His Lifeline

Chapter 21: I Almost Die By Spatula

I frequently checked the clock on my phone throughout the night and into the day. At some points, it was a few minutes apart from the last check, and other times, it was a few hours. Around 2 pm, Annabeth texted me Rachel's address. It was farther from the school than I thought it was going to be. It would probably take me half an hour or so to walk there. But it would take me a good hour if I strolled.

Thinking I probably shouldn't smell, I jumped into the shower and took my time. Averting my eyes from my wrist, I washed my body and hair. After trying and failing to brush my hair, I walked into my bedroom and put on some clean clothes. I pulled a black hoodie over my head, made sure my house key, phone, and earbuds were in the pocket before walking out of the house.

I felt like I forgot something. But I couldn't place what. I knew it was important because I usually didn't get this feeling when I missed a math assignment. Then I felt the eyes on my back, and I remembered. I was supposed to ask mom for Gabe's number.

Gabe has texted me before, but he always used his so-called house phone. Only mom and his buddies had his away phone number. So I quickly texted my mom asking for his away phone number.

I walked at a leisurely pace down the street. Crossing streets, passing intersections. Eventually, I started walking into a really nice neighborhood. I was a tad bit confused as the houses grew in size and stories. Then when I got to the address, I triple checked to make sure it was right. It was.

The house in front of me was a whitewashed beige color that had three stories and around ten windows on each floor. It was massive. I walked up to the front door and knocked. I looked at my phone, 4:30 pm, maybe I took too much time dilly-dallying.

The door swung open to reveal Annabeth, her hair was down, and she was wearing yellow plaid sweatpants with a black t-shirt.

"Oh, hey, Percy! You're late, you know," she exclaimed and opened the door wider to let me in.

When Rachel saw me, she placed her hand to her forehead dramatically and said in mock exasperation, "Oh, thank the gods if you had taken another minute, I swear Annabeth would have bitten her fingernails to dust in worry."

Annabeth started arguing with her as Rachel giggled at how flustered Annabeth was.

She was worried about me? Why?

"Hey man, there's food in the kitchen if you're hungry." a guy, Leo, I think, told me, and I nodded in acknowledgment.

"Ah, shit! Hold on, Jason and Piper are in there, here let me" Leo got off the couch and sauntered in front of me. He walked towards a closed door and then looked back at me, grinning. Then he turned towards the door and banged loudly on the door.

"Is everyone decent?" he shouted and opened the door a bit to look. There was a crash, and I heard a few things hit the door as he closed it.

"Ok, your good, but be sure to walk in while saying, "I'm not Leo," ok? Then hope you don't get impaled by a spatula" Leo walked away back to the couch and sat next to his girlfriend Calypso.

I slowly opened the door and said quickly, "Um, I'm not Leo. I was told to say that so I don't get impaled by a spatula."

Then opening the door fully, I saw the blonde guy, Jason holding a fork like he almost threw it and the girl who went to my competition, Piper, holding a spatula-like she knew how to use it.

They relaxed when they saw I wasn't actually Leo, and I looked at the floor surrounding the door. A few butter knives and forks were stuck in the door with an assortment of silverware and ladles laid across the ground.