The Hanging Tree | Percabeth

Annabeth

I walked into school the next day and pretended not to notice people's stares. I walked up to Piper and Leo who were waiting for me at my locker.

"Hey, guys! What's up?" I plastered an artificial smile on my hair and pulled my blonde hair into a ponytail.

Piper grinned ear-to-ear and looked between Leo and me, "Okay! Guess what I heard from...," her voice trailed off and she frowned looking at my hand, "What in the name of my sweet mother Aphrodite happened to your wrist?"

I looked at them and I knew they could tell when I was lying so I just told them the truth, "I punched the cafe shop wall..."

Leo looked genuinely concerned, "...Why...?"

I got a metallic taste in my mouth and swallowed it down, "Luke. He stopped by the shop."

"Oh... Sweetie..." Piper pulled me into a hug, "I'm so sorry."

I buried my face into her shirt and let my best friend comfort me.

I pulled away and looked between them and Leo had anger flash in his eyes, "I still don't understand why he is back, he should be dead."

I shifted from foot to foot and crossed my arms, "I know what he did was bad but... I don't know, He sacrificed himself in the end, maybe Hades took pity because he was under the influence of Kronos."

It was Leo's turn to hug me. I felt so relaxed around him and Piper. I trusted them with my life. I started crying and Leo rubbing circles in my back hearing him whisper everything will be okay.

Then, I heard her voice. "You guys are just the cutest couple," snarked Drew. Her words were nice but her voice was dripping with poison.

I snapped my head up and sized her up, pain flashed across Leo's face and he and Piper stood back.

"You are a bitch, Drew! You know what happened, how could you possibly make comments like that and feel okay with it?" I snapped.

She lowered her voice and her face was so close I felt the warmth of her peppermint breath, "Because it was his fault. He deserves this and worse," she shoved me out of the way and I crashed into the lockers and she walked up to Leo, "You don't deserve to be loved."

I recovered and walked up to Drew, I spun her around and grabbed her shirt, punching her in the nose as hard as I could, "Leave my friends alone," I let go and she crumbled to the ground and touched her nose. Thick red lines ran down her face.

I looked at Piper and Leo and Piper gasped, "Annabeth, darling..." She was looking at my hand.

It was bent at an unnatural angle because of course, I used the same hand from last night, I winced, "Who wants to drive to the E.R.?" I asked.

"I don't but I call shotgun!" Leo grinned but it didn't reach his eyes, which were filled with sadness and pain.

I made a mental note to talk to him later when Piper wasn't around. No matter how amazing she was, her aura was a bit much. She always wanted to fix everything when you talked to her. Leo didn't need fixing, he needed to work through his pain. His pain from Calypso.