Annabeth:

I stared up at the ceiling unable to sleep.

Maybe it was all the sodas I drank with Sarah. Maybe I was still thinking about the Romantic Comedy we watched. It could have been the Chinese food. Possibly, I couldn't sleep because I was missing Ryan, who was out of town when it was our month-aversary, not that I really cared about such things. But I definitely couldn't sleep.

I looked at the clock that read one AM and decided to get up. The place was quiet, insanely quiet. The cold and solemn atmosphere reminded me of how my life was before Sarah. I had a lot of freedom such as being able to hook-up with random guys and not having to get home to take care of a kid, but it also came with a lot of loneliness. Thinking back on it was hard for me these days.

I crept along the hardwood floor, even though I had no reason to, and went out the door. I saw Sarah's door open and her bed empty, and the sound of the refrigerator quickly followed. Partly happy that she was up and partly worried about why she was up, I went straight to the kitchen.

When I got there, little Sarah was pouring herself a glass of orange juice, trying her very hardest not to spill it. Her black hair was being held back by a blue elastic, which strangely matched her pajamas. Her grey eyes watched the orange juice spill into the cup with interest.

For some odd reason, I smiled. It was hard not to smile when I saw her, to tell you the truth. Percy is the same way. It just feels so weird-and amazing- to see your kid. I mean, it's just your kid. You made it, not someone else. There are millions of kids in this world that you could look at, but it isn't the same.

"What are you doing up, Sarah?" I asked. Sarah's grey eyes shot up as she put the orange juice bottle down, and I'm just going to add that she didn't spill one drop, which is pretty great considering some of the six year olds I know.

"Thirsty," Sarah held up the glass as I brought one out for myself. Pouring the orange liquid into said glass, I began to wonder what Sarah would be doing if she were still with her adopted parents. I shuttered as I thought about them. I had never really met them before, but it was still weird to think of them as dead.

From the few pictures I had seen of them, they were so full of life. In fact, they had the life. They ruled the social scene of Westchester. "A Spanish CEO falls in love with a native New Yorker. They marry and buy a huge Westchester mansion, where they host many fundraisers-and just galas for themselves- for charity. Finally, they want children but are devastated to find they are unable. Of course, they make the best of it by adopting an adorable three month old baby who grows up into a beautiful young girl." It was only natural they become the couple. But out of nowhere it all ends. A shocking call is made to the family. Other rich housewives are stricken speechless to learn that their leader is dead. The company has to tell their employees what happened, and that little girl is left alone once more. At first, no one believes it. They say "But Jill was going to meet me tomorrow for a brunch and a light shopping trip!" or something like that. But they don't see them at the next functions. Toast and empty seats are made for the couple, and it seems like they'll never be forgotten. It doesn't take long before the house is sold. Another family moves in. Some other woman becomes the president of all of those charities and life goes on. In the back of their minds though, everyone wonders how their wonderful life just ended in the blink of an eye. Like me, they wonder what really happened in that car before it crashed.

"I better get back to bed," Sarah nodded towards the stairs, breaking me out of my trance. I nodded with a smile before taking a sip of the orange juice. Sarah had only made it up the first step before she turned around and came back towards me.

"Can I tell you something, Mom?"

I felt the familiar buzz of when she called me 'Mom'

"Of course," I told her, trying not to sound too worried.

Sarah bit her lip as she climbed up into the bar stool. She looked distraught, and it reminded me of the moment I told my dad I wanted to go to boarding school instead of staying with him.

"It's great that you're happy and all, but…" Sarah looked down at her lap and took a deep breath.

"You can tell me anything, Sarah," I reassured her.

"I don't like you dating Ryan."

I stood there in silence, completely stunned. I thought she loved him, and she's suddenly telling me at one AM that she doesn't like me dating him. I tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to me. It felt surreal, like it hadn't happened. At first, I told myself this was a dream, but I told myself I wasn't asleep. This was definitely happening.

