Chapter Text
001. sleepover.
“Alright,” the Economics teacher sighs, glaring at each student in turn as if it’s their fault he has a hangover on a Monday morning. “There’s an assignment at the front of the room. Grab a sheet and complete it quietly, please. It’s on the notes we took last week.”
If he wanted to blame someone, he should take that up with the school board, Piper thinks, annoyed, and shifts in her seat. She meets her best friend Annabeth’s eyes and Annabeth rolls them dramatically. Piper stifles a giggle and the jolt that runs through her when grey eyes look at her.
”It will be a participation grade, so you better be working on it," Mr. D adds irritably a second later. For a second, it feels as if he's glaring at Piper, but he just lets out a huff.
Mr. Diomidi- or Mr. D, as they call him, because he’s tired of how they pronounce his last name incorrectly- takes a seat in his chair as students get up from their seats with whispers of clothing and kicking of bags that are splayed in the isles of desks. He's always irritable and grumpy about something, and generally could not care less about his class. It's funny, because despite how much of an asshole he is, his class is one of Piper's favorites.
Piper gets up from her seat with the rest of the class and Annabeth looks at her with a silent plea- Piper can never disappoint Annabeth, even if it’s for something so small. She nods and Annabeth beams at her, sending Piper’s heart racing.
By the time Piper gets to the front of the room, Mr. D is already passed out on his desk, and she can’t help but snort.
“Is he really passed out?” Annabeth asks when Piper returns with their papers. Her fingers brush Piper’s when Piper hands it over, and Piper smiles at the warm feeling it gives her. She nods in response as the class starts to buzz around them.
“Like a light.” Piper practically falls into her seat, avoiding stepping on someone’s backpack that’s been kicked just in front of her seat. With a jolt, she realizes it’s hers, and moves it quickly out of the way. “He’ll probably wake up any minute though.”
Annabeth lets out a low whistle, but they’re close enough to the front that Mr. D jerks in his sleep. Piper lets out a breath of a laugh when he doesn’t wake up. “Must’ve partied hard last night.”
“Oh, definitely.”
They grin at each other, and Annabeth turns to her paper. Knowing she should be doing the same- as Mr. D has a knack for knowing who's working even when he's asleep- Piper steals a glance, instead.
Annabeth is pretty- incredibly so. Her blonde curls are wrapped up in a ponytail that gleams in the morning light from the classroom window. Her skin still glows with a tan from spending her summer outside with their friends. She can’t see them, but Piper can imagine focused, startling grey eyes. Eyes that can read you like a book.
Realizing she’s staring a little too long, Piper turns to her work.
Piper’s had a crush on Annabeth since freshman year. Since the moment Annabeth sat next to her during orientation, held out her hand for Piper to shake, and said, “Name’s Annabeth Chase. What’s yours?” It’s a little embarrassing, sometimes, when Annabeth catches Piper staring, but Piper can’t seem to stop, and Annabeth seems to never figure out what it means. Which is fine by Piper, really, because if she were to ever find out, Piper wants to be the one to tell her. Piper wants to be the one to tell her about how much she likes her.
Piper is finishing up the first section when Annabeth starts to hum some pop song that’s been playing on the radio for the past few days. It’s strange- Annabeth’s not usually a morning person. She has good days, as everyone does, but Piper has never heard her hum before. Stranger still- she doesn’t ask for Piper’s help. Despite being one of the best students, Annabeth has dyslexia. Often, she gets so frustrated that she’ll have Piper read things that just aren’t making sense, but today, she keeps humming as if she has the patience of a saint. It takes a little while for Piper to realize she’s actually done and doodling something on her paper. A building, Piper guesses, because Annabeth is into architecture. Only it looks kind of- kind of strange to be the shape of a building.
“Done already?” Piper teases. She lets out a fake gasp. “And doodling? Shame on you, ‘beth-”
Annabeth not-so-discreetly covers the doodle with her hand and a squeak when Piper tries to take a look, face red and burning, and eyes looking anywhere but Piper. Piper raises a suspicious eyebrow, but Annabeth’s cheeks darken.
“A secret doodle, I see,” Piper muses. Annabeth sticks out her tongue. “And I heard you humming, earlier. Are you in a good mood or what ?”
“Oh shut up,” Annabeth mutters, fueling Piper’s amused grin. “I have good moods.”
“Rarely, and it’s never ‘just a good mood’. Anything I should know?”
