Chapter 7 - Rumours
published: Wednesday, 12 February 2020
Percy started off Monday morning as well as anyone could. He redid the bandages Annabeth had done for him on his arm, deciding to pass it off as a cooking injury.
"Maybe a burn," Annabeth suggested. They were going over possible cover stories.
Percy frowned. "Isn't that kind of a stupid injury? Who gets hurt while cooking?"
"You," Annabeth told him pointedly. "Just say you were be dumb enough to forget the pan was on." A playful twinkle danced in her eyes. "I'm sure people won't have trouble believing that."
Considering they had a double period of science first thing, Percy wasn't sure he'd make it to History, but he did. He even saw Annabeth briefly in Chemistry, and it brightened his mood for the rest of the day.
Or so he thought it would.
Things started to go downhill — or pitch straight off a cliff — in History. Frank forwarded him a message Travis Stoll has sent him; it was a picture of him and Annabeth having coffee at Walter's on Saturday.
Apparently it had circulated around the entire school in the short few hours they'd been in school.
Percy spent the morning receiving strange looks and drowning out excited whispers. Everyone thought that Annabeth was his new girlfriend — and latest trophy.
At lunchtime, Percy found his eyes roving the hall for Annabeth's ponytail, but she was nowhere to be seen. He spotted Jason and Piper arguing on a table, but Annabeth had vanished into thin air.
"Looking for your girlfriend?" Hazel said sullenly as she and Frank joined him.
Percy felt his cheek tinge red with embarrassment. "She's not my girlfriend."
"She's not," Frank assured Hazel. Percy had explained the situation to him, minus the parts about Gabe.
"Is hanging out with her such a good idea?" Hazel asked doubtfully. "She and her friends don't like us."
"Especially Valdez," Frank grumbled, pulling a face.
"What, because we had one fight?" Percy reminded them. "Annabeth's actually not as bad as you think she is."
In fact, she was a lot better than that. Annabeth was probably one of the few genuinely great people he'd ever met. She was funny, smart, and made him feel normal in a way no one other than Hazel and Frank did.
"Need I remind you that she punched you?" Frank told him.
"I deserved it," Percy admitted. "I did beat the crap out of her friend."
"Which brings me to my next point," Frank added. "Annabeth and her friends have always hated us. How do you know this isn't just a ploy to get your attention and catch you off guard?"
Percy stared at him in disbelief. "You're joking, right? That sounds extremely dramatic."
"She can't be trusted," Hazel insisted.
Percy pursed his lips. Hazel was generally a good judge of character. Maybe his friends were right.
"Have you spoken to her yet?" Frank asked.
Shaking his head, Percy said, "Not since either of us found out." He sighed. "I need to soon. The rumours are getting out of hand. It can't be going great for her."
Hazel studied his face carefully. "I know that you're friends with her, but it's a bad idea, Percy. You barely know her. Everything we know about her rings alarm bells."
Percy wanted to protest. They only knew Annabeth from the fight, and nothing else. If they could break their rivalry within two weeks, couldn't the same happen between their friends?
Frank leaned down, muttering in a low tone, "The she-devil's here for you, Perce."
Casting a glance over his shoulder, Percy saw Drew beckoning him toward the path leading to the garden outside.
"What does she want?" Percy muttered as he got up, discreetly hurrying to her side.
"Hey," Drew greeted casually, starting down the path away from the cafeteria.
Percy gave her a sideways glance. Drew was a nice person, and they'd had a few nights together, but nothing more. He didn't feel that way about her.
"I'm guessing this is about the picture," Percy said warily.
Drew shrugged. "A little. I always feel like we haven't talked much lately."
Percy nodded slowly. "Right. How're your parents?" Drew's parents had been going through a divorce the last time they'd spoken.
"Not that great," Drew confessed. A flicker of emotion passed across her face before disappearing. "But that's not what I wanted to talk about." She turned to him. "I heard we have English in the library today."
