A/N: SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING! I was really sick, and my history teacher feels that we should have a 200 point project every week. And she likes to pair me up with lazy people so I end up doing all the work. Needless to say, I was really busy.

Disclaimer: If I was Rick Riordan, I wouldn't be a complete troll and leave cliffhangers all the time and make my fans wait A WHOLE YEAR for a book. Anyway, don't own PJO. :'(

As soon as I felt the plane stop, I immediately jumped up out of my seat and squeezed past Jake to get into the crowded aisle. The passengers were giving me annoyed looks but I didn't really care. Because of my height, I could easily reach the overhead compartment and grab my bag quickly. After six hours of torture from Jake, I wanted to get off the plane as soon as possible. I strapped my backpack loosely over my shoulder and tried to roll my suitcase past the other passengers, but they were taking forever to get their stuff together. There was a guy in front of me who was way shorter than me, so he was struggling to pull his bags out. Annoyed by his slowness, I pulled his bag out with ease and handed it to him.

"Uh, thanks," he muttered, seeming embarrassed that he couldn't get it himself. I nodded and slipped past him, jumping over the blankets and pillows that were thrown carelessly on the floor. It looked like a pigsty. Just as I was about to exit the plane, I heard Jake call out to me.

"Annabeth! Annabeth, wait!" he yelled.

I whipped around and narrowed my eyes at him. What did he want now? He was pretty far away from me, probably unable to get over to me because of all of the people, but that didn't stop him from asking me something.

"Do you want to go on a date sometime? Like, can I have your number?"

I widened my eyes, my face burning from embarrassment. I was pretty sure I had heard a few "AWWS!" after he asked me that. I felt bad for him, but at the same time, I was irritated that he didn't get the point that I wasn't interested, and that I had a boyfriend.

"I already told you, I have a boyfriend!" I replied.

"OOH, BURN!" I heard someone yell out.

Resisting the urge to laugh, I hurriedly ran out of the plane, anxious to finally get some fresh air, and, well, I guess see my dad. I speed-walked through the airport, my eyes searching through the mob of people for a familiar face.

I couldn't see a thing. Frustrated by the pushing and shoving of the people around me, I managed to find a bench to stand on. Ignoring the stares, I examined the crowd again, standing on my tippy-toes on the arm of the bench.

"Annabeth!" someone called out. Startled, I turned my head in the direction of the voice and breathed a sigh of relief. There was my dad, with Susan, Matthew, and Bobby trailing behind him. I jumped off the bench and rushed towards them. As I got closer and closer to him, I thought about how I would greet them. Hug them? Say hello and smile? I was completely clueless, something I hated being.

As soon as I reached my dad, he enveloped me in a hug without hesitation. I stood there, startled, stiff as a board. I never hugged anybody, the only exceptions being Percy. Not wanting to be rude, I eventually hugged him back. After a few seconds, we both let go. Wow, that was awkward.

"Hey, Dad. How's it going?" I asked lamely with a nervous laugh.

He looked at me for a few seconds, his wide grin faltering a bit when he looked at me. Did I really look that horrible? He had a somewhat confused look on his face, as if he didn't recognize me.

"Uh, Dad? Something wrong?"

He looked at me again, like he just noticed I was there. "What? Oh, nothing. You've just changed a bit. Well, a lot actually," he said with worrying eyes.

"Changed? What do you mean? It's not like I dyed my hair neon green or something. I'm still the same old person," I replied, wondering what was so different about me.

He was about to answer, but Bobby and Matthew barreled towards me, hugging my waist. I jumped a bit, alarmed at their greeting.

"Annabeth! We haven't seen you in FOREVER!" they told me in unison.

"Hey guys," I smiled back, bending down to their height and ruffling their hair.

I stood up and was met by Susan beaming at me. "Annabeth! Oh, you look exhausted! Was it a long flight? Anything bad happen on the way? Did they lose any of your bags?" she asked me all in one breath. Although Susan and I didn't exactly get along when I was little, she had gotten better as I got older and she was okay now. We weren't exactly buddy-buddy, and I would never call her Mom, but at least we got along pretty well now.

