Caleb Pierson's POV:
I shoved my hands into the pockets of my hoodie, shaking off any nerves. I've gone to Annabeth's house like a million times before, so I don't understand why I'm so nervous about it now. Maybe it's the fact that Mr. Chase might think I'm obsessed with his daughter at this point (which I'm not, but the number of times I went to his house over the summer might make it seem that way).
The good thing is, I'm finally going to be able to talk to Annabeth one on one and get some answers out of her. Everyone's been worried sick about her. She'd always been different, mysterious even, but I feel like things have gotten even worse since Percy showed up. She's gotten ten times more secretive, and now she's getting into dangerous stuff? I can't let her ruin her life for some guy, especially not a guy like Percy Jackson.
Speaking of, Percy should be out of town this weekend. He had said something on Friday about leaving for New York to go see his mom. Annabeth should be alone at that point, which is exactly what she needs to tell me everything. If Percy isn't there breathing down her neck, maybe I'll finally get a definite answer about what's been going on.
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I finally got to Annabeth's house, jogging up the front steps of her porch. I took in one last deep breath before raising my hand and knocking on the front door a few times. There was silence for a second, before a muffled voice called something inside. A much younger voice replied, a slightly annoyed tone in his voice, before rapid footsteps approached the door. The lock clicked, and one of Annabeth's little brothers swung the door open and looked up at me. Was it Matthew? Or Bobby? I could never tell the two apart...
"Who are you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Ouch. I thought I'd been over here enough times that her little brothers might recognize me. Well, technically I can't recognize them either so I can't exactly be mad, but still. Ouch.
"I'm Annabeth's friend...I come over here all the time, how do you not recognize me?" I asked.
The twin shrugged, clearly bored. "I dunno, Annabeth has a ton of friends. Besides, you aren't one of her cool friends. Are you?"
Annabeth has a ton of friends? As far as I knew it was just our small group and Percy...unless he's talking about her camp friends. Also, why doesn't this kid think I'm cool? I'm cool!
"Hey, I'm cool!" I repeated out loud, frowning. The twin's eyes widened at that, and he was clearly more interested in me now.
"No way, really?!" He whipped his head around, calling into the living room. "Bobby, one of Annabeth's cool friends is here!" He called for Bobby, so this one must be Matthew.
Bobby came hurdling over the couch, practically tripping over his own feet as he came toward the door. "Is it Leo?! I miss that guy!" He stops at the door, staring at me for a second before blinking. "You're not one of the regulars. What's your name?"
"Uh, Caleb," I replied.
Bobby and Matthew shared a look before shrugging and turning back to face me. "Doesn't ring a bell. Who's your mom?"
What kind of question is that? "Huh?"
"Like her name?" Matthew said.
"Or what she does?" Bobby added.
I racked my brain for a second. I felt like I was missing out on some kind of inside joke. "Uh, her name's Andrea, and she's a lawyer."
Matthew shook his head, almost like I'd said something wrong. "Oh...then who's your dad?"
"Also a lawyer?"
Bobby's shoulders slumped. "Awh man, I thought you said you were one of her cool friends. Whatever, Annabeth's upstairs."
What, is Annabeth friends with the children of movie stars or something? What do these kids have against lawyers?
The boys turned back toward the living room, trudging back to the couches and leaving me standing in the open doorway. I heard Matthew mumble something about wishing I was Connor or Travis, whatever that means.
I shut the door behind me, refocusing my mind on the task at hand. Heading toward the base of the stairs, I took a quick look into the kitchen. Mr. Chase took a sip of his coffee before glancing up at me. I turned my head away, silently praying that he hadn't seen me looking and wouldn't come talk to me. I had nothing against him, I just figured the conversation might be awkward, given how many times I visited this summer.
Curse my luck, Mr. Chase poked his head out of the kitchen door and studied me. "Ah, Caleb...you're back."
I gave him an awkward wave, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. "Hey Mr. Chase, just here to see Annabeth..."
He tightened his lips and nodded. "Yep...you were here an awful lot this summer for the same reason."
