Encounters

AN: Hey lovelies! I promised you I'd try to update again this week, and I did so yay! I'm really tired right now, and I want to get this upload out there quickly, so for the sake of time, I won't answer reviews this chapter, but I promise I'll answer them next chapter. Anyway, Leggo.

Percy

Annabeth Chase was the bane of my existence. That statement was a fact that I was incapable of denying. The girl could unravel me like nobody else.

Annabeth had lots of great qualities. She was absolutely brilliant, she was outgoing in her own special way, and she tried to care about everyone and everything that came her way. She was kind, that's for sure. She was the type of person who'd hand a homeless person a hundred bucks just because she sympathized.

This amazing, intelligent girl was a hard ass. You could tell her over and over again that she was wrong, and she'd do absolutely anything in her power to prove she was right, and when she was proven wrong, she would refuse to own up to it. Indenial had never looked so great on a person. As stubborn and as logical as she was, there were moments when the younger Chase sibling would act her age, or in other words, immature.

I found this out when we were driving to the lock-in, and I had to fight her over which radio station to put because apparently my stations were "trash". Through this whole bit, she manage to squeeze in a your mom joke, and a that's what she said. I couldn't stop a smile from spreading across my face.

The thing I loved most about Annabeth, was the fact that she literally didn't give a shit what other people said- mostly. When it came to herself, of course. If you came up to her and told her she was a bitch, she'd laugh in your face, pop a cheeto in her mouth, and send you a look like, oh, you're just figuring this out? If you came up to her, though, and told her a close friend of hers was a bitch, well, I hope you have your will written out because you just dug your own grave.

Not to focus too much on the physical, but Annabeth was absolutely stunning. Her eyes lit up whenever she was happy, they darkened whenever she was mad, and they glistened whenever she was sad. She just had this down to earth feel about her that I couldn't shake, and really, I didn't want to. I hated to think that I was becoming attached to her because if that ever happened, I knew I'd have to sit still and just wait till I moved on. It just couldn't happen. Malcolm would murder me, and I'd be backstabbing him in the process. But I couldn't shake the feeling that her hold on me was tightening like a leech.

So, all in all, she was an interesting girl. But there was one thing that I despised about Annabeth. She payed an insane amount of attention to the feud. All her actions centered around the feud. It was just absolutely ridiculous. Why should she let a petty rivalry between two teams define who she was, what she did, who she hung out with? She already had enough going on in her life, she deserved some control, and in one of the scenarios where she can have some, she gives it away because of a feud?

Of course you can imagine that when we got to the school, Annabeth made me park in the back so no one would see us, and walk in at different times so no one would be suspicious. So now, here I was, walking into the school with a comforter and a duffel bag, sporting an annoyed look on my face.

The hallways of Goode were dark, making the school seem mysterious and brooding if not for the big Hope you're having a Goode day banner that ran across the wall. I stopped and looked around the building, realizing that I was now familiar with it. There were pictures of previous athletes from years before stowed up on the wall. I stepped forward and searched for the one person I didn't imagine to find. My Dad. The picture quality was horrible, but I could tell it was him by his messy unkempt hair and his piercing green eyes. It was like looking in a mirror.

Dad had come here when he was in high school, before he moved to Long Island and met my mom. It was part of the reason I really wanted to come here. It brought me closer to him, and that made me feel good inside. I snapped out of my thoughts and followed the arrows drawn on printer paper towards the biggest gym. What I saw almost made me bust out laughing. All the football players were on the right side of the gym, and all the cheerleaders were on the left side, both sides glaring at the other with intensity. I spotted Annabeth heading straight for the door. Quickly and quietly, I set my stuff down by the side claimed by the football players and followed Annabeth out the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Malcolm." She bit out, not stopping to address me appropriately. We turned the corner together and there he was, bags in hands, and the most tired expression plastered on his face. I expected Annabeth to stand there and cuss him out, but that wasn't her initial reaction. Instead, she walked quickly towards him and hugged him quietly, not saying a word to him. When she pulled back she had the angriest look on her face. "Where the hell have you been? Why did you lie to me?"

"Annabeth-"

"No, this is not okay. You had me worried sick, you can't just disappear all the time! Seriously, where have you been?"

"I've been around, Annabeth. It doesn't matter, I'm fine." I tried to not look at Malcolm, but I could feel his eyes on me. Annabeth's face twisted into disbelief and I could just tell she was about to yell.

"It doesn't matter? It fucking matters to me, Malcolm. I've done nothing but stress about you the entire day. You told me you were at his house when you weren't, so don't come up to me and tell me you were around."

