Hello! I missed you guys so much so I decided to post another chapter. Yes, I'm updating two chapters in the same week. I hope this time, ALL my readers will review…*hint hint* because I want to hear what you guys think of my story! And hopefully by the time I get back from my three-day camp (we're camping in the woods near a casino! Whoohoo! *pouts* Too bad I'm only twelve…), I'll get at least twenty reviews in total for both chapters. It's possible. Trust me. By the amount of authors story alerting or story favoriting my story, it's possible. I just need those people to review.

But anyways, I hope you guys find the time to check out my original story (the link and instructions to find it is in my profile!) because that would mean a lot to me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians because by now, Nico will be my boyfriend and I would be a daughter of Apollo (Hey! You know what they say: Opposites attract) and Leo would find "Somebody To Love" (hehe, in a Kpop mood. Check out Big Bang's "Somebody to Love", it's old, but it's catchy!).

And, for all you people who want Percy to realize that he loves Annabeth, well...it will come. Just not in the next few chapters so stay tight!

Enough of my rambling, carry on with the story!

(First ten reviewers = sneak peek of next chappie)


Chapter 8 (I think): Two Different Stories Of Two Different Pairs Of Best Friends

[Laden's p.o.v.]

I'd rather be your friend

Than your nothing at all,

That's why I can't tell you

How I really feel

Don't want to risk it all,

My thoughts will remain

Thoughts

~Thoughts-Michael Carreon

It was painfully obvious that Annabeth is crushing on her best friend – well, it is when you're in the same situation. So when I saw Percy leaning down to kiss her, I decided to interrupt. It was better for them to have their first kiss when Percy realizes that he likes her too. After all, what's the point of kissing someone if you don't know you like them? Exactly. And it would only hurt Annabeth when Percy would dismiss the kiss completely and make up an excuse such as, "That was an accident. My hormones got in the way."

Speaking of realizing your feelings, I wonder when Sierra realizes that I like her. Isn't it obvious how whenever a guy even looks at her, I steer her away, thinking that she's going to show an interest? Isn't it obvious that I tend to smile a lot whenever I see her? How I trip over my words and embarrass myself when I talk to her? How I "forget" how to tie my tie correctly so I could feel her fingers weaving through my leather jacket and tie it gently before giving me a heart stopping smile, teasing me lightly that I would be lost without her? God, that girl is as dense as a rock sometimes.

So when I saw the back of Annabeth's head when I walked into the cafeteria, I almost had a heart attack, thinking that it was Sierra waiting for me so she could run over to me and slap me in the shoulder, demanding why I was here instead of traveling aimlessly in Europe. Then I would grab her and spin her around like always, whispering in her ear how much I missed her.

But when Annabeth turned around, my heart fell, my bright blue eyes meeting a wise pair of grey eyes instead of familiar fiery, rebellious lapis lazuli ones. I knew it was stupid of me, letting my hope rise for a brief second, thinking that Sierra had come back from Australia. When Percy came through those double doors, I noticed that Annabeth's wise grey eyes suddenly lit up with so much happiness and longing, I couldn't help but smile at her crush. If Annabeth had a personality like Sierra's she would not stop until she gets what she wants.

"Percy's a goner," I thought amusingly to myself, taking note that Annabeth's eyes showed determination as she met Percy's green eyes.

But Percy wouldn't really mind though, since it was obvious Annabeth was his girl the second they met. His bored face was suddenly transformed into what we call the "lovesick face". His ears pricked up, his strides becoming more purposeful and faster, his eyes lighting up with happiness and relief, and his hands twitching by his side, waiting to lift Annabeth up with a hug.

But there was one thing that kept me from being happy for the two friends.

It really bothered me that sitting across from me is a pair of best friends that obviously like each other while I was the fifth wheel. I was the lone one and the one I really want to be with is in Australia now, playing against other international teams.

