The Player's Proposal

7: The Date

Annabeth POV

Percy was correct. It wasn't right on my part to bring Percy's parents into our argument, especially considering I didn't even know them.

Regardless, Percy's change in mood was shocking.

Insults could not be new to someone like Percy Jackson. After all, he got cursed at by his ex-girlfriends all the time. Yet, he seemed so sensitive about the topic of his parents, and I didn't understand why.

It was so startling that I couldn't quite enjoy the fact that he stopped bothering me. Finally, I turned towards my old and new friends.

While Percy was perplexing, he did have good taste in friends.

I liked Leo and Katie in particular. Leo was the type of guy that made everyone laugh while Katie was more similar to me. She kept composure while also getting along with everyone.

I liked Percy's friends, but I wasn't so sure about him.

***

Percy and his friends joining our table wasn't a one-time occurrence. They continued to join us for the rest of the week. This meant that Percy continued to annoy and irritate me with his sleazy comments and innuendos.

There were several moments when I wanted to judo-flip him.

But, I restrained myself.

Our friends got along pretty well. However, we weren't even close to a perfect family. Grover didn't like me and Thalia; however, I didn't make Percy agree to the proposal. Thalia and I despised Percy for being a player. Most importantly, Rachel hated Percy and his friends joining our group.

Rachel was still mad about the breakup even though everyone else had moved on. Honestly, her resentment was getting a little old.

Finally, after a long week, Friday came along. Percy hadn't come to school today much to my relief. I smiled brightly while taking my seat at our lunch table.

"Woah, someone is smiling today. Who are you and what did you do with Annabeth Chase?" Leo chuckled.

"For your information, I am happy today. You got a problem with that," I countered.

"No problem, Annabeth," Leo surrendered. "But, seriously, why are you happy today? Did you get another perfect grade or something?"

"I'm used to good grades, thank you very much. I'm happy today because I don't need to deal with Percy."

"Yeah, thank the freaking gods," Thalia continued with a smile.

I chuckled while pulling out my sketchbook. Planing and drawing architectural designs was a hobby of mine. I loved everything about architecture and engineering. It was my dream to build something permanent.

Leo and Jason sighed, but they didn't say anything. I knew that they were Percy's closest friends, so they weren't going to rejoice with me and Thalia.

Grover, however, came to his best friend's defense.

"You guys are always so hard on Percy. He's not a bad guy. He just leads a different dating lifestyle than most," Grover expressed.

"Don't defend him to us, Grover. We're not ready to hear it," Thalia countered.

The air around us got thick as a fight was inevitable. Percy was an interesting character, and his friends clearly loved him. He is friendly, kind, and sociable. Yet, he couldn't manage a real relationship, which made no sense.

All of my friends paused and stared at Grover, Thalia, and me.

"Seriously, guys, Percy is an amazing guy. Y'all should give him a chance rather than dismiss him based on his personal choices," Katie suggested nervously. She wanted to defend Percy, but she was hesitant about standing up to her new friends.