Annabeth

Two days later we arrived in New York. It had been an exhausting drive - physically and emotionally - but we made it.

As I pulled into a Hampton Inn, my whole body seemed to cave in on itself, and I slumped into the seat, tears pricking my eyes.

"We're here," I managed to croak out. "We're finally here." Thalia and Luke both awoke from their slumber, and with huge eyes, took in there surroundings. Moisture gathered in Thalia's eyes as she leaned on Luke for support. The journey had been as draining to them as it had to me.

As Luke wrapped his arms supporting around Thalia, I couldn't help but wish I had someone there to hold me up. And then, for just a moment, a splitting image of sea green eyes and a goofy smile flashed across my eyelids before I pushed it away. I couldn't think about him right now.

We all climbed out of my poor truck, and I could practically hear the automobile give a groan of relief. Even though it was kind of silly, I reached out and patted the truck on its hood affectionately. It had done the world for me, whether it was inanimate or not.

Without saying a word, we grabbed our few things, wrapped our arms around each other's shoulders, and stepped inside.

The interior of the building was warm, bright, and super welcoming. If those cushiony couches in the lobby were anything to go by, I definitely couldn't wait to sink my body into a real bed and lay my head on a fluffy pillow.

The receptionist looked up at us and smiled warmly. He had a kind, wrinkled face, and it was hard to tell exactly how old he was. His eyes looked like they held a thousand years' worth of wisdom. I watched as he took in the sight of us, his face quickly changing from welcoming to concerned.

"What can I help you kids with tonight?" he asked kindly. I stepped forward.

"We need a room with two queen beds, please," I quickly said. He typed something into his computer.

"Room 529 is open on the fifth floor. How long are you staying here?"

I threw a hesitant look at Luke and Thalia. "Um, lets say one week?" Both of them gave a slight nod of approval. "But that could change," I added quickly as an afterthought. He nodded.

"And what should I put down as your name?"

I froze. We'd been going to cheap hotels; we'd never been asked for our name or IDs or anything. I looked to Thalia and Luke, and both looked panic, clearly trying to think of how I respond. I decided to test the murky waters...

"I'm Anna Chandler; I'll be paying for everything," I said calmly, though I was freaking out inside. The man seemed to sense that, because his eyes bore into mine for a second, before nodding.

"Alrighty. I'll need I see an ID."

My heart stopped.

There was no way this could work. I need had time to have a fake ID made, and I made a mental note to get one as soon as possible. But first, I had to get out of this situation.

I turned my face into a blank slate, so the man wouldn't suspect anything, and I started to dig through my bag, as of taking out my wallet. I then convincingly dropped my bag, and its contents came tumbling out. Luke and Thalia quickly dropped to there knees with me.

"Do you have an ID?" I asked out of the corner of my mouth. Both of them shook their head.

"We couldn't risk having our real one, though it probably wouldn't have mattered now. We're forgotten. But we could never risk a fake one, either." Luke mumbled all this very quickly and quietly so we wouldn't be overheard.

"It's time to improvise. I'd worst comes to worst, we'll find a different hotel," I told them while putting the last object into the bag. They both nodded, and we all stood up.

"Sorry about that," I said mildly. "Hold on, let me get it - oh my god, where is it?!"

Thalia and Luke caught on quickly.

"What do you mean?" Thalia asked.

"My ID! It's gone! I never move it anywhere. I always keep it in this one slot." I pretend to dig frantically through my bag, as if looking furiously for it. Tears well in my eyes, but I can't tell whether it's real or fake. Probably both. Either way, it's certainly helpful.

"Hold on, calm down Annab - Anna. I'm sure it's in there. Let me see," Thalia commanded calmly. She was good at this whole acting thing. I handed her the bag, and she picked through it.

"Shoot - I don't see it. Do you think it fell out in the car?"

I shook my head helplessly, doing my best to look hopelessly desperate. The receptionist looked on with a strange expression, but I couldn't quite figure out what is was.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we're going to have to find another hotel. We're really sorry, but thank you so much for all your help," I told him. My body screamed in protest, wanting nothing more than to sleep in a comfy bed and sleep for as long as it could, without having to get up early in the morning to drive. Not to mention having the time to eat breakfast in the morning would be nice.

"Come on, guys," I said glumly, genuinely upset. The act was just to get his suspicions away from us being runaways or something, but we would truly have to find a new place, which totally sucked.

We were just turning to leave, when the guy said, "Wait."

I stopped and tensed. What if he was going to try to investigate further? I turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Yes, sir?"

"You three are terrible liars," he stated. Thalia gripped my arm nervously. No, no, no, this could not happen. Luke held a fierce look in his eyes that clearly said, "Just try and stop us."

I noticed the receptionist studying us, as if he were making a split decision but questioning himself.

"Calm down, I'm not about to do anything bad," the guy reassured us. Not that it was very reassuring; I stayed tense.

He sighed. "Why don't you guys just stay here for tonight. It looks like you've been through hell. We can work out the ID thing and payments later."

We all looked at each other, eye wide. That was definitely not what we were expecting. Something wasn't right. It couldn't be. Good things don't just happen like that. Maybe he was going to keep us here so that he could call the police overnight?

I was skeptical, but I looked at Thalia's face, and my heart melted. Her eyes were alight with a slightly naive hope, and it would kill me to deny her the luxury of staying here after the straining past few days. Looking at Luke, I noticed that his face was indifferent, as though he didn't care either way.

I frowned, trying to process all this. I stared at the guy, trying to decide if there was anything suspicious about him. He merely looked up at me with kind eyes. I sighed in defeat.

"Would you really be able to do that?" I asked him.

