𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐥𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬

Dreams and Dyslexia

Percy awoke with a start, bolting upright in bed. Beside him, Annabeth groaned.

No, she wasn't supposed to be sleeping in Cabin Three, but Mr. D didn't know about it and none of her half siblings would dare snitch. Besides, both Percy and Annabeth slept better with the other by their side. It helped with the nightmares, but didn't eliminate them.

"You alright?" Annabeth asked in a groggy voice.

Percy gasped for air desperately and tried to calm his trembling hands. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you, Annie."

She smiled at the nickname and pulled him back down on the bed. Percy gratefully curled into her warmth and squeezed his eyes shut while Annabeth ran her fingers through his hair soothingly.

"Drowning again?"

"Yeah."

"Want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Ok."

Silence over took them for a moment, before Percy piped up again. "Just distract me, please."

Annabeth shifted and said, "Want me to read to you?"

Percy smiled against her and nodded. She sat up and propped pillows up behind them. It was comforting, though it felt a little childish, for Percy to be read to. Nostalgic even.

Annabeth grabbed her book off the glass nightstand. The table shone in the moonlight, gently illuminating the shells inside the surface.

Flicking on a light, Annabeth began to read.

"Mr. and Mrs. um," she paused, "Dur- Dursley?" Annabeth said, almost in question. As if Percy could correct her.

Shrugging and smiling bashfully, Annabeth continued, "Off, sorry of, number four, Private- I mean Privet- Drive, were proud to say that they were- gods of Olympus, what does that say? -Perfectly normal, thank you very much.”

"Annie-" Percy cringed at himself. It was so hard to remember that she was dyslexic too. She seemed too smart for that. Maybe it was stereotypical of him to think that, but it was true. "You don't have to. I'm fine. It's fine."

Annabeth humphed. Her eyebrows scrunched in concentration. "No, I've got this. I can read. I'm not stupid."

"That's not what I meant-" Percy tried to correct himself, but the damage was done. His stubborn girlfriend would not give up.

"They were the last people you'd expect to be, erm, evolved involved in anything strange or my... me..." Annabeth silently beat herself. She wasn't a kindergarten. Why couldn't she figure out one stupid word? Greek made so much more sense. Those letters stayed in place unlike the ones dancing before her on the page. "Mysterious! Because they just didn't hold, wait what? Oh, no, that's right. With such nonsense."

Two sentences done. Annabeth looked to Percy with a triumphant grin that he weakly returned.

"Annabeth, really. It's alright. You don't have to be the best at everything," Percy started, putting his hand up as she tried to interrupt him. "You're perfect. To me anyway. I love you, but don't torture yourself."

He left off the "or me" though he tacked it on in his brain.

"I just," Annabeth sighed, "I don't know. I just want to be..."

Everything you deserve? A better girlfriend? The best? Perfect?

None of them sounded right in Annabeth's mind. She let her words end there.