Annnd... another pretty quick update. I do really love you guys! :P Enjoy!

Over the next half month, I had lessons four times a week as we had planned. Soon I was trotting like a pro, but I was still too scared to canter or gallop. Percy was patient with that, just saying that I'd get to it someday.

Jason and Leo came over often, and soon I found myself enjoying their company. Leo was hilarious, always making everybody laugh. His friend, Jason, appeared more easy going as you got to know him. Percy, Jason, and Leo had their own little clique, and I felt honored when they decided to include me in on it. Apparently there were two more—Hazel and Frank. But they didn't know about my identity, so they didn't come over. I asked Percy what he was telling everybody, since nobody was allowed to come to the ranch, and his friends were used to coming.

"They think you're my shy cousin who doesn't like people," he had said, smirking. "Don't worry, they just think you have anxiety or a troubled life, they don't believe you to be totally mental. I think."

I had rolled my eyes, muttering from atop Porkpie, "Great. I love being mental."

Rachel also came over, but not that often. Our relationship gradually became worse. We barely spoke to each other, except for terse and tense greetings. Thankfully Percy sensed the dislike between us, and even though he didn't understand it, he resorted to going over to Rachel's more than she came here. I was grateful for that, but during those times, I couldn't help but wonder what they were doing.

Now, in the first week of June, I sat on my bed, completely bored.

I had been here for a month, and everyday was basically the same: get up, eat, horse lesson, some chores, and then spend the afternoon sitting around. Normally, that would've been awesome—except that I was cooped up in the house. I couldn't go to town with Poseidon and Percy, because everybody would recognize me. I didn't have Piper to do my makeup disguise, and I sure as Hades couldn't do it myself. I hated makeup, and I stayed far away from it. Therefore, I didn't really know how to use it.

So I was stuck. And bored.

I slumped down to the kitchen where Percy, Jason, and Leo were all eating sandwiches, despite the fact the lunch was a half hour ago.

"I'm bored," I announced, taking a seat next to Leo.

They glanced at me, then Leo said, "Go call up one of your friends. Like Luke." His voice was mischievous. He knew why I wanted to get into this upcoming movie, thanks to Percy's runaway mouth.

I glared at Leo, then at Percy, who held up his hands. "I said I was sorry! I forgot how Leo makes such a big deal out of things."

Focusing once more on Leo, I said, "I'm not calling Luke, because I don't have his number, and anyways, that's just weird. We aren't that close."

"But you want that to change, huh?" the crazy boy said, smirking. Huffing, I shoved at his shoulder, then got up to go sit by Percy instead, putting on a show of being mad at Leo.

Percy grinned at his friend while I plopped down next to him at the counter. "She likes me better than you."

You don't say?

Jason rolled his eyes, then said to me, "Why don't you read a book or something?"

I shook my head. "I've read all of them." We were silent, everybody thinking—or eating. I tapped a beat onto the counter with my fingers, the granite surface cool beneath my arms.

It seemed as though summer had held back a tiny bit, then recently, it let all the heat out in a blast directed towards Colorado. For the past week it's been in the upper eighties at least all over the state with absolutely no clouds, the sun beating down relentlessly. That still didn't stop me from wanting to do horse lessons. However, coming back in with buckets of sweat dripping off of me wasn't my idea of paradise.

"What I wouldn't give for a pool," I mused out loud. "It's so hot out."

Leo opened his mouth to say something, probably along the lines of, "That's because I'm here," but he didn't get to. Percy stood up suddenly, snapping his fingers.

"I know!" he exclaimed. We all looked at him, eyebrows raised.

"And what exactly is your plan?" I asked for the three of us.

He smiled, exchanging knowing glances with the boys. "Annabeth, go get riding clothes on, but put your swimsuit under that. You did bring a swimsuit, right?"

I nodded skeptically, saying slowly, "Yes, but where are we going? And we already had our lessons."