But enough of my useless rambling, because this isn't about me. This story is about Percy and Annabeth . . . I wouldn't be surprised if there is a book series about them.

"Whatcha guys doing?" I asked, knowing full well what they were about to do.

Percy gave me a glare and I ignored it, knowing that Percy would thank me later . . . and by later, I mean after the Percabeth team starts dating.

Annabeth looked up at Percy with a confused expression but it was soon cleared off when she met my knowing gaze. God, I feel like Yoda. Slowly pushing these two kids together and meddling in their love life is oddly fun but yet frustrating. I feel like taking Percy and shake his shoulders, shouting, "God dammit! Get together already! Your IQ when it comes to love is ONE DIGIT! Can't you see that Annabeth likes you? And how can you not realize you like her back?"

"I was going to asking Annabeth to go somewhere with me," Percy said, deadpanned.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Psh, asking? Yeah, more like attacking her lips by "accidentally" losing your grip on your chair and falling on top of her lips. I snorted quietly underneath my breath. Honestly this guy is a bad liar. Now how the heck is he supposed to lie to his mom to sneak off with his girl months from now?

"Are you sure?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow.

After I raised my eyebrow, I noticed that ever since I met Annabeth, she has a habit of quirking her eyebrow when she's suspicious, caught off guard or just for the fun of it. But Sierra, whenever she's annoyed, suspicious, or caught off guard, she would lift up her fist and hold it threateningly but then crack a smile before erupting into laughter –

I am a stalker. There's a reason why she won't go out with me. I wonder how I can improve myself and make myself desirable…(cueing the moment where I would stroke my imaginary beard that suspiciously bears an uncanny resemblance to Dumbledore's).

"Hi, Laden."

I froze and slowly lifted up my head to meet the eyes of the girl I was in lo-like with.

My face was lit up with a bright smile as she sheepishly pushed a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear. Bracing my heart for heartbreak, I stood up from my chair and prepared myself for another round of "pretending-that-I-don't-have-a-crush-on-my-best-friend-because-that's-highly-inapropriate". I wonder how Annabeth can cope with this.


Annabeth's Point Of View

I looked up at the sight of Laden smiling goofily at an unfamiliar girl.

"Who's that?" Percy whispered in my ear.

I shivered from his close proximity as I tried to smoothly reply, "I have no clue."

Percy laughed as he reared back from me. "The Annabeth Chase doesn't know something?"

Shooting him a glare, I turned my back to him and made a show of ignoring him.

Meanwhile Alexandria jumped out of Axel's embrace and squealed happily. Everyone winced at the sound and covered their ears as she skipped around Laden and the short blonde girl. I looked at Axel, silently asking him who was the girl.

Axel crossed his arms and mouthed back, You'll find out.

I turned to the sight of Laden tightly squeezing the girl into a hug and he swung her around again and again. I furrowed my eyebrows in deep thought. Didn't Alexandria mention that Laden had a girl –

My thoughts were interrupted by a certain Seaweed Brain who has the habit of crushing me into a hug until I forgive him. This was one of those times.

"I'm sorry," Percy said, sounding like he wasn't sorry at all.

I squirmed under his embrace, my face squished against his muscular chest.

"Still not going to forgive you," I managed to get out as he squeezed me even tighter.

"What if I said I loved you?" He asked teasingly.

Although I knew he was only messing with me, I felt my heart lift up with hope and I tried desperately to put it down. He doesn't mean it so calm down, I silently whisper to my racing heart. Making sure my heart was calm, I lifted up my head to meet Percy's gaze.

"Percy, you used that excuse already," I replied, plastering a smirk on my face. I leaned closer to him, "Plus, we both know that you loved me the second I wormed my way right into your heart," I pressed my index finger against his dress shirt covered chest.

Percy released me and ruffled my hair. "Aw, so you don't love me either?" He gasped, placing his hand over his chest.

I rolled my eyes but played along. "I don't know, probably not. I mean, I always did have a soft spot for Jason. I love blue eyed, blonde haired guys. The black haired, green haired guys are just Harry Potter wannabes."

