Saturday, 5-12-18

"You all have sunscreen on?"

"Yep."

"And you have spare clothes?"

"Yes."

"No one needs the bathroom?"

"Jeez, Annabeth. Relax a little," I said, laughing.

She narrowed her eyes. "I want to have a good day, and to accomplish that it needs to get all planned out."

"Of course," I responded, "but you don't need to be so controlling about it."

"Well, maybe if you - "

"Alrighty, kiddos, hop in the car," Mom interrupted. "Paul loaded everything in, and all of the others are seated."

I nudged past Annabeth from where we were facing each other in the kitchen and left our home. I ran downstairs and wandered to the car garage where we had our cars parked.

I was bummed that I had a small fight with Annabeth, because I was previously very excited. It was one of the warmest days we had had, and we were all going to the beach. I was pumped.

We had two cars in our family, one from when Mom was still with Gabe and one that Paul had brought with him. We were taking Mom's car, because it had seven seats, while Paul's Prius only had five.

Mom was driving us, and Caly had claimed shot gun. Grover was in the center of the way back, Juniper on his left and Rachel on his right. I got in in front of Rachel, and Annabeth sat in front of Juniper, on my left.

"Everyone has everything?" my mom asked.

We all nodded, and she pulled off. The beach we were going to was less than an hour to reach, probably more like thirty minutes.

Caly turned the radio on and a trashy Justin Bieber song blared out. She quickly lowered the volume.

"Jeez, what do you listen to, Perce?" she asked, giggling.

My ears burned red. "Hey, I can't drive! Blame the woman of age!"

"Are you sure you don't have Bieber fever?" Rachel asked teasingly, leaning over the seat.

I smacked her hand away from me. "Yes, Rache."

"That blush says otherwise," Annabeth murmured.

I crossed my arms. "Yeah?"

She smirked. "Oh, yeah. You're a diehard fan, and definitely know all of the lyrics."

I scoffed. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Annabeth laughed. I hoped that meant she was no longer upset about whatever had occurred in the kitchen.

I didn't want to damage our friendship when it was just about to become something more.

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I guess you could say that the water was my safe space. Whenever I was angry or upset as a little kid, my mom would bring me to the beach, and I almost instantly relaxed. Whether it was a lake, pond, river, or ocean, the water calmed me. I think it's because it connects me to my father. He was sadly caught in a large hurricane off the coast of Florida whilst trying to rescue some poor kids who had taken a life boat from a cruise ship and sailed off course.

So, as soon as I stepped onto the sandy beach, all of my worries drifted away. I was no longer concerned about being brave or how other people saw me. I just was.

I peeled my shirt off and kicked off my sandals. I sent a look to my mom, who was smiling adoringly, before taking off to the water.

I kept walking until I was waist deep, then dove under the water. I opened my eyes, ignoring the slight sting I felt. I gazed at the beautiful dark teal ocean and took in the eery silence.

I sadly couldn't breathe underwater, so I came up for air. I rubbed my eyes and searched for my friends. Rachel was already sitting out on a towel, and Grover and Juniper were going for a walk. Annabeth was saying something to Caly, who was staring intently at the water.

I dove under water once more, slicking my hair up, before coming up once more and returning to the group.

"Did my mom already leave?" I asked.

Rachel nodded. "Yeah, she said she would be back before dinner time, whatever that means."

I sat down on my towel in between Annabeth's and Grover's, sneakily listening in on Annabeth and Caly's conversation.

"So that's normal?" Caly asked.

"Yeah, he's basically a fish."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Who are you talking about?"

"You, silly. Calypso thought you drowned."

I laughed. "No, I'm pretty alive."

Caly blushed. "Oh. I didn't realize that you were so...tolerant."

I shrugged. "So, are you guys going to go in the water?"

Rachel shook her head, Annabeth shrugged, and Caly stared at me incredulously.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm not the best at swimming," she admitted.

"Well, I can teach you. I taught Annabeth."

"O-okay. Maybe later. I'll just watch you guys for now."

I chuckled. "Alright. You in, Wise Girl?"

She nodded. I stood and pulled her up with me, not letting go of her hand as I raced to the water.

Annabeth laughed. "Seaweed Brain, slow down!"

She was wearing a pretty black bikini top that had thin straps and an extra flowing piece of fabric, as well as black and white striped bottoms. Her hair was flowing in natural, crazy curls. Rachel was wearing a red and white checkered one piece, and her vibrant red hair was tugged into a high pony tail. Caly was wearing a lavender bikini that was tied up in the back of the top and the sides of the bottoms. Her chestnut locks were gliding across her shoulders. Juniper had a black and white polka dot one piece, and her hair was in two braids. 

I was wearing plain blue swim trunks, and Grover had green ones with recycling symbols on them. May I add that I bought them for him, because I knew from the second I saw them that they were meant for him? Because I did.

Annabeth and I floundered around in the water, goofing off and just having fun. A couple times she even climbed onto my shoulders or back and jumped off, acting like a gymnast.

Eventually Calypso joined the madness. I made sure she knew the basics of swimming - move your legs and arms, don't inhale water - before she began participating in our silly competitions.

"Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth spluttered. "Race you to the buoys, last one there has to buy ice cream at the shack!"

I immediately took off, not pushing myself too hard because I knew I already had the upper hand. I won, which wasn't a surprise, but I reasoned with Annabeth that we could split the cost.

Then, we all fled the water. We dried off with our towels and asked the three homebodies what they wanted for a frozen dessert. Then Annabeth and I began the trek to the shack while Grover, Juniper, Rachel, and Caly bathed in the sun.

"Percy," Annabeth said.

"Yes?"

"I have something to tell you," she stated nervously.

My heartbeat sped up. "Nothing's wrong, is there?"

She shook her head. "No. Not necessarily. I just wanted to let you know I'm going on vacation this summer. My family will be spending the tenth of July through the fifteenth of August in Greece."

"Greece?" I exclaimed. "That's so far!"

She nodded slowly. "We leave that Tuesday early in the morning, and we get back in America late Wednesday night, a month later. But we're touring the east coast, and we'll get back to Manhattan around noon on your birthday."

"So you're spending your birthday there too?

"Yeah."

I breathed in deeply. "Okay. I'll FaceTime you then, and we'll just keep in touch."

Annabeth winced. "See, the thing is...I won't have any service there. Our carrier doesn't provide in over half of Greece. We can try to communicate but I'm not sure how it'll work out."

"Alright. We'll figure it out. A month isn't even that long."

"Exactly. I'll see you just in time for you to turn sixteen."

"I'll meet you at the airport."

"We aren't leaving for another two months," she reminded. "I just wanted you to know."

"Thanks for telling me," I said. "I hope you have fun. You'll get to see all of those monuments that you've fantasized of. You better take pictures."

Annabeth nodded, giggling slightly.

We bought all of the ice creams we needed for our group before bringing them back. We continued to have a great time at the beach, but one thing was weighing on my mind, darkening the mood.

Would I fess up to Annabeth before she left, or would I wait until she returned, and my feelings were reinforced?

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Y'all probably know the answer if you've read the books and you know your dates....How did you like this chapter? I hope you enjoyed! If you did, leave a vote and comment your favorite body of water! I'd say between a waterfall and the ocean. They're both so beautiful and insanely powerful/dangerous, they're eery!