Camp Half-Blood, Sophomore Summer, 2016

Day One

Annabeth had no idea what she was doing at this camp. Her friend Piper had gone there her entire life and had begged Annabeth to be in the CIT program with her. Annabeth had agreed to go for God-only-knows-crazy reasons and it had only just occurred to her that she would be stuck there for seven weeks. She had no idea what she was doing. She'd had a terrible year. Her father had picked up and moved them to New York from California to be with his witch new wife. She was sickeningly sweet to Annabeth when her dad was around but completely ignored her when he wasn't. She liked Piper and her boyfriend, Jason, but she hadn't made many other friends. Piper and Jason were constantly going to parties with their camp friends from Goode High School, but she had so much to catch up on that she always declined their invitations. Maybe that's why she came to camp. Their Goode friends sounded so fun and vibrant.

Annabeth picked up her phone and saw that it was almost 7:30 and she had to head to dinner. She threw on a pair of black leggings and a long band tee that she had artfully ripped up. She threw her curly blonde hair up in a ponytail that brushed her mid back. She was still finding her way around camp and Piper had ditched her, undoubtedly to hook up with Jason in the woods, so she began walking and prayed that she would end up at the dining hall. She saw a large group of the younger campers walking back from a large building so she started walking towards it. She and the other counselors had dinner during the last shift and orientation right after where they would get their assignments.

Annabeth walked in and spotted Piper and Jason sitting at a table with several others, waving her over. She hurried over and swung her leg over the paint splattered wooden bench and settled herself next to Piper.

"Everyone," Piper declared, embarrassingly loudly, "this is Annabeth Chase. She's the one who we always invite but refuses to leave the house."

"Piper!" Annabeth hissed. " You're going to make them think I'm lame."

"But you are lame there's no reason to mislead them. And they'll learn to love you inspite of it, just the way we did."

Piper pointed to a pretty girl with curly hair and beautifully tan skin and said "This is Hazel Levesque. She keeps us all from getting kicked out. And that," she said, pointing to the Asian guy, "is Frank. He dates Hazel and we keep him around because he does stupid stuff and it's funny." She jerked her thumb at a boy with slightly pointy ears and an air of trouble around him. "He's Leo. I don't know why we keep him around."

The last person at the table let out a snort. Annabeth hadn't noticed him at first. He was pretty cute, if you overlooked the gangliness of a guy who hadn't grown into his height yet. His arms were skinny, but looked powerful.

"And he needs no introduction."

It suddenly dawned on Annabeth that this must be Percy. Piper had been desperate to set them up on a date but Annabeth refused. She didn't have time for a boy. A fling, maybe, but nobody who was going to need attention that she had to give to other things. A boyfriend meant commitment and texting and dates. It meant time and potential heartbreak. There was no room for that in Annabeth's life.

"Why don't I need an introduction?" He said, his voice incredulous.

"Because I've told her all about you." Piper said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh jeez Pipes, you didn't tell her about the sunburn, did you?"

"No, but I should have."

Day Two

Annabeth had no idea how she had gotten so lucky. She was assigned the camp infirmary. By the end of the summer she would be first aid and CPR certified, and they told her that if she learned quickly she would be able to treat minor injuries in a couple weeks with little help from her supervisor. Hazel had also been assigned to the infirmary and they found that they had a perfect view of Frank, who was assigned to sports, being harangued by Coach Hedge, the tiny, yet unbelievably strong head of sports.

They laughed as they packaged first aid kits to be kept in the bunks, bonding over their fear for the upcoming junior year. As they packed their last kit, the wood and screen door banged open, and Percy walked in, half carrying a camper. Percy was in lifeguard training, and Annabeth knew that he was a competitive swimmer and basketball player for Goode, so his certification couldn't be far off. The camper he was half carrying looked to be about eight years old with a makeshift bandage wrapped around his leg, blood soaking through. Annabeth and Hazel jumped up, and Annabeth grabbed a chair while Hazel ran to get their supervisor.

"What happened?" Annabeth asked, looking up at Percy, trying to keep her eyes solely on his face.

"He tripped lakeside and scraped his leg on one of the rocks. We rinsed it off with clean water and put on a bandage but it kept bleeding so I brought him here."

Hazel returned with the supervisor and she helped the little boy into one of He examination rooms to clean him up. Hazel went to get him a drink, leaving Percy and Annabeth alone in the waiting area, with only therumbling wound of the air conditioning unit to break the uncomfortable silence.

"So..." Annabeth said, shifting from foot to foot. "How has your first day been so far?"

"Not bad." He replied, smiling. "Not bad."

Day Sixteen

Percy and Annabeth had steadily grown closer over the first weeks at camp. He had an awesome sense of humor and was way smarter than people seemed to give him credit for. He told he that his first stepdad had sucked but his current one was one of the best people he knew. The way he lit up when he talked about how happy his mom was made Annabeth flutter a little inside. He made free time bearable because she had someone to talk to and laugh with while Piper and Jason and Frank and Hazel were all off canoodling with their respective partners and Leo was doing God-knows-what in the wood shop. They developed inside jokes that pissed everyone else off to no end.

He hadn't made a move on her. Annabeth was totally inexperienced with boys, but she was pretty sure that he liked her as more than a friend, yet he hadn't made a move. Piper insisted that he was shy and Hazel said that he was waiting for the right moment, but Annabeth was sick of waiting. She was willing to let go of her "no boyfriends" rule for Percy. She was willing to do whatever it took. He just made her feel so amazing. It didn't hurt that he was cute and Annabeth was desperate for her first kiss.

She could wait. It would happen eventually. She was sure.

Day Thirty

Annabeth was getting really antsy. She and Percy had gotten even closer, spending every free minute together and he still hadn't asked her out. This wa more than just shyness and it was definitely the right moment. She was beginning to doubt herself. Maybe he didn't like her.

Piper had volunteered to ask, but Annabeth didn't want her to. She wanted Percy to ask her out because he liked her, not because of pressure from her friends. The CIT trip to the state fair was coming up quickly and she was hoping that he would walk around with her, win her a cheap stuffed animal, and kiss her with his mouth tasting like powdered sugar from funnel cakes. There was still a chance. There had to be.

Day Forty Four

He hadn't asked her. There were no giant pandas and funnel cake kisses in store for her. Those were for Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the girl he did ask to hang out with at the fair. He left Annabeth alone with Leo while he walked off with Rachel, her curly red hair swishing in the light breeze. Annabeth got it. She really did. Rachel was interesting and artsy and went to the same private school as Percy. Her dad was rich and she wore nice clothes that fit her well and showed off a nice body. Annabeth was just his friend.

She got it, but she wished she didn't.