-ANNABETH-

"No way. Not happening" I hardened my face attempting not to give in to the puppy dog eyes my best friend was throwing at me.

"Annie, its just two days and its so much fun!" Thalia latched onto my arm. It was clear she wouldn't be letting up anytime soon. I sighed "Why don't you go have a super fun time with Nico and Luke and tell me all about it after then?" She groaned and flopped onto the bed next to me, "but I want to go WITH you. Thats the whole point!" I rolled my eyes and opened my laptop. "We have summer homework Thals" I pointed out. I pulled up Auto CAD in a futile attempt to get some work done.

"Annabeth. Look me in the eyes and tell me that you didn't finish the summer homework the week we got out." She stared at me expectantly. I looked up from my laptop and tried to reply, but I was cut short. "Don't even try to lie to me. Luke's uncle got the tickets for us for free, they have bands you'll like, its literally two days, and I already asked Frederick and he said its fine. You have no excuses."

I winced. There went my back up defense. "I can't believe you asked my dad" I muttered. She cocked her head and reverted back to the puppy dog eyes. My resolve finally snapped. "Okay fine, I'll go." I said and was immediately hug tackled. "ITS GONNA BE SO FUN" she shrieked.

Oh god what had I gotten myself into?

Three nights later I found myself staring at my closet while Thalia pilfered through my drawers. "Hey Thals, can you read me the checklist again?" I called over my shoulder. She dropped the shirt she was holding and cocked her head "Don't you have memorized by now?" I just glared. After a 3 second stare down she groaned and grabbed my notebook.

"Sunscreen" she called. I glanced at the bed, "check."

"Hair ties" "check"

"Sunglasses" "check"

"Water bottle" "check"

"Condoms" "shut up"

"Cash" "check"

"Chapstick, mints, and hand sanitizer" "check, check, and check"

"Its like you're packing for the damn apocalypse" she muttered. "Yeah well don't come crying to me when you're all sunburnt and dehydrated" I teased. "Yeah whatever". I turned away and continued scanning my closet. "I still have no clue what I want to wear" I sighed. Thalia jumped up"I can dress you!" All I could do was pray for minimal damage as she started ripping various articles of clothing out of my closet.

A few minutes and plenty of destruction later, she pulled out a silver one piece swim suit she had bought me months ago and some high waisted black shorts. "Problem solved" she smiled at me victoriously, glancing at the clock. "And now that thats settled I better get back home. I'll be here at 9:00 with glitter." She announced, hugging me and saying a quick goodbye before grabbing her phone and skipping out of my room. As I began to pick up the mess she had made, I listened to her fading footsteps and a muffled greeting to my dad and step mom. Despite myself, I was a little excited for tomorrow.

-PERCY-

I had planned on doing absolutely nothing today. Honestly, I was pretty excited to have the day to just relax, but, sadly, the universe was not on my side. I woke up at 9:30 to a call from my friend Travis.

"Dude, I've got awesome news" he chattered excitedly. "It's 9:30 in the morning, Travis." I groaned. "Just listen to what I have to say before you get pissy." I conceded, "fine." I sat up and flicked on my light as he began. "So my boss got me and Connor 3 tickets to summer fest, and, since you'll be joining us at Goode in next month, we thought it would make a wicked welcome gift." I nearly flipped out of bed.

"Holy shit like summer fest today summer fest? Like the one I've been talking about for months?" Travis laughed on the other end of the phone, "Yeah man, that one. And you're getting there for free, so get your ass in gear, get dressed and we'll pick you up in an hour." I fumbled with the phone, "Yeah. Yeah. Ok. Yeah. Uh I'll see you then!" I stuttered. I ran downstairs and slid into the kitchen.

"MomTravisandConnorinvitedmetogotofreepressandtheyhaveafreeticketformeandeverythingandtheyllbehereinanhourcanIpleasego?" She snickered at my nonstop sentence. "Sure, but make sure to take some sunscreen and a water bottle." I screeched and crushed her in a hug. "Thank you thank you thank you" I sang and kissed her on the cheek before racing back upstairs. Holy shit was I excited.

-ANNABETH-

Thalia strutted into the bag check line at the festival, her black hair blowing slightly behind her shoulders, her boots striking the pavement powerfully, and her electric blue eyes shining with excitement. She looked like a punk masterpiece. I fidgeted with my backpack straps and trailed behind her, trying not to call any unwanted attention to myself. Usually, I was fine with big crowds or hectic situations because I felt like I could maintain some element of control, but as the security guard went through the contents of my bag, I realized how out of my element I was. This crowd was enormous and unpredictable. I didn't know anyones age or background, and most people were wearing very similar clothes (or lack thereof) so analyzing them based on their manner of dress was out of the question. My mind went into overdrive as I trotted after Thalia into the actual festival.

We wandered around looking at all the different stages and vendors, familiarizing ourselves with the layout of the park. Thalia stopped to grab ice-cream and I laughed as she fussed at the worker for forgetting her sprinkles. She simply glared at me in return.

At around 11:30 I got a text from Luke letting us know that he and Nico were arriving so we waded back through the sea of Hawaiian shirts, crop tops, and flash tats to the front gate. I scanned the wave of people entering before zeroing in on a tall blonde head and a shorter dark haired one. I stood on my toes and waved my arms hoping to catch their eye, but Thalia's method of screeching their names seemed to be most effective. They jogged over and I was immediately enveloped in a bone crushing hug.

"Luke I can't breathe" I choked, but he just laughed and squeezed me tighter. "Hows my favorite little braniac?" He asked, thankfully releasing me. I pulled Nico into a hug before he could escape "I'm doing pretty well." Nico groaned when I ruffled his hair. I looked up to see Luke sauntering up behind Thalia and plucking her phone out of her hand. "Luke I need that" she growled, jumping up trying to reach it. Luke just smiled and held it slightly out of her reach. He began to take selfies, and Nico and I laughed as we watched Thalia wrestle her phone away from him. "I really missed you guys" I giggled.

For the past two weeks Luke had been off in Europe on his last adventure before he had to leave for UCLA. Nico had gone on a trip to New York with his dad to go "experience the culture", which basically consisted of Hades dragging him around from art museum to art museum to fancy store to fancy restaurant etc. It really was not Nico's scene.

"You still have to tell us all about your trip" I reminded Nico. Luke had dutifully FaceTimed me every other night to tell me about all the architecture he was getting to see, but Nico only communicated by text and I had to text first. "Don't worry I took a bunch of pictures of the skyline and the different buildings for you" he reassured me. I smiled and squeezed his shoulders, "you know me too well" I laughed, pulling him forward to catch up to Luke and Thalia who were already quarreling up ahead.