"Oh!" Jason said, a grin growing, the scar on his lip stretching as it did so. "We're going there? Sweet, let's do it."

"What are you guys talking about?" I said insistently.

"You'll like it," Leo told me, standing up as well. "Go get your clothes!"

I exhaled angrily at not being told, but I doubted they'd tell me if I just sat here stubbornly. So I got up quickly, running to and up the stairs into my room. My hands found the closet and I changed into my swimsuit before pulling jeans onto my long legs. After that, I yanked on a loose black tank top. As I was heading back downstairs, my eyes landed on my phone that was laying on the desk.

Leo's words had reminded me of something. My mom had called me. Many times. During most of them I was outside or didn't have my phone, so I had quite a bit of missed calls. Other times I just ignored her calls, not really in the mood for her telling me what to do. I had picked up a few times, knowing that if I didn't she'd probably freak and come out here herself to demand why I wasn't answering. That sounded like hell.

But even when I picked up, I made the phone calls short, always finding an excuse to get away before she could start making me do things or bossing me around.

However, I hadn't picked up the phone in a little while. She called earlier this morning while I was in my lesson, and left a voicemail saying I should get back to her, but I hadn't called back yet.

With a sigh, I turned and headed back downstairs. The boys were already in the stables, so I slipped my cowboy boots on and headed outside.

The heat hit me like a wall. Even though it hadn't rained in a while, it was still humid, and that didn't help. I swept back hair from my face, jogging out to the barn. Gnats whistled around my hair irritatingly, and I was happy when I reached the shade of the stables where there weren't so many bugs.

Four horses stood tied to a railing, their tails flicking away the persistent flies. Porkpie, upon spotting me, whinnied a greeting, butting my hand for affection as I neared him. I smiled, reaching out to pet his lean neck. He and I had grown considerably closer, and I loathed the day when I would have to leave.

"Hey, boy," I crooned, running my fingers through the knots in his hair.

I sensed a presence behind me and whirled around. Jason was standing there, watching me, a saddle in his hands.

"Oh, hey," I said, turning to face him. I couldn't see Percy and Leo so I assumed they were getting more saddles. "Any chance of telling me where we're going?"

He smiled slightly, shaking his head as he went to sling the saddle onto his horse, Tempest. I watched him as he did so, his blond hair shifting slightly.

Jason was pretty good-looking, in a rugged way. But he was nowhere near Percy's looks.

Tempest tossed his head, his grayish white coat moving as he pranced around skittishly. The horse kind of spooked me sometimes. He seemed so jumpy and weirdly shocking. In some way, he reminded me of a storm cloud.

"No, but Annabeth . . ." he trailed off, taking a deep breath.

"Yes?" I prompted, my hand pausing in its downstroke along Porkpie's forehead at Jason's odd tone.

Jason sighed. "I don't want to come off as a jerk, but I'm just watching out for my friends."

I frowned, confused. "What do you mean?"

The boy's eyes wouldn't meet mine, he concentrated on securing the saddle onto Tempest's back before answering me. "I've been watching you and Percy. Not, like, creepily or anything, but I have noticed you two are . . . close."

He put a huge meaning into his last word, and it didn't blow by me. I felt what he was implying.

"No—no, Jason, there's nothing going on."

He held up his hand. "I believe you, I do. There's nothing right now. But I've known Rachel for a pretty long time, and I don't want to see her get hurt. The only thing I'm trying to say is just be careful. You're a big celebrity, and soon you'll be going back to your life, leaving us all behind. I don't want Percy or you to do something you both regret when that time comes, and maybe hurt Rachel."

His words went straight into my ears and plowed into my heart, making me suck desperately at the air for breath. "Jason—"

Once more he interrupted me. "I also know you and Rachel don't get along too well. Rachel's a nice girl, she's just jealous. Just . . . think carefully before you do anything, okay? And Percy's a good guy. Don't encourage him or lead him onto a road that will end up at a dead end."

