"Ok, remember the plan?" I asked as Annabeth walked beside me through the hallways. I squeezed her hand as she was freaking out.

"The plan, the plan, the plan, wait, we had a plan?" she said quickly. It was around ten minutes before zero period, the day of the finals, and she was freaking out a bit. Ok, a lot a bit, but irrelevant.

"Well, not a plan, but a reliever, right?" I tried jogging her memory. She just looked at me weirdly as the hood of the much too large blue hoodie fell over her eyes. I chuckled at her as she frustratingly shoved the hood on the top of her head out of her eyes.

"The hoodie," I said simply. Annabeth's eyes then cleared as understanding filled them. On Sunday, I figured out that since I couldn't be with her during finals to calm her down, I would give her the next best thing. My hoodie. I had worn it throughout Sunday and into the morning for her.

She said something about how it smelling salty calmed her down or something. I don't know. Anyway, the plan was essentially to wear my hoodie throughout the finals and meet up with her after every period.

We stood in front of her Architecture class, and she was constantly messing with the hoodie's strings. I took her hands and gave them a small squeeze. "You're the smartest person I know, don't even sweat this; you've been studying. I know you can do it," I said softly, trying to boost her confidence.

She smiled at me, albeit a bit forced. I sighed and pulled her in for a kiss. I moved my lips softly against hers and then pulled away. I leaned my forehead against hers and whispered out an I love you before allowing her to enter the classroom.

I smiled at her and walked towards my locker to grab my math notebook. Then I would return to her classroom and wait for the zero period to end. Of course, I wouldn't be waiting out in the corridor, no I've found that janitor closets work well for both lunch and in between class period breaks.

Quickly grabbing my notebook, I ran through the hallways into the nearest janitor's closet to Annabeth's class. I sighed in relief and opened my notebook, going over all the notes that Annabeth did while tutoring me.

I heard footsteps outside the door after about ten minutes. I froze. Please don't be the jocks.

"I heard he gets here super early. That means we get an hour before class to lay into him" shit, that was Jock #1, at least I think so; their voices all start to sound the same after a while. Honestly, I was kind of honored that they would get up so early just to beat me up, but I definitely didn't want to start the day off like that. I heard the scuffling of feet and quietly stood up. I had to lock the door.

"Where should we look?" one of them asked.

" I don't know! Ask some nerds, check the classrooms!" another yelled. There was the sound of footsteps leaving, and I quickly latched the door of the room. I saw the door handle jiggle not five seconds after locking it. Letting out a sigh of relief, I hoped that the jock would leave before zero period ended.

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The plan to help calm Annabeth down after each period was a success. Most of the time, she just needed a hug. Once, she wanted me to switch her hoodies, saying that the sea salt smell was wearing off. I was happy to oblige to anything she needed.

Monday was the most stressful day of probably the year. All of our classes had finals. All of them. They didn't think to spread them out over the week. But since Monday was long and hard, they let everyone off around lunchtime for the rest of the week.

I personally could care less about finals and how early we got out of school. Don't get me wrong, I like getting out three hours earlier, but before, it was simply more time for Gabe or bullies to have at me. Now, I still had the bully problem, but what was mainly on my mind was Annabeth.

I knew that she was stressing over today for the longest time. I just hoped that now that finals were over, she wouldn't stress too much. Not to mention, Friday was prom night.

After school on Monday, Rachel dragged Annabeth and me to her house for a throw together party. She said it was to celebrate my victory in the music competition and the end of the finals. I didn't really care what it was about. Still, Annabeth's friend group came over, and she immediately fell into a sense of ease and happiness.

Being used to sitting in the corner with the don't-talk-to-me attitude, I sat in the corner of the room and sneaked cookies off the table. I watched Annabeth as she talked with her friends, a smile never leaving her face.

I was glad that all the weight that she was carrying is gone. Suddenly I felt as if she didn't need me anymore. She had her friends, and she looked much happier than she does with me. I shut my eyes. No, no, it's fine, she may not need me, but she still loves me. I nodded and sneaked another cookie, trying to get the thoughts to stick. But one stayed.

What if she's just pitying me? Does she actually need me?

I mean, it would make sense. Now that Annabeth knows basically everything about Gabe, the bullies, and my suicide attempt. I kind of let down my walls and didn't really hold back on what I did around her. I didn't realize how touch starved I was until Annabeth came around. I immediately grew almost disgusted at myself. Why do I have to be so clingy? I should've let her do what she wants.

I munched on a cookie moodily as I watched the group Annabeth was in laugh. I sighed happily, hearing her laugh.

Maybe I'm taking advantage of her; I mean, I obviously need her more than she needs me. Plus, why would she even want to be with me in the first place? All I did was use her for math tutoring, push her away, hurt her by making her feel my pain, and then drag her down with me.

I was shaken out of my thoughts as someone pushed on my shoulder. Looking up, I saw Annabeth grinning at me.

"Don't you think half the plate of cookies is enough?" she teased.

"No," I said stubbornly, throwing on a smile and grabbing two more cookies off the table. Annabeth chuckled at me and pulled me up to my feet. I frowned at her, but she just sighed and gestured towards the living room. I didn't even notice everyone leave.

"What are we doing?" I asked as she led me down the hallway.

"We're going to watch a movie and then either chill out or go to bed," she shrugged.

I sighed and prayed to the movie gods that it wouldn't be a horror movie.

"Hey, you guys, we just decided on a movie!" Piper called as we came in through the doorway.

"Oooh, what's the verdict?" Annabeth inquired. I sighed and mumbled another prayer. One that was not answered.

" It," she responded. Annabeth and I groaned as we sat down on the floor. I glanced at Annabeth as she sat beside me but didn't move. I really wanted her to sit on my lap again, to hold her. But I internally scolded myself, stop being so godsdammed clingy, let her sit on her own for once! You had her all weekend. Leave her be!

So, I sat there next to Annabeth and was tense throughout the whole movie. I jumped at every corner, every evil laugh, every dark room. Annabeth placed her hand on mine at some point, and I got a bit more relaxed, that is, until the next jumpscare.

By the end of the movie, I had shut my eyes completely and covered my ears, not wanting to continue watching it. I peeked my eyes open when I felt shuffling behind me on the couch and realized the movie ended.

I let out a sigh of relief; now it's time to disappear, so I don't get dragged into Truth or Dare or another horror movie. Jumping up, I quickly asked Rachel where the restroom was and quickly entered.

I sat down on the floor of the restroom and took out my phone, 9:04 pm. If I know anything about this group, they're staying up past midnight. I groaned. I would have to leave the restroom at some point. But I wanted to avoid as much social interaction as possible.

I decided to explore Rachel's house and look for a good hiding place until tomorrow. Sneaking out of the restroom, I hurried to the dining room before grabbing a few cookies and walked swiftly through the house, munching on them.

I found quite a few bedrooms, the kitchen, the den, a game room, and an attic. The den had a couch, but the attic had a more secret entrance. Which I'm sure Rachel knows about, but I'm going to take my chances.

I opened the nearly invisible door and slipped inside. I walked up the stairs and saw that it was a hangout room. The couch and coffee table were both extremely dusty like someone didn't use the room at all.

I smiled to myself and laid down on the couch. As if drinking a sleeping potion, I quickly dozed off, forgetting to text someone where I was.