8: Blood in the Water

Percy POV (in Annabeth's body)

Living as Annabeth was not fun. I had absolutely no clue what was going on in all of her advanced classes. Furthermore, many teachers seemed disappointed in my lack of participation.

I guess Annabeth usually speaks up in class.

I felt just a little bit dumb.

Eating lunch with Annabeth's friends was actually the highlight of my day. To be honest, they were very cool.

Even though I didn't talk much (in fear that I'd say something wrong), I liked listening to their friendly conversations. Leo, especially, was my kind of guy.

Anyway, I was grateful by the end of the day.

However, I still had to pick up Annabeth's half-brothers. Annabeth was very quick about answering that Helen wasn't her real mom. That immediately told me that they probably didn't get along.

Her stupid blackberry didn't have GPS on it.

So, I was simply walking along the road while following Annabeth's text directions towards the boys' elementary school.

I probably looked like a lost puppy in Annabeth's body. Gods, I really hoped that she was doing fine at swimming.

A gust of wind blew my blonde hair onto my face.

I groaned out loud as I pulled my hair back again. I didn't have a hairband or rubber band to tie Annabeth's beautiful blonde hair back.

Suddenly, I heard whistles and whoops.

I turned to watch a few guys in a convertible driving by. The red car slowed as they passed me as a few more cat-calls followed.

I couldn't help but glare at them.

While Annabeth was a pretty girl, it wasn't nice getting cat-called. The convertible stopped next to me, but I kept walking.

"Wow, look at you," a blonde teen guy commented slyly.

I sort of recognized him from school. I think that he was on the football team. Octavian??

Whatever his name was, he immediately gave me bad vibes. I kept walking, but he quickly followed in step with me. His hand reached forward and wrapped around my (ie Annabeth's) waist.

Gods, eww.

Not only was this wrong because a random guy was touching Annabeth (me) but it was also wrong because I was a straight male.

I immediately pushed him away and threw a punch.

However, the guy caught my arm. He was tall, so my punch went straight towards one of his arms. I had underestimated his height.

Or, I forgot that I was shorter at the moment.

"Woah, you're a feisty one," he commented. "No worries, I like 'em feisty."

"Get away from me, you bastard," I snapped. My right leg kicked his own legs, which effectively weakened his grip.

I immediately slapped him across the face before running.

It sucked that this was the society that we lived in. Women were supposed to be respected, and any guy that would treat them like possessions or sexual conquests was not worth it. Annabeth was beautiful, but that should never act as motivation for a guy's bad intentions.

My step-dad was a bad man like that.

"Oh, you bitch," the guy growled behind me.

However, I had already turned the corner, and I was so glad to see Franklin Elementary School across the street. I quickly crossed the road in spite of the parents driving their cars out of the school parking lot.

I just wanted to be in a relatively safe place.

After a few seconds of breathing, I decided to get Annabeth's brothers. The lady at the front desk of the school knew me, so she let me into the first-grade hallway.

As I got closer to room 128, I realized one problem. I had no clue how the boys looked.

So, they had to find me. Honestly, if random boys came up to me, I'd probably take them home at this point.

Hopefully, Bobby and Matthew would just come up to their sister. Little kids always excitedly greet their parents during pickup, right?

Right!

As soon as I walked into the room, I was tackled by two rowdy little boys. They were quite cute as they immediately started talking about their day.

"Hello Annabeth, it's good to see you again," the teacher greeted.

"Hello, Miss-" I paused because I didn't know her name. Then, I decided to just end the greeting there. That was probably fine.

"Boys, why don't you gather your things?" she instructed warmly.

Most of the students were gone already, and there were very few students left. Bobby and Matthew quickly zoomed towards their desks.

"So, how is school going?"

"Oh, it's the usual," I said calmly. I looked around the room until I saw her name on the chalkboard. "How was your day, Miss Hestia?" I asked hesitantly.

"It was a delight. The kids are so much fun as you probably know," Ms. Hestia expressed with a smile.

"They can be crazy at home," I said with a smile.

One thing that I liked about myself was my ability to talk and socialize. Those skills were definitely helping me in this strange experience.

Ms. Hestia laughed heartily. I decided that I liked her a lot. She was very similar to Mr. Bruner in the sense that she was a warm and kind teacher.

Finally, the boys were ready.

They each grabbed one of my hands and pulled me out of the class.

"Bye, Annabeth, have a good day," Ms. Hestia called. I replied with a quick "you as well."

