It's been a little while. But hey, guess what? I'm going to Disney again during Spring Break. I can write some of the chapters while I'm there!

I woke up bright and early the next morning to the blaring sound of my 'Titanic-is-sinking-get-your-ass-off-the-ship' alarm clock.

It had been a long night. What should've just been a night of packing bags and eating food and getting a crap ton of sleep turned out to be a yell fest between me, my dad, and my mom who had actually bothered to call again.

Long story short, she hadn't been nice to either of us when she'd found out that I was going away to Disney with a bunch of college students, and she threw even more of a pissy fit when I informed her of the whole Gabe incident. An hour after the yelling had ended, the headache hadn't ended.

Percy had already helped me out a little, but it hadn't stopped me from throwing together half of my things in my bag. I decided against taking any books—hopefully, if need be, there would be a Barnes and Noble somewhere—and just brought my e-reader. Shorts were a must. I'd checked the weather and it was going to be in the high nineties to hundreds the entire time. I had tank tops galore and old t-shirts out my ass. I brought two of my bathing suits.

Aloe and sunscreen were a must have.

I decided to not bring my laptop. It was my baby, but hopefully I wouldn't end up needing it. I got all my other electronics and cords together, plus my toiletries, and folded it all neatly in my bag. I looked like I was going away for a week to a ski resort, not for a weekend to a place only a few hours away.

It was about five thirty when I woke up, and I barely managed to drag myself into the shower. I couldn't keep my eyes open for all of the tea in China and almost collapsed under the hot faucet.

I dressed in sweat pants and a baggy Stanford sweatshirt. I put my hair into a messy bun and wore no makeup at all. When I went downstairs and made some coffee, I almost poured it all over myself.

After that, I kind of just collapsed in a chair and nearly passed out.

I don't know exactly how much time had passed before my dad walked in, yawning and stretching. When he spotted me, he got a confused look on his face. "Did someone die?"

My eyes narrowed.

"It was a joke," he muttered, pouring himself his own cup of coffee. "You look like hell—and yes, I'm your father and I can say that. Come on, buck up. You're going to Disney World! You've always wanted to go!"

I just glared at him. He stared back for a minute and then just shrugged, dismissing me, and went back to his coffee.

"It's just. . ." I said finally. "It's just last night was a lot, you know."

Dad sat down next to me, putting creamer in his coffee and stirring it around. He was quiet for a moment. "Yeah, I do know. Last night was enough to make anyone pissed. But I understand where your mother was coming from. She had a right to act like she did."

"I shouldn't have told her. I'm such an idiot."

"No, you're not an idiot. Yes, you are many things, Annie, but an idiot is not one of them. I'm pretty sure the Stanford letter and sweatshirt is proof of that. It's a good thing that she knows. She is your mother, and though you may not want to talk to her, and you have your differences, she needs to know these things."

"Whatever," I mumbled, resting my head on my hands.

"You know I'm right," he retorted, sipping his coffee.

My phone buzzed then, and I checked my text messages immediately. It was from Percy.

6:03 AM: Hey I'll meet u at Frank's, k?

I sent him back a quick text agreeing to that. A second later, I got a text, but this time it was from Leo.

6:03 AM: You are an amazing person. Send this to ten people or you'll go to hell.

Rolling my eyes, I replied to him. Seems like I'm going to hell then.

6:03 AM: You r ruining the pre Disney mojo.

I remembered all that stuff that I had also learned about Leo the night before. I still couldn't fathom how he managed to stay so happy all the time. Was it for his own good, or for those around him? I decided that now wasn't the time to dwell on that.

I turned and looked at my dad. "I need to head over now," I said awkwardly.

He nodded and then went to my room, and together we brought down all of my crap and loaded the car in about two minutes. Then, for five minutes, we both toured around the house, making sure there wasn't anything that I was leaving behind, because I had a habit of that. And as I was doing that, I realized how nervous I really was, doing this.

I'd never gone on a trip with friends before. When I was younger, I was lucky to go on a simple trip with my parents without them bickering over the stupidest things. And look where it got them. My mom was successful and living in New York. My dad was successful and living in Naples. I guess divorce had worked out good for them.

Standing next to my car, I stared at the door. One small move for mankind, one giant move for Annabeth Chase. I gulped. Was it hot or was it just me? It had to just be me. It was raining outside, and though it was humid, it wasn't too hot.

My dad gripped my shoulders. "Are you sure that you have all of your things?"

"Yeah, I think so."

He kissed me on the forehead. "Have fun, sweetheart. And you are taking your own car—well, my car, but what's mine is yours, but—never mind that. Just know that you can say 'F OFF!' to all of them and leave at anytime you want. You don't owe them anything."

"They're my friends, Dad. I'll be fine." I still couldn't believe that I was saying that people were my friends. I had friends. It was something that I had to remind myself every single day. So much had changed since I'd come to Naples that it was hard to digest at times.

Then he hugged me. "Keep me updated. I'll always talk if you need to."

Smiling, I hugged him back. "Thanks Dad. Love you."

He kissed me again. "Love you too. Get me some Mickey Mouse ears while you're there."

"You're not serious."

"No, I was just trying to diffuse the tension."

I hopped in the car and waved at him, honking the horn as I pulled out of the driveway and started traveling down the road. And I was gone from my dad's house, going to Disney. I was nervous, but damn if I wasn't excited too.

A lot could go wrong on this trip. Hell, Smelly Gabe could be stalking me for all I knew, and my mom could call it off and do something really stupid like fly down here and get me, but I didn't care. I was going to Epcot, for crying out loud—with my friends and boyfriend. This was something for the scrapbooks.

At a red light, I took my iPod out of my purse and put on Anna Scouten's cover of First Day Of My Life by Bright Eyes.

"This is the first day of my life. Swear I was born right in the doorway. I went out in the rain suddenly everything changed. They're spreading blankets on the beach."

The song rolled on and the miles rolled by. Frank's place was getting closer, and so was Disney.

"Remember the time you drove all night, just to meet me in the morning. And I thought it was strange you said everything changed. You felt as if you'd just woke up and you said, 'This is the first day of my life. I'm glad I didn't die before I met you. But now I don't care I could go anywhere with you and I'd probably be happy.'"

And then I pulled into Frank's place, and everyone was in the parking lot, packing all of their things. Percy saw me and waved, walking towards my car.

I relaxed back into my seat and closed my eyes, a smile inching its way towards my ears. I looked like a piece of shit and didn't feel much better, but this happiness was spreading throughout my body. It was this giddiness.

"You look like you're in elementary school," Percy teased. "You look high as a kite, Wise Girl."

"I feel like it," I answered truthfully. It was one of the truest things I'd said all morning, by far.

Well, that chapter totally sucked. Sorry about that. My apologies. I totally want to write a oneshot to that song above. Would you guys read it if I did?

-BBH