Those lies
A/N: Hello, I'm Aileen and this is my first FF on this website. Please read and review. Critisism also welcomed. Don't mind flames. I don't own PJO, Rick Riordan does.
She commands her frozen fingers to keep tying knot after knot on the fabric with her treasures inside. Just a couple of photos, but her dearest possessions.
A sudden knock on the door makes her jump. Is it her father? How could he possibly know about her motives? That has to be impossible, right?
"Annie!" The cheerful toddler voices snaps her back to reality. Of course, it's just Bobby.
She decides to let him in. After all, he is the only one she has no problems with in her seven years of life. More reasons to run away.
"What are you doing?" Her step brother bounces in, then takes notice of all of her stuff spread out on her bed. "Are you going to a place?"
It hurts, she admit. She would not react so emotionally to her step-mother, or even her own father. But the idea of breaking it to innocent, sweet Bobby is unbearable.
She slings her backpack over one shoulder, hugs Bobby, then waves a final goodbye as he goes back downstairs to play with Mathew. "I'm coming back tomorrow, I promise."
(She promised, she lied)
x-x-x
"How about thee, girl?" She stares into the huntress's sparkling eyes. The huntress - who introduces herself as Zoë Nightshade - smiles at her. Not as warm as she would like it to be, but a smile that states they are on the same side. "Thou is young, but I see a lot of potential in thee."
She catches Luke's eye from the other side of the forest. He mouths one word - no.
"Do I have to leave Luke?" She questions. Zoë purses her lips.
"It is the oath to turn thee back from all boys, young one."
It's a horrifying thought - she can't live without Luke. And she isn't about to. All her respect for Zoë and her pack fades away.
"No way!" She yells in a high pitched scream. "I am not going to leave Luke!"
The hunters are already moving away from her and grilling Thalia instead. She immediately rushes over to a nodding Luke.
"Luke! They were making me leave you!" If it isn't for the large group of girls hanging around, she would have burst into tears and wait for Luke to hug her and comfort her, making up reasons it will be alright like he always does.
"You never thought of joining, right?" Luke asks, as they walk to the tents together so they can sneak a better look at Thalia.
She hesitates for a moment. She almost, truly did. The thought of Zoë trusting an eight year old to join them, knowing she isn't the weak link really got to her.
"Never!" She responds.
(She convinced, she lied)
x-x-x
Thalia pants heavily, gasping for breath she lost during the monster attack - where she single-handedly held up Luke, Grover and herself so they could make it to safety.
Everyone starts to cry. She grabs onto Thalia's arm, already mourning for her lost best friend. She did not let go until Thalia stops moving, and her breath weakens until it fades to nothing.
"You'd better all get some sleep. We will have a shroud burning ceremony for Thalia tomorrow." Chiron breaks into the long-lasting silence. "Annabeth, Luke, I'll arrange sleeping bags for you in the Hermes cabin."
That night she cries herself to sleep, her mind playing back over all the painful yet happy memories where it has just been her best friends and her on the long run. It seems like forever before the next morning arrives. She realizes she barely got 2 hours of sleep.
"Annabeth, are you alright?" Chiron asks as she steps out of cabin eleven. They both wait for Luke so they can take a tour around camp. The centaur seems gentle, yet the best she can do is to choke back more tears. They never seem to run out.
"I'm fine." She forces herself to say.
(She cried, she lied)
Enjoy. Opinions?