Although her interest in the incident from biology waned over the course of the day, Olivia picked it right back up when they spotted the blonde haired girl they thought Percy was dating after last period.
"Do you think they're actually dating?" Olivia asked, trying to be subtle about her stalking and failing miserably as she craned her neck to peer around her locker door.
"Yes. I mean, I think so?" Kelly paused, genuinely thinking about it. "Doesn't everyone say they are?"
"Yeah, but has anyone ever actually seen them do anything coupley? Have they ever been caught making out?"
"Maybe they're just really good at sneaking around."
"Pssh." Olivia shut her locker and shouldered her bags. "There's not that many places in this school to hide."
Kelly went to do the same, and then realised that her gym bag was missing. "Shit, I must have left my other bag in the locker room."
"Why don't you get it tomorrow?" Olivia asked, stretching her arms above her head. "I wanna get out of here."
Kelly watched the blonde girl - she had a feeling her name wasn't Anna - as she hefted her bag onto her back and then began walking towards the gym.
Kelly pointed after her and said, "Swim practice is on now."
Olivia visibly brightened. "Ohhh, okay. Yeah, sure, let's go get your bag from the gym."
Kelly rolled her eyes. "You're hopeless."
"I'm curious," Olivia countered, "and rightfully so."
"Rightfully so? He does one weird thing in Bio and suddenly -" Kelly abruptly stopped talking as they caught up to Percy's maybe-girlfriend.
She didn't even look at them as they drew even with her, continuing to walk down the corridor without so much as glancing at them. Olivia tried to catch her eye, but it wasn't until they reached the door to the gym that she acknowledged them.
She walked through and then paused, holding the door open for them.
"Thanks!" Olivia exclaimed, far too enthusiastically, stopping in the middle of the door and grinning at her.
Kelly pushed her forward, offering an awkward smile.
"You're welcome," the girl said, letting the door slam closed behind them and continuing on towards the pool.
As soon as she was out of earshot, Kelly slapped Olivia's arm. "What the hell was that, you weirdo?"
"I panicked!" Olivia whisper-shouted, flailing her arms. "She's really pretty up close, okay, I've never noticed she has grey eyes before -"
"Oh, my god." Kelly rolled her eyes. "I'm going to get my gym bag and then we're leaving. Please wait here and don't embarrass yourself while I'm gone."
"I make no promises."
"So reassuring."
Kelly walked into the lockers and found her bag exactly where she'd left it after gym, stuffed into her locker and half-unzipped, so as soon as she opened the door half of its contents toppled out. She swore loudly and gathered them all up, shoving them back inside and hoisting the bag over her shoulder. She was so ready for this day to be over.
When she walked back out, though, Olivia was nowhere to be seen. Grumbling under her breath, Kelly stomped through the gym and over to the doors that led to the separate room where the pool was housed. Sure enough, she saw Olivia through the glass doors, sitting towards the bottom of the stands and talking to the girl who'd held the door open for them. Kelly really wished she could remember her name.
Figuring Olivia wasn't going to leave of her own free will, Kelly pushed the door open and made her way over to the stands to collect her. The stench of chlorine was overwhelming in here, and the loud voice of the swim coach was echoing off the domed ceiling as he shouted instructions to the boys and girls doing laps of the pool.
Olivia didn't seem to mind, grinning widely as she saw Kelly approaching. "Kelly! Come sit with us!"
Making a mental note to kill her later, Kelly plastered on a smile and came to join them. The blonde girl watched her as she sat down, obviously appraising her. Her stare was intense, and Olivia had't been kidding about her being beautiful up close. Kelly felt a wave of insecurity wash over her.
"Hi," she said, somewhat awkwardly.
Olivia breezed right on over her discomfort. "Kelly, this is Annabeth. You know, from our English class?"
"Oh, yeah," Kelly said, relieved to finally know her name. "Sorry we haven't really spoken before."
Annabeth shrugged, and her smile seemed genuine. "No problem. I don't really speak up all that much in English."
"How could you even get a word in with Rose constantly blabbering on and trying to impress the teacher," Olivia said, kicking her bag over so Kelly had more room to put her stuff down.
