Chapter 5

We ended up having to go to the hospital anyway.

The right side of my temple had a nasty cut and needed stitches, so my parents rushed Percy and me into the car to take us to the emergency room. Using my mom's compact, I examined myself in the mirror. There was dried blood matted into my hair, and my head was throbbing, but other than that, I looked okay. I glanced sideways at Percy. He had a bloody nose from getting slammed into the steering wheel, but thankfully it didn't appear to be broken. He was holding a tissue against his face and staring out the window, but when he caught me looking at him in the reflection, he turned to me.

"What?" he asked, smirking. "I don't look that bad, do I?"

I socked him in the shoulder. "No, I was just making sure you were okay."

"No better or worse than you," he told me. "Man, everyone's going to freak out tomorrow at school. I bet the first thing Coach Hedge is going to say is 'Can you still swim though?'"

I laughed at the thought of tiny Coach Hedge towering over Percy and trying to look threatening. The only thing he could tower over were the flowers in the school's garden. And even they looked more threatening than him.

We arrived at the hospital, and after receiving five stitches to patch up my head and checking to make sure Percy's nose wasn't broken, my dad drove Percy home. When we finally got home, I felt exhausted. I turned to go to my room, but my mom held out a hand to stop me.

"Mind telling us who exactly that boy is?" she questioned. "That's twice now I've seen you two together. Are you a couple? When did you meet? How old is he?"

I groaned. "Mom. Stop. He's just a friend."

"Usually when she says 'just a friend' she means he's more than just a friend," dad chimed in from the kitchen.

"Dad!"

Mom sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "When you called tonight I was so afraid, Annabeth. I hadn't even realized you'd left. And on top of it with a boy we don't even know, who could've done something awful to you and we wouldn't have known until it was too late."

Oh, geez. Half of me felt embarrassed. Putting it that way, she was right. I suppose I should've said where I was going. The other half felt angry. Really? She was trying to mother me now, when I was about to go to college and start my life? She'd never been this over bearing before. But I pushed my anger down. It wasn't like I was a bad kid. It was very rare for my mother to have to punish me, let alone ground me. When she did, though, I know it was hard for her. For what it was worth, she raised my brother Malcolm and I fairly well.

"You're right," I said quietly. "I'm sorry, mom. Next time I'll say when I'm leaving the house. But really, you don't have to worry about Percy. He's Thalia's cousin, by the way."

"If he's related to Thalia then that makes me very worried," my mother said. I grinned.

...

The next day at school, it was just as bad as Percy said it was going to be. My mom wanted me to stay home and rest, but I wanted to go. I would probably have to miss gym, but I wasn't complaining. I could use the extra hour to catch up on homework. Plus, people were bound to ask about my stitches and the violently blue and purple bruises Percy was now wearing. So, with our heads held high, we patiently answered everyone's nonstop questions.

People's long string of questions only stopped when Mrs. Dodds, my math teacher, came and barked at everyone to get to class. Percy looked at her gratefully, until she told him off for causing a scene in the hallway.

"Evil old hag," Percy muttered as we walked, slinging his school bag over one shoulder. "She's had it in for me since I got here, I don't know why. She tries to make my life hell on purpose."

I rolled my eyes. "I doubt it, Percy. She can't just hate you for no good reason."

"Oh yeah? Didn't you notice that she didn't say anything to you? Just me. I mean, yeah I sleep in her class a lot, but can you blame me? The woman's got the personality of a dry wall." He glanced over his shoulder, as if expecting to see Mrs. Dodds standing behind him with fangs and claws exposed.

I laughed and shook my head. "Well try sucking up to her. Maybe you'll become her favorite student. I bet she'll even move you so that you're right next to her desk. You can even share equations."

Percy shuddered. "Very funny. The day I become friends with Dodds is the day Thalia becomes a nun."

"The day I become a nun, is the day you'd better run for the hills, Jackson," said a voice behind me. Thalia appeared at my side. "Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna borrow Annabeth for a bit." She grabbed my arm and steered me away, leaving Percy and headed in the direction of the cafeteria.

"Hungry?" I asked, but we didn't stop. We walked straight past our first class and down a long hallway leading to the football field outside. Thalia dragged me up to the bleachers, going all the way to the very top, ignoring the couple a few feet away that had their limbs interlocked and their faces glued together.

We sat, curious as to why we came all the way up here, when Thalia turned to me, her expression dead serious. Nothing could've prepared me for what came out of her mouth next.

"Are you and Percy sleeping together?"

I stared at her, unsure whether or not she was joking. "What?"

Thalia raised her eyebrows. "Oh my God, you are! Holy crap, Annabeth!" she said, a bit too loud. The couple broke apart and looked at us like we were insane.

"Shh, Thalia! Geez. No I am not sleeping with him!" I whispered. The couple resumed their make out session, once again gluing their faces together. Though I had the strangest feeling the girl was still listening.

