I angrily walk into the rec room, where everyone seems to be waiting for me, idly hanging around the table, doing absolutely nothing. Thalia's absentmindedly playing with little flashes of electricity which spark along her palm. Katie Gardner has a flower in her hand, morphing it into different kinds in just a couple of seconds. Malcolm's face is in a book, reading vigorously, which he does when he's bored and has nothing to do. Clarisse, the Stoll brothers, and Nico di Angelo are talking silently amongst themselves.
Doing absolutely nothing. Needless to say, this infuriates me.
"What are you doing? You need to be helping me search for Percy! We haven't even touched California yet!" I practically scream at all of them. They shift uncomfortably. Thalia's spark dies in her hand. Malcolm closes his book and refuses to meet my eyes. Katie lets the flower evaporate into nothing and looks nervously at Travis. He and his brother stay quiet for once, along with Clarisse and Nico.
"You guys!" I shout again, waiting for them to get up and start helping me. "A-Annabeth, please." Katie says softly. Without meaning to, I shoot her an angry glance and she cringes and looks away. I regret it instantly. I sigh and try to apologize. "Katie, listen, I-I'm sorry. I've been really worried and-" Suddenly, I just can't take it, like all the overwhelming feelings of fear, worry and extreme stress just washed over me in that moment, drowning me until I couldn't resurface. My voice cuts off, betraying me. I bite my lip, silently swearing I won't cry. Don't do it. Don't do it. Naturally, I press my head into my palm and start crying. Thalia gets up and immediately is at my side. I stand up and collapse into her arms, crying louder, soaking her jacket. I can feel her cold hand stroking my tangled blonde hair. "We're going to have to talk," she whispers to the table. "So you can go to your cabins. Nico, Grover, stay please." Quietly, they all get up and murmur their goodbyes as they pass by. Clarisse sighs as she walks by, resting a tentative hand on my shoulfer, and slowly walking away wordlessly. That's how I know something's wrong. I pull away from Thalia's protective embrace. "You don't think I'm going to find him, do you?" I accuse. Thalia shakes her head, like she doesn't know what to say. Nico pulls nervously at his aviator's jacket. "Annabeth," he starts quietly, "It's been seven months."
So, what'd ya think? More to come. Pleaseee review, as it makes me so freaking happy to hear from you.