Annabeth lay in her bed that night, her mind alive and replaying the past events in her head. A kiss. Two kisses. Not on the lips, but it was something. It felt nice. His skin was soft and smooth.

She groaned quite loudly, wanting to erase her mind. Worst of all, Annabeth liked it. The kisses. It wasn't a big deal, she assured herself, because he had shared a kiss with many more, probably. A sour taste had settled itself into her mouth. Gosh. How could she just run off like that!? 'Hey, I kissed you for no reason whatsoever, and now i'm going to leave before you can react!' Hopefuly he didn't think badly of her now. She desperately wanted their friendship to last, but how could it?

'Friends. That's what we are. He'll find someone else, someone that isn't me.'

She had been denying her feelings for so long. Too long. It was time she accepted them, but she was still confused. Was Annabeth in love with her best friend? Maybe. Was she lost? Yes.

Little did she know, Percy was in his bed, blushing up a storm. He put both his hands on his face, and was desperatey trying to sleep. He wanted to do that again. But. He knew he shouldn't. He couldn't possibly so selffish as to fall in love with his best friends, of all people! The rest of the girls were unique and fun and interesting- Especialy three he had his eyes on.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She was an outgoing girl with a bubly personality. Loved to paint, was his age and didn't want a relationship for the money or wealth. Not the honour for the kingdom either. Percy felt like he could be himself around her which was rare, except when he was with a certain blonde. She was definitely one to keep an close eye on.

Calypso Atlas. Her time with the prince was mostly spen baking with bright smiles and warm hugs. Her voice was soothing to him, and Percy felt like Calypso was a godess sometimes, with that charming and helpful persona.

And surpsingly, Drew Tanaka. She was flirty and overly dramatic, but she was loyal, like Percy himself. That was admireable of her. They do say that loyalty is a rare trait, which Percy soon came to relalize. Drew always lept for a chance with him and never failed to flirt. He didn't notice the toxic glares she sent to whoever disrupted her time with him, or all the cold whispers she left for the others.

One of these girls would soon be ruling over the kingdom with him. He could imagine that life as if it was a matter of fact.

But a life without Annabeth? That was a question he couldn't answer.

A few days passsed. Three more girls were eliminated, leaving only 13 girls left.

Shinobu Kanao was one of the eliminated. Along with Beatrice Prior and Dana Milbank. All of them had taken it surprisingly well, but the annoucement on the windy afternoon dampened the mood quite a bit. A few tears were shed between the girls. For everyone else except Annabeth, that meant relief. Another day, fighting for the Prince's love. But not for Annabeth. Even if she did do anything, she couldn't stop the inevitableness of eventualy getting eliminated. She could feel it was close. How long would Percy need her for?

Two more days. More dates.

Annabeth always listened to Percy's ranting on how great the others were. She put on a smile and agreed, knowing that deep down, some of her was... Jealous. Envious. But she listened never the less, and that was enough.

The next morning had started out not-so normal. Well, it had. Kind of. Annabeth had breakfast prepared as usual, and her clothes had been layed out on her well-made bed. She now wore a cream coloured slik slip dress. It had a slit on the side, which she liked because it made walking easier. It reached just below her thighs. Lace lined the brims of the dress. To top it off, a white cotton jacket was slung on her shoulders. Casual wear, compared to the other girls' attires. Some of them seriously went all out, which made Annabeth a little self consious.

After a short breakfast with Calypso and Piper in the gardens, she bumped into someone she didn't think would ever show his face. Not after what happened a few nights ago. The one and only Allister. It was more like she saw him by accident while walking to get a drink. Annabeth avoided him, but he kept on following her. A left turn, he followed. Another left. He continued.

"Excuse me!" He called out to her, which made Annabeth freeze. She turned around to meet his face, Allisters dark curly hair slightly messy and untame.

"Yes? Can I help you?" She said, face devoid of any emotions.

"You probably know me. The guys you saw at the beach a few nights back?" He said as he shuffled abit.

"Yeah... How do you know that?"

"I just happened to be at the same place with a couple of friends," He simply stated. "And I couldn't help but overhear. I can assure you, i'm not a robber, a criminal no less!"

'Does he really expect me to believe that flimsy lie? Thats rather suspicious. Did he overhear, or did he snoop?' Annabeth thougt quietly. When the talk happened between her and Percy, nobody else was there. Was she mistaken? Annabeth sighed and picked at the hem of her skirt. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"What was all that talk about a rat, or whatever it was. And the knife?"

Allister stood off to the side, and it was clear that he was thrown off by the question. His mind scrambled for a answer.

"The knife? Oh. I honestly don't know why my friend had that there with him, really. And about the rat. My friend is a chef and rat just stands for... Ah, I forgot already!" He nervously laughed. "Sorry, i'm just a little tired today." Though he seemingly had no ill intentions, Annabeth didn't fail to see the flinty look in his eyes. Was he telling the truth or lying? He was one good actor.

"You don't think that i'm a bad person, right?" He asked, quite ominously. Venom laced his words, waiting for the right answer.

She didn't let her guard down a bit. But his eyes softened and he looked innocent once again, which made Annabeth falter.

