You Belong to my Heart: A Percabeth FF

27. Percy

Chapter 27: Percy

I still didn't understand why I had been so mad with Annabeth. It must have been a combination between my mom's speech in the morning the other day, the irritation towards Annabeth for thinking that a stupid kiss on the cheek actually meant something, and the heat of the moment.

Annabeth had pulled an ultimatum on me. TO NOT TALK TO CALYPSO? Was she actually mad? Perhaps her books had gotten to her brain. Annabeth had always been so kind with me, so funny and teasing, but now I could see her for who she really was: an envious parasite.

I looked on the bright side. At least I had Calypso and I knew she would never act so selfishly like Annabeth. She was a pure soul. To be honest, I couldn't wait to spend more time with her without having to worry about how Annabeth would feel about it. It was a relief.

Over the course of the next couple of weeks, I didn't really talk to Annabeth as much, and she avoided me altogether. I didn't stop paying attention to her blonde curls. I knew exactly where she sat and who she hung out with: her books. I know that she was focused on her classes and that she pushed herself harder than ever because she was always studying in some way.

Instead I hung out with Calypso, and when she was with her friends, I talked to Jason, Piper and Leo. I could tell that they knew that something had happened between us but thankfully none of them asked. They could tell that I was happy with Calypso, not that we were dating or anything.

I concentrated on the swim meets, pushing myself harder and actually getting better results. The gap between my time and Luke's was smaller than ever. Of course, the summer math class and... Annabeth's tutoring proved to be very helpful in my math class and I wasn't failing. I wasn't failing any of my classes, and to be honest, I was really proud of myself.

But, in Biology especially, I had lots of trouble focusing, and my eyes always shifted towards her, but they never met the stormy grey eyes that had brought so much joy to my summer. I liked to observe the way she dressed each day, and the way she styled her hair, but then Calypso would ask me a question and I would forget about Annabeth altogether. I missed her more than I would ever admit.

Occasionally I would see her crying to herself and I always had urges to comfort her, but I knew that would only eventually damage both of us.

"Why don't you talk to her?" Jason asked, watching me watch her wipe tears off her cheeks.

"She was really mad at me, okay?"

"I can tell when someone is hurting and that girl is broken, Percy. Anything is helpful. I would help, but I don't know her." This is in your hands.

"Fine," I sighed theatrically. I grabbed my lunch and sat down next to her.

"Beth what's wrong? And don't say nothing."

She looked at me, glaring. Suddenly her eyes shifted to behind me. I turned and there was Calypso. She rolled her eyes and picked up her bag, without saying a word. It was clear she still felt hurt and attacked.

All of the other interactions went the same. I felt pity for her, tried to talk to her, and she would just avoid me. As the school year went on, and the amount of homework increased exponentially, I stopped trying altogether.

One day, she came to school with a dark red mark on her face. My blood started to boil, knowing that it was her mother who had caused this. In Bio, the teacher asked Annabeth to pass out the papers and when she dropped a leaflet on my desk, I grabbed her hand.

She looked into my eyes and I could see the tears already forming in her eyes.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Fine," her voice was bitter and she pulled her hand away.

"Annabeth please," I begged.

She laughed. "No," her voice was both light and heavy. She was like a feather carrying the weight of the world. Her eyes narrowed.

"Why can't we talk?"

"I have papers to pass around," she rolled her eyes.

"To hell with the papers." I snapped my fingers and Piper who was watching carefully behind me, stood up and took over Annabeth's job. The teacher was too busy to pay attention to us.

"Leave me alone, Jackson," she glared at me.

"Chase," I narrowed my eyes in a playful way, trying to lighten the mood but she only glared her eyes even more and tried to walk away.

I grabbed her hand. "I don't care about what you have to say so save your breath," she growled and snatched her hand away.

"Beth I—" I wanted to tell her that I missed her, that I still wanted to be friends, that I missed our summer... but I couldn't find the right words...

She shook her head and turned away, moving back to her seat.

I took a deep breath and stilled my hurting heart. My heart would have shattered any other day but I know I knew that she didn't care about me enough to care whether I had a broken heart or not. I refused to even think of her, because I knew that she would never do the same. There was an unbalance in our relationship, and it was so large, it was actually pulling us apart.

"Percy, what's wrong?" Calypso asked.

I faked a smile. "Nothing. Everything is just great."

"Good," she giggled and placed her hand over mine. Her thumb rubbed the palm of my hand and I smiled slowly, forgetting about Annabeth. I could feel my heart slowly beat faster. This feeling wasn't anything like when I was around Annabeth—it was faster, like I was driving quickly, with the landscape blurring, without paying attention to the details.

And so, for the next couple of months, I barely paid attention to the details. I just focused on the long run, such as my grades, my friends, my passion for swimming. I hated that highschool was everything about college but the mindset was unfortunately getting to my brain.