Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns all the rights to Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus. I am simply creating a work for enjoyment, and no copyright infringements are meant.

Rating: K+

Author's Note: This is my first multi-chapter PJ fanfic in a while, so be kind, please :) This story will be in Annabeth's POV, and will, of course, be Percabeth :) Updates every Sunday, I hope. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Annabeth closes her biology book with a sigh, shoving it away from her. Usually she loves to learn, but today the words are just swimming around uselessly, not making any sense. The more she reads it the more fried her brain becomes, and she really needs a change of scenery.

Her house is a pretty cozy place; antique war mementos line every available shelf space (courtesy of her father's World War I and World War II obsession) and countless books from countless genres and time periods lie in stacked piles in every corner. A stone fireplace sits in the center of the room, ashes swirling in it from the previous year's winter (it's more for decoration than use, but the winter temperatures had dipped a dozen degrees below freezing point, so her mom had cheerfully started a fire). Worn leather couches surround the fireplace, facing towards the large, flat-screen TV above it. A coffee table with a small vase of flowers sits in the middle, the bright orange and red flowers adding colour to the brown and green room.

Still, on this day she is ready for a change of scenery. Annabeth heads out to her garage and digs out her bike, a bag of books slung over her shoulder. She's not sure where she's going to go, but she needs to get out.

Her phone in her pocket rings before she can get her feet on the peddle, and seeing that her friend Hazel Levesque is the one trying to reach her, she answers.

"Hey, Annabeth," the girl says. "Are you busy right now?"

"No," Annabeth replies. "Why?"

"There's an old jewelry auction in the town over, and I was wondering if you could cover my shift at the shop today."

Annabeth smiles faintly to herself. Hazel has three loves in the world: art, animals, and jewelry. "Not a problem, Hazel. I'll be right over."

"Thanks. I owe you a million."

Annabeth hangs up and slides her phone into her pocket again before pumping her bike. The shop that she and Hazel work at is across town, but considering how small their town is, it should only take about fifteen minutes to get there.

They live in a small town on the east coast of the US in North Carolina. Most of the other beach residences along the ocean are crowded and full of vacationers, but not them. Their town is called Coral Reef, and that's exactly why they don't get very many visitors—the beach is rocky instead of sandy, and there's so many reefs that it's painful to swim in the ocean. The only visitors they get are Marine Biologists or other ocean scientists. In fact, there's a whole section of beach tied off just for the local scientists to study.

The town does have a tourism draw, though; in order to get to Myrtle Beach—one of the most famous beaches in the world—from the north, you have to drive through Coral Reef. The town has a large gas station with a restaurant attached to the side—Ocean Side Diner. It's more of a burger, fries, and shake place than a restaurant, but it's a pretty popular place for the town teens and the passing through tourists to stop at. On the weekends Annabeth and her friends often hang out there, watching the visitors passing through and gossiping about school.

Annabeth hops off her bike in the back parking lot of the shop. It lies right across from the famous gas station on the one strip of road in the town that actually gets traveled on by motor vehicles. Because the town is so small most people bike everywhere, and rarely do you see a family that has more than one car. All the roads in Coral Reef have bike lanes and sidewalks alongside them, but you can basically use the road to bike on since barely anyone drives. Elderly people often have golf carts that they use the road for.

Like any beach town, there are palm trees and sand everywhere (except the beach, that is). The ocean water that lies just past the Ocean Side Diner gleams a beautiful turquoise colour, and seagulls fly around everywhere (and poop everywhere). The air is muggy but not too hot, and a cool, salty-smelling breeze is constantly rippling through the town, creating an almost perfect atmosphere.

All that beauty disappears as soon as she steps into the shop, however. She's greeted with the sound of chirping birds, mewling kittens, barking dogs, hamster wheels turning, and the gorgeous smell of animal poop.

