24: Into You

Percy POV

I felt bad that I could barely interact with my friends. I was just so busy with swim practice. I wasn't being forced to do it, but I was motivated myself to practice. I really wanted to do well in swimming this year.

Yes, I wanted to make the school and city proud. But, more importantly, I wanted to make my friends, family, and myself proud.

Regardless, I barely spent time with my friends besides at lunch.

That's why I decided to skip practice for one day on Friday. The entire gang was going to play ultimate frisbee at the park. Specifically, we chose this sport because gender didn't necessarily lead to any advantages or disadvantages.

"Guys, hurry up, we have to pick teams," Thalia snapped impatiently.

We've simply been talking for the past twenty minutes. Everyone was here, but we were just distracted. Thalia was right, though. We had to start the game soon.

"All right, I can be a team captain," Thalia continued.

We were all situated in a large grass field in the middle of the park. I was excited for a day out in the sun. It wasn't that cold today, and the sun felt so good.

"Thalia, I doubt that anyone wants to face you," Jason said chuckling.

"How about we nominate Jason? Sibling on sibling," Leo commented slyly. Jason immediately glared at our friend as we cheered in agreement.

"Okay, so who's picking first?" I asked.

"Since this was Thalia's idea, she should pick first," Annabeth said. I turned to face Wise Girl, who was standing next to me.

"You just wanna get picked first, eh Wise Girl?" I asked with a smirk.

Annabeth playfully elbowed me in the gut to shut me up. She looked really pretty today. Her hair was in a ponytail, and she was in simple gym clothes. The sun was causing her hair to glow and her eyes to sparkle.

It turns out that Annabeth didn't get picked first even though Thalia went first. Clearly, Thalia was in it to win it since she picked Frank first.

Out of all of us, Frank certainly was the most athletic looking. However, he was also a giant teddy bear on the inside.

"Well, look what happened Wise Girl," I retorted slyly.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth whispered with a smile. "You're so annoying sometimes."

"You know you love me," I whispered back. Annabeth paused as she stared at me. It took me a few moments to realize what I said.

"Err, I mean, you know that you love it, my humor," I stammered.

She didn't say anything because she got picked by Thalia in the second round of picks. I sighed as she walked towards Thalia's side. Jason picked me next, so I took my place on his team.

The teams got picked pretty quickly.

It was Jason, Piper, Connor, Katie, and me vs Thalia, Annabeth, Frank, Travis, Hazel, and Leo. Since we had an odd number of people and Jason picked second, my team had one less person.

I had a feeling that Annabeth made Thalia choose first after doing the calculation.

Regardless, the game started very competitively. We kept tying each other as the frisbee soured throughout the field.

However, we started getting tired fairly quickly. Within the hour, Leo was panting like he was about to pass out.

"So, Wise Girl, despite having an extra person, how does it feel to be losing?" I asked as I ran next to her.

Annabeth was defending me, and I couldn't get open. Gods, Annabeth was fierce and competitive, and I was struggling now that I was getting tired.

Somehow, she didn't even look phased yet.

"One point, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth commented sternly.

"Ooh, looks like I'm getting under your skin," I smirked. I tried to juke her and turn right, but she immediately blocked me from getting open. Damn.

"Nice try, Seaweed Brai-"

"PERCY," Jason shouted. I hadn't even noticed that Piper launched the Frisbee towards the deep end.

I ran towards the end zone with Annabeth on tow.

The frisbee was gliding through the air and started lowering. My hand reached forward as I continued running. My fingers wrapped around the edge of the frisbee. However, Annabeth was running right next to me also trying to catch the frisbee.

Suddenly, my foot hit a rock.

I stumbled forward. My hand was enclosed on the frisbee, but my body collided into Annabeth's, and we both collapsed on the ground.

I groaned as I landed on Annabeth. My hands holding my body from crushing her.

For a few moments, I was frozen. Annabeth was gazing up at me. Her stormy gray eyes were beautiful as our breaths intermixed. Our legs were also entangled in each other as my lower half pressed into her. Her chest was rising and falling in a smooth pattern.

"I caught the frisbee," she whispered softly.

My head turned to the side, and I noticed that her hand was clutching the frisbee. Both of my hands were against her side.

"I don't care at the moment," I whispered back.

My gaze flickered to her lips before looking at her eyes again. My eyes closed and I leaned towards hers, but we were very rudely interrupted.

"Nice work, Annabeth. Now, get off my player, Kelp Head," Thalia exclaimed. She stood a few feeding away from us with her arms crossed.

I groaned as I pushed off Annabeth and landed in the grass next to her.

Annabeth took a few moments to catch her breath before standing up. She quickly straightened herself and went to grab some water. I sighed as I sat up.

I was so stupid. I freaking tried to kiss in front of everybody (after landing on her no less). Of course, everyone saw it.

As I went to grab my water, Jason started talking.

"Bro, I don't even want to hear it," I snapped at him. Jason and Piper both laughed as Jason patted my back in support.

"Aww, our poor friend has fallen so deep," Katie cooed slyly.

My gaze locked onto Annabeth who was drinking water several feet away. I smiled in response to her smile. Yeah, I had fallen in love.

***

Thalia's team won the game.

We were still talking about it even on Monday. Katie and I were finished with swim practice, and we were walking toward the parking lot together.

I was glad that Katie and I were going to Regionals together. It was nice to have a friend accompany me.

"Percy, Percy, wait," Leo shouted as he ran towards us.

"Leo, what's wrong?" I asked immediately. He looked very panicked as he panted to catch his breath. He started talking, but I couldn't hear anything.

"Leo, slow down. What's going on?" Katie asked cautiously.

"It's Annabeth. Something's wrong."

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah, Percy, she's in the music studio. I don't know what happened, but she needs you right now."

Oh, gods. My mind immediately raced as I dropped my bags and ran into the school. Katie and Leo didn't follow, but I didn't care. My heart pounded with worry.

"Annabeth, WISE GIRL," I shouted in panic as I ran into the familiar room.

The room was dark, and the only light that was emanating was from the sound booth in the middle of the room.

I stopped as I stared at Annabeth.

She looked completely fine. In fact, she looked beyond amazing. She was completely herself, and I greatly appreciated that.

She was wearing jeans and a red blouse. She stepped forward and situated herself in front of the microphone.

The music started playing as I softly gazed at her.

I stood a few feet away from the sound booth as Annabeth started singing for me. Her voice was gorgeous as music permeated through the room.

I got closer to her as I stared at her through the glass.

Her eyes were locked onto mine as she sang with her voice and body. The message of the song, Into You, was fairly obvious.

My heart pounded as I internalized all of my feelings for her. I had fallen for her hard, and I didn't intend to ever let go.

The song wasn't even finished when I entered the small sound booth.

Wise Girl turned around as the background music continued to play. Her eyes were glistening in the dimly lit room. She awaited my response.

"You scared the shit out of me, Wise Girl," I whispered.

Her smile faded as she stared at me in confusion. Clearly, it wasn't the response that she was expecting.

However, I smiled as I went towards me. My lips crashed into hers as my hands gripped her waist. She smiled into the kiss as her arms wrapped around my neck.

The butterflies in my head exploded into fireworks. The world melted away until it was only Annabeth and me.

It was the best kiss I've ever had, and it was our first one.