Beyond All Expectation (Percabeth)

Chapter 7: The Tutor

Percy POV:

"Come on in," I invited her. "Want anything to drink or eat?"

She shook her head politely.

"Suit yourself," I shrugged, already reaching for the cookies on the counter. "My mum makes these awesome cookies, and I think we've got some lemonade in the refrigerator."

She shook her head again, looking a little shyly around my apartment.

I had to admit, I was relieved when I saw her at my doorstep. The girl didn't look familiar at all – although she was probably my age, I couldn't remember ever seeing her around my school. That was good. I didn't want anyone from school finding out about me having a tutor, let alone knowing that I actually cared about school.

"What subject do you want to start on?" The girl asked me when we sat down next to the dining room table. I say dining room – my apartment was so small that it only consisted of five rooms; the main living area, which included the living room, dining table and kitchen; my parent's bedroom and their bathroom; mine and Estelle's joint bedroom and the bathroom opposite it. Luckily the house was empty, otherwise it would be too cramped and loud to get any work done. Paul was still in school, my mum would be working in her shop 'Sweet on America' and Estelle would be at day-care. I had the apartment to myself for the next two hours. Well, myself and my tutor.

"Um, I don't know," I shrugged. "All of them. I'm kind of failing in all my subjects."

She stared at me silently for a few seconds. I awkwardly stared back, my eyes searching her fantastic grey eyes that made it impossible to look away. She had amazing eyes.

"That's okay," she nodded, smiling slightly. "Perhaps we can start with algebra?"

"That would be great, yeah," I nodded back, still staring at her eyes. Did I mention she had great eyes? "Sorry, I forgot to ask what your name is."

"It's Annabeth," she said, not looking at me. "I go to your school, actually."

I felt embarrassed for two reasons; that she went to my school and therefore definitely knew my name, and that I had never noticed her before today.

"Oh, gods, I'm sorry," I muttered. "Didn't recognize you."

"Not a problem," she replied. Then, more quietly, she muttered: "I bet the great Percy Jackson doesn't notice anyone other than himself and his swim team."

I narrowed my eyes at that but chose not to say anything. She wasn't here so that I could gain her approval, she was here so that I could learn.

"Right, so, Math?" I encouraged. She rifled through the sheets of paper she had brought with her and presented one to me with a look of excitement on her face.

"We'll start with the basics," she smiled. "Maybe if I could get you to do a couple of these before I say anything, just so I can get a gist of what you're strong at and what you're not."

I held in a laugh that had been about to escape my lips. Maybe this was a bad idea, after all. I didn't have any strong points – I couldn't even read the sheet of paper she had presented; the words were too jumbled. I was just going to fail this like I failed everything else.

"Um, okay," I sighed nervously. I took the sheet from her hand and stared at it, desperately hoping that the words on the page would start ordering themselves and making sense. Of course, they stayed scrambled and ridiculously hard to understand. "Um, okay, ah... the first answer is definitely four."

"Yeah, well done!" She grinned at me, encouraging me to continue. I blanched – that had been a fluke, I hadn't even read the first question. What even was four?