I do not own PJO, and this is a very random story. Enjoy!

"Never Send to Know…

Nico rocked back and forth, laughing so hard, that I thought he would fall off his chair. "And… and…," he gasped, "and then she said… she said… 'Takes one to know one!'"

This sent him to another fit of laughter. After several gasps for breaths he looked at me, grinning. "Don't you get it?"

I laughed shortly and assured him it was hilarious. He chortled some more and then blinked at me.

"Are you going to eat that?" Yes, considering the blue cookies were on my plate and I was starving, but he merely ignored the look I gave and helped himself to my share of cookies.

My mom came out of her bedroom putting on her earrings. She was wearing her fancy black-and-white dress; I got up to help her with her coat.

"Paul, come on!" she called, "Percy we're going to be gone until midnight because the Fords wanted to grab dinner after-"

"The museum. Right."

"Play. Nico, do you want to spend the night?" He turned and nodded, his mouth bulging like a chipmunk. "Great, but I want you to be asleep by 10:00. Got it?" he stopped nodding and looked like a sad chipmunk. "Percy make sure you get to bed by at least eleven. You've got-"

"School tomorrow. Right."

"SATs. I want you to do well. Now listen: no friends, no monsters, no party, no weapons. Please make something for both of you to eat. Get some studying in if you can, but don't stress yourself out. Be nice to Nico," Hades' spawn stuck his tongue out at me, "Nico, listen to Percy. Be good. Stay in one piece. Call me-"

"They'll be fine, Sally," Paul interrupted, "Shall we be on our way?" he took her arm and over his shoulder, gave me a pleading look like please keep the house in one piece.

Once they left, I turned to my cousin. "What did she say we can't do?"

He shrugged. "Not be ourselves, I guess." Blame my ADD for being completely ignorant. I pondered this for several moments until Nico interrupted. "You're really bad at this, you know? I'm hungry and you haven't even offered me anything to eat."

"How about a knuckle sandwich?"

"Depends. What's in it?" The doorbell rang and Nico jumped out of his chair. "Percy, don't open it! That is one of the major safety rules that they always teach! Don't open the door to strangers!"

"That's what they tell little seven-year olds like you, so you don't end up embarrassing your parents before they have time to come to the door."

Insistently, he grabbed my arm. "It could be a monster, Percy!"

"Then I'll make sure that it eats you first."

"Well, that's not a comforting prospect at all." The doorbell rang again, and having no choice, he dove behind the couch.

I suddenly had an idea. As soon as I opened, I screamed as loud as I could and slammed it shut. Nico appeared behind me, holding his sword and looking scared.

"I told you! What was it? A chimera? A gorgon? Your ex-girlfriend?"

"No, you idiot. That was my neighbor."

He frowned. "Then why did you just yell and slam the door in their face?" And that is yet another prank that has backfired embarrassingly.

"Hi, Ms. Hunter," I said, reopening the door. "I am so sorry about that. It was, um, never mind."

"Oh, it's alright, Percy," (Ms. Hunter is a very nice person, for being a full-time nurse and a single mother. My parents and her are in some book club or something together.) "I was wondering if your mother was home."

"Uh, no, sorry."

Her face fell. "Is your step-father home then? I'm needed at the hospital, it's an emergency, but there's no one who can baby-sit on such a short notice."

Baby-sit? Money? "Well, I can see, but…"

"Of course, I'll pay. It's only for a few hours. Please?" She looked at her watch and seemed distressed by it.

At that point, I felt bad for her and told her, "Paul and my mom went out this evening. But, you know, I am watching my cousin. We'd love to add a third person to our party."

"Really? Oh thank you so much! I really appreciate it. Here." She handed me a prepayment. "Go along with Percy, Ethan. I'll see you in a few hours. Thank you so much. Bye!"

My eyes traveled down and down and down until I was staring at a miniature Son of Athena. He only came up to my waist, and was wearing a tweed jacket and corduroy pants. He had a wide mouth and big brown eyes framed by the nerdiest looking glass I've ever seen. His blond hair was slicked back, and he had tiny upturned eyebrows.

"How do you do?" he squeaked like a roly-poly college professor. "My name is Ethan Hunter. And you must be Percy Jackson. May I come in?" I let him in wordlessly. He took off his oxford shoes and put them in one corner, and he took off his jacket and handed it to me.

Nico came out from wherever he was hiding, and stared at the smart-looking Hobbit.

"Salutations. My name is Ethan Hunter. And you are?" He held out his hand for a shake.

I shot Nico a look. He seemed to think it was absolutely hilarious whenever people asked him who he was, because he would always answer in some dirty reference to his father. Thankfully, this time he just looked stumped.

"Salutations? Is that French? Because I was going to take Spanish when I got to high school."