This is the most unoriginal title on planet earth, but I got it from a title generator due to lack of creativity. I wrote this when I was 13, so if you read it with a judgemental eye just keep that in mind, thanks, 'cause it's shitty :) If you feel like it, review it and tell me how you felt about it. Think it's crap? Tell me in a nicer way! (What would you put as like the kind of story this is? You know in like the horror, romance, angst, you know what I mean, what would you call this story? Just wondering) Anyways, hope you enjoy it

Annabeth stared at the long, seemingly endless road ahead of her, illuminated by moonlight. What a night to run away, she thought. A breeze blew by, her loose blond curls fluttering in the wind behind her. She couldn't remember the last time there was a breeze in the middle of summer.

It was a little bit past midnight, not so late that her siblings would wake up while she was leaving, and not so early that her stepmother would still be up late working. She sat in the middle of the road, knowing no one was coming. She looked back at her house, and for a moment, she wanted to stay. Annabeth wanted to rush back up the driveway to her Virginia house, and just stay. But she couldn't. Not anymore. She couldn't live in a house where she wasn't wanted. With one final glance back, she picked up her backpack and started down the road, not knowing where she would end up, and not caring.

Annabeth went over everything in her head as she began her journey. She had a backpack with a change of clothes, water, food, a good amount of money, a basic first aid kit, her flip phone, and the charger, and hopefully it was all there. She didn't really need to go over anything, she had been prepared to leave for 2 months, and she had had her backpack already packed for double that time. It was just a matter of actually completing the task that had been keeping her at home, and now that she had put her plan in action, she didn't know if it was the right choice. Somewhere in her heart she knew that she had done the right thing by leaving, but her brain was not having any of that. Where are you going to stay when you're done running? it asked. What if you get caught? What does your 10-year-old ass plan to do? Don't you think your family will notice you're gone? Annabeth was a little annoyed by her brain, but she knew it was right. She didn't know what would happen if she was caught. She figured she could stay anywhere, so that solved one problem. Then she thought about her family.
"Family" Annabeth muttered aloud. The word tasted bitter on her tongue. She hardly had a family. She had a stepmom who couldn't care less about her, and two stepbrothers who no matter how great they were, were idiots. It would take a lot more than her not being there for anyone to notice her absence. She had found that out a long time ago. Annabeth figured she was okay for a while. While her mind still had a million concerns and doubts, she tried to focus on everything going right. It wasn't raining. The sky was cloudless, in fact. She had actually left this time, instead of just sitting on the window sill in her room and then going back to her bed.

That was about it. She couldn't think of anything else. So she kept on walking.

The moon had gone down a while ago and Annabeth saw the sun start to rise ahead of her. Maybe it was time to stop for a little bit. She walked over to the side of the road and plopped down in the long, yellow grass. The sign above her read 'YOU ARE NOW LEAVING VIRGINIA'. She didn't know what state she would be entering; she didn't even know what direction she was going in. Made no difference to her. Annabeth brought her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. She stared out into the distance, the July heat making everything look hazy. After a while, the sun had already fully emerged, the sky behind her a dark shade of blue, a major difference from the blood-red in front of her. She knew she was going West now.

Annabeth had already begun to think of different random things, like why the atmosphere made the sky blue, why the Sun was so close to the Earth, why cows had black splotches all over them, when she saw a figure in front of her. She could just barely make it out since it was so far away. It was just sitting there, on the side of the road, just like Annabeth. She walked towards the figure, curious to see who or what it was. Maybe it's a really old evil scientist that's going to turn everyone into an obedient cyborg so he can take over the world, she thought. Or maybe it's a mermaid who can walk on water and land. As she go closer, she realized it was a boy, around 10, like her, with black, messy hair and bright sea green eyes. Damn. She thought he was something cool. She saw several different bruises and cuts, most of them covered up by his sleeves; which he continuously pulled down, she stashed everything in her brain to ask him about later. He didn't even notice her until she finally stood in front of him. He looked around, like he was trying to find somewhere to go if she was evil. Annabeth looked him up and down, her eyes fixating on a gash on the palm of his left hand. She wanted to say hi, but her brain opted instead for: "That's going to get infected, you know."