"Hey, Annabeth," Silena greets her as she enters. Silena is a beautiful young woman who is studying at the college in the next town over. Her fiancé, Beckendorf, is the town mechanic. Even though he's only a sophomore in college he's the best the town has ever had, with maybe the exception of his younger half-brother, Leo.

Why Silena is working in a dump like this, Annabeth has no idea. Maybe it's because she has a way with both people and animals, her words soft-spoken but meaningful, her voice gentle and caring. Not to mention how she seems to be good at taking messy things and sorting them out into nice, neat messes.

"Hey," Annabeth replies. "I'm taking Hazel's shift today."

"Is she alright?" Silena asks, pulling up her long, thick black hair into a ponytail.

"Yeah, she just went to an auction in the other town." Annabeth pulls on a logo apron, Coral Reef Pets embroidered on it with red lettering. She immediately signs into to the log book before heading off to feed the animals.

"How're your studies going?" Silena inquires, emptying out the cash register of all the large bills.

"Not bad. Still keeping up my four-point, though biology is frying my brain today. I need to find somewhere to study it, somewhere nice with no distractions. Doesn't help that my teacher is completely incompetent." Annabeth changes the filters on the fish tanks as she speaks.

"Mrs. Dodds is your teacher?" Annabeth nods, and Silena smiles. "I remember her. She's like ninety but still wears leather jackets and skinny jeans, like she's right out of Grease or something. Don't worry, I bet you'll do fine."

Annabeth laughs a little at the allusion, trying to imagine Mrs. Dodds smoking and drinking behind the school football field. "I hope so, too."

Silena is silent for a few minutes as the two work, then she frowns. "Charlie said he went exploring the other day, and he found a hidden beach. It's surrounded by the forest, but if you go to the dead end of Lincoln street you might be able to find a path to it."

"A hidden beach?" Annabeth questions.

"Yeah. Apparently it actually has sand, which is a first for around here, and the coral reefs aren't as expansive as the rest of the place. If you want a quiet place to study you should check it out."

"Why don't more people go there?" A hidden beach. Sounds too good to be true, especially in this little town that Annabeth has lived in her whole life.

"There's a legend," Silena replies. "Something about this old hermit that guards the place. He only lets in certain people who are 'worthy' or whatever. Probably isn't anything meaningful, though. Just a myth to scare the locals and tourists out. Between you and me, I think it's safe, considering Charlie is perfectly fine."

"Or maybe he's just worthy," Annabeth suggests in a teasing tone. Silena laughs, then heads to the back of the shop.

At five they begin to close down the shop, cleaning out the pet cages for the night and mopping the floor. Silena wipes the counter while Annabeth logs them out, and the two of them lock the shop behind them. "You have a shift tomorrow?" Silena asks.

"No," Annabeth answers. "I have the week off. Finals are coming up, so I need to study. Plus I now have to go check out that hidden beach of yours."

"Have fun, and good luck on the finals," Silena offers, and Annabeth mounts her bike to go home.

Both of her parents are already home by the time she makes it there. Annabeth washes up and changes, then they sit down to eat dinner together. Her mom talks animatedly about her next building project—her mom is an architect, just like what Annabeth wants to be someday—and her dad talks about the new World War II exhibit in the museum. Both of them work in the next town over, leaving Annabeth most of the day to herself.

"How was your day like?" her dad asks. Annabeth brightens up a little.

"After school I took over Hazel's shift at the shop, and while I was there I talked with Silena. She mentioned a cool place to study, so I'm going to check that out tomorrow."

"Biology still troubling you?" her mom questions. Annabeth nods.

"Ah, she'll do well," her dad assures them. "She always does."

Later that night as Annabeth does the dishes she can't help but smile, her father's words echoing in her mind. She knows her parents will always be there to support her, and she's so happy for it.

Some of her friends, like Hazel, Piper, and Reyna, don't have such good parents. Reyna actually lives on her own, Hazel lives with her brother, and Piper's dad is always busy with work. But Annabeth's parents love and support her no matter what.

She's the luckiest girl in the world.