Annabeth curled herself into a ball, rocking in rhythm with her sobs. It was breakfast time, but she wasn't hungry. Her pale hands clutched a picture of Percy and her in front of Sally's apartment. Smiling weakly, her hand traced his face, allowing herself to reminisce.
A couple of days after they started dating, Percy insisted on taking her on a tour of Manhattan.
"Percy, you've shown me Manhattan hundreds of times before."
"Yes, but this is different. You're my girlfriend now, so I have to show you my hometown."
Annabeth rolled her eyes then, but now she would've done anything to go back to that day. They practically took pictures in front of every building in Manhattan, but she got the photo of the most magnificent one printed: Sally's apartment. Percy was grinning his stupid, lopsided grin that she thought was so annoying, but now all she wanted was for him to smile at her like that again.
A tear dripped down her cheek onto Percy's face, dampening the picture. Annabeth screamed and threw it across the room. Being paper, it didn't go very far. Letting out a feral growl, she gripped the picture and threw it with all her might. Same results. She threw the picture over and over and over again, but it always landed close to her feet. Was that going to be her life from now on? So close to throwing misery out the door, only to have it return to the same place?
People said loving someone and losing them is better than never loving. Bullshit. Did they know how much it hurt to have the person you loved most ripped away from you over and over and over again? It hurt her to say this, but she'd rather never have loved Percy than have him forget her.
Annabeth scooped up the picture of her and Percy from the floor and ripped it in half. From this day onwards, Percy Jackson was dead to her.