Just High School

Chapter 3 - - Percy

Percy walked to school the next morning with Annabeth. They talked about inconsequential things and Percy marveled at the fact that they were actually walking together. And they would the rest of the year, too! The thought of that put an extra bounce in his step.

When they got to school, they separated: Annabeth to her friends and Percy to his. As Percy walked over to Leo, Jason, Frank, and Luke, he passed Nico, who gave him the death glare. And man, that kid was good at it! Percy still didn't know what he'd done wrong, but whatever it was, Nico was very angry at him.

When he got over to his friends, Luke was talking about homecoming. "There's going to be a dance for it. There always is, every year. And it's more formal than the middle school dances we're used to. Like, these are dances to bring dates to." He smiled, and then noticed Percy. "Hey, Percy. We're talking about the homecoming dance."

Percy nodded. "I heard." He wondered if he could ask Annabeth to the dance. Would she go with him? Would she even consider it? Was he brave enough to do it? He focused back in on Luke, who continued talking.

"I think I already know who I'm going to ask," confided the handsome, blonde-haired boy.

"Who?" Leo asked. As usual, he couldn't mind his own business.

"Annabeth Chase. You know her, the pretty blonde? I heard that she likes me. And she's cute. So I think I'll ask her in a few weeks."
Leo and Jason both glanced at Percy. They, unlike Luke, had been at lunch the previous day and heard about Percy's crush on Annabeth. Thankfully, they didn't say anything. Percy felt--he wasn't sure what. A little angry, and a little jealous too. Okay, maybe a lot jealous. Luke was very good-looking and could probably get any girl in the school. And Percy--well, he didn't think he was like that. A sinking feeling started in his stomach and didn't go away for the rest of the day.

After school, Percy stayed in the gym for swim team tryouts. He wasn't worried about making the team--he'd been a good swimmer since before he could walk--but he liked tryouts nonetheless. Percy was one of the first people trying out, and he swam well. Once he finished, he climbed out of the pool and went to go sit on the bleachers. The coach, who was an old family friend, nodded at him and clapped him on the back. Percy found a spot on the bleachers and settled down. As he watched more people swim, some with even, strong strokes and others floundering in the water, a girls came over and sat next to Percy. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She had long, red hair and was pretty, but not as pretty as Annabeth. She looked like the artsy type, and Percy was surprised that she was trying out for the swim team. She looked over at Percy and smiled, and suddenly Percy recognized her. It was Rachel Dare, an outgoing artist who Percy had met in middle school. She scooted closer to him.

"Hi, Percy!" she exclaimed.

"Hi, Rachel," he replied.

As the swim tryouts dragged on, he chatted with Rachel. He hadn't really had an opportunity to talk to her before, and he found that she was clever, outgoing, and a good person to have a conversation with. When she was called to swim, she winked at Percy and hurried over to the pool, where she swam a 50 with blinding ease. When Rachel returned, she smiled at Percy.

"Swim team should be fun this year, don't you think?"

The next few weeks were uneventful. Percy and Annabeth continued to walk to and from school together, which Percy enjoyed. He also enjoyed swim practices, because he found himself liking Rachel Dare more and more as he got to know her better. Except for these parts of the day, the weeks dragged on and Luke continued to plan how to ask Annabeth out, often loudly and in front of Percy. Percy tried to stay calm and hopeful, but he was getting more and more discouraged.

Homecoming was at the end of September. It was a week and a half away when Silena came to sit with her boyfriend, Charlie, and his friends during lunch. Luke was inside again that day, but Percy, Jason, Leo, Frank, Grover, and Tyson were all there. They all talked about inconsequential things, until the discussion turned to the homecoming dance.

"Do any of you have dates?" Silena asked brightly.

All of the boys looked down.

"Come on!" Silena chided. She often liked to play matchmaker. "Tyson, I heard from Juniper that Ella is just waiting for you to ask her. And speaking of Juniper, Grover, I think she has a little crush on you too."

Both boys blushed, but Percy could tell that they were listening hard to Silena.

"Leo . . . um, I don't know about you," she said.

"It's okay," Leo said breezily. "I'm too hot for anyone here."

Silena rolled her eyes, then glanced at Frank. "Let's see, I think Hazel over there is waiting for you to ask her."

Frank flushed red and shook his head. Silena smiled at him, then turned to Jason.

"Jason, you should ask Piper to the dance. It's clear you like her, and I think she may like you too. Besides, it can't hurt."

Jason nodded resolutely.

"And Percy . . . you and Annabeth, wow. A match made in heaven. She likes you and you like her. You guys walk home together every day! Just ask her out, come on."

Percy looked down, embarrassed. He was about to say something when the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. He stood up and hurried towards the doors, happy to get out of the conversation. But Silena caught up to him right as he walked inside.

"Seriously, Percy. She really likes you and I can tell you like her. Please just ask her out to the dance. What could go wrong?"

"What if she says no?" The words slipped out before Percy could control them. What was he doing, getting love advice from his friend's girlfriend?

"I've seen the way she looks at you. Trust me, she won't say no."

Throughout the rest of the day, Percy steeled himself to ask Annabeth to the dance. Come on, he told himself, it's not that hard. Just ask her already! He didn't pay attention in class and didn't listen to the teachers. In fact, he was so preoccupied that he walked a block away from the school before he realized that he'd forgotten to wait for Annabeth!

Percy turned around and headed back to the school, meeting Annabeth halfway there. She looked puzzled, but not angry. "Why didn't you wait?"
"Sorry," he apologized. "I had a lot on my mind and didn't even realize it. I hardly know the date!"

Annabeth smiled. "It's fine."

They walked in silence for a little bit. Then Percy stopped and turned towards Annabeth. "Annabeth, I have something to tell you."

She looked at him curiously.

"I, uh, I think you're really pretty and really smart and a great person."

She smiled. "Thanks, Percy."

"And, um . . ." He had no idea what to say next, so he said the first thing that came to mind. "Uh, Silena told me that you liked me--"

She wasn't smiling now. "So Silena told you to do this? Silena set you up to do this? You're just blindly going along with Silena's matchmaking?" Annabeth turned on her heel and began to walk away fast.

"No, wait, Annabeth! I like you too, only Silena was the one who told me that you did to, so . . ."

She rounded the corner to her house and disappeared inside of it. The door slammed behind her. Percy sank down on the curb.

He'd blown it. Silena had assured him that Annabeth liked him, that nothing could go wrong, but Percy has blown it. Somehow, in his own incompetence, he'd screwed things up and made sure that whatever happened, Annabeth didn't go to the dance with him. She probably didn't even like him anymore, if she had in the first place. Slowly Percy got up and made his way home.