A/N: Hello again! I have no idea why but I keep having a lot of time to update even at school.

Thank you to Allison for the idea for this chapter!

To follow along, check pages 1 to 13 in The Titan's Curse!

A-read, a-review, a-enjoy!

I shivered outside the borders of Camp Half Blood. Thalia was leaning against her tree nonchalantly, ignoring everything else and just staring into the distance.

I was jealous of that. I, on the other hand, was trying to shut off my brain. I didn't want to have to go on crazy missions to possibly save half bloods – I wish half bloods didn't have to be saved. It reminded me too much of why Thalia's return was so shocking.

"When will Mrs. Jackson be here?" I muttered to myself, beginning to pace. "I'm freezing out my rump off." I began to bounce, hoping that somehow I would warm up. It didn't help.

"You sure it's Mrs. Jackson that you're waiting for?" asked Thalia with a sly grin. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh shut up, Pine Queen, I'm just cold."

"And you want steamy son of the sea god to warm you up." I refused to respond. Thalia, unfortunately took this as a yes, "You likeeeeeee him," she said with a ridiculous smile. "You want to cuddle up with him. You want to go –"

"Shut up, Thalia."

She shrugged and smiled. "It's my job to irritate you, Annabeth. I haven't been able to for quite some time."

I forcefully yanked my hat over my ears and pushed my hair up into it, trying to decide which would make me warmer. "You could use the lost time to be nice or at least tolerable."

She shook her head and smoothed her choppy bangs out of her eyes, "Nah. That's no fun."

I sighed and we stayed silent until we saw the familiar car drive up. "Finally!" I said, shifting my backpack over my shoulders, "Gods, my ears are pretty much falling off!"

Thalia gave me a clap on the shoulder, "Chill out, Annabeth. I had to stand out in the winter for six years. This is nothing."

"Yes," I said as I stepped towards the car, "But I am not a tree."

Mrs. Jackson rolled down the window. "Hi, girls, you ready to go?"

I nodded, "Can't wait."

"SHOT GUN!" shouted Thalia, sprinting from behind me.

"That is NOT fair!" I called out, but Thalia had already managed to rip open the passenger side door and slide into the seat, with her backpack on her lap. She smiled up at me.

"I have to sit next to Seaweed Brain?" I complained, only half joking.

Percy grinned up at me apologetically as he pulled open the door, "Sorry, Wise Girl, you're stuck in the backseat with me."

I walked around the car to the seat behind Mrs. Jackson. Pushing Percy's bag out of the way, I slid into the seat and shoved my backpack down by my feet, "Joy and rapture…" I mumbled.

"So, girls," said Mrs. Jackson, far too cheery, "How have you been?"

Thalia and I exchanged a look. The two of us had had a lot of catching up to do over the past couple of months – Chiron and Mr. D had given me special permission to spend a few nights in Zeus' cabin so the two of us could spend time together.

"Um," I said, "Good. I figured out trigonometry finally."

"Really?" said Percy, "I've barely got the Pythagorean theorem down."

I patted Percy on the top of his messy black hair. "That's because you're full of seaweed."

He pushed my hand off of his head and slapped it away. "Oh, shut up."

"You guys are adorable," said Mrs. Jackson, "I bet you guys have missed each other a lot over the school year, right?"

Percy and I exchanged a horrified look as Thalia cracked up in the front seat. "Actually," said Thalia, "Annabeth had a dream a little while ago about Percy getting attacked by a weird monster. She woke up and shook me awake. I had to calm her down."

I reached over the seat and punched her in the shoulder. "Shut UP, Thalia," I grumbled, feeling my face turn bright red.

I chanced a glance over to Percy, who was pointedly avoiding my eyes and turning just as red.

"That's funny!" said Mrs. Jackson, "Actually, Percy was sleepwalking for the first time since he was probably nine years old a few days ago, and he walked into my room and said your name a few times, Annabeth."

My eyes widened. I didn't even want to risk another glance to Percy. My face could have been on fire at this point.

"Really?" said Thalia, "Percy sleepwalks?"

She nodded. "Yes! This one time, he was probably six years old, he walked into my bedroom in his little Spiderman boxers –" Thalia and I barked out a laugh, "And started crying because he thought he was lost in…Where was it, dear?"

"Dumember," Percy mumbled, his face buried in his hands.

"What was that, honey?" his mother said brightly.