Annabeth laughed. "Maybe she'll be a little quieter while her nose heals." She seemed to register what she'd just said only after it was too late, and her face fell. "Not that I'm glad she's hurt, or anything, what happened in volleyball was a complete accident -"
"Accident or no, she totally deserved it," Olivia said. "She's been asking for a hit to the face for like the last four years."
Annabeth looked contemplative. "She's always been like that, then?"
"Oh yeah," Kelly said, nodding. "She always tries to put everyone down to make herself feel better. She's been like that since the start of high school."
"Huh." Annabeth seemed a little comforted by that.
Coach shouted something particularly violent, drawing the attention of all three girls for a moment. Annabeth smiled as Percy surfaced by the coach's feet and said something in reply before taking off again, moving through the water effortlessly.
"You just transferred here this year, right?" Olivia asked, obviously trying to sound casual.
Annabeth nodded, fingers curling around the bag in her lap. "Yeah. I moved over from California and Percy got a swimming scholarship, so..."
"Oh, Percy's in our bio class, too, isn't he, Kel?"
"Yeah, he is." Kelly paused, building up the courage to ask the question that Olivia so desperately wanted to but was too scared to voice. "Are you - is he your - ?"
"Is he my boyfriend?" Annabeth interpreted, raising an eyebrow and looking amused. "Yeah."
"Oh. Cool." Oh, god. This was a disaster.
Annabeth's expression shifted slightly. She was still smiling, but her eyes looked a bit sharper than before. "Who are you here for?"
"Here for?" Olivia asked, obviously confused.
Kelly kicked her shin and spoke over the top of her. "Mark! We're here for our friend Mark. He complained the other day we aren't supportive enough, so. Here we are. Haha."
Annabeth nodded as if this made total sense. "Mark seems like a cool guy."
"He does?" Olivia blinked. "I mean, yeah! Mark's a really cool guy. In fact, we should all hang out sometime, don't you think?"
Both Annabeth and Kelly looked surprised at how quickly that had come up.
Olivia powered on, totally invested now. "I mean, he and Percy are obviously already friends, right, they spend heaps of time together on the swim team. We all have classes together, and we're friends now, too -"
"Are we?" Annabeth asked, and Kelly couldn't read her tone or expression to figure out if she was joking.
"- So we should definitely catch up after school some time! For burgers or something!"
"Burgers," Annabeth repeated, in that same tone.
"Who's getting burgers?"
All three girls turned to see Percy standing at the bottom of the stands, just a few rows down from them. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and his goggles hanging from his hand, but the definition of the muscles on his torso was enough to leave Kelly speechless and Olivia practically drooling.
Annabeth glanced from him to the girls and back again, one corner of her mouth quirked up slightly. "We are, apparently. With Kelly, Olivia and Mark."
"Are we?" Percy asked, sounding surprised. When Annabeth nodded, he turned and cupped his hands around his mouth, calling out, "Yo, Mark! We're getting burgers!"
Mark turned around from where he'd been talking to some other people on the team. When he spotted Olivia and Kelly he frowned, but both girls frantically gestured at him from behind Annabeth's head, hoping he'd get the message to act normal.
His frown became more quizzical as he approached them, so Kelly spoke before he had a chance. "Hey, Mark! We told you we'd come and watch you practice sometime, you can't call us unsupportive friends anymore."
He opened his mouth, closed it, and then tried again, voice casual. "Yeah, you guys are just the best. Now you just need to come to some actual meets. And what's this about burgers?"
"We're getting burgers," Percy said, ruffling up his wet hair and sending a spray of water droplets onto Annabeth's bag.
She swept them off with her hand and frowned up at him. "We can't tonight, though. Paul's already cooking dinner for us."
"Ah, you're right." Percy closed his eyes and stretched his arms above his head, which caused his towel to dip a little bit and Olivia to nearly faint. Kelly was almost certain Annabeth was smirking, now. As Percy lowered his arms and opened his eyes, he said, "What about Saturday, then? After the meet?"
"Perfect," Kelly said, hitting Olivia in the side to try and get her to close her mouth. "Does that suit you, Mark?"
"Yeah, sure," he said, and even though he sounded fine she could tell he was still confused. "Burgers on Saturday, sounds good."
If Olivia ever regained the ability to function, Kelly was going to kill her for getting them into this.
/\/\/\/\
As promised a present to you all chapter 2.