*DISCLAIMER*

I do not own any of the Percy Jackson genius written by Rick Riordan J

"Annabeth Chase!" She flinched at the sound of her mother's irritated tone. Annabeth knew exactly what this was about; it was in every magazine and newspaper across the country. And it was all about her.

She quickly marked her page in the current book she was reading and descended the stairs to the main level of her family's penthouse. Sitting behind the large white granite island of their kitchen was Annabeth's mother with a magazine flipped open to a huge article about…the thing. The pictures only made it worse.

"Yes Mom?" Annabeth innocently inquired, nervously pulling her orange tank top a little farther down and biting her lip anxiously.

"What is this?" Annabeth glanced at the article trying hard not to scowl at the awful pictures of her and a guy desperately tangled up in a club. The strobe lights seemed to shine right on the pair just as the picture was taken. She glanced up at her mom and swallowed.

"Uh…um…well you see-"

"There is no 'you see', I can see just perfectly Annabeth! I can see this is you and a boy who is not a son of the company!" At the mention of the company, Annabeth grimaced and rolled her eyes. The all-powerful, super successful technology company that belonged to a group of twelve super powerful people that were obsessed with keeping everything within the 'family': Andromeda. She was tired of hearing how she was forbidden to work anywhere else or be with anyone else that wasn't a son of one of the founders of the company. She was tired of all the attention that it brought to her. Annabeth knew the real reason the press was so involved in her life though.

She was one of over 25 children. All from her mother, Athena. All from different fathers. And almost all from a lab in a secretive place located in California. Annabeth was the very first test tube baby. It gave each and every co-president of the company the ability to produce a large family in short amounts of time. That way the children could take over. It would always be a 'family business'. Annabeth hated the fact that she was the first. It made her Athena's favorite daughter. She was the only child who lived with her in the massive penthouse located in the heart of New York City. She was also the one who had the most expected of her. She was expected to be the smartest. She was expected to be a role-model. She was expected to follow in the footsteps of Athena and the other members of her family.

"Mom-"

"No!" The rest of the lecture was drowned out. Annabeth caught the word 'family' and scoffed. There really wasn't a family. It was a group of 12 very powerful adults. They had all met in college, became a close group of friends, changed their names to match eachother's and created Andromeda. Each child was supposed to call them their Aunts and Uncles. Uncle Zeus, Aunt Hera, Uncle Poseidon, Aunt Demeter, Aunt Athena (or Mom), Uncle Ares, Aunt Artemis, Uncle Apollo, Aunt Aphrodite, Uncle Hephaestus, Uncle Dionysus and Uncle Hermes. All with names of the big shot Greek gods.

"You are going to camp." The sentence snapped Annabeth out of her thoughts.

"What?"

"This is the third time this has happened. It is ruining the company's reputation!" Athena exclaimed, her voice rising.

"That doesn't mean I have to go to camp!" Annabeth shouted. Anything but camp, she thought. Athena took a deep breath and fixed her piercing grey eyes on her daughter's.

"It will remind you of the family's best interests. It has been too long since you have seen any of them. A summer there won't kill you."

"Wanna bet?" Annabeth mumbled.

"Excuse me? You know what? Never mind, you are leaving tomorrow morning. Get packed."

"Yes mother," she said and stalked off to her floor. Just as she was entering through the doorway to her large loft, she saw her mother straighten her navy blue blazer, smooth down the soft fabric of her matching skirt and walk off to her office, her white pumps clicking against the dark wood floors all the way.

Annabeth crossed the large sitting room, her luxurious bathroom and the study overlooking the city landscape of Manhattan before arriving at the double doors that opened to her balcony. A gulp of fresh air wouldn't hurt, she thought as she moved to stand and peer over the stainless steel railing. She drummed her fingers absently, hating that she couldn't do anything. Hating that she had gotten caught not once, not twice, but three times. Hating being part of one of the most gossiped families in the world. Hating…camp.

Annabeth had been able to avoid camp for the past two years successfully. Now those two years were catching up to her. There was just something about being around people you don't particularly like all summer that didn't appeal to her. Then the fact that everyone will be watching you to see who you are going to be with by the end of the summer. Annabeth was turning 18 in two months; by this point, everyone was expecting you to find a guy and get serious. She had a thought about who everyone thought it was going to be two years ago before she pushed it out of her mind with a grimace. It was bad enough that she had to go to camp again. There wasn't any point in thinking about him.

