Mortals Meet Percabeth!

Sara Abernathy

Annabeth was not someone you messed with. Period. No one dared touch her. The moment she entered school, you could tell she was going to be scary. She proved this when someone asked her out and was swiftly rewarded with a harsh no, and when they protested she punched them in the nose.

I was pretty much top of the food chain, and I feared for my life when she glared at me. She was a freshman and I was a senior. That was not how the power dynamic was supposed to work. She was supposed to respect and vaguely fear me. never vice versa.

The only sign that she was a remotely normal teenage girl were the pictures taped to the inside of her locker and the occasional heart doodled on her notebook page with a tiny trident inside. These, of course, were only things I had been told by my freshman little sister, because I was too terrified to interact with her.

"Honestly, Sara, she's not that bad. You're exaggerating." I had remarked that she was scary to my little sister, Violet, and she wouldn't let me hear the end of it.

"Yeah, you weren't there when she socked that dude, it was terrifying." She rolled her eyes. 

"Annabeth is really nice. She helped me with my homework in Havers. You know how bad of a teacher he is." It was true. Douglas Havers was a terrible teacher, and with some of the rumors flying around, a terrible person too. He was respected so little that no one even addressed him properly anymore. "She's managing to get an A in his class. She saw me struggling and helped me. She just hates people who bother her, and she's constantly on her guard all the time. Apparently she ran away when she was seven and just reconnected with her dad, her mom's dead too."

"Wow, sounds like you're pretty good friends with her." I raised my eyebrows. I wasn't too surprised, Violet had a way of befriending people.

"Nah, She's super mysterious and stuff. Who knows what all those little hearts and tridents are about." I shrugged. I didn't know either, and I probably never would.

"Hey Violet!" I whipped around. That was Annabeth's voice. "Did you get that homework for Havens figured out? I can help you in study hall if you need it!" Violet shot me a look that said 'told you so' and told Annabeth that she'd appreciate the help. 

"Oh yeah, Annabeth, this is my sister Sara!" Annabeth held out a hand for me to shake. 

"Nice to meet you, Sara! I'm Annabeth!" I took her hand and she gave me a firm handshake. Then Violet and Annabeth both headed to their respective classes, discussing their plans for studying.

"Wow, babe, you finally conquered your fear of Annabeth Chase!" I whirled around to find my girlfriend grinning at me.

"Her last name is Chase?" Knowing her last name made her decidedly less mysterious. Kat nodded.

"Yep! She's pretty chill. Are we still on for tonight?" I nodded and we continued down the hall. I gave her a quick peck before heading off to class.

----------

By the end of eighth hour I had decided that my initial impressions of Annabeth Chase weren't quite fair, and that she was a fairly nice person who didn't like her personal space disturbed. I could understand that.

I was heading out to my car with Violet and Kat in tow when Violet stopped and shouted. "Hey Annabeth! You need a ride home?" Annabeth looked up from her book. She shook her head.

"I'm waiting for my ride, but thank you!"

"Want us to wait with you?" I understood why she asked. We were usually some of the last people out of the building and waiting by yourself could be anxiety inducing. Annabeth assured us that she would be fine, but we decided to stay anyway. We were quite sure she could take care of herself, but we didn't want anything to happen if she couldn't. She stopped protesting after a couple minutes, and we sat together. She read her book and we all scrolled through Instagram or something fo the sort.