Percy frowned at that. "You don't mean that, do you?"

"Maybe, maybe not," I said, playing with him.

Apparently Percy doesn't know how to play this game because he stopped playing with my fingers and wouldn't meet my eyes. "Oh," he muttered, lowering his head.

I felt my heart break a little at his defeated expression. I grab his shoulder and gently shake him. He didn't respond.

"Hey, you know I was kidding, right?" I implored.

Percy's head snapped back up and he gave me a sheepish smile. "Yeah, I knew that," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"Percy," I started, rolling my eyes, "you're my best friend. Why wouldn't I love you?"

It hurt, spilling those words out of my mouth, knowing that the kind of love I felt for him was way different than Percy would expect. And honestly, it's not like he likes me back. The lines between being best friends and being a couple is slowly getting blurry ever since the almost kiss.

Percy's sad face slowly came back to its happiness. "Really?" He asked, sounding like an excited little kid.

I gave him a hug. "Yeah, I love you, Seaweed Brain."

Too bad he doesn't love me back.


Sierra's Point of View

(I know you guys want more Percabeth but Sierra and Laden will play an important role later on…)

My face broke into a smile as I looked at my best friend in the eyes. Laden hadn't changed a bit in the last couple of weeks. My mischievous best friend pulled me into a hug and swung me around in circles. I let out a laugh and tried to get out of his grip.

"You're not going anywhere, Miss Asche." His breath tickled my ear.

I rolled my eyes and lifted up my fist threateningly. "I swear to all things that are holy, if you do not let me go, Hunter, I'm going to beat you to a pulp." I promised to him.

Laden laughed and set me down on his chair. "I wouldn't expect anything less of you, Sierra."

I smiled triumphantly at him, glad that my best friend knows me so well.

I looked up at him and studied him carefully. He still had that messy black hair of his that can never be tamed and I smirked as I saw that he still had those neon blue highlights I dared him to dye.

His cheekbones were as high as ever, those insanely long eyelashes covering those familiar bright, mischievous blue eyes, and that cute ski-slope nose of his. His full lips were stretched into a smile and he had that cute tiny birthmark in the corner of his ear. All these were familiar to me and I was glad that he didn't change at all. Well, except for the fact that he grew a couple of inches.

"Wait, why aren't you in Australia?" Laden asked, cocking his head to one side.

I frowned at that. In the middle of the soccer game against England, some dude rammed into me just after I made a goal. Since he was twice my weight, I cracked a few ribs in the making. My team won but my coach sent me home immediately, not wanting to let me play a couple more games.

"I missed you," I replied.

That was true. It was weird not having Laden bust through my door, cackling maniacally and throwing me into a cold shower or him stealing my lunch not-so subtly or him cracking jokes to distract me when I was supposed to be paying attention to someone. I even missed tying his ties every day before school so our principal won't freak. Anyways, Laden was my rock (although I wouldn't admit it to his smug face) and without him, I would have never tried out for the soccer team.

Laden cracked a smile. "Of course you did. Didn't I tell you I was awesome?" He asked.

I snorted. "You have such a huge ego. Was I really gone for that long? I'm afraid I will have to lower it down a couple of notches."

Laden pouted at that and I ruffled his silky hair.

"Squee!"

"Da fu –," I twisted around my chair to meet my friend, Alexandria, running towards me with open arms.

She plowed right into me and I landed into Laden's arms. I was suddenly sandwiched between my two best friends. Although I loved both of them with all my might, I prefer not to get squished by them.

Using a bunch of my martial arts skills, I had them on the floor in seconds, a triumphant smirk playing on my lips.

"I knew teaching you martial arts was a bad idea," Laden groaned, getting up slowly from the floor.

Alexandria gave me a mocking glare and settled back into her seat with Axel. I turned my head and sitting across from me were a couple flirting with each other immensely. I threw up in my mouth a bit. My tomboyish mind couldn't compute at all at this point.

