Chapter 10

Annabeth POV

Something that ticks me off is when people assume that because you enjoy reading, you must enjoy reading everything. I mean, it's ridiculous; if someone listens to music a lot, we don't automatically make the assumption that they must like all genres of music! My dad can't get enough of the 'Late Night Jazz' playlist on Spotify, but I highly doubt that anyone could make the mistake of thinking that the same level of interest he has for Jazz extends to heavy metal or rap. Well, news flash! It's the same with reading.

I've loved reading for as long as I can remember. Whether it was my Nancy Drew obsession in fourth grade or my Harry Potter obsession in fifth, I just couldn't get enough. So it shouldn't have been a shock when my dad finally noticed my growing love for books and decided to get me a copy of '15th Century Europe's Greatest Militaristic Minds' for my 13th birthday. It was only the beginning of what would soon become a pile of boring, and therefore unread, books that I keep in a cardboard box under my bed. And every Christmas, every birthday; that goddamned pile grows! My great aunt even went as far as to get me a copy of the Bible for my 8th grade graduation. I'd fantasized myself dropping that pile off at Goodwill many, many times until I came to the realization that in doing so, I would probably be doing the community more harm than good.

So, a couple of hours ago, when I had first started reading through a large portion of my mom's legal files to help her out, and to my bored expression she had said, "Annabeth, get that expression off of your face-you like reading," it really set me over the edge. As if my Twilight obsession or me getting really into Fahrenheit 451 when we read it in English class this year somehow correlated to me being just as enticed by my mom's legal files.

Anyway, my point is that I am bored as fuck. It's about noon right now and I am glad to say that I'm almost done with my work for the day. Over the past week and a half, I've been helping my mom out in the office as a way of both getting part-time summer internship credit, and of course, keeping my mind off of everything that has happened during my first week here. Which has been more difficult than you might think.

Apparently I hadn't been delusional. Percy Jackson had felt the same way about me that I had about him. I hadn't misread any signs or made up anything. Though I guess that doesn't exactly mean that I hadn't been delusional-I had been delusional enough to think that there might possibly be a decent guy on this planet.

The night of the dance, when I had seen him hugging Thalia, it really looked like he loved her. I had seen him holding her with obvious affection, looking at her with such protectiveness, that I thought he must've really cared for her.

And then, literally the next night, he went right ahead and tried to kiss me. I mean, what kind of douche would cheat on his girlfriend so casually? Before that, I had thought I had just imagined the flirtatious undertone to Percy's words when he talked to me, or the way he had seemed to hold my eye contact much longer than necessary when we talked. Now I know that I hadn't imagined anything. He was just a prick.

I've been avoiding Thalia ever since the night of the dance because I know that as soon as I see her, I'll have to tell her the truth about Percy. She's such a good person, and deserves to know the truth, but I really don't want to hurt her. She may deserve the truth, but she sure as hell doesn't deserve that.

And so, though I know I'll have to deal with the situation eventually, I haven't been able to bring myself to responded to any of Thalia's texts just yet. Besides, I can't help but get the feeling that me telling Thalia that the guy she's been in love with for years is a piece of shit might not go over well.

Most of the files I've had to look over this morning have been about what bank accounts were linked to which of the resort's renovations and which companies the resort had loaned construction equipment from, etc. All of it absolutely and undeniably boring.

Which is why I'm surprised to find myself intrigued when I finally pickup the last folder of the day. It's labeled: OLYMPUS COAST ENVIRONMENTAL STATISTICS and has a giant, red CONFIDENTIAL stamp across the front.

So naturally, I open it.

The file itself though, happens to be significantly less interesting and is simply a compilation of documents outlining the results of various tests that had been run by the resort, measuring the chemical composition of the property's water and soil, etc.

But if the file itself didn't seem to contain any information of interest, than why was it labeled confidential?

Against my better judgement, I quickly decide to pull out my phone and take pictures of the documents within the file, continually checking the door to make sure my mom doesn't walk in the room.

When I'm done, I slip the documents back into their folder and place the file in its rightful cabinet block under my mom's desk. My heart races as I stand back up.

Stepping out from behind the desk, I make my way to the door of my mom's office and walk down the long hallway to the elevators. While I wait, I make yet another bad decision and decide to take a quick investigatory stop at the resort library to do some research on the whole confidential file ordeal before I head back to my room.