Annabeth still won’t meet her eyes, and her cheeks are incredibly red. Piper’s heart jumps in her chest and she feels like it’ll jump out of it. “I’ll tell you at lunch.”
The fifty minutes of first period must’ve already passed, because the bell rings and releases them to their second period. Mr. D sits up calmly- a red line across his forehead- and frowns as the class collectively hurries to get out of the door. Annabeth smiles at her- flushed and embarrassed- and dashes out of the classroom before Piper can even follow her.
Second period is Chemistry in the main hall with all of the other science rooms, which Piper enters in sort of a daze. The rest of the class is already there- as usual- sitting at long, rectangular tables with black surfaces that are stained with fingerprints and lingering chemicals as they chat and talk. Reyna Avila Ramírez Arellano, with her long, sleek black hair tied back in a french braid and regal brown eyes, throws her a side glance from the back of the classroom when she walks into the room, and Piper sends back a glare. There’s only one seat left, however, beside Reyna in the entire classroom, and she’s forced to sit there. Reyna scrunches up her nose in distaste, and Piper shrugs.
Between them, there’s sort of this rivalry.
Piper doesn’t really remember the exact time it started, but it was sometime during freshman year, when Piper realized Reyna liked Annabeth just as much as she did. And that Annabeth considered Reyna as much of a best friend as she considered Piper, which, admittedly and stupidly, had stung. Piper said something stupid- as freshman do- to Reyna, and it just kind of- bloomed from there. It spread into other areas too- academics, sports, clubs. There’s always something they’re going after, and recently, it’s gone back to fighting over Annabeth.
As soon as Piper sits down, however, she’s lost in thoughts of what-ifs and daydreams of what Annabeth could possibly have to tell her, instead of pondering too hard on Reyna. It’s a high school girl’s fantasy that she can’t help but indulge in- Annabeth blushed. Like, really blushed- so much, Piper thought her cheeks might catch on fire- over a doodle on her Economics worksheet. It made her excited and hopeful .
Piper’s crush on Annabeth has extended over years - from the beginning of freshman year, in fact. It’s the only crush she hasn’t managed to shake off quite yet- because high school is full of crushes and drama. What would high school, pray tell, be like without it?
Chemistry is long and boring. Her teacher- one she can’t quite remember the name of, still, after being in school for two months- lectures on some of the notes she gave them and then gives them busy work to prepare them for their test for the rest of class. It’s a chill day compared to most Chemistry classes, which Piper is thankful for. She can’t focus on anything else other that Annabeth, Annabeth, Annabeth , and still can’t focus on anything.
What if Annabeth likes her back? Oh, god , please let her like her back, Piper’s been after her for years . What if Annabeth- what if- what if -
Stop , Piper finally ends up thinking, scribbling in something onto her worksheet that sounds right. Don’t get your hopes up. Something great probably happened, and you’ll be upset when it’s not what you think. Just wait .
Waiting, Piper realizes, is not her strong suit.
“Distracted, hm, Piper?” Reyna remarks casually from beside her. Piper throws her a smirk.
“Can’t help it. Exciting things may be happening today,” Piper says. Hope Levels raised by 200%. Mission: failed . Reyna raises her eyebrows in question, but Piper doesn’t let her reply. She takes her earphones out of her bag, plugs them in, and lets the sound of Walk The Moon wash over her.
Government has Percy in it. Percy’s a cool dude- he’s in her friend group, and he’s like a brother Piper never go to have, in some ways. They’re pretty close, Piper likes to think, and can talk about a lot of things together. Lately, he’s been hung up over a girl that he won’t tell Piper the name of, no matter how many times she asks him about it, and on any other day, Piper would be rushing to ask him more about it.
She’s still caught up in her head when she gets to Government, though. Percy’s there before her- because his class is two doors down and hers is downstairs in the main hallway- and is messing with his bag as if he’s looking for something when Piper walks up.
“Hey,” Piper greets him, taking out an ear bud as she gets closer to their seats together. Percy grins and waves at her in response, giving up on his mysterious bag search. “Any luck with that girl yet?”
Percy’s cheeks turn bright red and sea green eyes suddenly don’t want to meet hers. Piper raises an eyebrow and grins in amusement. “Really now?”
“Shut up, Piper.”
“Does this mean I finally get to know who it is?”
