A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to update! My teachers like to annoy us by giving us a bunch of projects and homework. Anyway, enjoy the story!
Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own Percy Jackson. 'Nuff said.
Oh, this day has turned out just PERFECT. I'm still stuck by a creep, a monster attacked me, and Jake basically looked through my stuff so I have no idea what he found out about me. And he tried to kiss me.
Oh, and my boyfriend is still missing.
I sighed inwardly. This day has been way too hectic. I was still on the plane, with about four hours left until I get to California. Jake was unfortunately still sitting by me, but I think he's too scared to talk to me now, which is completely fine by me. But, I guess I jinxed myself, because fifteen minutes after my, ehm, outburst, he decided to ask me ANOTHER question.
"What's your boyfriend's name?" he asked, apparently not done annoying me.
"Why are you so nosy?" I snapped, rolling my eyes.
"Jeez, I was just curious. For all I know, your "boyfriend" could be fake," he shot back.
"He's not fake, okay? Just because he's not with me right now doesn't mean he doesn't exist," I said, fuming.
"Does he live in California?" he asked.
"No. What does that have to do with anything?"
"Well, if he doesn't live in California, then he must live in New York, right? If he really is your boyfriend, then why are you going to San Francisco? Don't couples spend Christmas together and stuff?" he asked, eyebrows raised expectantly.
I gritted my teeth. Thank you for reminding me that he's missing, I really needed to hear that.
"That's none of your business. Please turn around, shut up, and leave me alone."
He shrugged, muttered something, and went back to listening to music on his iPod.
My throat started to tighten as tiny voices inside of my head started ringing in my ears. They were cold and raspy, similar to that of the old Oracle, which was really weird.
"The Romans could be torturing him right now, and you're just sitting here on a plane."
"He's gone."
"Just move on!"
"Stupid baby."
"A daughter of Athena and a son of Poseidon. Dating. It was destined to fall apart anyway."
I snapped my eyes shut and clutched my ears. It felt like millions of voices just whispering in my ear, reminding me I was alone.
Jake turned to me, eyes widened, like he couldn't believe that I, a supposedly tough girl, was almost crying.
"Are you-" he asked.
"I'm f-fine. Just l-leave me a-alone," I interrupted him.
He looked like he was about to say something, but he just shook his head and put his ear buds back in.
Convinced that the voices had stopped, I wiped my eyes with my hand to ensure no tears had fallen out, my ring digging into my skin. I had completely forgotten about it. I stared down at it, watching the colors shift back and forth. Deep blue, teal, turquoise, bright green, sea green, seaweed green, and back again to different shades of each color, each time different. Eventually, after endless minutes of staring at it, I fell asleep, exhausted from the flight. My nap wasn't exactly peaceful though.
'Cause I'll doze off safe and soundly,
But I'll miss your arms around me
-Vanilla Twilight, Owl City
~*~Flashback/Dream~*~
I was sitting in the Athena cabin, studying the blueprints for the Argo II. I was only going to be at camp for a few hours, since I had to go back to school before someone noticed my absence. Leo had asked me to come and help him with the design of the ship and to monitor their progress. I was examining the engine of the ship when Malcolm stopped at the door, knocking on the door lightly.
"Chiron needs you at The Big House. He has some…news for you," he said, a weird look on his face, like he knew something I didn't.
I sighed and rolled up the blueprints. I didn't talk to Chiron much anymore. He didn't talk to me like he used to. He would always give me sympathetic looks, and tell me that we would find Percy soon. It annoyed the Hades out of me. I was tired of people pitying me. I guessed that Chiron's news wasn't going to be very good.
"Okay, I'll be there in a minute," I replied, standing up.
He looked at me, as if he knew what I was thinking about. "Annabeth, I just want to say….think about it. Don't just give an immediate answer. Really think about it."
I arched an eyebrow, giving him a skeptical look.
"I'm a daughter of Athena, aren't I? Besides, what is he going to tell me anyway?" I asked.
He shifted uncomfortably, as if he didn't want to tell me. Okay, this was getting really weird.
"I-I need to go to archery practice. See you later," he said, running off before I could answer.