One of these days, I'm going to land myself in a really bad place. But I guess until then I'll just go on making terrible choices and see where it gets me.

When I finally reach the first floor, I make my way over to the library, slugging my backpack over my shoulder as I do.

Today I'm wearing my usual jean shorts with a pair of strappy sandals and a light grey tank top that just so happens to be the same color as my eyes. I have my hair thrown back into a messy, low bun, strands of curls falling out around my face. My sandals click loudly against the ground as I make my way across the marble floor of the lobby.

I'm walking at a pretty fast pace, more than eager to get to the library-until I catch a glimpse of a certain choppy haired someone through the window and halt in my tracks. I am about to turn around, all fantasies of acting on my inner Nancy Drew disappearing, but it's too late. Thalia has already spotted me. I slowly make my way into the library, dragging my feet as I do.

"What the hell Chase!" Thalia shouts at me the moment I step through the door. "What the fucking hell!"

A group of elderly old white women who are sitting in the corner with their books shoot Thalia glares. I feel a pang of guilt rise in my chest.

"I thought you didn't work on Saturdays," I say, stopping directly across from Thals. She looks like she wants to kill me.

"It's been almost two weeks!" She shouts. "You haven't answered any of my texts or calls-and that's after you decided to disappear without a trace after the dance. You had me worried sick! I had to check in with the front desk just to make sure that you were, you know, alive."

My guilt only continues to grow, and I think that Thalia can tell how I'm feeling by looking at the expression on my face. I see her make an effort to soften her tone just a bit before she continues.

"Annabeth, what's going on?" She asks, placing her hands on the counter. Her black nail polish is chipping, and I can see that she has been biting at her cuticles. I hesitate before beginning to speak.

"I have something I need to tell you," I say, lifting my head to meet her eyes. "And it isn't great."

Thalia creases her eyebrows in frustration. "Annabeth, whatever it is, I'm sure it's not bad enough to warrant you not talking to me for two weeks."

"I don't know…" I say, trailing off. "It's pretty bad."

"Annabeth, it definitely isn't." Thalia stands up a little straighter. "Look, I get off in about twenty minutes for my lunch break. Why don't we go get something to eat and you can tell me all about whatever it is that's been bothering you and making you avoid me," she says and shoots me a smirk.

I give Thalia a slight smile. "That'd be great."

She grins and makes a move to stand behind her computer.

"Now go do whatever it is you came in here to do and get out of my sight until my shift is over. You're bringing down the mood of the whole room."

I laugh. "K."

Turning away from Thalia, I walk in the direction of the reference section, the sick feeling I had been harboring in my gut for the past couple of days easing considerably as I do. I spend the next twenty minutes searching viciously through any book on local law regarding environmental standards I can find, bookmarking anything I feel might have potential value. I scan each page aggressively, and by the time I'm done, I come away with a stack of at least ten books. I bet only five of them will fit in my backpack.

When I return to the main room, the old ladies are finally getting up to leave and I bet that Thalia is all too relieved about it.

"Find what you were looking for?" Thalia asks when she sees me approaching.

"Yeah, I think so," I say. "Might have to play catch up online later, but this seems like a pretty good start." Thalia scoffs at the word 'start' paired with my massive pile of books and begins scanning the bar codes of each one.

"Annabeth, let's go to Persephone's Garden," Thalia says. "It's a cute little cafe down by the pool. I went there a couple of days ago and absolutely loved it."

I try to push down the terrible feelings of jealousy that rise up at the thought of Thalia sitting and having coffee with Percy, and then immediately hate myself for even having those feelings. Thalia's got it a lot harder than I do in this situation.

"Yeah, that'd be great," I say, forcing a smile as I begin to take back the books, shoving them into my backpack as I do.

It turns out that I actually end up being able to fit six of them in, and I'm so happy about it that I don't even mind having to carry the other four.

Thalia and I make our way down the steps to the pool, keeping up small talk as we do. She tells me all about her brother Jason who happens to be dating Piper, and in turn, I tell her about Bobby and Matthew; the little menaces who make my life miserable, but somehow, I can't help but love to death.

