"How could you even say that?" I exclaimed.
"How could you ever disagree? It's so true!"
"No, actually, it isn't."
Calypso gave me a harsh look. "In what world is Coca-Cola better than Pepsi?"
"This one! Duh," I mumbled.
She nudged my shoulder with her own.
It was lunch time. The only people at our lunch table were Rachel, Calypso, and I. Grover had a meeting with gardening club for the first half of lunch, seeing as he was the president. I didn't know why Annabeth was missing. Rachel was watching Caly and I bicker pointlessly about soda, a small smirk on her face.
"What's your opinion, Rachel?"
"I don't support drinking soda. The waste causes a lot of harm to wildlife."
I sighed. "I know that, but if you take care of it right it's fine. But we aren't talking about packaging. What about the flavors?"
"I'm more of a Sprite girl myself," she said.
I frowned. "I'm pretty sure that's a Coke product."
Calypso laughed. "Yeah, it is."
"Point Percy!" I cheered.
"You're such a dork!" Calypso giggled.
I grinned. "But I'm a correct dork!"
"Why are we calling Percy a dork today?" Grover asked, plopping his tray down and sitting beside Rachel and across from Caly. I was on Calypso's right, and across from Rachel.
"He is all excited because Rachel likes a Coke product, and is saying that he's winning," Calypso explained.
"Oh. I like Pepsi. It's much sweeter than Coke."
"Right?" Calypso grinned. "Point Caly!"
I rolled my eyes. "We need a tie breaker. Where's Annabeth?"
"She told me she had to stay after class with a teacher, I'm pretty sure," Calypso told me.
"Weird," I mumbled.
"Well, I'm sure everything's alright. On the other hand, the Spring Fling is coming up, and I need a date!" Grover stated.
I chuckled. "Have anyone in mind, buddy?"
"Yeah. There's this girl in my gardening club, and she is absolutely dreamy. My perfect match, some would say."
Rachel snorted. "Like who?"
"Me!" he said, as if it were self explanatory. "She had this beautiful, long ginger hair, and she's as in love with nature as I am. Today she was wearing this gorgeous dress...she's outstanding!"
"What's her name?" Calypso
"Juniper."
"Oh, I know her. She's in my geometry class. Maybe I can put in good word for you," she said.
"Rache, don't you take second period geometry?" I asked.
"Yeah, but I'm not being Grover's wingman."
I laughed. "Anyone else have plans for a date?"
Both girls shook their heads.
"I'm going stag," Rachel said. "All of the guys at this school are crusty. Well, except for Percy." She winked at me.
"Am I missing something?" Calypso asked.
I chuckled. "Not really. Rachel and I are just friends, but we had this inside joke."
"Yeah, during the August before this school year, I kissed him."
"What? That's really strange!" Calypso sputtered.
Rachel laughed. "Yeah, it was. I got myself locked in the his stepdad's car, and he heard me screaming. When he opened the door I hugged him and kissed him. He was as red as my hair!"
I felt the tips of my ears burn red. "I was embarrassed! Who else goes through that traumatic experience?"
"Rude," she spat.
"Wait," Calypso interjected, "was it your first kiss?"
My entire face flushed. I shook my head.
"Really?" Rachel asked.
Grover smirked. "Can I tell them?"
"Whatever. Yeah, sure." I looked at Calypso. "You are getting the full summary of my life today, huh?"
She smiled.
Grover cleared his throat and began. "The summer before freshman year, just a few days before the first day of school, Annabeth, Percy, and I were at the park. We were exploring through the forest, when we found a huge crack in the ground. Being the curious, pesky young teens we were, we explored it. At one point, I got separated from those two young lovers. When I finally reunited my -"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Young lovers? That's not even close to what we were!" I exclaimed.
"Hey, let me narrate my story! You can fill in gaps after."
I scoffed. "Whatever."
"When I finally reunited myself with them, I was flabbergasted. Annabeth had Percy pressed against the wall! I cleared my throat and Annabeth took off like a spooked animal. Percy's face was tomato red, and he just kept mumbling, 'She kissed me. She kissed me.'" Grover laughed.
"Yeah, fine," I grumbled. "Once again, I was embarrassed! Who gets cornered by their best friend in a freaking cave? I was so confused."
In fact, I still didn't really know why Annabeth did that. We had never followed up any sort of romantic anything. Before that...occasion, I had never noticed any signs of my best friend pursuing me, although she did call me oblivious countless times.
No matter what, Annabeth and I were still best friends, only best friends, and always best friends.
I lightly smiled.
"Aw, Percy-BooBoo Bear is thinking about his Annie-Poo, isn't he?" Rachel cooed.
I glowered at her. "Watch it, Dare."
She laughed.
"So, let me get this straight," Calypso said. "Both of your kisses were with your completely platonic girl best friends?"
I nodded, smirking.
"And you guys are still just completely platonic friends?"
I nodded again, but Grover had a different opinion.
"That's what they lead us to believe. You have no idea how much of his life he spends with Annabeth."
"She's my best friend, guys. Our four year friend-aversary is coming up next month."
They all laughed. They didn't take our friendship's intensity seriously, and I didn't expect them too, nor did I blame them. They hadn't found their 'Annabeths' yet, the one person that you just click with on absolutely everything. I was pretty lucky to have found mine so young. She meant everything to me.
That, as well as what Calypso and Grover had said, made me wonder. Was our relationship more than just platonic? I mean, I knew that Annabeth was absolutely beautiful inside and out, but that didn't mean I liked her. She was constantly making my days better - making my entire life better, really - but that didn't mean I liked her either. Every aspect about her made me feel giddy with excitement, but that didn't mean I liked her.
Right?
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Oh, snap! That was a heavy chapter! You just learned sooo much, I wouldn't be surprised if you had an overload in your brain! I feel nice today, so I'll summarize the important stuff you just read.
Annabeth is busy doing something during lunch. What could it be?
Annabeth and Percy had a weird romantic thing almost two years ago.
Rachel and Percy had a weird...thing almost one year ago.
Calypso seems interested in Percys love life.
I swear I'm not making any specific antagonist in this story. Luke isn't going to be evil, nor Rachel or even Caly. They are obstacles, not the main issue. The main issue has yet to be revealed.
If you read all of that, you now have the inside scoop on the story! I hope you enjoyed! Please vote if you did! Comment if you are a Pepsi fan or a Coke fan! I'm a Pepsi gal, myself.