Annabeth's Mortal Friends

Chapter Five

Caleb Pierson's POV:

I tossed my bag down at the side of my table, smiling at Annabeth as she sat down next to me. I hadn't seen her since swim tryouts, which was really unusual for us.

Percy was in this class too, but we've had assigned seats in this class since the beginning of the year, which means I'd finally have a chance to talk to her for the first time in forever.  It felt good to hang out with her casually again, and it was nice to see that Percy would be across the room for the next hour.

"Caleb?"  I whipped my head to the front of the room, blushing slightly as a few people around me laughed, Annabeth included.  I muttered an apology to Mrs. Johnson and pulled my notebook out of my bag, shaking my head and smiling as Annabeth made fun of me. Personally, I think she could make fun of me forever and nothing could make me happier. And hey, some people might find that weird, but I just think those people don't understand true love.

"Caleb? Seriously, I understand zoning out Johnson but now you won't listen to me either?" Annabeth asked, waving a hand in front of my face. To describe it perfectly, I replied with something that wasn't even close to English. At least it earned another laugh from her.

"Sorry Annabeth, just lost in thought. What's up?" I asked, resting my elbow on my desk and planting my chin in the palm of my hand.

"I was thinking about doing Greece and Rome for our project. Thoughts?" She asked, holding up an already-organized list of facts about each. How she managed to do that so quickly will forever be a mystery to me.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing!" I lied, but she didn't need to know that. The fact that we had to do a project had completely slipped my mind since the last week. Our partners were announced then, and thankfully golden-boy Percy hadn't been in class yet, so he'd finally missed an opportunity to snatch up Annabeth.

I watched in amusement as Annabeth started talking about the similarities and difference between Greek and Roman deities or something. I'll admit to getting distracted by the tiny sparkle in her eye that appeared whenever this subject was brought up, but that's for me to know and her to find adorable when I tell her after we've been dating for a while. Girls love that kind of stuff, it proves we pay attention to what they're saying. I think.

I felt a little bad watching Annabeth do all this work alone, but apparently she really has a knack for comparing ancient civilizations.  Who knew?

"So, my place or yours?"  She asked, glancing up from the Venn diagram she was drawing in her notebook.

"Uhm, yours is good!"  I replied quickly.  Hey, if she's going to be my future girlfriend I should get to know her family, right?

"That sounds perfect, I'm all organized at home anyway.  Here, take this," Annabeth said, handing me a piece of paper with an address written down on it, "sorry, I would text it to you, but you know Johnson's phone policy."

I laugh, taking the piece of paper and nodding.  "Yeah, she's a little crazy.  Don't tell her I said that though, I'm always afraid I'm going to pop that vein in her forehead one day."

Annabeth let out the familiar, adorable giggle that I had fallen in love with, then turned back to her notebook.  For probably the third time this class, I thanked the gods (I don't know, Annabeth always says it) for letting us choose our partners for this project.

A book slammed into the ground across the room, and I joined the rest of the class and turning around to the source of the noise.  Percy Jackson, of course: Grade A Disturbance.  He picked up the book, sending a quick smile to Annabeth before she turned around.

I stared a bit longer, watching as that smile dropped from his face the second he looked at me.  He glowered, which was a lot more scary than I'd like to admit.  One look at this guy tells me he's seen shit, and I really don't need to deal with that.

I spun back around in my seat, reaching my hand into my pocket and feeling the piece of paper Annabeth gave me.  My first-class ticket into a brand-new relationship.  Come on, this is basically a date, right?

———————————————
Hey guys, sorry it took me so long to come back to this. I had a ton of rehearsals to go to, but my show is over now! I've also been spending time with my sister now that her college shut down. The plus side to quarantine is the fact that I'll (hopefully) be able to write a little more!  Thanks for all the comments and favorites so far, I adore all of you! <3

3/20/20