beauty and the beast ⋮ percabeth au

6.

"You've got a date with Percy! You've got a date with Percy!" Hazel teased, poking at my side

Glaring, I replied, "It's not a date! He's just having me come over and we're going to work on lines together."

"Are you sure about that?" Hazel questioned, a smirk plastered on her face. "Because he seemed extremely excited for someone to come over to just learn lines."

"Learning lines is extremely crucial to the rehearsal process," I replied simply.

"You're not denying it," Hazel sang. "You may think otherwise, but I've been in enough productions with Percy to know that he never looks at his leading lady the way he looks at you."

"What about you and Frank?" I quickly changed to subject, trying to ignore what Hazel just said. "You two certainly have become friendly these past couple days."

Hazel's cheeks went pink. "Frank's always been nice to me, but we've just been talking more now that we're both leads."

"You're certainly not complaining about that," I remarked, continuing onto my next calculus problem.

"I haven't heard you complain about having to kiss Percy," Hazel retorted. "Normally, you'd be complaining up a storm."

"I'll think I'll complain more once we hit dress rehearsals," I lied, knowing I won't be complaining at all.

Jesus Christ Annabeth. Since when were you like this about guys?

"You're lying." Hazel pointed out.

"Am not."

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Girls!" Ms. Ardissono called. "Get back to work!"

I turned a deep shade of red and mumbled a sorry. Getting yelled at a teacher is one of my least favorite things in the world. Well, besides Drew, Kelli, and Tammi.

Hazel and I had gone back to work for a few minutes silently when she suddenly whispered beside me, "Are too."

Am not.

•••

"So my mom can't wait to meet you," Percy remarked as we began the walk back to his apartment.

"You've talked to her about me?" I teased Percy, raising an eyebrow. "I feel so honored."

Percy quickly became flustered. "Mom wants to know about everything about the the production. She's really proud me because it's my first big lead role in a while."

Even though he downplay it, I could immediately tell that Percy was a complete momma's boy. I wasn't judging, in fact I found completely adorable. It's rare to find a guy who openly admits that they love their mother.

"My parents don't even know I'm doing this," I mumbled.

Percy's head snapped up. "Why?"

I shrugged. "They're not the most caring of people. My dad only cares about my grades and is never home. My step-mother despises me."

"That's awful." Percy glanced down at me. My face was emotionless, but I knew my eyes were telling a different story.

"I'm just used to it at this point," I replied simply.

"You shouldn't have to be."

We fell into silence, but not the awkward kind. It was the kind of silence where we were just glad to be in the presence of one another, and no words really needed to be said.