Clarisse and Juniper stood, shocked and a bit unsure of what to do. Annabeth was about to scream from stress, and right now her friends did not know what she needed to calm down.
"Annabeth…it'll be fine. We'll talk to Grover, and see if he has any suggestions, okay?" Clarisse tried desperately to calm her lost friend.
"How do we know that he won't just go strait to Percy and tell him every thing we talk about?" She wailed in answer
That got them stumped. Suddenly Juniper yelled,
"He wouldn't! He helped you get away from Percy! And, with him being my boyfriend, as he promised yesterday, he would always choose my judgment over a person who he thought was a friend. Mind you I did not force him into saying that, or trick him for the matter. He said it on his own free will." Juniper told her new friends.
"But….But you said he'd choose you over some body he thought was a friend. Meaning they can't be friends now. well Grover might be seeing things a little differently then we are. Percy could have told him otherwise of what really happened" Annabeth sniffled
"True…she has a point Juniper." Clarisse pointed out
"Yes! She does! But, not to brag, but I do not choose my boyfriends by their looks, or what they are good for! I choose them for what they are, and what they can do to help!" Juniper cried, desperately defending herself and Grover.
"Annnnnnd Juniper has a point too. Annabeth, Juniper and Grover are smarter than that!" Clarisse said eagerly
"I guess. I'm sorry Juniper, for thinking you were just using Grover. I guess I was so caught up in my own crazy world to realize how trust worthy my friends are." Annabeth apologized, and she meant it.
"It's okay Annabeth. Don't fret." Juniper assured "Hey! Well, never mind. It's stupid. Forget I brought it up."
"No tell us!" Clarisse insisted
"Fine but don't laugh! We should like, I dunno, give each other nicknames or something."
"That's a great idea!" Annabeth assured
"Okay. I'll pick yours Clarisse." Juniper called "Your's should be…Shocker. Annabeth told me about that spear you used to have." "Okay thanks!" Clarisse said, liking the name
"Juniper…you should be Jupiter. You know, cause your own name is so close to it, it makes sense if you think about it." Annabeth said laughing.
"I love it!" Juniper laughed
"And now, Annabeth. You're a tough one." Clarisse joked, but she already had a name picked. "You, Annabeth Chase, will now be Wise Girl. Or, Wisdom for short."
"Yay! Now we are officially, Jupiter, Shocker, and Wisdom!"
The girls all cheered, when suddenly, the bushes shook. What ever it was, it sounded big. And it was headed straight toward the girls, who drew their weapons, ready to defend each other to the death.
The bushes stopped quivering. They heard a familiar voice muttering
"Dang it! I just heard them!" Then the voice realized something and yelled frantically "IT'S ME! GROVER! AND WHAT EVER YOU DO, DO NOT SHOOT!" The girls sighed, and put away their weapons.
"Come out Grover. We won't shoot you now that we know who you are." Shocker said dryly
"Fine! Jezz, it's a good thing I know my friends and the way their minds work. Otherwise I would have been cut to ribbons!" Grover ranted
"Grover! You're fine. You didn't even get a scratch." Juniper assured
"I miss her." Annabeth said suddenly. Every body whipped around in confusion. "Thaila, I mean. I was just thinking of how, if she were in this group, we would call her Tree, and how she would beat Percy to a pulp for hitting me…" Annabeth' s eyes started welling up.
"Hey….Hey it's okay. Don't cry Wise One. If Thaila were hear, would she be letting you cry?" Clarisse asked. "No. She would probably hit you on the head."They all laughed at that.
"Thanks you guys. Really. I have no idea what I would do with out the three of you." Annabeth thanked her friends.
They started walking back to the camp. Dinner was in half 'n' hour, and they didn't want to be late. Even if it included hearing dark secrets of Annabeth's past. She knew she would always have friends to help her through with her tough times.
