You Always Have What Other's Don't ~a Percy Jackson AU~

VIII Percy

"Okay, I know this about to sound super crazy and really, incredibly, stalkerish... But are you serious? You really don't remember me?"
Percy closed his locker, the metal thrashing shut. Behind the door, once again stood the blonde girl. She looked nicer today, her hair no longer wet and stringy. Her tortoise sweater seemed to easy him, the cashmere looking soft and pillow like. Percy had always loved the color blue. It reminded him of the ocean, and always hypnotized him into a calm relaxed state. The girl's eyes still sat scrunched forward, as if she had tasted something sour. But her facial expression remained peaceful and neutral. A very perplexing sight, rest assured.
Percy sighed. This girl was started to really bother him. "No, I don't. You should really fix your prescription."
"What?"
"Get better glasses, your eyesight will only get worse."
The girl quickly took off her glasses and buried them into her bag, her cheeks flushing.

When she looked back up, a brick of realization hit Percy like a ton of bricks.

Annabeth.

The seven year old that sat next to young Percy in the sandbox grabbed his shovel absentmindedly, her focus glued to the 3 foot structure in front of her.
"Hey!" Percy protested. "That was mine!"
The girl didn't respond, too caught up in detailing her castle.
"Helllooo?" Percy waved a hand in front of her, accidentally causing the right tower to crumble.
"Stop!" The girl cried, desperately trying to replace the sand. "You're ruining it!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Percy repeated, helping her rebuild the base for the walls. "I'll help you fix it."
"Okay, but don't knock down anymore!"
"I'm Percy."
"Annabeth."

The blonde girl bounced over, waving her piece of paper in the air ferociously.
"What class?" She asked repeatedly, grabbing Percy's assignment before he could even get a word out. By Annabeth's squeal in delight, Percy knew exactly what she was thinking.
"We both got Brunner! He's suppose to be really good. I heard that on Fridays he..."

"Put your hands on my waist, Seaweed Brain. Didn't you take the ballroom dancing class in the summer of 5th grade?" Annabeth asked.
"One of the classes was on my birthday.." Percy said defensively as Annabeth rolled her eyes. Both of their mothers had forced the pair to attend their 8th grade semi-formal, despite their many protests. The two moms had always thought they made a cute couple, that was painfully obvious. But it only made their friendship extremely awkward, so they both decided to pretend as though the topic didn't exist.
"Wanna sneak into the teacher's lounge and steal a soda?" Percy suggested, feeling the tension. Annabeth nodded enthusiastically, and they raced out of the gym.

"You're taking how many AP classes?" Percy asked, dumbstruck at his best friend's achievements.
Annabeth laughed, repeating the number. "That, and tutoring some juniors. Pretty badass, huh?"
"How? I'm only going to be a freshman and they've already placed me in conceptional chemistry." He said bitterly.
"Don't worry Seaweed Brain, you'll be fine."
"It's not me I'm worried about."
Annabeth looked at the ground sullenly. "We're going to be fine, just because we're going into high school doesn't mean we're never going to see each other."
"Annabeth," Percy started. "Were not talking any of the same classes.. at all."
"Out friendship is different, okay? We're going to be fine." She said it so defiantly, it made Percy smiled.
"Regardless," she added, pulling her hair into a ponytail. "I'm getting glasses over the summer, so maybe you won't even recognize me."
"I highly doubt that."

But Percy was wrong.

He stared at her with a slack jaw.
Annabeth.
The name rung out in his mind like a song that had been locked away for years. The melody wafted into his brain and unlocked every memory corridor it could find. Percy flinched, watching her golden curls bounce in front of her face. Did she just pull a Clark Kent on him? Oh yeah, she totally did. It was truly amazing how a pair of glasses could rearrange a persons entire facial structure.
"You okay?" She asked, studying the look on his face intently.
"Just dandy, Wise Girl."
Annabeth broke out into a grin that spread across half her face. "You Liar! You do remember!" She playfully hit his shoulder. It would've been a friendly gesture, if his clavicle weren't still so tender. He winced slightly, which set off a chorus of apologies from Annabeth.
Percy fought through the pain. "I'm okay, really. So.. how've you been?"
All the while Annabeth talked, Percy had several flashbacks of all the years with his former best friend. How could he be so careless in forgetting one of the only people that ever really mattered to him?
"And well, Loserville is pretty nice, once you get use to it," She finally said, her hands in her pockets sheepishly. Percy's heart dropped, she didn't really think she was a loser, right?
"I don't think you're lame." He added. Momentarily, he could see Annabeth's mind drift elsewhere, her eyes pensive. She quickly snapped out of it.
"Thanks."

In seconds, the loneliness in Percy's chest seemed to vanish into thin air. Maybe, just maybe, he could get his best friend back. Thoughts swarmed in his mind, as he for once got excited about what the future held. The bell rang, interrupting his thought process.

"Listen," he said before Annabeth could walk away. "We should catch up sometime."
Annabeth still grinned like she did when she was twelve. Seeing it after all these years was a friendly reminder to Percy that there was some good in the world.
"Ambrosia's tomorrow afternoon, 4 o'clock."
"It's a deal," Percy said before they parted. As he turned to head to Physics, the extraordinary occurred.

Percy Jackson smiled.

And that concludes the spam of updates! Don't worry guys, it's summer and I have an incredible amount of long car rides.

I assume Leo or Nico is next? Comment what you guys would rather see!

Also, thank you all so so much for 12k reads, and all of your amazing comments. It really helps my self esteem.

20 votes/comments for another update! See you guys later!