The next morning I woke up groggily as I sat up from my bed. My phone alarm was going off, and I shakily turned it off. Gabe beat me late into the night, finally going to bed around 1 am, which gave me around 5 hours of sleep. Which was fine; I've slept less for more work. The only thing that bothered me were the new cuts along my arms. I would have to clean and rebandage those today.

I hurriedly ran into the restroom and unwrapped my body. I turned on the shower and finished undressing. Jumping in, I avoided looking at my right arm, and I washed. Getting back out, I threw on my clean bottoms and rewrapped my right arm, closing my eyes before I could look at my wrist. Even as I closed my eyes, my brain showed me the image of my wrist with that word engraved on it.

I haven't seen it from the first time, so I didn't know how messed up it looked after Gabe decided to trace it over. I didn't want to see it, and I tried to shake the thoughts out of my head as I wrapped my body in new bandages. I closed my eyes and denied the tears passage,

This is why the word is engraved on your wrist in the first place, the small voice sounded in my head as I clenched my teeth.

I threw on my t-shirt and hoodie as I headed out of the restroom after brushing my teeth. I ran as quietly as I could to the front door and slipped out. I rushed to school, not stopping until I entered the building. I walked to the library and steeled myself.

Mom said I was falling for Annabeth. That's not good. I needed to get away before I hurt myself and, more importantly, her. Once Gabe found out about it, he would use her against me, and I didn't want anything to happen to her. My mom being on the line is already enough. I don't need someone else to take the burden as well.

I squeezed my eyes shut and went over the plan. Say hi, tell her my math score, explain I don't need her sessions, and walk away. No scratch that last part. Run away, yeah that's more accurate.

I opened my eyes when I heard a familiar voice calling out to me, "Hey Percy!" remember the plan.

"Hey Annabeth, I uhh, actually wanted to tell you that um" deep breaths Percy, just break it off and never see her again. It's not hard. You couldn't have gotten too attached after only two weeks.

"I got a 73 percent on my math quiz, so you don't need to tutor me anymore" I held my breath; my legs wouldn't move. Shit, get over it, Percy! What are you waiting for! Leave go sing to yourself in a corner if you're sad, don't wait for the rejection you know is coming, go! I turned on my heel and was about to break out into a run when I fell, on nothing, again. I cursed under my breath as I waited for a laugh from Annabeth.

None came.

Then I saw her in front of me with a hand out. I embarrassedly grabbed it and felt my stomach do a flip when she helped me up. Shit.

I tried to get around her, but she was more nimble and on her toes as she stopped me each time. I bit my lip and refused to look at her. Instead, I studied the details of my shoes.

Her voice came out in a pained whisper, "Why are you trying to push me away?"

I bit my lip harder. Guilt welled up inside of me as I realized I hurt her. Exactly what I was trying not to do. My lip bled, and I tasted blood as my mind scrambled for an answer.

"Did I do something wrong?" I sucked in a breath. She thought that she was the problem?

I opened my mouth but didn't feel any words come out. I closed my mouth as I tried to think of something to say.

"Percy, what's wrong?" I slowly looked up at her, and I felt guilt choke me as I saw her face in tatters. She was biting her lip, and her eyes were filled with sadness and guilt.

"It- you- you didn't do anything wrong" I struggled to form sentences as I shifted my feet.

I heard her breathe in sharply as she managed to get out, albeit shakily. "Then why push me away?"

My throat closed, and I squeezed my eyes shut. I felt a hand on my left wrist and let her tug me in the direction of the yard. I kept my eyes shut as I tried not to cry. She led me out of the school and sat me down underneath and behind a tree. I blinked and managed to keep the tears at bay.

That is until she hugged me. I couldn't hold it in, she broke down every wall I had, and I cried into her shoulder as she held me.

I heard the words echo in my head, reminding me of what I was. I quickly denied the words, and to make the point, I stopped crying. I had to not act like a pathetic shit right now. I needed to tell Annabeth why I couldn't be her friend anymore.

I took a deep breath, about to cut all ties with her when she said softly, "Percy, I don't care that you're crying. It's ok to cry. Whatever this is, I'll help you, ok? I'm going to stick by you no matter what you say to me," I choked on my unsaid words. My barriers I was hastily rebuilding crumbled to dust as I couldn't stop the tears from falling.

The tears I held in all these years cascaded down my cheeks as I wept on Annabeth's shoulder. All the pain and the stress fell out of me as I sat there shaking. Eventually, the tears stopped, but Annabeth didn't stop hugging me. I breathed in her lemon-scented hair as I calmed down. My breath hiccuping as I slowly gathered my breath again. I slowly let go of her, and she leaned away from me as I looked away, sniffling.

I opened my mouth, and she sat down next to me, pulling me into a side hug.

