Ta-da! Here's the next chapter!

It took a long time for this to finally be updated because of many reasons:

1) School

2) Laziness

Yeah, that was only two reasons. Er...

Anyways, if you haven't been keeping track, this chapter is in Annabeth's POV. The next chapter (which I already have typed up) is in Third Person POV. The story might seem like it's taking a long time for anything to happen, but trust me, I'm getting there! ;) Also, the chapters are starting to get longer if you haven't noticed.

My 75th reviewer will get a small part in the story. So review if you wanna get your shot at superstardom (not really)!

--screamattheskyx3

14. I Become Friends with Rachel Dare

I was surprised that Paula didn't yell at me and Percy for...messing around.

After we dried off, our "punishment" was to sit on the beach and watch everyone else canoe, which wouldn't be that long. The class was ending in a few minutes, so some people were attempting to get back to shore anyway.

It was quiet again between us. I was used to it by now. It was always like this, but I liked it...in a way. Of course, I would never tell him that.

"So what class do you have next?" His voice kind of startled me. He swiveled around so he was facing me.

I shrugged. "Rachel knows. Why don't you ask her?"

"Okay, what's up with you and Rachel?" Percy looked me straight in the eyes.

"Nothing."

"Doesn't seem like nothing to me."

"It's nothing." I insisted.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Positive?"

"A hundred percent."

"Are you positive that you're positive?"

I laughed. "You're an idiot."

"Thanks. I try." He smiled wryly.

"Annabeth!"

I jumped. I sighed and stood up, brushing sand off of my Capri's.

"Was I interrupting something?" Thalia winked.

"Ye--"

"Not really." I said before Percy could say something stupid.

"Oh, okay." Thalia kicked some sand with her shoe. "We should get to our next class."

I nodded. I turned to Percy. "See ya."

"Bye." He smiled and waved, walking over to the dock to meet up with his cabin.

Thalia snickered.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing. We have archery next."

"Awesome."

"Let's find Rachel and Silena. I'll get Rachel."

"Okay."

Archery was at the bottom of a hill, between the gym and the dining hall.

Joining us would be Cabin 2 and Bianca, Gabriella (who by now, we all called 'Gabby'), and Clarisse from Cabin 4.

The archery instructor was Tim and we all remembered him from the physical challenge last night. He was a great archer, and always managed to make his arrow land near the bullseye.

Tim arranged for every person to get a bow and three arrows. Then we all stood in a line to shoot. Clarisse was first, naturally.

He told Clarisse how to pull the string back and the correct way to put the arrow on the bow.

She wasn't nearly as good as Tim. One of her arrows stuck in the hay behind the boards, another made it on to the very edge, and the last one accidentally hit Tim in the butt. She muttered an apology and trudged to the back as the other kids stifled their laughter.

Next was Troy Brogan, and he took a long time. So everyone talked to pass the time.

Chris sat off to the side with Clarisse and they talked. Everyone thought they would be a good couple together. I shuddered at the thought of Clarisse being in a relationship.

Silena and Beckendorf sat at the top of the hill, holding hands and other romantic stuff. I think Silena was happy to finally spend time with him. If only I could have a relationship like that with...ugh, never mind.

Nico was still attempting to make Gabby his girlfriend and she almost accepted. That is, until Bianca interrupted. She seemed to be very protective of all her friends.

Troy finally shot his three arrows and he started chatting it up with Tyson. Tyson got along with everyone, which was something I could never do.

Thalia was eager to shoot next. She turned out to be amazing at archery. She never missed for any of her three shots. It always hit the bullseye and everyone was impressed, even Clarisse. Thalia did a little bow and high-fived every guy.

Chris went next and Clarisse sprang up to help him.

I sat towards the bottom of the hill and stared at the sky. There were cumulus clouds out, so that was a good sign.

I wondered what everyone else was doing...especially Per--uh...Luke. Yeah, Luke.

Lately, I wasn't sure how I felt about Luke. He seemed like a friend instead of a crush...no, maybe 'brother' was the right term.

"Hey."

I looked up to see what in the world could be blocking my sun. Rachel. "Hello." I replied monotonously.

She plopped down next to me and sighed. "I have a question."

"Shoot."

"Why do you hate me?

I hesitated. "Who said I did?"

She shrugged. "It's kind of obvious. You talk to me different than you would talk to..."

"Talk to who?" I demanded.

"Percy."

"Oh. Well..."

"Never mind him." Rachel waved her hand absentmindedly. "Why do you hate me?" Well, she was certainly straightforward.

"You can't prove that." I replied.

"Sure, I could. I'm not blind, you know." She sighed. "Remember when we were on the bus?"

I nodded tentatively.

"I saw how you would glare at me sometimes because I laughed at Percy's jokes or if I smiled at him." She confessed.

"Oh..." For the first time, I had nothing to say.

"So call me crazy, but I think you hate me because you're protective of him."

"What?! Psh, no; that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Why would I be protective of Percy?" I rambled.

"Because maybe you secretly like him." Rachel smiled slightly.

I gaped. "No! That's--!"

"C'mon, Annabeth. I noticed it the first day you arrived at Bridgeton Academy." She smiled again, this time teasingly. "You. Like. Him. A. Lot."

"No. I. Don't." I retorted, imitating her. How could she think that I liked Seaweed Brain? Yeah, right!

