GUESS WHO'S BACK - I AM BACK FROM THE UNDERWORLD!

Four months. It had been four months since Thalia had last spoken or had even seen her green-eyed heartbreak. She could hardly believe so much time had passed, but what surprised her even more and, frankly, frightened her was the how much she missed him. After her father had never returned, her nostalgia had been replaced with hatred. She couldn't even remember what it felt like to miss someone. It hurts. She tried many times to hate him. To completely erase his existence, but each attempt only made the pain stronger.

"You know…" Mom's voice trickled into the kitchen. Thalia was pulled out of her thoughts and she dropped the cup of orange juice she had just poured.

"Since we've moved into this new room, you haven't stopped staring out the window," she said, as Thalia cleaned the mess she'd made.

"Leave me alone," she muttered, but her eyes strayed up and out the window again. Her mom walked away. Thalia sighed. As much as she hated it, she was right.

A little less than a month ago, they had moved from their tiny apartment in the middle of the building, to a slightly more spacious room down the hall. It was made possible because of a part-time job Thalia was able to snag at a grocery store down the block and a part-time job her mother's support group had helped her achieve. Incidentally, the kitchen window opened straight towards Percy's apartment across the way. Thalia hadn't realized it until her eyes had caught a familiar black-haired boy who had been staring at the park between them. Since then she'd find herself staring out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. It made her sick.

"It's never too late to make amends," her mother said, sitting at their new kitchen table. Well, it wasn't new. The wear showed that they had simply gotten it off Craig's List.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Thalia said, handing her mom a glass of juice.

"Bullshit. You miss him, Thalia. I know you do."

"Mind your own business," Thalia hissed.

"Thalia –"

"He made it clear we would never speak again. I don't see a point in trying to fix anything," Thalia said, sitting down to eat her breakfast. Her mother sighed and gave up trying to argue with her.

"By the way, Elsie, the one from the group, she would like to go to the Talent Show. When was it again?" her mom asked, as she ate her own breakfast.

"Today," Thalia replied coolly.

"Oh! Great! I'll let Elsie –"

"I'm not doing it."

"What? Why?" Thalia lost her appetite and left her plate in the sink.

"There's no point." She went to her room to get ready for school, trying to push away the pain in her chest.

"Thalia," her mother's stern voice said from the doorway. "I'm not letting you quit this."

"Why does it matter? Just leave it alone!" Thalia argued.

"No!" her mother retorted. "You quit once already and I know it was my fault, but I'll be damned if I let you quit again!"

"You can't force me to!"

"Why won't you do it?!"

"BECAUSE HE WON'T BE THERE," Thalia yelled, before abruptly turning away. "He won't be there. He had to pick between me and a stupid college and he chose the college. It's done."

"Now, that's not fair," her mother said. Thalia glared at her, angry she would defend the one that broke her heart.

"Thalia, I met him. That boy is crazy about you! And just because he's going to move across the US doesn't mean his feelings for you cease to exist!" Thalia was fuming. Her hands were clenched into fists and her teeth were grinding.

"Thalia," her mother said softly, coming up to her. "Not everyone is your father." Those five words seemed to kick her in the gut and her body fell slack. Her mom pushed Thalia's messy black hair behind her ears.

"If you had the chance to follow your dream, would you want him to hold you back?" she asked softly. Thalia bit her lip, but shook her head. "And if you followed your dream, does that mean you stop loving him?" Thalia tensed for a second at the use of love, but she realized that maybe the pain she was feeling was synonymous with love. It seemed that there were several four-letter words that were highly dangerous.

"No," Thalia whispered. Her mother smiled.

"Life goes on, Thalia, and you have to learn to let go of the hate you feel or it's going to eat you alive." Thalia sat on the foot of her bed. This whole time Thalia thought she was angry with Percy, but it seemed that all she had done was lash out with the hatred she had for her father.