I shook my head and sighed again. Nobody ever told me anything lately. They probably didn't want me to worry and have a meltdown again. I trudged myself outside, preparing myself for the stares I was going to get. Again. As I walked past the cabins, almost every pair of eyes turned to me, as if they expected me to break down and start sobbing uncontrollably. The archers stopped shooting arrows, the Pegasus riders pulled their horses to a halt, and the Ares kids stopped stabbing their dummies. I gritted my teeth and turned my attention to the ground. I could still feel the worried looks though. I heard Clarisse bark at her siblings to get back to work and stop staring. She had surprisingly been helpful these days. I guess she got what I was going through.
I climbed up the steps of the Big House and walked through the door. Chiron was sitting in his wheelchair, looking like he was deep in thought. I didn't want to interrupt him, but I had to know what was going on.
"You needed to see me?" I asked, unsure of what to say.
Chiron looked up and gave me a small smile. "Ah, yes. Your father called. He said he wanted to ask you something."
My dad wanted to call me? We hadn't talked since the week after Percy went missing, and that was only a couple of minutes.
"It isn't anything bad, is it?" I said.
"No, no. Just a question. You can use the phone over there," he said, pointing to an old phone hanging on the wall.
I walked over to the phone, stopping dead in my tracks when I saw the wall. I hadn't really noticed it before, but there were a bunch of pictures of Percy and I plastered all over the place. Pictures as old as from when we were just twelve years old, standing next to Thalia's pine tree, to a recent picture of us, arm in arm, both of us smiling like crazy. I tried to tear my eyes away from the photos, but I still couldn't stop myself from glancing at them as I picked up the heavy phone. Fortunately, I still remembered our home phone number. The phone rang for a few seconds until my dad picked up.
"Hello?" he asked.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to croak out a couple of words. "Hey dad, it's me, Annabeth."
"Annabeth! I haven't talked to you in so long! How are you?" he said excitedly.
"I'm fine." I answered blankly. My dad and I weren't exactly buddy-buddy. I wasn't really a daddy's girl.
"Good, good. Are the plans for Olympus going well?" he said, sounding genuinely curious. That was a surprise. Everybody practically started sleeping every time I talked about architecture.
"It's going great, but I haven't really had time to go up there and work on them myself." Okay, that was a lie. I was afraid that I'd somehow kill Hera, even though she was immortal. But with all my anger, I didn't think it'd be impossible. Honestly, I'd really like to kill her, but I didn't think it'd be very smart, considering my situation. I also didn't want to go there because of my mother. I had a feeling that if I went up there, something not very pleasant would happen.
"Well, it takes time. I'm sure it'll be incredible once it's done," he said reassuringly.
"Thanks, dad. So, how's California? Everybody doing okay?" I asked.
"Oh, we're great. Speaking of California, I need to ask you something," he said, his voice sounding anxious.
"Yes?" I questioned, confused at why he would be nervous.
"Well, we were all wondering if you'd like to stay with us over Winter Break. We haven't seen you in so long, and we think you need a vacation, with all the work you're doing. I could email you all of the flight information. You don't have to worry about a thing. What do you think?"
I was shocked. They actually wanted to see me? I didn't know what to say. I stood there, opened mouthed, trying to think of what to say. "Oh. I-I don't know, dad. I need to help with the Argo II. They'll probably screw it up without my help. I mean, I'd really like to come, but I just don't know. Are you sure everybody wants to see me? Besides, I'd just bring trouble. With the war and everything, there's way more monsters than usual. Especially in California. I don't want to harm you guys."
"Of course everybody wants to see you. Annabeth, I know we did some pretty bad mistakes in the past, but I assure you, Susan and I wish we could take that all back. And you're a strong girl. You can handle a couple of measly monsters, can't you? We all really want to see you, Annabeth. I don't want to force you, but I just want you to consider it," he said.
I bit my lip. "I'll consider it, but I'm not completely sure. I want to see you guys too. I just really don't know if it's safe enough."
He sighed. "Okay. I understand. Just think about it. It might get your mind off things."
"Okay, dad. I'll think about it. Well, bye. Tell Bobby and Matthew I said hi. And Susan too," I added.
"Bye, Annabeth. Tell me if you reconsider. Oh, and one more thing. Are you coping well, with you know, Percy's absence?" he asked.
Oh gods. He just had to bring it up, didn't he? "Uh, I'll talk to you later dad. Bye."
He was about to answer, but I hung up before he could finish. I spun around and faced Chiron. "Did you know about this?" I demanded. Chiron had to have been involved somehow.
