All Her Life

Chapter 31 - YOU'LL BE PAYING FOR MY JIMMY CHOOS

A couple weeks after moving in with her mom, and Annabeth was happy. Percy would come over and they'd hang out in the rooftop pool. Sometimes she'd make him study for the final exams that were coming up, and other times they'd take selfies and Percy would post them on his Instagram. Apparently, he had a small cult following. Not people from Goode, thankfully. All of the comments were happy and excited, some seemed a little more jealous than others...

Percy just grinned and kissed her like he wanted people to be jealous of her. Other days, on not so good days... Percy would come up behind her, and accidentally scare her, and she would shut down completely. She thought of those days as bad days for a reason. If someone, anyone, even Piper and Percy, came up behind her, she would freeze, unable to think or breathe, too scared to do much of anything but panic until the person, usually Percy, got her to relax, realizing she was safe. She didn't understand why she suddenly had PTSD after everything that happened... The bullying didn't help much. One time, Annabeth had refused to give Drew the bracelet Percy had given her, with little diamond turtles on it. Drew had punched Annabeth in the face. A full blown punch. It had rattled her teeth, and fractured her jaw. It didn't hurt. She'd been too scared for it to hurt.

It did bruise, though, and quickly, too. Annabeth had begged Piper to help her cover it up with foundation so Percy wouldn't know. It had taken a lot of convincing.

On a completely different day, Percy, oblivious to Annabeth's fractured jaw, had made her dance with him after school in the Pizzaria they'd hung out in on the day she first met his mom. She'd been happy, laughing and dancing, even when Drew appeared and threw insults at her. She didn't notice, too entranced by Percy's smile and his gorgeous eyes to care that Drew was trying to hurt her.

That was a great day.

Today, the day of their finals, wasn't such a good day. Annabeth answered every question with ease, only having to reread questions twice before she understood it. Percy didn't seem to have so much luck. By the time they met up in the halls, to get to third period, Percy looked frustrated and angry. Only Annabeth's whispered words had calmed him down. She promised him gym would be easier, promised that once school was over they could go relive the fake prom they'd set up at Annabeth and her mom's apartment. He'd relaxed a little bit. Not a lot, but enough.

"I'm just glad the split lunch didn't split us up." Annabeth sighed. "The beauty of having chemistry together." She smiled and kissed him. Percy hugged her before they could get food, nuzzling her neck.

"I might've actually cried if I didn't get to hold you." He whined. Annabeth laughed. A gentle hand tapped her shoulder, and Annabeth's laugh was cut short. Her body froze, and her breaths came out weak and panicked.

Percy noticed immeditely, pushing her behind him protectively. She gripped his arm, needing some kind of hold on him to stay sane. When she saw who had come up, she got even more scared. It was a tall football player, with sandy blonde hair, blue eyes, and a faint scar crossing his face. He put his hands in the air in surrender at the threatening tone in Percy's voice when he started to speak.

"Dude. Chill." He held out his hand. In it was Annabeth's diamond turtle bracelet. "I saw Drew snatch it off your desk earlier. Figured you might want it back." Annabeth relaxed a little, hesitantly looking down at her wrist. Her bracelet was missing... She hadn't even noticed. She'd been too worried about getting out of class to remember to put it back on. Percy reached out and took it.

"Thanks." He said quietly.

The boy walked away with a nod, and Percy turned to Annabeth sliding the bracelet back onto her wrist. He wiped tears off her cheeks, tears she hadn't ever even realized fell. He pulled her to his chest, and Annabeth gripped the loose unbuttoned button up that covered his grey t-shirt. She felt his muscles shifting under his shirt as he hugged her, waiting for him to question her.

"I should've known Drew would try to take it off you." Percy said quietly, instead. Annabeth looked up at him in surprise, frowning, opening her mouth to speak. "Whoa, what happened!?"

One of his arms drew from her waist and his hand turned her head to the side, where her bruise was likely shining through the foundation she borrowed from Piper. "On Friday last week... Drew tried to take the bracelet and I told her no..."

Percy's hand froze, his fingertips barely brushing her slightly swollen skin. She didn't meet his eyes. "The doctor said she fractured my jaw..."

"Why didn't you tell me?" He made her meet his eyes.

"You were actually focused on studying. You actually wanted to pass the finals." She smiled at him. "I wanted you to worry about you, not about me."

"I always worry about you." He whispered it so softly, Annabeth almost didn't hear him. She sighed and kissed him.

"I love you."

Percy hugged her tight, not letting go as his hand moved into her hair. She broke away quickly, though. "I'm gonna go cover it up... Last I need is Drew poking fun at the fact that she did leave a mark."

"Want me to wait outside for you?" She shook her head with much struggle.

"I do want you to get me food." He chuckled softly, kissing her again, before letting her go. Annabeth grabbed her bag, hiding her bruise behind her hair and walking to the bathroom.

After four days of practice, applying foundation had become so easy, Annabeth didn't even spend 2 minutes covering up the bruise. She still hid behind her hair, out of self-conscious habit, but she wasn't worried that Drew would notice the bruise. The diamonds on her bracelet glittered in the bathroom light, almost changing colors as her hand moved. Annabeth ran a hand through her curls.

She had a new outfit, one her mom bought her. It was a blue tank top, the straps at least 2 inches wide, with blue, cut off denim short, and a orange button up, tied around her waist by the sleeves. Her shoes were black high tops, and they contrasted against her white socks. She was comfortable and confident in the outfit, though, especially since Percy had stared at her for two minutes in astonished silence. It left her blushing from head to toe, but the way he kissed her after he recovered left her breathless and glad for her mother's choice in style. If it got her boyfriends attention, she was happy.

Ananbeth returned to her and Percy's usual spot during lunch, sitting just as her boyfriend returned, followed by a chattering Piper. Annabeth frowned. "Piper? I thought you had 1st lunch today."

"I was supposed to." She dropped her bag beside Annabeth, sitting with a huff. Percy sat on Ananbeth other side, handing her her food, arm around her shoulders. "Can you believe it!? Last day of finals, and they change my schedule! All because Drew complained that I was wrecking her vibe. It's stupid! Little miss princess gets her way every time!"

"I'm no princess, Pipy." Drew appeared. "I'm a queen!"

She wore the plastic prom tiara on her head with pride. Annabeth huffed. "No wonder you wanted my bracelet. Your crown is a kiddie toy." She didn't know where her bravery had come from, but Drew, Piper, and Percy all looked astonished.

Drew laughed, shaking her head once she recovered. "You're all batk, and no bite, Chase. You wanna know how hard I can really hit? I'll do more than fracture your jaw this time."

"You can try." Annabeth popped a ranch coated carrot into her mouth, never loosing eye contact. "But I promise you this... You wouldn't even have a chance to hit me this time."

"You wanna go, blondie!?" Drew all but screeched. Annabeth smiled calmly and set her tray aside, standing and speaking before she could lose her confidence.

"Let's go. And this time, you'll be paying for my Jimmy Choos."