Hey guys! Did ya'll miss me? I'm back from the beach! It was really fun and rejuvenating. I finished watching Avatar with them and started watching the Dragon Prince so if any of ya'll want to PM me so we can fangirl and or fanboy, feel free. I'm sunburned, sleep-deprived, and have no clean clothes but I'm ready to write. Happy Father's day everyone and enjoy the chapter.

Annabeth

The subway ride reminded Annabeth of when she first met Percy. They didn't talk much then but they chatted away amicably this time. It was borderline flirtatious at times, but for the most part friendly.

"I still think it's unfair how smart you are," Percy said. "I mean, you have ADHD and dyslexia just like me, and I could never do what you do."

"It takes hard work and sometimes I want to throw my books across the room," Annabeth said with a grin.

"You basically defy all expectations for ADHD and dyslexic kids. And you're not a terrible driver," Percy noted.

Annabeth laughed. "I took notes from Thalia."

"Is she good at driving?" Percy asked.

"She's absolutely terrible. I took notes on what not to do," Annabeth said.

The two of them laughed but were interrupted by a voice saying, "You two are a lovely couple. Nice job, Percy."

They turned around, trying to explain that they weren't dating before Percy gasped.

"Well if it isn't Ms. Rachel Elizabeth Dare," he said with a grin.

"Well if it isn't Mr. Peseus James Jackson," Rachel said, also with a grin. I made his middle name James because that's the name of Percy's grandfather. On his mom's side, of course. Gosh, I'm so awkward.

Although they say his name is Jim on the wiki, I'm assuming that is a nickname. Since Sally named her child after her dead mother, Estelle Blofis, I'm assuming she would host the same sentiment for Percy.

Annabeth mentally filed away the middle name for future reference and studied this random girl. She had fiery red hair and eyes the color of electric lime soda, almost as if they could glow. Her jeans were covered in marker doodles and she had flecks of gold on her face and hair. Everything about her was just, strange. Like she wasn't completely human.

"Percy, who's your friend?" she asked slowly, still studying this girl.

"Meet Rachel Elizabeth Dare," he said with a grin. "My best friend, former girlfriend, and the one who manages to get me out of trouble even if she was the instigator."

"Nice to meet you," Rachel said. "What's your name?"

"Annabeth Chase. And, I'm not Percy's girlfriend," she said in the professional way she always assumed with strangers. The fact that this was Percy's ex always helped with her cold demeanor.

"Makes more sense. You're way too pretty for him," Rachel said.

"That's a low blow, Red," Percy said, shaking his head. "Very low blow."

And just like that, Annabeth was forced to watch Percy and Rachel catch up without her. She was happy that Percy had a friend that wasn't from C.B.S.T.T. but that didn't make her feel any less left out. They had all of these memories that she could never compete with. I mean, she had only known Percy for two weeks. It wasn't rational to be his best friend automatically. Not like Rachel.

Being rational was what Annabeth was best at. But everything she felt about Percy was not rational. It wasn't even very clear. But her head was always stronger than her heart so she pushed her feelings down and ignored them.

She looked around the subway and realized their stop was in a couple of minutes. Annabeth moved closer to where Jason, Piper, Calypso, and Leo were sitting and told them about it. They relayed the information to Frank, Hazel, Nico, and Will.

"Who's Percy talking to?" Piper asked.

"His ex and best friend," Annabeth said. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare."

"She gave you her full name? That's slightly psycho," Leo said.

Everyone laughed at that.

"Well, you would know, Leo," Calypso said.

"I prefer the term "nuts" instead of psycho. It makes me feel more youthful," Leo said in a sage voice. I relate to Leo a ton. He makes dumb jokes that no one laughs at and every blue moon he makes an actually funny joke and thinks he should be a comedian. *sigh of sadness*

"That was the epitome of comedy, I don't get why no one's laughing," Leo joked.

"If that's the epitome of comedy then cancer must be hilarious," Piper said dryly. "Also, Dare sounds familiar. Do you think she's any relation to Dare Enterprises? Because if so, my dad used to do brand deals with them."

"Well she doesn't look rich," Jason said. "Then again, neither did you when I first saw you," he said, nudging Piper's shoulder a little.

Calypso hummed a little tune to herself and Annabeth couldn't help but notice how pretty it sounded.

"What song is that?" Annabeth asked.

"Ten Minutes Ago from Cinderella, the Rogers and Hammerstein version," Calypso said. "One of the greatest love duets ever, in my opinion."

"Better than Everything Has Changed by Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift?" Annabeth challenged.

"Yes," Calypso said with a challenging grin.

"We might have to pull up this argument later but it's time for us to get off of the subway," Annabeth said. The subway stopped and everyone got off of it. Percy said goodbye to Rachel and left with everyone else.

Percy caught up with Annabeth and started walking next to her. Annabeth didn't know if he noticed what she was feeling at all. She doubted it. Boys could be extremely dense.

"Hey again. Long time no see," Percy joked.

"Was it fun catching up with Rachel?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah," Percy said.

"Awesome," Annabeth said again. She could almost feel her gray eyes growing steely.