Chapter Two: The Mall
Percy was wearing a plain blue T-shirt and jeans, paired with sneakers and a light jacket tossed over it all as he waited by the gates for the rest of the group. Annabeth hadn’t been in her cabin when he went to pick her up, choosing instead to hang out with Katie as they prepared. Travis appeared at the gates next. He was dressed as simply as Percy in a white T-shirt that had an advertisement for the band Blink-182. He was wearing dark jeans and sneakers, and hadn’t bothered with the jacket. It was summer, after all.
“Hey,” Travis said, smirking. “You seem to have recovered from us tossing you in the lake last summer.”
“Yeah, it took me a whole school year, I was so emotionally scarred,” he said jokingly. “Water is my worst enemy.”
Travis had to laugh at that. “Just like I would never dare steal something.”
“Exactly.”
He leaned up against a tree opposite Percy. “So, what do you think, man? Do I have a shot with Katie or am I totally wasting my time?”
Percy smiled. “I don’t think she would agree to go out with you if she wasn’t interested, Travis.”
“You never know with girls.”
And Annabeth and Katie chose that moment to come into view looking absolutely stunning.
Annabeth was wearing a simple white, strapless dress that went to her knees, but accompanied it with a denim jacket and Converse. Her hair was spilling across her shoulders and the only make-up she was wearing was lip-gloss and a little line of eyeliner. She hugged him.
“You look nice,” she told him, kissing his cheek.
He was still staring. “You look…incredible.”
She blushed. “Thanks.”
Katie was wearing jeans shorts and a loose red top that hung on all the right curves and had the perfect neck line. She was also wearing minimal makeup and sneakers, and was carrying a small black jacket.
“Hi,” Travis said, smiling.
“Hi, yourself.”
“You look great.”
Katie rolled her eyes. “Thanks.”
“I mean it.”
She kissed his cheek. “I know.”
He wrapped his arms around, holding her against him. “I don’t suppose I can have that real kiss now?”
“No, I don’t suppose so.”
They met each others’ gaze, staring each other down. He blinked and Katie smiled.
“I win,” she whispered.
Percy cleared his throat. The couple looked over at him, Katie blushing slightly.
“Ready to go?”
Travis released his hold on her, settling for hand holding, and nodded at Percy’s question. “Let’s do it.”
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“That was, without a doubt, the worst horror movie I’ve ever seen,” Travis muttered, still popping Skittles into his mouth. “The scariest part of that movie was the Calculus book on the desk.”
Katie rolled her eyes. “Then why did you jump when the face appeared in the mirror?”
“It was a trick. To ease you into a sense of security so you weren’t embarrassed that you were the only one freaked out in the whole theatre.”
“I don’t know, Travis,” Percy muttered. “You looked pretty freaked when that truck went sliding on the ice and the monster broke out of the girl’s skull.”
Annabeth wrapped her arm around Percy’s waist as they walked towards the escalator to get down to the food court. He looked down at her, smiling as he put his arm around her shoulders. Katie looked up at Travis and reached for the Skittles.
“Whoa, what do you think you’re doing?” he teased, snatching the bag away.
She smiled. “Getting a Skittle?”
“Now, now, Katie, don’t you know it’s more polite to ask first?”
Sighing, Katie stepped onto the escalator with a hand on her hip. “Travis, may I please have a Skittle?”
Travis reached into the bag, pulled out a single red Skittle and let it drop into her hand, grinning proudly. “There.”
Katie laughed, popping the candy into her mouth.
“Okay, so where now, ladies?” Percy asked.
“Food court,” Annabeth told him.
“I feel like dessert for lunch.”
“When don’t you?” Annabeth looked up at her boyfriend as they stepped off the escalator, wandering towards the middle of the court. “But I doubt they have blue cake, here.”
“I guess I’ll settle for pizza, then.”
“Ya know, something is worrying me,” Percy muttered. “We just defeated Kronos and not a single monster has come after us.”
“Knock on wood.”
“Well, if you’re lucky, Percy, maybe you’ll get a visit from a monster before your 17th birthday,” Katie put in, smiling.
“Knock on wood…again,” Annabeth said. “Not that you couldn’t handle it.”
