Warning: This chapter contains cussing, mentions of food, family and school.

WOW okay you guys I know I've been gone for the longest time school has ended me and the only reason I managed to write this was because I got sick and skipped school

and sadly I have bad news for you- basically this fic isn't ending any time soon, but I am not going to write the summer between their 11th and 12th year (I might write oneshots and stuff like that if I feel like it, but they wont appear in this story) and I'm going to take a break of about 2/3 months when I reach that point for it to be more realistic (and for me to have time to study), and that period of time will probably start after the next chapter I post (which could take some time to write bc school). I apologize in advance for this.

I understand this sounds kinda confusing, so if you have any questions go to my blog ( .com ) and ask away.

Anyways! wow I think Reyna's finally realizing how not hetero she is this is amazing

I have to admit I was tempted to write something like "and then they admitted their feelings 4 each other and moved in together and got married" but I didn't do it bc life is cruel

Enjoy this chapter!

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Although Reyna's day hadn't been great to begin with, it had taken a turn for the worst when Piper had to leave class early for a football match that was being held at some other school, and she was left all alone with no one to talk to during history class.

Usually, she would've been paying attention, but just like her friend had pointed out, nobody seemed to care about anything but the anticipated summer holidays, not even , who didn't bother to do anything more than play a movie about the age of discoveries, which, by the way, Reyna was sure had nothing to do with what they had been learning before.

All of that would've been fine had Piper been with her instead of running around a field chasing a ball. In fact, even without her best friend, she could've gone on her phone and checked if Annabeth was online- which was likely, seeing as it would have been around lunch time at her school-, a habit she had picked up whenever she remembered that yeah, she didn't have just one friend anymore. But it definitely wasn't her day, seeing as the school's internet didn't work no matter what she did.

When she finally got home after a dreadful train ride, the first thing she did was turn on her computer. Normally, she would work on her homework first, maybe study a bit, but there was no point in doing that now that school was almost over. As her computer started itself up dreadfully slow- it had been Hylla's computer too, and it was in dire need to be replaced- she pulled the elastic band from the tip of her braid and ran her hands through her hair, undoing her trademark hairstyle. Sighing, she noted that her hair almost reached the middle of her back. She'd have to get a haircut soon, before her hair started getting really difficult to take care of.

As she took her school books out of her bag and put them on the shelf, skype opened up, causing a dozen of message alarms to sound. Her lips formed a small smile. This wasn't an unusual occurrence. Annabeth managed to make time to write her all throughout the day, just because Reyna might, for some strange miracle, actually did have some free time during the day to reply to her. On the rare occasions in which she did, they were able to have small conversations that made her wish her friend attended her school. She would look good in uniform, Reyna considered. Her light hair and the dark clothes would make a nice contrast.

She shoved the idea away with a scoff and a frown. It was impossible for it to happen, useless to wonder about. Ignoring the heat she felt on her face, she turned around and walked to her desk, sat down and read Annabeth's messages.

annabeth:
reynaaa
r u there

annabeth:
i feel so betrayed where r u

annabeth:
percy shoved a fry up his nose
can u believe this

annabeth:
reynannanan
i know you're online dont ignore me

Reyna Arellano:
I just turned the computer on calm down
My school's internet was acting up today sorry

annabeth:
REYNA
its cool but just i want to show something
can i
?

Reyna Arellano:
I don't think I want to know what it is jesus christ

annabeth:
reyannana

Reyna Arellano:
FINE
If I get scarred for life it's your fault

The girl rolled her eyes and leaned back, waiting for Annabeth to send her some sort of picture. If she had to guess, she would've said it was going to be a picture of Percy with the said chip up his nose, but with Annabeth she could never really be sure. Maybe it was a video of a cute dog or some weird song she found.

She nearly fell out of her chair when her friend started calling her.

"What the-" She squealed, clapping a hand over her mouth before finishing her sentence. Annabeth was calling her. Annabeth was calling her.

Needless to say they had never skyped before. They hadn't even voice called, for that matter. It seemed weird to think about it, but it dawned upon her that all that they had seen of each other were pictures. This was the first time they were actually going to see one another, and Reyna was going to make a hell of an impression. She sneaked a glance at the mirror she had on the wall. Her shirt was wrinkled, her tie's knot was falling apart, part of her mascara had come off and was now underneath her eyes, and her hair was down, but strands were still woven in a braid like style.

She didn't look presentable in any way, but she wasn't about to hang up on Annabeth. A skype call with her was something that she had been thinking of doing for the longest time, but had never actually worked up how to ask her friend to do. That being so, Reyna simply wiped off the makeup from underneath her eyes with her thumbs, threw her messy hair over her shoulder and pressed the 'Accept Call' button, wishing she had time to at least put her hair up in a ponytail.

Annabeth's camera turned on before hers did. From what she could see, she was probably sitting down on her bed, which was pressed up against a wall. She was wearing a V cut light blue shirt, and her hair fell down her right shoulder in a cascade of blonde curls. She looked at the camera with her piercing grey eyes, which Reyna hadn't been quite so aware of as she was now. It was hard for her to contain the grin that threatened to appear on her face.

"No way!" The blonde laughed, moving her hand to her lips. "You wear a uniform?"

"Who wears a uniform?" Questioned someone she couldn't see, that Reyna assumed was Percy.

"Not everyone can be an American like you." She stated, flashing a quick smile that she couldn't avoid.

"It has a tie and everything." Annabeth giggled. "Oh my god, Reyna. Oh my god."

"Let me see!" Percy's head popped up on the screen. He looked exactly like he did in the pictures Reyna had seen, green eyes, short black hair sticking up everywhere. He raised his eyebrows. "Do you guys actually have to wear that everyday?"

