"It would make more since with the chicken coming first." Annabeth protests, picking at her lunch sitting on the table in front of her.

"But where did the chicken come from? Shouldn't it be the egg?" Frank is backing up his side of the argument.

I quickly butt in, on the side of the chicken first. "But who would sit on the egg, to you know, hatch it."

Jason asks, "But where would the chicken come from? Like one day, poof, there is a chicken?"

"Where did this conversation come from?" Luke comments, looking up from his phone for the first time all of lunch.

I shake my head. "I don't know. Weren't we talking about that Chemistry test?"

"I have no idea." Piper says, laughing. "We are insane."

"Maybe." I say, getting laughs from everyone around the table. I begin to clean up my lunch. "I need to study for that Math test next period. Anyone else want to come?"

Annabeth stands, pulling her backpack over her shoulder. "I'm coming. You'll need help." She gives me a smile, before throwing her trash away.

We say goodbye to our friends as we head down the hallway towards the library. "What do you need help on?" Annabeth asks me.

"All of it."

She laughs at me, "You are going to fail."

I nudge her, "Great friend you are."

"The best." She replies while giggling. Once we reach the library, we spent the next twenty minutes cramming for the upcoming math test.

~

"I failed that. So bad." I tell Annabeth, while walking out of the classroom.

She laughs. "I think I did well."

"You always do well."

She pushes me, causing me to stumble. "Shut up."

I chuckle at her. Before I could say anything, someone cut me off. "Aw. Look at you two." Ethan says, approaching us, with his little gang.

"Go away, Ethan." Annabeth grumbles, walking away quickly.

"Now, what fun would that be?" He steps quickly in front of us, cutting us off.

I am beginning to get very annoyed with this kid. Well, I always do not like him, but I thought he was going to leave us alone. Guess he changed his mind. "Cut it out, Ethan. Do you want to go through this again?"

"What again?" He asks, raising an eyebrow, clearly mocking me. It took everything for me not to punch him in the face at that very second. Instead, I give him a look, sort of saying 'cut it out or I will cut you.' He didn't leave though. Instead he walked closer to Annabeth, getting up in her face, playing with her hair like he did the first time. "How about you and me hook up some time?" I am not about to let him lay a hand on Annabeth. The anger built up inside of me, as I took a step closer to them. Annabeth's eyes connect with mine, saying 'Don't'. I can see that she wants to take care of this herself. She gives me a warning look, telling me what she was about to do. Before I respond, Ethan is on his butt on the ground, with Annabeth holding his shirt, her fist hovering above his face.

"I think I said leave us alone." I let a small laugh escape my lips. I immediately stop as soon as I get glares from Ethan's friends. Finally, Annabeth let go of Ethan and walks back towards me.

"Damn girl." I give her a high five while taking one last look at Ethan. His 'gang' was trying to help him up, but he kept swatting their hands away, getting up on his own. That has to embarrass him, just getting beat up by a girl.

~

The final bell rang, signaling that school is over for the day. We all pack up and Annabeth and I start on our way home. She is ranting about some teacher that did not give her a proper grade. I think it is an A minus, but with Annabeth, an A minus is like an F. I have been getting really close to Annabeth and she seems really great. I know this next move would be a long shot but I went for it anyway.

"Hey Annabeth?"

She stops rambling and looks up at me. "Yeah Perc?"

I rub the back of my neck. 1. 2. 3. "Do you wanna come over to my place for dinner? My step dad will be out tonight. And my moms shift ends early, so usually she cooks something really nice, and-" I do not even notice I am talking that fast. My mouth is dry and I feel my face warm up. I guess Annabeth noticed, since she is giggling at me.

She holds her hand up to stop me. "Of course I'd like to come over. Let me just text my dad."

I smile, as I can feel my face return to its normal color and I let out a huge breath I did not even now I had. "Great. My apartments right up here."

~

"Mom! Mom! Are you home?" I shout, opening the door. There is no answer. I turn back to Annabeth. "She's not home yet. You can just leave your stuff at the door." She nods as she takes off her backpack and shoes and I lead her over to the couch.

"Where does your mom work?" She asks, pulling her feet up onto the couch under her, and resting her arm on the back of the couch, facing me.

"Just a shop down the street. Yours?"

"My dad is a history buff and my step-mom, I don't know, and don't really care."

I have noticed she is always like this, trashing on her step-mom. "Why don't you like your step-mom?"

She shakes her head, looking down. "I don't know. I have always hated her. She just sort of swooped in after my mom died. I just liked it a lot more with just me and my dad. We were getting better, after she died. And now there are three others in the house and I don't like it. I feel like he is trying to replace mom."

"Your mom? She died when?"

I can see tears forming in Annabeth's eyes, knowing I have hit a soft spot. "When I was nine. Sh-she had cancer. Didn't tell us, just let it happen. Like she wanted to leave us. I feel like she was just protecting me by not telling me. But, I think I was old enough to be told my own mother was dying. Right?" I nod, not really wanted to say anything, or even knowing what to say. I want to hold her, tell her its okay, but I know I can not. That would be out of my limit. She wipes her tears, laughing at herself. "God, I am a mess."

I shake my head, "No you aren't."

She smiles. "Thank you, Percy." We were both quiet for a couple of minutes. "Percy? Don't you have a step-dad?"