"Of course," he answered immediately. "I own the place."

I bit my lip. I'll admit, it was super tempting. Looking around the place, I knew I'd be happy staying here. Heck, I'd live here. Anything is better than a two-star hotel or sleeping in the truck or on the streets. This was why, in the end, I heaved a great sigh an reluctantly gave in.

Thalia looked excited, Luke indifferent, and the guy pleased.

"Great. Here's the key to your room, and if you need any help, don't hesitate to call down here; I go by Chiron." I nodded mutely, taking the key card from him.

Then, facing Luke and Thalia, I said, "Come on, guys. Let's go get settled in for the night." We all gathered our bags and headed towards the elevator. As the doors started to close, I caught the guy - Chiron - staring straight at us, and a shiver ran down my spine.

He was still staring at us after the doors closed.

Later that night, after Thalia discovered the luxury of mini refrigerators, we sat on our beds, the TV on with the news playing. It was time to really catch up with the outside world.

Thalia sighed. "It's been so long since I've seen a TV."

I glanced over at her. Her face had on the most relaxed look I had seen on it. Since the first day I met her, her face always held a tense look, making her appear older than she really was.

Sometimes, it was easy to forget she was only 15, which she had told me earlier that day. It saddened me because at that age, you should just be getting used to high school and stuff. Not to mention, she probably didn't have a high intellect due to dropping out of high school to run away. I hoped beyond hope that I could make things better for her - for all of us.

After ten minutes of hearing about a barking cat, another five minutes of hearing about how some celebrity were some scandalizing outfit, and yet another five minutes of watching a clip of hamster dancing to "Barbie Girl", I figured I was about as caught up with the world as I could get.

I was just about to turn the TV off and call it a night, when a picture flashed up on the screen. I hastily turned the volume up some the picture of Percy Jackson came into focus.

It was strange how only two days ago, we were standing in the road together and teasing each other, me stupidly having no clue who he was. He probably thought I was an idiot. It hadn't dawned on me who he was until he was leaving...

"Percy!" he called. "You can call me Percy!"

It was like a block had suddenly been removed from my mind. Suddenly the goofy grin, his unique twinkling sea green eyes, and his well-built physique, not to mention his whole crew seemed to click together in my mind.

How often does Percy freaking Jackson stop to help people on the road. Especially while he's on a tight schedule due to his tour. I immediately felt bad.

"I promise that one day I'll pay you back somehow!" I yelled, hoping that one day, I really could.

But by then, he was all but a speck in the distance, and now I would never be sure if he heard me.

Now he was on TV with reporters swarming him.

"Mr. Jackson, why were you two hours behind everyone else?"

"How come you didn't arrive with your crew?"

"Mr. Jackson, there's rumors that you stopped at a strip club on the way here. Care to verify that?"

My heart stopped when I realized he was two hours late because of us. I felt another twinge of guilt. That guilt quickly turned into panic as I realized Percy might tell the world what happened. Even though I was user disguise, I couldn't afford to have any extra attention on me, whether directly or indirectly.

Percy took it all in stride, though, gently pushing the reporters and microphones out of the way. I spotted Nico right behind him, telling the reporters to screw off, which made me smile.

I glanced over at Thalia. I smiled when I saw that her eyes were glued to Nico's form. Percy was right; her and Nico had really hit it off.

"What do you think happened?" Percy asked. "I guess that's for all of you to decide." His face as completely . He was good. Again, reporters started to spew off questions ("What's that supposed to mean, Mr. Jackson?") as Percy and Nico made to enter a building.

He walked inside and was about to close the doors, when another reporter shouted out a cry of complaint.

"That told us nothing! You can't answer a question with a question!"

Percy paused, his face suddenly becoming animated as he flashed a goofy grin straight at the camera.

"I just did! Maybe I did it, because I'm trying to avoid the question, but I don't have the guts to admit it. Make what you can of that."

My jaw dropped. He closed the door, but not before looking straight into the camera and winking.

Call me crazy or paranoid or obsessed, but for some reason, it felt like he was winking at me.

Hey guys! *whimpers pathetically* I know, I've practically ditched y'all, but school started 3 weeks ago and I've already had 4 quizzes, 2 tests, and I'm having another test and an essay due tomorrow. Plus, I still don't have a computer! I typed this WHOLE FREAKING thing on my iPod and it took 3 days. But I really felt that you guys deserved an update. Sorry that it was so short.

So, The Mortal Instruments movie came out yesterday and I am so totally going to go see it with Chubbypandaz tomorrow after school! I have yet to see The Sea of Monsters, but I'll wait till it comes out in red box. Anywho, random shout outs to TheLostRelic and Blondie B. Happy because you both are amazing! Go check out TheLostRelic's story called "Light on Broken Glass" over on FictionPress. It's literally my favorite work of his.

Guess what word cracks me up for no apparent reason? Canoodle! Hahahaha... yeah, I'm strange, but I have a laughing fit every time I read or hear that word. -.-

Thank you for 253 reviews and almost 200 follows and stuff. I love you guys so much and I cannot apologize enough for taking so long to update.

Reviews are like hugs without all the awkward touching stuff!

~HCG13

P.S. Happy Belated Birthday, Percy!

P.P.S. I created a new gmail for you guys to reach me on since I'm not able to be on FFN 24/7 to check PMs. If you want to reach me or need to talk or anything, you can email me at hope . schulz13 gmail . com (remove spaces) Of course, I'll still reply to PMs!

P.P.S.S. Yes, I really did delete "Letting Go" and "Just Around the Corner". Sorry guys! On the upside, I brought back Cinderella which now has 1,701 reviews! AHH! :)