A/N Hello, this is my first fanfic. I didn't intend for it to BE a fanfic, it was just a short story to get my friend to stop pestering me to write something besides my thoughts. So, in this fic, Annabeth is younger than both Bobby and Matthew. I think that's all, so enjoy reading :)

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I hate them. Both of them. I can't believe they forgot me! What the hell?! So much for brothers and sister bonding time. Whatever. Maybe if I just stay here they'll remember that they forgot me. Thank God I'm the only one outside.

Here I am, supposed to be hanging out with my brothers at the mall, and they forgot me at Chipotle. I am such a third wheel with those two. Maybe Percy will be on to talk. I pull out my phone and open Instagram. I go to my direct messages and hit the one with his username.

Hey. Wyd? I press send and wait.

He replies almost immediately.

Hey

I'm getting dinner with my family

Hbu

I smile as I type my reply.

Supposed to be hanging out with my brothers at the mall but they forgot me at a restaurant :( what are you getting for dinner?

I hit send and wait. This time he takes a few minutes. As I'm sitting outside at a table, I hear people walking out the door to come sit outside too. I turn my back to them, it's a large group and they could be from school. To make myself not look too weird, I keep slowly scrolling through Instagram. Just then my phone buzzes.

Aw :( I'm sorry

We're getting Chipotle

I smile even bigger when I see his reply.

Lol, that's where my brothers forgot me at

I hit send and wait. As I continue scrolling, I hear the woman at the next table scolding someone,

"Put your phone away dear. We're here visiting family and trying to be nice and catch up with them, it's rude to be on your phone. Try talking to someone." I look over my shoulder at the group that came outside. They look like they're family. I see the woman who had just spoken, she was talking to a teenage boy, probably her son.

"Mom, my cousins are all younger than me and no one here is close to my age and besides, aunt Jane and uncle Henry can't possibly be that interested in how high school is. I'm pretty sure they're interested in how you're doing more so than me." The boy turns back to his phone and taps at the screen before locking it and putting it in his pocket. Just then my phone buzzes with another message.

Aw, I'm sorry about that

I'm with family

We're visiting them for spring break

This sucks

I laugh as I read his message. I type out my reply as I hear the woman sigh in exasperation.

Aw, poor baby :* you'll be fine, you have me :D

I hit send, close Instagram, and open up Tumblr. Once again I hear the woman scolding the boy, "Stop messing around on your phone, honey. Talk to someone, don't be antisocial."

"I'm not being antisocial," the boy replies "I'm actually being very social, FYI. My, um, friend just so happens to be in different city while I'm talking to her, so, yeah." I laugh at his remark and go back to my phone. Just then a new message buzzes through.

Yeah but not here

I wish you were

Very much

This sucks

I miss you :(

The last one gets to me. We live in the same state, only about 4 hours away from each other, but we can't meet. It kills me like you have no idea. It physically hurts in my chest when I think about it, or more specifically, him. I think about how to reply to make him feel better.

One day we will be and then we'll live happily ever after in our castle in Spain, you can be my knight in shining armor but, fair warning, I'm not a damsel in distress

I hit send and hope that that'll make him feel better. At least a little. From the next table over I hear someone laugh softly. I look over my shoulder at the boy, who's smiling at his phone. I wonder who he's talking to. As I'm watching, his mother looks over at him and says, "What made you so happy? Is it someone special?" As she says 'special' her eyebrows wiggle. I put my hand over my mouth to stifle a laugh. The boy blushes almost completely red and stutters a reply, "N-no, just, um, my friend. She's just, yeah, I-I just think she's cool, um, and, yeah. Her message was, just, I dunno." This time I put both of my hands over my mouth to stop myself from laughing out loud. That was so cute! Then I hear the boy whisper to himself, "Why does she do this to me?" He goes back to his phone and I go back to mine. Another message comes through.

I hope you're happy

My mom saw me laugh and asked who I was talking to

THAT WAS SO EMBARASSING 0/0

I laugh out loud this time and the boy looks over at me. I ignore him and type out my response.

#sorrynotsorry XD

I tap the send button and go back to the Tumblr app. A second later, my phone buzzes from his message.

Butt :p

It's ok

No one was really paying attention to me anyways

I frown at that. Wasn't he with family? I decide to sort of change the subject.

So does your family live in the same city as you?

I repost fan art of Eleanor and Park on Tumblr as I wait.

No

Ugh, I hate when he replies with one word answers.

So where do they live? Did they go to your place to visit or did you go to theirs?

Maybe now he'll reply with more than one word.

Dunno the cities name

We went to theirs

Okay, so I've made some progress. My phone buzzes again but this time it's a text message from my oldest brother, Bobby.

From Bobby: Annie! Oh my god where are you?! I thought you were with me and Matthew! Just stay where you are and we'll come get you

I roll my eyes; why do they treat me like I'm still 5? I'm 16 for God's sake! They can stop being overprotective brothers any time now. I respond to Bobby first.

From Annie: Calm down, I'm sitting outside at Chipotle where you forgot me, remember? And you owe me a week of washing the dishes for not telling mom. Matthew too.

I send the text and am about to reply to Percy, when he sends another message.

I asked

We're in Salinas

I freeze. What? Salinas? As in where I am?

Wait, which Salinas?

If what I'm thinking is true- God could this really be happening?

