Disclaimer: All PJO characters belong to Rick Riordan.

Chapter Seventeen

Annabeth

Deep in my heart, I'm suffering, knowing that I've lost you. On the outside, I'm living pretending that I've forgotten you.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

I stare at the screen so hard that my eyes hurt. My heart pounds in my chest, threatening to jump out, as I read the text for the hundredth time.

Dear Ms. Chase,

Congratulations! You've been accepted into Stanford University! We've found that you are a well-rounded student with perfect grades and we would be honored if you choose to attend our school next fall. Below are the costs for tuition, as well as the deadlines and dates it needs to be paid by. We hope that you consider our offer and look forward to hearing your answer.

Sincerely,

Stanford

I suppose I should be happy. Who wouldn't be happy about being accepted into Stanford? But all I can think about is how the school is in California, the same place I had run from. How can I go back, knowing that Luke is mere miles away from me? I can't. I know it sounds lame and childish, but part of me still hurts. And I'm too prideful to face him again after the humiliation he put me through.

My mom is no help either. After I told her about not getting into Harvard, instead of being a loving and supportive mom, she just sighed and wondered aloud why I was applying to other schools when I could get into her college for incredibly cheap, if not free. I snapped back that maybe I didn't want to go to her school.

Sighing, I click on the link that leads me to their website. Immediately, my screen blows up with pictures of smiling students walking to class, a boy concentrating on his lab, a professor in the middle of a lecture. I study them with a distant longing. A part of me wants it, the complicated simplicity and hard work of college life. I want that life for myself. I want to attend Stanford and graduate from there and get a job as an architect and be happy for the rest of my life. But I also want to stay as far away from California as I can.

I brush a strand of hair behind my ear. Columbia. That would be a good college to go to. One of the top schools in the country and in New York, the complete opposite of California. I'm pretty sure that I sent in an application there, along with the mass of other schools I applied to. If I could get into Stanford, surely I could get into Columbia, right?

My phone receives a text, sending a sharp vibration through my desk. I jump before regaining my composure and looking down at my phone. A text from Percy.

Come over to my house. I need u.

I roll my eyes. Percy's definition of "I need you" can range anywhere from his mom just died to an inability to find the syrup to put over his pancakes. But a visit to his apartment might be what I need right now.

I close my laptop and stuff it in my bag, then grab my keys. My mom has a meeting today, though why they have a meeting on a Saturday is beyond me. I leave a note on the counter just in case she gets back before I do. I doubt that though.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"It's open!" is Percy's muffled reply when I knock on his apartment's door. I open the door and slip into his apartment. It smells of chocolate chip cookies and vanilla, as it usually does. I breathe in the familiar scent, already feeling my stress fade away.

I find Percy in his bedroom. He's in his closet, making quite a ruckus. I knock on his bedroom door then lean against it. "You called for me?" I tease, smiling.

Strangely, he doesn't come out of the closet. I hear his voice drift into the room, saying, "Yeah, yeah. I need your opinion on something."

I cross my arms. "You know, Perce, it's very impolite to ignore your guest like this, especially since you're the one who invited me over."

"Close your eyes," is his answer. I roll my eyes and sigh, but do as I'm told.

I hear rustling and footsteps and then Percy saying, "Okay, you can open them now."

Percy's standing in front of me wearing a tux. It's midnight black, matching his hair perfectly. It looks expensive, with it's perfectly creased edges and how it fits Percy perfectly. He's wearing a white t-shirt underneath, which kind of ruins the whole dressy effect, but it still makes me smile.

"Impressive," I comment, walking over and sitting on his bed. Percy turns around to face me.

"That's all you have to say?" he asks, feigning hurt. "It's just impressive?"

I shrug as I lean back against his pillows. "Looks good. It looks really expensive. Why are you showing me this anyway?"

"I needed to make sure that you approve of the tux before I wear it on prom night," he says. "I didn't want to go looking like a doofus."

"Oh, Seaweed Brain," I tease, laughing, "you always look like a doofus."

He laughs. "Very funny, Wise Girl." Then he mutters, "I thought girlfriends were supposed to be supportive."

That makes me laugh even more. "Who told you that? If anything, we should tease you the most."

He groans and falls onto the bed next to me. "So," he says more seriously, linking our hands, "what do you really think of it?"

I roll onto my side and look him straight in the eyes. "I think," I start slowly, "that I'm going to be dancing with the most good-looking guy at prom, tuxedo or not."

He leans down and gives me a sweet, proper kiss before pulling away and saying, "Well, I know I'm going to be dancing with the most beautiful girl."

"Really? I thought Jason had already claimed Piper."

He kisses me again. "Very funny, Wise Girl. You know I meant you."

I sigh and move closer to him. "I know."

We sit there for a moment in sweet felicity, listening to each other breathe. That's when Percy's stomach growls rather loudly.

He looks down at me sheepishly. "Sorry. I didn't eat breakfast."

I laugh and shove him away from me. "Go get dressed and then we can get something to eat."

As Percy makes his way to his closet, he perks up. "Oh! Then can we go to that new theater a few blocks from here? I hear they have a self-serve butter bar!"

I roll my eyes. "Um, we've got to work on our project, Seaweed Brain. It's due on Monday and we barely have anything done."

"But-"

"Nope. No arguments. I'm not failing."

Percy glares playfully at me before shuffling to his closet and grabbing his clothes. He looks up at me with his cheeks tainted pink. "Uh," he stammers, "do you wanna, like close your eyes or something while I change? Or should I go to the bathroom...?"

I groan and cover my eyes. "Trust me," I tease, "I won't look. I don't want to see you in your boxers. Fatty."

