You Cause Trouble

Chapter 1 It Will Be Worth It

Author's Note: Hi everyone! Welcome to my first fanfic ever. I hope you enjoy reading this! I would like to point out that I am not an expert and while I did proofread this, there may still be errors! I hope you do know that I am trying my best and am happy to receive constructive criticism! I am also not an expert in archery and just and found it a cool sport to use in my story. Some of my archery scenes may be incorrect/misrepresented so please do not feel offended if I misrepresented your sport! I am a huge fan of archery and a shout-out to anyone who does it! With that said I hope you enjoy my story "You Cause Trouble"

"Don't limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve." - Mary Kay Ash

Chapter 1: It Will Be Worth It

She gritted her teeth before notching another arrow. She took a depth breath, put her index above the arrow and middle finger below the arrow, and drew back.

Then she released.

The arrow hit somewhere on the right of the target far from a bullseye. It wasn't where the arrow went that concerned her. The bow snapped on her forearm where she had already snapped multiple times. The way it always snapped when she couldn't think. She dropped the bow onto the ground and wanted to blame it for all the troubles she was having.

"Argh!" She shouted and cursed and was just about ready to start crying because she just couldn't get it right today. She had been shooting for at least two hours, and she hadn't hit a single bullseye and snapped her string on her forearm multiple times.

Then another woman walked in and raised an eyebrow at the bow lying on the ground but said nothing. The woman looked older than herself, maybe around thirty years old. The woman uncased her bow and got a quiver of arrows. She saw her drawback and she released. Her arrow flew through the air and hit in the yellow part of the target.

The other lady tipped her head in her direction and gave her a smirk. Annabeth thought she was a little old to be making fun of teenagers in a gym but who was she to judge. Annabeth was having a mental breakdown when she walked in. Feeling a tinge of annoyance Annabeth gritted her teeth, picked up her Annabeth didn't even bother to say goodbye to her coach, who was a mentor for Annabeth for years. Even now when Annabeth was 17 he still managed to teach Annabeth lessons that she never could have learned otherwise.

Chiron started to say goodbye, but she stormed out before he got to ask her what was wrong. She pushed open the double doors that lead to the parking lot and headed out to her car.

She angrily pulled open the door of her blue car and plopped down in the driver's seat. She sighed and looked at the bow in her hands and the bruise that was forming on her forearm.

Was it worth it? Would it be worth it when she was twenty-five and trying to make the world Olympics? Possibly knowing now that she might just get rejected after years of training?

She didn't know. After all, why would she? She couldn't predict the future. Sometimes she wished she knew if it would get easier. After all the hours spent in the gym would it get easier? Annabeth didn't know. She remembered how of all the days she didn't want to be at the gym and how she still was. She wiped the tears streaming down her face with the heel of her palm and wondered, will it be worth it?

After a while of sitting in her car, she worked up enough courage to go back inside the gym. Almost immediately after walking back in Chiron tried to make sure she was okay, but she insisted she was just a little stressed. The other lady was still shooting but paid no attention to her as she walked back in.

So Annabeth got her bow, took a deep breath, and nocked another arrow. She let the pain in her left forearm fuel her next shot. She drew her bow, and she released.

It didn't hit the bullseye. She would be surprised if it did. She released arrow after arrow with some of them hitting the yellow. Of course, it still wasn't good enough, but it was better.

Chiron said that you can never ask for perfect, only better. Yet Annabeth still asked for perfect. If it wasn't perfect it wasn't acceptable. At least that's what she thought. She was still shooting arrows until Chiron kicked her out because the shooting range was closing for the day.

"Don't overwork yourself Annabeth," he said, "you won't get good that way" he put a hand on her shoulder. "You need to go home, your dad must be wondering where you are."

"He probably isn't" she mumbled under her breath, not quite loud enough for him to hear.

"Have a good night Chiron!" she called.

Driving back home the lights of New York City illuminated the street. New York City really was the city that never slept. There was still a lot of buzz even though it was eleven at night.

Annabeth wasn't exactly eager to go back home. Recently her dad and her mom had gotten a divorce, and she lived with her dad now. She hadn't seen her mom at all since the divorce and she wasn't even sure her mother wanted Annabeth in her life.

Her dad on the other hand was doing worse than Annabeth was. He drank a lot and missed shifts at work. She prayed that he wasn't going to get fired, and even though he hadn't been yet she was sure if he kept it up it was coming soon. And every so often, he would hit Annabeth. She knew not to be afraid of him though, they were just going through a hard time. He would be better soon.

When Annabeth thought about her mom a bitter taste would rise in her mouth. She had left them. She had left her. Her mom didn't want her. Maybe her mom was out sleeping with another man, and even if she wasn't she certainly wasn't missing Annabeth.

She put her bow in the trunk and drove home. When she got home she wasn't surprised to see her dad passed out or asleep, Annabeth didn't know, on the couch with an empty beer bottle in her hand. She gingerly lifted the beer bottle out of his hands and cleaned up the ones on the coffee table. She sighed and went to her room. She thought about calling her best friend Thalia but decided against it.

After finishing up what homework she had, she decided to go for a night run to clear her head. She swiped her earbuds off the table and changed into a running shirt and a pair of joggers. She slipped a pair of tennis shoes on and let herself out through the door. She went down the stairs of the apartment then headed outside.

The cold air hit her like a slap, but Annabeth didn't mind, she liked the cold air. It calmed her down.

She fell into an easy rhythm, and before she knew it she was halfway across town, at his house again. Always his house.

She had known that he wasn't in the best state when he entered high school but she had never thought that he would have left her forever. He was the only person who truly ever knew her real self. Her first best friend. Gone. She suffered for months after that. The questions, the pain, the guilt. Everything was so much harder without him.

"Why did you leave me Luke?" she asked to no one. She started crying and her knees gave out under her.

"You left me!" she cried, "you left me all alone, and I don't know what to do."

~q~Q~q~

Annabeth was on her way home when she received a call from Thalia.

"Hey Thals," she said panting "what do you need?"

"Hey, Annie!" She said energetically, probably too energetic for it being very late. "Why are you panting?" Thalia questioned.

"Decided-to-go-on-a-late-night-run" Annabeth said, still panting.

"God Annie, do you ever sleep?" Thalia exclaimed.

"You were the one who called me at midnight!" Annabeth countered.

"Ahh alright fine " Thalia whined.

"Thals what do you need?" Annabeth asked, at this point a little exasperated.

"Well I don't understand my homework, can you maybe... let me copy off you?" Thalia asked

"You just started doing it now?!" Annabeth practically screamed through the phone.

"Geez Annie calm down," Thalia said.

After a long pause from both girls, Thalia finally cut in "so is that a yes?"

"Just this once" Annabeth replied while rolling her eyes.

"Yay! Thanks, Annie, I owe you one!" Thalia said.

"You always owe me one" Annabeth mumbled.

"Oh shut up!"

Annabeth cracked up laughing, and Thalia scowled on the other side, but after listening to Annabeth laugh for some time, Thalia eventually joined in.

Annabeth wasn't truly alone, even though she was lonely. Maybe she wasn't happy yet, but maybe one day she could be.

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed it! I'm going to try and update this weekly but I am very busy, so chapters may not be on time, etc.