Percy Jackson {Περσεύς} Does Not Gawk (sonof_) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-07-05 23:14:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, annabeth chase, percy jackson |
Who: Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase
What: Annabeth accidently foils Percy's surprise
When: Friday, Juy 5th. Afternoon
Where: The USC Campus
Rating: Family friendly
Status: Complete
Percy had finished unpacking, which seemed kind of tedious since he was just going to have to pack everything back up in a few weeks to move into his permanent dorm for the school year, but it was either apply for summer housing or hang around the apartment for two weeks by himself then hang around the apartment with newlyweds for another few weeks before moving across country. He’d opted for the summer housing, because it meant that he could familiarize himself with the campus and the area in general, so he wouldn’t be one of those freshmen who were completely lost the first week of classes. Every now and then Percy had good ideas.
After unpacking, Percy realized that he was starving and not wanting to just go over to the cafeteria, he decided to wander till he found someplace else to eat. He might not have wanted to be one of those lost freshmen during the first week of classes, but he had no problem with being one of those lost, wandering freshmen now. Locking up his room, he pocketed the key and headed off campus, taking everything in as he walked.
Annabeth had been greatly enjoying her time with her grandparents and spending time in the LA area. It was a lot like San Francisco but different in other ways as well. It was nice being away from your family, but know that they were just a car drive away if you ever felt homesick. She really couldn’t complain because she had felt like their home had gotten slightly crowded and Annabeth had been looking forward to going to college for quite a while and now the time had finally come. She decided to come down early to spend time with her grandparents to give her time to prepare.
Today was one of those preparation days and she decided to go out to USC to walk around the campus and get a good grasp on where the buildings were and how long it took to walk from each of them. She also wandered into a few of the buildings to have a look around before she decided to go find some food. As she walked down one of the sidewalks she thought she spotted a familiar person coming out of a building in front of her.
Percy had yet to tell Annabeth that he was going to USC and he certainly hadn’t told her that he was coming down early. He had told her about Sally’s wedding, but he’d implied that he was going to be in New York for the rest of the summer before going to college. He also didn’t know that she was going to be down in the area early so he hadn’t thought to keep an eye out for her. As he’d left his dorm, Percy put the earbuds of his ipod in and started scrolling through for a song.
It took her a few minutes of walking behind him to figure out if she should approach him or not. She was arguing internally about if it would actually be him or not and what she would say if she went up to him and it wasn’t actually him. Maybe she would make friends with a random stranger if it wasn’t him, but if it was him then she would be extremely happy about running into him. So, finally decided to just bite the bullet and jogged a little to catch up to him. She stayed behind him for a moment and studied the back of him and was even more certain that it was him. So, she finally moved to go beside him and glanced over to check. When it registered that it was him she reached out to push his shoulder gently to get his attention since he had his headphones in.
Percy hadn’t expected the push to his shoulder and stopped abruptly, turning towards the person who had poked him and once he realized that it wasn’t someone who was trying to rob him or anything like that, a smile spread across his lips, “Annabeth!” He turned off the ipod and pulled the buds from his ears, “Surprise?” This wasn’t the way he’d wanted to let Annabeth know that he was going to be going to school at USC, but it was a nice surprise for him to run into her like this.
“Percy Jackson, what in the world are you doing here?!” She yelled out in surprise. She couldn’t actually believe that he was right in front of her and didn’t say anything to her! It was a good surprise, but she was kind of mad she had to discover him on the sidewalk of USC. She stood there for a moment with her hands on her hips and she waited for his answer.
“I’m going here. Or, I will be when classes start.” Percy said, stuffing his ipod into his pocket, “I wanted to surprise you. I didn’t realize you were going to be down here early.” They’d talked very recently on-line and she hadn’t mentioned anything about her also getting summer housing, “I was gonna wait to tell you, but now you’ve gone and ruined the surprise.” It had been quite a while since they’d actually seen each other and while he’d seen recent pictures of Annabeth on Facebook, there was something completely different about seeing pictures and seeing someone in person. She definitely wasn’t fourteen anymore.