"Shut up."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

I run through the hallways on Monday morning, clutching Percy's notes in my hand. Like the idiot he is, he left them at my apartment on Saturday when we were working on our English project. He probably didn't even notice they were missing.

I run into Reyna once I'm almost at mine and Percy's lockers. "Hey," she greets.

"Sorry," I apologize, out of breath. "Percy left his English notes at my apartment and he needs to go over them before we present and...ugh, he's such a retard."

Reyna laughs at my frustration. "I'm sorry. He'll do fine though. He's Percy Jackson." Her eyes have a strange twinkle to them when she says that. I feel a tightening in my gut, but I ignore it.

"Hey, have you seen the new guy?" she asks, changing the subject.

"A new guy? This late in the year?"

Reyna nods. "I think it's strange too. He's a senior also. But I heard that Percy's showing him around today. And I heard that he's very handsome."

I laugh. "Well, maybe you two will hit it off."

She makes a face of disgust. "Did you really just say that?"

We both laugh until the warning bell rings. Five minutes until first hour starts. I look at Reyna. "Sorry, but I've got to go. Talk to you later?"

She nods. "Tell me about the new guy, okay?"

I tell her I definitely will before starting down the hall again. I think over what Reyna told me about the new guy. Something doesn't sound right. Why would a senior transfer at the end of the year? What need would there have to be to transfer? It would have to be something big. Maybe one of his parents got a job that they had to get started immediately.

My mind scrambles to find an explanation and a sick feeling starts to grow in my stomach. A senior transferring for no reason at the end of the year. Handsome. I wish I'd had the sense to ask Reyna where he had come from. An awful thought branches out into my mind and my footsteps seem to slow as I struggle to reach the corner that would take me to Percy's locker.

It couldn't be him. It couldn't.

Percy's there at his locker, talking to a guy who's back is to me. My eyes inadvertently avoid his form and focus on Percy. He looks at me and I smile tentatively as I walk up. "Hey," I greet him, still avoiding the presence beside me. I can feel his body heat, so close to mine. "You left your notes for our presentation at my house. I thought you would want to go over them before we have to present."

He takes them from me and grins. "Sorry, Wise Girl," he apologizes, giving me a brief hug. "And thanks."

He pulls away from me and I can't ignore the new guy next to me any longer. Percy nudges me gently and I turn around to see the guy next to me.

Instead of my heart stopping and everything freezing around me, my heart just constricts and I let out a small sigh.

I should have known I wasn't lucky enough to be completely free of him.

He looks different. Older and more mature. His hair is shorter and he has it spiked up today. His skin seems tanner, but that may just be because he's fresh out of California, a place I haven't been back to in months. He's definitely gotten taller. Him and Percy are almost the same height. And I can make out defined muscles beneath his thin t-shirt.

Percy introduces me as his girlfriend. His friendly smile falters and something – jealousy, maybe – flickers across his face. I stand there and stare at him like I'm seeing ghost, which in a way, I am. That part of my life, the part with him in it, I had considered dead to me. Now it was back. In him.

He quickly regains his composure and that easy smile plasters across his face again. He holds out his hand as he introduces himself. I want to scream and cry and hit him and wipe that smile off of his face. I want to laugh and cry tears of joy and kiss that smile off his face because he's here, here for me. I want to turn my back on him and hug Percy and breathe in the scent of Percy to remind myself that he's the one I'm dating, the one I love, the one who would never betray me.

Instead, I lightly shake his hand and turn back to Percy. "I've got to get to class," I murmur so only he can hear. Then I start walking down the hall, making it look like I'm not bothered by his appearance here, that I couldn't care less, that I don't even actually know him. But when I turn the corner where they can't see me anymore, I take off running, fighting the tears threatening to spill, until I make it to my first hour.

Silena's sitting at her desk, laughing at something the guy next to her said, like nothing happened, like my whole world hadn't just shifted.

I swiftly slide into the desk next to her and stare at the smooth wood in front of me.

"Oh, Annabeth!" Silena's soft voice chirps. "I heard Percy's showing some new guy around! Have you met him? What's he like? Is he nice?"

The full shock of it all hits me then. It feels like a hurricane after all I've dealt with are small showers- too big and too impossible to handle. I bite my lip and look up at her. My vision blurs as my eyes are filled with water. "Silena." My voice breaks. "It's Luke."

Well. It's been a while. Sorry about the length. And lack of romance. This chapter was mainly focused on Annabeth and Luke. Next chapter should have a bit more Percabeth. I'll try to get that one out as soon as possible. I get out of school for the summer on Wednesday, thank the Lord. I don't think I can last another day surrounded by my peers. Seriously, I'm just done. I hate teenagers. I told my mom that one time and she just looked at me and said, "You are a teenager." and I was like, "I know. That's what's sad. I'm ashamed to be a part of this generation." Seriously, though. My days go great until, people (P.S. saw that one on Pinterest). But anyway, I'm ready for summer.

Uh, sorry about that little rant. Oh! Random thought: so, I've been watching Once Upon A Time on Netflix. Best. Show. Ever. I just finished Season 1 today and I'm on episode 6 of the second season. I have so many ships, I can't handle it. And Belle and Rumpelstiltskin? Oh. My. Gods. They are so adorable. And so are Snow White and Prince Charming (James?). And Captain Hook is precious. I, like, cry every time he comes on because he's so attractive. It makes me sad because I'm forever alone.

Anyway, I'm going to stop rambling. If anybody likes Once Upon A Time, please, tell me! I need someone to fangirl with about it. Oh, also, review about the chapter. Bye!

"And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him." Hebrews 11:6