lix. Lover Project Pt: I

Valentine's Day was around the corner, and Percy felt anxious, not knowing what to do. All Percy knew it was supposed to be romantic, and he was pretty clueless when it came to romantic stuff. He hasn't even asked out Annabeth on a date yet. Percy never really gave a second thought about Valentine's Day, but it was different this year as Aphrodite had taken an interest in him...

Percy knew that many people in his school always wanted to catch his attention—from the way they may accidentally drop their stuff in front of him, bump into them, and etcetera. They were all try-hard—and ironically, the person who did catch his eyes—didn't have to try at all.

Maybe it was the way he had seen the tint of red on her cheeks when he had said that cheesy pickup line or was it the glint in her dark grey eyes that made Percy pull toward her. Or maybe it was just that they were meant to be.

Or not to be. Percy didn't know anymore. His thoughts were blurred from Elle's dark brown eyes that shimmered in the dark from the night that they spent together and held a sort of intoxication in them—keeping him a trace of "playfully jokes."

His sea-green eyes flickered when Percy could hear his name being called, and his head snapped toward the voice. Percy paused, putting their Lover Project on top of his car, and watched as Elle walked over to him.

Her dyed red hair bounced up and down in a low ponytail, and Percy could see the outline of her earrings swayed side to side in the wind. Elle wore a white turtleneck with light blue skinny jeans and white heel stock boots.

"Oh, Percy!" Said, Elle. "I'm so glad that you brought the Lover Project with you—I was afraid that you didn't bring it with you."

Percy chuckled and shook his head. He said, "My mom wouldn't let me leave the house till she knew that I had it with me and besides I can't really forget this."

Elle had gone overboard with the decorations on their Lover Project that held their love letters—as Elle liked to call it—and glued red and pink pom-pom that covered the glittery entire white box. Percy still could find glitter in his bedroom.

"Haha," Blushed Elle and sheepishly chuckled. "Sorry."

Percy laughed and quickly reassured. "No, it's fine—I like how it turned out very much."

Elle smiled and nodded. He glanced around the block where many students were quickly filling the sidewalk—surely, Annabeth could be somewhere in the crowd. Percy turned around, and he raised an eyebrow at Elle.

Elle was biting her lips while staring at him intensely like she was thinking about something. She was rocking the heel of her boots so fast that Elle stumbled forward. Percy quickly caught her from falling face-first onto the ground.

His arms awkwardly caught her, and her knees wobbled as Percy held Elle in his arms. It seemed like time froze, and they stared at each other, lost in the moment—his deep sea-green eyes meeting her dark chocolate eyes.

Percy could inhale the smell of Elle's sweet strawberry perfume and watch as Elle's cheeks grew a bright shade of red and her dark brown eyes sparkled in the sunlight of the early hours of the morning.

"P-Percy," Stammered Elle. "Um—"

"Here," Said Percy, snapping out of his gaze then hauled Elle onto her feet. "Are you okay?"

Elle nodded and bit her lips. Percy furrowed his eyebrows at Elle before realizing his arms were wrapped around her waist and pulled away. He awkwardly scratched the back of his head—their cheeks were reddened from the touch.

"Sorry about that," Mumbled Elle, sheepishly glancing away. "I shouldn't have done that."

"It's okay," Said Percy, then asked again, "You're okay, right?"

"Mhm," Nodded Elle. "I'm fine, don't worry."

Percy nodded and ran a hand through his black hair, knowing that the windy weather had already messed it furthermore. Elle awkwardly glanced over the streets of New York City before looking back at him.

"W-we should probably start walking before the bell rings," Suggested Elle, gazing at their school. "It's about like 7:14 right now."

"Yeah, we should," Said Percy, turning around to pick up the Lover Project. "And we should probably want to grab this with us if we want a good grade."

Elle laughed and nodded. He carefully clutched the box in his hands as they walked down the sidewalk. The streetlight slowly flickered off as the sky gradually got lighter, and the cars packed Main Street of Manhattan. New York City was slowly waking up from its slumber.

Percy's sea-green eyed slowly drifted back to Elle, and he frowned. He didn't notice it then, but Elle wasn't wearing her green kiwi earrings—instead, she wore mismatched lemon and lime earrings.

"What is it, Percy?" Asked Elle, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Answered Percy, shaking his head and pointing to her ear. "I just notice that you aren't wearing your kiwi earrings."

"Oh, you noticed?" Said Elle, touched her earrings, and laughed. "Um, I just need to change things up—I was overdue for a bit of chaos, you know?"