"I pushed you away because of Gabe. I didn't want him to get his hands on you. I knew eventually he would take a look at you and know that you meant something to me and try to do the same thing he does with my mom. Since he was at dinner last night, he knows you now, and that scared me. I knew that I had to do everything I could to keep him away from you, even if that meant going back to being alone. I didn't think about how it would hurt you because I didn't think I was that important in your book." I stopped and bit my lip again. Refusing to look at Annabeth as I spilled my guts on the matter. Feeling terrible and vulnerable since I just cried into her shoulder.

Then after a few minutes of beating myself up, she said softly, "Why did you think you weren't important?"

"Um, I'm the loser in the back that can't do math. You're a girl who has friends and is super smart" I was confused as to why she didn't know something so obvious.

I felt her nod next to me, but then she spoke up again, "But that doesn't mean you're not important. Percy, do you think I would invite you to dinner and go to your house if you weren't important to me?" I froze. It was a valid question that I hadn't even thought of. I slowly shook my head no. She sighed next to me and placed a soft hand on my cheek, turning my head to look at her. I moved my eyes to the side, knowing as soon as I looked in her gray ones, I would break down again.

"Percy, look at me" I kept my eyes to the side, and I heard her huff. I could physically feel her smirk as she began to speak again.

"Perce"

"Blue"

"Caeruleum "

"Rusticitas"

I slid my eyes over to look at her, confused, "What's Rusticitas? I know Caeruleum is blue but"

She just grinned at me. "That's for me to know and for you to wonder eternally or until you look up the word online. Anyway, that doesn't matter. What matters is that I got you to look at me" When I tried to look away again, she moved her head to be in my line of sight" Listen, Percy, I know that this is the last thing you want to hear but, maybe tell the police about this, that way you can go home without the fear of being beat up."

I tried to move away from her, and she let her hand fall as I slid backward. I couldn't tell the cops. I couldn't tell anyone; the only reason Annabeth knew was because she deserved to know after patching me up. I felt my walls start to build themselves up again.

"If you won't tell the cops, at least tell me when you can't patch yourself up. Let me help you. I can wait for you at the corner I picked you up last time. I'll give you a place to sleep if you need it, just" she took a breath," just let me help."

I heard the sincerity in her voice, and it scared me. She was committing too much; she was getting too close. I needed her on the outside. I couldn't let her in.

"Ok, um, didn't your class start already?" I tried to change the topic, looking at the school around the tree.

"Screw the class. You're more important. Is there anything you want to get off your chest? Right now is probably the best time besides at my house, less prying ears" my heart warmed as I heard her tell me I was more important than her favorite class. But I kicked the happy feeling away. No, I needed to be distant. I can't get close.

"Um, no, I told you why I was so upset already," Liar.

Annabeth nodded, and she grabbed my hand. "Do you need patching up? He didn't look happy last night."

I sucked in a breath. I knew exactly who 'He' was. Sure he beat me up, but nothing too bad besides not being able to breathe deeply without intense pain. "No, I'm good. He didn't do much."

I looked away and rubbed the back of my neck. "Ok, so here's the music for the song I chose for you, for the audition." I mentally thanked her for changing the subject.

She handed me a few pieces of paper, and I looked them over. It was relatively easy, and there were only a few quick changes in hand position I needed to perfect.

Annabeth was a genius. This song had just enough to get me in but not too much that my next performance would be boring. I grinned at her, happy that she decided to help me.

"Thank you so much, Annabeth, it's perfect. Um, do you have an idea for the mask?"

"Yep, I was thinking just a simple black masquerade mask would do; you said you didn't want it to be showy. Though Piper wouldn't leave me alone when I said I was trying to come up with a simple face-covering, so she made you a bandana. I hope that's ok. I'll give the items to you Friday when the auditions start"

I chuckled to myself, "It's ok. I've met Piper three times now, and I can tell she's the pushy type."

"Seriously"

I heard the bell ring and looked at my phone. I gasped, zero period ended, and it was passing period. Annabeth looked at me and stood up, sticking her hand out for me.

"Don't worry, your makeup is fine, especially if you keep your hood up" I took her hand and stood up, feeling my stomach jump around as I held her hand. I quickly let go and followed her towards the school.

I had to distance myself, no matter how much I wanted to hold her hand and no matter how much I wanted to be near her. I closed my eyes and almost fell on my face. I opened them and watched the floor to make sure it didn't trip me.

Once we entered the school building, Annabeth turned towards me and waved, "See you after school, Rusticitas" then she was gone in the sea of teenagers.

I was still confused about the whole Rusticitas thing but it kind of made me happy that she gave me a nickname. No matter how much I tried to kill that happy feeling, my heart still blossomed with hope and warmness as I thought of the nickname.

Shit.