Soulmates

Chapter 49

Percy dialed Annabeth's number, and she picked up on the first ring.

    "Okay, where is your dog?"

    Percy looked around the room. "I can't use her."

    "Why?"

    "She's sleeping."

    Annabeth sighed. "Fuck, I bet she looks adorable too."

    "She does; I can send you a picture."

    "Please do. But that's beside the point. Do you have an ice machine?"

    Percy paused. "What the fuck?"

    "Do you, Perseus Jackson, have an ice machine."

    "I'm confused."

    "It's a machine that takes water--"

    "First of all, fuck you. Second, why is that relevant. Third, yes."

    "First, thanks for the offer, but not yet. Second, you need to take some ice and put it in your mouth. Third, I'd hope so because you need it for the second," Annabeth responded.

    Percy rolled his eyes. "First, go fuck yourself. Second, why?" he asked as he went to get some ice.

    "First, I'm trying to help you right now, so maybe later. Second, the ice will shock your system and bring your temperature down."

    Percy resisted saying fuck you once more and put the ice cube in his mouth. It instantly touched the back of his teeth, making him hate his life.

    "Did you do it?"

    Percy hummed in response. "It'th tho cold."

    "Yeah, sorry." Percy could hear her cringe. "But, it helps. In the meantime, send me a picture of Mrs. O'Leary, please."

    Percy did after spitting out the ice, and the flash woke her up. "Oh no, I'm sorry," he whispered as he petted the mastiff. "Please don't be mad at me; I love you."

    Annabeth laughed. "Did she wake up?"

    "Yeah," Percy said before going into his room and inelegantly jumping on his bed and throwing himself under blankets. Mrs. O'Leary then decided to jump on him. "I'm using her as my weighted blanket."

    "Okay, that's good."

    Percy discovered he was no longer shaking through the comfortable silence, and his nausea was tardily leaving. He slowly pets Mrs. O'Leary as the previous chills and cold evaporate in the warmth. Percy smiled and said, "Thank you."

    "Yeah, of course." She paused. "I go through similar things. Anxiety attacks, though. Not panic attacks. So, I get it. If you don't want to talk about it now, I understand."

    Percy cleared his throat. "Yeah, probably not now. I'm fragile."

    Annabeth gave a small laugh.

    "Do you want to talk about yours?" At the silence, Percy added, "You, obviously, don't need to."

    Annabeth stayed silent for a time. It could have been seconds, it could have been hours, but to Percy, it was years of excruciating anticipation. "I have something people call Gifted Child Syndrome. It's basically imposter syndrome rooted in the unrealistic expectations set on you as a child. My dad placed a lot of that on me.

    "I was always really good in elementary school. I mean, most of it was just memorizing basic shit. After like two days, your good to go. I was able to do that much better than the average 7-year-old. So, my dad put me in gifted. I hated it. My dyslexia wasn't really seen as much as I needed in that program, but I got through it.