Annabeth's Mortal Friends

Chapter Three

A/N: You might realize as you read through this story, Caleb is kind of a dick. That's intentional, sorry for calling people who took Spanish or French basic in the last chapter lol

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Caleb Pierson's POV:

I screamed internally as I watched Annabeth and Percy walk out of Greek together, practically attached at the hip at this point.   I took a deep breath, stepping out the door.  Jordan was waiting outside for me, tying her dark hair into a high ponytail, letting a few curls fall out to frame her deep brown face.  Smiling at her, I hoisted my backpack up on my shoulder and joined her in walking to the gym.

I frowned to myself, watching Annabeth and Percy walking a few paces ahead of us.  The packed hallway made it hard to hear anything, but I could tell they were laughing.  I'd recognize Annabeth's smile from miles away.

"Caleb, are you listening?"  Jordan poked my side, earning a yelp of surprise from me.

"Sorry, what?"

"I asked what you were staring at, you looked pissed.   Was another guy staring at Annabeth?  Wait, is it Percy?  Do you not like him?"

I rolled my eyes jokingly, Jordan continuing to ramble off reasons I might be mad.  She got it at the start, though.

"Yes, I'm mad at Percy."  I sighed, fidgeting with the strap of my bag.

"Why?  I know your crush on Annabeth is pretty intense, but I rarely see you mad at somebody, especially someone you don't know."

I shrugged, not really having an answer for her. Guys talking to Annabeth usually annoyed me, but she never showed any interest in them, so I had nothing to worry about. Now this new guy shows up, and Annabeth is more friendly with him than she is with me.

Jordan pulled the door to the gym open, waving goodbye to me and heading into the girls' locker room. I walked into the guys' room, taking off my shirt and tossing it into my locker.   I pulled my gym shirt over my head, accidentally bumping my elbow against the guy behind me.

"Shit, sorry."  I said, turning around and fixing the bottom of my shirt.  I finished getting dressed and heading out of the locker room.
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"Am I going to be stuck with this guy in every single one of my classes?"  I groaned to Jordan, resting my elbows on my knees, slumping down into the bleachers.

"At this rate?  Yeah, seems like it.  I can't say I'm complaining though, I should ask Annabeth if he's single, but I don't want to get my ass handed to me for hitting on her boyfriend."  Jordan replied, staring at the two as they laughed on the bleachers together.

I jumped at that statement, whipping my head around to look at her.  "Wait, you think they're dating?"  My heart fell into my stomach, there's no way they're together.

Jordan just shrugged, continuing to stare at them.  "It would make sense.  Annabeth rejects anyone who's asked her out, even some of the most sought-after guys in our class.  That's the best explanation," she said, looking over at me.  Her eyes widened quickly.  "But that doesn't have to mean anything!  I'm sure your crush is single!"

I groaned again, dramatically laying back against the seat behind me.  Jordan just laughed, rolling up the waist of her shorts and tying a knot at the end of her shirt.  There are very few people who could make a gym uniform look good, and she was one of them.

Mr. Louis blew his whistle, gathering the attention of  the class.  "I need a few kids to help me set up volleyball nets for the day, everyone else run laps around the court until we're finished!"  He barked loudly, heaving up a large metal bar and handing it to one of the girls, almost causing her to tumble over.  She carried it over to the hole in the ground and slid it in, turning around with a smile on her face.  She was probably just happy not to be running. 

Mr. Louis' whistle sounded again, earning complaints from the students.  That whistle really suits the tall, loud, balding man.  We jogged a couple laps in circles, and I felt like a gained a slight burst of energy when I realized that Percy and Annabeth got split up.  Finally.

Mr. Louis sorted us into teams, and I finally got lucky, being placed on a team with Annabeth.  I took a spot next to her in the front row.  She smiled at me, bending her knees and squaring up with Percy, who was mirroring her on the opposite side of the net.

It was the longest round of volleyball I'd ever played.  As soon as the game started, the ball was served to their side, passed twice, then Percy jumped to near-superhuman heights and spiked the ball right down at Annabeth.  She jumped in the air, attempting to tip it back over the net, but it just barely soared over her fingertips, hitting the ground behind her.  Her eyes widened and she whipped her head to look at Percy, who had a shit-eating grinning on his face.  He mouthed "too short" to Annabeth, raising his hand to his forehead to jokingly compare their heights.  Annabeth raised her eyebrow, a cocky smirk on her face, and Percy immediately returned it.  After that, they were so evenly matched that it was almost impossible to score a point unless neither of them touched it.

Mr. Louis shook his head, laughing.  "Well that took forever, those teams were insanely even.  I guess we'll have to switch it up a bit, and this time it'll be a tournament."

"What does the winner get?"  A kid asked, raising his hand.

"An extra credit point, why not."  Mr. Louis replied, dragging some kids by the arms to sort them into different teams.  I watched him suppress another laugh as he put Annabeth and Percy on the same team.  Without me, of course, because I'm just that lucky.

The tournament went by much quicker.  Jordan and I were on the same team, which meant that we climbed the ranks quickly.  However, so did the "dynamic duo."  They completely destroyed us in the last round, and neither of them even broke a sweat, meanwhile I can't breath and I probably pulled ten muscles.  Swim tryouts were going to suck after school.

I slipped back into the locker room, changing quickly so I could get to the pool early.  Glancing around, I noticed Percy never came into the locker room.  Was he afraid to change in front of a bunch of guys?  Maybe he's got a weird birthmark or something.  Whatever, I'll figure it out later, I'm finally going to be able to redeem myself against Percy.

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1/6/20