Don't judge a book by its cover.[Percabeth]

Chapter 15

Annabeth's POV

That was probably the best gym class I'd ever had. It was fun, hanging around with Percy and Piper. Even if it was while running track. Or at least it was until my usual group of friends started staring at me, whispering and then laughing. I felt so uncomfortable and genuinely ashamed that I did that to other people regularly. Why was I such a bitch? I guess my upset must have shown on my face because Percy suddenly started a water fight, effectively ending the uncomfortable situation. It was a lot of fun. I ended up soaked after Percy carried me straight into the firing line and he ended up soaked after I emptied my water bottle over his head. But the fun was soon stopped by a very angry Coach Hedge.

Now, Coach wasn't exactly a big guy. He stood at a slightly below average height of 5'5" and he had a curly mop of brown on top of his head that was usually covered by a baseball cap. I swore he only owned one outfit, shiny orange tracksuit bottoms and a hideous matching jacket. There was always a whistle around his neck and a megaphone in his hand, as if he wasn't loud enough.

Coach was very angry that we'd desecrated his precious sports areas with a water fight so me and Percy ended up with pool cleaning duty. Piper was supposed to join us but she had a drama meet. I was changing from my soaking wet gym clothes into the jeans, t-shirt and hoodie I was wearing before gym. There was no one around so I dried my hair under the hand dryer, resulting in some extremely frizzy curls. Brilliant. I pulled my hair back into a messy bun, the only thing that could contain my hair when it was like this. I made my way over to the pool to see the outline of Percy sat on the edge, dipping his feet in. I knocked a chair as I walked towards him. His head whipped round but he relaxed and grinned as he saw me. He jumped up and walked over to me.

"You were aaages! The pool's practically cleaned now, I just have to scoop a few leaves out. Well, you have to." He smirked and poked my nose as he said the last sentence. I pushed him away, laughing as he faked being in pain. I grabbed the net and scooped the few leaves and other unmentionables out the generally clear water, cringing at the sound the net made as I dropped it on the floor.

"Done, now what?" I was still unsure about what to do about home. I didn't know whether to go back or not.

"Well, in about ten minutes we can go back to mine, I realised today I've actually done nothing. But first, I haven't been swimming in weeks and I have a free pool here." With practically no warning, he took his t-shirt off and ducked into the changing rooms. When he reappeared, his shirt was still gone but his black jeans had been swapped for some blue shorts. He whooped, ran forward and dive bombed straight into the pool. I shrieked as some of the water splashed out and hit me.

Percy resurfaced and spat water into the air. He swam towards the edge and leaned his elbows on it, propping him up. I grabbed one of the spare towels from the stands and laid it by the pool side so I could sit there. He grinned.

"If you weren't wearing my favourite hoodie I'd pull you straight in here with me." I slapped his wet arm as he started to move his hands towards me.

"Don't you dare! I will end you if you pull me in there." He laughed loudly and pushed off the wall.

"If you wont swim with me then grab my phone from my jeans pocket, you can listen to some music" I stood and walked over to where he got changed. My face reddened as I saw a pair of boxers poking out from under his jeans. I hurriedly grabbed the phone from his pocket and left the cubicle, hoping the blush was gone. I sat cross legged by the pool and plugged the headphones in while Percy swam lengths. My hair was pulling so I reluctantly took it from its bun and let it down.

We were sat/swimming in a comfortable silence fir about fifteen minutes until Percy pulled himself out of the water just to my left. I removed the headphones.

"You done yet? That seemed like a big waste of time to me but if you like it then, what the hell is that?!" I noticed a bluey green smudge on his lower right back. I stood quickly and then crouched back down again behind him. Sure enough, there on his lower right back, just above the waistband of his shorts was a tattoo. It was amazing. It was a green trident with swirling waves of blue and black around it. The waves were wild and the trident stood out in the middle, glimmering slightly in a way that seemed impossible for a tattoo.

"That's incredible." The words came out in more of a breath than an actual voice. I stroked the ink, noting the shiver that passed through him as I did.

"You like it? Its a complete secret, my mum would kill me dead if she found out. You're the only one that knows about it."

"You? Breaking the rules? Shocking. Its gorgeous though, what's it about?" My hand was still on his back. It was extremely muscular.

"I just love the sea. Swimming in it, surfing sometimes, snorkelling. Its actually the best. I love marine biology, its the only school kinda thing I actually like. I know, I'm weird. Don't look at me. I'm super weird." I was shocked at his sudden passion. I'd never seen him talk about something in that way.

"You're not weird. Its cool, seeing you actually passionate about something. I like this side of you." He turned around so he was facing me. He was very distracting with little droplets of water shining in his hair, his sea-green eyes bright with excitement from the swimming. The muscles on his arms rippled as he pushed off the floor to stand. He offered me his hand and pulled me up from the floor.

"Oh, so you like me." He wiggled his eyebrows at me.

I rolled my eyes, "Shut up, seaweed brain." He looked confused at the nickname.

"You know, because you like the sea and you're an idiot so your brain is probably filled with seaweed. Its not funny if I have to explain it." He stooped over and pulled me into a hug, forgetting the fact he was still dripping wet .

"I like it." His breath tickled my ear as he whispered.

I squeezed one last time before pushing him away, "Now I'm soaked. Go and get changed, we have homework to do."

He groaned but went to change anyway. For some reason, my heart beat a little faster as the shorts Percy was wearing were thrown over the top of the door. The door opened a few minutes later, revealing a fully clothed Percy.

"You like what you see?" He opened his arms wide and gestured down over his torso. I rolled my eyes and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the door. I didn't say a word.