Chapter 9: Annabeth

It was a quiet misty morning, the Saturday after school had gotten out for spring break, and all 8 of us were grouchily packing up the car. It was much too early to be up. We were hoping to drive all day to Virginia, and then the next day get up early again and drive to Piper's beach house. We all would have been excited, except 4:00AM is much too early to be happy.

I looked like trash, but had stopped caring what the 7 of the rest of the group thought. Percy had told me it was character development, but I just think we'd all seen Leo do such stupid stuff, nothing could phase us anymore. Even my hideous outfit of grey sweats and a blue sweatshirt, bags under my eyes from exhaustion, and hair is a very messy bun. I had even pulled out all the stops by wearing my fuzzy blue socks under my white crocs. Leo had made fun of me, but I cherished those crocs with all my heart. I wore them everywhere except for school.

Leo had driven his white van to Jason's house, where we were all meeting. It was truly a beautiful house, with huge white columns in front of a large black front door. It looked sort of like the White House, only slightly smaller. There was lots of parking space, so we could park our cars there while we were gone. There were gardens all across the front yard with beautiful flourishing flowers and a pool with a pool house. I had been there many times, visiting Thalia.

Speaking of, I saw Thalia looking out her window at us, glaring. I pretended not to notice, and went over to talk to Calypso, who was struggling to put her bag in the already filled with luggage car. Somehow, she still looked beautiful, her caramel hair falling down her shoulders. She wore black leggings, slippers, and had a fluffy blanket wrapped around her. I was jealous of her at first, I figured her and Percy had some sort of chemistry, but I wasn't going to be a needy girlfriend. Whatever happened was in the past, as they had both made it clear.

"Need help?" I asked, helping her lift up the bag on top of everyone else's.

"Yeah, thanks," She said through a yawn. "It's way too early to do any heavy lifting."

I laughed. I liked her, she was feisty and held her own. Perfect for Leo. "It's too early to do anything."

A breeze went through the air and I shivered. Calypso sat down on the bumper of the van opening her blanket out to me. "Wanna share? It's freezing."

"Oh God, yes!" I sat down next to her as we shivered together. Just then, Percy pulled up bringing coffee for all of us. He wasn't super awake either, but more than anyone else because he was used to it from morning practice. Because of this, we declared him the official morning driver, telling him he could nap after we'd all gotten in our sleep. After he whined forever, I agreed to be his co-pilot until 9:00 when everyone should be up again. Then we could both go to bed.

Percy walked over to us and handed us our drinks. "A chai latte for Calypso, and a white chocolate mocha for Annabeth. Hopefully it'll warm you up, you look cold."

"Thanks," We said in unison reaching out for the warm drinks. The touch automatically made me feel a little better as it heated up my hands.

"Nice crocs," Percy said nodded to my perfect crocs.

I was not in the mood for criticism of my crocs. "Percy, don't make fun of them. I love them and you can fight me."

He held up his hands, consequently spilling some of his coffee. "I'm not. I actually like them, everyone wears them at swim."

"Oh sorry," I said feeling bad. "Well, you should wear yours and we can match."

"Sounds like a plan." He said, walking away to give the rest of the drinks to Frank and Hazel. They were cuddling in the back of Franks truck, being adorable as always.

"Are you two really close?" Calypso asked, looking a Percy as he spilled even more of the coffee on Hazel, frantically apologizing and handing her a napkin. She was trying to assure him it was fine, but his ears were bright red. What a dork.

"Yeah, really close," I said taking a sip of my mocha.

"Why don't you date?"

I felt myself turn red and I choked a little on my drink. "What? Oh, uh, I don't know."

She raised her eyebrows. "Oh, I get it. You already are."

I almost died, right then and there. "No! We aren't! Why would you say that?"

"Wow. You suck at lying."

I turned to look at her. She had a small smirk on her face. "Calypso, you can't tell anyone. Please. Not even Piper or Leo."

"Why? It's not like anyone would care. I've only known you guys for a week but you all seem like really good people. You don't need to keep a secret from them."

