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It was about 5 minutes to the start of the game and Annabeth could not get over how good her seats were. They were right along the third baseline, 23 rows up. She had an amazing view of the field and could not stop thanking Piper for bringing her along. Piper had won the tickets from a radio contest, and, seeing as tonight’s game was the New York Mets against the San Francisco Giants, she had invited Annabeth to come along with her.
It felt kind of weird to Annabeth as she looked around and realized she was one of about 5 people in the entire stadium wearing Giants gear. I mean, I guess that’s to be expected when you’re cheering on the away team that’s from the other side of the country. Regardless, Annabeth felt so much happiness from getting to see her Giants again. She wasn’t a hard core baseball fan per se, but just seeing the orange and black uniforms made her think of home.
She was leaned forward in her seat, straining to see if she recognized any of the players from the home games she’d been to in California when she noticed Piper, seated on her right, stand up. Turning that way, she saw that there were two young men filing down their row. The first had light blonde hair and electric blue eyes. He thanked Piper for letting them by with a small smile, while a blush dusted his cheek. He nodded towards Annabeth, but by the time he had made it to her, Annabeth’s attention was focused on something else- specifically someone else.
The second man was probably the most attractive person Annabeth had seen in her life. He was tall and lean, with messy black hair escaping from underneath a Mets baseball cap. What probably startled her the most though, were his eyes,. They were the most interesting mix of blue and green that she had ever come across. It was almost as if they were shifting colors constantly and it reminded her of the ocean. Only after he smirked at her did she realize that she had been staring at him. She glanced down until he was right in front of her.
He seemed to finally notice that she was wearing Giants gear and as he shuffled past her, he pointed at his Mets jersey, squinted his eyes and declared, “Game on.”
“Game on indeed,” Annabeth replied with a straight face. How she did that, she had absolutely no idea. She had never met a man who gave her this many butterflies in her stomach before, and it was honestly a miracle she hadn’t turned a permanent shade of red yet.
Suddenly she felt someone elbow her on her right side as she was sitting down and whipped her head to see Piper staring at her, eyebrows raised.
“They’re cute,” she mouthed.
Annabeth just shrugged. Even if they were, perhaps, a bit on the attractive side, it wouldn’t matter because she’d probably never seen them again. Or so she thought.
“So, may I ask, without meaning to offend here, why exactly you’re cheering on San Francisco in New York?”
She was startled to realize this question came from the same raven-haired young man who just passed her in the row. She was even more startled to realize that he was in the seat right next to hers.
He looked at her expectantly and she realized that, yet again, she had been staring. She wasn’t usually this awkward-she couldn’t figure out what had come over her.
“I, uh, actually grew up in San Francisco. So the Giants kind of hold a special place in my heart. It felt like I would be betraying my home if I didn’t wear Giants gear,” she responded with a shrug of her shoulders.
“Hey, fair enough,” he replied, “I’ve lived in New York my whole life, been a Mets fan for as long as I can remember, so seeing anyone wearing non-Mets apparel breaks my heart slightly.”
Annabeth turned and smiled as she said “Oh no. How ever will you live through the night?”
“Great question. Also, I know that you are probably feeling pretty cocky since the Giants won last night but let me tell you something about us New Yorkers: we are the comeback kids. We got these next two games in the bag. So don’t get your hopes up too high.”
Annabeth just nodded in reply. She was trying to decide how weird it was that she was engaged in such a comfortable conversation with a complete stranger. She turned back towards Piper, feeling a bit bad for forgetting about her these last few minutes.
“Oh hello again Annabeth,” Piper stated with a knowing smile.
Annabeth ducked her head sheepishly, “Hi.”
Piper reached out and placed a hand on Annabeth’s shoulder and leaned in close to whisper, “Seriously, ignore me all night if it means you have the chance to talk to a hunk like that. I will not be offended in the slightest.”
She pulled back with a wink, and, yep, Annabeth was blushing from her head to her toes. Returning her vision back to the field she realized that it was already time for the national anthem. She rose out of her seat, and could not help but glance off to the right as the mysterious man next to her removed his hat. Somehow, his hair was even more unruly than she expected, and she found herself fighting back a smile through the national anthem.
When the Giants line-up was announced, the stadium was relatively quiet, filled with side conversations. The young man next to her, however, made a point to lean over and let out hushed boos as each Giants player was announced. Annabeth just glanced at him with a raised eyebrow, but didn’t say much else. She was supporting the away team after all, she expected to get some crap for that.
