Annabeth at Goode[EDITING]

Chapter 8

ANNABETH

When I walked out of the changing room, I looked around to find Percy. He was sitting in a comfortable-looking chair a few feet away, his eyes glued to his phone. I sighed and smiled, walking over to him. I felt a little bit guilty, having him come shopping with me, but hey, he did offer.

I walked over and stood in front of him, and even then he didn't look up. "How does this look?" I asked, getting his attention.

Percy looked up with a bored expression on his face, but when he took me in and realized what he was looking at, his eyes grew wide and his mouth fell open.

"I-um- it looks good," he stuttered, his entire face blushing. I turned around, facing the mirror that was in front of me.

"Really?" I asked, looking at my body. It wasn't my actual body that made me feel self-conscious; I was fit, my arms and legs toned from years of training. No, the thing that made me feel awkward was the actual swimsuit itself. It was very... small. It covered everything that needed to be covered, but just barely. I did a small turn, testing to see if everything stayed in- which it did. I looked back to Percy, whose face was now as red as a tomato.

"Y-Yeah," he said, "But if you don't like it, then you shouldn't wear it. Get something you're comfortable in." I brushed my hair out of my face with my hand, looking back in the mirror. "I mean- I like it," Percy said, in a lower voice, "But you shouldn't wear something you don't feel comfortable in."

I looked at Percy through the mirror, a sly smirk tugging at my lips. "You like it?"

Percy's eyebrows shot up as his eyes grew to the size of saucers, his blush darkening to an impossible shade of red. "I-I- I don't- I mean- what I was saying- I-" He suddenly stopped stuttering, and let out a long breath, then looked back up at me with a hopeful smile. "You look really nice."

I couldn't help but smile to myself as I turned back towards the fitting room. "I think I'll get this one," I said. I glanced in the big mirror one last time, noticing Percy's wide grin as he brought his hands up to cover his blushing face.

Even though Percy was the one sitting outside, embarrassed, I felt myself blushing as I closed the curtain to the changing room behind me.

Percy had said that I looked nice. He said that he liked the swimsuit. The way he had become all flustered and embarrassed when he saw me made me get flustered, made my heart beat faster and my palms sweat-

I sighed, breathing out all the thoughts crowding my brain.

What was this boy doing to me?

Yes, I have always had some feelings for Percy. And yes, some of those feelings were still with me today, but they had never affected me like this before. The only other times that Percy had made me flustered like that was when he kissed me...

And then Percy had confessed to me, told me that he liked me, and asked me out. On a date. Of course, I was overjoyed. But I still had no idea what we were. Did that mean that we were dating now? Was Percy my boyfriend? What if our date didn't work out, and we fought, and we ended up-

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard voices raising outside of the changing rooms. My heart sank when I realized that it was Percy's voice. I ripped off the swimsuit, changing back into my jeans and T-shirt and rushing back into the store. Percy wasn't sitting in his chair anymore; he was standing up and facing another guy. Percy looked angry, his jaw set and his fists clenched at his sides. His green eyes had the same shine that they always had when he was agitated or annoyed. The guy he was talking to, however, seemed completely unfazed. He had a relaxed composure, a sly grin on his face as Percy said something to him. Despite his goofy personality, Percy could look pretty intimidating when he wanted to. Now was one of those times. If I was the one he was facing, I would have been pretty nervous.