If any other person other than Jason said this all to me, I'd get pretty mad and guess that the person hated me and enjoyed saying all that. But I knew Jason thought of me as a close friend. He was just speaking the truth, making me see reality.

Of course, he was right. I only had a couple months left here. I wanted to tell him that he needn't worry, I didn't think of Percy as anything but a friend. However, lately, as much as I tried to get it to go away, my little crush stayed obstinately. With every lopsided smile that Percy have me, or the adorable and goofy things that he did, that little crush grew.

I was pretty sure the words, Stop, stop, stop, had been through my head a million times in the past month.

But Jason's words were the ones to actually make me stop and think. He was right—I was going to leave. And soon. Some part of me insisted that we could make everything work, but it couldn't happen. We all lived totally different lives.

And if Rachel was a nice girl, just a little jealous, then I didn't want to hurt her either. I mean, jealousy made everyone act different and more mean than they normally did, and I wasn't an exception. If my boyfriend was spending the summer with another girl, living in the same house, I wouldn't be too thrilled either.

Surprisingly, a pang of sympathy shot through me for her. I resolved to try to be nicer to her, even if it might be really hard.

And I could start by leaving her boyfriend alone. No matter how difficult that would be.

"Thank you, Jason," I muttered, quietly petting Porkpie again. The horse seemed to sense my mood—he was perfectly still and silent. "For making me realize."

He dipped his head. "I just don't want to see anybody hurt—you included."

I sent him a small, half-hearted smile over Porkpie, which he returned. He obviously didn't like telling me all those things, he just felt it was his duty to. I was torn, happy that he had told me before things escalated, but also still unable to deny what I felt for Percy.

Before I could dwell on it, two people walked around the corner, chatting animatedly. Once they saw me and Jason with our solemn expressions, their laughter ceased.

"Um, everything okay?" Percy asked cautiously.

Forcing a smile, making my eyes crinkle to make it look genuine, I said, "Yeah! I was just trying to make him tell me where we're going."

Percy winked. "It's a surprise. I told you. Here's your saddle." He brought my saddle over, handing it to me. Our hands touched briefly, but long enough for me to get tingles and then to remember what Jason just said. I mumbled a thank you before putting the saddle on Porkpie, strapping it around his stomach. Percy quickly did the same to Blackjack, who was tossing his head impatiently. Leo had already saddled Guido, and he grabbed the reins, leading the horse outside, Jason following with Tempest. I glanced back at Percy, and he nodded for me to follow them, him bringing up the rear.

Once we were outside, we all mounted. I got on, watching as Percy pulled himself up in one smooth movement, brushing hair out of his face. He squinted up at the burning sun, the beams of light playing with highlights along his hair.

Porkpie, seeing Tempest and Guido start walking ahead of him, started walking as well without me telling him too, following his friends. I shook my head at the horse, petting his neck before holding tighter to the reins.

Instead of heading for the paddock, Leo, who was in the lead, aimed towards a trail leading into the woods. I watched curiously as we made our way through the trees, once again wondering where we were going. Obviously someplace to swim, hence the suits. I thought I remembered Percy saying something about a lake, so that was my guess.

I had been on a few trail rides before. I always loved making my through the dense trunks, the birds loud in the branches above me, and spikes of sunlight passing my face through the breaks in the canopy of trees overhead. It smelled musty and earthy, like summer. Leo whistled a merry tune as he led the way, slapping low-lying branches with a stick he had grabbed. Once he was bored with that, though, he chucked the stick back, hitting an unexpected Percy square on the chest.

"Ouch," Percy complained. He frowned at his friend up ahead, who was chortling. Percy leaned far down off Blackjack, the horse leaning the opposite way to keep balance as his owner snatched a rotten branch. He whipped his hand back, then forward, his aim perfect as it hit Leo's head.

Jason just shook his head. "I swear Annabeth and I are the only mature ones." He barely got the words out before he was hit with a tree limb by Percy. Jason pivoted in his seat, glaring at Percy. Then he flung his own branch towards Percy, who ducked and guffawed, laughing at Jason's failure.

