A/N: I would like to dedicate this to my best friends: Shiely, Dana, Georgina, and Cenon. I would never exchange you guys for anything... Except maybe pizza.

It might be time for us to separate, but my heart will stay by your side. Always. Never forget me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Thalia and I had been best friends forever.

Forever started when I was 7 years old and she was 9. It didn't really start off very well. I was coloring my drawing of a building that I designed by myself. I carefully draw all the details that went in my head and it turned out perfectly, just like I had imagined. Some of my friends had actually tried to stop me and asked me to just eat lunch like every normal being does when at that time but I was so into my design that I tuned them out. The only thing that was important to me was the building and the colors I've been using.

That was when she snatched my drawing.

"Hey!" I protested as she stared at it. She was different in a lot of ways. At the age of seven, I've never seen any girl who had a short and choppy hair like hers. She wore a black shirt with a picture of a zombie Barbie on it. I could imagine the girls sitting with me move away in terror in seeing their favorite cartoon character as an extra on the Walking dead. Her blue eyes scan the details of my drawing, muttering a small hmm as she looked.

"It looks like the Empire State building." She commented

I stood up from my chair and tried to grab my drawing away from her, "Does not!"

She moved the drawing up, away from my grasp. She was a few inches taller than me so I couldn't reach it even when I started jumping. She continued staring at my drawing as she moved away from me so I couldn't reach it.

"It's definitely the Empire State building."

"Give me back my drawing."

She glanced at me and handed me my drawing back, "I like you kid. Most of them are afraid of me. You weren't afraid to stand up to me."

"I'm not afraid of you." I said

She ruffled my hair, "Of course you're not." She said "I'm Thalia, by the way and I better get going before one of those stupid Hall monitors start to think that I'm bullying you."

And just like that, she disappeared into the crowd of children who were eating lunch.

I sat back down and started to grab the crayon I was using before Thalia snatched it when one of my friends, Grover started munching on his apple loudly. It was one of his habits when he's really nervous.

"What is it Grover?" I asked

"Annabeth, that girl was Thalia Grace. The most weird and dangerous third grader in this school." He said

"She doesn't look that dangerous." I said as I looked back on my shoulder, not knowing what I was expecting to see other than a cafeteria full of children.

Grover made a bleating noise before taking a bite out of his apple, "They said that last year, she got angry with a teacher, Mrs. Figgs, giving her a detention so she electrocuted her with jumper cables."

"You're ridiculous." I told him. I looked at Silena, one of my friends," Tell him he's being ridiculous"

Silena gave me an uncomfortable look, "Sorry Annie but I have to agree with Grover on this one. Last month, Thalia was being bullied by a fifth grader who wants her pocket money and she got so angry that she charged him and managed to push him five feet away."

I stared at them incredulously, "You two are being silly. Okay first of all, you need a battery, preferably a car battery to use a jumper cable properly. And second, have you seen her? How do you think a scrawny kid like her could manage to push a fifth grader who is much bigger and stronger than her?"

The two of them shrugged, "Honestly Annabeth, do you have to question everything?" Silena asked

"Only the ones that doesn't make any sense. Now can I just finish my drawing?"

They went back to what they were doing and I turned to my drawing and noticed something I didn't noticed before Thalia saw it. It did look like the Empire State Building.

It was a week after the first time I encountered Thalia Grace. I was under the huge tree in a school playground. Silena asked Grover and I to go to the playground to stare at her long time crush, Charles Beckendorf. Grover was crippled so he couldn't play even if he wanted to, Silena didn't like playing because she didn't want to be sweaty once Beckendorf sees her and I wasn't interested in running around like other children and would prefer to just read a book so the three of us settled into sitting under a tree where we could do everything we want at the same time. Silena could stare at Beckendorf the whole time he runs around playing tag, Grover could be with the love of his life, nature and I could read books in peace.

We were having the time of our lives when I heard someone yell angrily by the swing set and noticed Thalia being surrounded by a bunch of kids who looked like her age. They were laughing at her as they yell insults at her that I couldn't comprehend at a young age. Their laughter reminded me of those evil characters I've seen in my morning cartoons. The thing that made me admire her was that she wasn't cowering in fear or standing up to fight. She was doing something that no one in our age could do. Ignore them and walk away.