I winced and prayed my face wasn't as red as it felt. "Y-yeah, is that a problem?"
Mr. Chase paused in thought, his brow furrowing for just a second. "Nope, not a problem at all. Annabeth's upstairs." He pulled his head away from the door, and I watched him as he walked back to the book and mug he left sitting on the table.
I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding in. That could not have been more awkward. I wasted no time in jogging up the stairs, not exactly eager for another weird run-in with one of the Chases. I reached the top of the steps and stared at Annabeth's closed door at the end of the hall. I was 20 feet away from finally figuring out everything I need to know about Percy, Annabeth, and all the weird stuff they've been hiding.
I took the slow steps up to her door, standing there for a bit before sighing. Should I knock? Or maybe just call her name so she knows I'm here? Who am I kidding, I'm just stalling. I wrap my hand around the door knob and push it down, slowly opening the door.
You know, now I'm wishing I had knocked. My eyes instantly traveled over to Annabeth's bed, where she was. But see, that wasn't the problem. Percy was there too, sitting on the bed and leaning against the headboard, Annabeth straddling his lap. They had their arms wrapped around each other, hands in places I didn't even want to mention, and were way too close for comfort.
If my heart hadn't cracked when I found out they were dating, it definitely just did. It was hard enough to imagine Annabeth with someone other than me, but to actually see it? I wasn't sure if I was more furious or heartbroken.
Nope, this has to stop. I've been staring for way too long, do I just let them know I'm here? Maybe I'll just close the door again and knock, pretend I didn't see anything.
For some reason beyond me, my brain settled on making the weirdest noise humanly possible to get their attention. It sounded vaguely like a cough, but with a hint of nervousness to it. Great.
Annabeth yelped, jumping off of Percy and landing on the other end of the bed. "Again?!" She exclaimed, smacking her forehead with her palm. Percy just groaned and folded over, pressing his face into the blankets. What did she mean, "again"?
"Caleb," Annabeth started, "what are you doing here?"
"I needed to talk to you about something..." I said, side-eyeing Percy, who paid no attention to me.
"About what?" Annabeth asked, readjusting her ponytail.
"Well, it was..." I began, before looking back over at Percy and huffing. "Does he really have to be here for this?"
Percy pulled his face up from the comforter, raising an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Anything you have to say to me, you can say to him, too." Annabeth replied, crossing her arms over her chest.
I balled up my fists at my sides. "What is he even doing here?!" My voice was a bit louder than I wanted it to be, but I was pissed. Pretty sure that justified the bitter tone.
"We've been over my living situation before, Caleb." Percy retorted.
I groaned. "That's not what I meant, Jackson! You said you were visiting your mom, so what are you doing here?"
"I did visit my mom." Percy responded, sitting taller.
"Your mom lives in New York, you were at school on Friday, and it's Saturday afternoon," I stated.
"My friend Nico picked me up, he...travels fast."
"That's literally impossible," I emphasized.
"Caleb, seriously, what's up? Why are you here?" Annabeth interrupted, almost like she was trying to pull my attention away from Percy.
I opened my mouth to respond, but was cut off by a knock at the door. "Everything alright in there, Annabeth? I heard yelling." Mr. Chase asked through the door.
"Everything's fine, Dad!" Annabeth called back, waiting until she heard him start walking back down the hall. "Caleb, just leave if you're not going to be able to have an actual conversation. I don't need my dad to hear you freaking out over nothing."
I scoffed, turning back toward the door. "Whatever, we'll talk later," I spat, shutting it behind me as I walked back down the hall.
Well there goes that plan. Maybe if Percy hadn't lied about leaving town, this would've gone better. He had to be lying, it'd be almost humanly impossible for him to have gotten to and from San Francisco to New York in less than a day. So what's the explanation?
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soooo yeah this chapter took forever to come out, for everyone who didn't see the announcement, i got grounded so i didn't have anything to write on for a little while. thanks to everyone who was considerate about it, and thank you for waiting!! for the person who called me a lazy ass and cursed me out, ouch lol
7/4/20