Forever- a Percabeth story.

Chapter 5

Percy

I was greeted at the door by Leo who immediately said "Thank god you're here, I need you for something!"

Turns out what he needed me for was a goldfish competition.

The game was how many you could toss into your mouth in a row. He had beat Jason, Piper, and Frank by a mile, and he wanted some real competition.

I have to admit, he came to the right guy.

"Okay, Pipes you watch me, Jason you watch Percy. Everyone else count!"

We got to 12 in a row before I got distracted. Hazel came out of the hallway and next to her I saw red hair out of the corner of my eye and made a fatal mistake: I turned ever so slightly, and missed the 13th goldfish.

Leo went ballistic.

"A devastating loss for Jackson, A MIGHTY VICTORY FOR VALDEZ!"

Then he started singing his own personal version of "We are the Champions", I looked towards Rachel to tell her it was her fault I lost.

"You know, you should take responsibility for this L, Rachel Elizabeth Dare." She smiled a little, and crossed her arms.

"Do you blame all of your losses on innocent bystanders?" She retorted.

"Only if they have pretty red hair and distract me at the last minute." I told her, matching her crossed arm pose.

"Sounds like a personal problem, Percy Jackson." The banter was fun, she was quick witted, and I liked that in a girl.

"You know Percy, I am always down for a rematch. Apparently, I can't lose tonight." Leo looked smug and I had to admit, four wins in a row was pretty impressive.

I hadn't notice Nico was here, he was quiet like that, so I went over to him

"How come you weren't in school, Nico?" I gave him a questioning look.

"Thats what I asked him!" Reyna chimed in

"Deviant." Annabeth joked.

Nico made no expression.

"Why would I go to school when I could light myself on fire and feel the same way?" He deadpanned. Nico was funny in his own special way, and we all laughed a little. Except for Will, who laughed a lot and for way too long, until we were all looking at him.

"You okay, man? Have you just discovered what humor is?" Leo asked him.

Will looked embarrassed "No, yeah. It was just- funny." He swallowed.

"Okay, Jurassic Park, or Back to the Future?" Piper posed the question to the group.

"I have been thinking about Jurassic Park all week." Hazel told us.

"Hazel, it's only Wednesday." I teased her, she punched me on the arm.

"I can't watch Back to the Future unless we watch all three in a row." Jason chimed in, and I knew Annabeth would second that. She always wanted to watch the whole series, not just one part. Even though Jurassic Park was technically a series too, they felt more like individual movies. Besides, the original was the best one. 

I went over to Piper.

"Hey, hows party planning coming?" Piper offered to host my birthday party since she had the biggest house, and the best speakers, and the most connections. Being a daughter of a movie star has some perks.

She grabbed my arm and pulled me over to the sound system on the wall.

"Check this out." She said

She clicked a few things and light beams went out everywhere and music started blasting.

"This is awesome!" I yelled over the music.

She cut it off before the others complained.

"It's mostly Annabeth's configuration. We have a little more to do, but come next week it's going to be even more awesome." She smiled at me, and started walking towards Annabeth.

"Thanks" I told her. Birthdays were kind of a big deal for me. My real father died in a boating accident when I was young, so my mom always made sure we celebrated each year of life I was granted. This year, it was going to be an awesome party. 

I noticed Piper whisper something to Annabeth when Frank announced we had unanimously agreed on Jurassic Park.

We all filed into the movie theatre. Piper had a massive projector and screen, a large couch, and several bean bags spread across the room. I opted for my own bean bag. I noticed Hazel and Frank on their own bean bag across the room, but figured I wouldn't tease them about it, at least not yet.

About an hour into the movie my phone rang, when I stood up and distracted everyone they yelled "Boo" at me until I scooted out into the hall.

It was my mom. I walked towards the kitchen and answered it.

"Hey Mom"

"Percy, its getting late."

She usually wasn't checking up on me like this, but I had been getting into trouble lately.

"I know, I'll be home after the movie, I swear."

"You better get enough sleep for school tomorrow."

Shit. She totally knew.

"I promise I'll be home soon."

I watched Rachel walk up in front of me, and pour herself a glass of water.

"I love you, Percy"

"I love you too, mom. Bye."

I hung up and put my phone in my pocket.

I looked at Rachel

"Hi."

"Hi, was that your mom?" She asked, leaning on the counter now.

"Yeah..." I trailed off, not knowing how much she heard.

"Everything okay?" She talked so slowly, drawling out each syllable. It was different from our banter earlier.

I reached up to scratch the back of my neck "I've been falling asleep in first period, and getting in trouble for it. So, they're keeping an eye on me." I told her.

"Well, its the system's fault for starting school so early." She said blatantly.

"Thats what I said!" I smiled at her. "Hey, how do you know Piper? You're new to our school but, you seem like you've been friends with her for awhile." I asked her.

"Pipes and I go way back, you know she summers out in L.A.?" She paused and looked at me, I nodded.

"We met two summers ago, at a pool party. We've been close ever since." She told me

"Cool. Piper's great." Suddenly I felt like I didn't know what to say...

"You should try coffee." She said definitively.

"Huh?"

"To help you stay awake in class. You know.. I work at a coffee shop, not too far from school. You should come by. You can bring your girlfriend, Annabelle?"

"It's Annabeth. Wait, no. She's not my girlfriend. Not at all. We get that a lot though. Our families are just really close. So. Yeah." I kept tumbling over my words, not knowing which order to put them in.

She smiled and nodded.

"Good to know." She said.

"Yeah."

"We should get back to the movie." She said.

"Yeah." I said, because apparently I don't know any other words.

I followed her down the hall.

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AN: I'm shocked if anyone made it this far... 

get ready for some serious tension in the next chapter.