Favorite : Change for the both of us

Chapter 11

After the incident at the wedding, Poseidon and I decide to play it safe and we spend Sunday at the aquarium. Glimmer will be leaving soon, as she is completely healed up and mature enough to survive on her own in the wild. I don't want her to leave. She's special. I don't think Poseidon wants her to leave either. He seems to be trying to persuade Nereid and Nereus to let her stay here in the aquarium full-time.

Oddly enough, I'm looking forwards to school on Monday. Not because of Annabeth, of course. Because...oh, alright. I'm looking forward to seeing Annabeth. I've never paid her any attention in class and I feel a little bad about it. To my surprise, I spot her as soon as I step on to the yard. She's stood quite off to the side, away from everyone else, with her mother who is bouncing between talking to her and texting or talking to someone, probably business people, on her expensive phone. I smile, and smiles back, giving a small wave so her mom wouldn't notice. I don't think that Athena likes me very much.

Grover flounders over to greet me. He's like my best friend already. Usually, on most mornings, Poseidon will drop me off, say 'hi' Grover and head off to the aquarium. But this morning, he stays with us until the bell goes. Whether it's because Athena is nearby (he explained yesterday that they have a nasty feud going on) or because Kronos crashed the wedding party and he's still freaked out; I don't know.

I explain to Grover in lesson what happened during my weekend. He seems shocked when I mention Kronos but also happy when I mention Annabeth. Break-time just can't come sooner.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth greets as Grover and I walk over to her. She's sat right next to the fence at a picnic bench in the corner of the yard on her own, reading a big, thick book. How she's managing to get through it with Dyslexia and ADHD, I don't know.

"Seaweed Brain?" I repeat, sitting down opposite her. Clearly, Athena has also explained the rivalry between her and my dad and told Annabeth that he works in the aquarium. I roll my eyes, "Surely you can think of any better names than that, Wise Girl,"

Okay, so not my best insult. Still, it does its job. Annabeth flushes, closing her book and stuffing it in her bag. "Hey, Grover," she says, turning to my friend, who looks a little sheepish.

"Annabeth..." he mutters. I motion for him to sit down. We're silent for a few seconds.

"So," Annabeth finally says, wringing her hands. "Who was that guy at the party, Percy? Everyone seemed terrified of him,"

"Kronos," I reply. "My grandfather. My dad says he's evil,"

"Then what was he doing at the wedding? Was he invited?"

"Hell no - he slipped in when no one was watching. He came over to speak to me, Thalia and Nico, who are his youngest grandchildren. I reckon he just wanted to scare us,"

He certainly succeeded.

"Your dad and uncles looked terrified too," Annabeth muses.

"He wasn't a good father to them," I explain, but I don't want to go into any more detail. Mainly because I don't know any more than that. "So, um, Grover..."

I turn to my best friend, relying on him to start a conversation. Thankfully, he does, and soon we're talking about Annabeth's family and what she's been doing the past year. She says that she lives with her mom, who's usually too busy to see her, and moved out of her dad's a few months ago because he ignored her too. However living with her mom is much better.

The bell goes. I notice a couple of kids giving Annabeth, Grover and I weird looks. I glare at them and they quickly back off. I don't know why, but I'm always very protective of the few friends I make in different schools. And now, in this school, I'm very protective of Annabeth and Grover in particular; Grover because he's got a disease that he can't help and Annabeth because she's smarter than any of these goons. They both get shit for it, and it really pisses me off. I don't know why I'm like this, but whatever...