that summer |percabeth au| ✔︎

"i don't dance"

c h a p t e r | 09
❝I knew you were the one.❞

▼▼▼

No good would ever come from a sticky note in the shape of a crab.

Annabeth,

Good morning, beautiful! No worries about treasure hunting or the shop. Katie & I have it covered. Left coffee on for you - one of my magic brews, perfect for a day of new experiences. Mixed up some new lotion, too - it'll put some pep in your step! Have fun on the boat & be safe!

Blessed be,

Candy

As soon as the storm broke last night, Percy had shown up with my boxes, slightly damp but no worse for it. Between that and Katie's not-so-subtle comments on the matter, I'd had no choice but to tell Candy about our regatta plans.

I hadn't meant that I'd abandon everything else in my now-quiet life, but Candy seemed to think that was the best approach. She'd left me high and dry this morning, long gone on her sea glass hunt before I'd even finished my shower.

My own sea glass jar, relocated to the windowsill in my bedroom, was about to be seriously neglected.

It was only my second day as first mate, and already I ached for the quiet beach walks I'd be missing, the meditative steps along the shoreline as Candy shuffled ahead of me, lost in her own silent reverie. As I drank the last of the "magic" brew and turned off the coffee pot, I realized I'd even miss my shifts at Amatheia's Tears.

Not my idea of heaven, maybe, but a new routine I'd begun. A new life.

Now it was changing again.

For the second time in as many months, it felt like my future was about to walk the plank, all of yesterday's bravery a show whose curtain was thin and tattered.

I shook off the feeling as I made my way to the docks. I'd made a promise that I'd do whatever I could to help save the house, and I meant it. The regatta was still almost six weeks away - long before I'd have to face the open water.

Percy was on the boat when I arrived, crouched down with a box of tools and oily rags. A pair of college-aged girls chatted him up from the dock. They looked as if they'd just breezed in from Aruba or Maui or some equally sunny place where the summers were warmer, the beaches less rocky.

"Are you planning on sailing this thing?" one of them asked. Shimmery black hair cascaded down her back, curled but not frizzed, and her shorts would better serve as a swimsuit. Her legs were covered in goosebumps.

I was cold just watching her, but Percy had no trouble basking in her warmth.

"Rebuilding her first," he said, his voice slightly huskier than usual. "Pirate Regatta this August."

"Seriously?" Short-Shorts said. "Sounds dangerous."

Percy shrugged. "They don't call it the Pirate Regatta for nothing."

Her friend, a cute, freckled redhead in ripped jeans and a thin PINK hoodie, also trying not to shiver, rolled her eyes. "I told you about the regatta, Drew. They do it every year."

"Maybe I can help." Silena casually tossed out the offer, as if she interrupted her summer vacation all the time to help wayward sailors, but I saw the smolder in her eyes. The way she held her shoulders taught, exposed her collarbone, and arched her back.

"Smooth, Silena. God." PINK laughed playfully at her friend.

"Shut up, Rachel." Silena flipped her luscious locks and looked back to Percy. "I've been on a boat before. Lots of times."