When we finally reach the cafe, we get seated at a cute little outdoor patio table, and I am again reminded of what an amazing architect my mom is. The view of the pool and the rest of the Colosseum is incredible, and that coupled with the light Italian music playing in the background makes it so that I can't help but feel like I'm actually in Europe.

But my momentary bliss falls away as I remember why I'm here in the first place and I look over at Thalia, biting my lower lip as I do.

"Thals-" I start, but she interrupts me.

"Uh-uh." Thalia shakes her head. "Food first."

And so, we both order massive sandwiches and sparkling sodas that I know neither of us will be able to finish. We sure do our best though. The food is delicious. We spend the next couple of minutes eating in bliss, and I'm mid bite when Thalia finally speaks, setting what remains of her sandwich back on her plate.

"Okay girlie," she says. "What is it you wanted to talk about."

My chewing slows to a halt and I swallow, beginning to lower my own sandwich to the table as well as my impending sense of dread suddenly makes me lose my appetite. A couple moments of silence pass between us before I finally work out what I want to say.

"Thals, sometimes people aren't who we think they are," I say with a swallow. "I mean, you may think you know someone, but it's possible that they have secrets-secrets you wouldn't like." Thalia raises her eyebrows and quirks a smile at me.

"You're not about to tell me that you're like, a superhero or something, right? And that Annabeth Chase is just your secret identity?" Thalia smirks. "Cause I don't know why you think that I wouldn't like that. Having a superhero for a friend would be pretty fucking cool."

I feel a light smile pass over my lips, but it doesn't last long.

"I'm serious Thals," I say. "I need to tell you something and it's really bad. You probably won't want to believe me at first, and that's okay. But you really need to know."

I see the expression on Thalia's face shift as she realizes that I'm being serious. She takes a deep breath, never once breaking eye contact with me.

"Okay," she says. "What is it?"

I brace my hands on the side of the table.

"How are things going with your ex?" I ask her hesitantly, treading lightly. I see the slight look of fear as it creeps up behind Thalia's eyes.

"Why is something wrong?" Thalia says, panic inching its way into her voice.

"No nothing like that!" I say quickly, shaking my head. "It's just-"

"Honestly Annabeth," Thalia starts, "I really have no idea what you could possibly be getting at. Luke and I are fine."

What?

It takes several moments for me to process Thalia's words, and when I finally do, I feel a deep, sick feeling begin to rise in my stomach. I feel my face go pale and my palms begin to sweat.

"Luke?" I ask Thalia hesitantly.

"Yes, Luke," she says, her eyebrows raised in confusion. "My ex? The one you literally just asked me about?" Thalia takes a sip of her drink and leans back in her chair. "Frankly Annabeth, I'm worried about you. You're talking nonsense and you look like you're about to puke. You sure you're alright?"

My mind is racing a million miles a minute as I try to take in the information I have just heard. I feel like my head is going to explode.

But if her ex's name is Luke, I try to rationalize, then that means…

"But you and Percy," I say, my voice barely a whisper. At the sound of my voice Thalia's eyes widen.

"Percy?" She asks. "Percy Jackson? As in my cousin Percy Jackson?"

And that is the moment that I feel as though someone has kicked my chair out from under me.

"Oh my gods," I say. And then it really sinks in and I rise to my feet. "Oh my gods!"

I practically shout this time, and at least a dozen couples seated around us turn my way, though I really don't care. Right now there is only one thing that matters.

"Thalia I messed up," I say, shaking my head.

And though I just took a massive mental hit, deep down, there is some part of me that I have been trying so hard to bury over the past two weeks in which I feel a strange sort of bubbly joy and gratitude begin to take shape. I let out a laugh and cover my face with my hands.

"Oh my gods," I say again, before taking a deep breath. I quickly brush my hands through my hair and stare straight at Thalia, urgency in my eyes. "Where is he?"

"Percy?" she asks, shaking her head in confusion. "I think he's down by the beach, but why-"

"I've got to go," I say, and begin to push in my chair, slinging my backpack over my shoulder as I grab my books. "I promise I'll pay you back later," I say, "but right now I just really have to go."

"Annabeth, what the-" Thalia starts, but I barely hear her, I'm so preoccupied. I make my way past table after table until I'm finally through the restaurant doors and running up the Colosseum steps. There is only one thing on my mind now.

I need to find Percy Jackson.