She remained silent until the game started. The first Giants batter struck out, unfortunately and she saw the man next to her lean close. She let out a sigh, preparing herself for the trash talk, but he surprised her when he stuck out his hand towards her instead.
“My name’s Percy by the way, didn’t get the chance to introduce myself yet,” He said, with his head tilted slightly to the side and a small smile planted on his face.
Reluctantly, Annabeth brought her hand to his, “You know this is pretty much considered fraternizing with the enemy, right?”
Percy just shrugged his shoulders, so she continued, “My name’s Annabeth.”
He nodded contemplatively before he asked, “So Annabeth, what is your favorite flavor of ice cream?”
She burst out laughing before she could help herself. Who asks that kind of question to complete strangers?
When she finally quelled her giggling she responded, “Vanilla, I guess.”
“Hmph, that’s lame.”
She did her best to look indignant as she turned to him, “Excuse me? What is your favorite flavor that makes vanilla so ‘lame’?”
“Well mainly, vanilla is lame because it’s not blue. Anything that’s not blue is automatically lame.” He responded with such sincerity that it made Annabeth question why she didn’t feel the same.
“You are a strange individual,” Annabeth replied, before turning to chat with Piper.
The next few innings continued in a similar fashion. Annabeth was mainly talking to Piper, but occasionally Percy would grab her attention and ask her some sort of random question. She pretended to be annoyed by it, but really she was thrilled to have any excuse to talk to him.
They found out that they were both juniors at NYU- she was studying architecture and he was studying marine biology. They found out that they both had a passion for Greek mythology. They found out that they both had gone to the same summer camp in New York, but never met there. They found out that they really enjoyed each other’s company.
Right after the 7th inning stretch (during which Annabeth and Percy both vehemently belted out “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” to each other,) Percy stood up abruptly and said he was heading towards the concessions before shuffling out of the row.
Once he was well up the main staircase, Piper stood up and moved to my other side, stealing Percy’s spot.
Both Annabeth and the guy Percy was with (Jason was his name, she thought) gave her an incredulous look.
“If Annabeth and black haired beauty are going to flirt the whole night, I figure that the least we can do is keep each other company,” she directed towards the blonde haired guy.
Annabeth felt so embarrassed that she completely tuned out their conversation and tried to focus on getting the damn blush that was plaguing her tonight to stop. Around the time that she finally got it under control, Percy reappeared. He dropped down in Piper’s former seat without so much as question and held out an ice cream towards Annabeth.
Annabeth thought for a minute that he wanted her to hold it while he got settled in the seat, but as she reached out to grab it, she realized that there were two ice creams in his hand.
“For you m’lady,” he bowed his head as she finally took the ice cream from him.
Annabeth, intelligent as ever, responded with, “What?”
“Well, you said your favorite flavor of ice cream was vanilla earlier, right?”
Honestly, Annabeth was pretty sure her heart had swelled to dangerous capacity. Her whole body tingled with happiness and she couldn’t thank her lucky stars enough for seating this wonderful human being next to her tonight.
“Wow, thanks. You really didn’t have to do that. That was very kind of you, Percy,” I responded shyly.
Suddenly, Annabeth snapped back to the real world when she heard Jason start complaining to Percy.
“Hey man, why didn’t you get me any?”
Percy gave a casual shrug of the shoulders, “She told me what her favorite flavor was so I knew what to get. If I knew you’re favorite flavor maybe I would’ve gotten some for you instead.”
Then he leaned in towards Annabeth and whispered, “I still would have gotten it for you no matter what.”
She had to work very hard to control the shiver that threatened to rack her body when he was leaned in so close.
“Well my favorite flavor is chocolate for future reference,” Jason lightly shouted before returning to a conversation with Piper. Annabeth noticed now that ever since Piper had moved seats, they had been in deep conversation. Both were leaned in towards each other without realizing it, and it made Annabeth smile. She could already picture Piper and Jason together, and she hoped something came out of it.
She also hoped something came out of her and Percy talking so much tonight. She had only known him for a few hours, but it already felt like she had been best friends with him her whole life.
The announcer’s voice rang over the stadium as he declared that it was officially the start of the last inning. Annabeth could not believe that the game was almost over. She realized that because she had been so engaged with conversation with Percy, she had barely even been paying attention to the game.
Looking up at the scoreboard, she saw that the Giants were down by 4 runs. And it was the last inning. She shook her head and returned her attention to the field as the first batter hit a pop fly and got out right away.