I laughed as well, rolling my eyes at the three boys.

"Mature, huh?" Leo called tauntingly, dodging the stick Jason threw at him.

"Now it's just me," I said. When they all turned to me with a mischievous glint in their eyes, I added, "If you hit me with a stick, I swear you will regret the day you were born."

Leo sighed, dropping his stick. "You know, usually people sound joking when they say that. But when Annabeth says it, she's scary. I thought blondes were supposed to be dumb and giggly."

Jason scoffed, pushing a hand out indignantly and pointing at his yellow hair as I cast my eyes skyward. "That's a stereotype, Leo. It's not true."

"I don't know," Percy said, grinning. "Jason's pretty giggly."

Cue Jason's huff of exasperated air and scowl.

"Oh, yes. Extremely giggle," I said, watching Jason.

Percy chuckled, then stated, "Hey, we're here."

At his words, I whipped my head around to look at our surroundings. For a second I couldn't see any difference. Then we broke through the forest and into our views came a lake.

It was beautiful. The sun glinted off of the river, which came from a curve and disappeared into a curve. The current wasn't fast, more like sluggishly rolling along. There was a small beach right up against the shore of the lake, making the lake look like a horseshoe bending away from us. Around the beach were rocks, grass, and wildflowers. On the other side of the lake from where we were standing, the ground quickly started going up steeply, creating a sort of wall of dirt and trees. A thick rope hung from a sturdy tree branch, allowing you to swing into the lake. It was pretty high up, so the lake must be deep.

"This is awesome," I said, Porkpie moving me closer to the shoreline.

Percy came up beside me on Blackjack, the ebony horse finding footing among the rocks.

He turned to me with a smile. "Welcome to nature's pool." I laughed as we dismounted. Jason and Leo offered to take our horses for us, leading them to a grassy clearing off to the side to let them graze while we swam. Percy and I stood, the sun reflecting off the water and chasing shadows on our faces.

"This is really awesome," I repeated.

Percy laughed. "So you said. I love it here—always have. Mom teases me, saying that I'm half fish because I love the water so much."

I smiled. "I bet you love the ocean then."

Sighing, he said, "I bet I would. I've always wanted to go there."

I turned to him incredulously. "You've never been to the sea?"

He shook his head, looking at the tiny waves lapping against the small shore wistfully. "Nope. But someday I hope I can make it out there. I want to so badly. My mom and dad met at a beach."

Frowning, an idea came into my head, rushing around my brain in fluttery motions. But before I could think harder about it, Leo called to me.

"Hey, Annabeth," he said. When I turned, he reached a finger and pulled it to himself in a Come here gesture, his movements seductive. Then he put his fingers in the waistband of his jeans before slowly drawing them down.

What would've been a totally inappropriate scene turned out to be comical as he revealed, instead of skin, a swim suit. One with little hammers and shovels and other workshop items printed on it.

I bust out laughing as Jason punched Leo's shoulder. The blond was already in his blue swim trunks, and as I turned, Percy had his swimsuit and his t-shirt on. His trunks consisted of three stripes, the bottom one light blue, the second dark blue, and the last, lying low around his hips, was a black that matched his hair. As he pulled off his shirt, my first thought was, Good gods, bring me here everyday, you sexy thang.

Hey, you can't blame me. You should've seen Percy.

But yeah, I gave myself a proper mental beating for letting those words slip through into my mind. Like Jason said, I just needed to let everything go.

"Race you to the water, Wise Girl," Percy said with a dopey grin.

I smirked. "You're on."

Without further ado, we both took off towards the water, me lagging a bit behind as I struggled to get my jeans off and throwing off my tank top. I had a grey bikini underneath, plain with a little twist in the middle front of my top. It felt amazing, the air surrounding my used-to-be-suffocated body. But it was nothing to how the water felt.

I splashed in after Percy, both of us laughing. The coolness met my body in a welcome embrace, and for a moment I just stood waist deep in the water, reveling in the temperature.