The library just reminded Percy of how he'd met Annabeth in the first place, which forced him to push her out of his mind again.
Percy nodded slowly. "Right. I'll see you then, I guess?"
"I like you, Percy," Drew admitted. "Not just because of the sex, but you're actually one of the better people in this crap school." She caught his gaze and rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know, you don't want to date me. That's okay. I just..." She paused. "Thought it was something I should get off my chest."
Percy watched as she walked away, sending him a farewell smile before she disappeared back into the school building.
Drew Tanaka was one hell of a puzzle.
+++++
"Sorry, I'm late, sir," Percy rushed as he burst through the doors.
Mr Brown raised an eyebrow, but gestured for him to take a seat.
As he surveyed the classroom, Percy caught Annabeth's eye. Grey against green.
He almost went into cardiac arrest at the sight of her; he'd gone the entire day listening to rumours about them but never actually seeing her.
She was in worse shape than he'd initially expected. Her stormy eyes were suspiciously ringed-red, and her jaw tensed unconsciously.
Percy's gaze landed on Hazel, who was sending him a warning look from her seat next to Jason at the back of the classroom. It was safe to say that Jason had mastered the death glare.
Sliding into his seat in front of Annabeth, Percy pulled out his exercise book and pencil case, his stomach churning as he felt the looks from other students piercing into the back of his head.
"We'll be marking the homework from last lesson," Mr Brown declared. "Swap with a partner. The answers are on the board."
Percy looked down at the algebraic functions on the page. He'd done this with Annabeth last week. He knew they were all right because she'd even checked them against her own answers.
As he made a split-second decision, Percy turned around with his book in hand.
"Swap?" Percy offered, trying his best to read Annabeth's expression.
Her eyes fractionally widened in surprise, but she regained her composure, handing her book to him in a swift exchange. Percy ignored the curious looks from his desk mate.
As Percy returned to face the front, writing on the page caught his eye. It was done in different-coloured ink from the rest of the work.
We need to talk.
Percy suppressed the urge to turn around and speak to her. Instead, he scribbled down a quick message below the sentence.
Walter's at 5.
After meticulously marking her homework, Percy passed the book back, giving her a knowing look that conveyed that he had seen her note.
Percy could hardly concentrate the entire class. Firstly, Annabeth sitting right behind him ment that he could hear whenever she spoke to someone. Secondly, every time he reached down to get something out of his bag, Percy caught a glimpse of her face, and that in itself kept him from paying attention for the remaining half an hour.
The bell rang after an eternity, releasing them to the library. Percy quickened the pace of his steps to a jog to catch up to Annabeth, who was racing out of the classroom as soon as they were let out.
"Are you alright?" Percy whispered as he fell into step beside her. Neither of them looked at each other, only speaking out of the corners of their mouths.
"No," Annabeth said in a low voice. "It's like people have nothing else to do with their lives except gossip."
"That's partially true."
"And Drew's giving me a headache," Annabeth whispered back. "As a generally level-headed person, I'm finding myself extremely off-balance today."
Confusion filled his mind. "Drew? Why?"
Annabeth scoffed. "You're completely blind," she muttered as she shoved the glass doors to the library open.
Percy stood there, bewildered, as Annabeth detoured away from him and disappeared behind one of the library's shelves. His gaze caught on the 'Sapiens' book on display at the front, and the corner of his mouth quirked up humorously.
"I thought we decided that Annabeth Chase wasn't great for you," Hazel said worriedly as she and Percy walked over to one of the plushy arm chairs. She pulled a face. "I sound like a bitch right now, but it's just because I don't want you or Frank to get hurt. Jason really got you guys good last time."
"Won't happen again," Percy promised. "Annabeth and I have a healthy friendship, Hazel. Nothing bad comes of it."
Hazel frowned. "Really? Then you haven't heard some of the rumours flying around today."
His eyes flickered up to scrutinise her. "What?"