"It's not them," Suddenly I felt cold again. Over and over again Percy had told me we didn't need to keep it a secret. Maybe they were both right. Maybe I had mad too big of a deal out of this. "It's just that a few months ago Percy went through a bad break up. It makes it seem like I'm his rebound. I can't- I can't have people judging me at school. And I just went through a bad break up too. Maybe I'm jumping back into things too soon."

Calypso gave me a kind smile. "Annabeth, I get it. But I spent most of my life really alone, my only real boyfriend ever is Leo. Trust me, if you really love someone, you don't want to wait forever. I find that people can leave you." She looked sad, and glanced over a Percy. "If you don't savor every moment with them, you'll regret it. Don't get caught up over something small. It's not worth it."

Somehow, I was reminded of Thalia. Sure, she had said some hurtful things, but so had I. I can't even really remember why I was so angry in the first place. I really missed her. I looked up at the window where she was sitting. I smiled at her, not even sure if she would notice. She did, and glared even harder and left the window. I sighed and turned my attention back to Calypso. "I know. I think I'm almost ready. Just not yet."

"Okay. Your secret is safe with me." She winked at me. Just then, Jason called us all over for a group meeting. Leave it to him to be super organized and ready to call the shots. He clapped his hands together and tried to get the attention of 7 drowsy teenagers.

"Okay guys! We'll leave in 5 minutes." He checked over his list. "Percy and Annabeth are driving first, who wants to drive next?"

Frank raised his hand. "Hazel and I will."

"Just give us a few more hours of sleep first," Hazel bounced on her heels.

Jason gave them the thumbs up. "I got us a hotel in Fairfax with two bedrooms, so we'll figure out who we're with when we get there."

"Ugh, Jason!" Piper groaned, anxious to leave. "Let's go!"

"You're just in a bad mood because you got black coffee and anyone who drinks it must be mad all the time," Percy teased. "Or just not have a soul."

"People who can't drink black coffee are weaklings," Piper stuck her tongue out.

"Loser!" Leo coughed earning him a punch from Calypso.

"Alrighty! Let's go leave now!" Jason put two hands on Piper's shoulder and steered her towards the car and everyone else followed. There were 3 rows of seats and the two passenger seats. Jason and Piper climbed into the back ones and Piper layed down, putting her legs on Jason's lap. He mumbled something about safety and no seatbelts which led to a pillow in his face from Piper. I was expecting all the couples to sit together, but over the last week Calypso and Hazel developed a strong bond and wanted to sit together. That left Frank and Leo sitting together, which might cause some problems.

Percy and I climbed into the front seats. The passenger seat had a strange stain on it, and I made a face at it. Percy laughed which earned him 5 "shush!"s from the back seats. Piper was already asleep. As he was getting things adjusted, I tapped him and mouthed, "Look what I have" holding up my Airpods. He made a "ooh" face and held out his hand for one.

He started the car and pulled out the driveway. So began our Spring Break journey. I started a playlist on my phone that I had made just for this car ride. I couldn't stop smiling every time I looked over at Percy, he was lip syncing all of the songs. He was being a total goof, and knew it, he had the biggest grin on his face as he synced "Hollaback Girl". I had to cover my mouth to hold back my giggles. I started lip syncing back to him when "Hot Girl Bummer" came on. He knew all the words to that song too.

Suddenly I was a little sobered when I remember that the only reason he knew all the them was Rachel. Before while they were still dating, he would talk about how they would spend hours in their rooms or cars and Rachel would make him listen to all different kinds of music. It was one of their favorite things to do together. I knew it was wrong to be upset over, but I felt like I was intruded in one of his favorite memories of her. I stopped singing and pretended to Snapchat people on my phone. Percy still bobbed his head along to the music.

Leo and Frank were both snoring in the back, and every third snore Frank made a weird scratchy sound in his throat that I couldn't help but smile at. Hazel was leaning on Calypso, and they both were breathy softly. Piper was sprawled across the back seat and Jason held her feet in his lap as he muttered something in his sleep. I took a video of it, then turned the camera a Percy who gave me a thumbs up and smiled at the camera before quickly turning back to the road. I flipped the phone around to me and threw a peace sign at the camera. I captained the video "start of Spring Break going great" and posted it to my Snap story. I knew Piper would be mad, but I didn't care.

