After my awkward yet strange encounter with Percy Jackson, I sat with the receipt in my hands, not knowing what to do next.

Should I call him later?

Why did he leave his number when we've only met twice?

But it seems like I'm not the only one who thinks we have met before.

There's just this connection I feel when I'm with him. Ugh. I groaned to myself before I droop my head down into my arms.

I closed my eyes; the darkness helped me think.

There was the sound of the wind blowing outside, making the leaves rustle. Cars driving by, an occasional honk and a squeak of tires, which made me tense for a second. There were also people laughing and talking as they walked; their footsteps like a crescendo as they draw near, fading out as they sauntered away. There was a park nearby; children shouting, giggling, and laughing. There were dogs barking their heads off, while adults yelled at their kids in irritation. A delightful squeal of a toddler brought an automatic smile to my face. What was my family like when I was small? My smile froze as a scene appeared in my mind.

I was around 4 at the time, my long blonde hair were pigtails neatly braided by my mom. Mom and I were in our backyard, on a swing set; I vaguely remember a long time ago, mom was telling the story of me begging for it as my 4th birthday present. She had said I was obsessed with it for a while, but my interest slowly faded as I grew up. I never thought much of it, however; the scene in front of me brought me back to my childhood.

The sight of my mother made my heart ache. The guilt all came flooding back, I wish the scenarios I imagined, where she drove home safely that night, were real.

"Mommy, give me a small push pretty please?" It was strange to heard my high-pitched child voice again, "just a itty bitty one, I wanna learn to swing all by myself!"

My mother stood up from her own swing beside "little me" and went me. She pushed lightly then stepped away.

"Remember what I told you to do with your legs." She reminded my 4 year-old self.

"Little me" frowned in concentration and tried to swing her to and fro. Mom on the side clapped and added encouragements once in a while.

I heard a shuffle near the fence, I turned at the same time "little me" and mom did. A barely audible gasp directed our attention to a small hole in the fence where a little sea-green eye was peeking at us. The eye was gone in a flash, leaving a glimpse of black hair.

Mom approached the fence and crouched at the hole, "Hi there, what's your name?"

Silence.

"Would you like to join us on the swings?" Mom asked.

The green eye returned, for a second, it focused on "little me" who was now standing a bit behind mom, curious.

Opening the fence door between the two yard, mom stepped to the other side. A little while later, she came back holding the hand of a little boy, about the same age as I was back then. The boy stared at his feet, twiddling his thumbs nervously.

"Little me", bravely, went up to him and stuck out her hand. "I'm Annabeth, what's your name." Head held high, she waited for him to shake her hand.

The boy lifted his head and stared into those grey eyes of 4 year-old Annabeth.

Sea-green eyes. Black hair. Oh my god. It's him.

"Percy Jackson." He shook her hand.

I gasped as I snapped open my eyes and shot straight up.

"Oww!" Someone complained, the pain on my forehead caused me to wince too. Thalia.

"Annabeth, what are you doing dozing off during work?" Thalia teased while rubbing her head.

Groaning loudly, I decided not to tell Thalia about Percy just yet; not until I'm positive about my encounter with him almost 12 years ago. How do I find proof? I guess I could look through old photo albums…

"I'm just tired." I lied, suddenly feeling an urge to go home to find a hint that Percy used to be part of my life.

"Sure you are, come on, your shift is over, and I'm driving you back." Thalia said, dangling her car keys.

As soon as I arrived, I ran straight to my dad's office where all the photo albums are. He should still be on his business trip. I opened the door, the leather chair in front of the table turned and the person sitting on it looked in my direction. I stared at him and walked a couple steps inside.

"Dad? What are you doing home?"

"I switched my flight." He said as he turned back to his work, not looking at me, he asked, "did you need something?"

"No dad." I said quietly, slipping out of the room without looking back.

After two months of not seeing each other, I don't get a hello, no hug, no smile, nothing.

Back in my room, I flopped down on my bed. Fishing the receipt out of my pocket, I stared at the numbers on the back. I don't know what to do, which flabbergasted me. Since when do I NOT know what to do, ever?! I turned over and stuffed my face into the pillow. Call him? Don't call him? Would that seem rude? I'm overthinking this. Turning my head to the other side, I wondered if I should tell him about my childhood memory that involved him. Maybe he remembered too?

Hearing the front door shut, I jumped up. Yes, about time! Dad finally left. Looking out the window to watch him drive away, I noticed a middle aged lady walking by. She looked up and caught my glance. She appeared confused as our eyes locked for a few seconds and then she gasped slightly. She seemed to realize something. But when she saw me looking dumbfounded at her reactions, she quickly looked away and walked off. Strange, I thought.

I scrambled out of my room to dad's office after he drove off. Grabbing a stool to step on, I grabbed a dusty album that I recognized. I remember decorating it with mom and dad when we were the normal perfect loving family. I blew the dust off and hugged the album to my chest while running back to my room. Shutting the door, I flopped back down onto my small single bed once again. I opened the album. The first page had my old messy hand writing, with smiley faces and stars. I smiled to myself. The next few pages were pictures of after my birth. I kept flipping, until a blank picture turned up. I took it out of the cover.

To Wise Girl, from Seaweed Brain. It said, in an squiggly handwriting.

It was decorated with owl stickers and messy drawings, obviously drawn by a little kid.

I turned it over. A gasp escaped my mouth. A little girl with braided blonde hair and shining grey eyes and a little boy with black hair with bright sea green eyes were sitting on swings next to each other. Their feet were high up in the air and their hair were flying with the wind. They were laughing, happy, and carefree.

I pulled out my phone with the receipt from my pocket in a swift motion and paused. Should I ? Finally building up the courage, I typed in the number and checked it twice; I pressed the call button.

After a few seconds of listening of the long beeps and my heavy breathing, Percy picked up.

"Hello?"

"Oh, hi. Umm-uh. Percy?" I stuttered.

"Who is this?"

"It's me, Annabeth." I answered, then remembered that I never told him my name, "we met at the book store?"

"Annabeth… Annabeth Chase?" He said, hesitantly.

I paused. "How did you know that?"

"I don't know… it just slipped out, it sounds natural together you know?" he stammered, sounding confused.

"Okay. So," I said, switching to the important topic, "remember when you asked me if we have met before at the store?" I didn't wait for him to reply. "I think we have."

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