A/N: What the…HOW DID I GO THIS LONG WITHOUT UPDATING? Apparently this summer is going by faster than I thought.

On the other hand, I have made my decision about when this story will end. Do not fret, however, it is not until October 3rd. I have an issue with writing out of canon (which is why I drop a lot of fics once something makes it uncanon), so I will be writing this story until Son of Neptune comes out. This does not mean, though, that I'm done with PJO fanfic. It just means that I'll be writing in that canon and that I will write in a universe outside of Illogical and Stupid, Canoodlus Interruptus, and A Halfblood Wedding.

This chapter is the summer after Percy and Annabeth graduate high school, and this is part one of either two or three, I haven't chosen yet.

Thank you for all your reviews! I love you all oodles.

Read, review, but mostly enjoy.

I stepped out of the car and walked over to Thalia's Pine. "Thanks, Christine!" I called to my stepmother. "Love you guys." My dad stepped out of the car and pulled me into a hug.

"It was fantastic to have you along on this vacation, Annabeth," he said. "I'm glad you liked it! And for ONCE Christine had someone to appreciate Epcot with her. You have no idea how much that meant to her – the boys usually complain every second we're in there."

"No problem," I said, smiling. My favorite park – easily – was Epcot. Another thing in common with Christine.

"Have a blast, Annabeth," said my father.

"See you in August!"

He stepped into the car and waved goodbye. Bobby made ridiculous faces at me as my family drove away. I sighed, taking in the view of Camp Half Blood, calm for once – finally – and nearly peaceful.

I should have expected it to be that moment when I was completely mauled by Percy, Ivy, Rachel and Nico at the same time. The bag I held in my hands were knocked to the ground, and I thanked Athena that I'd had the thought to put all my breakable stuff in my backpack. It was different now that I had a home and that it wasn't constant commotion in the Half Blood world. Campers actually had things to bring into camp, items that belonged to them. I, on the other hand, had enough clothes to last me two weeks, a lot of laundry detergent and then far more technology than necessary.

"Wise Girl!"

"Hi, nerd!"

"We missed you Annabeth!"

Once I shoved everyone off playfully and was able to breathe again, I said, "Hi, guys! How's camp been in the little while that I was late?"

"Nico and I haven't killed each other," shrugged Ivy, "I would consider that a bonus."

Rachel laughed. "Yet."

"Yeah, no promises though," muttered the dark haired boy to my left.

"So you're officially a daughter of Hades?" I asked.

She nodded, absent mindedly twirling her dark ponytail between her fingers. "Yup. Nico here's a little uncomfortable sharing a cabin."

"Aww," I said, patting Nico on the head, "Nico has to socialize."

"Shut up, Annabeth."

"And after all the effort I put in effect to bug him inside his cabin," mentioned Rachel. "Now I just enlist Ivy's help."

"Oh please tell me the two of them have gotten into cahoots," I said, turning to Percy.

"Yep," he responded with a smile, the first he'd spoken. "Rachel and Ivy have double teamed him like nothing I'd ever seen before. I almost feel bad for you, kid."

"Quit calling me kid!" complained Nico. "I'm fifteen!"

"And a half?" I added, grinning at him. He rolled his eyes.

"Just because the two of you graduated high school already, you think you're so old and wise. Ivy's only eleven. Why don't you call HER kid?" He poked her on the shoulder, and she crossed her arms across her chest, frowning.

"Quit poking me."

He poked her again. "Nah."

"Because she already has her big brother to make fun of her," said Rachel. "We just help her along in bugging you, that's all."

"Speaking of bugs," mentioned Ivy, "are we going to do anything about that cockroach infestation in the cabin?"

"Forgot about that," muttered Nico. "Come on, Ivy, let's go." The two of them walked away, and I realized that their similarities didn't stop at the color of their hair. The two of them walked with a sort of swagger back down to their cabin, the movements nearly identical.

"The two of them are totally siblings," I said a little under my breath. "It's a little unnerving."

Percy nodded. "I mean, you and your siblings have some things that make it clear that you're related, but usually it's just the brain and some physical features. Their MANNERISMS are nearly identical, and the two of them just met two months ago."

"Imagine spending time with them," said Rachel with an eyeroll. "I swear, it's like I'm their own personal verbal punching bag. All I do when I go say hello to them is get insulted. It's getting exasperating."

"Then why do you still go over there?" asked Percy with what looked almost like a leer.

Rachel sputtered. "I…What? Oh, look, Chiron needs me! Shut up, you two!" Rachel bounded down the hill, not looking back, but I could tell just from the back of her neck that she was blushing furiously.

"Oh, Percy," I said, wrapping an arm around his waist and leaning in more closely, "always the one who knows how to embarrass people."

"Yup." He leaned in and planted a small kiss to my lips, which, regardless of how chaste it was, stuck my feet to the ground and made my head spin.

"I missed you," he murmured, pulling me close to him. "I don't like how your school got out two weeks after mine and then you went with your family to Disney for a week."

"I don't know, I enjoyed Disney pretty much," I joked. "Didn't miss you one bit!"

Percy fell over onto his back, flailing around clutching an invisible gash in his chest, acting wounded. "Oh, my heart! She's broken it! I'm dying!"

I nudged him with my sneaker. "Oh, shut up, Percy, you know I love you. Help me carry my stuff to the Athena cabin?"

"After that display of affection?" Percy said sarcastically.

"I was kidding!"

"No way, Wise Girl, you're carrying your bags yourself!" He began to walk away from me backwards with a ridiculous grin on his face. It was I, however, who burst into laughter. He backed into Thalia's Pine and a branch slapped him in the face.

"What was that, Perseus?"

"I'll take your bag, dear."

