I just wanted to take this opportunity to warn you in advance that this story isn't very accurate when it comes to real-life. Please remember that before you start asking questions later on. I will explain everything later. If you have any questions about this chapter, please PM me instead of voicing your thoughts in your review. Thank you. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. All rights go to Uncle Rick.

JASON

Jason hated Reyna.

Well, no, he didn't hate her. He could never hate her. She was the only person that seemed to care anymore.

No, thought Jason. I don't hate Reyna at all. I just hate how she treats me like I'm a little kid.

Jason had known Reyna for as long as he could remember. She was always by his side, no matter where he was or what he was doing. But sometimes it was annoying.

Like that time he had went to the park with his friends and she had showed up and insisted that he take his meds. That was embarrassing.

Then there was the other time when he went to public school for the first time and Reyna had showed up to give him his lunch and more meds. That was embarrassing, too.

Jason liked Reyna. He really, really did. But how was he supposed to act normal with his best friend pestering him about his problems all the time?

Jason spent most of his days venting everything out onto his computer. He used to use a tape recorder to hold his notes, but he found that typing was much more fun and efficient. With the tape recorder, he was always forgetting what button to push. He often deleted whole messages at a time, and that's when Reyna got him the computer.

Today, Jason was typing about what had happened earlier that morning.

Reyna talked to the doctor, he wrote. Then he clicked backspace. The doctor told Reyna that I'd have to stop going to school. Jason typed instead. He sighed and ran a hand through his short, blonde hair. He supposed he should have been devastated. Earlier that day, Jason had read what he had typed about his friends from school, but he didn't really care about the people from his pages. Jason figured they'd be happier without him.

Jason continued to type. I'm not really sad. Reyna says I haven't seen them in a while, not since last Tuesday. I'm supposed to clean out my locker tomorrow and say goodbye. Remember to read your notes from February 3rd-5th. Then he paused, his fingers hovering over the keyboard, Try not to forget anyone else, kay? Then he signed off: Jason Grace, May 26, 2013.

He saved the file like Reyna had showed him to do. Then Jason shut down the computer and got up from his desk.

Jason walked over to his bedroom window. He looked out at the rows of houses that stretched on for miles. He hated it here, pent up in some stuffy bedroom with nothing to do but type. He looked out at the purple and orange sunset, and the tire swing, and the shed, and the huge jacaranda that cast an equally huge shadow over his backyard.

Jason saw a black cat wander into the yard, and something in his head clicked. His fingers instinctively reached towards his back pocket, and he pulled out his journal. That's where he kept his personal notes. He flipped the pages until he got to the back, and ran his finger over each word from yesterday's passage before stopping at "black cat". He looked up into the yard again. Yup, there was a cat. He was pretty sure it was the same cat as yesterdays.

Jason slid the journal back into his pocket and gazed down at the cat. Then he heard something rustle in the bushes. The cat did not seem to notice, as it kept walking across the yard. Then – wonder of wonders – a girl, not a cat, crawled through the bushes. Jason, thinking he had finally lost it, quickly ran over to his dresser and grabbed one of many bottles of pills before returning back to gawk out of the window.

The girl was beautiful. She had long brown hair that flowed past her shoulders and, from what Jason could see, she was carrying a backpack. She was very tan, tanner than Reyna, but shorter. She walked into the yard, first to the tire swing, then to the pond. Jason watched as she knelt down by the water.

Jason took in a breath and ran out of his room into the hallway. He was going to go outside and talk to the girl. Jason dashed down the staircase and into the living room when he saw Reyna's little yellow Volkswagen pull up in the driveway. He paused, torn between telling Reyna and going out to confront the girl. He stayed right where he was, waiting patiently as Reyna came in the front door with grocery bags in hand.

"Hey Reyna," he began as she set the bags down on the counter. Reyna blew a lose strand of dark hair out of her eyes and sighed. "There's something I gotta show you. Guess what happened while you were gone?" Reyna rubbed her temple with one hand and turned to face him, and Jason stepped back.

Reyna looked terrible. Her eyes were red and puffy, probably from crying. Her mascara ran down her cheeks in inky, black lines. Jason thought for the millionth time that Reyna looked more like a middle-aged woman nowadays, rather than an 18-year-old girl.

"What happened?" asked Jason, reaching out to grab her hand. She pulled it back and looked down at the floor.

"Nothing happened," she said hoarsely. "I was just…thinking, that's all," she told him. She tried to put her brave face on for him, but when he reached up to touch her face, it crumbled. Reyna let out a sob. Jason pulled her into a hug, like he had done many times before.

"I'm sorry," Jason mumbled into Reyna's hair as he rubbed tiny circles into her back. She shook in his arms. Jason stared at the checkered squares on the floor and his mind wandered elsewhere. A long time ago, he and Reyna used to play checkers. It was one of the few board games he remembered how to play. Other games, like Life and Monopoly, he had totally forgotten the rules to.

"It's not your fault," she mumbled into his chest. "It's no one's fault. I don't blame you for anything, Jason. It was my decision to stay and move us here. I just wish I can stop this from happening, is all." Reyna told him.

Jason held Reyna a little while longer before she pulled back. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve, which had little black smudges all over it. Jason looked down at his shirt. It had black smudges on it, too. Reyna must've taken notice, because she said, "I'll buy you a new shirt."

Jason gave her a half-smile. "I like it better this way."

Reyna gave a small smile in return, and Jason's heart fluttered. "C'mon," she muttered, moving towards the counter. She reached into a bag and pulled out a carton of milk. "Let's put these groceries away."

Jason was putting a can of peaches into the cupboard when he suddenly remembered the girl by the pond. He turned to the window. He hadn't even noticed it was raining outside. Lightning flashed, an illuminated the backyard in bright, white light.

She and the cat were gone.

What's up with Jason? Stay tuned to find out! :)