“Not so confident anymore, are we Ms. San Francisco?”
She turned to look at Percy, who was wearing a confident smirk. She honestly had to resist the urge to kiss him. The thought was alarming to Annabeth because she never developed feelings for someone this fast.
“Well Mr. New York, there is plenty of time left in this game,” she finally replied once she had cleared her mind.
Just as she said that, the second batter up struck out. With only one out left in the game, the entirety of the stadium rose to its feet to cheer the Mets on to victory. Annabeth was forced to stand in order to see that action on the field.
The batter hit the ball and it was a solid drive out to left field. The left fielder was running hard to get it, and she could tell it was going to be a close play. Involuntarily, she gripped Percy’s arm as the ball hung in the air. The fielder caught the ball and Annabeth groaned as she turned back to Percy.
Instead of looking at the field, Percy was looking down at where her delicate hand was placed on his arm. Honestly, Annabeth hadn’t even noticed. She quickly jerked her hand away, nervous that she had invaded his personal space or something.
She mumbled out a sorry and bent to gather her belongings from where they were placed on the floor.
Piper and Jason turned towards, both with rosy cheeks and full smiles.
Piper spoke first “Hey Annabeth, Jason and I were thinking of grabbing some coffee right now, do you and Percy want to join us?”
Annabeth could see the gleam in Piper’s eye. She knew that this was an attempt at a double date of sorts. Annabeth might have considered it, but she wasn’t so sure that Percy was even interested. He was probably just one of those super nice people that makes friends with everyone.
“I’m sorry Piper, I have to go catch the F train back to NYU. I work in about an hour so I have to get home.” Annabeth responded as she spared a glance towards Percy. His eyes were cast down and really hard to read. Annabeth could usually read people pretty well, but Percy seemed to be a mystery to her. And boy, did she want to figure him out.
“If it’s not going to be too awkward, I’d love to tag along. I was a little too busy talking to Ms. Chase here to get to know you properly Piper,” Percy responded. Annabeth was surprised when he gave her a small nudge with his elbow when he spoke her name.
“Of course you’re welcome, Percy. We’ll just have to do it again sometime when Annabeth doesn’t have to be all responsible and go to work” Piper responded with a smile.
They all began to trudge up to the main concourse so they could exit the stadium. Once outside, Piper and Jason realized the coffee shop they wanted to go to was the opposite direction of the way Annabeth needed to go. Annabeth gave them all a small wave before turning to head towards the subway station
“Are you sure you’ll be fine getting back?” Annabeth heard after she had taken a few steps. She had expected Piper to say something, but was shocked to realize that it was Percy who had jogged to catch up to her.
“Yes, seaweed brain, I’ll be fine.” She said with a roll of her eyes. She was desperately trying not to show how touched she was that he was checking on her.
“Seaweed brain?” He questioned
“Yes. You study marine biology and I’m not entirely sure that your head is not filled with kelp. Seaweed brain.”
Percy just nodded silently, a confused look across his face. The silence continued for a few moments before Annabeth spoke again.
“Listen, about earlier. I’m sorry if I weirded you out. I just acted involuntarily. You seem really nice and I would love if we could get to know each other more.”
Percy now looked really confused, “What are you talking about??”
“Well earlier, you seemed to be acting, a bit, um, strange after I accidentally put my hand on your shoulder,” Annabeth stuttered.
Percy locked eyes with Annabeth and reached a hand out to place it on her shoulder.
“Annabeth,” he began, “I was not weirded out or uncomfortable. More like my brain froze up because a beautiful girl had her hand on my arm and I didn’t know how to react.”
Visibly relaxing, Annabeth mumbled, “Okay good. I was worried I’d lose you before I even knew you.”
Percy beamed at that before tucking his hands into his pockets and responding, “So about that getting to know each other better thing? Jason over here can’t make it to the game, and since tomorrow is going to be the tiebreaker, how would you feel about another cross-country showdown?”
“It would be my honor,” Annabeth replied with an overdramatic bow.
Percy let out the kind of laugh that made her heart soar and made her want to do anything and everything in her power just to hear it again.
“Well, alright then. Meet me at Gate 4 tomorrow at 6:30. Game on.” He kissed her hand, then jogged off to catch back up to Jason and Piper. Annabeth was left there staring at his retreating back, smiling like an idiot.
“Game on indeed,” she whispered to herself.