By the time we reached Annabeth's house, I really had to pee. I asked to use her bathroom, and she allowed me, laughing. We entered her small condo together.
I made my way through the familiar home and found the bathroom was occupied. I waited patiently out in the hallway, until finally the door swung open. Malcolm Pace, Annabeth's half brother, stepped out.
"Oh, hey, Percy. Didn't know you were coming over today."
"Wasn't planning on it," I admitted smoothly. "You're back in Manhattan, I see."
"Yeah, my dad was busy. Wanted to get rid of me for a bit, so I decided to finish up the last semester at Goode with Annabeth."
"Cool. Well, good to see you."
"Yeah, see you around."
I stepped into the pristine bathroom and did my business. While I was washing my hands, I glanced around and reminisced on all of the memories I had at that house. Since I had always lived in an apartment building, I didn't have a yard, but the Chase's did. I would always come over during summer or winter to do outdoor activities I couldn't do at my own place, like use a sprinkler, build snowmen, or have snowball fights. I remembered having either Helen, Annabeth's step mom, or Annabeth herself patch me up when I had been over ambitious at whatever game we'd been playing.
I chuckled, finally drying my hands and leaving the room. I entered the kitchen and spotted Annabeth sitting on a barstool and the island, eating sliced apples and cheese.
I clicked my tongue. "Jeez, Annabeth. I just took you out to eat a nice, humble meal, and you're already snacking again! I can't believe it! The disrespect!"
She turned to me and laughed. "Want some?" she mumbled, mouth full of fruit.
"Of course," I continued in the same tone.
I sat beside her on the middle stool and snacked for a bit. While we ate, Annabeth and I chatted about school work and our extra curriculums. Eventually, though, I had to go home. I didn't want my mom to worry, and I knew she would be anyway.
"I've got to get going," I said.
"Alright."
She walked me to the door, even though I clearly knew the way from my countless visits.
"Thanks again for dinner. Bye, Perce."
"Bye, Annabeth."
I walked down the street and after passing a few more blocks, I was on my street. I came to the familiar apartment building and trekked up the countless stairs to my floor. The elevator there was sketchy, and even if it did work fine, I still probably wouldn't use it. They had always freaked me out.
I unlocked the door to our cozy apartment. I smelt the faint scent of my mom's homemade chocolate chip cookies, and wafted it toward me.
"I'm home," I called. I hung up my key ring and took off my shoes, putting them on the mat.
"I'm in the kitchen!" my mom replied. "Put your stuff away and come here!"
I complied, walking to my room and setting my backpack and swim bag on the floor before backtracking to the kitchen.
"Hey," I greeted. I stood beside her and kissed her cheek, subtly swiping my fingers into the mixing bowl.
"Perseus!" she playfully chided.
I grinned and licked the blue dough off my fingers. "Ooh, that's going to be a good batch, Mom."
She smiled. "How was practice? You stayed pretty long, huh?"
"Yeah." I sat down at the table as I watched her form the cookies. "We wrapped up our official practice at about 3:30, but Annabeth stayed with me while I practiced my 50 meter freestyle a few more times. Then I took her out for pizza. I dropped her off and we hung out for a bit before coming here finally."
"How's she doing?"
"Pretty good, as far as she's told me. Malcolm is staying with them again. Hopefully Helen doesn't get weird about it again."
Annabeth and Malcolm shared their mom, but had different dads. So, technically, Malcolm was currently living with neither of his biological parents. Helen had always been touchy on that topic, because Frederick still treated Malcolm as his son. He was just a fatherly guy, though.
"Maybe we can invite them all over for dinner sometime soon. I feel like I haven't talked with them in ages."
She slid the tray into the oven and shut the door. She set the timer before joining me at the dinner table.
"So, sweetie, Paul told me you are doing very well in his class, but pretty poorly in most others. Want to talk about it?"
I didn't, actually. But I couldn't say no to my mom. She worked so hard for our family, and was almost always exhausted. She just wanted what was best for me.
"Well, Annabeth is in my English class, so she's been helping me keep my grades up. But I'm in almost no other classes with her, so I have no partner to help me. Plus, you know how my dyslexia gets during algebra. That's a lost cause."
She laughed quietly. "I get it, honey. Maybe Annabeth can help you anyway. Just because you don't share the exact classes doesn't mean she won't give you some tips. Maybe you can be homework partners."
I smiled half heartedly. "I'll think about it, Mom."
I was no fool, and I knew Annabeth very well. She was definitely much smarter than me, but she'd also be very willing to help me. She also suffered from dyslexia and ADHD, so she probably had some helpful techniques. But, it was kind of embarrassing to need help, and I was still getting used to that feeling. I'd definitely think it over, though.
"I've got a lot of homework today, and already ate dinner. See you later, Mom."
"Work hard, Percy."
I grinned sarcastically. "Always."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shout out to Eclipse_Assassin for the cover!!
Chapter two and we are already getting to know some backgrounds?!! Percy and Malcolm have a weird relation ship, huh? Wonder what that's about...And is Percy salty about constantly being on the go?? We'll see where that takes us..
Thanks for reading! Please leave a vote and comment if you enjoyed! I'll try to update again tomorrow!