By 8:30, Percy and I were both getting tired, as Percy yawned and passed someone in the fast lane. He was a surprisingly amazing driver, much better than me, but I could tell he was too tired to keep concentrating.

I pulled out his earbud and whisper, "Can we stop by a Mcdonalds. I'm hungry and have to pee. Then we can switch drivers."

When we stopped, the sudden shift in speed woke up Piper, Frank, Leo, and Hazel. All of us walked into the Mcdonalds and ordered breakfast Mcmuffins for everyone.

Piper was already wide awake. She was talking a lot, which was way too much for all of her tired friends. Hazel was politely keeping conversation with her. Piper poked me. "Are we switching drivers?"

"Yeah, Hazel is going to drive and Frank navigate."

"Good, I want to sit with you now," Piper said. Why did she have so much energy? "Jason moves too much in his sleep."

I internally groaned because now that Piper was wide awake she would want someone to talk to. That person would probably be me. I ordered another coffee.

Percy climbed into the back with Jason and Leo sat in the middle with Calypso. Hazel pulled out and we started our trip again. Piper whispered at me the whole time, telling me some story about something stupid Jason did at football and how he got hit in the head. I just nodded at the appropriate times and clutched my coffee for dear life. But, I wasn't really that tired anymore anyway. The next few hours were uneventful, except for when we looked back a Jason and Percy.

Percy had his head rested on Jason's lap and Jason was leaned over on Percy, using him as a rest. They were both in deep sleep. Everyone else was awake now in the car, and we all pulled out our phones and took videos. Piper even went as far to post it on her private Snap story, chuckling evilly.

Jason woke up and sat up. When he saw Percy he looked shocked. "What?" he said sleepily.

The whole car burst out laughing at his confusion. Jason looked very flustered. "What do I do?" He whispered.

"Do not wake him up!" Hazel whispered harshly from the front seat. She and Percy and had strong friendship and saw each other as siblings. She could be very protective of him. "He was driving for almost 5 hours, he's exhausted."

"He's on my lap!" He whisper-yelled out desperately. This led to a whole new round of laughter from all of us. Percy shifted in his sleep, but didn't wake up. "What if I move him slowly?"

"Okay, but if you wake him, I will post a video of you snuggling on instagram," Hazel growled.

Very slowly, and very meticulously, Jason moved Percy's sleepy form off him and rested him against the window. Percy woke up for a second, but promptly fell back asleep.

"No one tell Percy this ever happened, and if we ever need blackmail then we know what to do," Leo said mischievously. Jason let out a loud groan. When Percy woke up we all laughed, and he looked really confused.

"What?" He said, rubbing his eyes.

"Don't worry about it," Calypso shrugged. Percy squinted his eyes in suspicion.

For the rest of the car ride we turned the music on the radio all the way up and sang as loud as we could. We moved around so much that the whole van shook back and forth. No one could stop laughing and poking or making fun of each other, it was just so fun. I couldn't help but feel that this was where I belonged.

When we got to the hotel it was around 4:00, Leo gave a little whoop when he saw it. It wasn't a big hotel or anything, but it was next to a Dairy Queen, and you could bet that in the middle of the night, Leo was going to sneak out and eat some ice cream. We all got out of the car and stretched out legs, after being in the car to 8 hours it felt amazing. We all shuffled through the small door to the lobby, where an old lady met us. She had half moon glasses on the bridge of her nose, and it looked like she was almost asleep. Jason tapped her shoulder poliety and asked for our room numbers.

"What are you youngster doing here? With no parents?" She said suspiciously.

Piper took this one, she had a way of persuading people to do what she wanted. "Oh, it's Spring Break and we're on a vacation. Our parents bought our rooms for us, don't worry," She gave the lady a dazzling smile. "I think our rooms should be under Zeus?"

She gave Piper a smile and scrolled through her computer a little. "Oh, here it is." She smacked her lips. "Rooms 309 and 308. There is a pool and a rec room, if you need something to do. Enjoy your stay."

Hazel was the only one with enough courtesy to thank her. We all crammed into the tiny elevator. Frank grumbled the whole time about being too smushed. Once we got our rooms, separate boys and girls, we made a deal to meet at the pool at 5:00 and then we'd go to dinner after.