I nod. Gabe is the last thing I want to talk about with Annabeth. I do not want her to know. It will ruin everything. But, I am not going to show that. "Yeah, I do. Gabe." She nods, telling me to continue if I want to. "My dad left when I was a baby. He abandoned us. We didn't have much support and mom met Gabe, so yeah."

She laughs, lightening the mood a bit. "It seems like you don't like him very much?"

I shake my head, laughing. "Not much, but I deal." I am quiet for a minute, getting serious. "How about we stop talking about this?"

"Yeah."

Just then, my mom walks in, carrying grocery bags. I quickly get up to grab them from her. She spots Annabeth on the couch. "Percy? Who is this?"

I put down the bags on the counter. "Mom, this is Annabeth. Annabeth, my mom."

Annabeth gets up to shake my mom's hand. "Hi Ms. Jackson."

My mom is smiling, "Call me Sally, dear. Are you staying for dinner?"

I nod, answering for her. "Yeah mom, if that's fine?"

Mom nods, "Of course, sweetheart. I am making spaghetti."

"Need any help?" I ask. Annabeth nods, clearly willing to help. My mom smiles and shows us the recipe for the sauce. Annabeth and I begin to cut the tomatoes into smaller pieces as my mom chops the onions.

Once we get everything chopped up, and the sauce cooking on the stove, mom leaves Annabeth and I to watch it. I continue to stir the sauce while Annabeth asks, "Is this a normal thing for you guys?"

I do not look up at her, just continued to stir. "Only when Gabe is out. Otherwise, its usually take out, or leftovers."

Annabeth nods, "Usually, my step-mom cooks or she brings something home. I usually eat up in my room though." I feel bad for Annabeth, never really getting the family experience anymore. I bet when her mom was still alive, they had nights like this. I always have my mom who tries to make it good for me. Just Gabe has always been, well Gabe.

The sauce seems ready, so I hold up the spoon and tasted myself. I hold it out for Annabeth to taste as well. She smiles and nods, "It's ready." I turn off the stove and go to get my mom as Annabeth set the table.

We all sit down at our wooden table, made for four people. About half way through dinner my mom smiles at Annabeth. "You need to come help us cook more often."

Annabeth smiles back, looking at me then my mom. "Thank you, Ms., I mean Sally. I'd like that." I smile at Annabeth as I finish up my dinner. My gaze shifts to Annabeth, her curly blond hair fell across her shoulders in a messy braid. From the moment I met her, I knew she was one of the most beautiful women I have ever met. I was not going to tell her. She looks over at me, raising an eyebrow. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" I ask, not even aware I am looking at her that long.

"Like that!" She says, smiling.

"I always look at you like that! I have no other look!" I can here my mom chuckling in the background. Annabeth simply shakes her head, letting out a laugh. I finish up my dinner, grabbing the plates and taking them to the sink. Annabeth helps me wash them, flicking water up in my face every couple of minutes, and I will flick some back at her, but it never got more than that. Watching her, I begin to develop a feeling in my stomach, sort of warm, but fuzzy. I simply put it aside as eating too much for dinner and continue my work.

~

It is almost ten p.m. and I am walking Annabeth home. We are about a block from her apartment, and since it is mid-September, it is starting to get chilly. I wrap my coat tighter around myself, as I avoid stepping in rain puddles on the side walks. Annabeth keeps nudging me, resulting in me giving her a nudge back. This action just goes on until we got to her apartment building. Being a gentlemen, I walk her to her door, like I would if we did not live in New York City.

I find out her apartment is, Apartment 3C. She stops in front of her door and faces me.

"Thank you, Percy. That was nice." She smiles at me, and pulls a piece of hair out of her face, looking at me with her beautiful grey eyes. She looks so perfect, I cannot help but stare at her. That feeling returns as I look at her. Every instinct in me is saying one thing and I start to act on it, obviously not thinking. I smile at her, as I reach my hand up to her cheek, twirling her hair around my finger. I know this was wrong. This will ruin our friendship, but I cannot stop myself. It is as if someone is possessing me to do this. I feel myself leaning in, my gaze shifting to her lips. She seems to be doing the same. Do I want to kiss her? I have no idea. Should I kiss her? I don't know that either. I'm not an expert on women. Maybe I should have planned this out more. But aren't these sort of things supposed to be spontaneous? I can feel her breath on my lips as I get closer. I am going to do it. I am going to kiss her.

"Annabeth?" I hear a voice next to me, making me jump back. I look up to see a tall, older man, who I assume is Annabeth's dad. I feel my face redden, as I rub the back of my neck, looking down.

"Dad!" Annabeth exclaimed. Yep, that's him. She steps away from me and next to her dad. "Uh. Bye Percy. I had a lot of fun. Thank you."

I nod, giving them both a weak smile. I lift up my hand into a small wave, as I back up slowly, "Bye. See you tomorrow." Annabeth smiles to me, as the door closed. I turn around and slam my head into the wall.

~

[EDITED]

Hehe sorry. Y'all probably hate me right now. *evil laugh*

Bet you didn't expect one today. I should really study. Yep I am studying. Now.

Next chapter-idk later this week

P.S. I like comments that don't JUST say "update"

Lucy