9: Isn't She Lovely

Annabeth POV (in Percy's body)

Even though Percy's mom tried, I didn't even greet her as I ran to Percy's room. My eyes were burning from the pent-up emotions.

Gods, if Percy had to go through this on a weekly basis, then I was so wrong about him.

It wasn't fun getting yelled at.

I had experience with verbal abuse fairly often. However, it was never in front of a crowd of people. It was never open or humiliating or pitiful.

Yet, I felt the trauma today in Percy's body.

I paused in front of Percy's dresser mirror and simply stared into it. Percy was a very impressive teenager in terms of looks. You'd never imagine the stress and pressure behind his gorgeous appearance.

I saw a few tears stream down his tan skin. I didn't even know why I was so emotional. It was weird to see Percy cry.

Technically, I was the one crying.

"Percy, honey, is everything all right?" Sally said as she walked in. She stood by the door as she waited for an acknowledgment.

"I, I am fine," I said quietly.

I wiped the tears off of my face before faking a smile. However, Sally clearly didn't buy it considering she came over wrapped her arms around me.

I gasped as I burrowed into her motherly embrace.

It's been years since I felt this kind of motherly love and comfort. I really like Percy's mom. She was an amazing mother.

"I know that you're under a lot of stress and pressure," she expressed. She pulled away in order to look at my face.

"It, it's just a lot sometimes," I said sadly.

"I know, honey. You're are so incredibly talented. It's definitely not easy to be in everyone's eyes as a national swimmer. As a junior no less," she explained.

I stared into her brown eyes as she talked. Helen didn't even come close to Sally. Hell, even my own mom (Athena), who I loved very much, wasn't as comforting as Sally.

"You can't be so hard on yourself," she said.

Sally wiped the water off of my face before rubbing my arms.

"I don't think that I am. I just don't want to let anyone down. The whole school is counting on me," I told her.

I was surprised with myself. I sounded so much like Percy, and I understood why Percy had to let go of some school responsibilities to stay afloat.

Gods, this shit was hard. His life was harder than I thought.

"Honey, even you're just one man. And, you are going to do fine," Sally said. "Now, I'm gonna make some cookies to make you feel better. Come down when you're ready."

She smiled again before walking out of the room.

"Mom," I called out. I hadn't used that term on anyone since I had lost my mother years ago. It was strange, but it also felt good. Very good.

She backstopped and gazed at me from the doorway.

"Thanks," I expressed.

Sally, my mom at the moment, smiled before retreating to the kitchen. I took a few deep breaths before deciding to freshen up. I was feeling a lot better.

***

Some of Percy's friends texted and called his phone to check on me. They must've heard about what happened at practice. After all, some of Percy's close friends were definitely a part of the swim team.

Of course, I didn't answer the phone, but I did text back telling them that I was okay. I felt bad about simply putting them on 'read'.

I realized that some of Percy's friends were genuine.

Percy's girlfriends really were not. I didn't like Rachel, and the fact that she didn't text her boyfriend spoke volumes about her.

I was only partially judging though. After all, I didn't the nature of Percy's and Rachel's relationship.

The smell of baked cookies brought me into the kitchen.

They smelled delicious, like heavenly nectar but better. I walked into the kitchen as Percy's mom took the cookies out of the oven.

"Are you feeling better, honey?" she asked softly.

"Yeah, I am. Thanks, mom," I said. I realized that I had no problem with calling her mom. She was just that kind of person.

All of Percy's friends probably thought the same thing.

I stared at the cookies as she plated them. They looked like normal chocolate chip cookies, except for one feature. They were blue.

I guess that this was a normal occurrence in the Jackson/Blofis household. I'd have to ask Percy about it later. Mr. Blofis also came over to enjoy the cookies. However, he made sure to ask me how I was before eating.

Mr. Blofis, despite being the stepfather, treated Percy like his own son.

I liked that a lot. I actually liked Percy's family in general. They were amazing. Even though Percy had problems in school, he had a good home life.

The rest of the night went better.

I distracted myself by research Janus and this spell. I was looking for anything that resembled body-swapping in the myths. However, it was difficult. Janus was the god of transformation and doors.