Percy’s doing that thing he does when he’s nervous and excited- his leg is shaking like a maraca and he’s having trouble meeting her eyes fully, still. He shrugs, however, like it’s not a big deal. “At lunch, I think.”
Piper’s eyebrows raise. Dread fills her stomach- a sinking feeling that gets more prominent as the seconds go by. “Lunch?”
Percy nods, his leg still shaking and making tapping noises on the ground that suddenly has Piper on edge. “She didn’t want to tell anyone until everyone was together. Thought Calypso might get upset, y’know, because they don’t have class together until the end of the day, and Calypso likes to know everything .”
The dread in her stomach spreads and Piper feels stupid. She should have kept her hopes grounded. She just prayed she was wrong, that Percy and Annabeth had different news to tell. “You sure you can’t tell me who it is?”
“Sorry. A- she’d kill me if I told you before she could.”
“Alright, class, sit down in your seats please, we’ve got a lot to do today,” Piper’s Government teacher grumbles. He’s an older man- glasses, aging hairline, a bit of a belly. He’s nice, mostly, and tells stories that help Piper remember his lectures, but Piper has never wished for him to be gone more than now. “We’ve got notes to take before our quiz next Tuesday.”
The rest of the class groans, and Piper takes her seat hesitantly, cursing for an entirely different reason than the rest of the class. She throws Percy a glance, but he’s already getting out his notes and avoiding her eyes, just like Annabeth had this morning.
Please , Piper thinks to herself. Let me be wrong .
She isn’t, in fact, wrong. For once, Piper wishes she hadn’t been able to put together the pieces of this puzzle.
Halfway through third period, the bell rings for lunch and Percy all but skips out of there, grabbing Piper’s wrist and tugging her along like a rag doll.
Annabeth calls their table’s attention as soon as the rest arrive- Leo Valdez, Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, Reyna, Calypso Titanes, Jason Grace, Percy, and Piper herself- to tell them the news. Piper can feel her heart sinking, sinking, sinking, when Percy puts his arm around Annabeth’s shoulders, and Calypso lets out an excited squeal. She can feel herself pull back when Frank and Jason offer their ‘about time’s and Leo makes a joke that makes Hazel hit him upside the head. She can feel her eyes sting as they meet Reyna’s, who looks as heartbroken as she feels.
“We’re dating,” Annabeth says, even though it’s obvious. She has a smile so wide, Piper’s momentarily afraid her lips will split. Percy looks just as happy, if not more . He actually kisses the side of Annabeth’s head and something breaks a little.
Piper feels like crying, suddenly, which is stupid. It’s stupid, she thinks, to want to cry over this- this miniscule thing. Annabeth’s just with someone now. It’s not the end of the world. But her lip is quivering, her eyes sting a little, and Piper thinks she’s tired. Yeah, that’s it. She’s tired. That’s all it is.
Annabeth is looking at her, and Piper isn’t sure what her facial expression looks like when she does, but she quickly transforms it into something else. She smiles widely like she’s about to burst with excitement, except her lips keep quivering and pulling down, and her eyes don’t crinkle as much as she wants them to, but Annabeth seems too excited to notice.
“Oh my god, that’s awesome!” Piper forces out in an obnoxiously cheery voice to keep Annabeth from noticing further, but Annabeth notices anyway. Of course she does. She starts to frown, but Piper won’t ruin this for her. She puts every bit of her best acting into her words now. “I’m so happy for you guys- it’s about time.”
Annabeth looks so happy to hear that, really. Piper thinks maybe she sees the smallest bit of worry in her eyes, but Annabeth’s already turning towards Reyna, who hasn’t said much either. Reyna looks up to meet Annabeth’s eyes, and Piper can see the hurt. She can see it because she feels it. But Reyna just smiles softly up at Annabeth, who’s beaming, and says, “that’s great. Does that mean I have to get along with him now?”
The table laughs and Annabeth rolls her eyes, but the grin doesn’t falter. “Yeah, I think you do.”
When Annabeth’s attention gets turned to Calypso, Frank, and Hazel, and Percy is talking with Jason, Rachel, and Leo, Piper is the only one to see Reyna’s smile fall.
Misery sure does love its company.
The call picks up with a quiet, “hey, Pipes, aren’t you in school?”
“Hey, dad? Can you pick me up early?”
“Why, what’s up?”
“I’m not- I’m not feeling too well right now. Can you just- please?”
A worried sigh. “Alright- alright, I’m on my way.”