The Library Book

#39 - Buy One Divorce, Get One Free

Chapter 39 - Buy One Divorce, Get One Free
published: Wednesday, 15 July 2020

Annabeth started the day with anxiety lodged in her stomach. That in itself was not great, but the feeling only worsened when she arrived in a Percy-less school.

Usually, Annabeth would just assume that Percy, being Percy, had woken up late or forgotten to turn on his alarm. But she hadn't seen him since that day at the police station, and that in addition to their precarious "Gabe situation" made her worry.

What if Gabe had found out? What if he'd attacked Percy? Was that why she hadn't heard from him in days?

The first person she saw was Piper, who was trying and failing to hold all her books in her arms. Hazel and Leo stood beside her at her locker, chatting casually. None of them looked worried, and Annabeth reminded herself that she was probably just overthinking this.

Nevertheless, Annabeth spent her first two lessons of the day — both sciences with Leo — mindlessly clucking her pen and keeping an eye trained on the clock at all times.

"Relax," Leo whispered. "He's probably just late. You'll see him at lunch."

Annabeth nodded wordlessly. Nothing would dispel the irrational fear she was feeling.

In History, Annabeth clambered over to her usual seat frantically. "Hazel," she panted as she dumped her bag on the desk and slumped into the chair. "Have you seen Percy?"

The other girl shook her head. "No, he wasn't in Physics or Chemistry. I've texted him. No reply." Hazel gave her a concerned look. "Is everything okay?"

Annabeth felt her heart start to beat rapidly, but she plastered a reassuring expression on her face. "N-no, it's fine." Discreetly, she cast a glance at her phone under the table. No messages from Percy.

If something was wrong, he would say so, right? Then again, Annabeth knew that Percy always preferred to take care of himself and never actually called her unless it was necessary. Was this a bad sign?

Piper had to physically stop her from thrumming her fingers on the desk anxiously as she waited impatiently for the time to tick by. Try as she might, Annabeth couldn't focus on the teacher.

"I have to see him," Annabeth whispered to Piper. "I have to, Pipes. He could be in trouble. What if Gabe did something—"

"You can't leave in the middle of the day!" Piper hissed.

Annabeth braced her hands on the edge of the desk till her knuckles went white. "I have to," she said desperately.

"No," Piper said forcefully. "Annabeth, don't do something stupid and get yourself suspended." Her eyes narrowed. "Promise me."

Annabeth shrunk under Piper's imploring gaze. "Fine," she muttered under her breath.

As soon as the bell rang, Annabeth started to shove her belongings into her bag and make a hasty exit.

"Hey, you're not gonna ditch, right?" Piper said in a low tone.

"Just going to find Leo," Annabeth lied. "We have AP Calc now." She didn't miss Piper's suspicious look as she hurried out of the classroom.

Annabeth had barely taken ten steps before she resolved that it was inevitable that she was going to break Piper's promise. She could struggle with it until lunch and then leave, or she could go now and make sure that Percy was okay.

Ducking out of the hallway of bustling students moving to get to their next class, Annabeth pulled out her phone to check the bus schedule. Her eyes scanned the timings; the next one to Percy's house  was in twenty minutes.