Percy and Annabeth-Their future

Love Story

September again. The summer had gone by so quickly, and now Sophia was in 5th Grade. Lena and Rion were in 2nd. Taylor and Luke were starting kindergarten.

The first day of school had rolled around quickly, and October came fast. It was almost Halloween, and things were going pretty well for the Jacksons, if I may say so myself.

Sophia was acing every class (as usual and expected) and excelling on swim team. Rion was winning medals in every sport he played. Lena was getting her artwork featured in an art show that travelled the country. Taylor had already perfected reading, and Luke was the most popular boy in school.

Everything seemed peachy. But it was really weird seeing Sophia starting to go from a little girl into a not-so-little girl. Recently, she'd been spending much more time with friends than with family. She constantly wanted to go shopping, and was always asking for a phone (which Percy constantly denied).  It wasn't like she was turning bad, it was just... her wanting more independancy. 

Anyway, one day I was picking up Sophia and her friend Tessa Connors up from school. They were gossiping in the backseat, something I probably should've discouraged, but I  liked the info. Most of what I heard was purely innocent. Mostly things like:

"Did you see how pretty Ms. Kilby's hair was today?" or,

"Jessie and Audrey are moving to South Carolina next fall!" But one comment struck my attention while I was driving. 

"Did you hear that Mia and TJ are, like, dating? They totally held hands when they walked down the hallway. And they sat at the same lunch table!! Totally dating..." 

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"Haha, that's very nice of you. Thank you very much for having Tessie over," I smiled at Kathryn Connors, Tessa's mom,  and nodded. 

"She's a pleasure. I'm sure we'll be seeing you both soon!" I waved at we pulled away. Then I turned to look at Sophia in the shotgun side. 

"How was Tessa? She seemed like she was nice." Sophia smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, she really is! Did you know that she has a boat? Like, a huge one that they use in the summer? Tessa invited me on it sometime," Sophia was clearly ecstatic about this new girlfriend. But I wasn't so keen on her. 

"So, what did I hear? Something about, hmm, dating? Do kids date in your class, Soph?" Her eyes grew wide with shock. She stuttered, trying to find the right words. 

"Uhh, umm, y-no...Yes?" I raised my eyebrows, trying to keep my eyes on the road.

"Well? Yes or no? I won't be mad, just tell me! C'mon, I'm your mom!" Sophia nodded, pondering her options. 

"Yeah, some people do. It's not like I do, though..." I smiled with relief. I knew when Sophia was lying, and she wasn't.

"Well, do you like anyone in  your class?"Again, my comment shocked her. Apparently, she wasn't expecting me to know the concepts of dating, gossip, or life. 

"Uhhh......" Clearly it was making her feel awkward. 

"I don't mean to freak you out, Soph. I'm just asking. I'm allowed to know a little bit about your life." 

"Well, there's this one kid in my art class..." I smiled.

"And he's adorable?" Sophia giggled.

"Yeah! He's really cute and-" She covered her mouth like she couldn't belive she had just spilled the beans. 

"No, no, you can't stop! You already started! So, what's he like? What's his name?" Sophia was practically jumping in her seat. 

"Well, his name is Adrian... And he's really tall... He likes sports a lot. He's pretty cool," I smiled.