Little Miss Popular

Chapter 16

*Percy's POV*

The next day, Annabeth came back to the surf shop. I found out she leaves her board here every night, for safe keeping, that isn't guaranteed at home. When she walked up to the desk, I already had her board waiting for her. She thanked me, before heading to get changed. When she returned, I handed her my phone, and asked for her number. She gave me a look.

        "What? How else am I supposed to contact you to train?" I said. She hesitated for a second, but put her number into my phone. When she handed back my phone, I looked at the contact to read Annabeth :). I laughed to myself, and then texted her my name, so that she could get my number too. By the time I looked up from my phone, she had already walked down to the beach, and was putting her hair up in a ponytail. She must have felt me watching her, because she looked up at me and smiled, before turning away. I watched her for a bit longer, then got back to work.

With a half hour left in my shift, I received a text. I looked down to see the name Piper had put into my phone, Piper, the Bestest Friend You'll Ever Have. I opened the text and read it: "Hey Perce, I'm going on a run in a bit and wondered if you wanted to join. Let me know." I texted her back, letting her know that my shift ended in half an hour, and that I would meet her at the park near our houses. She agreed. Before my shift was over, Annabeth returned with her board. I took it into the back and put it with the other boards. When I walked back into the front, Annabeth was still there, leaning against the counter, reading something on her phone. She frowned and then put her phone in her pocket.

        "What's wrong?" I asked, somewhat concerned. I might not know her that well, but that doesn't mean I want anyone to feel upset or sad.

        "Nothing, absolutely nothing," she muttered, than sighed. "I got to go, but text me when you want to meet up to train and I'll be there. Bye Percy." She walked away before I could respond. I watched her walk away, and swore I saw a tear roll down her face.

-- LATER --

Piper and I were sitting on the front steps of my house, talking and hanging out. We were laughing about something that happened at school that day. I was laughing when Piper's phone buzzed. She took it out, and read something, looking slightly confused.

        "Is everything okay?" I asked.

        "Yeah, just Annabeth asking if I can come over later," she replied, her brow wrinkling.

        "Is that bad?" I wondered.

        "Probably, but that's not for me to talk about. It's just unusual." She said.

        "What is her deal anyways?" I was curious. After all, if I was gonna help her train, I wanted to know something about what I was dealing with.

        "She has some issues, Percy. Trust issues, other issues. Why?"

        "I was just wondering, you know. She looks like she could use a friend."

        "Look Perce, I get you're a good person and all, I love that about you, I really do. But be careful with Annabeth. She has done some fairly horrible things to people who try to get close. Just promise me that you won't get to close to her, okay? And don't develop feelings for her, at all. Please Percy, I don't want you to get hurt." she finished. I studied her face. She was dead serious, but there was something else there too. She was upset, whether it was upset about what Annabeth had done, or upset about Annabeth needing her right now, I didn't know, but I wasn't going to ask.

        "Okay, Pipes, I get it. I promise I won't," I assured her.

        "Good, now I need to go Percy, Annabeth really needs me." she got up and gave me a hug before walking away. I watched her walk down the street and turn the corner, before going inside and showering, reminding myself that I needed to text Annabeth to plan when we were going to train.

*Annabeth's POV*

When I heard a knock on my bedroom door, I immediately knew it was Piper. She opened the door, but I didn't move from where I was, sitting on my windowsill. She came and sat opposite me. She turned to look at me, but I continued to stare out the window. I could tell she was studying me, and I knew she knew me well enough to figure out what was going on.

        "I thought you said you were getting better?" Piper asked.

        "I thought I was Piper, but it just seems like the smallest things trigger it now. I can't help feeling alone." I suffered from anxiety. My anxiety was based around being alone, or lonely. I told Piper about it after we had been friends for a year, and it brought us closer as friends. 

        "What happened to us Piper? Is it really all my fault?"

        "Oh Annabeth, it's both of our faults. I let you get to deep into the populars. Annabeth, what brought this on right now?" I had received a text from my parents telling me that they wouldn't be home for at least another week. They were off somewhere across the country, performing some type of miracle surgery.

        "My parents." I replied, looking back out of the window. I could feel the tears in my eyes, but didn't want to let them leak.

        "I'm sorry Annabeth. Would you like to come over to my house? Or I could stay over here. It could be just like old times." She suggested. I nodded my head, feeling the numbness leaving, feeling the emotion building up. I felt the tears rolling down my cheek again. I felt Piper shift toward me, and felt her wrap her arms around me. I leaned into her and cried, for who knows how long. I never realized how much I missed and needed Piper. I realized what a bad friend I was the past year.

        "I'm so sorry for how I acted Piper, I'm so so sorry," I cried.

       "Shhhh, it's okay Annabeth, don't worry about it. I'm here for you, always."

*THE NEXT DAY*

Piper had stayed over last night, keeping me company. We stayed up late watching movies, and baking cookies. Piper taught me how to make these blue chocolate chip cookies, that were incredible. When I asked her where she got the recipe, she simply replied with a friend. When I woke up this morning, I made Piper and I breakfast, and then she said she had to go because she was meeting up with Jason. It was currently 12pm, and I had just finished my book, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I got up and went downstairs to grab some water, and when I got back upstairs, my phone buzzed. I checked to see that I had 3 new messages from Percy. The first one read, Hey meet me at 2. The second one was an address that I didn't recognize, and the third one said Remember your gym bag and a water bottle. Oh, and you may also want a towel. Its going to be quite sweaty. I guess he was serious about this training thing, and I had to say, secretly, I was really looking forward to it. With that, I decided to get ready early, a smile on my face.

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