How You Changed Me (Demigods In High School AU)

Chapter 32 || The Painful Wait

ANNABETH CHASE

Annabeth sighed as she looked down at her test. Ugh! Percy was still on her mind, his smile, his laugh, his way of humor... he was perfect.

"Five more minutes!"

She finalized her answers, handing them in to the teacher before sighing, burying her head in her hands. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she took it out to check on what it was.

PERCY JACKSON SPOTTED CRYING AS HE WALKS DOWN THE STREETS OF FRANCE

Percy Jackson's concert in Paris was amazing, no doubt, however, earlier that week, a picture was taken of Percy Jackson as he walked down the streets of Paris, as well as a video. Fans begin to go on rampages, asking if he was okay. His best friend, Leo Valdez, says that all is well, and there's nothing to worry about, and that Percy just missed his mother, but the world isn't buying it.

Everyone suspects it's because of his rough breakup with Renee Baldwin after five long years of committed love, however, others say that Percy, in fact, dumped her, and that he wasn't sad at all.

"Percy isn't doing bad at all, so I don't know why you're all freaking out. It's his business, and he'll take care of it quickly. So please stop making a big deal out of his emotions. Sometimes, you just have a bad day," Valdez had said while the paparazzi approached him.

"It's nothing to do with me. I'm not apart of whatever's happening. We broke up on good terms, we agreed it was the best thing to do, and I don't know what's causing him to get sad so quickly," Renee Baldwin said while this picture was discussed on the Ellen Show.

Then, there was a picture of Percy, walking down the street wearing black sweatpants and a hoodie, his sea-green eyes puffed up and red, filled with tears, which were also streaming down his face. She scowled. They shouldn't be taking pictures of him like that! Then, there was a video.

"Percy Jackson!" a paparazzi member aimed the camera at him.

"Please, right now's not a good time," Percy said in a small voice, hoarse from all his crying.

Annabeth felt her heart break into a million pieces as she watched him furiously wipe the tears away. No use.

"Why is it that you're crying--"

"Stop, please," Percy said, pulling up his hood so no one could see him.

"Percy said stop so please, get your cameras f**king closed, get your mouths f**king closed, and back the f**k off!" Leo stepped in, glaring at the paparazzi as he put an arm around Percy, who put an arm around him as they walked off.

"Class dismissed!"

Annabeth grabbed her things, heading back to her apartment. As she walked in, she found Mary busy on her desk.

"Oh, hey!" she said, waving.

"Hey," Annabeth said, her mind still on Percy's crying face.

"You look sad," she frowned, staring at her face, "What happened?"

"Did you see the news?" Annabeth asked flatly, sitting down at her desk.

"No... Sorry, I've been studying for my tests all week," Mary replied.

"Same," Annabeth said, "But it just alerted me after my test."

Mary frowned, taking out her phone. The moment she saw it, she frowned.

"Isn't this Percy Jackson?" she asked, pointing at the crying face.

"Please..." Annabeth looked away, "Don't show it to me."

She sat down, pushing further past her boundaries. See... that's one of the things she didn't like with Mary. Sometimes, she cared too little, and sometimes, she cared way too much.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because... I don't wanna see it."

"It's not like you're romantically connected or if you even know him..." Mary said, "Why would you care?"

"Percy and I dated for a week!" Annabeth exploded and Mary took a step back, shocked.

"W-What?" she stuttered.

"We dated for a week and then we met his ex-girlfriend at the restaurant on our date, and things got ugly when she ran out and he wanted to go make her feel better! So Renee and I ended up getting in a fist fight and he thought it'd be better for us if he stopped seeing me so I wouldn't get hurt again! And now, he's sad because I made some stupid, irrational mistake!" Annabeth ranted, tears welling in my eyes.

Mary stared at her for a long second, as if she didn't know what to do.

"So he's single?" she finally asked out in a small voice.

"Mary!" Annabeth groaned, "My mission is to get him back."

"And how are you gonna do that? If he trusted you to be a good girlfriend and you literally betrayed him... I watched his college speech when it aired on Fox News. He said he has trust issues."

"Do you think I don't know that?" Annabeth sighed, exasperated, "I just know we're right for each other. I just know it. So I'm gonna change that by doing the thing that's best for him."

"And how do you know that?" Mary scoffed when she heard Annabeth's plan.

"I found him drunk that day I was in my bed with a 'hottie'," Annabeth said, quoting her words, "I knew him in high school and we hung out. I got to see a part of him that no one else sees. I know him. And Percy Jackson isn't like this."

Mary raised her eyebrows, going back to her studying.

"Good luck with that, Annie."

She clenched her fists. Mary really knew how to tick her off. Immediately, she knew this was going to be the longest year of her life.

"I'm gonna go to bed," she said after hours of silence.

Collapsing on her bed, she flinched with frustration. Percy was probably somewhere on a flight going to somewhere in Europe, and she wasn't able to be there to help him. Great. She rolled over. If only she could bring Jackie to him. Annabeth slammed her fist against her pillow. But Jackie stabbed Percy! She was gonna be there for life prison! It was attempted murder! She froze, remembering the many lessons she took in high school.

Was it attempted murder? Or was it assault?

Page 356 of The Laws of Law.