Annabeth's Boarding Tale

Unwanted Conversations

The group were sitting down for tea, Jason had sat next to Piper whilst Annabeth was sat opposite and next to Leo. Percy was sat at the other end of the table next to Rachel who was the other side of Leo and opposite Hazel and Frank. Annabeth kept glancing at Piper giving her a supportive smile- back in the room once she had finished crying, she had made Annabeth promise she wouldn't tell anyone. Annabeth obliged, it wasn't her story to share. She wasn't sure if Piper would be ok but she had her and Jason by her side.

Throughout the meal Jason and Piper shared tentative looks whilst Leo kept making Annabeth choke on her drink, every time she took a sip he would say something inappropriate and on several occasions she nearly spat it straight into Pipers face. The 4 of them were having a conversation, which involved Jason telling them a story that resulted in a roar of laughter from them all and the others all looked at them. Annabeth caught Percy's eye and he smiled at her, she hesitated before giving him a small smile back. She didn't want to smile at him, she wanted to ignore him because he was in a relationship but when he smiled at her she couldn't help but smile back, so she dialled her smile down. Annabeth then caught Leo looking past Piper and instead at the back of a caramel haired girl. Annabeth had a hunch about who it was- Calypso.

"Why don't you ask her Leo?"

He took a sip of his drink before answering, his eyes fixated on the girl on the table in front of them. Everyone was making too much noise to notice what her and Leo were discussing.

"Because I know the answer"

"So why not give up and move on?"

He chuckled to himself, "You think me dating someone else would help?"

"Sometimes jealousy helps, gives the other person a little nudge. It helps the other person realise what they've lost"

He lowered his voice, "Is that what you're going to do? You're going to date another guy to make Percy jealous?"

Annabeth looked dumb struck, how did Leo know? she wondered.

He smirked to himself as if her thoughts were being written on her face,

"It's ok, your secrets safe with me"

She nudged him slightly and they smiled at each other,

"Is it obvious?"

He looked at her confused and she nodded in Percy's direction so that he understood. He looked next to him and could see Percy sitting at the end with a drink in his hand, Rachel was leaning on his shoulder but he kept his head up high and engaged in the conversation with Hazel and Frank.

"Only to those who are in the same boat" he smiled with hurt being present in his eyes,

"So how do we get out of the boat?" Annabeth asked sadly, who was now looking over at Percy.

"We wait to be rescued or abandon ship"

She turned her attention back to Leo "But how long do we wait to be rescued?"

Leo smirked again, "If you've got chemistry you only need one more thing- timing. But timings a bitch."

Annabeth smiled, she knew that quote. She looked down the table and could see Percy, he was smiling at something Frank had just said and it sent warmth all over body. Her and Percy definitely had chemistry and their timing was a b***h. So she had to wait to be rescued, she wasn't going to give up just yet.

Once they had finished their dinner they all got up and moved outside to their bench, they were greeted by Clarisse and Chris who were already there. Clarisse looked at Annabeth and smirked "You alright now princess?"

"Huh?"

Clarisse laughed in Annabeth's face "You don't remember do you?"

Annabeth shook her head

Clarisse laughed a little harder, once she caught her breath she explained,

"Last night, you were walking by the pool announcing that you were a princess and that you were looking for your frog"

Annabeth went bright red, she covered her face, she was never going to live this down. Clarisse laughed even harder at Annabeth's reaction, she struggled to say the next part because of how much she was laughing, "One guy even joked about pushing you into the pool to find the frog"

Leo walked over to them because of how much Clarisse was laughing,

"What are you laughing at? He asked whilst slightly laughing aswell

"The princess!" Clarisse exclaimed

Leo's face widened before he burst into laughter as well "I knew some chick was going around saying she was a princess but I couldn't remember who!"

Annabeth slipped away and left them to discuss 'the princess', she did not want to know what else she did last night. She sat on the bench and looked at the big group around her. She looked at them individually, Frank, Hazel, Piper, Jason, Leo, Clarrise, Chris and a few guys he was talking to that she still hasn't learnt their names, she couldn't see Percy or Rachel though. She scanned her surroundings again, no they definitely weren't here. She could hear some faint voices, she tried to focus on them. The wind carried a deep boys voice, she recognised it immediately- Percy's. She got off the bench and crept closer to where the voices were coming from, it was just round the corner and Annabeth could hear them better now so she stopped.

"What the hell is going on with you two" That was Rachel's voice.

Annabeth's heart started racing and she felt a flush of anxiety wave over her, were they talking about her?

"Nothing I promise, I took her to bed last night"

Annabeth could hear Rachel smacking him although she wasn't sure where.

"That is not what I meant. I took her to HER room last night and put her in bed because she was so drunk"

Rachel didn't respond so Percy spoke again "Rachel I was being a good friend"

"Why couldn't someone else do it, why didn't you find me or Hazel or Piper or anyone else?"

"I found her walking down the corridors by herself, as a FRIEND" he emphasised the friend part and carried on talking "I did what any good friend would do and put her to bed. You're telling me if you found Leo walking around drunk you wouldn't just take him to bed? You would find someone else to help you?"

Unless Percy helped another girl last night they were definitely talking about her.

"So you don't have any feelings towards Annabeth?" Rachel questioned,

Annabeth's ears perked up at the mention of her name.

"Friend feelings. She seems pretty damaged and she's going to need some friends around here, girls and guys. Did you see how she was last night? She was flirting with all the guys, she's a slut"

Annabeth's heart sunk once again and she felt numb like she was going to fall to the ground but she leaned against the wall. The next emotion she wasn't expecting; anger. She was furious with Percy, how dare he say that about her, if he was as good as a friend as he claims, then he would not be saying that. As much as she hated where this was going she forced herself to carry on listening. Annabeth heard him sigh heavily,

"You have got to trust me Rachel. There is no other girl that I want, I am with you for a reason, I want to be with you and no one else. I couldn't care less about the other girls."

"You're one smooth talker Jackson"

"That's why you love me"

"I never said that"

"Oh shut up Dare"

Annabeth could hear them passionately kissing, she tried to swallow the lump in her throat and blink back the tears. She quietly made her way back to the group, she went straight to Piper who was standing with Jason.

"Are you ok?" She asked

"Yeah just tired, I think I'm going to head to bed, get a good night sleep for my first real day here"

"Ok just let me say goodbye to everyone and I'll come with you"

"No it's ok you stay here"

Annabeth quickly said goodbye to the group and as she walked past Leo whispered

"I'm abandoning ship".