Hello

by emptymatchbox

"This is Annabeth Chase." "Wow, I finally found you." / They've met before, of course, but that- that was a year ago, and even then, they've never actually seen each other. / In which Annabeth gets a phone call in the middle of the night from an old 'friend.' / The long-awaited sequel to my other fic, drag me down with chains of letters. Read that one first. / Modern AU.

3. Chapter 3

CALLER ID: NONEXISTENT. ANSWER?

"Look-"

"You haven't answered my calls and texts in weeks. If I'd known your address, I would've been spamming you with letters."

"Look, Jen, this isn't a good time."

"Who's Jen?"

"Dad's calling me back to the dinner table. I'll call you later."

"But who's Je- oh. Okay. Later, then. But- are you okay?"

"Yeah, I am. Call you later."

CALL ENDED.

---

NONEXISTENT: you haven't texted me in weeks.

NONEXISTENT: like, WEEKS. i called you midjuly and you haven't texted me since.

ANNABETH (YOU): Sorry, Mother Hen.

ANNABETH (YOU): I've been busy.

NONEXISTENT: you're always busy.

NONEXISTENT: i need a friend.

ANNABETH (YOU): Grover?

NONEXISTENT: in dallas. he'll be gone for a month and miss the first day of school.

NONEXISTENT: when do you start school?

ANNABETH (YOU): Tomorrow.

NONEXISTENT: goode?

ANNABETH (YOU): Yeah. You?

NONEXISTENT: yeah.

NONEXISTENT: why didn't i see you?!

ANNABETH (YOU): I don't know. You're the one searching for the answers.

NONEXISTENT: i haven't found anything yet.

NONEXISTENT: i'm kinda useless without grover.

ANNABETH (YOU): Nah.

ANNABETH (YOU): I have to go study.

NONEXISTENT: school hasn't even started yet.

ANNABETH (YOU): I've been taking foreign language courses since I was ten, and this course has been the hardest so far.

NONEXISTENT: what language are you studying?

ANNABETH (YOU): Cantonese.

NONEXISTENT: ...

NONEXISTENT: i'm not even going to pretend i know what that is.

ANNABETH (YOU): It's a Chinese dialect.

NONEXISTENT: of course. must be fun.

ANNABETH (YOU): Well, g2g.

NONEXISTENT: text me later?

---

TBC.