Cafe Olympus

chapter 2

Chapter 2: Annabeth

The waiter, Percy looked at her confused as he fumbled with the doorknob and lock. He opened the door and tilted his head at Annabeth.

"I'm so sorry. I was just about to get on the subway and I didn't have my penandthepenisreallyimportantandIneeditand-" Annabeth's words rushed out in quick succession, panic making it rise higher.

"Hey hey woah. Slow down. A pen?" Percy said and held out his hands in a slow down gesture. When she stopped talking he looked at her concerned and did a deep breath, he motioned for her to follow and she mirrored him without a second thought.

She took 2 deep breaths and exhaled shakily.

"I have this pen. A lucky pen really. I was using it here and I must've dropped it," Annabeth explained and pointed to the corner of the cafe she had been seated earlier in the day.

"Okay, we'll look for it. What colour is it?" Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief and dropped her bag by the door rushing to her seat. She dropped to her knees, peeking beneath the table and in between the chairs.

"It's silver and it's got an engraving of an owl and my name on it," she said to Percy as he pulled the table out of the way and scouted the area around to see if the pen had rolled away.

Annabeth pushed her hair out of her eyes annoyed that it had come out of its braid again. She pushed her glasses up as they began to slide down the bridge of her nose and fought back frustrated tears as she came up empty.

"Anything?" She asked desperately. Percy looked up from where he was looking and shook his head. He stood back up and held out a hand for her, she ignored him and crawled to where he was looking, double-checking.

Percy sighed and Annabeth saw him quickly glance at his watch before he began feeling around the blue and white cushions by the window. She realised what he was doing and got to her feet to help him. She helped him carefully pull away from the fairy lights and the fake vines by the window and lay the cushions on the floor.

And there, right in between two cushions sat a shining pen.

Annabeth had to clench her teeth together to stop a shriek escaping her mouth but she pushed past Percy and grabbed the pen, squeezing it tight and holding it to her chest.

"Thank you thank you thank you," she whispered. She wasn't sure if she was talking to the universe for listening to her prayers, or Percy who definitely deserved the thanks as well.

She turned to him and smiled, "You don't understand what this means to me, thank you."

He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm glad I could help."

"I owe you. Big time," Annabeth replied and carefully tucked the pen into its pocket in her bag, ensuring that there was no way it could fall out. She looked up and saw Percy watching her with an amused expression.

"I promise I'm not crazy," she insisted. Percy laughed and shook his head again.

"I believe you, honestly I kind of have my own lucky pen as well, we've been through a lot, every exam without fail I use it," he said and took out a pen from his back pocket. It didn't look like any different from any other normal ballpoint pen, but there was a slight sheen to the body of the pen, as it caught the light.

"Wouldn't have made it this far without this," he said and twirled the pen a couple of times before sliding it back into his pocket.

"My mum gave me this to me...We're not the closest," Annabeth said slowly. Percy nodded and didn't ask for further explanation. He fixed the pillows he'd disturbed and tucked the chairs back in.