Sure that option seemed too cowardly but showing that you're afraid will make them bully you more. Fighting back would only result to you getting into trouble. It was pretending that they didn't exist and showing that it didn't trouble you at all would show them that they don't have an effect on you and maybe they'll get tired and leave you alone.

A boy with an eye patch pushed Thalia which she didn't expect and she fell on the ground. The children around them laugh wickedly.

Or maybe it will only push them to do desperate things to get a reaction.

I ran towards them, dropping my book along the way. "Leave her alone! Leave her alone!" I yelled at them and pushed the eye patch boy, Ethan Nakamura, away and stood in front of Thalia, spreading out my arms to protect her from Ethan.

I never liked Ethan. I always thought of him as someone too boastful and stupid. Once, he stood on top of a cafeteria table to announce proudly that someday he'll be a one eyed pirate like he always dreamed to be. So every day, he wears the eye patch just to remind everyone of that promise. I tried telling him that pirates like that only existed a long time ago and they were only guys on speedboats who steal from other boats now like I've read in books. He told me to go away then called me an egghead.

He smirked and stood in front of me. He was also two years older so he would be taller than me, "Well, well, well... If it isn't egghead. Come here to protect your little friend?" He turned to Thalia who had already stood up behind me. I couldn't see her face but I know that she must be stunned with how a stranger like me stood up for her like that, "I didn't know you had a friend Grease, did your daddy buy her so you wouldn't be lonely? Oh that's right… You have no dad!"

Other kids laughed again. Thalia growled behind me and I knew that she would in trouble if she did something like tackle the boy so I started thinking of what I could do until I thought of something.

"That's rich coming from you Ethan. You don't even have a mom." I blurted out. I didn't even know if he really didn't have one so the insult was a long shot but judging from his cringe, I was lucky and right.

"How did you-"He trailed off, the stunned look on his face was replaced with anger, "You'll pay for that, Chase!"

He started coming towards me and I immediately remembered something my dad told me this summer.

"Remember Annabeth, what I'm about to teach you is something to be used when there's only an emergency."

I nodded enthusiastically. My dad laughed and said, "This only works on boys so you could only use it on them. So whenever there's a boy about to hurt you, remember to kick his soft spot."

"What's a soft spot?" I asked

"The spot below the belt and between your legs." He said "Hit that spot and he won't be able to hurt you but like I told you-"

"Only on emergencies" We said together

I could see it all happen in slow motion, like in a movie when the bad guy and the good guy fight. There's this epic slow motion you'll experience before it completely happen. Before he could even come too close, I raised my leg and my foot hit the exact spot my father told me. He crumbled in pain and touched the spot before dropping on the ground. Everything fell silent; they stared at him then at me before cheering and left.

The only ones left was Ethan, Thalia, and me. Silena and Grover walked towards me with a worried expression on their faces, "Oh my God! Annabeth, that was so cool and terrifying. How did you do that?" Silena asked

At the same time, Grover said "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I said before turning to Thalia, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." She replied "You didn't have to do that; your perfect record would get tarnished."

I winced but just shrugged to show her that I don't care, "I don't care."

"Well thanks. No one had stood up for me like that before."

"No problem. Let's just bring Ethan to the nurse's office before he starts bawling." I said

We carried Ethan who was in great pain to the nurse's office (All of us except for Grover who can't). He was surprisingly light for a big kid like him. Silena was someone who didn't like silence, she's someone who can chatter for four hours straight and not even break a sweat so I wasn't surprised when she asked Thalia along the way, "Is it true that electrocuted Mrs. Figgs with jumper cables?"

Thalia laughed, "I resent that fact. Mrs. Figgs electrocuted herself by plugging her radio with wet hands. I don't know who started that jumper cables business but you know what, it makes me sound like a bad ass."

It was the start of a new friendship. We didn't talk about being friends at all, it just sort of happened.

A/N: Hi! Did you like it? I hope you do. I apologize for my spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes. Please Fave and Follow this story and leave a review here.