to get going. I brushed my teeth, shoved some black Vans on, and grabbed my bags.

"Bye, Mom," I called.

"Have a good day, sweetie. Be good!"

I laughed under my breath as I fled downstairs and sped to Annabeth's house. Luckily, I wasn't late to her place. I couldn't afford to be when you took into account how long I spent there that morning.

I knocked on the front door of the Chase residence. Helen answered the door with a worried expression on her face.

"Oh, come on in, Percy. Annabeth is having a hard morning. Why don't you go check on her? She won't tolerate any of us."

 My eyes widened and I rushed inside. I hastily dropped my stuff by the door and took my shoes off. Then I ran to Annabeth's room. I really hoped everything was okay, and that Helen had accidentally made it seem worse than it was.

I lightly tapped on the door to my best friend's bedroom.

"Go away!" her muffled voice called. "I already told you, I'm fine! I just don't want to go to school today! I don't feel good!"

"Annabeth, can I come in?"

"Is that Percy?"

"Yeah, it's me, Wise Girl. Do you still want me to leave?"

There was a moment of silence, which worried me. I let out a sigh of relief as she responded.

"No."

I turned the door knob and walked into her room, shutting the door behind me, but not letting it latch to the wall. I took in the state of everything, including Annabeth herself. It looked like a tornado had struck. Blankets were strewn across her room, as well as her outfit from the night before. Annabeth was bundled in a pile of blankets, and her face was distraught.

"What's the matter?" I asked her, even more concerned than before.

She spread her arms, and I quickly embraced her. I felt her shaking, and I wondered if she was crying. It had been a long time since I last saw her do that.

"Oh, Percy," Annabeth sobbed.

I stroked her hair. "Everything will be fine, Wise Girl. It'll all work itself out."

I hoped I was right. I didn't want to lie to my best friend.

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First of all, it's been a while, huh? How are you? Secondly, I really hope this chapter was good. Tell me, was it too cheesy? Or just enough fluff? I'm not sure. If you did like it, leave a vote and comment what your favorite Mario character is. Daisy's my gal!

Also, how'd you like George and Martha's small cameo? ;)

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P.S. Seeing as we are very close to 1k, what do you want for a bonus chapter? My suggestions are the same (either a bonus chapter about a minor character, rewrite a previous chapter in another character's perspective, or add another scene from Percy and Annabeth's childhood) but you can still comment your own ideas. Either way, comment what you would like to see from me!