Percy Jackson One Shots and Short Stories

#49 - The Library Book (AU)

"Maim them?" Jason repeated. "A little? Wow, you're so nice."

"Shut up," Annabeth said playfully as she shoved him in the side, making him laugh. Jason had been her best friend all through middle school. He was long used to her meaningless rants.

Two years year, when they'd first come to high school, Jason had quickly developed a crush on the 'pretty girl' of the school — Piper McLean. Of course, Annabeth had assumed she was the queen bee who would never pay attention to either of them.

By spring break, the two of them were head over heels for each other and Piper turned out to be the sweetest human being of all time.

Annabeth was forced to find other friends to spend her time with, and that's when she met Leo Valdez, the only other kid in their year who was in the senior AP calculus class.

They'd bonded over being the youngest and smartest minds in the class, and Annabeth quickly found that he was the biggest joker ever. Somehow, despite their vastly contrasting personalities, the four of them formed a tight-knit group before their second year in high school.

Whenever they had free time, the four would sit under the big oak tree outside. No one else sat there. Annabeth didn't think they'd made a threatening note to "stay off their turf", but everyone seemed to know that that was their spot.

Plus, with Piper McLean with them, no one really dared to say anything against them.

Except Percy Jackson.

Annabeth remembered Percy Jackson from kindergarten and middle school. Back then, he'd been a scrawny kid with a goofy smile and missing two front teeth.

On the first day of high school, he'd shown up, much, much taller and with broader shoulders. His goofy smile disappeared and his resting face was so intimidating even Annabeth had to take a step back sometimes.

Grover Underwood had been his best friend through the years, and Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang joined them in high school. Last year, Grover left out of the blue — he was moved to another school for kids with physical disabilities.

Annabeth remembered when she used to be friends with Grover years ago. They'd kind of drifted apart when he met Percy and she'd met Jason.

Now, Percy, Hazel and Frank were their own group — strictly off limits. Annabeth had only talked to any of them once. They weren't in many of her classes, and that one time had been during a fight.

It happened before the summer of sophomore year, back when the groups had just formed.

Annabeth walked out of History with Piper at her side. Her cheerful chattering, annoying at first, had now become endearing and an essential part of her day.

"So anyway, I told her to back off," Piper continued. "Because I'm not just pretty — I'm also smart."

Annabeth snorted. "Can't believe Drew called you stupid."

Piper grinned. "You should've seen her face when I got a 95% on the test."

Annabeth opened her mouth to make another jab at the bully, when a loud crashing sound could be heard from the lockers.