Hey, guys! Just as a head's up: all of this is in Annabeth's P.O.V. unless I've specified otherwise. Cheers. Happy reading! (Oh, and I don't own any of this, just the plot.)

I roamed through the empty halls of California High. It was first period, but I had a free, so I was chilling at Starbucks before arriving here, ready for my lesson with my best friend, Thalia Grace, and her cousin, Katie Gardner.

Thalia was your average goth girl: she wore black, black and black; she had a pixie-cropped mass of black spiky hair with a multitude of different coloured highlights; and she looked really scary.

Katie, on the other hand, was a down-to-Earth kind of girl. She had wavy brown hair, she wore Earth-toned sundresses (unless it was freezing) and she looked gentle.

I stood outside the door and I could hear the two of them bickering.

"But... I don't want to go!" That was Thalia.

"You have to, Thals." Katie sighed. "Your dad asked for it. And anyway, Percy'll be there."

"He will?" Thalia perked up. "I haven't seen him in ages!"

"Thals!" Katie laughed. "He lives in New York City, of course you haven't!"

"Shut up! Who else'll be there?"

"The whole family."

"What?! Even Apollo?"

"Even Apollo."

"His haikus are gonna kill us, I swear. Not anything else. Just his haikus. I applaud Artemis for not killing him already, to be honest."

"Same." Then, Katie sighed.

"Oh, my god!" Thalia said. "I have an idea!" She started whispering to Katie. I strained to hear, but to no avail.

"That's brilliant! It'll take her mind off of school, as well." Katie congratulated Thalia.

"Hey, guys." I stepped out of the shadows, revealing myself.

"My god, how long've you been standing there?" Katie jumped in shock

"Long enough to know that you," I pointed at Thalia, "don't want to go somewhere."

"Annabeth, I've decided I will go..." Thalia began.

"Because Percy, whoever he is, is there." I answered.

"... not just because he'll be there. It's 'cos you'll be there, too."

"Oh, hell, no." I answered.

"Please, Annabeth?" Thalia pleaded.

"I'll think about it." I said, as she did a little celebratory dance. I was now distracted because, walking towards me, was my boyfriend, Luke Castellan.

Sorry about the slight Lukabeth. It needs to be here for the story to work, though, so just bear with me, please. Thanks! First to review will get a shout-out in my next chapter!

Three...

Two...

One...

Go!