Annabeth's POV
"Bye Mom! Love you!" I call as I grab my keys out of the bowl and head for the front door. "I'll see you after school!"
"Bye sweetie, have a good day!" She calls back.
I walk out of the front door and over to my car, glancing at my watch as I do so.
6: 54.
School starts at 7:30, so I have plenty of time to pick up Piper and Thalia and go to Starbucks before school starts.
I slide into the front seat, put my keys in the ignition, and turn on the AC. It's only two weeks into school, so, unfortunately, the weather's still really hot.
Turning my music to a nice, quiet volume, I pull out of the driveway and start the quick, two mile drive to Thalia's house.
Once I'm there, I honk the horn.
Two minutes later, I honk again.
Nothing.
I park my car and hop out, jogging to her door and knocking. No one answers. I twist the nob, and am not surprised to find the door unlocked. Thalia's really forgetful.
"Jason! Hurry up! Annabeth's here to take us to school!" Thalia's at the bottom of the stairs yelling up to her younger brother, Jason.
"Hey Thals." I say, walking over to her. "So I guess I'm driving Jason too?"
Thalia gives me an apologetic smile. "Could you? The little snot got both of our keys taken away."
I giggle. "What'd he do?"
"He and his emo friend Nico decided it would be fun to race. But of course I get in trouble for 'not being responsible enough to make sure they don't do that'. I'm not their mother!"
I roll my eyes. "When do you guys get them back?"
"Thursday." Thalia answers.
"That's not too bad."
"Eh." Thalia shrugs. "Jason! Hurry up!"
"Coming! Coming!" Jason bounds down the stairs, hair still wet from his shower.
"Finally!" Thalia throws her head back. "Let's go get Piper."
I can see Jason's cheeks redden at the mention of Piper.
Jason and Piper have liked each other since the fourth grade. Thalia and I have a bet going to see who will admit their feelings for the other first. I say Piper, because although she's a bit shy, she's strong, and she can't wait much longer. Thalia thinks it'll be Jason because he's a guy, and apparently she thinks it's more normal for the guy to say he likes the girl first. But whatever. I'm still probably going to win.
The three of us walk to my car. Jason makes a run for shotgun, but Thalia beats him to it and sends him to the back seat with a sister-like smirk.
As soon as I start the car, Thalia lunges for the volume on my radio.
"Hey!" I protest, smacking her hand away.
"Oh, c'mon Annabeth! It's just a little extra sound!"
I shake my head. "I can't drive with the music too loud, it distracts me. Do you want to make it to Piper's in one piece?"
Thalia rolls her eyes and slumps back into her seat.
Soon we arrive at Piper's house. One honk and she's out the door and blushing as she slides in the back next to Jason.
"Hey Thalia, Annabeth, Jason." She blushes again as she buckles her seat belt. "What took you guys so long? I was getting worried."
"The twerp sitting next to you took forever getting ready." Thalia said, then added with an evil grin, "It's almost like he wanted to impress someone."
Thalia and I both glance very noticeably at Piper, who blushes yet again, only this time joined by Jason.
"Was not!" He protests. "I just wanted to make sure I looked okay."
"Suuuurreee." Thalia says, smirking again.
I giggle as I pull into the drive thru at Starbucks, putting in everyone's orders.
Thalia and Jason hand me their money, and Piper groans.
"Crap, I left my wallet at home…Annabeth can you cover me? I promise I'll pay you back."
"Su-"
"I got it Pipes." Jason says, cutting me off.
Piper blushes. "Uh, thanks Jason. I'll pay you back."
"No worries."
Thalia and I grin at each other.
Soon I pull into the school parking lot, and the four of us are out of the car and walking through a side entrance.
Jason and Piper walk away together, laughing and blushing.
Thalia and I make our way to our lockers.
"I won." Thalia says.
"Did not!"
"Uh, did you not see them? Jason totally made a move!"
"But he never said anything." I countered.
"He paid for her drink! Isn't that enough?"
"No he-"
"Miss Chase?" I'm interrupted by the principal tapping on my shoulder.
Thalia and I both turn around and smile at Mrs. Beeman, although Thalia's smile is very noticeably forced.
"What can I do for you Mrs. Beeman?" I ask.
"Today after your third hour class, I need you to come to the office to meet a new student. As head of student council, you're in charge of showing him around. Can you do that?"
"Of course! I'll be at the office right after class."
"Thank you Annabeth. I'll send an email to your fourth and fifth hour teachers to let them know you may be late."
"Thanks." I say.
Mrs. Beeman walks away, and Thalia and I start to open our lockers.
"Ooh, she said 'him'." Thalia said with a grin.
"Yeah, so?"
"So, he could be cute."
I shrug. "So what if he is?"
Thalia shrugs back. "I don't know. Maybe you could finally have a boyfriend."
I roll my eyes. "No, Thalia. You know my plan. No boyfriend until I graduate high school."
Thalia groans and turns around, putting her foot on the front of her locker. "But Annabeth! What about Senior Prom? What about experiencing your last year in high school with someone else?"
I sigh. "I'll go with a group for prom. As for 'experiencing my last year of high school with someone else', I don't want to get attached. With the path I'm on, I'll probably graduate early. I'll already have to leave you and Piper, I don't want to leave behind a guy too."
Thalia opens her mouth to counter my statement, but the bell rings.
She groans. "Uugh. Math. See ya in history."
"See ya in history."
I close my locker and walk to my first hour computer class, trying to push Thalia's words out of my mind.
A/n So what'd you think? As you can probably see, I'm a bit rusty…I haven't written PJATO in forever! But hopefully after a few chapters, I'll get the hang of it again :) Please don't forget to review! I'm fine with constructive criticism, but please no flames. They're really not fun to get. Also, if you like the Hunger Games check out my SYOT! Thanks for reading!