I stuffed Laden's sugar cookie in my mouth, studying the couple. They were about the same height, the ink-haired boy taller only by a couple inches. The blondie looked intelligent and I sighed quietly in relief. Finally, I don't have to deal with some dumb blonde. I watched carefully as he pulled her into a hug and I winced in sympathy for her. Although, judging by the look on her face, she seemed to be in complete heaven. They continued to flirt with each other and I laughed a bit at the sight of the guy's sad face. Seems like he had taken a blow to his ego by his girlfriend. Good, the world can do without pompous jerks. But, he seemed to be a decent guy.

I turned to a smiling Laden and I patted on the plastic chair, asking him to sit with me. I sat on one side of the chair while Laden took the other.

"Who are they," I asked curiously, gesturing with my hand towards the couple. "They seem like a nice couple, though they have to lower their lovey-dovey-ness."

Laden released a laugh and I held up my fist, wondering what the heck is so funny. "Hey, Hunter, I'm serious, who the heck are they?"

Laden shook his head in amusement. "Don't make the same mistake as I did. They're not a couple. They're best friends. The guy is Percy Jackson, the other is Annabeth Chase."

I took in his words and turned slowly back around to see the couple. Tilting my head in confusion, I wonder how they cannot be together. Even though I despise the whole "falling-in-love-with-your-best-friend", they are an exception.

"They seem cute together," I noted.

Laden nodded in agreement, slinging one arm around my shoulder. Silence fell between us. I continued to finish eating Laden's sugar cookies, and then Laden said something that shocked me.

"Annabeth made a bet with Miss Queen Bee that she would find a guy to take her to the dance. Since it would be obvious that she would take Percy, I'm taking her."

I choked on the last bit of the sugar cookie. My best friend is taking someone else to the dance? My stomach churned at the thought of it. Since I wasn't into the whole dancing thing (and Laden shares the same revulsion), we promised to have a scary movie marathon. Great, while Laden's going some stupid dance with that girl over there, I'll be alone watching some cheesy horror movie, I thought to myself.

It was weird. Laden and I always do things together – heck, we used to take baths together until we hit nine! And now, for the second time in my life, I won't be with Laden.

Fear seized my heart and I looked up at an oblivious Laden talking animatedly with Axel and Alexandria. No! I can't just be wimp! I can last one night without him. It's not like Laden's going to replace me with Annabeth. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I have to rely on guys forever! Screw it! No way am I going to whine again and again that my best friend is ditching me. Besides, I can do other things.

It's not like I'm jealous or anything. He's my best friend, that's all. I just don't want him replacing me with a girlfriend.


Percy's Point Of View

When Annabeth told me that she preferred blonde guys with blue hair, I felt like socking Jason in the stomach so when Annabeth told me she was kidding, I felt embarrassed. I mean, it's not like I was jealous. I was hurt, that's all.

I turned my gaze over to meet a pair of fiery blue eyes and I smiled waved at the girl. The girl's eyes focused on me and she waved back.

"I'm Percy and this is Annabeth," I said, gesturing to my best friend, "who are you?"

The girl smiled. "I'm Sierra Asche, and this dude over here," she pointed her finger at Laden, "told me about your situation."

I nodded. Annabeth reached over and offered Sierra a handshake. Sierra shook her hand and they exchanged hello's. Annabeth whispered in my ear she had to take a bathroom break and I blushed. After Annabeth left, Sierra struck up a conversation with me.

"How do you feel about it," Sierra asked me.

I shrugged. "It's weird. I offered taking being her date but she said 'it was an insult to her intelligence' so now she's going with Laden." I sighed. "Guess I'm going to be home alone."

Sierra nodded sympathetically. "I know how you feel. Laden and I always skip out on dances and hold movie marathons but this year, the bet . . .," she trailed off.

