Annabeth at Goode[EDITING]

Chapter 8

But the guy standing in front of him didn't seem at all worried. For a moment, I thought that it was a monster who had found Percy. But as I got closer, I realized that he was just a regular mortal, because I had seen him before.

Tall and scrawny, with shaggy black hair. He had a familiar chip in his front tooth, and a crooked nose- that I was the cause of.

I walked up beside Percy, just as he was spitting out a threat, "-or I will kill you."

Once again, Matt Sloan was not affected by Percy's words. His expression did change, though, at the sight of me. "Well, well," he said, eyeing me, "Speak of the devil." I raised my eyebrows, about to snap back a reply, but Percy beat me to it.

"Don't talk to her," he said. "Now get lost."

Matt held Percy's glare for a few seconds, before turning his attention to me. I had some not-so-polite words on my tongue, ready to let out, but before I could, Matt turned with a wink and left the store.

Even as he walked away, Percy didn't calm down. If anything, he seemed to become even more tense. I stood in front of him, trying to block his view from Matt. "Hey," I said softly. I guess I wasn't quite tall enough, because Percy just stared over me, his eyes burning into the back of Matt's head. "Hey," I said again, reaching out and taking Percy's hand- that got his attention. He looked away from Matt and down at me, his expression turning from angry to calm as soon as our eyes met. "It's okay," I went on, "Don't worry about him. He's not worth it."

"But he was talking about you-"

"It doesn't matter," I interrupted, giving him a gentle smile. "He doesn't matter."

Percy looked like he wanted to say something else, but he bit it back and let out a sigh, nodding. "You're right," he admitted quietly.

"Besides," I went on, "did you see that bump on his nose?" Percy nodded. "I'm pretty sure I gave him that."

Percy suddenly smiled, and it felt like all my worries had melted away. "Was that from when you knocked him out when we were younger?"

I nodded, remembering the day that it had happened. I had snuck into Percy's middle school, been following him around all day (unfortunately, having to watch him get bullied by Matt), and was there to save his butt from getting eaten by some cannibal giants, finishing it all off with a right hook to Matt Sloan's face.

Percy chuckled, his face lighting up. "Man, I think that that was one of the best moments of my entire life. He was so scared." His smile faded slightly, as he looked away from me and over to where Matt has walked. "Doesn't seem like he's scared of you anymore, though," he said quietly.

I just shrugged. "He should be. I won't hesitate to punch him again." Realizing that I was still holding Percy's hand, I gave it a gentle squeeze of reassurance. Percy looked at his hand for a moment, then up to me, his cheeks turning a light pink. I felt his fingers, very softly, tighten around mine, before he slipped his hand out of mine.

"So, are you going to buy that?" he asked, nodding towards the swimsuit in my hand. Thank the gods he had mentioned it, all this stuff about Matt had made me forget about it; I probably would have walked out of the store with it still in my hand.

I headed back into the store and to the checkout. I bought the swimsuit, and soon Percy and I were leaving the store again. I kept an eye out as we walked through the mall, silently praying that Matt had left and wasn't waiting for us around a corner.