"I don't…Don't remember."

"RIGHT!" she said with a nervous laugh, "You were scared you were trapped in Narnia with all the snow! Oh, honey, you were crying so hard, it was adorable! And then you started asking me to read you Berenstain Bears because you couldn't sleep. You were so cute!"

"Thanks, Mom…" Percy muttered. I barely heard him over Thalia's and my laughter.

The rest of the ride didn't take much from Thalia, Percy or me. Mrs. Jackson took care of the entertainment by telling us a bunch of stories, from Percy losing his swim trunks during his fifth grade swim class to his first grade teacher calling home because he refused to play outside with the girls. The best one, though, was her account of his third birthday party. "…And then he walked into the room with his diaper around his ankles, asking for more cake! It was adorable!"

In the back of my mind, the worry was eating away at me. We had no idea if this was a demigod. If it was a demigod, he or should could be the child of a minor god or possibly worse – I was particularly worried what would happen if we discovered that Percy had two younger siblings.

I immediately thought of the castle in Sleeping Beauty when we arrived at Westover Hall. Big, looming and black, I didn't think there would be any time when I'd want to go in there.

But we had no choice.

"Oh, yeah," said Percy, staring out Thalia's window, "This'll be fun."

I pulled the bag up from under Mrs. Jackson's chair and set it on my lap.

"Are you sure you don't want me to wait?" Mrs. Jackson asked nervously.

"No thanks, Mom," Percy said hurriedly as he yanked his bag off of the middle seat and swung it over his shoulder hurriedly. "I don't know how long it will take. We'll be okay."

"But how will you get back? I'm worried, Percy." I was a little bit offended on Mrs. Jackson's part that Percy was blushing at this. I'd never had a parent be concerned for me like this. I wished my mother or even my father would worry about me, and Percy treated it like an inconvenience.

I turned towards Mrs. Jackson. "It's okay, Mrs. Jackson," I said, "We'll keep him out of trouble." I pretended not to notice the wink that Thalia gave me, and hoped Percy didn't either.

Mrs. Jackson beamed at me. "All right, dears. Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes, Mrs. Jackson," said Thalia, "Thanks for the ride."

"Extra sweaters?" she asked. "You have my cell phone number."

"Mom –"

"Your ambrosia and nectar, Percy? And a golden drachma in case you need to contact camp?"

"Mom, seriously!" said Percy a little too forcefully, "We'll be fine. Come on, guys."

It surprised me a little bit to see how little Percy acknowledged his mother's concern. Maybe it was just because I'd never had it, but if I were him I think I'd appreciate it a little more.

Percy gave his mother a little smile and a wave, and let her drive off.

The three of us watched the car drive away. "Your mom is so cool, Percy."

"She's pretty okay," said Percy, looking like he wished we would change the subject. "What about you? You ever get in touch with your mom?"

I was glad that I wasn't on the receiving end of Thalia's glare. The second Percy said it, I knew he was about to get reamed out like nothing before.

"If that was any of your business, Percy –"

"We'd better get inside," I interrupted, looking between the two of them and hoping it would diffuse the situation, "Grover will be waiting."

Luckily, Thalia nodded. "You're right. I wonder what he found here that made him send the distress call." The three of us stared upwards at the castle.

"Nothing good," Percy said.

Silently, we sort of marched in line up to the giant castle. We walked into the doors and Percy's first reaction was, "Whoa." I saw him lightly touch his pocket containing Riptide, and Thalia fiddle with her silver bracelet. I tried to avoid moving my hand up to my upper arm knife holster – I didn't want to give anything away like the two impulsive kids were doing,

After a brief interlude where I was convinced we were about to get caught and thrown out of the building, Grover gave Thalia and me hugs, and Percy a high five.

"So," Percy said, "What's the emergency?"

Grover took a deep breath, and I could tell he was trying not to bleat. "I found two."

"Two half bloods? Here?" Thalia asked.

Grover nodded. "A brother and sister. They're ten and twelve. I don't know their parentage, but they're strong. We're running out of time, though. I need help."

"Monsters?" I asked.

"One," said a nervous Grover, "He suspects. I don't think he's positive yet, but this is the last day of term, I'm sure he won't let them leave campus without finding out. It may be our last chance! Every time I try to get close to them, he's always there, blocking me. I don't know what to do!" He shot Thalia a look, and on my side I noticed Percy look a little hurt. I had the strangest impulse to tell Grover to ask Percy for help, but I shook it off.

