Friday, 4-20-18

When I woke up the next day, I had very mixed emotions. I was kind of sad because I had to go to school, but it was a Friday, which meant I got a break over the weekend.

I struggled out of bed and straightened my covers. I stumbled over to my closet and chose a pair of black ripped jeans and a Led Zeppelin tee shirt. I quickly dressed and attempted to fix my bed head. That didn't go well. I grabbed a pair of socks and swung my bags over my shoulder.

I entered the kitchen and made myself a bowl of Captain Crunch. I ate that slowly, savoring the flavors. Once I finished I washed my bowl and rushed to the bathroom to brush my teeth. My mom was just leaving the bathroom.

"Hey, you look nice today," I commented.

She smiled. "Thank you, Percy. I have a meeting with a publisher today."

"Good luck."

As soon as I finished getting ready, I left and started the short walk to Annabeth's house. I was running a little late, so I hoped I didn't make the both of us late for first period.

I made it to her house at about the same time I usually would, because I sprinted down her street. I knew how much she cared about academics, so I didn't want to make her late. I knocked on her door, and Malcolm surprisingly opened it.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," I panted. "Is Annabeth ready?"

"I was planning on bringing her to school. She's in the kitchen if you want to talk to her."

"Yeah, okay."

I nudged my way past him and found Annabeth sitting at the counter, eating her oatmeal.

"Hey," I said.

"Oh, hi Perce. I'll be ready in a minute." She began scarfing down the oatmeal, making me chuckle.

"Malcolm said he was driving you. Do you want to?" I asked wearily.

"No way. I'm not spending more time with him then I need to right now."

"What happened?" I asked, confused. Malcolm and Annabeth were both close in age and in likes, so they had always gotten along. They rarely fought.

"Last night he gave me the talk." She shuddered.

"What? Why?"

"It's actually a pretty funny story. I'll tell you while we walk. Ready?"

I nodded my head. "Let's get going."

We exited the Chase household. Once we turned off of Annabeth's street, she sighed.

"So, last night, the reason I couldn't be on the phone anymore was because Malcolm was waiting for me by my door. He first said that I could tell him anything and he would still accept me, and that he just wanted me to be safe and happy. Then he asked me who I was talking to. I told him it was you, and he got all scared and concerned. I asked what was wrong, and - get this - he asked me if we had that kind of relationship."

My eyes just about popped out of my head.

"He said that?! That little - "

"There's more," she stated, smiling sarcastically. "He then told me that I needed to be careful with you, because he didn't want me being hurt mentally or physically."

I was speechless. I was never great friends with Malcolm, but I would have never thought that he had such negative opinions of me.

"What's he think I can do to you? If I ever tried anything bad like that - which I wouldn't, because that's just wrong - you would literally murder me!"

"Right? He has zero faith in me! But, after I explained that we were just friends and would never be more, he left me alone. I think he wanted to drive me this morning to make up with me." She paused and looked over at me. "Why does he think you'd ever hurt me that way, Seaweed Brain?"

I blushed at the thought of being with Annabeth romantically, but shrugged.

"Your guess is as good as mine. You know we've never gotten along greatly, but he knows I would never hurt you. You mean the world to me."

I smiled at her, and she smiled back. We walked the rest of the way to school in silence, but did make it to first period in time, albeit barely.

"Nice to see you've taken the time to come to school, Mr. Jackson," Paul - sorry, Mr. Blofis - bellowed.

Annabeth scurried to her seat, but I decided to mess around before joining her.

"Yeah, yeah," I mumbled with a smirk on my face. "'School's important,' they say. 'You learn new things everyday,' they say."

"Who's been lying to you?" he asked, faking concern.

I laughed. "Morning, Mr. Blofis."

"Same to you. Please, find your seat."

I sauntered over to Annabeth and sat beside her.

"Remind me why you like to sit in front," I asked her quietly while Paul began attendance.

"You're about 30% more likely to learn and comprehend what the teacher is talking about the closer you sit to them," she explained.

"That's why your so smart?" I asked jokingly.

Annabeth smirked. "It's mostly genetic."

I laughed, and Paul shot me a look. I smiled apologetically, and he began his lesson.

The first half of the day flew by, and soon enough it was lunch time, the best time. I walked with my friend Rachel to our usual table, because we shared physics the period before.

Annabeth was already at our table, seated across from Grover, another of our good friends. I had met him during sixth grade, just a little while before I met Annabeth. He had helped me stay at a prestigious private school, Yancy Academy, throughout the year, although I did not end up being invited back.

"Hey, Percy," he greeted.

"Hey, man."

I sat beside Annabeth, and Rachel sat across from me, on Grover's left.

"So, what time do you want me to come over later?" I asked Annabeth.

"We can just go directly from school, if that works for you. Does it?"

"I have practice again, so you would either have to stay late or I could head over by myself."

"I'll wait with you. You can stay for dinner too, if you don't have plans." She smiled.

I looked at our two table mates, about to ask a question, when I noticed their odd expressions. Grover's mouth formed a perfect o-shape, and Rachel had both of her eyebrows raised very high.

"What?" I asked self consciously.

Rachel smirked. "So you guys have that kind of relationship now?"

Annabeth smacked the table. "Why does everyone think that lately? It's just homework!"

I laughed. "Both times, too."

"You guys are all dirty minded freaks," she exclaimed.

"Says Miss I-do-it-from-the-time-school-ends-to-dinnertime," Rachel pointed out sarcastically.

"Shut up, Rachel," I defended. "Anyway, I was going to ask if you all wanted to come over tomorrow for some sort of movie hangout. We watched Finding Nemo last night and it put me in a movie mood."

"Well, I'm always in a movie mood," Grover stated.

Annabeth laughed. "I'll probably be there. Helen is taking the twins to the fair at the park, and I don't want to be anywhere near them."

"Great." I smiled, before looking over at Rachel. "How about you?"

"I don't know if my dad will let me go. You know how he feels about you, Perce."

"I get it," I told her. Rachel's dad had always been wary of me, because, to put it frankly, I was pretty poor and the Dare family was definitely not. Rachel and I were still good friends, though, so we hung out when we could.

Grover and Rachel began their own conversation about deforestation, a topic I wasn't very informed on. I looked over at Annabeth. She had her eyebrows furrowed and a small downturn in the edge of her mouth. I drew my eyes back up to her own.

"What's wrong?" I asked her quietly. She just shook her head. I placed my right hand on her knee and squeezed it lightly before I continued my meal.

I hoped everything was fine, and I was concerned. Annabeth always told me absolutely everything.

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Another day, another upload! How do you like daily chapters? I might not be able to post again tomorrow, but most definitely Friday. Please leave a vote and comment if you enjoyed!