xxxv. Oh Boy!
It was the last period of the school day (physics) and everyone cheered as their teacher announced there was no homework for the day due to the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting later in the evening. Annabeth's eyes immediately met Percy's and they smiled at one another, planning to attend the festival together.
Throughout the school day, it was all she could think about. It was her first time attending and Annabeth can't wait.
Her smile then faltered when her boyfriend looked away and began talking to his desk mate, Giselle "Elle" Montgomery.
The girl had tan skin with red curls that fell to her shoulder and she always had a warm, sheepish smile on face whenever she talked to Percy (which was multiple times throughout the day—the two shared many classes together).
Annabeth remembered seeing Elle on the first day of school and recalled that the red-haired girl admitted having a crush on Percy. And Annabeth could clearly see that: the girl always flirtatiously staring at her boyfriend, laughing too hard at his jokes, and nonchalantly twirling her hair whenever they were together.
(Maybe, she was just overthinking everything, who knows.)
Either way, Annabeth wasn't too worried about it (though it had provoke her possessive and jealous side) because one, she knows that Percy was too loyal to cheat and two, her boyfriend was oblivious and interpreted every flirtatious behavior as friendly.
The final bell eventually rang and Annabeth quickly picked her stuff and walked over to Elle and Percy; she then watched as the girl's eyes widened at the sight of her.
"Hey, I'm going to go! I don't want to be late to practice," Elle grabbed her bag and got up, "I'll see you at the library later today, alright?"
"Yes, sounds good," nodded Percy with a smile, "I'll text you when I get there!"
"Likewise! Cya!" Elle flashed him a bright smile then greeted Annabeth, "Hey! Annabeth! You looks so pretty today!"
"Thank you, you too," nodded Annabeth with a small smile and the girl then left.
(What?! Elle was very pretty and Annabeth wasn't going to be mean.)
"So, there's really nothing you can guys to do to keep Mrs. O'Leary," asked Annabeth as they left the classroom and headed home.
"Yep, nothing," he sighed, "Our apartment complex doesn't allowed any pets, so that's that. We're going to take her to animal shelter soon. Estelle is distraught and there's nothing we can do to comfort her."
Annabeth bit her lips, then beamed, "What if we go to Build-A-Bear workshop and get a stuffed animal that looks like Mrs. O'Leary?"
"Oh, that's a good idea," Percy exclaimed, "I think she'll really like that—let's do that soon."
It was quite a cold afternoon and they intertwined their hands and headed home.
"Annabeth, you know that Elle and I are going to the library later so we can do our peer review of our papers for English?" she nodded at him and he sheepishly said, "Well, she has choir practice for the school's concert till five so around I'm going to leave for a bit and when I come back, we can go to Rockefeller, does that sounds okay?"
She nodded, "That's fine."
He beamed then kissed her forehead, "You're going to love the lighting—it's so magnificent and beautiful—and I'm so happy that you're here to experience it with me."
Annabeth only softly smiled.
While Percy left for the library, Annabeth waited at the Blofis' with Thalia and she worked on her homework in Percy's bedroom while Thalia hang out with Estelle and Mrs. O'Leary. It was 7:30 PM when Percy returned, saying they had to revise Elle's paper a lot, and they all headed to crowded, noisy Rockefeller Center.
Annabeth and Percy greeted their classmates as they spotted one another; they moved closer to tree due to Estelle's request ("Mommy! I want to be closer to the tree! Please! Mrs. O'Leary also wants to see the tree closer!").
"It's almost time, Annabeth," whispered Percy into her ear, his arms wrapped around her waist, "One more minutes till 9, it's going to be the most wonderful thing you have ever seen."
"I bet," she leaned back against Percy and gazed around lovingly at exciting crowd with their phones as they began counting down.
The crowd erupted in cheers as the Christmas tree lit up; her eyes widened in amazement and her mouth agape as the the lights shone on her and the choirs began singing.
"I..." she turned to look at Percy after she got over her initial shock and gushed, "That was so breathtaking!"
"Yes," Percy's eyes then softened, "But you're way more breathtaking, Annabeth."
Annabeth blushed and Percy kissed her; when they both pulled away, they beamed at one another.
"I love you, Seaweed Brain."
"I love you too, Wise Girl."
[originally published on 12/2/20 && formerly titled power up.]
[12/2/20] author's note! I'm sorry for the delay for this chapter but I accidentally messed up my schedule so that's why it's later than usual! I wasn't planning on making this chapter but I found that they were going to light up the tree in New York today so I was like-I need to write about it! Also, thank you for 7k on False God!! It's still surreal! <3 Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone had a good day! Thank you for reading and have a good day/night! Till next time-Much Love, Lucinda! 💙