Calypso flopped on the bed and turned on the TV, scrolling through trying to find something. Our room had two beds, both white. There were two dressers and a chair, but that was pretty much it. Piper and Hazel started to unpack everything, which I never do while a hotel, so I joined Calypso on the bed. We finally settled on watching some tennis.

"Oh shit!" Piper said suddenly as she flung clothes across the room. She had already made a huge mess in our room. "I forgot a swimsuit!"

"Oh don't worry," I got up and went through my bag. "I brought 5, I think. I always over pack."

I threw a dark blue triangle bikini top at her and some grey bottoms. "You are ridiculous!" She said, catching them.

"Those are so cute, Annabeth!" Hazel said, looking at my suit.

"Oh thanks!" I alway liked compliments from Hazel, because you knew she meant them. We killed time until it was time to go to the pool.

I put on a dark green bikini and black bottoms. I was in the bathroom, brushing my hair (always a difficult task with such curly hair) when Calypso walked in.

"Dang Annabeth! You've got abs!" She whistled.

I clutched my stomach. "No I don't!"

"Guys come in here!" Piper and Hazel walked in. "Doesn't Annabeth totally have abs?" "Oh my God! Annabeth you do!" Hazel tried to poke my stomach and I made a sound like I was dying. I don't do well with compliments.

Piper made a grumpy face. "I know. I really hate her for it. The rest of us have to live with stomach fat." She grabbed her stomach and pretended to bounce a big belly.

"Stop!" I giggled. "You all have 6 packs too!"

"No we don't," They all said in unison. We all burst out laughing hysterically, and couldn't stop when someone knocked on our door. I opened the door, it was Percy and Jason.

"Hi!" I said, still trying to contain my giggles. "We'll be there in a second. I have to get my towel. Come in."

Jason whistled when he came in. "How is your room already so messy. Leo is in our room and it's cleaner."

"Well, we have Piper," Calypso said, pulling a sweatshirt over her swimsuit. "Where's Leo and Frank?"

Percy sat down on the bed, next to me. "They're getting some food to bring back to the rooms. We should eat in here, it's already so messy."

After we all got our towels, we all headed down to the pool. It was a big circular pool with a diving board and a small water slide. Percy and Jason both quickly jumped in, and I couldn't help but notice Percy's impressive abs. They were much better than mine anyway. Hazel and Calypso followed, jumping in together holding hands. Piper and I sat on the side, dipping our toes in the water. It was freezing. We didn't notice when Jason and Percy got out of the water and pushed us in.

I splashed Percy. "You suck!"

"Yep," He said spewing water out of his mouth at me. I jumped at him and pushed him underwater, and we both came up laughing. Jason and Piper went against me and Percy in a chicken fight, but we lost. Percy kept purposely falling underwater or throwing me off his shoulders. He then tried to teach me how to do a front flip into the pool of the diving board, but I just ended up hitting my back hard.

"Watch," He said, about to do one. "You have to jump higher and get more of a running jump." He then executed a perfect flip.

"Okay, I think I got it," I got out of the pool and step up onto the diving board. I pretended to do some warm ups then started to run across the board. I jumped and flipped perfectly, coming up out of the water doing a bow. Everyone clapped for me.

Later in the night, Percy and I both excused ourselves to go get some ice cream, after we all had on our pajamas. I was wearing one of his shirts, and a pair of spandex, but no one knew it was his. We went back down to the pool and kissed for a little while. He then pretended to push me in the pool, and I shrieked.

"Stop!" I laughed, holding on to his arms for dear life.

He pulled me in and hugged me. "We should probably actually go get some ice cream you know."

"Yeah, I know." I sighed and looked up at him. "I really like you Percy."

"I really like you too, Wise girl," He laughed and gave me a quick kiss. "Come on, lets go get some ice cream. Not any vanilla though."

"You're a meanie!" I playfully shoved him. "Stop making fun of my vanilla. It's good."

"Sure it is," He laughed and put an arm around me as we walked to the Dairy Queen. I never felt more content then I did in that moment. Everything seemed perfect and just as it was supposed to be. Even though we had to get up early again the next morning, I knew everything would be okay, as long as I had Percy.