NOTES

PIPER must have looked at the little note about a thousand times, wondering what those numbers meant. Percy didn't know what they meant either, but neither of them intended on squandering a direct note from Annabeth. For some reason the first number was oddly familiar to Piper, but she had no idea what the string of numbers that followed meant. No matter how hard she racked her brain, she couldn't make heads or tails of the message.

Percy had suggested examining the note at a coffee shop that he and Annabeth used to visit all the time. Piper had been there numerous times, and she agreed. If there was one thing that she knew, it was that Annabeth had obviously meant for both of them to decipher her little code, because alone they wouldn't be able to. Percy returned with two steaming cups of coffee as Piper stared out the window, resting her head on her hands. The sky was already starting to darken and it was only around five in the evening.

The raven haired teen slid into his chair and ruffled his hair as he examined the paper closely. As was his habit, he pushed his lips to the side, and scrunched up his eyebrows, forming a furrow. Piper smiled melancholically at the sight. On many an occasion, Annabeth would confess to her that she found his habit to be adorable. She wiped her smile away when Percy's sea green eyes flitted up, meeting her gaze head on. He steepled his fingers and sighed deeply.

"Okay, what do you think those numbers mean?" Percy asked, and Piper rubbed her forehead before sighing.

"I already told you at her house: I don't know," she explained, her tone mildly frustrated, but it was directed at herself. She could swear that those numbers were something that she had seen on a daily occasion, but she couldn't remember where. It was like having something on the tip of your tongue, but being unable to find it.

Percy held his palms up in surrender, misinterpreting her frustration. "Well, alright. Let's back track for a second, and brainstorm about the note. What do we know?" he asked.

Piper thought for a second. "Umm, those numbers seem kind of familiar to me. I've definitely seen them around, but I can't remember. It's really frustrating," she said.

"That's a good start. Can you think about where you might have seen it before? Did it mean something to Annabeth?" Percy inquired.

After a few seconds of deep thinking, Piper groaned in frustration. "I just don't remember!"

Percy sat back for a few seconds, and his thinking look was on again. Piper watched him closely while thinking as hard as she could herself. There was some crucial ingredient that they were missing. It was there, staring them right in the face. There was something about that number, 4212, that had to do with Annabeth, and something that she did frequently around Piper's presence.

"Wait, I think I've seen those numbers too," Percy began tentatively, still looking down at the table.

"You do?" Piper asked.

"Yeah, I think that I've actually seen both of them. The string of numbers, I mean. I feel like I've seen that somewhere, but I can't be sure," Percy elaborated, and Piper thought deeply.

"What could those numbers mean if we've both seem them before?" Piper asked rhetorically, staring up at the ceiling.

Percy leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "Wait, wait, wait. Let's take a look at the string of numbers. Why are they arranged that way?" he asked.

"I don't know. They seem like random numbers to me," Piper said with a shrug.

"Well, think about where strings of numbers like that might appear," Percy continued.

Piper thought for a few seconds, before saying, "Maybe it's a bank account pin or something?"

Percy shook his head. "Why would we both recognize Annabeth's bank pin? It has to be something else that we've both seen enough to vaguely recognize, but not important enough for us to remember."

They both sat in silence, thinking deeply. There weren't a lot of situations were strings of number like that would be used. It looked vaguely like computer code, or some sort of cipher. There was somewhat of a possibility that it could have been some sort of cipher or code. Annabeth would've been into those kind of things.

"Is it a code?" Piper offered.

"That's kind of what I'm thinking, but neither of us have any exposure to Annabeth showing us codes," he said.

"What if we forgot when she showed us? You and I both know that she moves at her own pace," Piper retorted, but Percy shook his head, seemingly unconvinced.

"Well, I got nothing then, Perce. You're not contributing too much here," Piper said in frustration, but Percy stared at his coffee intensely before looking up with a light in his eyes.

A smile crossed his face. "I think it's a date!"

"A date?" Piper asked in confusion.

"Yes, look at those string of numbers. The other way that those numbers could be arranged in a common fashion is in the form of a date. I bet that's some specific day that Annabeth wants us to look back on," Percy said excitedly.

