Troublemaker

Chapter 14

Percy

Wednesday, after a hellish day of school, I met Annabeth outside the front doors. She was talking to a girl in the grade below ours. The girl looked to have been crying. Her dark skin was bright with tears as Annabeth comforted her.

"Hey, Annabeth," I said quietly. Annabeth said goodbye to the girl. "Who was that?"

"That's Hazel Levesque. Some other kids were bullying her, so I put a stop to it."

I smiled. No matter how broken Annabeth was, she thought of others first. I grabbed her hand and started to lead her off school property.

"Where are we going, Perce?"

"We are going to the coffee shop across the street."

I didn't let go of Annabeth's hand until we got there. I pushed open the door and breathed in the smell of baked goods. "Here we are."

I offered Annabeth a seat at a small booth for two and headed to make orders. When I got back, she was staring at her phone in frustration.

"What's wrong?"

"It's Mason. I don't know how, but he got my number. He keeps bugging me," Annabeth complained. I snatched her phone from her hand.

"That guy doesn't deserve you," I said, blocking his number, after sending him an unkind message.
Annabeth rolled her eyes playfully. "I could've done that, Seaweed Brain."

"Yeah, yeah. Let me be a good boyfriend, okay?"

I comprehended what I just said. Annabeth and I both blushed, and I thought about how stupid I was.

"Well," Annabeth said after an awkward silence. "You are a pretty good boyfriend."

I scoffed. "Pretty good? I'm amazing!"

"Sure, Kelp Face," she said, leaning back with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Kelp Face? Excuse me?"

We had the weirdest conversation. An hour later, we walked out hand in hand, both thinking up names for each other. She had dozens, while I was as original as a rock. When we got to her house, she gave me a hug and slipped inside, looking back once.

Annabeth

The next day, I was stopped in the hallway by one of the preps I had been offered to join earlier in the year. Her name was Allyson. She was sort of pretty. She would be prettier if she wore less make up and was kinder to others. Plus, she was the girl that made fun of Hazel.

"Annie! Haven't seen you around in a while! Anyways, my parents are out this weekend on some anniversary thing, so I wanted to invite you to my party. Your hot boyfriend can come too," she nudged me with her shoulder, winking. "We have extra bedrooms."

I blushed. "Um, Percy and I aren't gonna have sex."

"You should, but isn't he a little depressing sometimes? I heard he listens to goth music and prays to Satan. Weird, right?"

I scoffed. "Where the hell did you hear that? He's not goth. Well, he doesn't pray to Satan."

"Well that's the rumor. And I heard you two were big. Percy's hot, he should talk more."

"That's a stupid rumor. And, I don't know about the party. I'm not big on socializing."

"I don't really care," Alyson said. "You're pretty hot, and you could land a guy easily."

"I'm with Percy."

"So? He's just another fish in the sea. After you're done with it, you can go back to the ocean."

"I would never do that to Percy."

"Your choice. Come or not. It's just a house party. With the whole school."

Alyson strutted off to the girl's bathroom.