I don't own PJO or Hyperion or Disney or anything!
Annabeth POV:
"Hello?" I picked up my cell phone.
"Hey, Wise Girl."
I smiled. Percy. Of course. But why was he calling now?
"What's up, Seaweed Brain? In case you didn't know, most normal people would be sleeping this time of day."
"Well," he said, "I thought that you would know by now, we aren't 'normal people'."
I laughed and heard Percy laugh on the other end of the line too.
"So, seriously, Percy, why'd you call?" I glanced at my watch. It was 4:15 AM. Don't ask why I was up.
"Chiron sent an Iris message. He wanted us to get something for him and bring it back to camp."
"Do you think that it's something dangerous?" I asked, a slight note of panic in my voice.
"I don't think so," Percy replied. "Why? Afraid?" He snickered.
"Shut up, Seaweed Brain."
"Sorry, sorry," he said, pretending to be afraid. I could tell he was smiling though.
"It's fine. But where did Chiron say this package was?"
"At some academy in New Hampshire."
"Academy in New Hampshire? You mean, the package could be a person?"
"Yeah, but it could be a monster."
I rolled my eyes. Percy was my best friend and my kind-of boyfriend, but he could be so dumb sometimes.
"Percy, do you think that Chiron would want us to bring a monster to a place that tries to keep monsters away?"
"Well," Percy muttered. "he could. . ."
I laughed. "Sure. Which academy?"
"Clarion, I think."
"Hey, isn't that the place Rachel goes to?" Rachel Elizabeth Dare, I meant. She was a mortal who had landed herself in our lives two years ago when we discovered that she could see through the Mist, a magical substance that kept humans from seeing things like monsters. She had proved herself by throwing a blue plastic hairbrush at Kronos, the Titan Lord, and I honestly was a bit jealous of her at the time. But now, she's one of my closest friends.
"Yeah. The place her dad made her go to."
"Cool. Well, Seaweed Brain, you might wanna blow up this phone after I hang up, because it's pretty dangerous."
"Don't think I don't know, Annabeth. I'll meet you outside my apartment in fifteen minutes?"
"Sure."
"Okay, see you then."
"Bye."
"Bye."
After I hung up the phone, I tiptoed into the bathroom and started brushing my curly blonde hair. I had gotten it cut a few days ago because my stepmom and father insisted I look more mature; the hairdresser said that it was "layered", whatever that meant. I also changed from my white t-shirt to a dark blue shirt that my stepmom had got me.
What? I kind of wanted to look nice. It was Percy, after all. I had always liked him, and up until last year, I couldn't admit my feelings. He was good-looking, and courageous, and had a good sense of humor, and—
Snap out of it, Annabeth. Just get ready, and go. Percy should be waiting for you.
But that thought didn't stop my heart from leaping with joy.