"Yes." She replied as Annabeth shoved her hand in her friend's face, pushing him off camera as he protested. "Aren't you supposed to be swimming, Percy?"

A gasp was heard. "You know my practice schedule!" The blonde rolled her eyes and shooed her friend away before facing the camera again. "He has a competition this weekend, they don't train before those."

"Ah." Reyna concluded, trying to come up with something else to say. It was weird to talk to Annabeth like this. Not that she didn't like it, but being able to see her and speak to her and listen to her voice- christ, her voice. She had never sat down and imagined what it would sound like when Annabeth spoke, and it was strange associating this girl she had known for months now with a voice, but in a good way.

"What- uh" She started, looking at her own image on the screen instead of Annabeth's. "What was so important that I absolutely had to seen it? Or was it just a lie so we could skype each other?"

"Wow, cocky much?" She answered, running her hands through her hair. "This was what I wanted you to see. Drew did it today when we were in Informatics."

"So you called me just so I could look at your hair?" She regretted her words when Annabeth scrunched up her eyebrows and looked down, avoiding eye contact. Reyna cursed herself. "I mean, it looks really pretty like that." She immediately added. "It looks pretty like you usually wear it, too, but it looks like there's more work put into it." She cursed herself mentally for that last part, but Annabeth's expression changed to a happier one.

"Of course there is, smartass." She stated, combing her curls with her fingers. "This thing has like three braids on the back, plus a shit ton of bobby pins. I honestly don't know where Drew finds these things, but she has tons of them."

"She must've been inspired today."She commented, not even bothering to ask how on earth their teacher let them do that in class. She was already very aware that most of Annabeth's teachers let them do basically whatever they wanted, which baffled Reyna since her teachers would've never let her do anything like that.

"Now that's an euphemism." The blonde scoffed, adjusting her position and sitting up straighter. "She hasn't shut up about dresses, manicures and eyeliner for a week. Even worse, she won't stop insisting that I should go to prom with her." She adopted an annoyed expression.

"Wait, wait, wait. Drew wants you to go to prom with her?" Reyna repeated incredulously. Wasn't she dating Thalia?

Before Annabeth could say anything, a loud laugh was heard.

"Haven't you heard?" Percy beamed. "Drew and Thalia have been trying to get Annabeth to join their relationship for weeks now! Give it a few more days, you'll see!"

"Are you still here?" His friend snapped, grabbing a pillow and throwing it at what Reyna assumed was Percy. "Out, Perseus! Out!"

Reyna couldn't help but laugh along with Percy as the whole thing happened. Even Annabeth herself was trying not to crack a smile, she noticed. Only when she heard a door closing did her friend look back at the camera. When she looked at Reyna, she chuckled for a few seconds before calming back down.

"Not like that." She explained. "There was a flood on our gym, and the school spent a bunch of money fixing it. They had to reschedule prom in this restaurant that's way too tiny for all of us, so they're only letting seniors go to prom this year. Drew was furious. Apparently she'd been planning her outfit since the beginning of the damn school year, and she even went as far as to demand to speak to principal. And somehow she actually managed to do that."

"Holy shit, really?" Reyna raised her eyebrows. The Drew she'd heard about was a calm person, who liked makeup, high heels and her girlfriend. It was hard to imagine her yelling at a teacher and actually getting her way, but Reyna had to respect her for that. "Impressive."

"And hilarious." Annabeth added. "Some guy in her science class recorded it and put it on facebook, and believe me, it is amazing. But the point is she couldn't convince the principal. But Drew and Thalia are going to prom anyways, mostly so they can take a few pictures, piss a few teachers off and then hit a few clubs or something." She rolled her eyes. "I don't really get that part, but it's whatever. I'm not gonna bother going. I don't want to get in trouble."

"It's what I would do, honestly." Reyna said, leaving out 'but Piper would physically drag me and I'd end up going anyways'. "But are they actually going to do it? Just for prom? Aren't you going to have another one next year?"

Skype decided to freeze just when Annabeth was shrugging, but the audio kept going, so Reyna got to look at the blonde looking like she was about to sneeze as she agreed with her friend. It went back to normal as she was quoting Drew on how "prom was a magical occasion" or something or other. "Not that you would know, of course. All you have is a couple of dances, if you're lucky." She finished with a smug smirk on her face.

"Again," The dark haired girl replied, a smirk on her face mirroring her friend's "Not everyone can be one of you Americans. But at least my country is half decent, unlike you."

The blonde presented her with a small chuckle, which gradually faded into a frown of sorts. "Reyna, listen. About earlier…" She made a small pause and licked her lips, and Reyna felt her heart beat faster, partly because she had no idea what Annabeth was going to say and that frightened her, partly because of something she couldn't quite put her finger on. "You're right. I didn't want to call you because of my hair."

"I was just feeling kind of weird today- not sad or anything, but just " She shrugged. "meh. You know what I mean? I was thinking about how we've never actually, you know, spoken like this."

"You wanted us to get closer." Reyna concluded. It had been a bad choice of words, she realized, when the blonde hid her mouth behind her hand- a subtle signal that she felt uncomfortable, but Reyna spotted it nonetheless. She could feel her own face getting warmer and she thanked god for her dark complexion and her shitty camera, which didn't allow Annabeth realize that she was blushing. "I get that, I mean, we're friends, right? But when I turn off my phone it's like maybe we're not that close. I guess seeing each other and hearing each other helps that."

"God, you're dramatic." Annabeth stated as she looked away. She had a slight smile on her face. "But that's more or less what I mean."

"Hey, you started it." Reyna retorted, feeling relieved. "Anyways, it's cool. You just scared me a little bit, that's it." She ignored the butterflies in her stomach when her friend's face lit up with a smile. "Hey, you'll never guess what Percy's pen pal included in his presentation."