Hello, lovely and much adored readers! The song is 'Playing with Fire' by Forever the Sickest Kids. I've taken the liberty to out a *tiny* but of myself into this chapter- dance llamas! Yes, I know it's short, but Chapter Nine will have some Percabeth, I promise! Some have been asking for fluff, and that won't be for a few more chapters. Also, I'm not sure if I can keep updating every day. Sundays are a 'no', and when the weather clears up I have to go back to school. (Stupid school wireless, blocking fanfiction for 'games' content. If you're going to block it, at least use the correct reasons!) But I do have a class at school for writing, so I should be able to either post multiple chapters when I update, or chatters will grow longer.
Thanks for the Reviews, Follows, and Favorites! If you haven't, yet, it would mean the world if you'd review. (hint, hint?)
So, here we go: chapter 8

Percy

I return to my own room after saying goodnight to Annabeth. The second I'm behind the safety of my door, I begin a mental argument with myself. It goes something along the lines of this:
- You are such a gangly idiot! Why is it that hard to talk to a girl?
-It's not my fault! I know what to say, and then my mind just goes blank after a few seconds!
-*sigh* She probably thinks you're an idiot.
-*nods head in approval* That is probably true.
-Why are you so nervous? It's just a girl, you talk to those all the time.
-Yeah, remember Rachel?
-Can we not bring that up? It was one kiss!
-I think you're scared of the whole 'engagement' thing. Not Annabeth herself. Try to start out being friends. That's all she's trying to do.

I consider the idea. It's an acceptable one. Becoming friends would make the summer less awkward than if we stayed acquaintances and kept having weird encounters. After the summer though... I preferred not to think about that.
Pulling out my cell phone, I check to see if I have any messages. There's a text from Frank, asking me if I had any use for a use for a quart of strawberry jam. (Why the hell would I need strawberry jam?) There's also one from Jason, asking when rehearsal is. I've been so busy the past few days, I realize that I haven't told them about the situation with Annabeth. I haven't even mentioned Annabeth.
Dad wants me to start learning how to run Olympus Enterprises, so my mornings are taken up. Tomorrow the planning for Independence Day starts, so that'll be a meeting for at least an hour. The soonest we could practice would be Friday afternoon, two days from now.
That'll have to do.
I open a notebook to a blank page and begin writing the chords to calm my mind. I write until I'm too tired to keep my eyes open, and collapse into bed, dreaming in music.

Thalia
"You guys are perfect for each other." Annabeth stares gape-mouthed at me. I can't believe she doesn't see it, the way he looked at her over the dinner debate. I thought I was gong to be sick.
"You're joking, right?" She asks when I don't crack a smile. I shake my head.
"You'll see, Bethie. Just you wait." I yawn. Damn time zones. "I'm going to go to sleep. Are we dancing or not?"
Annabeth shrugs and locates her iPod and speakers. I knew she wouldn't break a years-old tradition. The beginning notes of the song pour through the speakers, and a feeling of bliss washes over me. Most people would cringe at the sound coming from the iPod; too many drums. But this is better than liquid gold running through my veins.
We've been having miniature dance parties every night for the last three years. Something about the energy making it easier to sleep. Always the same song, every word memorized and sung dramatically with some cruddy dancing thrown in for good measure. At one point Annabeth thought air guitar was necessary.
"She hates me, but she wants me inside! I know I know I know I'm playing with fire!" Is that... Air flute? Ehh, okay?
When the song's over, we finish with dramatic hair flips and give ourselves perfect 10s, like we were on some TV show.
"What was with the air flute?" I ask, slightly out of breath. Annabeth merely shrugs and grins. "Night, Annabeth."
"Good night, Thals."
I go back to my own room and fall asleep with headphones in. Welcome to New York, Thalia.

Annabeth
I don't leave my room much over the next two days- Percy's busy with meetings of some sort. Thalia and I have been working on putting our stuff away. More boxes arrived yesterday, full of books and CDs, more clothes and Thalia's lava lamp.
"Oh gods, I've missed this thing!" She wraps it in a tight hug, murmuring things that I can't always hear. "I'll never leave you again!"
I roll my eyes at her. All of this over a lamp. Then again, I was pretty thrilled to see my glow-in-the-dark replica of the Sears Tower arrive in one piece. I set it on the desk and get back to the tedious job of unpacking.
"Thalia, put the goddamn lamp down and start unpacking! We've been working on this for two days, and I'd prefer to get it finished today!"
The once clean place that was my bedroom is now unrecognizabe- piles of clothes cover the bed, stacks of books cover the floor, and an empty goldfish bowl sits on the bathroom counter, waiting for me to refill it with the colorful rocks, water, and the rubber duck that used to contain. Strings of fairy lights and purple Chinese lanterns are draped over the couch- they go to Thalia's room. Music blares from a CD player; we've gone through nine albums twice and just started the tenth.
I'm hoping I never see another pair of Thals' tights - she must have twenty pairs, but they're all draped over the ceiling fan blades like black and gray streamers- again. There's a knock at the door, but neither Thalia nor myself can answer it. She's too wrapped up with her lamp, and I'm trying not to die while adding more books to an already too-tall stack. It's beginning to sway to the left a bit too much for my liking. I try to steady it and turn my head around to yell "come in!" I have to shout even louder than normal due to the music.
The door opens , but only partially. Silenna pokes her head in, and she's saying something.
"What?" I yell, focusing on the leaning tower of novels. "Thalia, turn the music down!" The one second I turn around to greet Silenna so she can hear me, and the tower of books crashes around me.
"Well gods damn it."
Silenna gives a slightly shaky laugh. "You two look like you could use some help."
"Please," I mutter and set to the tedious task of picking up the books.
It takes another four hours (not counting the lunch break we took in between), three dance breaks (who knew Silenna liked dancing? And, unlike me and Thalia, she was good at it!), but we finally get everything organized and put away.
We were now in Thalia's room, sitting in a circle on the floor. Her room suited her- dark purple walls with gray trim, now strung with fairy lights. Her bed was the same design as mine, but with black painted wood and purple blankets. The lava lamp sits on the desk, giving the room a strange pink glow.
"So, how do you guys like New York?" Silenna asks us as she flips a page in one of her home decor magazines. Apparently she had chosen the furniture and color scheme for our rooms, and based on what limited information she had, Thalia and I thought she'd done an amazing job. "Ooh, this would look adorable over in that corner!" She points to a picture of a patterned ottoman. After taking a glance, I can see she's right.
"It's okay," Thalia answers. "I mean, we aren't actually seeing anything but the house. I want to go see the city!"
Silenna laughs and pushes her long black braid over her shoulder. "Okay. What about you, Annabeth? New York to your liking?"
I shrug. "I haven't really experienced much of it. The architecture is amazing, though." Silenna flips another page in her magazine and nods. "So, if you both want to see the city, why don't you ask Mr. Perseus Jackson to take you on a tour?"
Thalia and I freeze and share a sideways glance. She knows I want to avoid Percy. She doesn't know that I'm going to try to run. Knowing the layout of the city could have its benefits. I could learn the location of ATMs, subway stops, places to stay that lack the usually necessary paperwork.
Silenna senses our discomfort. "What?"
I plaster a smile on my face. "That sounds fun! Do you think we could take a day to tour, Thals?"
Thalia raises her eyebrows, like she can't believe what she's hearing. "Sure, sounds entertaining."
She's onto me. I'll have to tell her my plans sooner or later.