How it all started... But in High School

A Promise.

~TRIGGER WARNING: suicide, death, blood, school shooting~

          I stared at Luke and he stared back. After a few seconds he placed his gun on the floor and frantically looked around. He looked like he regretted everything he had just done. He then started making his way to me, but Percy pulled me closer to him. Luke got the message that he wasn't allowed near me and stood where he was, tears in his eyes. 

          Suddenly a new memory came to mind as I looked at him crying. We were back in middle school. A few days after I became friends with Thalia and Luke. We were sitting in front of a tree in the park telling each other about our home lives. We all looked like messes, crying about how much we hated our lives and how much we were hated in our families. That's when Luke got up and promised something. 

          "Ok guys, from now on we're each other's new family. And we'll be better than our old families. We won't disappoint each other like they did to us. We'll be here for each other and our family will be the best one we could ever ask for. And that's a promise" Young Luke said with tears in his eyes. 

          "Yeah we'll be better. We'll have each other's backs, always." Thalia said as she stood up with Luke. She put her hand out as a gesture. "Come on hands in. We're keeping this promise" she said. Luke put his hands in and so did I.

          "What exactly are we promising though?" I asked with obvious confusion. "Family. That's what we're promising" Luke said with a hopeful smile. 

         "I'm in." I said with confidence. "So am I" Thalia said. We kept our hands in there and the memory ended. 

    
      I looked at Luke as he was staring in horror at everything. The bleeding in my shoulder had calmed down and my injury wasn't fatal. 'Not fatal' I thought 'Not yet'. 

          "Family, Luke" I croaked "You- You promised us." I started trying to sit up, but Percy told me to not move a lot. Tears started falling down my face as Percy kissed my forehead. Then my attention went back to Luke. 

          "Annabeth… I'm sorry." Luke said as he grabbed his gun from the floor. He stared at it and then aimed it. He aimed it towards Percy. 

          "Luke no. Don't kill him, please" I begged while sobbing. Percy turned my head towards his and kissed me. It was a short kiss but it felt like the best thing ever. I didn't even care about the bullet in my shoulder or anything else. I had Percy and I was not going to let anything take him away. Never again. 

          "Don't worry about me Annabeth. I'll be okay" Percy whispered. "Go ahead Luke. Kill me. Do anything you want with me, just let Annabeth be safe. Don't hurt her anymore. Please" He said staring at Luke. We started hearing sirens in the distance. They were quiet, but getting closer. We started hearing whispers from everyone else. 

          "Luke, please. Don't do this!" A new voice yelled. I turned my head and saw Grover walking towards us. His face was full of panic and he had his arms up in a surrendering gesture. He was crying too. I looked back at Luke and he was crying too.

          "Grover… You're okay!" He said in a grateful sob. "Yes I am. But please don't do anything rash. Don't hurt Percy or Annabeth. Please. Kill me instead. I'm fine with it as long as they're safe." Grover said as he kneeled down a few feet in front of us. 

          "Grover I- I'm sorry but I have to do this." I hugged Percy as tightly as I could and he held me. We waited for the shot and we heard the gun go off. I looked at Percy and Grover, sobbing because they were okay. But then we looked over at Luke. He had shot himself and was also laying in his own blood. He was close to death, but had a few moments left. Percy helped me go over to him and Grover did as well.

          "I'm sorry. I didn't want it to go this far. Annabeth, please forgive me. I know I made mistakes. But now it's over. Thank you for being there. Tell Thalia I'm sorry and that I regret everything. Grover, you're the best person I ever met and I'm sorry I took you for granted when we were friends. You're extremely brave and deserve everything good in the world." Luke said.

          "I'm sorry this is the way everything ended. And Percy, I'm sorry for everything. You just wanted the best for Annie and I was mad. I'm sorry. Bye guys, I'll see you" Luke said as he took his final breathe. 

          "Goodbye Luke" we all whispered in unison. We all started crying in each other's arms when the police arrived. I fell asleep and woke up in a hospital. I stared at the ceiling remembering everything that had happened before. I started sobbing, and as soon as I stopped, I looked around the room and saw the best thing.

          The face I saw was the one I always loved seeing. Percy was asleep on a chair next to my hospital. He was holding my hand, and drooling a little on his shoulder. The sight made me laugh a little and smile widely. 'My Seaweed Brain' I thought.