"I never asked you to stress about me, Annabeth."

"You never had to! It comes with the role of being your sister!"

"That's exactly it, Annabeth! You're my sister. Just my sister, not my mom. You have no right to be worried for me, to always be asking where I am, to always be badgering! My private life is exactly that, private, which means it doesn't concern you, and you should just stay out of it. Who are you to tell me what I can and can't do? I'll go wherever I want, whenever I want, and you shouldn't have anything to say about it because it's my life."

I tried and failed to hide my shock, my jaw going slack, and my face instantly reddening with anger. How the hell could Malcolm say something like that to his sister? Apparently Annabeth was just as shocked by his little rant because a stunned look quickly took over her pretty little face, and then she drew her eyebrows together.

"You know what? Fine. But when something happens to you, don't expect me to be waiting around for you to come home so you can talk to me about it like we used to because I won't be there." She snapped back, and then she spun on her heel and marched back into the gym. Malcolm met my eyes briefly before he dropped his bags and headed outside. Without question, I followed him, wondering where he was going until I stopped in my tracks. Malcolm leaned by the wall of the school, talking to a dark haired girl.

I knew the voice sounded familiar, and now I knew why. I saw this girl everday in math class, and Annabeth knew her as her best friend. I met her after one football game, when Jason introduced me to her. Thalia Grace.

"Thalia?" They both visibly stiffened, and when Malcolm turned around, I saw fear in both of their eyes for the first time in forever.

"This isn't what it looks like." Malcolm shot out immediatley, but I payed no attention to him as I walked over to the both of them.

"No, I know it's what it looks like because I heard you guys' conversation last week. I know about you guys, I just didn't know who it was." They both stayed silent for a minute before Malcolm spoke.

"Please don't tell Annabeth." I quirked an eyebrow and crossed my arms over my chest.

"You're asking me to lie to her?"

"If she found out, she'd be pissed, it'd ruin her night." Thalia tried to rationalize, but I wasn't having any of it.

"Well her night's already ruined." I stated, giving Malcolm a look.

"Are you saying all of this is my fault?"

"Well it kind of is, Malcolm! Look, I don't care who you go out with. In fact, I think that you guys are good for each other. But you're stepping over Annabeth in the process, and that's not okay." I paused, taking a breath and gauging their reactions. Malcolm seemed shocked, and Thalia seemed thoughtful. "You weren't there for her today. She went through something absolutely horrible, and you weren't there. You have to understand that she sees you as one of the only people she can come to, and knowing that you can't even spend five minutes to talk to her has really impacted how she views you guys' relationship. She told me how she feels, she thinks you don't care about her anymore. She's pissed at you, yeah, but she's also really sad because she thinks you're leaving her in the dust."

"Why would she think that?"

"Because that's the way you're treating her, Malcolm." He stood there, quiet as a mouse, before he opened his mouth to say something.

"You don't understand. Thalia and I are in a really rough position right now and-"

"I'm pregnant." Thalia blurted out, and my eyes were like saucers. Malcolm glanced at her and she stared right back. "I'm four weeks pregnant, and we've been going to the doctors a lot lately because we need to get everything checked. My parents know, and they've been letting Malcolm sleep over at our house because of it. Look, I know this is our fault, and we brought this on ourselves, but there's no way in hell that I'm going to give up my kid, even if it's my best friends brother, and I know personally that Annabeth isn't going to take these news with open arms because when we told Jason, he was ready to beat the living shit out of Malcolm. We never meant for this to happen. It just did." She revealed through a quivering voice.

We stood there staring at each other, Thalia with her jaw clenched, Malcolm running his fingers through his hair in a frustrated manner, and me just trying to keep it together. This was definitley more than I had thought it was.

"Well say something." Malcolm ordered after two whole minutes had passed.

"Look, I'm not gonna judge because I know mistakes happen, but this doesn't take away from what I said. I know you love Thalia, but I know you love Annabeth too, so if you love both of them, spend time with both of them. And what you said to her was completely out of line. She just wants to know that you're okay, she's you sister, she cares a lot."

"I care about her too."

"Then show her, before she completely breaks down." He jutted his chin out at me and headed towards his car, grabbing some bags from the back.

"It was your shirt, wasn't it?" Thalia asked from behind me. I glanced at her and gave her a confused look. "The football shirt." I nodded tentatively and she let out a small smile that contradicted highly with her watery eyes. "I figured. I have Malcolm's football shirt at home, there was no way that was his. Is there a reason she has that shirt?" She asked with in a suggestive tone.