The boys practically pulled me out of the school. Clearly, they wanted to go home. If I was in my own body, I certainly wouldn't have been dragged by two little kids.

However, Annabeth's body was agile enough to get pulled.

As we walked down the road, I kept my eyes open for any more signs of Octavian. I didn't want to deal with him again, especially with the children present.

"All right, boys, we're just going home. No need to be so excited," I said as I slowed down the pace.

Bobby and Matthew both stopped in their tracks. Their brown eyes looked sad as they gazed up at me.

"Annabeth, you promised that we'd go to the park," one of them expressed sadly. "Yeah, we know you have homework, but still," the other boy commented.

I simply stared at the boys. We were standing on the sidewalk in a community that was fairly close to Annabeth's. This certainly wasn't a part of the bargain. However, I didn't see any wrong with taking them to the park.

Besides, I definitely couldn't do Annabeth's homework.

Suddenly, I smiled at the boys, which made them smile back. Honestly, I really liked Annabeth's brothers.

As we walked to their neighborhood park, I realized that having siblings wasn't bad at all.

***

An internet search on Janus and body-swapping was useless. I sighed as I closed Annabeth's laptop.

"Annabeth, ANNABETH," a shout pierced through the house.

I jolted out of my seat. What was going on?

My body (ie Annabeth's) immediately scampered towards the door. The angry shouting increased as I ran downstairs.

Did someone get hurt or something?

That was my innocent thought. If only I knew what was in store, I wouldn't have even gone downstairs.

Annabeth's stepmom, Helen, was waiting for me in the kitchen.

The stout woman had a very serious expression on her face. She looked angry and crazy at the same time. I've never seen my own mom, Sally, like that ever.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"WHAT'S WRONG? YOU BEING USELESS IS WHAT'S WRONG," she shrieked. Helen quickly came closer to me.

I resisted the urge to back away.

I wasn't not used to getting yelled at. In fact, Coach yells all the time. I usually sweep his yelling under the rug. I always assumed that he was doing it for my own good. Also, I didn't want to let anyone down.

"YOU DID NONE OF YOUR CHORES TODAY," Helen spat in my face. Her breath reeked of alcohol, which I wasn't expecting.

"My chores?"

"YES, you're chores," she yelled.

Helen walked through the kitchen until she came upon a notebook on the counter.

Helen only came home a minute ago. I was taking care of the boys by making them dinner and making sure they did their work. It wasn't that hard.

However, it was awful to think that Annabeth possibly had to do this every day. Plus, she had all of her advanced classes.

Helen tossed the notebook at me.

I barely caught the notebook because of how hard it hit my arm. My eyes widened as I stared at all the bullets on the page. This was TOO MUCH.

"Helen, I- I was busy," I stuttered. I didn't know what to say.

"Mom, what's going on?" Matthew said as he came into the room. He was rubbing his eyes, and Bobby was also there. They obviously woke up from the yelling.

"Go back to your room, boys," Helen said firmly.

I was also scared for them, so I wanted them to leave. "Boys, you heard your mom. Go back to your rooms. It's fine," I said softly.

Suddenly, I felt a hand wrap around my arm.

I immediately turned towards Helen who was tightly clutched Annabeth's arm. Once the boys left, Helen's grip tightened even more as she got closer.

"Annabeth, you're seriously turning my sons against me," she spat.

"What? No. I'd never do that. I was just-"

Suddenly, the words melted out of my mouth as I felt the pain. Helen's face scrunched in determination as her nails dug into my arm.

This situation was all too familiar to me.

"Helen," I started, but it didn't help.

I felt some warm liquid ooze down my arm towards my hands.

"You are under my control, Annabeth. Your father's never here. I wouldn't try anything if I were you. Otherwise, things will only get worse as you know."

With that, Helen stepped back. She purposefully knocked over a pitcher of water and the fruit bowl before leaving.

"Clean that up," she snapped as she stomped towards her room.

I simply stood in the kitchen in shock. I stared at the trail of blood slowly trickling down Annabeth's skin. There were four deep gashes in her arm.

I felt the pain though.

I felt the pain as so many memories washed over me. So many memories that I tried to ignore and forget came rushing back. Gabe.

Annabeth and I really weren't that different, I realized.

I silently grabbed some paper towels and wrapped them around my arm. The blood soaked through the paper quickly. Red and white merged into more red.

But, I had no better option.

With regret, I bent down to clean the water and fruits off the ground.