Into the Clouds | Percabeth| Mortal AU

Chapter Eight

Annabeth walks over to the table where Percy is sitting and sets down his drink. 

"Here you go, Asshole," she says bitterly. "Let's get started." Annabeth could only work on her break, everything else was basically booked. "What's your mark in this class?"

Percy held up his phone. The screen displayed 124.42. 

Annabeth scoffed/laughed. "Excuse me?"

Percy got confused. His eyebrows did that horribly distracting thing where they pinch together. "What?"

"How... How do you have such a high mark?"

Percy laughed at her surprise. "I'm smarter than people think. Now, do you have strong feelings about what our to--"

"I most certainly have strong feelings about controversial topics," she interrupted him. "We should do research on the Ivory Coast. There is a lot of child slavery in the chocolate industry. That's why I only eat Fair Trade and Ethical stuff."

"That's cool."

Annabeth threw a piece of her muffin at him. "There's nothing cool about child slavery."

They started their research. After Annabeth's 15 minutes, Pidge called her over because her break was over.

 "Don't worry about finishing up today's work. I'll do it and email you the information," Percy said, standing up to leave. 

"Um... Thanks?"

She put her apron back on and was very confused. 

"What's wrong?" Pidge asked when Annabeth got back to the counter. 

Annabeth pulled her hair up into a ponytail. "He's... nice?"

;;;

Annabeth got home after her shift. It's finally Friday. Jason was home with her brothers which meant Thalia most likely had plans. 

"How was work?" he asked. 

Annabeth chuckled. "Work was weird, bro. I'm gonna start dinner. Were they good?" she asked, gesturing to her brothers.

Jason smiled. "They're always good."

Annabeth pulled out the stuff to start making everyone grilled cheese. "Are you staying for dinner, Jason?"

"No, I have plans with Leo and Connor for a project we're doing in Art class. I'll be leaving in about five."

"Okay, thank you so much for your help."

"Anytime." Jason gave her a hug and began getting ready to leave. 

;;;

After dinner, when Annabeth was watching TV with her brothers, her phone buzzed. She picked it up and it was a text from Percy. 

i had a nice time working with you. when i get you talking about school your a lot nicer 

Annabeth hadn't given him a name yet in her phone, and she typed in Cloud Machiatto. 

Annabeth: I can see your strong suit is Geography and not English judging by your lack of autocorrect. 

Cloud Machiatto: ouch, that hurt

Annabeth: No, it didn't.

Matthew peeked over her shoulder. "Who's that? Your boyfriend?"

Annabeth pushed him away and set her phone down. "No. Percy is not my boyfriend."

"You talk to him like a girlfriend would talk to a girlfriend."

"You're in like first grade, what do you know?" 

"I read a lot of books, Beth. I'm not blind, but you might be," he said, smirking. 

"Shut up. It's time for bed anyway."

Annabeth shut off the TV and her brothers ran off to brush their teeth. Annabeth picked up her phone again and a new message popped up on the screen. 

Cloud Machiatto: how do you know? 

Annabeth and he argued back and forth over text for about an hour. Annabeth was surprised how easy he was to talk to. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.