"She just needed something to wear because her uniform was soaked, honest. I could never do something with her, she's my best friend's sister." I answered, feeling like a liar for some odd reason.

"Well that's what I said about Malcolm, but look where we are." She paused and gave me a look. "We're not trying to hurt her, you know. We're just dealing with a lot right now."

"I know. But you're gonna have to come clean some time." She nodded as she tucked some hair behind her ear.

"Are you gonna tell her?"

"No, that's something you two need to tell her together, but if she gets mad at me because I didn't tell her a secret you two were keeping from her, I'll be kind of mad." I admited. She nodded and I squeezed her shoulder. "Don't worry. It'll all figure itself out." And with that I headed back inside, letting the couple have a private moment alone before he had to come in for the lock in.

"Everybody shut up!" Coach Hedge yelled, and everything stilled. The cheer coach, Ms. Lavor, clapped her hands and gave an uncertain smile. "I'm glad everyone's here, even though you had no choice. I really have hope that this night will help us all come closer together, and to learn to respect each other instead of treating each other like inferiors. So, the first thing we're going to do is announce partners. For this night, you'll have a buddy. You have to stay with your buddy at all times, through all of our team building activities. Buddies will be assigned based on team rank. We trust the higher members of each team with more responsibility, and matureness than the other members of the team, so those buddies will be placed accordingly. Every member of each team will be paired with a member from the opposing team. If you get placed with a member from the same team as you, we'll make sure to switch you, or, if needed, place you in a group of three. As the cheer team currently does not have an official captain, we'll use the previous captain as our captain for the buddy system, but this doesn't mean you're back on position Drew. When we call the pairs, you are to stand up here, side by side, until instructed not to do so. If anyone moves, or runs away from their buddy, you will get a two week suspension from the team. Everyone understand?" People nodded so fast I was afraid some might get whiplash. No one wanted a two week suspension, so no one wanted to risk it.

"Okay, good. We'll start naming buddies now, starting from high member positions. M. Chase, D. Tanaka. You guys can start the line on the right side of the gym." I tried to hold in my laughter at Malcolm's horrible luck. "J. Grace, P. Mclean. C. Beckendorf, S. Beauregard. P. Jackson, A. Chase..." I met her half way and she punched me in the arm.

"How horrible, I'll have to spend my whole night with you." She said, faking disgust. I rolled my eyes at her as we walked to where everyone was standing side by side. I took my place next to Silena and smiled. I was fairly happy with my buddy. If it was anyone else other than Piper, Rachel, or Silena, I would've been completely lost on what to do. I still needed to talk to her about the argument she had with Malcolm, but that had to wait.

After Ms. Valor finished off the names- which left some people pissed- Coach Hedge grabbed a cardboard box with something we couldn't see inside.

"Remember what we said. If anyone moves, you'll get a two week suspension." Coach reminded us, and before anyone knew what was happening, handcuffs were snapped on Malcolm and Drew's wrists, keeping them attached to each other. Nobody moved, and I'm fairly sure some people were holding their breaths, hoping and praying that what had just happened wasn't going to happen to them. Of course, by the second set of handcuffs- attaching Piper and Jason- hope was starting to fade, and by the third set, everyone knew their fate was the same. I let out a breath as handcuffs were snapped on me and Annabeth's wrist, holding us together. Annabeth glanced at me quickly, but I couldn't read her expression. By the time the last set of handcuffs was snapped, everyone was muttering under their breath about how horrible this idea was.

"I really don't care." Annabeth muttered. I glanced at her and managed a smirk. "I mean, it's not like we haven't been closer." I tried not to laugh at her honesty and nodded.

"Okay! Now that everyone's been paired up, we can start with introductions. Find a spot in the gym and talk to your buddy for a couple minutes before we start our first activity." Annabeth stared at me for less than half a second before she plopped down in the same place she was standing, bringing me down with her. She sat down criss-cross applesauce and lifted her chin.

"Hi, I'm Annabeth Chase, and I'm an alcoholic." I let out a laugh and sat down right next to her.

"We need to talk about that argument." I said quickly, and guilt flooded my body as her face fell.

"Later." She answered, and I internally let out a breath. I was glad that now, she actually talked to me instead of avoiding any horrible situation that came her way. I nodded in agreement before looking up and catching Annabeth staring at something in the distance. I followed her line of gaze and was shocked to find out that her object of distraction was Jason Grace.

"You like him?" I asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. She looked up at me with wide eyes before chewing on her lip.

"Of course not. That's prohibited, remember?"

