HI GUYS! SORRY FOR THE LTE UPDATE!

Incase you're wondering, I've been working on my other story about "The Last Of Us" and didn't really have much time to write this.

i don't think this is a well-written chapter. I think that there may be a few mistakes, but i really need to go to bed now, and i don't usually check my work anyway HAHAHAHAHA

Anyway, this is just informative chapter. Enjoy and R&R please!

Annabeth's POV

I frowned as I watched Percy's retreating figure. The eyes that had just stared at me…they were not the usual sea-green, cheerful, light-hearted eyes of Percy Jackson.

Instead, it was a totally different kind. His eyes had seemed darker, and much more…mature. It held pain, sadness, and hatred. I had never seen eyes that held that much anger, and I definitely had not expected to see it from Percy's eyes.

I turned and stared at Micheal, scrutinizing him, observing his movements, his speech, his body language…everything. Everybody around him seemed to love him. He was definitely easy-going, and was really cheerful and friendly.

Even with all my observation, I could not detect any extremely negative traits and personalities about him. Even Thalia, Grover and Nico were chatting with him cheerfully and exuberantly. It seemed like everyone liked him.

But, I trust Percy more than anyone. If Percy tells me to be careful, I will be careful.

Slowly, I walked towards the table. Frankly, I was a little uncomfortable. Everybody else in the group seemed to know him quite well, and was all chatting away with him easily. I was the newest in the group, and had no idea who the hell he was. I was the oddball.

"Hey, Annabeth, c'mere! Lets get you two to know each other!" Juniper exclaimed, waving from the table with one hand, and pointing at Micheal with the other. I considered turning and walking away as fast as I could, but I fought against it and walked towards the table. My days as a small, shy girl were over.

"Hi. What's for lunch?" I asked. Juniper grinned at her and lifted her fork, which was stuck into a piece of broccoli.

"Well, they're serving steak," Juniper said, her grin fading away. "But I don't like eating meat, so yea, broccoli it is for me!" She exclaimed cheerily. I chuckled at her antics. Same old Juniper.

"Oh, by the way, have you met Micheal yet?" She inquired. I noticed that her face was gleaming- she was way more cheerful than usual. Was it because of Micheal?

"Well, yea…he sits beside me in one of the classes now." I told her. Her eyes widened in slight surprise, but she recovered a split second later.

"Still think you two should introduce yourself properly to each other. I'm pretty sure you guys didn't do that in class," Juniper said with a wink, knowing that Annabeth rarely got distracted in class. Annabeth stuck out her tongue at Juniper, which caused said girl to chuckle too.

"Hey, Micheal!" She called. Micheal, who was talking to Chris, turned back and looked at he questioningly. She grinned widely.

"I know that you two have already talked, but I'd like you two to properly introduce yourself to each other." She said enthusiastically. Micheal rolled his eyes good-naturedly, but chuckled nevertheless.

"You always were fussy." He teased, causing Juniper to playfully smack his arm.

"Yea yea, whatever. Get on with it. She's the newest here, so she obviously doesn't know who the hell you are." She replied. He grinned and nodded, then turned towards me and stretched out his hand.

"Hey there. I know we've already talked, but since this girl," He used his other hand and pointed at Juniper with his thumb. "Wants us to be introduced properly, we're doing it. So yea, hey there, My name's Micheal. I was here a few years ago, but had to leave 'cause of family matters. Now, I'm back!" He exclaimed the last part cheerfully with a large grin. I tentatively took his hand.

"Hi. I'm Annabeth. I moved here two years ago. I was introduced to this group by Percy." i informed, studying closely, trying to see if there was any reaction to Percy's name.

There certainly was. I could even feel his grip on my hand tighten up. His face stayed as it was, but I had spotted the slight twitch of his eyebrow. And his eyes. His eyes were the most expressive. I could see emotions pass through them like a river. I saw pain, guilt, anger, jealousy, and many more. But, in a split second, all of those signs disappeared, and he regained his composure.

"I see. Percy's a great guy. Bet you guys are close friends!" He exclaimed, and I could tell that it was forced. There was definitely something going on between him and Percy.

"Well, anyway," he said, retracting his hand and facing the group. "You guys still carry out Thursday meals?" He asked curiously. Everyone beamed at him, and nodded.

"Yea, 'course we do! It's been a little less fun without your music though! You coming with us today?" Chris asked excitedly. Micheal laughed and nodded.

"Of course! I'd really want to catch up with my old friends." He stated, causing everyone to laugh with him. Once again, I was confused.

Everyone seemed to like him so much. What's more, he could easily make the whole gang laugh. He was so friendly, so easy-going. Everyone looked up to him, liked him, and treated him as a damn close friend.

As they talked, I pondered over the whole situation. As far as I knew, almost everyone in the gang were good judges of character, and all of them were so friendly with Micheal. It made me wonder why Percy hated him so much.

I would have doubted anyone else who had told me not to trust Micheal. But, it was Percy, and so far, Percy was the best judger of characters I had ever seen. But I couldn't help but be puzzled at why the gang's and Percy's opinions of Micheal were so vastly different.

"Can you tell me about Percy's and Micheal's relationship?" I asked Silena as we walked towards our lockers, and winced mentally. I hadn't meant to be so direct and straightforward, but her curiosity as well as frustration over the whole ordeal was making her impatient. Silena's eyes widened in slight surprise at the sudden question.

"Why do you ask?" Her voice was filled with amusement and puzzlement. I shrugged nonchalantly.

"Just curious. Seemed to me like the two were close before." I simply guessed. I was relieved when she perked up, as I knew that I had guessed spot on.

"Well, yea, the two were real close a few years ago. I'm actually quite puzzled as to why the two haven't even talked yet." Silena said, absently twirling her silky black hair with a finger as she pondered.

"So…how were they like?" I asked. Silena smiled brightly as she recalled.

"They were like brothers, even though they were not related to each other by blood. They did almost everything together. We used to call them the three musketeers." She said, and I caught a hint of wistfulness in her voice.

"Three?" I questioned, deciding to pry in a bit more. Silena sighed sadly this time.

"Yea, three," She stated, her eyes a little downcast now. "There was Percy, the mysterious, brooding but overly-friendly and understanding boy. There was Micheal, the music prodigy, easy-going and really fun. And lastly, Rachel, the really creative artist, with such a loving personality that many people would just love to be in her presence." I frowned at the mention of Rachel. The only time I had heard that name was from someone in the gang who had mentioned it to Percy.

"Where is she now?" I asked. Silena sighed again.

"Gone. To who knows where. She and Micheal both went out of Manhatten around the same time. We never heard from her again, and no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't find her. Also, she and Percy were once a couple." I was really shocked at the newly revealed information. Percy had been in a relationship once?

"They lasted all the way till both Rachel an Micheal left. Percy didn't appear at school for days, and he didn't let any of us come into his house. He had shut off from the world." Silena exhaled deeply. "It was understandable. At one go, and his girlfriend and best friend left him. He never contacted them again, as far as I know." I stayed silent, analyzing the new information.

"Wonder why Percy and Micheal hadn't even said a word to each other yet, as far as I can see. Percy didn't appear for lunch either…" Silena trailed off, talking to herself. I resisted the urge to just tell Silena that Percy and Micheal were not friends anymore.

Instead, I merely kept quiet, and when they reached Silena's locker, which was a little nearer than mine, we said our goodbyes and "see you later" before I walked the rest of the way to the locker.

All I could think of was that something must have happened between the three. Something so terrible that made Percy despise the person that was once his best friend. And she had the gut feeling that Rachel played a big part in it.