Flower Food || [Percy Jackson x OC] || [🎵 included]

Chapter 12: My Pre-Algebra Teacher Tries to Vaporize Me Back

"Try again, Percy. Mi chiamo Percy, piacere di conoscerti."

"Mi chiamo Percy, pi... piacere..."

"Almost. Hera's sake, Cal, stop giving him strawberries. That's not how psychology works and you know it!"

"Shut up, Will, her strawberries are awesome. Can I have more, Song-ee?"

"Is this seriously what you're going to do the entire ride to Manhattan?" Annabeth asked from the front of the car, where she eyed the three of them in the rearview mirror.

Percy glanced up from his attempts to give Will a noogie, and Song-ee only looked slightly embarrassed as she pulled back from trying to feed Percy another sneaky strawberry.

"Your teaching sucks," Annabeth said to Will, who gaped in offense. "And he's right, Calli, you should only reward for good behavior, not bad."

Song-ee squirmed in her seat and muttered, "he's only a beginner, I should at least pat him on the back for trying..."

"And you."

Percy offered a nervous smile when Annabeth's eyes narrowed and glared at him.

"Your pronunciation is trash and so is your ability to conjugate your verbs," she said snippily. "Will's already told you at least three times how to conjugate to be but you still don't get it."

Argus, who had been stuck with them the past hour or so because of being saddled with the job of driving them, blinked a dozen or so of his eyes sluggishly as Song-ee shook her head and Will sighed.

"He's doing pretty okay for a newbie, Annabeth," Grover bleated.

The satyr was the most unfortunate one of them all and was riding along in the trunk of the SUV. He seemed okay with it for the most part, though that also might have something to do with Song-ee tossing him flowers every few minutes to keep him happy.

Even Argus, who never spoke, blinked in affirmation.

Annabeth crossed her arms and huffed. "Whatever. You're supposed to be a demigod, seaweed brain. Language should come naturally."

Percy frowned and let go of Will.

He was a pretty tolerant guy when it came to people he genuinely liked, but there was no denying the rock of annoyance that had formed in the pit of his stomach. He didn't look down even when he felt Song-ee's hand slide into his own and squeeze, a silent message for him to calm down, but he only held her hand back and demanded, "why do you hate me so much?"

The air in the car suddenly became tense and awkward, but Percy didn't care.

Grover let out a soft bleat of worry and Will exchanged a nervous look with Song-ee, but Percy ignored them all and could only focus on Annabeth, who refused to make eye contact in the mirror as he glared.

"I don't know what your problem is but it's annoying. First you set me up as bait during capture the flag, then you practically demand I take you on this quest, and that was after you accused me of stealing the lightning bolt!"

Annabeth looked surprised at the exclamation, and she only got to open her mouth before Percy continued to spew out, "yeah, I figured it out! You seriously thought that everything was my fault? News flash, I'm just a kid like you! I didn't even know who my father was until literally today! So what's your freaking issue with me?"

Annabeth frowned and crossed her arms. She looked out the window and sighed, and her voice was significantly softer than before as she said, "I don't hate you."

"You sure act like it," Percy snapped.

"Look, seaweed brain," Annabeth said, and there was a weariness to her face as she finally shifted in her seat and twisted her head to look directly at him. There was a kind of sadness to her eyes, and it made him feel a little guilty over suddenly going off at her. "Our parents don't get along, and it's for good reason. Your father did some terrible things in offense to my mother, and it's stuff that I also find incorrigible."