Woodside Academy (Percabeth AU)

Chapter - 18 Dude, You Need a Tutor!

Annabeth's POV

September 4

     I sat down in geography, mentally exhausted. Something I noticed in my few weeks at Woodside, school is a lot more draining than homeschool. It's probably the social aspect.

     I dropped my bag beside me on the ground, then dug through it to get my books out. As I did, I felt somebody sit next to me. I had a feeling it was Percy, since lately he seems to take a liking to sitting beside me.

     Sure enough, as I straightened up and plopped my books onto my desk, Percy was beside me. He had his supplies sprawled out in front of him as well, but he was busy talking to one of his friends beside him.

     The teacher passed out the test we had today and Percy turned to me to hand me the paper. I reached out the grab it, and he gave me a wink so quick I thought I imagined it.

     I wrote my name up at the top, then began scanning the questions. My mind answered each question as I read, and I was pleased to know I would breeze through this.

     My pencil scratched down the answers one by one, and I barely even had to stop to think about my answers. When I was done with the exam, I stood up quietly as to not make a sound, then made my way down to the teachers desk. He gave me a quizzical look, as if he didn't believe I could have finished so early, but I ignored him.

     As I walked behind Percy to get to my desk next to him, I saw he was on the third question. I sat down and watched him out of the corner of my eye as I began reading my book. His face twisted in confusion as he struggled, and I felt pained for him. I wish I could help, but during a test I couldn't.

     He finished and turned in his test just minutes before the clock tower bell rang and dismissed us to our last class.

***

     After art, the students crowded together at the door as they shoved through one another to leave. I lingered behind beside Piper as she talked to Jason, while Percy stood by Jason. Percy and I weren't involved in Piper and Jason's conversation, and after a few seconds we drifted behind the two and stood together.

     "So," I started slowly. "How was the geography test?" It was a stupid question, but the best conversation starter I could come up with.

     I noticed Percy's shoulder sag a bit as he answered my question. "It went about as well as expected."

     Deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt, I tried for a smile. "You got a..B?" I asked hopefully.

     Percy didn't show any hint in his facial expression as he slung his bag off his shoulder and into his hand. He opened it up then searched through the contents, before finally pulling out the crumpled paper. He held it out in front of him, frowning at the front page, then handed it to me. It had a red 43% written in the top left corner.

     "Oh," was all I said as I flipped through the pages and looked at each question that had been marked wrong. When I was done, I handed the paper back to him. Percy stuffed it back into his bag, beginning to walk out of the class behind the other students. I followed beside him.

     "It's not that bad Percy, you just need to study more." I told him, but then I realized studying for him wasn't as easy as it was for me.

     He snorted beside me as we made our way into the courtyard. "Yeah, 'not that bad', and that's coming from the perfect student. You'd probably have a stroke if you got a grade like mine." His words were so bitter, I felt awful. But I also felt defensive all of a sudden.