The Swap

Chapter 24: Into You

Percy POV

I felt bad that I could barely interact with my friends. I was just so busy with swim practice. I wasn't being forced to do it, but I was motivated myself to practice. I really wanted to do well in swimming this year.

Yes, I wanted to make the school and city proud. But, more importantly, I wanted to make my friends, family, and myself proud.

Regardless, I barely spent time with my friends besides at lunch.

That's why I decided to skip practice for one day on Friday. The entire gang was going to play ultimate frisbee at the park. Specifically, we chose this sport because gender didn't necessarily lead to any advantages or disadvantages.

"Guys, hurry up, we have to pick teams," Thalia snapped impatiently.

We've simply been talking for the past twenty minutes. Everyone was here, but we were just distracted. Thalia was right, though. We had to start the game soon.

"All right, I can be a team captain," Thalia continued.

We were all situated in a large grass field in the middle of the park. I was excited for a day out in the sun. It wasn't that cold today, and the sun felt so good.

"Thalia, I doubt that anyone wants to face you," Jason said chuckling.

"How about we nominate Jason? Sibling on sibling," Leo commented slyly. Jason immediately glared at our friend as we cheered in agreement.

"Okay, so who's picking first?" I asked.

"Since this was Thalia's idea, she should pick first," Annabeth said. I turned to face Wise Girl, who was standing next to me.

"You just wanna get picked first, eh Wise Girl?" I asked with a smirk.

Annabeth playfully elbowed me in the gut to shut me up. She looked really pretty today. Her hair was in a ponytail, and she was in simple gym clothes. The sun was causing her hair to glow and her eyes to sparkle.

It turns out that Annabeth didn't get picked first even though Thalia went first. Clearly, Thalia was in it to win it since she picked Frank first.

Out of all of us, Frank certainly was the most athletic looking. However, he was also a giant teddy bear on the inside.

"Well, look what happened Wise Girl," I retorted slyly.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth whispered with a smile. "You're so annoying sometimes."

"You know you love me," I whispered back. Annabeth paused as she stared at me. It took me a few moments to realize what I said.

"Err, I mean, you know that you love it, my humor," I stammered.

She didn't say anything because she got picked by Thalia in the second round of picks. I sighed as she walked towards Thalia's side. Jason picked me next, so I took my place on his team.

The teams got picked pretty quickly.

It was Jason, Piper, Connor, Katie, and me vs Thalia, Annabeth, Frank, Travis, Hazel, and Leo. Since we had an odd number of people and Jason picked second, my team had one less person.

I had a feeling that Annabeth made Thalia choose first after doing the calculation.

Regardless, the game started very competitively. We kept tying each other as the frisbee soured throughout the field.

However, we started getting tired fairly quickly. Within the hour, Leo was panting like he was about to pass out.

"So, Wise Girl, despite having an extra person, how does it feel to be losing?" I asked as I ran next to her.