"Oh, gods, this feels amazing!" I said. Percy flashed me a smile, then submerged himself fully, vanishing from my sight. I could see a tiny trail of bubbles, but they soon stopped. Glancing around, I peered into the lake, but there was no sign of him in the murky water.

Then Leo shouted from the other side of the lake, making my gaze shift to him. He had made it onto the land, and he was scrambling up to the little ledge that had the rope dangling above it. I watched as he jumped, grabbing hold of the rope and then letting go of his hold on the land. He swung, yelling something stupid like, "Tarzan!" and doing Tarzan's weird call. He looked like a scrawny, yodeling chimpanzee.

I was still cracking up as Leo let go, swinging into the water with a big splash. But before I saw him resurface, something grabbed my ankle. I didn't even get enough time to yelp in surprise as the hand pulled my foot out from under me, making me crash into the lake water. Green and brown water surrounded my vision as I thrashed, trying to dislodge the person's hold on me. Fingers slid over my foot, causing me to jerk away. I was extremely ticklish. But when I opened my mouth to scream a laugh, water flooded onto my tongue, making me choke.

The person let go of me, and I couldn't find a foothold. It was too deep here. Coughing on water, my lungs burning, I tried to swim to the surface. I was pretty sure I was going up.

Then a pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist, helping me up to the top. When we broke through, I took a huge gulp of air, relieved when I got oxygen, not lake water.

The sun shone into my eyes, and I turned my head to look back at the person who had helped me up.

Sea-green eyes met mine, his dancing with mirth but also a touch of concern. "You okay?" he asked me.

Meanwhile, I was choking and struggling for breath. I gave him a thumbs up, smiling tightly. "Just peachy. I would say thanks for helping me, but I bet you were the one who pulled me down in the first place."

He smirked. "How'd you know?"

I sent him a look, then let the grin that was tugging at my lips go, stretching my dripping face wide. We were treading the water, staying afloat in the deep water. Well, I didn't have to do too much, Percy was supporting the both of us. His arm was snaked around me, his corded muscles touching my sides. When we rose and fell with each kick, I could see the top of Percy's abdomen muscles, the hard ridges making me want to look and not want to look.

Then, over Percy's shoulder I saw Jason. He was watching us. His gaze wasn't warning or even accusatory, he just watched us, what I was doing.

His words flitting through my head, I took a deep breath, pushing myself away from Percy. Percy's hair was wet and messy, and he shook it, splattering me.

I made a noise in the back of my throat, splashing him and at the same time started backpedaling to shallower waters. Percy shielded his eyes from the water, then retaliated with his own hand. He seemed to be able to spray more water than it should be possible, and I felt like a pail of water had just been dumped on me.

Then I realized Leo had splashed me from behind at the same time. I was stuck between the two, both of them throwing the lake liquid at me relentlessly, me shrieking in protest but also laughing.

"Jason!" I yelled. "Help me!"

I heard a laugh, then a splash. Jason had crashed into the water, tackling Leo and sending both of them underwater. I guffawed at the sight of the two, then coughed as water was sent into my mouth.

Sending a murderous glare towards Percy, who had splashed me, I advanced towards him, ready to get him back.

The four of us spent most of the afternoon playing in the lake. We had water fights, competitions for who could do the coolest trick off the swings, and then we spent a half hour sitting under the sun and listening to Leo's jokes and puns. It was a super fun afternoon—especially since we got to do something other than sit in the house.

"Hey, Annie!" Leo called to me.

I glowered at him. "If you call me Annie one more time I swear—"

"Okay, okay!" he said, holding up his hands defensively. "Sheesh. Calm your t—"

"Leo!" Jason scolded the Hispanic boy, stopping his words. "Don't say that."

Leo rolled his brown eyes, then said to me, "Knock knock."

I was sitting next to Percy, who was laying down on the sand, his tanned body glistening in the sun. At Leo's words, he groaned, saying, "Oh, gods. I hate these."