Piper wasn't so convinced. "Okay, I don't know about you, but I don't remember Annabeth ever telling me about any dates in 1937. That's far too back for us to take seriously," she said, but Percy wasn't one to be deterred.

"You and I both know that Annabeth was a history buff. I wouldn't doubt that that date was some sort of historical milestone. We have to at least investigate the possibility," Percy said, and Piper found it hard to respond.

"Fine, we'll both go home tonight and do some research to see what we can find. We'll meet up at school tomorrow and see what we've got," Piper offered, and Percy nodded in affirmation.

The next day, Piper and Percy met at the school doors, each of them looking weary and worn down from the crazy events from the day before. Percy opened the doors to the school, and Piper walked in ahead of him, murmuring her thanks. She had forgotten how much of a gentleman Percy was. Ever since he and Annabeth had started dating, they didn't really do too much with each other. Naturally, they were forced to interact because they were both mutual friends of Annabeth, but they were never friends on their own terms.

Piper thought that it might not have been a bad idea to have befriended him before he knew Annabeth. From what Annabeth used to say about him, Percy seemed like some sort of Greek God, and from what Piper had seen so far, she couldn't disagree. He had the looks, was pretty funny from times that they'd spent together before, and was generally a very charming guy. He was one of those people that never let you sit alone at lunch because he wanted to be your friend even if the rest of your school couldn't stand you.

Needless to say, Percy was pretty perfect, and Piper had to admit that he was an attractive guy, but since he was Annabeth's boyfriend, she had never really thought about him too much that way. He was always just kind of that good looking guy that she spent time with on occasion while doing stuff with Annabeth.

"Did you find anything?" Percy asked, shattering her reverie.

"Umm, not really, no," Piper said, and Percy sighed.

He shoved his hands in his pockets, and kicked at a stray pen cap on the ground. "Yeah, me neither. I wonder what she wants us to do. I think sometimes Annabeth forgets that we're not all as smart as she is," he said, and Piper nodded.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Funnily enough, if it wasn't Annabeth's note, I would want Annabeth here to help us understand it. She would probably know what to do," Piper confessed, before Percy stopped dead in his tracks.

"What?" Piper asked with a frown.

"That's it! Piper, we've got to think like Annabeth! We've been thinking about how we would think about these kinds of things, but not how Annabeth would," he said excitedly.

"Okay, I still don't see how that helps us," Piper said, her voice tinged with exasperation.

"Follow me," Percy declared.

Piper blinked a few times before running after him. Percy raced throughout the halls, weaving in and out of the people milling about and conversing with relative ease. Piper was also fairly athletic, but she found it slightly difficult to keep up with him.

When he finally slowed down, Piper weakly stumbled after, breathing heavily. She could hear him murmuring under his breath, examining the lockers closely.

"4209. 4210. 4211. 4212. 4212! It's right here!" Percy declared triumphantly.

Piper gasped. "That's Annabeth's locker!" she whispered.

"Are you sure?" Percy asked, excitement lighting up his eyes.

"Only one way to find out," Piper said, leaning towards the lock.

11...7...37. Piper rolled the combo, her tongue peeking out from between her lips.

She locked eyes with Percy, communicating silently, and he nodded. Taking a deep breath, Piper turned her attention back to the locker and pressed the button upwards.

Click.

Piper stared at Percy who gestured animatedly at the locker, and Piper swung the door open. Instantly, Piper's hand flew and covered her mouth, and Percy let out a strangled noise from the back of his throat before sinking to his knees.

What the hell is that?

A/N: Cliffhanger! So, I am alive! That is good because that means that I can update. One of you dastardly reviewers guessed what the numbers meant, and I am thoroughly impressed. You won't ever guess what's inside her locker, and, yes, that is a challenge. This chapter was kind of short, but I didn't want to drag it on for too long since there wasn't much to say or do. This is a slowish chapter - the next one will be much better. Thanks for reading, and please R&R.

PS: I shall proof read at a later date. That's all, Folks!