A/N: I KNOW LOTS OFYOU THOUGHT THE STORY WAS DONE, BUT I DON'T INTEND TO FINISH THIS UNTIL AFTER THE TITAN WAR, SO I SHOULDN'T BE FINISHING ANY TIME SOON. *WINK, WINK*
THANKS AGAIN FOR THE REVIEWS. IT HONESTLY MEANS SO MUCH TO ME! OH AND ONE MORE THING. I'LL BE POSTING A ONE-SHOT SOME TIME SOON AS WELL, SO KEEP CHECKING. I'M REALLY NOT SURE HOW GOOD IT IS, SO I'D APPRECIATE IF YOU COULD READ IT.
DISCLAIMER: I HATE DOING THIS. I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, OWN PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS.
Ben's POV
I was starting to worry, now. School was starting tomorrow and Percy and Annabeth hadn't returned yet. How long did a summer camp really take? Maybe they were kidnapped again, or something even worse! I admit, the worst case scenarios were running through my head, but could you blame me? We hadn't seen our friends for almost three months. They didn't call, write or anything. How fun could a summer camp really be? As a matter, shouldn't a summer camp end before summer did?
"I think that one's a bunny," James' voice jarred me back into reality. James, Roger, Les, Claire, Sara and I were lying down on a huge picnic blanket looking at the clouds to get our minds off our friends, but, though neither of us would admit it, I doubt it was working for any one of us. I knew we shouldn't have let them go back to that stupid camp. They just seemed so excited…so reassured to be going back there. We couldn't ruin that for them.
In fact, we tried to, but they wouldn't listen. They didn't want to listen. They didn't care what we had to say about it, they were going with or without our 'approval'.
"How could you possibly see that?" Lesley and Roger asked in unison.
"Yeah," Sara said. "It's obviously a dog."
"I think both of you are blind," Claire butted in.
"What do you see, Ben?"
I tilted my head and studied the cloud we'd been discussing. "I don't know," I started slowly. "I'll go with Sara."
"I'm taking you to the eye doctor to get your eyes checked," Claire spit out.
I rolled my eyes but didn't answer my friend. There was no use. The only thing I could think of right now were Percy and Annabeth…especially Annabeth. I'll admit, I might still have a tiny crush on her. And I was worried sick. She goes to camp every summer, but never returns this late. Then, I remembered last year's events. The coming of Percy Jackson and I learned that the best friend I thought I knew inside and out, I didn't really know at all. I remembered hating Percy Jackson. I remembered wishing I'd never see him again. Now, I'd give anything to see him and my crush again. I remembered hearing that she had been kidnapped; that Percy had saved her. What if…No. I couldn't afford to think like that. Though I was sure I wasn't the only one of my six friends.
"I can't do this," Claire whispered so quietly I was surprised I could hear her.
"Me neither," I breathed out.
"They'll be back. They have to come back," Sara comforted us.
"But they don't," Roger stated. "It's pretty obvious they love that stupid camp and their friends more than they care about us. I mean, we told them how we felt about it and they didn't even consider. And we don't know anything about them. Those two…they're not normal. They have too many secrets for us to handle."
James sighed. "He's right. Kidnapped. She was kidnapped. We told her we knew. We told her we were worried. She said to forget about it. It's nothing. Don't worry." He shook his head. "I don't see how we can—I don't see how they can pretend nothing happened. What if something worse has happened. What if—"
"Stop it!" Lesley screeched, standing up. "I'm not going to lie down here listening to you talk about our friends like their aliens! I get that they have secrets, but we all have secrets. I don't know what you're going to do about their 'disappearance', but I'm going to talk to their parents!"
"Lesley, sit down," Claire said suddenly.
"What? I—?"
"Lesley, sit down," Sara said now, more urgently.
Reluctantly, Claire sat back down, still looking angry. I frowned. "But why—?"
"Look!" James pointed to the far end of the park where four figures were strolling along the edges.
I squinted my eyes to see the far distance and gasped. 2 of the people were Percy and Annabeth, smiling and laughing as if they had no worries, as if they had no friends to call up. There was also a tall-ish boy wearing a rasta cap and long jeans and converse. The final guy looked more like a truck. He was really tall and muscular. His hands were bruised and he had scars all over.
"What is that?" Claire asked.
"Claire, don't be mean," Sara said.
"A call would have been nice," James grumbled.
"Well, let's go! We're not just staying here, are we?" Lesley retorted.
So we all jumped up from our positions and crept around the other side of the park so that they wouldn't see us. We walked over by a big tree and stood by it, hiding our faces and listening intently as the four walked past.
They were laughing loudly. They all looked so elated and comfortable with each other I almost felt bad for invading their privacy…almost. Annabeth looked as beautiful as ever. Her hair was piled up onto her head and she wore a pair of black skinny jeans and an orange tank top. Meanwhile, Percy had on khaki shorts and a green t-shirt. His hair was messy from the wind and his green eyes sparkled. Although I hated it, I felt jealous instantly.
"I'm going to miss you guys," the one in the rasta cap was saying.
"We'll miss you too, G-Man," Percy responded while clapping him on the back.
"Hey, guys," Annabeth interrupted. "I know what happened this summer was dangerous, but can I say, it felt so good to do it with you guys again. I missed you."
The big guy clapped his hands. "Yay, friends!" he cheered.
They all started laughing again, but it died down quickly into an eerie silence. "It wasn't all good," G-Man said. "Perce, you scared us, man. And Tyson, don't cry, big guy Not again."
