Monday, 5-14-18

The following week flew by in a blur. I took so many tests and exams, and I'm pretty sure I passed a grand total of three.

It was the last Monday of school, two days before the final day. We were half way through last period, gym with Coach Hedge.

"Alright, since this is one of your last classes with me, I'll let you cupcakes have the last thirty minutes to yourself. Just try not to break anything."

I chuckled, searching the swarm of orange shirts for Annabeth. I spotted her chatting to one of the Stoll brothers, although I couldn't tell which from the distance.

I sauntered over to her.

"I need you to be serious with me, Travis," she said. "Is Luke okay?"

For a moment, I almost did a 180 turn. I was in a good mood and did not feel like being grumpy. Deciding to support my best friend, I continued my path.

I threw my arm across her shoulders and grinned. "Hey, Wise Girl. What are you talking about?"

"Luke" she murmured. "He spent a week in a holding cell before his trial. He has to take counseling for at least a year and is under house arrest with heavy super vision for the rest of the month. I can't visit him because I'm a minor and my parents won't accompany me. Travis can, though, because they're related."

I nodded. "So, I'm assuming he can't be too bad. He could have gotten jail time."

"Yeah, he got out easy," Travis agreed, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Well, they're organizing a capture the flag game outside, Want to play?" I asked.

"Sounds fun," Annabeth said, nodding.

Travis smirked. "Have you seen my brother?" he asked.

"Yep. By the dodge balls."

"Great." Travis rushed off.

I laughed. The Stoll brothers were always up to something.

"What team are you going to join?" I asked.

"Red."

I scrunched up my nose. "Ew. I'm on blue. That's where all the cool kids are."

She laughed. "We'll see."

We joined up on each side. Some people on my team were the Stolls, Rachel, Silena, and Beckondorf. The red team had all of the smart kids, as well as Clarisse la Rue and Caly. Not that she wasn't smart, but she wasn't a nerd like Annabeth.

Kidding! Great, she's going to kill me...

The blue team hid our flag behind a tree in the back corner of our territory. All of the girls on our team volunteered to guard it. Most of the boys were on the offensive side, including me, except for a few wanderers.

A scrawny kid named Castor blew the whistle and the game began.

I met up with Beckondorf by a small stream trickling across the boundary. "Ready?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Yep. I'll check the left corner, you've got the right, and we'll meet down the center."

I sprinted off, three dodgeballs nestled in the crook of my arm. I scoured the edge of the red's territory, coming across a couple of them who I quickly took care of. The way we played at Goode was like capture the flag and dodgeball combined. I couldn't technically throw balls at people when they were on their side, but if I caught the ball they threw, they had to go to the "jail" and wait for one of their members to manage to release them. The same thing would happen if you got hit with a ball on the other team's side.

I breathed in sharply at the sight of Annabeth standing fiercely in front of a large monument of boulders. The flag must be their somewhere, I thought.

I tiptoed over, trying not to make any noise. I was a few feet away from her, ready to throw the ball as a distraction. I grasped a ball, stepped back, and crunch! A twig snapped in half, causing enough noise to alert Annabeth to my position.

She whirled around, a smug smile dancing on her lips. "I knew you would come out. Can't resist it."

I rolled my eyes, trying to think of a plan. The only things I could do were either running or catching the ball, and both were very risky.

"The flag isn't even here," Annabeth said.

I narrowed my eyes. "Right, because that makes sense."

She shrugged and crossed her arms. "Believe what you want Seaweed Brain."

I scanned her body. She didn't seem to have any dodgeballs hidden, so I booked it. I was just about to turn and hide behind a tree when I felt a ball hit me in the small of my back.

"Gotcha, Perce!" Annabeth cheered.

I groaned, holding my hands behind my head and trudging to the jail. By the time someone managed to free me, the red team had won.

"Yes!" Annabeth shouted. "In your face, Jackson!"

I laughed, holding out my hand. "Good game. Where was your flag?"

"Like I'm going to tell you. That's the official hiding location of the red team now."

"Alright. After school, want to grab something to eat?"

"Sounds great."

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"I can't believe that you ordered a blue ice cream," Annabeth said, laughing.

I shrugged, eating a bit of my ice cream cone. "The lady at the window said she would make it, so why not?"

She rolled her eyes. "That girl was totally into you, Perce. She probably thought you would like her if she did what you wanted."

I wiggled my eyebrows and grinned. "Who wouldn't be into this, that's the question?"

"You're teeth are blue."

I stuck my tongue out, making Annabeth laugh.

"You really think that girl liked me? Because, I know that I always joke that I'm such a catch, but that's odd."

She shrugged. "From my personal perspective as a fellow girl, she was already planning your wedding."

"And how would you know what that looks like, Miss Chase?"

She blushed and smacked my arm, making me laugh.

We finished our ice cream and were ready to go home. I told Annabeth to wait a moment, before jogging back to the window where the girl was still waiting on people. I waited for the person in front of me to get their order, then stepped up.

I smiled. "Hey."

"Hi," the girl said.

"My name's Percy. What's yours?"

"Reyna."

"Well, Reyna, I have something to tell you. You seem like a great girl. I don't want you to change for anybody. You're perfect."

She blushed, toying with the end of her long, dark braid. "O-okay. Thank you, Percy."

"No problem."

I flashed her one final grin before running back to Annabeth, who was waiting by the trash cans.

"What did you do?" she asked.

"I told her to stay herself," I summarized, adding quietly, "something we could all learn from."

I didn't need to become braver for Annabeth. I needed to go for it, but I didn't need to change my entire demeanor. If other people saw me as an awesome, cool guy, so be it. I wanted Annabeth to like me, not some golden boy.

I wanted Annabeth to feel like I was her everything, just how she was mine.

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I added a bit of Reyna, bc she makes an appearance in Sea of Monsters, so why not? Hopefully this wasn't too short. I thought it was pretty cute, tbh. If you liked it, leave a vote, and comment your favorite game to play during gym class! I'd say Evan's Tag, which is an every man for himself type of dodgeball with boundaries and ish.