Annabeth stood on her balcony for about an hour, letting the cool afternoon breeze blow her blonde curls around her face and breathing in the smoggy New York air. Then she called her best friend, Thalia. She happened to be Uncle Zeus's only daughter, but she was a feisty girl. The thought of seeing her at camp made Annabeth feel a little better. A little.

"Thalia."

"Annabeth!" Thalia's voice blared from the phone making Annabeth wince and hold it a little farther from her aching eardrum. "What's up?" She was silent for a moment before it tumbled out.

"I'm going to camp."Silence.

"What?" Disbelief was evident in Thalia's voice.

"Mom's forcing me to go after…after-"

"Dylan?" Thalia questioned, even though she already knew. "I knew she would find out about that tall, dark, and handsome piece of man!" Annabeth grimaced.

"Don't refer to him like that. Please. Besides I'm trying to get him out of my mind," she responded.

"Oh, believe me, I'm still trying…" Thalia said; Annabeth could practically hear the smirk on her face. Annabeth groaned.

"Enough about him. Did you not hear me before? I. Am going. To camp."

"You know, it isn't that big of a deal, Annabeth."

"Not that big of a deal?! Nooooo, not at all! I just have to spend a summer in the one place I want to forget. With the one person I would like to forget! Thalia! I'm screwed!" Annabeth's voice had risen immensely by now, and she had to shut the doors to her bedroom to prevent anyone from hearing her.

"Annabeth, you will be fine. You can simply ignore him the entire time. It'll be fun!" She scoffed.

"Fun? It's a small camp that I will be stuck in. I can't leave. All summer. And I have to spend it in a cabin with a bunch of half-brothers and sisters that all hate me for being the favorite! All summer. And Mom and all of our Aunts and Uncles will be expecting me to be with someone by the end of the summer. As in a serious relationship with someone. I don't want to be intimate with anyone there." Just as Thalia was preparing to comment, Annabeth interrupted her harshly. "And I mean no one." Thalia sighed.

"Well, you have to suck it up. I'm on my way over to help you pack. We are leaving tomorrow," and with that, Thalia hung up leaving Annabeth frustrated and angsty. She stalked inside and threw her phone against the padded headboard of her bed. It bounced off and hit the floor.

"Shit," she muttered before going and inspecting the phone for any cracks. Thankfully, it had landed on the Caribbean Blue rug on her white marble floor so the phone remained unscathed. From her spot on the floor, she leaned back until she was lying on the plush blue rug and staring at the spotless white of her ceiling. She reached out and smoothed her fingertips over the fabric. Her eyes traveled to the sparkling crystals that dripped from her chandelier like frozen water.

"I'm going to miss these luxuries," Annabeth murmured.

"GET UP!" Annabeth bolted upright. The first thing she saw was piercing blue eyes. Thalia. "I leave you alone for 20 minutes and you fall asleep. On the rug, I might add," Thalia teased, gripping Annabeth's hands and pulling her to her feet. She smoothed her hands over her tangle of hair before being pulled to her closet. She groaned. "Time to pack!" Thalia sang, pulling Annabeth's set of luggage from its corner in the massive walk-in-closet.

"Can't you just do it for me?" Annabeth asked tiredly. She caught Thalia looking at her with a growing excitement in her eyes. Alarm filled Annabeth's grey ones. "Forget that." Thalia pouted.

"If you pack it will all be boring! We have to pack things that will catch the eyes of all the boys!" She exclaimed.

"So basically you want to pack me the sluttiest things I own?" Annabeth reasoned.

"No…maybe…"

"And that is why I am the one packing," Annabeth laughed and plopped herself down on the mahogany wood that served as the floor to her closet.

"Fine," Thalia grumbled.

The girls took at least four hours packing Annabeth's things. Two of those four hours were spent arguing about what was going into Annabeth's suitcases. By the end of it, Annabeth suspected Thalia had thrown in a few unapproved things but she didn't bother going through all seven bags. All she wanted to do was go out. And party. When mentioning her desires to Thalia, she got a negative response.

"Annabeth, you can't do something stupid again." Thalia chose her words carefully, trying not to anger her best friend.

"I won't! Besides, I'm practically losing my freedom after tonight anyway. Please, Thalia," she begged. In the end, Thalia couldn't resist. They left the penthouse in glittering dresses, dark make-up, and stilettos that clicked against the pavement as they walked down to the street to climb into the family's limo.

"Where to Miss Chase?" the driver asked.

"240 West 52nd Street." She replied before having him roll up the divider. Then she turned to Thalia. "We are going to Touch."