"No, dating a football player is prohibited. Liking one isn't punishable unless you admit it to someone who cares. Lucky for you, I don't care." I said, partially lying to myself although I didn't know why. Would I have cared? If so, why did I? My mind was more mixed up than a rubix cube at the moment.

"I could never like Jason, he's my best friend's brother." She stated after some time, and the irony of the situation was just bizzare. Thalia was pregnant with her best friend's brother's child, while Annabeth was crushing on her best friend's brother, who, if things ended up right with Thalia and Malcolm, had the potential to be her brother-in-law. That was the first reason Jason and Annabeth could never happen. The second reason is that Jason told me himself he's got his eye on someone, and when I guessed Annabeth, he informed me that she was like a sister to him. For some reason, knowing that Annabeth couldn't date him comforted me. I gave her a look that showed just how much I knew her statement was a load of bullshit, and she rolled her eyes at me. "It's just a small crush. Like, minimal, really. I'm sure it'll blow over soon." She said, more to herself than to me. I stared at her as her eyebrows scrunched up together and her facial expression grew more and more confused.

"If you need to talk to me about it, I'm here, you know." She looked up at me and smiled.

"Thanks, but I have Thalia for that. I mean, I guess I do. She's been kind of busy lately."

"You can't really talk to her when she's his sister." I pointed out, and she ran a hand through her hair quietly. I clamped my mouth shut and tried not to blurt everything out. Of course she's been busy, she's been going to doctor's appointmets non stop. I wanted to tell Annabeth what was going on so badly, but I knew if I told her, Malcolm would never forgive me. Before I could reply to her, a whistle was blown, and everyone perked up.

"Alright everyone! We're starting activities so listen up!" Coach Hedge yelled. "First, we'll start with partner activities, and then we'll converge into big groups. After that, we'll have free time, and then we'll section people off in rooms. First activity will be back to back drawing!"

By activity number four, Annabeth was sweating, and I was desperatley hoping that her coordination skills proved to be as good as she said they were. We'd gotten through the back-to-back drawing activity, the survival scenario activity, and the stereotype activity. Now, we were on the mind field activity, and I had a small feeling in the deep of my gut that warned me we were about to get screwed over.

The basis of the game was to help your partner get across the gym floor without hitting any obstacles. The catch is, your partner's blind folded. The other catch is, whoever gets there first gets first dibs on where they get to sleep, and what they get to eat. If you're last to get there, you have to sleep in the guy's indoor locker room. So, to make things clear, the competition was strong, and there was no doubt in my mind that people would be sabotaging each other like ther was no tomorrow.

"I don't understand why I have to be the one with the blind fold." Annabeth complained as she leaned against my back for support. Because of the fact that we were attached with hand cuffs, the only way any of us could do this exercise was by being back to back with our partner, with the blind folded person facing away from where the finish line was, and the seeing person facing the finish line.

"Don't worry, I'm great at directions." I assured her, but even I could tell I was a lying through my teeth.

"Oh, I'm sure." She replied sarcastically.

"Look, we're gonna get through it. We're almost done with activities, we're about to kick ass."

"I hope we're not last because-" Her words drowned down in her throat as I locked our hands together in preperation for the race. I smirked to myself, proud that I'd managed to render her speechless. I tried to ignore the way her delicate hands felt in mine and listened to Coach Hedge blow the whistle that signified the start of the race.

As soon as he blew it, all hell broke loose. People were jumping over chairs, tripping over balls, and toppling over each other. At one point, someone ended up tripping over another pair of buddies. The string of cuss words that filled the gym made my ears bleed. I tried to move quickly, but not fast enough that Annabeth wouldn't be able to match my pace. I cringed as I heard somebody cuss someone else out and continued.

"Remember that we need to move together!" I yelled over the chaos, and Annabeth's grip on my hands tightened as her response. "Okay, slight left, there's a chair in front of us."

"Go faster, Perce." She ordered through a breath, and I almost tripped over my own feet at her new nickname for me. I sped up my pace and dogged a ball, looking for the culprit. "Keep your eyes ahead!" Annabeth yelled, although how she knew I wasn't looking forward was beyond me. I pulled her closer with my hands, seeing the finish line up ahead.

"We're almost there!"

"Well then stop talking and get us there! I want pizza." And at the same time she said that, and we were reaching the line, a big blur smacked right into us, sending us spiraling to the gym floor. I heard the skidding and instnatly knew that Annabeth had gotten burned some how. "Damn it!" She yelled as she jerked her right hand, which was attached to my left hand. I looked up to see who had pushed us and saw Ethan Nakamura with a smug smile, and Rachel, holding her blind fold, and looking like she'd rather die than have to spend the night with that guy. If I was in her place, I'd feel exactly the same. I grabbed Annabeth's hand and slowly helped pull her up with me, undoing her blind fold and meeting her angry, narrowed eyes.