"Right," said Thalia, "These half bloods are at the dance?"

Grover nodded.

"Then let's dance. Who's the monster?"

"Oh, you just met him." Grover looked around nervously, and met my eyes. I knew right then. "The vice principle, Dr. Thorn."

I smiled when I saw Thalia and Grover go out onto the dance floor.

"What?" Percy asked.

I almost asked "What what?" but then I looked at his face. For a moment it looked like he was worried about something – I couldn't figure out what. I got a good look at him for the first time. I was taller than him again, and I tried to fight back a laugh.

"Nothing," I answered, "It's just cool to have Thalia back."

Out of nowhere I realized that I was way hotter than necessary. I pulled off my cap and absentmindedly brushed my hair over my shoulder.

"So…" said Percy in a weirdly strangled voice. "Um, design any good buildings lately?"

I smiled. In a few seconds he will have wished he never asked me that. "Oh my gods, Percy. At my new school I get to take 3-D design as an elective, and there's this cool computer program where I get to model certain designs with the weights, depths, heights, all of it is inputted. It sucks when you figure out that the supports don't hold everything up but…" As I chatted, I realized that Percy was staring at me with this goofy look on his face. He looked disappointed and bored, and for some reason grinning a bit. To spare him, I stopped talking.

"Yeah, uh, cool," said Percy, smiling a little, "So you're staying there the rest of the year?"

I felt my expression fade. "Well, maybe, if I don't –"

"Hey!" Thalia called. I wanted to kick her for interrupting me. "Dance, you guys! You look stupid just standing there!"

I fought the impulse to say, "Percy looks stupid doing anything anywhere."

Percy's eyes darted around the gym. I had to push back a little laugh at his nervousness. "Well?" I asked. He still looked confused and oblivious.

"Um," he said, shifting his weight from foot to foot, "Who should I ask?"

I rolled my eyes and introduced my fist to his stomach. He could be so stupid. "Me, Seaweed Brain."

"Oh," he said, a dazed look on his face, "Oh, right." Percy and I stepped onto the dance floor, and he awkwardly moved his hands around in the air, without a clue in the world where to put them. He looked away from me as he placed a hand on my waist and, impatient, I grabbed his other hand in mine. "I'm not going to bite," I said, resisting the urge to hit him over the head, "Honestly, Percy. Don't you guys have dances at your school?"

He blushed and smiled sheepishly, and I let out a light laugh. The expression on his face easily indicated that he hadn't. He wasn't the greatest dancer in the world either – I made a note of it. The two of us swayed around the dance floor, and I tried really hard not to wince each time he stepped on my toes or squeezed my waist a little too hard for comfort.

"What were you saying earlier?" Percy asked out of nowhere, "Are you having trouble at school or something?" I was just about to tell him to shut up, that it had nothing to do with him.

But then I changed my mind. "It's not that," I admitted, "It's my dad."

"Uh oh," he said, looking concerned. "I thought it was getting better with you two. Is it your step mom again?"

I sighed and looked at the floor. "He decided to move. Just when I was getting settled in New York, he took this stupid new job researching for a World War I book. In San Francisco."

"So he wants you to move out there with him?"

I frowned and stared at the wall behind Percy. "To the other side of the country. And half bloods can't live in San Francisco. He should know that."

"What?" Percy asked, looking confused, "You know. It's right there."

"Oh," he said, still looking confused. "So…you'll go back to living at camp or what?"

I opened and closed my mouth. I wanted to go with my father for the first time. We'd been getting along for the first time. Christine, my stepmother, didn't hate me as much. "It's more serious than that, Percy. I…I probably should tell you something." I wanted to go. But I didn't want to leave him. He was probably my best friend, after Thalia. But I…

I glanced up by the bleachers and stopped moving. "They're gone," I said in a morbid tone.

"What?" Percy asked, dropping his hands from my waist. The rush of cool air was uncomfortable, and I found myself missing his grip. He turned around and stared at the vacant bleachers.

"We have to get Thalia and Grover!" I said, turning around. Where the heck were those two idiots when you needed them? "Oh, where'd they dance off to? Come on!" I reached for Percy's hand but missed, and darted off into the crowd. When I turned around, he was gone. "That idiot…" I muttered to myself, "Well, I'll just have to yell at him for it later."