"Like I said, it's never too late to make amends," her mother said, putting her cellphone in Thalia's hand. She left the room then and closed the door. Thalia stayed home from school that day, locked in her room, flipping the phone between her fingers all day. Life goes on.

"I can't –" Let go or it's going to eat you alive. She flipped open the phone and dialed Sally's number since she was too afraid Percy would reject her call. She stared at the ten numbers on the tiny screen. Not everyone is your father. She pressed send.

"Hello!"

"Hey Sally," Thalia greeted.

"Thalia! It's been so long! How have you been?"

"Um, okay. I- I was calling because I wanted to know where Percy was," Thalia stuttered.

"He told me he was going to a Talent Show," Sally replied. Thalia's eyes widened. Was he going to her Talent Show? Even after all this time?

"Thank you!" Thalia said as she hung up, not even giving Sally the chance to bid a farewell. Thalia ran into her mom's room and climbed to the back of her closet. Sitting there, under a few ripped jackets was an old guitar. She held her breath as her fingers wrapped around the instrument causing small trills to break the silence. Not letting herself drown in memories, she grabbed her jacket and bolted out the door. She ran towards her school to get to the Talent Show on time. A feeling that was familiar to excitement flared in her chest as she burst through the school doors. She ran into the auditorium, breathless, and scanned the crowd of people for her green-eyed heartbreak, but she couldn't see him. Not that it would be easy in such a big crowd with the lights barely on. She grunted in frustration and made her way behind the scenes. Her only option was to speak to him from the stage. Maybe that way he would understand.

She waited patiently as other students went first. She was starting to get restless when a teacher finally said it was her turn.

"I'm changing the song," Thalia said, as she sat on a small stool place in front of a microphone.

"Well, better hope you practiced," the teacher said before the curtains slid open to reveal a hundred eyes watched her. Her own blue ones searched the crowd, but the spotlight turned everything black except for the glint in their eyes.

"This is dedicated to Seaweed Brain," Thalia said shakily into the dead silence. "Meet me on the rooftop tonight," she added, hoping Percy was listening. She began strumming, her fingers remembering their place.

"If you'll be my star, I'll be your sky. You can hide underneath me and come out at night. When I turn jet black and you show off your light… I live to let you shine. I live to let you shine," she sang softly. "But you can skyrocket away from me, and never come back if you find another galaxy, far from here with more room to fly. Just leave me your stardust to remember you by." She hoped he understood her way of saying that it was okay if he left to follow his dream. As she sang the words, the very real possibility that he would leave started to settle in and she tried to keep her voice steady as her eyes stung.

"If you'll be my boat, I'll be your sea. The depth of pure blue just to probe curiosity. Ebbing, and flowing, and pushed by a breeze. I live to make you free. I live to make you free. But you can set sail to the west if you want to and pass the horizon till I can't even see you, far from here where the beaches are wide. Just leave me your wake to remember you by…" she sang, seeing all the lonely nights she'll face laying out before her, but somehow it didn't frighten her.

"If you'll be my star, I'll be your sky. You can hide underneath me and come out at night. When I turn jet black and you show off your light… I live to let you shine. I live to let you shine," she sang softly. "But you can skyrocket away from me, and never come back if you find another galaxy, far from here with more room to fly. Just leave me your stardust to remember you by. Stardust to remember you by…" She stopped, feeling a sense of liberation as she finally said what she had wanted to for the past four months.

The crowd applauded and the curtains closed. She got a few "good jobs" as she left the auditorium, not really caring about what would happen next. She slung the guitar over her shoulder and walked towards the abandon building Percy had taken her to before. The spring night was cool as she climbed through the broken door of the building and walked up the steps, this time with her back facing the railing and chest almost pressed against the wall. She took a breath when she got to the door that would lead to the terrace. Her hand hovered over the doorknob. Would he be there? Did he listen to her?

"Not everyone is your father," Thalia whispered to herself. She took a deep breath and opened the door.