Annabeth

"I think I need some air," Annabeth said. "I'm gonna take a quick walk around the school and come back in a bit."

Piper looked up. "Need some company?"

"Nah," Annabeth said. "You guys just finish packing." Annabeth walked outside the room and looked around the girl's common room. Drew was gossiping happily with Lacey, Katie was taking care of the plants by the windowsill while Lou Ellen and Lamia worked on card tricks.

She walked into the main common room where Clarrisse walked up to her. "Hey, Princess?"

"What do you want, Clarisse?"

"Just making sure you are still going to opposing captain in "capture the flag" today," Clarrisse said.

Annabeth's eyes widened. "Sign up sheet went up?"

"Yep," Clarrisse said. Annabeth sprinted over to the signup sheet and signed up as the Captain for the blue team. They had games of "capture the flag" a lot at the school. It was really fun and Clarrisse and Annabeth had an on-going rivalry with it.

"I wonder who's signing up for co-captain," Annabeth said. There was always a captain and a co-captain. A boy and a girl. Lee-Fletcher and Clarrisse always did the red team, and Thalia and Luke used to do the blue team. But since they were semi-graduated, teaching at the school for free, they couldn't exactly be the captains anymore. Leaving the responsibility to Annabeth, the girl who had been at the school since forever.

"Probably some newbie with a big head," Clarisse said. "That or Jason."

"See you on the playing field, Clarisse," Annabeth said.

Clarisse grinned. "Likewise, Princess."

Annabeth went to the staircase and slid down the banister as Thalia did. When she was younger, Thalia would sit on the banister with Annabeth in her lap. Luke would hold on to Thalia so they wouldn't fall and then they would all go down the banister.

She reached the bottom and walked outside. Annabeth always liked the fresh air. She would sit outside and read architecture books about ancient greek buildings or how skyscrapers were first constructed. It was her dream to be an architect.

She looked down the road. All of the cars had driven away so there were only fields, woods, and a road. Annabeth decided to walk through a trail in the woods. Scout out the "capture the flag" territory and maybe come up with a game plan.

The path was long and winding. Annabeth ran down it. She didn't really care that her blonde hair was wet and tangled. Maybe the run would dry it or something. She hated having her hair wet. It made her feel cold and messy. She loved to be as neat as possible. She ironed her clothes every single day. Her ponytail was always sleek and clean. Not a single mistake. With her background, she needed to make sure everyone saw she was not troubled.

Annabeth heard some voices. She could make out a couple of words. "...can we...love you...I wish...my brother...but I...I know..." Sometimes couples would sneak off into the woods to talk and kiss and go on dates privately. She followed those voices. A female and male. Definitely a couple.

She kept walking and turned a corner on the path and saw them. She hid behind a tree and stifled a gasp. Leaning against a tree was Luke. Right across from him was Thalia. Her head was resting on his chest, facing away from Annabeth. They were holding hands and she pressed their clasped hands against Luke's chest. They were still talking and Annabeth could hear him better.

"This place doesn't have to hold us anymore!" Luke said. "We can be free."

"Luke, this place is our home," Thalia said. "My brother-"

"Your brother will deal with it!" Luke said. "I love you, Thalia. I can't just walk around the school pretending that every day I don't want to kiss you, to hold you, to love you. We could escape."

"Escape what prison, Luke?" Thalia asked. "It's our home."

"It was always yours, Thalia. But I don't know whether its mine."

Annabeth stifled a sob. Luke didn't consider it his home? They grew up together! Chiron was their uncle! Their father! And Luke was, renouncing that? Trying to steal Thalia away from them? Questions flurried around her head like a snowstorm.

"Luke, how can you say that?"

"Well, I don't know. But I don't belong here. I'm not good enough for Chiron's mercy."

Thalia looked into Luke's eyes. "Yes, you are. Luke, we're leaving tomorrow. We're packing our things and we're leaving. Speeding into the future like we don't have one. Because I want my future to be you."

Luke smiled. "You are already mine."

The two of them kissed. Thalia, bringing her body closer and closer to him. Luke, wrapping his arms around her and putting one of his hands in her hair. Annabeth felt like an intruder in this private moment. But this concerned her too. Jason as well. Because Thalia and Luke were running away together. And Annabeth didn't know if they would tell them in the morning before, or tonight, or never.

She turned around quickly and ran down the past, tears streaming down her face. Her heartbeat like a war drum telling her to retreat. Or maybe telling her to fight. Annabeth didn't know and didn't care. She kept running faster and faster, her tears clouding her vision. She didn't care. She knew the path. It was long and winding but she knew it well. The tears kept coming and her heart kept beating.

Annabeth turned a corner and slammed into someone. She fell onto the ground but she didn't care. She just kept sobbing and tried to stand up. She felt a hand on her shoulder. "Annabeth?"

She turned around to see Percy staring at her in confusion. Annabeth wiped quickly at her tears, said a quick sorry, and tried to leave. Percy grabbed her hand. Just like the fire escape. It felt, right.

"Annabeth, what's wrong?" Percy asked. Annabeth shook her head. She didn't want to tell him. "Look, I'm not Jason or Piper or Hazel. I'm not one of your closest friends. In fact, I think you might hate me for throwing you into the pool. But if you need a shoulder to cry on, I'm here."

She didn't think about it too much. Her sobs were loud and hiccup-like. Annabeth sat down by a tree and started sobbing into her knees. Her two best friends were leaving. Percy wrapped his arms around her. Annabeth would have minded had she been not so depressed. But now, it was okay. It was okay that she nestled her head between his knee and shoulder. It was okay that his hand was on her shoulder and that he was stroking it comfortingly with his thumb.

It was okay.