Not Quite Mortal • HoO

VII. Miranda Atwood

Don't think I don't know what you might think of me by now. Some few of you are probably on my side, because you're sorry for me or something (because my brother is an idiot). Most of you probably think I'm going to try to split Percy and his lovely Annabeth apart.

Here's news for you: I'm not. It's high school, I'll get over it eventually, but what is more likely, is that they will eventually break up. And when they do, both of them will have been friends with me. Percy will turn to me, and Annabeth will have no grudge against me, because I will offer her my full friendship when she gets here. If they don't break up, there's no loss really. I'll still have them as friends.

Who am I kidding, I'll be pissed if they don't break up. But I will try my best to be friends with them no matter what.

I ran over those thoughts over and over on my way to school that Monday. It was dreadful, I'd never wished for anything more than I wished for Annabeth to disappear. Okay, maybe I'd wished more for a perfect ACT score, but Annabeth disappearing was pretty close.

"You're not going to do something stupid, are you?" Asked Henry. If you asked me, Henry was the one who did the truly stupid things, so he couldn't judge what I did.

"Of course not. When are my plans not well thought out and reasonable?"

Henry shrugged. I knew he thought of me as little and childish, he doesn't have to say it out loud.

"I did notice the makeup though," he finally said. "But, you know what, I couldn't care less about what you decide to do with your life, so -" he shrugged his shoulders in indifference.

I blushed. I did put a little more effort into my appearance than usual. I had chosen to wear a lavender colored blouse tucked into my black skirt instead of shorts and a T-shirt like usual. I had also added eyeliner and eyeshadow to my morning routine.

That was as far as we reached in our conversation before arriving at school. I watched longingly in the direction Henry walked, knowing that Percy and Annabeth would probably be in his first class, but since we had walked, not biked, that morning, I didn't have time to go after him. But when I walked into my math class (who cursed me to have math first thing in the morning again??) I was surprised to see a girl sitting at the desk next to me. The desk next to me that had always been empty.

After putting my stuff down, I turned to the girl. I was sure it was her - curly blonde hair, grey eyes, and the same facial features from Percy's picture. "Are you Annabeth?" I asked her.

"Yeah," she answered. "How'd you know?"

"I'm a friend of Percy's. He said you'd be coming to Goode this week."

Annabeth nodded, and smiled. It looked like plan 'Befriend Annabeth' wouldn't be so hard after all.

~o~O~o~

By lunchtime, I'd gotten verification of all of Percy's facts. He had met Annabeth when they were twelve. Annabeth knew, and went to camp with Percy. Everything Percy had ever told us had checked out.

"Annabeth! There you are," said another girl. I'd never seen her before either, and she hadn't been in the photo of Percy's friends. She could've been a relative to that girl in the picture that had choppy brown hair, but I doubted it.

"Savannah, this is Percy's friend Mira. Mira, this is my friend Savannah. She also just moved here from San Francisco."

Savannah and I shook hands, and politely greeted each other.

"Now come this way, we usually sit over here," I guided the girls to Percy's usual table. He, Andrew, and for some reason Leah and Henry, were already there. The table was a bit small now, for the size of our group, but someone could just pull over a chair. I did so, and sat myself between Leah and Savannah, barely concealing emotion when I turned around and saw Percy and Annabeth exchanging a quick kiss.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked Henry.

"Eating lunch."

"Last time I checked you had your own friends. So get."

"If I remember correctly, during the months Percy was gone you often sat with other friends as well. You were such a great friend to leave Andrew without any," Henry said. "But you know, I don't really care what you choose to do with your life, so..." His voice was kept low, and no one else at the table heard, but I winced anyway. Ditching Andrew for the chance to be 'popular' wasn't something I was proud of.

I stayed seated, and kept eating my sandwich. I noticed Annabeth and Savannah turn in our direction once they were done talking, and decided to do some introductions.

"This is Henry, my brother," I told them. They nodded, and some kind of conversation started but I'm not listening. I'm looking between Annabeth and Percy, not at them. There, behind them, is that other table with my "friends." The ones that I often sat with, but also the ones that didn't seem to really care. They all sit at that table for the popularity, and I may look like one of them - but I'm not. I was the nerd faking a lifestyle to fit in.

At least Andrew and Percy noticed when I was gone. Heck, even Leah noticed when I was gone. What right did Henry have to take that friendship away from me? And what right did Annabeth have to come and mess up my future? 

Not my favorite chapter, but what do you think?

I'm trying to incorporate the traditional 'Mortals Meet Percabeth' story in with Mira crushing on Percy, and those girls at the table she mentioned aren't just there for this chapter. But, I was wondering how much really cheesy person likes Annabeth/Percy chapters you want in the story. I'm thinking it will be 30 chapters, give or take a few. I definitely am going to put in some more mysterious chapters, as this story isn't just about Percabeth.

Also, what is your take on Mira/Miranda. Do you think you'd like her as a person? As a character? Can you relate to her at all? Do you think she'll turn out to be one of those girls that everyone hates in this kind of story?

And of course, if you add why you give that answer to those questions, that would be great too.

~Erudite Owl