If I had to postulate a theory, Percy and I had opened a metaphysical door when we were passionately arguing in front of the Janus stature.

Our souls traveled through the door and went into each others' bodies.

It made absolutely no sense, but that's what happened.

Finally, I closed the laptop to sleep. I still had school tomorrow, but it was Friday. Percy doesn't have a morning swim on Fridays. While I didn't want to face swimming again, I knew that I had to eventually, especially if Percy and I didn't swap back soon.

Percy was living in my life, so I had to live in his even if that meant facing a few serious struggles. I just hoped that Percy was doing okay in my body.

I decided to text him (ie my own phone).

Hey, how's it going in my life? I texted.

The reply came after several minutes of waiting. While I wasn't the fastest responder either, I had waited for text responses. Percy's response wasn't very informative.

We'll talk tomorrow.

That was it. Even after I implored him about what happened, he didn't reply. I sighed before putting his phone down. However, I grabbed it again.

My curiosity got the best of me.

As such, I scrolled through Percy's contacts and pictures. While it was a violation of privacy, I felt like this would help me get to know him more.

And, it did. I learned about Percy's friends and family more. A lot of his phone had contacts of people he obviously didn't care about (perks of being popular I guess). However, it was obvious who mattered more to him based on the pictures, calls, and texts.

My eyes locked on one particular picture.

It was a picture of Percy as a kid. He was splashing in the pool, and the picture was taken right as he smiled the biggest smile that a 10-year-old can make.

While Percy had aged very well, he still had the same sea-green eyes and radiant smile.

He looked so happy in the water, which showed that he genuinely enjoyed swimming. That's why he swam.

The trophies and fame were just a bonus to him. A bonus that he didn't really care for.

I sighed as I set his phone down for good. It was only one day in another person's body, yet I was so exhausted.

I was just hoping for a better day tomorrow.

***

Percy and I didn't magically swap back to our lives. While it was naive, I was kind of hoping for it.

As I walked towards Percy's locker alone, a hand grabbed my wrist.

Annabeth (ie Percy) quickly yanked me into an empty storage closet. I stared at myself for a few seconds. Percy had chosen to dress me in jeans and a green blouse. My hair was in a ponytail.

To be honest, I looked pretty good but still natural.

My eyes caught on a bandage around my arm. My eyes immediately intensified as I stared at my own face.

"Percy, what did you do to my hand?" I asked angrily. Percy's voice deepened when he was angry and commanding.

"Oh, you mean what your step-mom did," Percy commented harshly.

I paused as I stared at my arm again. Damn it. I was really hoping that Percy wouldn't have to deal with Helen at her worst. She usually didn't get that bad unless she was having one of her worse days (every few months).

"She did that to you?" I asked.

"Technically, she did it to you," he paused. "Annabeth, this isn't good."

I turned away as my eyes watered. I didn't want people to find out about my rough home life. Only Thalia knew about the specifics.

"Hey," my own voice softened. Percy was surprisingly comfortable controlling my body. She reached forward and touched my arm.

"I didn't want people to know," I said sadly.

"I understand," he said softly. I realized that I had a good face capable of comfort and support. Percy was good at showing those expressions on my face.

We stood in silence as we digested both of our situations.

Neither of us had a particularly easy life that we had assumed. This was literally the living concept of 'don't judge a book by its cover.'

"Okay, we can't have any more secrets or surprises for each other," I said firmly. Percy's voice was strong as I spoke, and I liked that.

I watched as Percy directed my face to firmly nod.

At least, we were on the same page now. We had to survive in each other's bodies until we could figure out how to switch back. That wouldn't happen until we access the Janus artifact and its associated diaries.

Both were housed in the now-closed museum.

And, according to the website, the museum wouldn't open for at least another two weeks due to an unspecified aerosol detection in the (you guessed it) Roman artifacts hallway.

Percy and I had to live like this for two weeks minimum.

Our eyes locked onto each other as we started talking about our plans. Percy was still annoying at times, but I felt like we understood each other better now.

For the first time, I felt like we could do this.