When We Were 'Us'

Big Waves, And Emotions- Percy POV

"Come on, Percy, these are too small!" Piper complained jokingly.

I smirked evilly at her and doubled the size of the wave we were riding. "Better?"

"Oh my gods, Jackson, if I die it's your fault!" She shrieked.

"So?" I laughed at her, keeping my balance pretty well.

"Then you'll have to deal with Nico and his paperwork!" Piper teased, regaining her composure and adjusting to the higher wave. Kids on the beach began to point and shout as we came closer.

"I think I can handle that!" I told her, then lowered the size of the wave a little.

"Incoming!" One of the Stolls yelled from the beach. "Get 'em, boys!"

The kids on the beach pulled water guns from under the sand or beneath their shirts. I scoffed derisively, what would water do if we were already soaking wet from surfing?

I soon got my answer when the first jet of water hit me, blasting at me hard enough to make me lose my balance. Piper screeched in surprise as she lost her balance fully and fell into the water. I cut the wave so she wouldn't be stuck under it, then felt myself falling from my board as I windmilled my arms awkwardly.

I twisted around once I was under the surface, looking for Piper to make sure she had made it back to the surface. I saw her feet kicking to my left, her head out of the water, and swam her way.

When my head popped over the water, I immediately heard yelling.

"Just you wait, Stoll! I'm going to get you for this one!" Piper was bellowing at the two brothers who were laughing hysterically on the beach. "I'll get Jason involved and everything! You two are dead!"

"Piper, calm down." I chuckled, throwing my arm around her.

"Get off me." She snapped, shoving my arm away. I was surprised for a second before I saw the mischevious glint in her eyes.

"Come on, let me help you onto your board." I told her.

"Fine." She growled. As I boosted her back up, she whispered, "Get them good for me."

"Right now?"

"Yes."

I nodded and moved over to my board, pulling a steady stream of water up onto the sand about 20 feet to the left of the laughing Hermes kids.

Piper flipped the boys off, making them laugh harder, then sighed and nodded at me. "Let's go again."

"Alright, hold on." I pretended to fiddle with my ankle strap while I gauged the amount of water I had, then decided it was enough. The water streamed farther up the sand, then looped around behind the laughing teens.

"You should have seen your faces!" Travis was taunting. "Piper, yours was great!"

"I'm sure they were." I called back. "But not as good as yours will be."

"Wha-"

I dropped the water on them.

"Percy!"

Piper and I burst out laughing and began to paddle back out into the ocean again while I built up the next wave for us.

"Did you make it colder?"

"Of course."

Piper was nearly cackling with laughter.

"Are you going to make it or do I need to go get one of the Apollo kids?" I asked her, getting that feeling you have when your friend is being weirder than usual and you just think that they might have finally gone fully insane.

"I'll be fine." She waved me off, still chuckling. "Let's do one more wave, then go in."

I nodded and pointed to the swell I had built up. "It's there. You ready?"

"Hades yes." Piper grinned, turning her board to face back towards the sand. I did the same and pulled the wave towards us.

"Whooooo!" Piper screamed, pushing herself to her feet and throwing her arms in the air. I followed her move and stood up, bending down to run my fingers through the water under my board.

We neared the shore and slogged out of the waves, laughing and high fiving.

"I hate you both." Travis complained, wringing his t-shirt out.

"The feeling's mutual, Stoll." Piper grinned and wiggled her fingers at him.

I checked the watch Tyson had made me, having waterproofed it long ago. "I'm going to go see if Annabeth is free for a little while after dinner. See you later, Pipes."

"See ya, Jackson." Piper saluted me.

I carried my board back to my cabin and put it in my board bag, then slid it under my bed.

Drying my clothes and changing out of my swim trunks, I ran a hand through my hair to dry it and left my cabin.

Annabeth wasn't at her cabin, but Malcolm said he thought she was at the infirmary.

"Annabeth?" I called, peeking in the door.

"Back here." She called from behind the white curtain.

I went into the back, nodding towards Luke as I came in. "Hey, I was wondering if you were up to hanging out on the beach for a while after dinner? It's not as fancy as our last date, but it'll be fun."

She grimaced. "Sorry, Percy, I promised to help Luke get situated in the Hermes cabin again. The Apollo kids have said he can leave the infirmary."

I pushed down the sense of disappointment. "No, I get it, that's fine. Maybe tomorrow?"

Annabeth nodded with a smile. "Tomorrow sounds good. See you then."

I gave her a small kiss on the lips and left the infirmary ahead of the two of them as the conch shell sounded for dinner.

[A/N any of my readers actually gone surfing? I've never been but I'd jump at the chance to try it. My "cousins" (the kids of my mom's grade school/high school best friend, it's easier to just call them that) live in California and they go swimming and surfing and boogie boarding and whatnot all the time. Last time I saw them I did a little bit of boogie boarding, but I had stomach cramps (turbulence on the flight over, hadn't been fun) so I was trying to take it easy]