Chapter Text
Annabeth’s P.O.V.
Annabeth wanted to throw her phone on the floor when her alarm started blaring at 7 am. She had finally gone to sleep at 3 am and functioning on 4 hours of sleep was not something she was looking forward to. She got up and quickly got ready for the day. She just had two classes that day but both of them were ridiculously early since the first one was at 7:45 and the second one was at 10. She internally groaned when she realized that she did not have enough time to get some coffee but decided that she would do so later.
She attended her first class and did her best to pay attention to the math that was written on the board even though her head was pounding. After class, she took out her phone and saw that she had a text from Piper.
I hate mornings. Must kill mornings! -Piper
I agree! Why do these people think that a two-hour algebra class is a good idea at freaking 7:45 in the morning? -Annabeth
They are idiots. I had digital marketing at 8 :( -Piper
True, they really are idiots. I need to go to my next class so I’ll text later. -Annabeth
Byeee -Piper
After Annabeth’s second and last class, she knew that she desperately needed coffee if she hoped to survive that day. She was about to go to the on-campus Starbucks when she heard someone call her. She turned around and saw that it was her friend Malcolm who was in quite a few of her classes since he had the same major as her.
“Hey Annabeth!”, said Malcolm
“Hey, I didn’t see you in algebra”
“I was sitting in the back and just hoping that the professor couldn’t notice that I was half asleep.”
Annabeth chuckled and said, “I can totally relate. I am going to get coffee now so that I can actually get some work done today. Do you want to tag along?”
“Sure. Can we go to the new coffee shop? My roommate said that it’s great but I just haven’t tried it yet.”
Annabeth thought about this carefully. She had somehow managed to finally stop thinking about Percy and she knew that if she saw him again, she probably would start thinking about him again but she didn’t know how to explain this to Malcolm, so she agreed and hoped that the boy would not be there.
They entered the shop and Annabeth instantly looked for Percy. She hated the disappointment she felt when she didn’t see him. Get over this Annabeth, she thought to herself and sat down on the chair in front of Malcolm.
Once Annabeth and Malcolm were caffeinated, they talked for a bit and their conversation mainly consisted of complaining about finals and swapping tips with each other on solving certain questions. After a while, Malcolm reluctantly got up to go to his next class and Annabeth decided to stay there and study a little. The ambience of the shop was very cosy and comfortable which made it very favourable to study in.
She switched on her laptop and took out her notebook from her bag. She had an iPad but preferred using a notebook for notes since it helped her to memorize more and she just liked writing.
After studying for about 1 hour, she ordered two more cups of coffee for her and Piper. As she was leaving the place, she barged into someone and spilt both cups of coffee on the ground.
“I am so sorry. I was in a hurry and I wasn’t paying attention.”, she heard the person she ran into say.
She looked up and saw that the person was the one who had been in her thoughts a lot recently. Her heart skipped a beat as she stared into those amazing sea-green eyes. She managed to pull herself together and replied, “Uh it’s ok, don’t worry about it.”
“No, it’s not. Please let me buy you coffee to replace the cups you spilt. It’s the least that I could do.”, said Percy
“It’s really ok. You don’t need to do that.”
“I do. Can you please wait for 5 minutes? I’ll be back with the coffee.”
Annabeth nodded and internally marvelled at how considerate he was. She had been in this position many times before because she was extremely clumsy and often in a world of her own but the reactions of people, including her own were never so considerate.
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Percy’s P.O.V.
Percy felt like the clumsiest person ever as he stood in line to buy the coffee. He had been in a hurry as he was running late for his shift since he had overslept. This is not how he wanted to meet the girl he had been thinking about almost constantly. He suddenly felt nervous at the prospect of talking to her again.
He picked up the coffee and nervously went up the girl.
“Here you go. I am Percy by the way.”
“Thanks! I am Annabeth”
Percy’s mind was in overdrive. He really wanted to talk to Annabeth but he didn’t know how to start the conversation in a way that didn’t seem creepy or desperate. His nervousness made him feel like a pre-teen again who had absolutely no experience of talking to girls which was far from true.
“I just wanted to apologize again. I should have been paying more attention.”
“Seriously, don’t worry about it. I am very clumsy so I do it all the time.”
Percy smiled at her and nearly fainted when she smiled back. She had the most radiant and beautiful smile he had ever seen. He wanted to talk to her more but even after racking his brain, he couldn’t think of anything else to say. Thankfully, Annabeth saw his condition and saved him from the trouble.
“Are you a student in Columbia too?”, she asked
“Yeah. I am a marine biology major in grad school. What about you?’
“Marine biology sounds really interesting; I have always been fascinated by sea life. I am an architecture major.”
“You must be pretty smart then”
Annabeth chuckled and said, “I don’t know about that. Grad school is doing a pretty good job at making me feel stupid.”
“I can relate. The workload is pretty insane.”
Annabeth was about to say something when Percy’s boss called him for his shift. Percy wanted to kill him at that point. He finally had the chance to have a conversation with this amazing girl and here he was, pulling him away from her. He wanted to know more about her.
“Looks like you need to go. Thanks again for the coffee.”
“No problem. It was nice meeting you”
“It was nice meeting you too.”, Annabeth said with her radiant smile.
Percy debated asking for her number but finally came to the conclusion that it was too soon to do so. He just hoped that they would meet again. The odds were probably in his favour since there was a good chance that they would meet in the coffee shop.
Percy dreamily went to the counter and put on his apron to start his shift. For the first time ever, he was actually thankful that he had been running late.
“Why do you have such a dopey smile on your face?”, his boss joked
“No reason”
“I am not blind; I know the reason. That girl seems pretty nice.”
“Yeah, she does.”, said Percy with yet another dopey smile.