High School For Percy

The Burger Place

Erin POV

The afterschool crowds had dissipated so there was only a couple with two kids screaming for ketchup and an elderly man staring out the window. The five of us took a booth seat in the corner and Liam pulled up a chair so we didn't have to sit three to a seat. I sat next to Paige on the outside of her while Percy and Sam sat across from us. Paige nudged me with her elbow and gave me a pointed look. In the locker room, we had discussed that I was going to start first to see if we could crack this guy. Sadly, Alice hadn't been able to make it, she would've been great at being scary.

"So Percy, who is Annabeth?" I judged that as the safest question to begin. My assumption was confirmed when I saw his eyes light up and his posture relax.  

"His giiirrlllfriend," Liam teased. Percy rolled his eyes at him before speaking.

"Liam is just jealous I'm taken. He can't stand the thought of me with a woman," said Percy dramatically. Liam just smirked. Percy was probably the only person on the planet that could beat Liam in a battle of sarcasm.

"So she's seriously your girlfriend?" said Paige. She leaned onto the table in anticipation.

"Yeah, for one and a half-ish years now." 

Paige cooed, "Aww, what's she like?" 

"She's brilliant, she's in all these advanced classes that I swear aren't written in English. She wants to be an architect, she's actually designing some building for her mom and stuff. She cares about people a lot, maybe too much. She doesn't like to give up on them. She's extremely stubborn. And determined. Once she puts her mind to something you better believe she's following through. She's basically fearless. There was this one time with these monkey bars over this huge-" he cut himself off, "nevermind. That's a story for another time. She'll also punch you or judo-flip you if she thinks you're being an ass." His words trailed off as he became aware of how long he had been talking with everyone staring intently at him. 

"You forgot something," said Liam, effectively breaking the silence. We all looked at him expectantly, I'm sure I wasn't the only one who noticed his cocky grin. Obviously proud of what he was about to say.

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Percy pushed. 

"She's a total babe, I'd tap that," he said. Percy raised an eyebrow accusatively. 

"You wanna try that again?" he threatened with that glare that made my insides rearrange.

"No, I'll just shut up now and marinade in regret."  Percy laughed at him a little and Liam cautiously joined in soon after. 

"Anyway, she sounds great, when do I get to meet her?" I redirected the conversation. Percy became a little bit more serious at that question.

"I don't know, she's in Boston. Something about a family emergency."

"So that's what Coach Hedge was going on about? Why did he get the call and not you?" asked Sam.

"I don't have a phone."

"Right, I forgot you live under a blanket of isolation from the world." They laughed a little but Percy's mood had taken a beating when he thought of Annabeth and her family emergency.

"Alright. Time for you to spill," I started. "First, why does it scare you so much that Annabeth has a family emergency?" 

He shrugged, "Can't say."

"Can't say? What's that supposed to mean? Seriously dude, Erin's right, spill your beans," Sam backed me up. 

"Why? Why does it matter? Can't we just eat some burgers?" He scratched the back of his neck nervously and glanced over his shoulder.