Percy laughed at her joke and said, "Well, I like it, it's pretty cute."

"Why thank you, Percy," Smirked Elle, blushing. "I also have some blueberry earrings that I can wear if you want me to wear them."

"No, it's fine," Chuckled Percy, shaking his head, then he asked, "Hey, can you carry this for a minute? My arms are growing tired."

"Sure," Nodded Elle then smirked, "I can't believe Percy Jackson needs my help in carrying a box—don't you workout or something like that?"

She had playfully elbowed him before taking the Lover Project out of his hands. Their fingers brushed against each other, and Percy quickly pulled his hand away. He could hear Elle gasped, causing Percy to look at her.

"What is it?" Asked Percy, frowning. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes," Mumbled Elle, furrowing her eyebrows. "I just can't remember if I forgot something important that I wanted to..."

Elle had trailed off, and Percy raised an eyebrow at the girl. Elle's brown eyes flickered, and she was mumbling something underneath her breath that Percy couldn't catch. Elle then sighed and shook her head.

"It's...never mind," Answered Elle and explained, "There was just something that I wanted to give—"

"Seaweed Brain!"

He could hear Annabeth's voice in the distance, causing Percy to look away from Elle. Elle frowned, and she looked in the direction of where Percy was looking—her eyes widened, and she bit her lips...

Percy walked forward and scanned around through the crowd, looking for his girlfriend. His sea-green eyes lit up like stars when he caught Annabeth's grey eyes and her soft smile.

"Um, Percy," Said Elle sheepishly. "I must be going. I will get the Lover Project to Mr. Vulcan and I'll see you later?"

"Yes," Nodded Percy and said, "Bye, Elle!"

"Bye, Perce," Said Elle, waving at him. "Um—"

Elle looked like she wanted to do something as her gaze lingered on his lips before deciding otherwise. She smiled at him and walked away as Annabeth neared them, bumping into his girlfriend.

He watched as Elle apologized to Annabeth, and with a blushed face, she strolled toward the school stairs. Annabeth looked confused and furrowed her eyebrows in her face before looking back at him with a smile.

"Hey Seaweed Brain," Said Annabeth, kissing him on the cheek. "How are you?"

"I'm doing good," Smiled Percy, cupping her face. "How about you? Hm?"

"Good," Annabeth smiled. "I'm so happy that I'm going to spend the afternoon with you."

"Me too."

When Annabeth had told him that she was allowed to stay in the city longer as she did before—Percy was so excited. He couldn't wait for them to explore the city once again with Estelle or have a cuddle session as the sunset occurred.

"Um, Percy...?" Said Annabeth, pulling away from his grasp. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, sure," Nodded Percy. "What is it?"

A feeling of worry and dread devoured him, seeing Annabeth pulled away from him. Her smile had faded and was replaced with a frown. He could see Annabeth's grey eyes flickering in the light.

"Annabeth...?" Asked Percy softly. "Is everything alright—"

"Why do you smell like strawberry perfume?" Asked Annabeth, then added, "It smells so familiar...Percy?"

She had softly said his name when realizing that familiar scent was Elle's. A frown settled on her face, and Annabeth stepped away from him, not looking at him.

"Annabeth," Said Percy quickly, wanting to explain himself. "It's not what you think—Elle accidentally fell and I caught her. I guess her perfume—"

They could hear the first bell rang, and Percy peered behind Annabeth, seeing the empty front lawn except for a couple of students who had lingered behind. He looked back at Annabeth, who just shook her head.

"Tell me later, Percy," Sighed Annabeth, gripping the strings of her backpack. "W-we need to go to English. We wouldn't want to be late, would we?"

Annabeth didn't wait for him to respond as she had already turned around and walked away, leaving him alone. Percy groaned and buried his head into his hands, cursing himself.

He could feel other people's eyes on him, and Percy could already see the latest rumors whispered throughout the halls of New York Public School...

Percy could tell that Annabeth was trying to avoid him though it was very hard with all the morning classes that they shared. She didn't meet his eyes when they had to talk to each other and kept her distance from him.

He wanted to explain why his hoodie had smelled like Elle, but Percy couldn't say it in front of his classmates, who could definitely tell that something was up. So, Percy planned to do it during lunch, or it was just the two of them—whenever that was.

His blue hoodie still smelled like the intoxicating strawberry perfume of Elle's, and every time that he inhaled it—it felt like Percy was hallucinating. He had to change out of it and into a grey hoodie that he kept in his gym locker.