"I-I've got to go. Have a nice day." Annabeth turned on her heel swiftly, not wanting to interact with the man any more longer. She wouldn't admit it, but she was a little... What was it? Startled? Scared?

He didn't say anything as she left.

Once Annabeth was out of earshot, she looked down at her hand. It was trembling, unsurprisingly. Just then, she bumped into a few girls on the hasty walk away from him. Annabeth looked up. She was about to apologize, but kept it to herself once she saw the girls' harsh looks. She cocked her head when one of them step up, staring at her.

"Whoops, sorry," She snickered. Drew Tanaka. "Oh, you look a little pale. Gross." She said in a mocking tone, which Annabeth definitely did not like.

"Um-." Annabeth said, trying to side step them in a futile attempt to walk away. The other girl, Kimberly, blocked her way instantly.

"Oh, I know you! The plebian!" She taunted. "You seriously look like you ahd a rough couple of weeks."

Annabeth was unfazed. She was already used to this, the jokes and taunts. They usualy came from strangers, but Drew and Kimberly surely took the cake in most insults. She just assumed that they wanted a reaction out of her, as like everyone did. Why was everything against her today!? Gods, what a freaking pain in the behind.

"Look who's talking!" Annabeth's words just slipped out by accident. Well, she didn't mind if it wasn't on purpose anyways. Inside, she was laughing hystericaly hidden by her stoic expression and stiff stature. Kimberly looked horribly offended by her words.

"Excuse me? Look, you don't even belong here anyways. So don't go saying things that you might regret, hm?" She snarled, jabbing a finger to Annabeth's chest. Okay, ow. Agressive much?

'Low profile. No arguments. Just keep it to yourself, keep it to yourself..'

Annabeth crinkled her nose in disgust. "Yeah, cool." She pushed past the two girls, ingnoring them when they tried to grab her dress in a attempt to stop her. When they missed, Drew tried one last time to get any kind of negative reaction. She drawled out some ignorant words, which made Annabeth stop in shock.

"You shouldn't even try!" Drew screeched. "You could never get the prince, anyways. He's never even bat an eye at you, so why bother! The only time he's even acknowledged you was on that pathetic date." She laughed, high pitched and loud.

She inwardly smirked to herself. 'If only they knew.'

"Oh? What's going on here?" A stern voice said from behind Annabeth. There stood Percy in all his glory, staring at them confusedly. Kimberly scrambled to him like a magnet, to which Annabeth cringed. Drew looked up at him and batted her long eyelashes, pouting just the slightest.

"Perseus! That girl- Annabeth... She needs to control herself!" Drew sniffed, her posture that was once cocky and intimidating, now cowardous and fragile. Kimberly nodded quickly in agreement.

"She nearly shoved me down! Annabeth is acting just like your typical commoner, no surprise." Kimberly huffed and held her head high. Now that attitude really got her riled up. But what could she do? Annabeth leaved that to Percy.

"Is that so?" Percy said. He looked sympathetic. He he seriously believe all this? "I'm so sorry about her. What can I do?"

Drew wiped a fake tear from her eye, a little too fake as she rubbed herself against Percy's arm. Kimberly whimpered patheticaly and shook her head in a response. Her glossed lips froze, simply opening and closing back forth like she wanted to say something, but couldn't. Annabeth thought she looked a lot like a gaping fish with a face full of makeup.

"N-nothing.."

"Listen, you guys look a little shook. You should go get a drink from the kitchens."

"Could you accompany us there, please?"

"Sorry, I can't. But i'm sure i'll see you two around, right?"

"Right!"

As they left, their heels clacked annoyingly on the ground, their fake sobs fadding away. Forget being shocked about the whole Allister situation. She was seething with anger because of the idiotic prince. Her pure rage could be sensed miles away, and at the center of it, Annabeth was so close to throwing Percy's body into the cold atlantic ocean.

"Ugh, I hate girls like those."

"You heard them before, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

Annabeth let out a sigh of releif, her pure anger fading away just as it came. "Why didn't you say anything, then?!"

Percy wiped the arm that Drew held in disgust and stopped. "I mean, I had a feeling that one of 'em were causing trouble, but I just needed to see it myself. Sorry I didn't step in sooner. I'm kinda surprised you didn't sock them in the face."

"I have my boundaries!"

"Who knew."

Annabeth playfuly slapped Percy's arm, laughing to herself. "So what're you gonna do to them?"

"Exicution."

She nearly choked on air, but then grinned evily ear to ear. "I like how you think! W-"

"Kidding. I'm probably going to eliminate them sooner or later."

"Aw, I was hoping for the first option."

Percy looked at Annabeth, a un-readable look on his face. "Should I be concerned?"

"Nah." She looked the other way just as a thought popped up in her head. "Oh, I bumped into Allister today."

"Do I know an Allister?" Percy asked.

"The guy who was chasing us at the beach that day? The supposed psyco? Yeah, him."

"Oh, gods," Percy put his hands on Annabeth's shoulders, scanning her features. "Did he do something to you? Are you hurt?"

"Im fine," Annabeth insisted. His mom mode was turned on, the more caring side of him being shown oh so rarely."Apparently, he didn't do anything. Yet."

"And...?"

"It means something bad is yet to happen."

"...Great."

oof