"Why not?"

Those two words were the only things I could manage to say.

"I don't know…" Sarah looked down once more, "It's like he's hiding things."

"What do you mean?" I persisted.

"I don't know. It's just something about him. I mean, he was okay as Coach Bazil, but I'm not sure if I like him as Ryan, my mom's boyfriend. And Wyatt! He acts like there is some big secret or something. It's just all weird," Sarah told me.

Wyatt was Ryan's four year old son. His mom, Tara, left, taking Wyatt with her, Ryan a year ago. The divorce didn't go through until a while ago, and Wyatt is just now getting back into seeing his dad a lot. We had the kids meet last week.

I didn't know what to think about this. I had only been dating Ryan for a month. She'll change her mind, right? But something inside me disagreed. If my daughter could see something was wrong this early into it, I needed to think this all over.

"Sarah, you should get to bed. We'll talk about this later," I told her, and she nodded. Once Sarah had disappeared up the stairs, I went to the cabinet over the Frig, where Sarah conveniently couldn't reach. Taking a bottle of Svedka, I poured a little bit of vodka into the orange juice. I took a sip of the drink, hoping it would help me relax, but it did no such thing.

The Next Day:

"I thought Sarah loved Ryan," Gina, Carly's mom, told me. She looked just like her daughter, to tell you the truth. Her chocolate-brown eyes looked at everything as if she had never seen evil. Her brown hair was fashioned in what I call the 'Mom-Bob', which I would never do. I had never seen Gina tan, and she told me that she burned easily. Her baby-face looked so much like her daughter's, it was almost funny. It was hard to think of her ever being serious.

Sarah was best friends with Carly, which I'm thankful for. Percy and I were afraid that she would have trouble making friends after all that happened, but it only took two days in school until they were best friends. Carly introduced her to her other friends, and that, too, only took about a day or two. Sarah missed the last sleepover, because of Kierra's wedding, and she had been waiting for this one for weeks. It was all she could talk about for the last few days.

I brought her here about ten minutes ago, and the girls went straight into 'Slumber Party' mode. Gina, seeing I was a little out of it, asked if I was alright. I couldn't hold it in any longer and told her about how Sarah told me she didn't like Ryan.

"So did I," I sighed, trying to look happy to know I wasn't the only one who had thought that.

"Have you talked to Ryan about this all, yet?" Gina asked me.

"No," I shook my head, "He's out of town for something with work."

"What are you talking about?" Gina asked with surprise, "I work with him, and he's not going anywhere. Ryan has to stay in town for his divorce. It'll be any day now that it's final."

"What? He told me his divorce went through months ago!"

Gina stood there in surprise for a moment. Her thin lips made a crisp line as if she were thinking. I tried not to do the same. Thinking was impossible for me at this point. Finally, she met my gaze with a resolution.

"I saw his wife, Tara, a few days ago. She told me that she was so excited to have this divorce over with after he left her a year ago," Gina continued.

"He told me that she left him."

I was done with being shocked. I was angry now.

"I'm starting to think Sarah was right about him," Gina told me, her gaze full of pity and encouragement.

I hated when people gave me that luck. I've been getting it my entire life. "Oh, you ran away from home!", "Your mom left you?", "Your father married and barely paid attention to you?", "Your best friend betrayed you- and tried to kill the world and gods?", "Your boyfriend of two months suddenly disappeared?", "You and your boyfriend and trying unsuccessfully to pull off a long distance relationship?", "Your twenty, pregnant, and single?", or something like that always got me that look.

I simply nodded towards Gina.

XXXXXX

Taking a deep breath, I knocked on Ryan's apartment door. A pizza man let me in, and I was happy about that. I wanted his guilty little ass to be surprised. But it also proved bad for me. As I drove over here, I couldn't hold back the thoughts like I had hoped I could. My mind wandered to why he had lied to me. There were many things I could come up with.