“Good to know you have such faith in me, sweetheart.” Percy got in line in front of Sbarro’s and pulled Annabeth against him, kissing her forehead.
“You know what annoyed me most about that movie?” Katie asked.
“No hot guys?” Annabeth jokingly asked. “Seriously, I thought having a hot guy in a horror movie was like a rule.”
“Well that was an issue,” Katie giggled. “But still, it was ridiculous. That plot is so overused. The guy going through all the horror stuff is actually the insane one! Like how in Sixth Sense the kid was dead the whole time?”
“It’s how people make money.”
She shrugged.
Travis grabbed the last handful of Skittles and stuffed them in his mouth. He tossed the bag in the nearby trash can as they neared the front of the line. When Katie gave him a playful smirk at what he had just done, he stuck his tongue out at her.
She giggled. “Nice tongue, Travis.” He gave her a look. “It’s a rainbow. Hey, like the slogans!”
“Mmm, well, how would you like to taste the rainbow, too?”
She arched an eyebrow.
“What can I get for you?” the guy at the cash register asked and Travis was forced to look ahead again.
They walked to a table and the girls sat next to their dates, facing each other. Annabeth was the perfect friend and date, talking with both her boyfriend and Travis and Katie. Only Percy knew that her hand was on his mid thigh the whole time.
They were about to get up and throw away their trash before walking around and window shopping when a group of high school boys walked up. There were four. One was blonde haired and blue eyed, another had a buzz cut and an earring; the tallest of the group was dark skinned with dark eyes, and the last was Asian with shaggy black hair that had blue and red streaks in it.
“’Sup?” the blonde asked. “You two fine ladies out with your brothers?”
Travis’ jaw clenched. Katie had seen how Travis had sought out Katie’s ex after he dumped her and attacked him. Not only could he not stand someone hurting Katie, he got really, really jealous, very, very easily.
Percy glanced at Annabeth, who was closer to the boys. He knew she could handle them, but still, he didn’t want her shoving her knife into a guy’s throat.
Annabeth simply smiled.
“They’re our boyfriends,” Katie said.
“Yeah, so? Soccer has a goalie—doesn’t mean you can’t score.” He leaned closer, grinning. “I have experience, ya know. Much more than these idiots.”
Travis laughed dryly. “I’m sorry; I don’t think your two minutes in the back of the car with your mother counts.”
The boy scowled.
“Come on, man,” Percy told the kid. “Just back off.”
“Who’s gonna make me? You?”
Annabeth glanced at her boyfriend, smiling reassuringly at his expression. “Relax, Percy.”
“Ooh, Percy?” The guy looked at his friends and shrugged. “Kinda sissy name.”
Travis stood. “Listen, man, you should go, now, before you regret it.”
Katie grabbed his hand. “Wait, Travis. Don’t.”
Percy stood, too. “We don’t want trouble.”
The blonde arched an eyebrow at him and glanced at Annabeth. “Damn, girl. You really are cute, but, jeez, you’re wearing too many clothes.”
Annabeth scowled but before she could act on her anger, Percy lunged, punching the guy in the jaw. It probably hurt the guy even more than it normally would have because Percy was invulnerable and his fist wouldn’t hurt later.
The other three boys glared, the guy with the earring clenching his fists.
“Leave,” Travis said. “Before we make you.”
“One lucky punch doesn’t mean anything.”
“Yeah,” another guy said, glancing at Katie. “Hell, I bet these girls could hit better than you.”
Percy glanced at Annabeth and they shared a smile. “Yeah, I bet they could, too.”
Ten seconds later, two the guys were clutching the family jewels in pain, a guy was missing an earring, blood and a torn lobe where it used to be, and the last boy had a nasty bruise on his cheek bone from a well placed punch by Annabeth.
“Now that that’s settled,” Katie began, smiling down at the boy groaning, “we have a date to get back to. Nice to meet you.”
They walked towards the exit and Travis muttered to Katie, “At least Percy met monsters.” She smiled at him, silently thanking him for standing up for her. “Nice kick, by the way.”
Annabeth’s arm went around Percy and almost laughed when Percy asked her a question, but his face was so serious she fought the urge. “Percy is a perfectly fine name, Seaweed Brain.”