“Surprise me? Going here? Wait,” she held a hand up as she tried to gather her thoughts. Her face showed her confusion over what he was telling her, “You’re going to USC? You’re actually going to the same college as me? Why didn’t you say anything about it before now? And I told you that I was spending time with my grandparents and they live down here. I was just walking the campus early. So, you wouldn’t have told me that you were here until school started and then you’d be hoping we would run into each other?” As she spoke her hands moved to her hips as she stared him down. She was more than happy to see him, but she was kind of upset over the surprise and not being told any earlier.
Now that she said it, Percy recalled her mentioning that she would be staying with her grandparents; with everything that had gone on with his mother’s wedding recently and his applying for summer housing and packing, he’d forgotten, “Well, yeah...” Okay, so maybe Percy hadn’t thought this surprise out all the way. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, “I thought it’d be a nice surprise. I guess either way it would have been a surprise, huh?” He ran a hand through his hair, cheeks flushing slightly. Now that he thought about it, what he should have done was go to her grandparents’ house to surprise her.
“Worst surprise ever,” She reached out and pushed his shoulder playfully as she tried to keep the glare on her face. She couldn’t believe that he had tried to keep this as a surprise and hadn’t said anything to her, “So, why in the world did you pick USC? What are you going to study? You haven’t told me anything.” It was after a moment that they began to walk again, unsure of their destination, and she honestly didn’t even mind that at all.
“Hey, I tried.” Percy said as they started walking down the street again. “I’m gonna be taking Graphic design and business.” The graphic design was probably going to be a lot easier to follow than the business courses, because Percy suffered from ADHD and dyslexia. Sometimes he wondered how he’d even graduated high school let alone get into college, but he was going to do his best, “I liked the west coast when I was out here for camp, so I looked at some schools out here and when you said you were applying here, I checked it out too.”
“You’re such a creepy stalker,” she teased him playfully as she tucked some hair behind her ear. It seemed strange that he decided to come out here as well. It was almost like something in a teen romance novel where the couple promised to go to college together, but she and Percy were definitely not dating. But it was nice that she would have a familiar face around and be able to hang out with if she was having a rough time, “But that sounds like fun to study. I’m going to mostly be doing architecture classes. Not sure if I want to minor in anything, but maybe I’ll have to find some fun classes to take so I don’t overwhelm myself.”
“I am so not a creepy stalker. In order for me to be a stalker, I would have to be following you around with like binoculars or something.” He made a face at her. It did sound like one of those cheesy romantic movies and if he was completely honest, that was partially where he’d gotten the idea. Of course he’d never hinted at the fact that he had a bit of a crush on her, because that had the potential to ruin their friendship and telling her over the phone or something just wasn’t the way he planned on do it. If he ever did. At least this way, they could spend time together and Percy could maybe attempt to get her to like him without being too obvious. Of course, Percy being Percy, his plans didn’t always work out the way he’d planned. Case in point, his trying to surprise her with his college plans.
“Yeah, I know what you’re studying. All you ever talk about is architecture.” He teased, smirking, “Why don’t you see if photography is still open. I’m taking that.” Why he had chosen to take a class where he’d actually needed to have patience, something his ADHD didn’t exactly help with, was beyond him. He just liked taking pictures and his mother had,had an old camera that he’d taken over a few summers back.
“Who says you aren’t following me with binoculars and being creepy? And photography is a great idea, actually. It would help out with my studies, probably. I’ll check into that when I get home. And hush, don’t be mean about me and what I love to study,” she playfully stuck her tongue out at him and ran a hand through her hair to push it out of her face. If he didn’t want to admit that he had a crush on her then she was in the same boat as him. There was something between them, but they had met when they were so young and that wasn’t really in the forefront of their minds back then. Being penpals had been good for the two of them and Annabeth was secretly pleased that they would be spending time together in the same place, “Where are we going, by the way?”