The boy didn't answer. He just stared at his feet. Annabeth waited for a response. "You know, it's rude to ignore people." she stated. And she didn't get an answer. She suddenly stuck out her hand for him to shake. "I'm Annabeth Chase." The boy flinched, before taking her hand gingerly as Annabeth shook it.

"Hi," he mumbled, not looking Annabeth in the eye.

After a few moments of studying him and thinking, she plopped down a few feet away from him, both of them staring at the other side of the road. "I don't think you're going to tell me your name. Although I really, really, really want to know your name and everything about you and why you're out here, my teacher said that I need to stop badgering people and give them "personal space", whatever that is, so I won't make you tell me anything. I can wait. I'm a good waiter. Well, sort of. One time I was in line for lunch at school and this kid Brody was in front of me and Brody's an ass so... That's a story for another day. Anyways, your hand is all torn up and will most likely get infected, as I've mentioned, and I'm going to patch it up a bit so you don't die. You can't tell me otherwise, by the way. Sorry, that's an exaggeration, I doubt you'll die. I'm actually not sure. That's not important right now." she told him. She needed to work on her first impressions, she decided.

Annabeth waited for him to stare at her and ask for her to repeat everything slower like most people, but he didn't. In fact, he seemed to understand her perfectly, giving her his hand once she fished her first aid kit out of her bag.

Annabeth took out her spare shirt and held it really tightly against his hand in an attempt to stop the bleeding. It must have been a relatively new cut, because it was still bleeding a fair amount. At one point she pressed harder and saw the boy wince and whisper "ow, shit." She tried not to press as hard.

Once she had stopped the bleeding almost completely, Annabeth got out some hydrogen peroxide on a cotton ball and dabbed it around his palm. He sat still and stared at the ground for at least five minutes while Annabeth wrapped a bandage around his hand. There was a sort of awkward silence for a few moments. Annabeth couldn't think of anything to fill it with.

"I'm Percy," the boy almost whispered. Annabeth looked up. "Huh?"

The boy looked her in the eye for the first time. "My name. It's Percy. Percy Jackson. You wanted to know."

Annabeth smiled. "Percy Jackson. I like that."

Both of them sat together in the grass, Annabeth sharing random thoughts and stories, talking about meaningless things. Percy sat and listened, like he cared. For a minute, it took her by surprise. Most people tended to ignore her stories and thoughts, either because she talked too fast, or they'd already heard several stories from their classmates, or other made-up bullshit excuses. She didn't entirely blame them, but she liked to be heard, and Percy made her feel heard. She liked that.

He didn't talk very much, just told her little things whenever she asked him something. "So, where are you from, Percy?" Annabeth said, her voice muffled by the water bottle she was drinking out of.

"New York." he answered.

Annabeth frowned. "Well why are you all the way over here in Virginia? Isn't New York WAY more interesting? What was so bad over there that made you come all the way here? How'd you get here in the first place?" she hesitated, the look on Percy's face saying that maybe he wasn't comfortable telling her that. "Sorry, you don't have to tell me." she added quietly.

"I ran away." he murmured. Annabeth didn't say anything.

She looked up. The sun had gone down ages ago without her even noticing. Had she really just spent all day doing nothing?

Annabeth looked at Percy. Would he leave her when she wasn't looking? She hoped not. She wanted him to stay so bad. "Percy?"

"Yeah?"

She hesitated. "Are you going to leave me here?"

Percy thought for a moment. "I don't know. You probably don't want me here, so yeah, I might leave."

Annabeth could feel her heart sink. She didn't know how she had gotten so close to someone she had just met, but she had.

"Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you stay with me? Please. I don't want to run away alone. You don't bother me at all. Don't ever think for a second that I want you to leave."

Percy turned to look at her. For a minute, he looked like he wanted to say no. "Okay."
Annabeth smiled. "Promise?" she asked.

Percy smiled back. "Promise."

Hello everyone, thanks for reading the first chapter of 'Don't Leave Me Here Alone' I guess. I hoped you enjoyed it, and if you didn't, sorry for wasting a good chunk of time in your life. I plan on updating it every Saturday for those who care (starting next Saturday of course). Have a nice day/night :)