Summary: Desperate for a few months of being an ordinary mortal, Annabeth moves to San Francisco to study for her final year of high school. Her decision seems questionable when she clashes with her mortal classmates and memories of Tartarus plague her, but she is determined to finish her senior year at Harbour Academy.

Chapter 1

A/N: Hey readers, so this is my first ever fanfic! If you haven't already guessed, it's a PJO/HoO fanfic set after the Giant War. It will be told exclusively from Annabeth's POV, and basically anyone who attends Harbour Academy is a character of my own. Everyone else belongs to Rick Riordan. In fact, basically everything belongs to Rick Riordan!

My new bedroom reminded me of a hotel room. Recently vacuumed carpet, undecorated walls, a desk and a chair, a wardrobe with unused coathangers, empty bookcases, a bed with fresh white sheets and a nightstand complete with a lamp and a clock radio.

I stepped into the room, dropped my bags in the centre of it, and approached the window. I peered down onto the freshly mowed lawn of my dad's modern home in San Francisco; Helen was outside in a ratty blue t-shirt and jeans, pruning the line of white roses, while my step brothers were throwing a basketball at a hoop in the driveway.

I stepped away from the window and faced back to my bags; two bulging XL duffel bags and a backpack had lasted me my flight from New York. I had decided to study my senior year at a mortal high school; I wanted one last shot at being normal before I dissolved completely into the demigod world.

Of course, this hadn't settled well with everyone. Percy had suggested Goode and staying at his apartment a gazillion times, then he insisted that he come with me to San Francisco until I reminded him that he needed to look after his pregnant mother. Piper had offered to join me (her dad was shooting some new movie in the area) but then she decided she wanted to improve at her "demigod" skills and also to look out for Leo. Jason had backed Percy up until he realised my GPA-stressed-self would be even more terrifying than anything else. Hazel and Frank were fine with it, of course. In fact, I was meeting Hazel at a mall next week for a day of shopping and hanging out. And Leo was, well, dead.

I began unpacking; being a daughter of Athena strategizes everything, and I mean everything. Even for me it gets annoying when you have a strategy for things like tying shoelaces or ordering a three-course meal, but when it comes to unpacking, it becomes quite reasonable.

By the time I had finished, the bookcase was half drowned in my books, my desk was piled high with architectural items, and my wardrobe seemed to lack the extravagent mass of clothes that one would expect a teenage girl to have. Helen was going to have a fit - I just knew she would drag me to the nearest department store, demanding I have a better array if outfits to choose from.

I was right.

As soon as Helen stepped into the room (I sat cross-legged on my bed, my laptop cradled in the tangle of limbs as I looked up local equestrian clubs for Hazel) her eyes widened with horror as she saw my lack of clothes. I looked up innocently from my laptop screen. "What's wrong, Helen?"

"Annabeth," gasped Helen. "You poor girl. How do you live with a wardrobe like this?"

"Easy," I shrugged, "considering all I ever wear are shorts or jeans, boots or sneakers, and t-shirts."

"Goodness, we have to stock you up at once," said Helen. She ignored my protests as she ushered me into the car, told the boys to behave while we're gone, and then slid into the driver's seat herself. Overall, she was reminding me immensely of Aphrodite soon after the final battle with Gaea, when she 'treated' Hazel, Piper and I to a full day of spas, manicures, pedicures, massages, makeovers, facials, tea parties and two-thousand-year-old gossip.

Helen appeared to have no budget as she demanded my size, then practically dragged me in the direction of the nearest Macy's.

"I don't need new clothes," I argued.

"Nonsense," Helen replied. "Do you know how unpredictable the weather in San Francisco is?"

She was right - I knew San Francisco could be in heatwaves one day and snowing the next, but I had no idea of the temperatures or the conditions. So I followed Helen into Macy's and began the Great Battle of Annabeth's Fashion Choices.

By the time we finally reached the cashier, we had filled a trolley with four new pairs of jeans, a few pairs of tights, three pairs of shirts, a few jackets and coats, some socks and underwear, about fifteen shirts, two scarves, a beanie, a cap, a hairbrush, hair elastics, two pairs of Converse, some flip-flops and a pair of combat boots.

My eyebrows rose above my hairline when the cashier announced the price. "Helen, I can't accept -"

"Annabeth, it's been a long time since I've had the pleasure of spoiling a teenager," Helen interrupted. "Trust me, Bobby and Matthew absolutely despise having to even try on a new shirt."

I thanked her profusely, all the way back to the house. Helen only shook her head. "You know what, Annabeth, I think this is only going to be a great year."

If only I could say the same, Helen, I thought, as the unpleasant memory of Percy's refusal to be seperated arose. But I smiled politely, grabbed the shopping bags, and assured Helen I would be downstairs for dinner as soon as I called Percy.

Panic was starting to settle as I shut the door to my bedroom. I threw the shopping bags in the vague direction of the wardrobe, diving onto the bed. I saw my knuckles, ghost-white, as I drew my smartphone from the pocket of my jeans. My fingers were shaking as I tapped in the password and pulled up Percy's contact, before jabbing the blue 'Facetime' icon.

It was only a matter of moments, but it felt like an hour as the call connected. The screen opened up to reveal Seaweed Brain, my Seaweed Brain, sitting in the kitchen with a half-eaten cookie in my hand. I began to relax, but Percy saw that I was obviously distressed, so he hurried in what I assumed was his bedroom.

"Gods, Annabeth, this is exactly why I didn't want to be seperated."

My laugh was choked and half-sob. "I don't even know what came over me - I was just in the car with Helen -"

Percy's expression smouldered. "Did she say anything?" he asked, rather protectively.

"Oh, no, she was like a mortal Aphrodite," I managed. "Took me shopping and everything. And then she said something like this is going to be a great year and I thought - I thought about you and camp and remembered I won't get to see you for six weeks and it's so weird - it's like seperation anxiety, you know?"

"I've never had that," Percy deadpanned.

"Yeah, but it was like a - a flashback, but it wasn't as bad. I could function." I said. I was definitely calming down. I no longer felt hysterical, and even seeing Percy, hearing him, was healing me. He looked gorgeous as always, with his ebony bangs falling carelessly into the eyes that were my exact favourite colour, a dimple in his cheek and his jawline looking especially sharp in the dim light of his bedroom. I could vaguely see his surroundings: a blue duvet and a black pillow, a pine headboard, and his nightstand. Propped on his nightstand was his lamp and a framed picture of ... us. A blush coloured my cheeks as I remembered the exact picture.

"Why are you blushing?"

"I saw the photo on your nightstand."

Percy's head tilted to the right and holy Hera look at that jawline before looking back, smirking proudly. "I've got a second one to put in my locker," he declared. "So any idiot that says my girlfriend is 'fake' gets to see how real and absolutely beautiful she is."

I was definitely beet red. "Who taught you how to flatter a girl, Seaweed Brain?"

"Myself," winked Percy.

"Seaweed Brain, you didn't even know what dating was -"

"Annabeth!" yelled one of the boys - I was guessing it was Matthew. "Mom says it's time to eat!"

"I'll call you tomorrow," I promised.

"After dinner," Percy pleaded.

"Percy, do you know how much Facetime costs?" I glanced at the door. "I've got to go - love you."

"Love you too." Percy said immediately. Then one of us pressed 'End call' and with a beeeep the line went dead.

I rolled off the bed and straightened the bags, before slipping out of the room and downstairs, where I would be seeing my dad the first time in almost a year

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