Umm, pretty sure the only Salinas in the state

No way. He's here. Where I am, in the same city as me. I start to low-key freak out. I calm myself so I can type without my hands shaking too much.

Well, how 'bout that? Wanna know a secret?

As I send that message, I get a text from Matthew.

From Matthew: Bobby was freaking out too much to text back so, he said ok about the dishes but not me, I'd rather take out the trash then touch soggy food.

I laugh at Matthew's reply. Both of my brothers are weird but I love them. While I'm responding to Matthew, Percy messages me back. I tell Matthew that that's fine by me and that I'm still here waiting for them. I open the message from Percy.

Depends, is it a good secret?

I have to try my hardest not to smile like an idiot with other people around.

Yes a very good one, I think it'll be the best secret ever

Oh! I can't wait to tell him.

Ok then, go ahead

I keep smiling to myself as I type, wondering what his reaction will be.

Salinas is where I am

I send it and set my phone on the table. Just then I hear the boy inhale so sharply, he almost chokes on his own breath. He starts to cough and hack, but soon returns to normal. I hear his mom ask him what happened and if he was okay. He says that he's fine and was just surprised by what his friend had said. He taps at his phone with a wide grin on his face. My phones buzzes with a new message.

NO WAY DON'Y PLAY WITH ME

I start to laugh at that.

I'm serious, I'm at the mall right now, which Chipotle are you at?

Message sent. I start to keep a look out for my brothers. All of a sudden, the boy jumps up from his seat and starts running around, asking his family where they're at. What the heck? He eventually runs inside and up to the counter. As I watch, he asks the employee behind the counter something and once they reply, he's tapping furiously at his phone. A second later, Percy replies.

We're at the one at this shopping place called Sierra something

I nearly fall out of my chair. Sierra something? The only place would be the mall, the Sierra Vista Mall. But where was he?

I'm at the same one! But where are you? The only boy I saw was this guy who started choking and looked like he was really close to passing out.

I'm finally going to meet him in person! Just then I get a text from Matthew.

From Matthew: Make sure you're ready to go, almost there and its almost curfew

I groan. Damn it. Just then, the boy comes back outside with a bewildered look on his face. He's looking around the seating area and his eyes land on me. I stare back, what's this dude doing?

"Um, hi" Is the first thing he says, "Um, can I ask what your name is?"

I sit there with my mouth open. Who the hell is this guy? But I reply back, "Hi? And sorry but I don't go around giving my name out to strange guys." I get up to head toward the door but the boy calls out.

"Wait!" He runs in front of me and stops, "Let me introduce myself, my name is Percy, nice to meet you Annabeth."

He sticks his hand out and smiles widely. There is nothing for me to do really, but stare at him with my mouth hanging open. Is this really Percy?

"Annabeth? Are you okay?"

I realize that I have yet to say anything. "Percy? Is it really you?" His smile gets bigger, if that's possible, as he says, "One knight in shining armor, at your service."

At this, I tackle him with a hug. He hugs me back and we stay like that for a while. When we pull apart, I finally get a good look at him. He's tall (well he did say that he's 6'3, I'm only 5'10 so he's like a giant to me). He has pitch black hair, but it looks nice. His eyes are the most beautiful green and they're crinkled at the edges because he is still smiling. He's not what I imagined; he's better, so much better because he's here, with me, in person. I realize that while I've been looking at him, he's been looking at me. I step back, staring at the floor and blushing.

"Nice to meet you Percy." I say looking up and sticking my hand out. He takes my hand and chuckles lightly as he shakes it. We stop shaking hands but don't break away. He pulls me in for another hug and I wrap my arms around his middle as I put my head on his chest. He smells like an ocean breeze I think to myself. He puts his face in my hair and hums quietly.

"Your hair smells like flowers, or something good." He says. I laugh softly and pull away, regretting it almost immediately. Just as I'm about to say something, my brothers walk through the door. Of course they do, why wouldn't they? I then remember that my arms are still around Percy and his around me. I pull them back and take a step away.

"Hey Bobby, Matthew, glad you remembered me." I greet them. They look between me and Percy with narrowed eyes.

"Annie, come on, it's time to go." Bobby tells me. I nod and get my bag from the table. I turn to Percy and hold out my hand, "Phone please." I say smiling. He looks at me for a second before handing it over. I type in my number and save it, handing it back. I start to walk toward Bobby and Matthew, when Percy calls out to me, "Annabeth!" I look back and he has a small smile on his face. "See you later." He says as he waves goodbye. I smile and wave back before turning toward the door, blushing. I get into the back seat of the car and buckle myself in. Bobby is in the drivers' seat and Matthew in the passenger. Bobby looks in the rearview mirror at me and smiles slightly. "So," he starts, "Who was that?" I look down at my phone at three new texts.

From unknown number: Hey

It's your knight in shining armor

You know, in case you didn't know :)

I smile at that, of course I knew. I look back up at Bobby in the mirror.

"Just a, um, friend." I say. Bobby gives me a weary look but doesn't say anything further. I go back to my phone and start to type out a message. Yeah, I was definitely going to see Percy later, and maybe more often too.

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A/N YAY! \(^~^)/ my first fic done, so I hope you all liked it and comment or favorite or follow for some more future stories. And I know that some parts seem really cheesy and kind of weird, but some parts are based on what happened to me and the rest is completely my imagination.