Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening! Here's the next chapter! (:

Annabeth didn't know how she felt about this whole "party" thing. In fact, she wasn't sure why she'd said yes at all. Maybe it was because it was Percy, and trusted him. Maybe it was the whole "date" aspect about it.

Either way, Annabeth had never went to a party, and didn't know how she should act. What was the protocol for this?

As she thought about it, she realized she had friends- Reyna and Rachel- and they could probably help her with this. Reyna was in college after all, and from what Annabeth knew, Rachel had quite the social life.

She logged on to her messaging app, and sent them a quick text.

"Guys," It read, "I'm having a dilemma." She checked her watch. Reyna would probably respond soon, and Rachel was in Lunch, which mean she could talk.

Annabeth smiled as a message from Reyna came in. "What's your dilemma?" It read.

Annabeth typed back quickly. "I was invited to a party. By a boy. As a date."

"That's a surprisingly big social life boost." Came Reyna's response. "I assume you said yes, or else this wouldn't be a dilemma."

"You know me so well." Annabeth replied. "Anyway, please help me, because it's a party and I've never been to a party and I don't know what to do, please help me."

She imagined Reyna on the other end laughing at her. "I've been to a couple of parties, but I can't say I have a lot of expertise."

Her phone buzzed again, and a message from Rachel came up. "I gotta say, I was not expecting this to be your dilemma." It read. "But I can help you out."

A car honked in front of Annabeth, and she looked up to see it was Helen. "I have to go," She quickly typed to her friends. "But I'll text you guys later."

"You better," Rachel responded immediately, and Annabeth smiled again, and put her phone into her back pocket. She walked over to the car, and got in. "Hey Helen," She said, and leaned her head against the window.

"Hello Annabeth," Helen responded, looking into the review-mirror of the car, and driving back onto the road. "How was your day?" She asked, and Annabeth looked up, surprised. It didn't sound as condescending as usual, almosting feeling like she was really interested.

"It was… okay." She'd gotten a lot of work on her story done today. At the library, she'd finished up the newest chapter of her story and edited a couple old ones. "I got invited to a party." She flinched at her words. Why would she tell Helen that? More presumptuous comments would come up, ones she really did not want to hear now.

"That's nice. By who?" Helen asked, her eyes still on the road.

Annabeth cleared her throat. "Uh- Percy. You met him last week?"

"Percy, of course, that's nice." Helen said. "When's the party?"

"Saturday, I think." At least that's what she predicted. Drew's parties were always on a Saturday. Even Annabeth knew that.

"Is there anyone else you know that will be there?" Annabeth rolled her eyes. This was the presumption she had been waiting for. Helen knew that she didn't have much- any friends at school. Of course she would ask this.

"No." Annabeth said coldly. "Of course there isn't."

"Right," Helen replied, "Of course not." She said, and frowned.

The rest of the time, they rode in silence, ignoring the large build-up of tension surrounding them. When the car pulled in their driveway, they walked to the house without a word. The only sound Annabeth could hear, was the click-clacking of Helen's high heel shoes, and the large briefcase in her hand, which she was constantly adjusting.

She'd heard the night before from her dad, that Helen was working a big case, which was probably why her briefcase was so heavy. She wondered what the case was on, but decided to ask when they were on more neutral terms.

Annabeth walked upstairs to her room, and checked her watch. She had thirty minutes before she had to post the next chapter. That was time for a final look through and edit that didn't ever consist of any big changes, and then another double check.

She scrolled through the chapter on her computer, and fixed a couple punctuation placements, finally bringing the cursor up to the top for the final check. She checked her watch one more time, reading she had ten minutes. As she went through for the final check, she didn't notice any mistakes.

She stared at the publish button. This was always the hard part. She inhaled, and at the peak of it, hit the publish button, and watched as it loaded, and then finally was released into the world.

Soon, comments started rolling in, and other notifications splayed across her screen. watched as the view numbers went up, and smiled at all the nice comments that appeared on her screen.

She used to be able to answer to every individual comment, but as time passed, and her story got more popular, she was unable too. Now, she posted a general message thanking everyone, and told people that if they had any questions, they should post a message on her profile, or message her directly.

Even then she wasn't the most reliable, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that the viewers knew she was trying her hardest to be involved, and they knew she didn't have a lot of time to look over everything.

She shut down her computer, and splayed out on her bed, contemplating the homework sitting in her bag, which she probably should do.

Pulling it out, she began, and tried to think about it in particular- not the entire internet that was waiting for her.

She noticed something, something, she decided was good. It was almost as if Percy was helping to reintroduce her to the world- he was helping her focus on the real more- and sure, the internet was real, but the real that was right in front of her.

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Are there any specific characters you think Annabeth will befriend, or will befriend Annabeth?

Please Note: Updates this week won't be as structured, so if you don't see a chapter Monday or Wednesday, it may appear on another day.