Chapter 7

Annabeth.

It's lunch now. I carry my tray of lasagna to where Thalia and Rachel are sitting. Percy, who left the rec room so early to get ready for lunch, still hasn't shown up. Thalia blatantly stares at me, while Rachel steals glances when she thinks I won't notice. The silence is unusually tense. I try to come up with something to say, but fall short on words. It's not me that's usually doing the talking. Thalia always likes to talk a lot, and this group perpetually has a 'chill' vibe. Even Rachel usually has a lot to say (to the others, she hadn't worked up enough nerve to actually speak to me yet). Eventually, Thalia speaks up though.

"So, you and Percy have been hanging out a lot together recently." She muses.

I give her a confused look. Is that why they're refusing to talk to me? "Not really." I mutter, and it's true. I've never even known Percy had human emotions, like humour, until yesterday. Our first real conversation was just today. Our other interactions were awkward.

Thalia, not surprisingly, gets mad. "Are you kidding me?" She snorts, derogatorily. "Rachel saw you guys in the rec room. Y'all were talking for a long ass time."

I look at Rachel, but she only ducks her head down, so her eyes were staring at her untouched plate (I've noticed she only eats once I leave the table). I bite my lip, considering how to reply. "We were just talking." I state, proudly. "Why do you care?" I mask the confusion in my voice with indifference.

There's a long pause, in which I consider if Thalia or Rachel could actually be jealous. I guess being in a psychiatric ward doesn't diminish teenage emotions.

Thalia, guessing what I'm thinking, speaks up again. "It's not what you think. It's something else." The aggressive edge in her tone had already diminished. I raised my eyebrows in question.

Thalia smirks at me before answering. I knew it was because I've never had the guts to act annoyed or...anything in front of her. I usually just kept a straight face. She was impressed with this new me. I didn't inform her that I was only outgoing when I was mad, out when my pride was taking a hit. This situation being the latter.

"You know Percy's crazy, Annabeth?" Thalia was blunt. My eyes widened.

"I thought you were his friends…" I trail off, but she answers sharply.

"Yes, we are. But that doesn't mean he isn't completely psycho." I still must've looked really confused because Thalia tried again. This time with a low and sympathetic voice. "This isn't a good place to make friends, Annabeth. This is a horrible place to make friends. When you leave, you'll want no recollection of what happened here. I can say with a hundred percent certainty that once I get out of here, I will never look back." Even Rachel looked up and nodded along with Thalia.

"Well...while I'm still in here I want friends. So, I'm sorry if that bothers you." I mutter in reply, still a little shocked. Did friendship mean so little here?

"Annabeth." my head snapped up when I realized it was Rachel speaking. Her voice was quite. "Don't become emotionally attached. This isn't the place. Everything ends with heartbreak."

I nodded, and just as quietly muttered, "Sure, whatever." The conversation was over.

...

Percy.

I didn't go to lunch after all. Grover and I were playing a game. He would name something, I would draw it. Easy. Our falling out was forgotten.

Not going to lunch was a bad idea, cause soon Chiron came to check on me. He knocked on my door, and I answered. I had a huge grin on my face, it seemed to unsettle him.

"Percy, is something the matter?"

"Why would anything be wrong? I am perfectly content here in this mental institution...who wouldn't be?"

Ignoring my sarcasm, he tried again. "You missed lunch."

I drop my grin and turn serious. "I had a bad feeling about lunch." I looked at Grover, who nodded, giving me consent to tell Chiron. "Someone's gonna poison mine." I whisper this, in case anyone hears.

Chiron looks troubled. "Why do you think that?"

"Grover told me." I stated, merrily.

Chiron sighs, like he knows he's already lost. "We can't have you going hungry...what would make it better?"

I shook my head so that he understood. If I ate, I would die. I just knew. I just knew.

...

The next day we got a surprise. Luke ran up and down the hallway near our rooms at seven in the morning, yelling. "Get up and get ready! If you are in therapy group number 3 get up and get ready! I will meet you in the rec room."

You could honestly hear Thalia from her dorm, cussing like a sailor.

...

Fast forward to one hour later, all ten or so of us were waiting for Luke in the rec room, cranky from being up so early, but at the same time excited. I caught Annabeth's eyes from across the room. What's going on? She mouthed. I gave her a shrug and a small smile.

I made sure Rachel was okay next, she was sitting in a corner, next to Thalia. They were speaking softly. Thalia looked like she wanted to punch something. Or someone. I stayed away.

A few minutes later, Luke walked in. Immediately, Thalia burst, her early morning crankiness appearing. "Luke, I swear to God if you don't-"

Luke, thank God, cut her off. "Field trip! Were gonna be heading around New York to some places." The whole crowd buzzed in protest. Rachel looked about ready to cry. "Oh come one guys, you've been cooped up in here with nothing to do for too long. The summer program is quite boring. Any other group would be dying to go out, they'd be so jealous."

The crowd still looked skeptical. Finally Luke sighed in defeat. "Everyone who goes gets twenty-four hours internet privilege." No one protested then, the crowd was satisfied.

Travis, lounging on the couch, spoke up, "Do you think it's a good idea to take us out? We could easily overpower you and next thing you know, you're stripped naked in Central Park and we've run to Canada to escape capture." He gave Luke a grin. "Hypothetically, of course."

"I won't be going alone with with you. Chiron will be going as well." He looked kind of annoyed that they didn't trust him enough to keep track of us by himself.

"Ah, yes. Of course, bring the handicapped man along for the ride, he'll make sure we'll never get away!" Amused grins appeared all over the room.

"Didn't you hear Travis, we can't hurt handicaps, it's like...the law." I added.

He played along, "Gosh dang it you're right Percy," He fake sighed, "you've foiled our evil plot, Luke."

Luke, though he looked exasperated, chose not to comment. "Let's just go. Everyone follow me in a straight line out the door. Chiron will meet us outside and stay at the back of the group."

Everyone snorted at the childishness of this (what are we five years old?), but for once, chose not to be difficult. We all filed out except Rachel and I. She was still stuck in the corner, hyperventilating.

I plastered on my lopsided grin and strut over to her. "We should head out before they leave us," When she still didn't respond I offered her my arm, and said, "Okay?"

She didn't respond for maybe a minute, but I heard her breathing slow quietly. "Alright." She grabbed my arm.

I hadn't done it for a long time, though. Never the less, it did the trick. Her cloudy eyes slowly cleared up, and she took a deep breath.