I leaned in close to Thalia. "We talked, that's it. We sat outside with hot chocolate and talked. Then he started to drive me home, and he lost control of the car. We hit a tree, and ended up having to go to the hospital." I pushed my hair back and showed her my stitches.

Thalia eyed me. "So you're not sleeping with him?"

"No!"

"Are you dating him?"

"No, Thalia! We're friends, that's it." I couldn't believe I was having this conversation right now. She knew perfectly well I didn't just sleep around. That was so beyond unlike me I couldn't even comprehend how Thalia had come to that conclusion. Unless...

"Thals, he isn't telling people that we, like, did sleep together, is he?" But I knew the answer to that question even before Thalia shook her head.

"No, of course not. But I was just curious. You two never hung out without me before, like just the two of you, so I just wondered." She suddenly let out an evil grin. "Why is your face so red, huh?"

"Because you just asked me whether or not I slept with your cousin! How else was I supposed to react?"

"Disgusted, revolted. Take your pick." Thalia laughed, then turned serious again. "But really, I'm glad you guys are okay. I have something else to tell you, too. And this is huge, like, you can't say anything, not even to Percy. Okay? While you were off having steamy sessions in his car-" She dodged out the way as I swung my folder out to hit her, "-I found out we may have another family member. Three of them, actually."

I paused on my second attack with my folder. "Like, more brothers? Did your dad have an affair?"

Thalia shook her head again. "No! I mean cousin wise. Turns out my dad has a brother. He was away for a long time, but I don't know where. I heard all of this from hiding in the bathroom, so I don't know too much just yet. But I do know that he recently passed away, and the three kids don't have anyone else, so they've asked our dads to take them."

She paused for a moment. "I'm curious to what happened to their mother, but if they do come to stay with us, then that would be so cool! I hope there's at least one girl out of the three of them though. I love Percy and Jason, but it would be nice to have a girl in my corner, ya know?" She bumped my knee. "Except for you, of course. I know I got you for backup in case one of them needs a good beat down."

"If you beat them up leave me out of it," I told her. "My mother already thinks you're crazy enough as it is. But that's really cool, Thals. I hope they're nice."

The bell for first period rung, so we gathered up our things and left the bleachers. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the girl that was entwined with her boyfriend was staring at me. How odd. Before I could turn around and confront her, Thalia pulled me away.

When the school day finally ended, my head was throbbing. As soon as I got home I took some painkillers, ready to fall into bed. The spot where my stitches were itched, and it took all of my willpower not to scratch it. But as soon as I entered the kitchen, all thoughts of going to bed left my mind entirely. My bag dropped out my hand.

"Luke!"

Luke grinned, his arms held out. I immediately ran into them. He squeezed me hard, burying his face into my neck. "It's so good to see you!"

I pulled back to look at his face. His cheeks seemed hallow, and he had dark circles under his eyes as if he hasn't slept for weeks, but his blue eyes still shone, and when he smiled the white scar that lined his right cheek all but turned invisible. He was still the Luke I remembered, long before I met Thalia.

My parents were beaming. My mother had a look on her face that I couldn't fathom. Relief maybe? I'm sure dad was just as happy. He always considered Luke a son. More times than I could count, Luke and I would have sleep overs, turning my living room floor into a mountain of pillows and blankets. Long after my mom would tell us to go to bed, we'd hide under the covers with our flashlights and talk and snack on gummy worms until our bellies were full. Looking at Luke now, all of those happy memories came rushing back, and I couldn't contain my smile.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were in college to be an engineer."

Luke nodded in my parents' direction. "They asked me to come. I mean, I was planning on coming to see you anyway, but-" He stopped, frowning. "What is that?" He was staring at the right side of my head.

"What? Oh." I pulled my hair back to give him a better view of my stitches. "My battle scars. Got into a bit of a car accident. The roads were slippery and he lost control."

Luke wasn't smiling anymore. He pulled away, releasing me and letting his hands drop down to his sides. "Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't know."

I gave him an odd look. "Well yeah, it just happened last night. And I didn't exactly know you were coming."

Luke bit his lip. "Right. So who is he? Should I be concerned?" Luke's dazzling smile had returned, though this time it didn't quite meet his eyes. Was Luke jealous of Percy?

"Just a friend, according to Annabeth," my father told him. "Thalia's cousin."

"Anyway," my mother cut in. "As we were saying before, Luke, you're very welcome to stay here. We've got a spare bedroom that you can have. Or would you and Annabeth prefer to have a sleepover out here in the living room?"

The thought made all of us crack up, and before long, I was bidding Luke goodnight and heading to my room. He'd kissed my cheek and said, "Goodnight, Annabeth." I wasn't going to lie, my heart did a backflip in my chest. I'd missed him so much.

But an odd thought came to me as I laid in bed. And that was if my parents would have let Percy stay in the house as easily as they had let Luke. Somehow I seriously doubted it.