You Belong to my Heart: A Percabeth FF

21. Percy

Chapter 21: Percy

~a couple days later, Percy's birthday~

I checked myself in the reflection of the paned window at the entrance of the movie theater. I had invited some of my best friends to celebrate my 15th birthday. It was only a small group, and I had invited Annabeth, Jason, Leo, Reyna and Grover, an old friend of mine. I was wearing a random white shirt and jeans, which was a huge mistake because I was boiling under the mid-August summer sun.

I was really nervous to see all of my friends, all together, but most importantly, I was anxious to see her. So much had changed in the past weeks, and I considered her to be one of my best friends.

I recalled when I had asked her to come here.

"Hey Annabeth..."

"Yeah?"

"Are you free this Tuesday?"

"Are you asking me on a date?" she giggled.

"Well I wanted to know if you wanted to go to the movie theater with me." I looked into her eyes and I forgot everything I was doing and why.

"So is it a date?" she asked, looking at her hands, clearly uncomfortable.

"Oh! No!" I replied quickly, and she looked slightly hurt. "It's for my birthday party," I smiled.

"YOUR BIRTHDAY IS ON TUESDAY?!?!?!" she squealed. "AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME?!?!"

"Umm no?" I laughed uneasily.

"Of course I'll be there! Just send me the info when you can," she smiled and kissed my cheek before running off and leaving me there, stunned and filled with a feeling that was more charged than adrenaline.

"Percy?" a familiar voice asked. "You okay?"

"I bet he's suffering from a heat stroke or something," Leo laughed.

"What?" I asked, snapping my mind out of my memories and returning to reality.

"We're all here," Annabeth smiled.

"Oh good!" I smiled and hugged everyone, and thanked them for coming.

"I think you'll like my present," whispered Annabeth over my shoulder when I hugged her. My curiosity began to work overtime to figure out what she had gotten me.

"I bet," Jason coughed behind me and I smacked him when I hugged him.

"Oh gods, no! It's not like that!" she giggled.

"Let's go inside," she offered me her arm. I looked her up and down and she was stunning. It was clear that she had dressed up for this occasion. For me. My heart seemed to like that. She was wearing a purple dress and had braided flowers into her hair. I hooked my arm into hers, and hoped no one would notice the extra sweat that was trickling down my neck.

Inside the movie theater, my mother kept annoying me about popcorn and who wanted a slushie or coca cola or water, and I just wanted this part of my birthday to be over. When we finally got inside the movie theater, I felt peace and the party finally began.

"Where do y'all want to sit?" Grover asked, but no one paid him really any attention. Grover went in first, followed by Leo, then Annabeth, and I, and then Jason and Reyna sat on the other side of me. I hoped they wouldn't kiss in the middle of the movie. That wasn't going to be something pleasant to watch.

The lights dimmed and the movie began to play. The movie was the live action movie version of Aladdin. The story featured Aladdin, who was a street outcast who met Princess Jasmine, the beautiful daughter of the sultan of Agrabah. While visiting her exotic palace, Aladdin stumbled upon a magic oil lamp that unleashed a powerful, and wisecracking genie. As Aladdin and the genie start to become friends, they embark on a dangerous mission to stop the evil sorcerer, Jafar, from overthrowing young Jasmine's kingdom.

The movie was beautiful and exciting. I loved the cinematics and the screenplay, but I thought that Disney could do a better job than simply reproducing all of their classic movies into the live-action format.

At the part where Jafar appeared suddenly, I heard Annabeth squeal quietly. I looked at her and whispered, "you okay?"

She shook her head. Scared, she mouthed.

I chuckled silently. "Want my hand?"

She smiled and nodded. When she took it, it was like my whole heart was lifted. Her small fingers curled around my own, and she occasionally squeezed my hand out of her fear.

A little after, when Jasmine and Aladdin kissed, I couldn't help but look away. In the darkness of the movie theater I found myself staring at Annabeth, who had also moved her head.

Both of our cheeks instantly reddened because we were only an inch apart. "Uncomfortable?" I whispered.

"Very," she whispered, her eyes flickering down to my lips.

My heart pounded and the blood in my veins began to thump rhythmically. I glanced back at the screen and the camera was still circling around their kiss. Gods, how long was a kiss supposed to last? I turned back to look at Annabeth, who was staring at the screen, now. Her blonde hair still managed to glow, even in the darkness, and with her purple outfit and flowers in her hair, she almost looked like Rapunzel from Tangled.

When I heard Aladdin's voice, my eyes snapped to the screen. Thankfully, there were no more awkward moments for the rest of the movie, but Annabeth, unsurprisingly, remained at the center of my thoughts.

For the rest of the day, everything went surprisingly well, though Jason continued to elbow me whenever Annabeth was out of sight.

It was nearly midnight, and a whole day had passed, all of which was dedicated to celebrating me. I sighed. I loved my birthday, but sometimes I felt selfish for celebrating it. I shouldn't be having so much fun and smiling so hard when there are people who are not even able to eat on their birthday. 

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Annabeth's unopened gift at the edge of my bed. I sat up, suddenly curious, and began to unwrap the bow. The wrapping paper contained a slender box, and when I opened it, I found so many gifts all jumbled into that one box. There were chocolates, and blue pens, stickers and magnets, and there was even a t-shirt. But my favorite of them all was a framed picture of the two of us. We had taken it at the skating rink, before we had begun, and we were both blushing, our eyes sparkling. I was looking at her, as she took the picture. I looked closer at my eyes. There was not only this sparkle, but it was as if all of my attention was dedicated to her, I was looking at her with... love.