2 Months of Dating and the Night I disappeared
Annabeth and I had never said out loud that we were dating. But everyone kind of figured, and it wasn’t until the night I asked her if she wanted to have dinner on the pier with me, that I realized I was asking her out to a date.
I should have known I guess. I mean, with all the kissing action and the Aphrodite cabin betting on whether we would kiss or not (it’s pretty annoying) and then the Hephaestus cabin always putting bombs in my room that exploded and said with silly string words on my wall, “2 months of dating!”
That’s when it hit me. It was our 2 month anniversary, and Annabeth would kill me if I’d forgotten. And, of course I had!
I leaped out of bed and raced toward the Camp Store. There had to be something good in there, right? I tore through the racks, pulling clothing off the walls and digging through the weapons rack. Nothing that Annabeth would like.
I sighed and walked away with the store a mess. Someone would clean it up- most likely the first person who got in trouble. AKA Me.
I stopped by the Hephaestus cabin and asked them if they had anything cool for Annabeth. “Dude!” One guy asked me, his face covered with grime. “Your forgot you’re girlfriends anniversary! Oh, Annabeth is going to KILL you!”
Jake Mason shoved him aside. “Not helping, man.” I look desperately at Jake. He seem’s to take the cue. He leads me by the arm into their weapons area. “She needs a new weapon? That knife might be getting tired of her…or vice versa.” Jake laughs, his eyes crinkling. I shake my head and laugh. “Nah, she’s tight with it. You know, because Luke gave it…”
Jake Mason frowns for a moment. “Hey Percy. Luke was a hero in the end, and Annabeth likes you now. Not him. Okay?” I nod. “Yeah…yeah I knew that. I’m not worried about it.” I lie. Sometimes, I do think that Annabeth wishes Luke were here. I mean, she did say to his face that he was like her brother, not someone she loved. But still.
Jake took me to the secret area that only the people in the cabin knew about. “Um…Percy? Could you wait out here…while I go in? You know…top secret for a millennia so…yeah.”
“Yeah, that’s cool.” I wait outside the door, twiddling my thumbs. It takes Jake maybe….5 minutes? I’m sitting by the door when he comes out. He finds that I’ve made a few punches in the wall, and I’ve chased the little metal cat they have around a few rounds. Yeah, for an ADHD kid, I can do a lot in five minutes.
Jake presents to me: the book of knowledge. It’s basically a thought transmitter. Anything Annabeth know’s, will go into the book and if she forgets its right there. I thought that was wicked cool. “Can I try it?” I plead. Jake Mason thinks on it. “Percy, it can only have one owner…we could find something else for Annabeth if you want the book instead.”
“What? No!” I cry, waving my hands in front of me. I would never do that to Annabeth. “I just wanted to try it out, but not that much.” I scrunch my nose for emphasis. Jake laughs. “Hey dude, I was just kidding! I knew what you’re response would be- you can try it. It won’t harm anything.”
I think about when I first came to Camp Halfblood and when I open the book, sure enough there’s a (freaky) picture of me, drinking ambrosia and a little story to go with it. There are other pictures too. Annabeth wiping my forehead with a cloth, playing pinochle with Mr. D. That seem’s like a long time ago now.
I was amazed. “Will it stay here, if I close the book?” Jake nods. “Yup. If you want it too. You can erase stuff in the book by thoughts but you’re mind will always have the memory- no matter how long ago it was. Oh and I won’t try to explain how it works to you exactly, but it like blue tooth’s or syncs your mind with the book.”
Jake takes the book back. “And the best part?” He taps the first page. I realize it’s a screen, not a page. A dock shows a bunch of apps. “Apps, games, music- it’s like a demigod iPod!” He grins like it’s totally cool. Which it is. I hand Jake a handful of golden drachmas. “Thanks.”
Jake stares at the drachmas. “Percy, this was a gift. You don’t have to pay.” I shake my head. “I would feel better if I did.” And I took off, with the book under my arm.
I find Annabeth talking to Drew from the Aphrodite cabin, in the lunch area. I know, I know. I shouldn’t listen, I should continue moving. But I begin to eavesdrop on them. Besides, what is Annabeth doing with Drew?
“I wonder what Percy got me for our 2 month anniversary?” She asks.
Drew laughs. “Something amazing, just like you deserve!” Annabeth looks up. “Are you sure? I mean…what if…it’s just a book?”
Drew frowns. “I thought you liked books.” (No kidding. So did I.)Annabeth puts her head in her hands. “I know, but I have so many of them. I love books to the bottom of my heart and all, but it doesn’t seem like something…really breath taking. You know, like Percy. He’s too good to just get a book.” She straightens up her back a little. “It’s not like the gift matters…what matter’s is that I have the perfect guy.”
I hope she never finds out that I heard her call me ‘The Perfect Guy’. I stifle the urge to laugh and run away, like I would have when I was 12.
Drew put’s her hands on her hips, her black hair tangling up in the wind. “Did you see him at a bookstore or something? And the gift totally matters!”
“No.” I can’t tell if that is ‘No” I didn’t see him at a bookstore or ‘No’ the gift doesn’t matter. Maybe both.
“Then stop worrying about it!” Drew smiles. “You will no longer worry about the gift.” Her words are forceful.
Annabeth looks calm for a moment and then she get’s a little angry. “Don’t charmspeak me!”
Drew apologizes and says she was just trying to help.
Then Annabeth looks at the floor again and whispers so quietly that I almost fall over trying to hear her, “I didn’t see him go shopping at all. Do you think he…forgot our anniversary?”
Drew gasps. “No way, Percy never forget’s important dates He’s too smart for that.”
I walk away before they see me. I sit down on a log outside my cabin. I put the book on my lap and stare at it. She doesn’t like books. But this book is special. I remind myself. It’s still a book. I decide to go with my gut and stick with the book. If she doesn’t like it, I’ll just say, “Ha! You should have seen the look on your face- to think you would like this? I pre-ordered something, but it’s not here yet. Sorry.” No, she would never buy that.
It was weird, Drew and Annabeth talking about me. I still haven’t grasped onto the whole dating thing yet. Annabeth looked so…fragile. She’s never been like that.
Annabeth: Calm, collected, strategist, wise, smart, cute, daughter of Athena, brave, pretty (where did that come from?), the only girl I like. (That was gross too.)
Did I see the word ‘fragile’ in there? No. Maybe, there were something’s I didn’t know about my own girlfriend. Okay, maybe we can just stick to saying Annabeth instead of girlfriend. What?
I also feel bad though, because I DID forget our anniversary. I can never let her know that though. I flip open the book and a video or something of Annabeth and Drew talking pops up. I touch the screen and two options show up. ‘Save as Favorite’ definitely not, and ‘Delete permanently.’ Which option do you think I chose?