Chapter 27: The Lipstick
Annabeth POV
"How the hell could you do that, Annabeth?" Katie shrieked as Piper, Thalia, and I walked towards my locker.
Travis, Katie, and Grover were waiting in front of my locker. Grover looked extremely upset and worried as he talked on the phone. The atmosphere was extremely tense.
"What's wrong, Katie?" I asked cautiously.
Katie seemed angry and upset. Travis was slowly rubbing her back to calm her down, but it didn't seem to be helping. Travis himself looked quite emotional.
"Excuse me?" Katie shouted in indignation. "Everything's wrong. How could you just share news about Percy's cancer with the whole school? That's so messed up!"
"What are you talking about?" I asked in a panic.
"Annabeth, the whole school knows," Piper said as she looked at her phone. "Look what one of my cheer friends sent me."
Piper handed me her phone.
My jaw dropped as I quickly scanned the email. Percy's cancer secret was out for everyone to know, and it was absolutely horrible.
"Katie, why would you think I did this?" I asked softly. I felt tears and pain build in my chest thinking about what Percy was going through right now.
"Annabeth, the original email was sent to the 43 girls that were on Percy's list," Thalia said as she looked at the phone.
"Yeah, and you were the person that Percy gave the list to," Grover exclaimed. He seemed so worried for his best friend, and rightfully so.
"Guys, the last place I saw the list was in my locker," I said firmly.
I went forward and scrambled my locker combination into my locker. The door swung open as I scrummaged through the notebooks and papers at the bottom. Thalia and Piper helped me go through my stuff in hopes of finding the list.
However, I already knew that the list had to be gone.
Someone took the list from my locker and used it to break Percy.
"The list is gone," I said softly. This wasn't my fault, and I wasn't going to give whoever was responsible the satisfaction of me blaming myself. I was going to found out who did this, and I was going to confront them and get justice.
"Oh my god, wait, you're saying someone stole the list and used it," Katie said.
"Yes, I am," I said angrily.
"And, I have an idea of who it could be," Thalia growled.
All of our gazes fell upon Drew stomping down the hallway like she owned the place. It had to be Drew because she explicitly told us that she'd torture Percy for rejecting her.
"Annabeth, wait, you don't wear lipstick like this," Piper said.
I watched as Piper took a bright red lipstick out of my locker. That certainly wasn't mine. I barely even wore lipstick, sometimes I put on chapstick though.
"That's definitely not mine," I said boldly.
"But, look who does wear bright red. That horrible devil," Thalia growled as she stormed over to Drew and her posse.
This was my battle.
I shoved Drew harshly as I approached her. She fell back on the lockers.
"What the hell?" she shrieked.
"Drew, you're such a monster. How could you just reveal something personal about Percy to everyone?" I shouted.
We were gathering a crowd now as everyone was curious about our scuffle.
"Percy deserved to be taken down a peg. This serves him right. How did you even know it was me?" Drew asked with a glare as she stood straight again.
"Ok, miss devil. First of all, you just admitted that it was you. And second, you stupid self left your damn lipstick in Annabeth's locker," Piper exclaimed.
Then, she threw the lipstick into Drew's face.
"How did you even know about Percy's cancer?" I growled.
I was pretty sure that anger was radiating off of me. My hands were clenched into fists, and I was dangerously close to punching Drew in the face.
Drew actually seemed a little frightened as she took a step back. "You don't scare me, Annabeth," she said, but her voice was quivering already.
"Answer her, Drew," Thalia exclaimed sharply.
I took a step forward, which forced Drew back again. If I was in a fantasy movie, my intense glare would turn Drew to stone. And, I would enjoy it.
Drew didn't open her mouth. She clearly wasn't going to spill.
I scoffed. "You're a damn monster, Drew. I don't even know if I could call you a human being for what you did to Percy. You're that horrible," I snapped as I started to stomp away.
My friends stared at me in confusion. They expected me to continue to fight Drew, but I had a different idea.
"At least, I'm not the so-called friend who betrayed him. Nobody rejects me, so I decided to hurt Percy by spreading the cancer news that I heard about him," Drew said loudly.
Drew was arrogant, and she always wanted the final word. As such, I knew that she would fall for my storming away idea.
I whirled around quickly. Thalia grabbed her arm harshly, and her face scrunched in pain.
"From who?" Grover and I snapped simultaneously.
"Rachel," she said before running away with her posse of girls. All of us stood there in surprise. All of my friends wore the same expression: shock.
Rachel did this? Why? Rachel wasn't like that at all.
***
I haven't seen Rachel all morning, and she didn't come to lunch either. However, Percy came back to school. Everyone stared at him as he walked towards our lunch table.
He sat down next to Grover rather than next to me.
"Yes, everything you guys heard is true. I have osteosarcoma, and all of you know now. I don't really want to talk about it right now," Percy said firmly.
Everyone nodded, but they kept their gazes on Percy. I knew that everyone had questions and concerns for their good friend, but we couldn't push Percy, especially now.
Percy looked so vulnerable and broken as he at his food quietly.
He would be okay, but he needed time.
Since I was sitting across from him, I gently reached forward and placed my hand over his. Percy pulled away quickly. His pained gaze met mine before he looked down.
"Percy, it wasn't me," I said softly.
Some of our friends nodded in agreement and support. We all knew what really happened. Drew sent that email to everyone, and she found out about Percy's cancer from Rachel.
However, I hadn't realized that Rachel knew Percy's secret.
"I know it wasn't you, Wise Girl. You'd never do something like this. But, I cannot talk about it right now. Can you please just back off?" he said painfully.
I swallowed the lump of emotion stuck in the throat before nodding.
I wanted to help him, but he wasn't having it. Percy wasn't even holding my hand right now.
Percy left lunch a few minutes early. I could tell that he wanted to be alone and out of the limelight, but I wanted to make sure he was okay. I followed him out of the cafeteria.
"Annabeth, I just want to be alone," Percy snapped.
We were in the middle of a random hallway. "Percy, I want to make sure you're okay."
"I am fine, Wise Girl. Just leave me alone."
"Are you blaming me for this?" I asked in frustration.
"No, I just-"
Percy faltered off as he stood there in turmoil. "Percy," I whispered before going forward and wrapping my arms around his neck. I rubbed his back gently as his own arms wrapped around me and his head buried into my hair/neck.
"It's gonna be okay, Percy. At least, you don't have to pretend anymore," I whispered.
"I don't want to be treated differently."
"People will be different because cancer is different. Cancer is a big deal, but your close friends will be exactly the same to you after a few days. Percy. I can assure you that," I said firmly.
I planted a soft kiss on his cheek before pulling back.
"Thanks," Percy said softly.
"Come on, Seaweed Brain. I just kissed you on the cheek and you can't even smile?" I teased.
A gentle smile lit up his face as he chuckled.
"Seaweed Brain, does Rachel know about your cancer?"
Percy sighed. "Everyone knows now."
"No, I meant before."
"Yeah, Wise Girl, Rachel found out a few days ago when she saw me coming out of the hospital. We talked about it, though. Why?" he asked curiously.
"Drew said that she found out from Rachel," I said quietly.
Conflicting emotions came over Percy's face as he nodded. Percy wasn't one to hold grudges because he believed that life's too short to dwell on the negatives. His cancer gave him that kind of mindset. However, for such a loyal person, it's must've been hard to be betrayed by a friend.
I gently rubbed his arm as we hugged again.
It was a nice, pure embrace. I savored the warmth, comfort, and ecstasy flowing between us.
My mind wandered as we took solace in each other's company. Percy will be okay in time, but he'd have to go through a lot in the next few days.
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