BREAKBREAKBREAK

"THE TWO OF US HAVE TO DO WHAT?"

"Just look after the camp," said Chiron. "I'm leaving the two of you in charge."

"But what about the other counselors?" Percy asked, looking as horrified as I was. The two of us exchanged a brief look, in which I was pretty sure we were both conveying the "holy crap why us we can't control anything let alone the entirety of Camp Half Blood we're going to get ourselves killed WHY WOULD HE LEAVE US IN CHARGE OF THESE DEMONS" fear that was coursing through me.

"The other higher up counselors aren't here yet. Remember, it's just the middle of June, so the camp won't be one hundred percent full until about next week. You only have about half the camp for your weekend – you should be fine."

"And you expect the two of us to be able to handle the camp for an entire weekend?"

"Just Friday, Saturday and Sunday, that's all."

I made a sound that probably resembled a crying cat. "But…But Chiron! Friday's not the weekend!"

"According to Rebecca Black it is."

I had to admit, I giggled at that.

"Really Percy?" said Chiron.

"Sorry."

"Anyway," said Chiron, "all the other head counselors are either coming with me or went abroad for the summer. Their counselor training begins on Friday."

"Why can't we come with you?" Percy asked desperately.

"Because we need someone to take care of the camp," said Chiron simply. "You and Annabeth already have shown leadership abilities in war, so I discussed it with Mr. D – you two will be left behind to manage the camp while Katie, Clarisse, Connor, and Travis join me on the retreat so I can train them in how to lead charges, and how to be proper counselors."

"What about Piper, Leo and them?" I asked. "They're heads of the cabins."

"Yes," said Chiron, "but they aren't high counselors yet. They don't have the same authority You have to graduate high school to be a counselor. And there are only nine of you who have made it there yet, and you two are staying here. Everyone else is either coming with me or studying abroad this summer."

"But…But they'll all revolt!" I said. "We can't maintain control for three days!"

"I know this is abrupt," said Chiron with a sigh. "But please do this for me. We know you can do this. Besides, you have Piper, Leo, Nico and Rachel to help out. Even though they aren't technically high counselors they can help."

"But Rachel's our age!"

Chiron sighed. "Yes, but she isn't a counselor."

I muttered under my breath how unfair it was that Piper and Leo, a year below Percy and I, were still in school, and not being forced to be a part of this. They'd be done with school two days from then, that Wednesday, so they would definitely be conspiring against Percy and me on Friday.

"Okay," said Percy, exchanging a look with me.

"We'll do it."

Relief spread across Chiron's face. "Thank you SO much, you two. I trust you will do very well."

Because Chiron was across the table, I didn't think he heard what Percy said next. I, however, was sitting next to him, and clearly heard him mutter, "you're going to rethink that soon."

BREAKBREAKBREAK

"Wait," laughed Nico, the Friday morning that would begin Percy's and my hell, "YOU two are in charge? Seriously."

"Yes, seriously," I said, trying to maintain a look of authority in front of these fifty kids. "We expect you to conduct yourselves in the proper manner and act appropriately, despite the fact that the typical heads of camp aren't here. We're not going to be tyrants, but we'll make sure to enforce the rules. And if you push us, we're going to come down hard on you."

"That's what he said," said Leo with an absolutely ingratiating grin on his face.

"Really?" I said, rolling my eyes and folding my arms across my chest. "A that's what she said joke. That's the extent of your misbehaving."

Percy nudged my in the ribs with his elbow. "Don't say that, it sounds like –"

"Is that a challenge, Annabeth?" said Nico, a smarmy smirk on his face. "Because you KNOW that between Leo, Piper, Rachel and I, we could easily take over."

Rachel and Leo, on either side of Nico, gave Percy and I looks that clearly said, "come at us, guys."

"We have Chiron on the other line of an Iris message if anyone messes with us," said Percy. "And you guys do realize that, beyond the fact that I'm invulnerable, I'm pretty good with a sword, right?"

"THAT IS NOT A THREAT!" I said, glancing over the crowd, which rapidly became quiet. Some of the younger kids, such as the girls Ivy was sitting with, looked worried. "We're not trying to, like, rule you guys with an iron fist. We just want to keep things under control."

"Oh we know," said Rachel with a grin. "But this gives us the perfect opportunity to mess with you guys without worrying about repercussions!"

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, Chiron's coming back. Even if we couldn't get a hold of him through Iris messaging, we'll tell him when he gets back."

"Still. It's three days of fun," said Nico.

Percy and I exchanged a nervous look. He leaned in towards my ear, and whispered, "This is so not going to be easy."

"Not in the slightest," I muttered back, "but seriously, most of them are in middle or elementary school. They can't cause that much havoc, can they?"

"Don't jinx it," he said, his gaze rolling over the now restless crowd.

"Okay!" I said, clapping my hands to regain attention. No one looked up. "Excuse me!" Still nothing.

"DEMIGODS AND CHILDREN WHO ARE GOING TO BE IN TROUBLE IF THEY DON'T LISTEN, PAY ATTENTION TO ANNABETH."

Apparently Ivy was on Percy's and my side. I sent her an appreciative smile, and she returned it with a thumbs up sign.

"Thanks, Ivy. Now, what I was trying to say is, proceed to your normal Friday activities. I'm taking over archery for Chiron, and Percy's going to be manning all the water activities and the sword lessons. Miranda's taking care of Katie's typical duties. Head to your activities, guys!"

The only people who could stand were Nico, Rachel, Piper and Leo, and they were grinning up at Percy and I.

"Did they really glue everyone to their seats?" I said to Percy.

"Yep."

"Can I kill them yet?"

Percy glared at the four of them, still grinning like idiots. "Not quite," he said, "but I have a feeling this will get worse before it gets better."