He looked up from organizing his Frank Sinatra music and faced me as well. "Yes. Your father and I talked about it, and we both felt that it was for the best. We feel that you need to….. get your mind off things."
"What? I need to get my mind off of Percy? You want me to act like nothing's wrong? That he isn't half way across the country, missing, with no idea who he is? Who I am? You can't possibly think I'll do that, Chiron," I said, my eyes stinging.
"Annabeth, we're worried about you. And we feel a little vacation wouldn't do you any harm. I know California isn't exactly safe for demigods, but I think you can handle it. You-"
"You don't get it. You don't get it at all. Nobody knows how it feels. I'm not even going to bother arguing," I said, tears gliding down my face. With that, I went over to the wall, ripped off all of the pictures, and stormed out of the Big House.
I started running. I didn't even know where I was going. Everybody stared, gaping, as I whipped past them, ending up at the entrance of Percy's cabin. I shoved open the door and flicked on the lights.
Clothes were strewn across the room, as if he was still living there. I had begged the harpies not to change anything in the room, because then it'd just be too weird. I crumpled down onto the floor, cradling my head in my hands, rocking back and forth. I could smell the scent of sea salt drifting off of his clothes. I was certain it wasn't just his fountain, because I could see a black hoodie right underneath me. I clutched the hoodie, remembering him wearing it the night he told me-
I've never felt this way before
Everything that I do reminds me of you
And the clothes you left, they lie on the floor
And they smell just like you, I love the things that you do
~When You're Gone, Avril Lavigne
~*~End of Flashback/Dream~*~
"Annabeth? Hellooooo? We only have fifteen minutes left. You have to put on your seatbelt, or else the flight attendant's going to flip out on you," Jake said, waking me up, his ear buds dangling in front of my eyes.
I blinked, my eyebrows scrunching up in confusion. Oh, yeah. Airplane. California. I sat up and strapped the seatbelt across my waist. My head was throbbing, probably because it was leaning against the very comfortable (sarcasm) window for four hours.
"You didn't look through my stuff again, did you?" I said, eyes narrowed menacingly.
Jake held his hands up in surrender, looking scared. "I swear, I touched nothing."
For some reason, I believed him. Remembering we were getting off the plane soon, I grabbed my backpack from under the seat and searched around to check that I still had everything. But, as I was looking around in one of the pockets, the pictures I had ripped off the wall in the Big House fell out. I didn't even know I packed them. I stared at them, confused. I was positive I had left them under my bed in my dorm. I slowly flipped through them, looking at each one carefully.
A picture of Percy and I holding the Golden Fleece, one with Thalia, Percy, and I, one with us at the beach, Percy carrying me bridal style, about to throw me into the water, one with us standing next to Thalia's pine tree, about twelve years old, and the last one with us standing on the steps of the Big House, arm in arm, both of us grinning like mad.
What if Percy doesn't remember any of those moments?
"But most of the office's wall was plastered with photos of demigods, like a hall of fame. One of the newer shots showed a teenage guy with dark hair and green eyes. Since he stood arm in arm with Annabeth, Piper assumed the guy was Percy Jackson."
-The Lost Hero
A/N: I hope you guys liked it! I included the quotes 'cause I thought they made it more…dramatic or something. And yes, I know the little lyrics of Vanilla Twilight were kinda stupid, but I thought it fit really well, and it was cute. So, yeah. Anyway, REVIEW! Let's get to a 100 reviews! If that's possible, considering my epic slowness of updating. I've decided to make a new system. I'll update every Friday or Saturday. It's gonna be hard, since I'm currently juggling two stories, but I'll make it work. ;) Questions, comments, complains, or concerns? Send me a PM or review! I accept flames! Anybody OOC? TELL ME! Come on people, you know you want to. XD Answer the Questions of the Day too!
QUESTIONS OF THE DAY:
Are any of you guy's international readers? International= Not America ;)
Do you think I need a beta? If so, umm, how do I get one? I've only been on here for like 3 months so I have no idea.
What was your favorite part?
IF YOU WANT TO SEE A REALLY GOOD DRAWING OF THE PICTURE OF PERCY AND ANNABETH, GO TO GOOGLE AND SEARCH "CHIRONS OFFICE". THE FIRST LINK SHOULD BE IT. ARTIST IS BURDGE-BUG. IT'S ON DeviantART.
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