"Okay, I'm just saying." Rachel stood up and I did the same. I hadn't noticed it, but we'd been talking for a long time. "But can we at least try to be friends?"

I considered this for a moment. "Alright. Friends." We shook hands, sealing the deal.

Lunch was average. I had a hamburger, tater tots, and a Diet Coke.

I couldn't stop thinking about what Rachel had told me during archery.

"Because maybe you secretly like him."

Untrue. I would not let my week at camp turn into some fairytale book where I was the princess and Percy was--

Don't go there, Annabeth, I told myself.

"Okay, so our next class is at the animal house." Thalia pulled out a piece of paper. "And it's over here." She pointed to a small map in the corner of the paper.

"Do we get to hold bunnies?" Silena's eyes shimmered, hopeful.

We all laughed.

Thalia then told us that Cabin 3 would be with us, along with Percy and Jake from Cabin 1.

Rachel smiled at me as everyone was finishing lunch and soon Thalia and Silena joined in.

"Why are you guys looking at me like that?" I frowned.

"We have another class with Percy." Silena sighed, putting her hands over her heart. "How romantic for you!"

My face was getting red, and I was pretty sure it was noticeable.

"It's okay, Annabeth. We won't tease you anymore about it." Thalia assured.

"Really?"

"Nope! We just won't tease you about it until free time." She smirked.

I almost crawled under the table. But I didn't, because thankfully, lunch was ending and our next class would start very soon.

The animal house contained lots of rooms. I heard that there was a room for reptiles, a room for mammals, and another room for insects. I prayed that my class would be with the mammals or the reptiles.

I was not all that fond of insects. Usually, "insects" included "spiders".

We all crowded at the entrance, waiting for the teacher, Jennie. Travis and Connor were trying to peek through the tiny window by standing on each other's shoulders. They kept collapsing to the ground (of course). I thought I saw Katie smile at Travis.

Seaweed Brain gave me an encouraging smile and I saw Rachel giving me a thumbs-up out of the corner of my eye.

The door swung open, and everyone stepped back a few feet. An Asian-looking girl with black-brown hair motioned for us to enter.

We followed instructions and came to a hallway with three different paths to take. I knew that one of the paths would lead you to the mammals, and another one took you to the reptiles. The last one would take me (possibly) to the infirmary.

"Today, we're looking at..."

Please don't say insects, I pleaded in my mind.

"Insects!"

Some of the guys cheered.

Thalia shrugged as if to say, "Why not?"

Rachel nodded and Silena looked disappointed.

I, on the other hand, was ready to pass out at the sight of a spider.

Jennie led us into the insect room and the first thing I saw was a rectangular glass container with praying mantises.

I breathed slowly. So far, so good.

Jennie then had us sit on a soft, plush carpet. She sat in a rocking chair in front of us. I felt like I was in kindergarten.

Percy sat to my right, and to my left was Rachel. Thalia sat behind me and no one sat in front of me because I was in the front.

The next ten minutes were spent with us answering questions about insects and Jennie explaining facts about them by showing us pictures in a book. She also explained the difference between insects and arachnids.

I shuddered; arachnids. Insects weren't nearly as bad as arachnids.

"Alright, are you guys ready to look at some insects?" Jennie stood up and clapped her hands together.

"Just look?" Travis stood up simultaneously with Connor. "Do we get to hold them?"

"Sure, why not?" Jennie shrugged, walking over to the praying mantis area.

Everyone around me got up and followed her. I stayed sitting.

"Annabeth?"

I looked up. "What?"

"Why are you still sitting?"

"Because my foot fell asleep." I said lamely.

"For someone who's really smart, you can be really dumb sometimes." Percy rolled his eyes.

I stuck out my tongue.

"Come on. There's nothing to be scared of." He held out his hand.

I considered this for a moment. Then I grabbed Percy's hand and pulled him down.

"OOF!" He scrambled to his feet and I followed, laughing. "Why do you always do that??"

I shrugged, shoving my hands into the pockets of my orange jacket.

"Let's go." He gripped my hand tightly and basically dragged me to the praying mantises.

I forced myself to stare at them. "They're not that bad..." I murmured.

"See?" He nodded.

Soon after he said that, Thalia shoved one of those green things in my face. I shrieked.

"Ooh, sorry, Annabeth." She laughed apologetically.

I exhaled quite loudly, calming down.

"Afraid of insects?" Rachel asked.

I shook my head. "Not all."

"Spiders and praying mantises?"

"Uh-huh."

"Gotcha." Rachel was about to take her turn to hold the praying mantis when she turned around and smiled at us.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Why are you guys holding hands?" She giggled.

Crap. Crap, crap, crap, crap.

I dropped his hand without even thinking about it.

I then resorted to putting my hands in my sweater pockets. It didn't feel as warm as Percy's ha--

Shut up, Annabeth, I told myself. Don't think that kind of stuff...

Rachel giggled again and walked off. Percy followed awkwardly. I rolled my eyes and walked up next to Silena. She smiled at me like she was hiding something.

I shrugged it off. It probably didn't mean anything.

I glanced at Seaweed Brain and saw Rachel whispering intently to him.

That probably didn't mean anything either.

After all, Rachel and I were...friends.

At least, I thought we were.

Are Annabeth and Rachel really friends?

What do YOU think?

The next chapter will get updated sooner than this, promise!

If you're reading this, hi, Melissa!

GET WELL SOON! :D