Troubled

20

chapter twenty
annabeth

"You're such an idiot!"

Percy stared at me with an expression like a hurt puppy, which made it way more hard for me to be mad at him.

I sighed as I placed a delicate hand on his face near his injury. He winced but didn't remove my hand. "Did you even put ice on this?"

He shook his head. "No, where does one find ice in this place? Grover insisted I put cold water on it, though. And that's basically ice."

I rolled my eyes. Boys. "Okay, then follow me. I think there's some ice in the dining hall, we might have to bribe a lunch lady, though."

Percy smiled as I led him out of the main building and through the outside to the dining building. It was freezing out and small snowflakes were slowly falling from the sky.

The lights were out in the dining hall, meaning that dinner was over. Percy had been in Mr.D's office for nearly an hour, which surprised me. Mr.D didn't seem like the lecture type.

After Luke had left the office, he, of course, had attempted to talk to me. I only replied with eye rolls and harsh whispers, making him saunter off.

"It might be locked...." I whispered as I attempted to open the dining hall's doors, which almost immediately slid open. "Yes! Alright, I think the kitchen's this way...."

I led Percy to a huge kitchen that looked like it hadn't been updated since the school opened, which was a long time ago.

"Go sit down, I'll get you some ice," I said as I rushed over to the giant freezer and pulled a premade bag of ice out of it. Percy smiled at me as he hoisted himself onto the counter casually. "What took you so long in Mr.D's office?"

"He said he wanted to 'give me a warning' or whatever that means," he replied with a laugh. "I have a question, does ice even work if the wound is old?"

I shrugged as I placed the ice pack on his face, making him shiver. "Who knows. Probably. If not, then it's not like this is harming you."

He laughed, a small smile appearing on his face. "I guess that's true, doctor Chase."

I rolled my eyes as I sat down next to him on the counter. "So, what did Mr.D give you a warning about? And did he finally call you your real name?"

"I wish. I don't think I'm that special to him yet," he replied sarcastically. "Anyways, he warned me about the Castellans. Whatever. I'm not scared of them or him for that matter."

"I'm surprised he warned you," I responded truthfully. "He must like you more than you think since that's valid advice."

Percy groaned as he readjusted his grip on the ice pack. "God, don't tell me you're going to warn me, too. I know, the Castellans are rich, don't mess with them."

I shrugged as I swung my feet off the side of the counter. "That's part of it. They're insane, too. I mean, you see the way Luke acts."

"Are you telling me his parents are psycho, too?" Percy asked, raising an eyebrow in doubt.

"I wouldn't say psycho," I responded, crossing my arms. "I think that's little harsh. Luke's father isn't like that, though. He's the one with all the money. You ever heard of Hermes Castellan?"

Percy's eyes instantly widened as the ice pack slid off of face. "You're kidding? That's Luke's father?! I know you said they were rich, but he's, like insanely rich. And powerful. Oh, crap, I did need a warning, didn't I?"

I burst out laughing. "You're finally getting it, Perce. And you're right, he's insanely rich. He's the one who pays for Luke's education, the briberies, the school donations. He does all that. He's not too bad of a person though."

"You've met Hermes Castellan?" Percy asked me skeptically.

"Yeah, once or twice," I admitted. His jaw dropped. "Oh, come on. It's not a big deal. I accidentally walked in on him arguing with Luke's mom, though. That was awkward."

"What's she like?" Percy asked.

I laughed. "God, where to begin...? She's a little, uh, different. She used to be a model, you know. That's how she met Hermes. Then she got fired, her life spiraled, all that. Hermes was really nice to her, but after Luke was born she practically went off the rails. There was a whole public divorce, she won custody, it was a mess."

Percy sighed. "I hate to sympathize with a kid who punched me in the face, but that sucks. I can't even imagine going through all that. At least my father didn't even stick around to cause chaos."

Before I could respond a loud noise made me instantly jump off the counter, pulling Percy down with me.

"Who's in here?" a lunch lady's gruff voice demanded as the door opened.

I grabbed Percy by the shirt and dragged him across the kitchen while we were on our hands and knees. Thankfully the lunch lady must've been nearly blind as she didn't spot us.

"Can we go now?" Percy asked as he peered across the kitchen.

I shook my head. "Knowing the lunch ladies here, they'd probably kill us if they knew we were back here."

"It's getting cold in here, though."

"You're such a baby," I whispered with a slight giggle. "Okay, on my count start crawling."

"No, let's go on mine," Percy shot back as he peered back up at the doorway to the exit, which was no long blocked by the lunch lady.

I shook my head as I grabbed him. "Nope, now!"

While we rushed out of the kitchen we both couldn't help but laugh historically, leaving a severely confused lunch lady.

"May I walk you home?" Percy said as he offered me his hand.

I rolled my eyes as I took it. "I accept, you dork. How is your eye feeling?"

He shrugged as we headed towards my dorm. "So so. Definitely a little better. I think you may have a future career in medicine."

"Shut it."

"I'm serious!"

After walking me to my dorm, Percy and I made plans to meet up in the library for another 'tutoring session.' He waved me goodnight and left.

Even though I tried, I couldn't stop thinking of him.