"I'm just saying, if it's healthy, then Annabeth wouldn't have to endure some of the things people are saying about her," Hazel said quietly.
Percy glanced to the right, refocusing on the conversations of others.
"I can't believe she would do that. Everyone knows he's still hung up on Reyna. What a slut to sleep with someone for no reason."
"She's just another girl to add to his list. I doubt it even meant anything to him."
Percy gulped. Hazel was right. Even if he hadn't meant for this to happen, it was essentially his fault.
He felt anger churn as he tried to drown out the taunts and comments other people made. Percy desperately wanted to defend Annabeth, but he knew it would only make things worse.
"Who sent that picture around in the first place?" Percy said with a frown.
Hazel hesitated. "Not sure, but people are saying it was Drew."
Percy clenched his fist. Drew? No, she wouldn't do something like that. Then he recalled something Annabeth had said about Drew giving her a headache.
"I do not have the energy to deal with any of this," Percy said exasperatedly, leaving his bag as he left to find a book. They were meant to find one of the titles on the reading list to do a book report on, due the following week. The school did things like this about once a month to encourage them to read — which was definitely working.
As he shuffled along the aisle, Percy's eyes scanned the shelves for 'Life of Pi'. It didn't seem like anyone else had chosen the same book, because he was alone in this corner.
Pinching the binding of the book, Percy gently pulled it out, staring at the cover page. The tiger and the boat didn't look that interesting, but it was certainly better than reading an old classic like 'Pride and Prejudice'. He smiled faintly when he spotted 'Sapiens' on the reading list. Annabeth had probably already read all the books they were offered as choices.
Glancing up at the sound of someone approaching, Percy felt his stomach turn uneasily when Drew appeared in front of him.
"Hey," he said quietly.
Drew flashed him a smile in reply.
Deciding that he couldn't exactly fake it, Percy set the book down on the desk and turned to her. "Did you send that picture around?" he blurted out.
Her astonished expression nearly made Percy regret it. It was that impertinent part of his brain again that was just determined to piss everyone off.
Eyeing him cautiously, Drew pretended to search the shelves for a book. "How'd you find out?"
His eyes narrowed. "So you did start it." His voice grew colder than he thought possible.
Drew's features altered into sadness. "I'm sorry," she pleaded apologetically. "I just thought it would be enough to get between you."
"So you could make your move?" Percy demanded. "I already told you that I don't like you in that way."
"No, because Annabeth Chase is bad for you," Drew hissed. "Your two best friends and I all tell you the same thing; how long will it take before you believe us?" She leaned against the table, giving him a pointed look. "How can it ever work out? Your friends hate each other. The entire school is against the two of you. Percy, sometimes things just aren't meant to be."
Percy shook his head. "This isn't any of your business, Drew."
"Maybe," she said. "But my business is that you believe you have to truly have feelings for someone to be with them." Drew shrugged. "Doesn't always have to be that way."
Trying to leave, Percy found Drew blocking his way out, a tanned leg outstretched. "You know I'm not like that," he said lowly. "I don't just sleep with girls for the sake of it."
"Because you don't want to hurt them," Drew breathed. "I'm telling you right now that I don't care. All I want is you."
In a move bolder than most, Drew leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Percy felt his eyes widen in alarm the moment she made contact, his mind blurred and frozen.
A sharp gasp broke through the mental haze and forced him to pull away.
Percy's heart clenched when he saw Annabeth standing behind Drew, eyes filled with shock.
"S-Sorry," she stammered, backing away from them before she stumbled away.
Percy wanted to kick himself.
Drew was the reason Annabeth was the centre of everyone's gossip. And she just found her friend kissing her.
"I'm a terrible person," Percy groaned inwardly.
Drew was still staring at him expectantly.
"That shouldn't have happened," he told her shortly. "And leave Annabeth alone." Percy grabbed his book on the way, jogging out of the aisle.