I sent my eyes skyward, poking his stomach and answering Leo. "Who's there?" I ignored Percy, who had sat up quickly at my poke and was rubbing his stomach while giving me a pouty face. It's not like my jab did much—Percy's stomach was as hard as wood. If anything it would've hurt my finger. Though there was no way I was going to tell him that.

"Yoo," Leo said.

I raised an eyebrow. "Yoo who?"

He grinned crazily, saying in a high pitched accent, "Yoo who! Big summer blowout!"

"Oh, my gods, not Frozen," I muttered. Meanwhile, Percy had cracked up, laughing hard. I looked at him, amazed that he found that joke so funny. Then again, it was Percy.

"Seaweed Brain," I told him, shaking my head. He was still chuckling, looking up at me with sparkling eyes.

Then he sobered up, saying, "Guys, I'm hungry."

"What?" Jason said incredulously. "Percy's actually hungry? That never happens. Wow." I rolled my eyes again, standing up and brushing the sand off of my knees.

"Let's head back," I told them all.

Leo jumped to his feet. "Last one to get into their clothes and onto their horse is a rotten egg!"

He took off, his footsteps spraying up sand that glinted in the sunlight. Jason was right behind him, but Percy just stayed with his arm draped over his face to shield his eyes from the blazing ball of fire overhead.

"Come on, Percy," I said down to the boy, waiting for him.

He cracked one eye open, watching me. Then he held out a hand, motioning for me to help him up. I exhaled, holding my palm out, fingers splayed. Right when they connected, Percy yanked hard. I went crashing down on top of him, our bodies colliding. Because we were just wearing swimsuits, I felt his skin all over mine, warm from the sun. Before I could catch my breath, Percy rolled us both over, flashed me a smile, his face an inch away, then shot up. He laughed as he started running for Blackjack.

I took in a deep gulp of oxygen, not able to before, then shouted to him, "That's not fair, idiot! Cheater!"

He just kept laughing. "You're a rotten egg, Wise Girl!"

I growled at his receding back, picking myself up off the ground. "That's the last time I ever help you."

With that, I raced after him in the sunlight.

I wondered what we looked like to the heavens. Two kids running, one laughing and the other mad—anybody up there would probably just scoff and say, "Teenagers."

That's right. But teen years are awesome. It's right before you grow up, but after you're stopped being labeled as a child. It's where you find everything—the fun in life, your direction to where you're going to go, and more often than not, love.

I'd pretty much found the first two. Now I was waiting for the last, the one I deemed most important.

Thanks for the reviews and the follows and favorites! You guys are awesome, and are the reasons for the quick updates. Well, that and that I've found I really like writing this story. :)

Special thanks to wouldtheywriteasongforyou, because they gave me a ton of advice and compliments, but I needed that advice, my story was lacking some things. So thank you! :)

Thanks to MeganAnnabethJackson, Fireboy, kuroanimateotaku18, Safari (otherwise known as wouldtheywriteasongforyou), awesooooooome, rocketgod123, LucyTheCrazyUnicorn, AutumnLeaves03, Stella928, the apricot, 123, darkmagician751, Jedi1, PavLuvsPercyJackson, INeedAUsername8, Skyline, and the guests for reviewing!

Q&A and the talks

Safari/wouldtheywriteasongforyou: First off, you are very observant. I love that. Can you be, like, the person who tells me if I forgot something or if I need to put in something? XD I hope I've put in most of the things you said, but if not, I've put them into upcoming chapters. Thanks again! :)

rocketgod123: Well, you'll learn more about Percy's birth and Poseidon and Sally's marriage later. ;)

Jedi1: Don't worry, Piper will definitely make an appearance. Besides, Jason does need a girl, right? ;)

Skyline: Hahaha I don't think you jinxed it. We'll see though! :)

Again, thanks you all. I love writing quick updates because I know you love them. So I hoped you enjoy!