My ears pricked up. "Hey! Since we're both going to be alone, do you want to have a movie marathon with me?"

Sierra narrowed her eyes in deep thought. I admit; I leaned back in my chair when she lifted up a fist. "I guess that would work but I swear, if you scream during the movie . . ."

I nodded. "This might work," I said, grinning.

Sierra tapped her chin thoughtfully. "This is a beginning of a beautiful friendship."

And with that, we exchanged fist pumps to seal the deal. And by fist pump, I mean, me reaching over to give her a high five but the second before our hands collided, she quickly turned her flat hand into a fist so I was doing a high five and she was doing a fist pump. Jerk.

. . .

After Annabeth got back from doing her, er, business in the bathroom, we began talking about the bet. Actually, Axel just leaned back in his plastic blue chair, one hand in his pocket and his free arm slung around Alexandria's shoulder. Alexandria was leaning forward and was discussing "battle plans" (her words, not mine) with Laden, who was nodding, and Annabeth, who was staring intently at her. I, however, proceeded to sulk in my little emo corner until Sierra bought me out of my loneliness and we started playing a serious game of rock, papers, scissors, shoot.

"Ha! I win!" Sierra said triumphantly, leaning back in her seat, crossing her arms as she smiled.

I gaped at her. "A gun has nothing to do with this!" I exclaimed.

She shrugged delicately. "Percy, it did say 'shoot' so that means I win."

I shook my head. "But it doesn't say gun!" I protested.

Sierra promptly silenced me by reaching over and smacking my head lightly. "Sore loser," she sang.

I glared mockingly at her. "I am not!" I shouted, grabbing her fist and pulling her next to me to smack her.

Laden and Annabeth, currently distracted by my shouting, turned their attention to us. To outsiders, it probably looked like we were dating. Right now, Sierra made a face plant into my muscular chest (made possible by my awesome pulling) and she was keeping an angry face but failed and instead, started laughing. Since I'm weak when it comes to laughing, I started laughing too. Not to mention, I still had my hand around Sierra's fist so by now, people are probably getting the wrong idea. Oops.

Annabeth looked at us with a pained expression. I looked back at her, feeling a sense of dread as if I did something wrong. I mean, it's not like I like Sierra in that way, we're just friends.

"Why are you guys laughing?" Laden asked in a tight voice.

I looked at him in confusion. "What's wrong with making new friends?" I asked.

Laden shook his head. "No, I meant that –"

Alexandria popped in, shouting giddily, "I got a new plan!"

We all winced from her loud volume but motioned her to continue talking. But as Alexandria began to speak, I kept sneaking glances at Annabeth, making sure she was okay. It made my heart drop to my stomach whenever Annabeth is feeling down. Wait, scratch that, it makes my stomach churn, yeah, that sounds manly enough.

"Alright," she started seriously, "it would be obvious to Miss Queen Bee that you, Annabeth," she pointed at Annabeth, "are taking Laden as a fake date if you 'dump' him right after the dance. So I am now thinking that perhaps, we have to stretch the whole 'fake date' even further. So why don't you and Laden 'date' each other for a few months before 'breaking up'?" She finished with a satisfied smile.

I stared at Alexandria, tempting to throw her into a garbage can.

Oh hell no.


Yep, you guys totally hate me right now. So since I'll be super tired from camp (I'll be really tired), I won't be able to write the next chapter for a week or two so to make it up for you guys, I thought it would be a great idea to upload two chapters for you guys, kay?

Anyways, question for you Heroes of Olympus people:

If you own "The Son of Neptune" then let me ask you this question. Remember when Percy and his new friends were riding on a "boat" across San Francisco and there was an old man who pointed his finger at Percy and mouthed to him, don't even think about it, do you guys know who he is?

*grins* I sure hope you do because that part made me roll around in laughter *wipes tears from eyes* Wow, that brings back memories from the original series *hint hint*

If you guess it right, you get a sneak peek and bragging rights…