Maybe he really liked me and didn't want me to think of him as a married jerk who left his wife and their three year old son.

Maybe he used this all as a cover. He would meet women at a swim thing for their kids and would tell them this sad story about how his wife left him and took his son. Then, maybe out of pity or something, they'd go on a date or something, and he would be his perfect self. And I was just a victim.

Maybe he thought I wouldn't go out with him if I knew the truth.

Maybe Ryan is cheating on me and makes up these stories, which I sadly fall for.

Maybe he isn't ready to talk about his divorce, like Percy.

Maybe he still loves his wife or something.

As the door knob opened, my heart skipped a beat, wondering what he'd say.

But, none of my possibilities prepared me for what I saw when that door opened.

Oh. My. Gods.

"May I help you?" a familiar woman asked.

Her auburn hair flowed down around her and the single garment she was wearing, Ryan's tee shirt. He wore it on the day I first saw him. Her amber eyes were as pretty as the gemstone they were named after. She seemed to be a size four, but there was no question about her having implants. Even in a NYU tee shirt that was way too big for her, she was pretty.

Really pretty.

"Who are you?" I asked before I could think about it.

"Amber, Ryan's girlfriend. Who are you?" her eyes narrowed as she assessed me. There was something about her that reminded me of Renee. Maybe it was how pretty it was, but I think it had to do with how she was giving me a 'once-over' to see if she was prettier than me.

"Where's Ryan?"

"The kitchen," Amber answered. There was something in her eyes that knew to let me in, which I was thankful for. She moved away from the door, and I didn't pause or anything. I went straight there, looking at Ryan.

His smile was definite, and there was no question about it being him.

He didn't seem to notice me, which gave me a smug satisfaction.

"A work seminar, eh?"

Ryan froze as if I had thrown a paralyzing dart instead of said four simple words. It took ten seconds before he turned around to look at me.

I was still wearing the Harvard tee shirt and jeans I had thrown on this morning. My curly hair was being held up by a red ponytail holder. Comparatively, I'm sure Amber was way more attractive at the moment, but he didn't look at her. He looked at me.

"Your plan was brilliant, Ryan. Say your wife left, taking your son along with him, and that all you want is to find someone who could really love you. But I'm afraid your wife let the cat out of the bag by telling your co-worker that she just couldn't wait for the divorce to be over after you left her but that she hated how you both had to stay in town this weekend in case the lawyers called."

I stood there, angry beyond belief. I didn't want to scream. I wanted this asshole to pay.

"What is she talking about, Ryan?" Amber piped up for the first time.

"Yeah, Ryan, what am I talking about?" I crossed my arms, wanting to hear his answer.

Ryan stuttered, knowing the game was over.

And he lost.

"You don't understand," he tried, but neither of us bought it.

"What do I not understand, Ryan?" Amber screamed.

But I couldn't manage it. I just simply looked at him with pain and disappointment. I turned myself around and let Amber scream to the top of her lungs. I just wanted to get out of here.

"Annabeth, wait," he stopped me.

This time I was going to give him hell.

"What? You cheated on me. You lied to me. You lied to my daughter. I hope that spot in the next class is still open because I don't want you anywhere near her," I growled. Ryan didn't say anything. He just looked at me with surprise. I opened the front door was about to leave when I decided to say one last thing.

"Oh, Ryan, remember last Friday night?" I smiled, "Faked it."

With that, I closed the door behind me and went straight to the elevator before he could respond. When the door was safely closed and I was all alone, I let it all sink in.

He was cheating on me. He lied to me. He lied to Sarah.

I tried to cry, but I couldn't. I only felt anger. Honestly, I didn't care. I was only angry at myself for not figuring it out.

As I stood there, I really thought about it. Did I ever care? Did I really like him or did I tell myself that I did? When I asked myself that, I realized I didn't want Ryan. I wanted to prove that I didn't have to be with Percy Jackson.

But I did.