"Perseus Jackson," Said Mr. Ares, snapping him out of his thoughts. "You know that class is over, right?"

Percy blinked and looked around the empty classroom. His face reddened and his eyes widened, quickly getting up. Percy got up and packed up his stuff under the glare of Mr. Ares, who watched his every movement.

"Sorry," Mumbled Percy, leaving the classroom. "Have a good day or whatever."

His calculus teacher never really liked him because Percy had pointed out a mistake in Mr. Ares's math equation and show him how to solve the equation correctly in front of the entire class. Ever since then, Mr. Ares had hatred toward Percy—This was why he never like calculus.

His sneakers echoed on the floor as he walked down the empty hallway as most of his classmates were in the cafeteria, eating lunch or in their seminar. He sighed and bit his lips, wondering what to do next. Percy didn't know.

Percy guessed after a minute of pondering that he should probably explain himself before it's too late, and she'll take off his sea-green bracelet and give it back to him forever. But where she was...?

He walked into the cafeteria and made a beeline toward his table. His friends looked at him as Percy sat down next to an empty chair where Annabeth would've sat. He awkwardly shifted in his seat.

"Is everything alright?" Asked Hazel, worrying her eyebrows. "We were quite worried when you nor Annabeth showed up at the lunch table."

"Yes, no, um, I don't know," Answered Percy, his eyes flickering. "I-I..."

"You don't have to answer this, Percy," Said Piper softly. "But did something happen between you and Annabeth...?"

Percy fidgeted Annabeth's grey and pink bracelet and furrowed his eyebrows. He asked, "Why do you think that-did you hear something?"

"Yes, but I didn't know what was it," Said Piper, biting her lips. "I just heard it in the hallway when I was walking by..."

"Oh," Said Percy, not looking at his friends. "Um—"

"You know you can tell us, Percy," Reassured Hazel. "Right guys?"

His friends nodded in agreement and looked back at Percy. He didn't say anything and just sighed. Percy ran a hand through his black hair, and his sea-green drifted to Elle. The girl was eating green kiwis and holding a strawberry smoothie in her hand.

Percy looked back at his friends, who also looked in the direction of Elle. They all shared a look, and Percy glanced away.

"It's just that..." Said Percy, not knowing how to explain it. "Uh—"

"It's Elle?" Asked Leo, catching him off guard, then said after seeing Percy's expression. "Ha! I always knew that she was fishy or shall I say fruity because you know—"

Piper elbowed Leo, causing him to be quiet before looking at Percy. She furrowed her eyebrows and gasped her hands. "So, what happened with Elle?"

"Annabeth smelled Elle's perfume on my clothes," Said Percy, then quickly explained, "I caught Elle from falling and she wore some heavy perfume that got on my clothes."

"Oh," Said Frank. "So, it was just misunderstanding—have you talked to her yet, Percy?"

"No," Percy shook his head. "I wasn't able to. I was planning to do it during lunch but she isn't here...do you guys know where Annabeth is?"

Hazel shook her head and suggested a location that Annabeth could be at, then the rest of his friends joined in too, and they suggested ideas on Annabeth's whereabouts. But their voices drowned out when Percy thought about something...

What does Annabeth love more than him? Well, uh, Percy thinks that Annabeth still loves him—maybe, she hates him now—Percy doesn't know. Anyways, where does Annabeth surround herself 24/7?

"She's at the library!" exclaimed Percy. "You know how much she loves books—Annabeth probably went there."

"Well, go check," Jason half-smiled. "And if she's there, explain to her and knowing Annabeth, she'll realize that it was all a misunderstanding."

"I agreed with Jason," nodded Piper, "We wouldn't want you guys to break up over just a little misunderstanding."

"Thanks guys," smiled Percy, getting up and looking at his friends. "I'll see you guys later?"

"Of course."

Percy quickly left and ran out of the cafeteria, getting some odd looks in his direction, but he didn't care—He needed to see Annabeth and make things right.

[originally published on 2/11/21.]

[2/11/21] author's note! Hi! I know this is an earlier chapter as it isn't Friday yet but I have something else plan for Friday! I had to break this chapter up into three parts because it's was so long and I wasn't going to put anyone through that so there's three parts to this chapter. I'll probably post the other parts later tomorrow, which will conclude this mini-problem(?) but who knows? Anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for reading and have a good day/night! Much Love, Lucinda! 💙