"What the hell was that? That's cheating, Nakamura!" He shrugged and ran his free hand through his hair slowly, staring at Annabeth like she was a piece of meat and tracing the outline of her body. I wanted to kill him right then.

"They never really gave rules for that though." He replied with a small smile. That is, before Coach gave him a glare and benched him from the next game in front of everyone. Ethan huffed and tried to cross his arms over his chest, but failed because of the handcuffs.

"Whatever, you guys cheated." Before I could open my mouth, Annabeth stepped up and placed her free hand on her hip.

"First of all, we didn't cheat, you did. Second of all, stop using guys to address a group of mix-gender people as guy means predominantly male, and we're a pair of female and male. If you think that there's nothing wrong with calling a mix-gender group of people guys, then call a mix-gender group of people girls and see how they react." She finished strongly, and I smirked at the fact that he'd tried to challenge the captain of the varsity debate team.

"Jackson! Chase! You get first dibs because you guys officially crossed the line before Nakamura." Annabeth and I high fived with out free hands before Annabeth quietly flipped Ethan off with a smirk. "So, what room do you guys want in the building?" We looked at each other briefly before she answered for the both of us.

"Band hall."

The band hall might've been the roomiest and comfiest place to reside in the entire building. It had the best air conditioning, the best lighting, and surprisingly, the best overall smell.

"So, where do you want to set up camp?" Annabeth asked, carrying a pizza box with her left hand, and our bags with our joined hands.

"How about right in the middle?" I asked in a tone that aksed, well where else are we supposed to go? She looked up at me with a curved eyebrow.

"Are you being a smart ass? That's my job." She answered with a smirk before we walked to the middle and dropped the bags down. I checked my phone and yawned as I read the time. It was 1:34 in the morning, and I was completely exhausted. We sat down on the floor together and unloaded our bags.

"You brought a blanket? You're my hero." Annabeth declared as she unfolded it and layed it across the floor. I gave her a smile and set camp up around us, pulling out pillows and setting them down. We lied down next to each other, resting our heads on our respective pillows and letting out a breath.

"I'm everyone's hero." I mumbled quietly, draping a blanket over us.

"Hm, you're funny."

"I know I am."

"Shut up."

"Why should I?"

"Because I'm trying to sleep."

"Well so I am."

"Okay, good."

"Okay, good." We stared at each other before we both bursted out laughing and she pulled herself into my side, warming my body, and letting out a small laugh. "So... About Malcolm." I felt her tense as she set her head on my shoulder.

"What about him?"

"You have every right to be mad." I said honestly, sympathizing with her. I knew that what Malcolm and Thalia were going through right now was hard, but the way he talked to her today was so disrespectful. Just because he was just her sister didn't mean that she shouldn't have the right to care, which was basically what Malcolm was implying. She looked up at me with those eyes of hers and I froze a little inside.

"Yeah?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, you have a right to feel what you need to feel, especially with the way he treated you. But also don't forget that maybe that was an in moment thing, and sometimes people say things they don't mean when they're upset. You're still his sister, he still cares about you."

"Well if he did, he would've shown it instead of yelling at me for trying to care and be worried for him." She argued, but I stopped her.

"No, I know that what he said and did was wrong, but you have to understand he cares about you a lot. Don't doubt that. He's always been there for you before. If there's stuff going on in his life, I'm not telling you to cut him slack, I'm just saying to not doubt how much he cares for you. But being mad? Yes. Be mad. You should be mad." She smiled at me from under her lashes and shut her eyes quietly.

"Okay. I'll be mad, then." And then she tried to make herself comfortable next to me- although it was hard considering the handcuffs. As I was falling asleep, and our breaths aligned with each other, I heard a mumbled statement. "You know, I hope you feel lucky because you might be the first person I admit they're right to. I think you're changing me."

And then I couldn't sleep because her words had impacted me so much. I was awake after she had shut her eyes again. I was awake when her light snores filled the room. And even though I hate to admit it, I was awake when I consciously chose to wrap an arm around her and lock our handcuffed hands together.

AN: So... What'd you guys think? Let me knowwwwww. I love and need feedback like crazy, so please, give it to me! I might not update for a while because of my debate camp thing, but I promise as soon as I get back, I'll work on chapter nine. Love you guys, drop a review, till next time!-ShyGal