Why Won't You Leave Me?

Percy POV

Having Gabe out of the picture was like taking a huge breath of fresh air. I didn't have to worry about him as a threat anymore for a long time. However, I realized very quickly that I had a new problem for my messed up brain to handle. Annabeth.

To make things worse, I practically sobbed into her, which wasn't the manliest thing to do in front of your crush.

I tried avoiding her for the next few days, but that was easier said than done. After all, we had the musical together. I couldn't go swimming for a few days because of my bruises, but they healed pretty quickly. The daze I felt from Gabe's punch was a combination of the physical impact and the emotional shock of the whole Annabeth situation.

Ugh, I rolled over on my bed for the fifth time as I couldn't sleep. My mind was clouded by all thoughts of Wise Girl.

"Ahh, why won't you leave me?" I exclaimed loudly before burying my face in my pillow.

***

"Hey, Seaweed Brain. I was wondering if you wanted to read lines before officially rehearsing the scene later today."

I knew what she was doing. She was smart enough to realize that I had been avoiding her, and she was finding an excuse to have a conversation. As my eyes gazed over her, I couldn't help but admire her natural beauty. Annabeth didn't wear much make-up or embellish herself with fancy clothes. She stayed who she was when she wasn't acting, and she was beautiful that way.

I sighed, "Yeah, no problem. We could do it now." Might as well rip off the band-aid, right?

We ended up sitting slightly apart from our friends as we read through our lines. Annabeth was pretty much perfect while I was still struggling to memorize all my lines. In my defense, I had so many considering the whole musical was about PT Barnum (me).

"Percy," she said reaching out and gripping my hand. "Just take a deep breath and try again."

I felt goosebumps rise over my entire body as butterflies exploded in my gut. Yes, guys also get goosebumps and butterflies at a girl's touch. It was weird how calm and free she made me feel despite my infatuation with her.

Our conversation at least went back to normal as we spend lunchtime together rehearsing lines, fooling around, and laughing. But, I did have to remind myself several times that she had a boyfriend. We even talked about what happened over the weekend, the hearing, and how my family was doing. My mom actually liked Annabeth a lot, which didn't help my case.

Today's swimming practice went over time as I had gotten very into today's training. I stayed almost a half-hour over time because I totally forgot about rehearsal, which was why I was running to the auditorium and was met by a room full of annoyed crew members.

"Guys, I am so sorry about being late. I was caught up in training." I mean they could've just rehearsed the scenes without me rather than waiting. The truth was that while the musical had become important to me, it was still no match for my passion for swimming. As such, this wasn't even the first time that I was late to rehearsal; it was maybe the eighth time.

I knew it was irritating for them every time I was late, but I couldn't help it sometimes. We practiced multiple scenes today from all over the script.

"Hey Percy, I am just looking forward to when we'll be rehearsing our kiss scene," said Rachel coming up behind me. Her arms wrapped around my torso in front of everybody. All eyes were watching our exchange in the middle of the stage.

"You know what since both of you seem ready and charged. Why don't we practice the Never Enough (reprise) scene," Apollo exclaimed, which earned an immediate glare from me. I did not want to kiss Rachel. The scene where Jenny Lind surprise kisses Barnum is one of the scenes I was least looking forward to, especially because Rachel was playing Jenny Lind.

Everyone moved off stage as Rachel took her place center-stage and I moved to the side of the stage to watch her. The first time she sings, I'm supposed to act awestruck while during the reprise I was supposed to act a little helpless and maybe even guilty.

As my eyes scanned the crowd and Annabeth, I realized I was gonna kiss another girl in front of the girl I liked. Could my life get any better? (note the sarcasm)

As Rachel finished the sadder version of Never Enough I walked over to her. I took her hand in mine and initiated the royal bow. Afterward, I turned to her and silently whispered a thank you.

Rachel was a good actress as she played this scene's broken Jenny Lind part pretty well thus far. But, it was ruined by what happened next. Her lips smashed against mine. Too fast and too hard, and I backed up immediately. That wasn't how the scene's kiss was supposed to be. The scene was about goodbye and regret, not about hunger or lust.

Before, I could at least admit that I was attracted to Rachel, but now, I couldn't even say that. My gaze turned back to my friends and Annabeth, who was just staring at me. I couldn't really read her expression, but I doubted it was anything more than surprised at how the scene finished.

"All right, umm, how about we try the scene again?"

"What?! Why?!" I exclaimed. "I, I don't want to do that again." I could see some of my friends' sympathetic looks.

"Percy, that wasn't a good performance. We have to practice until we get it right and we're both satisfied--err, and the audience is satisfied," Rachel told me.

We ended up doing scene 8 times. That was eight miserable kisses with a girl I didn't like. By the third time around, I realized that Rachel was screwing up on purpose, which only ticked me off more.

I was glad when Apollo finally dismissed everyone after the final try turned out good and we didn't mess up.

"Seems you had a good time, bro," Jason said, chuckling.

"Don't even, Jason. I am not in the mood. Uh, did Wise Girl say anything?"

Jason understood who I was talking about. Our nicknames for each other were something that everyone teased us about. "Nope, Annabeth was cool. Why?"

I felt disappointment rise even though she had no reason to say or feel anything about watching me kiss another girl. "Err, no reason."

"Anyway, are you coming to the party this Friday?"

"Yeah, probably. I got nothing to do, and there's no swim meet this weekend either."

One of the cheerleaders in our grade was holding a juniors/seniors party. No one had hosted a "welcome back to school" party earlier this year, so this was basically in place of that. I liked parties. I got around to them when applicable, but I wasn't a party freak or anything.

One thing was certain though: stuff always goes down at high school parties.