Unstable Lives

My Plan Fails

A/N: My A/Ns are too long.

Percy

The day after learning that I was supposed to train the project horse with none other than Annabeth Chase, I made a plan. It was faulty at best, but it was all I had. I was going to completely suck up to Marisa.

I got out of my car balancing a tray of my mom's blue chocolate-chip cookies, which were, suffice to say, edible heaven. I balanced them on my left arm and fumbled with the keys for the truck in the other, hoping I didn't drop either. That would seriously suck.

I tried to gently kick open the door, but ended up sending it crashing into the wall. An African-American girl in the arena-riding western, oddly enough-glared at me. Her horse, a buckskin, shied. Oops. Luckily for me (and, um, her), she stayed on.

I used my shoulder to open the next door, the one into the tan, dusty but classy enough viewing room. This time the door (thankfully) did not fly open but instead barely opened at all, and I had to awkwardly shimmy into the room. My plan was to give Marisa the cookies and make her like me so that I could train Arion Achievement alone. (Annabeth was right about one thing-It was a ridiculous name.) Obviously, there were multiple holes in this plan. I don't know, I'm not a strategic person. I'm good at like, sarcasm.

I turned around from the door, and my jaw dropped. On Marisa's desk, there was already a baked good-a freaking cake. And holding that freaking cake was the one-and-only Annabeth Chase. She'd beat me to it! I was fuming.

I sidled up to Marisa's big oak desk and handed her the cookies anyways, saying, "Oh, hi, Annabeth. Hey Marisa."

"Why, I'd never!" She exclaimed. "You kids are so sweet!"

Annabeth smiled that over-sweet smile that isn't sweet at all at me and laughed, "How coincidental,"

"Yeah, it's such a coincidence," I said, at which point they both looked at me like I was an idiot, Annabeth more so than Marisa. What? I'd used 'coincidence' right, hadn't I?

"You two are both so sweet!" Marisa said again, covering for at least herself. Annabeth smiled a sugary-sweet smile and replied, "Only the best for my favorite trainer."

"I'm your only trainer, dear."

"Doesn't mean your not my favorite," Annabeth retorted. The two laughed. I stood awkwardly by, not sure what to do.

Probably trying to alleviate me of said awkwardness, Marisa said, "And thank you too, Percy," she turned back to her paperwork and said sternly (but with a smile on her face), "Now, you two have a horse to train!" She shooed us out of the viewing room. Annabeth made eye contact with me as we slid out the door, and then she walked ahead of me, not looking back, footsteps silent, hips swaying, until we got around a corner. Then she spun around, making eye contact again. She stopped so abruptly that I almost ran into her.

We were close, but not like we'd been on Halloween. This was tense and hostile; her stormy gray eyes locked on mine and held them there angrily. Her arms were crossed and locked over her chest and her stance was aggressive; I couldn't have looked much happier, but I wasn't acutely aware of anything particularly defensive I wasn't doing. Huh. Oh well.

"Okay, listen," Annabeth snapped, "I know you don't want to work with me and I quite obviously don't want to work with you."

I cast a confused glance and said, "Well, duh,"

"So what're you going to do about it?" She rolled her eyes and blew a blonde curl out of her eyes.

"Uh...." I mumbled, "What?"