Tyson wiped at his eyes, but Annabeth tensed up at –Man's words. "Percy seems to like doing that," Annabeth grumbled.
"Hey! Grover, why did you have to bring it up? Look, guys, I didn't ask to go…"
"Go where?" Annabeth questioned.
Percy looked away with a faraway look in his eyes as if remembering something. He shook his head lightly and muttered, "Just forget it."
I smirked. I actually felt satisfied with that answer. Maybe Annabeth would know how it felt, but I still wondered what had happened this summer that had them so shaken up.
The other guys, Grover and Tyson exchanged looks. They seemed worried and frightened about what might come of the two, but I wasn't sure why. If they were really that close to them, they would know Percy and Annabeth fought all the time. However, when I thought about it, the pair did seem more cautious of each other. In the last year that I'd known them, they'd seemed really comfortable with each other. Now—not that they didn't seem comfortable—they had no contact at all. They wouldn't meet each other's gaze. It was as if something worse had happened.
"Forget it," Annabeth repeated. "Were you able to 'forget' what happened to me, Percy, because this is a million times worse! I was kidnapped, but at least you knew I was alive. At least you had somewhere to go, something to follow!
"Perseus Jackson, for two weeks I heard nothing. I had no dream, nothing! You didn't contact me, or anyone for that matter! I thought you were dead!" Her voice cracked but she still forced herself to continue. She shook her head. "I hated you, Percy, I hated you! You were so stupid!"
"Stupid? Annabeth, it was the only way! Or we would have all—" He took a deep breath. "I told you, I was lost."
Annabeth threw up her hands in frustration and looked at Grover and Tyson. "Did you hear that? He was lost! The great, mighty Perseus Jackson got lost on his way home and decided that for two weeks he would wander about on his own, without telling any of his friends or family. But, you know, maybe he thought no one would care. That no one would l=think anything negative. I mean, what could happen to someone missing for two weeks. Nothing serious, I'm sure." Her voice dripped with exasperated sarcasm.
Percy clenched and unclenched his fist as if contemplating what to say next. "I came back as soon as I could have! I chose to come back!"
"From where?"
"The island, Gods!"
I had no idea what he meant, but obviously Annabeth did. Her eyes blazed with fury. Her jaw tensed. Grover and Tyson stepped forward.
"Brother, stop fighting," Tyson told Percy. I blinked. Brother? Percy had said he had no siblings. But at this point, at the rate they'd been lying, I wouldn't be surprised if he had hundreds of brothers.
"Annabeth, come on. Percy didn't decide where he wanted to go, okay? And he came back, so—"
It was then I realized Annabeth was crying. She wiped her eyes furiously with the backs of her hands.
"Whatever," she muttered. "I'm done. He could have stayed with her for all I care. He should have stayed with her, then we could have avoided the whole 'Big Th—"
"You don't mean that, Annabeth," Grover told her.
"You don't know that!" she snapped back, her eyes still red.
Tyson butted in. "You-you wouldn't miss Percy?"
"Tyson, I—"
"She doesn't mean it, Tyson. She's just mad."
"I don't care if she means it!" Percy screamed. "Yeah, I could have stayed! I was offered to stay! Maybe I was tempted to stay! But I came back!"
"Stop it!" Tyson screamed loudly, covering his hears from his own racket.
I looked at five of my friends, who seemed as frightened and confused as I felt. I held back the resentment I felt towards my friends at that moment. We were always so lost with them. They had better friends, better everything without us, we didn't know anything about them! I was tired of having to eavesdrop to just barely understand something about their life they wouldn't explain to us either way. Honestly, I would have jumped out of our 'hiding spot' right then and there, but something stopped me. It wasn't until later that I realized it was Lesley's hand.
I heard Grover's voice say, "All you two do is fight! You know, I'd think it gets tired for you, but I think it's more tiring for us! It is all you do!" He ranted on and on about their fight, but honestly, I wasn't listening.
Roger shook his head and James held up his hands in surrender. Claire studied all of us, as if asking for our approval before she did it. She walked out, her wedged tennis shoes clomping along behind her. The five of us followed her nervously. Percy and Annabeth's faces went pale and they looked so surprised, I was satisfied. Claire stopped in front of Grover and Annabeth. She looked at Annabeth, then turned around so she could see Percy, but kept her distance from Tyson. Her eyes flashed with fury.
"Thanks for calling us," she said in a fake, cheery tone. "We weren't worried about you at all!" she sounded exasperated.
"Claire, we—"
Claire held up her hand. "Save it."
She walked away, leaving the five of us with our mouths open in shock. She turned around when she noticed we weren't following.
"Are you coming?"
I looked at Percy and Annabeth, at their guilty faces. I looked at their friends and thought of all the resentment I held against them secretly. I loved them, yet hated them.
I stepped away from Roger, Lesley, Sara and James and walked to Claire. The others took this as clarification. They walked towards Claire and I, and I let out a sigh of relief, knowing they were still on our side. Only Lesley seemed to have doubts. She walked to us, but in an uneasy fashion. When passing Percy and Annabeth, she looked at both of them and whispered something, but I was too far to hear.
Percy's face looked stricken with guilt, and I was filled with curiosity, wondering what she told him to leave him with that reaction. Before we walked away, I looked at them one last time, but the worst part of it was, they weren't even looking at us. They were conversing in hushed tones. Percy and Annabeth still seemed uncomfortable but they weren't fighting anymore. Somehow, that sight made me even angrier. And this time, I felt no guilt walking away.