“It’d be good for me to have someone else around who can keep me focused when it comes to the whole developing the film part.” Some might say that it was just a little creepy that Percy was suggesting photography, which would eventually put him and Annabeth in a pitch black room, but he wasn’t thinking about that part of it at the moment. Later on he’d probably get embarrassed when he realized it, but for now he was just enjoying spending time with his friend and trying to help her to figure out what to take to round out her schedule. “I was looking for someplace to eat. Unpacking works up an appetite. Of course pretty much everything made Percy hungry.
“Oh? So you just want me to join you so I can keep an eye on you? Are you using me for good grades, Percy Jackson?” her tone was light and teasing and a playful smile was on her lips. The idea that she only joined the class to help him focus on getting things accomplished was amusing. She knew he didn’t actually mean it, but she was going to playfully poke fun at him while she could, “And that sounds good. What are you in the mood for?”
“Maybe.” Percy smirked at her. It was no secret that Percy had always struggled with his grades; it was one of the things they’d talk about often over the last few years. That and Percy’s mother’s relationship and a host of other things. “At least I know I’ll pass with you around to make sure I stay focused,” As they walked, he glanced around at the various stores they passed, “I don’t know. Maybe a burger. Do you know this area at all?” Percy knew New York City like the back of his hand, so if Annabeth or anyone else came out to New York, he would be able to suggest places easily. However, he knew that this part of California wasn’t where Annabeth was actually from, so there was the possibility that she would be just as lost as he was.
“I know your evil ways, Percy,” she tried to give a maniacal chuckle after her comment, but it sounded completely silly, “And maybe you’ll pass. I make no promises, but I can sure hope you will. And I don’t know this area completely. I think there’s a burger place somewhere around here. This place is so big that I’m still trying to get used to wandering around here. We could always stop a random person or I can look it up on my phone.” Thank god for smartphones and gps because they usually got her out of a jam like this.
Percy shook his head at Annabeth’s attempt at a maniacal laugh, “I’m gonna have to teach you the art of maniacal laughter,” He reached over and gave her a playful shove then shook his head again, “Isn’t it more fun to just wander though?” He said that now, but chances were he was going to google things close by later on.
“I doubt you could manage to do a good maniacal laugh,” she countered with a playful laugh before reaching over and attempting to playfully shove him back. It was quite amusing that they were wandering around with really no destination in mind, “We are wandering and it is fun, but I would like to eat at some point, silly.”
“I can so go an evil laugh.” As if to prove his point, Percy held his arms out to the side, palms facing up and after taking a deep breath, attempted his own evil laughter, which was a little better than Annabeth’s attempt, but he wasn’t able to get it as deep as he would have liked. “Now what were you saying?” He smirked at Annabeth as they continued walking, “Fine. Google it then. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for you starving to death.”
“You are so strange. I can’t believe you did a little pose and everything. I am never going to let you live that one down,” she almost wished that she had snapped a picture of him on her cell phone while he was doing that because it would be great blackmail later. And when he allowed her to look up places to eat she pulled out her phone and started googling places to eat, “Alright, there’s a burger places just a bit over on the right if we wanna go there.”
“You’re just jealous that mine was better.” He stuck his tongue out at her then ran a hand through his hair as he waited for her to look up someplace to eat, “Sounds fine to me. I’m not too picky when it comes to burgers.” Or most foods really, but Percy wasn’t going to add that part even if Annabeth already knew it, “Lead the way.”
“Perfect. Follow me, oh evil one,” as she spoke she turned her head towards him and flashed him a happy smile. She let the gps read out their walking directions as they made their way to the burger joint. She hadn’t been expecting to run into him at school, but she had to admit it was a pretty good surprise and she was excited to see what would happen this summer and upcoming school year.