It All Started With The New Students... And The Murder

Chapter 28 : Just Keep Swimming

Annabeth's POV

Annabeth woke up groggily, grabbed her phone, checking the time.

5:15 a.m. on a fucking Sunday morning.

Why the fuck did she have to fall in love with a swimmer? A swimmer who decided it was intelligent to race in the first event, meaning he'd have to be there early as all hell.

More to the point, why did she even agree to watch and cheer him on?

"Ah, right, that's why." Annabeth sighed, seeing a picture of Percy and herself on her phone.

She blushed, thinking about what Percy looked like with his shirt off as she grabbed his hoodie, throwing it over herself and putting on some jeans.

Then, she realised that she hadn't let her father know that she was leaving, not that it bothered him, but she decided to leave him a message nonetheless, grabbing her keys and sneaking through the dark house towards the door.

"Where are you going Annie?" Annabeth almost jumped out of her own body as her stepbrother Bobby suddenly spoke up from the couch.

"Gods Bobby, don't scare me like that." She whispered. "Why are you awake? And where's Matthew?"

She was very glad that it was her stepbrothers, because she actually got along quite well with them, especially when her stepmother was around.

If she'd run into her stepmother, she'd probably throw a fit and get mad at her, and would most likely go running to Annabeth's dad to complain.

If she'd run into her dad, he'd probably get angry at her and ask if she was running away again, or he might just ignore her like he usually did.

But Matthew and Bobby weren't like that. They actually accepted Annabeth as their older sister, albeit not always talking to her, as Annabeth's stepmother didn't approve of them talking.

"I'm right here Annie." Matthew replied, appearing on the couch as well. "Answer his question. Where are you going?"

"A friend has a swimming competition." Annabeth replied. "And I'm going to go cheer him on."

"That's a new hoodie." Matthew noticed. "I like it. Where did you buy it?"

"I didn't buy it, my friend gave it to me." Annabeth answered, starting to blush slightly, enjoying the smell of the sea coming from his hoodie.

"Ooooh, you're blushing Annie." Bobby teased. "Who gave it to you?"

"Percy, the boy who I'm watching today." Annabeth sighed, smiling subconsciously as she said his name.

"Percy? Isn't that the boy you went out with?" Matthew asked.

Annabeth groaned and nodded in reply, but smiled at the memory of their night out. She'd longed for a second date since then, but they hadn't found the time for it yet, especially with Percy disappearing a few days earlier to help Travis with whatever it was he had.

"Can we meet him? Can we meet him?" They asked in unison, jumping up and down around Annabeth, who shushed them, but was laughing nonetheless.

"He's a very private guy, but maybe." Annabeth said with a smile. "But not when dad and your mom are here. I don't want him to deal with them just yet."

"What about next weekend? Mom and dad aren't here and they want you to babysit us!" Bobby exclaimed. "You can invite him! We can meet him!"

"Will you let me leave if I promise to ask him?" Annabeth asked with a laugh and the boys reluctantly let her go.