*Chapter 10: Spying*

(Percy)

As Annabeth and I finally woke, the light made me blink.

"How long did we sleep for?" Annabeth asked in a small voice, yawning.

I looked at the clock on the wall. "I don't know, nine hours maybe?"

She sat up. As she moved away, suddenly the left side of my body where she'd been laying felt cold without her.

We went to the kitchen, where I found a note taped to the refrigerator in Thalia's messy handwriting: 'Went out with Nico, be back later. -Thalia'

"Well, guess we have the house to ourselves," I said, wondering why Nico and Thalia left without telling me.

Annabeth smiled sheepishly. "Actually, I was going to go with Silena to the mall."

"Oh, okay." So much for spending more time with her.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. I was so caught up in the gesture I didn't hear what she asked me.

"Well?" she asked.

"What?" I blinked.

"Do you want to come?"

I grimaced. "And do what? Carry your shopping bags?"

She laughed and swatted my arm. "Fine, don't come. Just don't walk around the house in your boxers and socks, either."

"I never did that."

"Oh yeah?" I could tell she was trying not to smile. "So the picture Thalia showed me was fake?"

"What picture?" Thalia . . . picture . . . oh, crap. "I'm going to kill her!"

This time she did smile. "You looked so cute. You even had sunglasses on."

"Who has that picture now?"

Annabeth put a finger to her lips and pretended to think. "Um, me, I think."

I glowered at her. "If you don't burn it I'll-I'll . . ."

"You'll what?" She had won, and she knew it. Grinning, she left to get dressed while I still stood in the kitchen.

After Annabeth left I watched TV, then played video games for a while. When I went to the kitchen to get a soda I noticed another note under the first that I didn't catch before. Taking it off, I recognized Nico's handwriting: 'And by the way, you and Annabeth looked cute together on the couch. Don't believe me? We have pictures. Aka-blackmail. :) -Nico'

Why that little . . . I crumbled the note in my hand. When that little punk came home he was so dead.

After a while the coffee table was slowly filling with junk food. Thalia and Nico still haven't come back yet.

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(Percy)

When the doorbell rang I was irritated.

"Couldn't have given me five more minutes," I grumbled. Pausing the game and setting the controller on the couch I got up to answer the door. Drew was standing there wearing a pink miniskirt, white top, and heels, her purse on one shoulder.

"What do you want?" I sighed.

Drew's shell pink lips curved up into a smile. "Well, that's not nice, Percy." Pushing past me and walking into the house, Drew looked at her surroundings. "Nice house, Perce."

"What are you doing here?" I asked, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice.

"I just wanted to drop in and say hi." She looked me over, and I realized I wasn't wearing a shirt. Clearing my throat I grabbed a clean one from the laundry basket full of clean clothes on the table (that I accidentally forgot to fold) and put it on.

"Just drop in?" I crossed my arms. "That's a total lie, Drew."

"Okay, you caught me." She smiled again, and I found myself distracted by her pink eyeliner. "I just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out today, seeing as Thalia and Nico ditched you to go to the mall with the Big Three."

"Wait, the Big Three, Thalia, and Nico are all at the mall?" I tried to imagine the five of them sitting at a table with a big plate of french fries. The thought was so abnormal I pushed it away. Besides, the Big Three would seriously rather be caught dead than seen eating at the mall. "How do you know that?"

Drew waved her hand. "Hon, I have friends already there waiting for me. And it's sunday, and you're sitting at home alone and shirtless." Her eyes raked over me again. "Not that that's really a bad thing . . ."

I rolled my eyes.

"Anyway," she continued, "Just come. You might have fun."

"No thanks," I told her. "I don't want to be seen with you, especially since you keep telling everyone we're together."

"You can spy on them and see why they had a meeting and didn't invite you," she baited. She had a point there. Although I think I already knew. It had something to do with Rachel. It must be important if they were keeping it from me, and I was determined to find out what it is. I'd do whatever it takes to catch the guy that hurt Rachel, even if it meant putting myself in danger.

"Okay, I'm in," I said.

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(Annabeth)

"Why did I have to pick you up from Thalia, Nico, and Percy's house?" was the first thing Silena said to me after I climbed into her car.

"I'm fine, thank you," I said.

She rolled her eyes. "Come on, Annabeth, I'm serious."

"I slept over," I sighed.

Silena's face softened. "Did you fight with your dad again?"

"Yeah," I said quietly. "But I don't think I'm going to go back this time. They hate me there, and I hate being there. It's not worth it to fight with them almost every day."

"Do you want to stay with me?" she asked. "You know my parents love you, and my little sister, too."

I smiled gratefully. "Thanks, but I don't really know what I'm going to do until I can get my own place. I just can't stay there anymore."

The topic was dropped until we arrived at the mall. Parking, we got out and headed inside. There were kids running around either covered in chocolate or ice cream while the parents attempted to wipe it off. People lounged in the food court area and teens loitered, hanging out and talking with friends.

Silena decided to start conversation. "So, do you think Juniper and Grover will get together soon?" she asked as we walked.

"I hope so, they've had a crush on each other forever," I said. Everyone knew that-except them. We really needed to fix that soon.

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(Annabeth)

We browsed around and tried on clothes for a while, but I quit when Silena tried to get me into a top that was way too revealing for me and went to look at jewelry instead.

I jumped when Silena snuck up behind me. "So, Annabeth," she said casually. I could tell she's been wanting to ask me something since I got into her car. I just hoped it wouldn't be embarrassing. I wasn't so lucky.

"Who let you in last night?" She picked up a purple tee and examined it.

Might as well get this over with. "Percy," I sighed. "He let me stay."

"Oh?"

"It's not a big deal," I told her. I could feel my face getting hot. "We just-"

"Wait!" Silena grabbed my arm. "Is that Percy there . . . with Drew?"

"What?" She turned me around. At first I didn't see them. Then I noticed Percy and Drew standing near the food court area. It looked like Percy was spying on someone, but I couldn't see who since the giant fountain was in the way.

"What is he doing here with her?" Silena exclaimed.

"I have no idea, but he must have a good reason." Suddenly Percy disappeared behind the fountain. From what I could see he was waving his arms and yelling, causing people to turn and stare. Drew just stood there with her arms crossed, smirking.

Silena cursed. "I bet she just wanted to cause trouble."

"Well if that was her plan, she was successful." As I watched, Percy stormed off. Then, to my surprise, Nico and Thalia were following him, calling his name, but Percy was too quick. He disappeared in the crowd of people, leaving Nico and Thalia standing there dejected.

I hoped Percy was okay. I wanted to go after him, but I had a feeling he wanted to be left alone. So I watched as Nico and Thalia left. Then Poseidon, Hades, and Nico left. Drew just sat down at a nearby table with her group of friends, as though nothing had happened.