True Love [Percabeth]

Five - The Girl

The shoulder strap of my bag digs into my shoulder slightly as I walk towards the large aquarium building. I'm full of nerves, yet so excited. Today I'll finally admit my love for Percy, with no fear.

As I enter, I pay for a ticket and go into the arena. I open up my sketchbook and grab a pencil from my bag. The building only needs a few more touch-ups, then I'm good to go.

The show goes for half an hour. I'm only here to see the dolphins - and Percy - so I don't really pay much attention to anything else. When it's over, I complete my drawing and smile down at it. It's perfect - exactly the way I wanted it to be.

I exit the arena and go to the ground floor. When I enter the pool area, I don't see Percy anywhere. I walk around the outside - careful to avoid the slippery bits - trying to find him. "Where is he, Blackjack?" I ask the dolphin who's still in the pool. He looks at me and then swims off.

Admitting defeat, I leave the room and go back into the lobby. That's when I see him. A pretty girl is kissing Percy beside one of the exhibits.

No.

It can't be.

As I run towards the exit, I hear someone shout my name behind me, and I know that it's Percy, but I don't stop. I keep running until I leave the aquarium and run to Rachel's house. I knock on the door and Rachel opens it. She sees my frantic expression and lets me in. As we go up to her room, I burst into tears and she looks at me worriedly. When the door to her room closes, she turns to me.

"What happened?" She demands. "Did he say no?"

I shake my head. "He - he w - was k - kissing another g - girl!" I sob, and Rachel puts her arms around me in a sisterly hug as I cry onto her shoulder.

For about a day I believed that Percy liked me, but turns out, I was wrong. He doesn't like me, and there's nothing I can do now. I can't believe I even liked him in the first place!

"That idiot." Rachel growls. "I'll kill him!"

"N - no!" I cry, suddenly distraught. "Just l - leave him. It's not w - worth it."

"You're right." She sighs.

Once I'm done crying, Rachel walks me home. My dad doesn't say anything to me as I go up the stairs to my room and slam the door shut. He only calls me and my brothers Matthew and Bobby for dinner an hour later. I'm glad no one asks why I look like I've been crying. And I'm more than glad that Thalia doesn't come around asking who she should kill; I know that Rachel has probably told her by now.