"Yeah, I'm pretty exhausted. I was stuck by this really annoying guy who was determined to get me to go out with him," I said, rolling my eyes.

She laughed, but she did the same thing my dad did. She gave me a worried look and looked at me as if she didn't recognize me. What was up with everyone? Did I have something on my face or something?

She looked back at Dad, like they were thinking the same thing. I looked at them skeptically. This was getting weird.

"You guys, come on! Are we just going to stand here like zombies, or are we going to get out of here? You know I'm claustrophobic!" Matthew complained. Dad, who had been whispering something to Susan, immediately stopped and looked at all of us. Noticing our expressions, he smiled a bit and picked up my bags.

"So, where to, Annabeth? Do you want to go out to eat? Go home? Anywhere is fine with us, right boys?" he said, looking pointedly at Matthew and Bobby. They rolled their eyes and sighed, like they had discussed this earlier.

"Uh, home, I guess. I don't really care," I answered, shrugging. He was treating me like I was his guest or something, not his daughter.

"Home it is," he said. With that, we all started walking towards the exit. I couldn't help noticing how out of place I looked . If someone looked at me now, they would never guess I was part of the family. There was my dad, with his blond hair and brown eyes eyes, Susan, with her black hair and brown eyes, and the twins, who both had black hair and brown eyes, just like Susan. And then there was me, with my blonde hair and gray eyes. The only resemblance between the five of us was my Dad and I's blonde hair and tallness, but that was about it. I stood out like a sore thumb.

I was so lost in thought, I accidently bumped into someone. Hard. As I looked up to say sorry, I was surprised to see who it was. It was Jake again, and he looked pretty excited to see me.

"Annabeth! I've been looking for you!" he grinned. Oh gods, he was probably going to ask me for my number again.

"Look Jake, I'm still not interested," I sighed.

"No, I was going to give you these pictures. You left them on the plane. I'm guessing that's your boyfriend?" he smirked while showing me the pictures I had forgotten.

I blushed and grabbed the pictures from him. "Oh, thanks. I'm so glad you found them. I can't believe I forgot them."

"Nah, no problem. See you around sometime?"

I nodded unsurely and he walked off. I turned around to face my family and realized they had been staring at Jake and I the whole time. I had totally forgotten about them.

"Is that the annoying guy from the plane?" Susan asked with a laugh.

"Yeah. Turns out I forgot some…pictures," I replied, suddenly uncomfortable.

"EEW! Why do you have a picture of you and Percy kissing?" Matthew and Bobby pointed at one of the pictures in my hand, looking at me with disgusted faces. I looked down at the photo. Sure enough, there was a picture of Percy and I kissing, sitting on the dock at camp.

Horrified, I stuffed the pictures in my pocket and started speed walking, hoping to remind everyone that we had somewhere to be. They got the message and followed me silently. I slowed a little and waited for Dad and Susan to catch up with me. I realized that Dad and Susan hadn't told Matthew and Bobby about Percy's disappearance. If they knew, I was pretty sure they wouldn't have brought that up, knowing it made me uncomfortable.

"Did you guys not tell them?" I hissed.

"About what?" Susan whispered.

"About…Percy and I's situation," I mumbled.

"We didn't think you wanted them to know!" Dad replied.

"Well, maybe if you did, it wouldn't be so uncomfortable and awkward. They're going to ask me questions about him. And that's not a topic I want to discuss right now," I said, speed-walking towards the door of Dad's Honda. I stood there impatiently, waiting for them to catch up so they could unlock the car. As soon as they did, Matthew and Bobby practically run me over while trying to get inside, claiming they HAD to get the window seat. I sighed once I realized I had to sit in-between them. Here are just a few things they said during the ride:

"Annabeth! Scoot over! I'm squished!"

"Could you lean back a bit? I need to show Matthew something on my iPod."

"Annabeth, get your hair out of my face!"

"Shut up Bobby!"

"You shut up!"

"Dad, tell him to stop!"

"MOOOM! Annabeth's talking in that weird language again!"

I groaned inwardly at the thought of having to deal with this for three more weeks. I looked out the window and realized we were on The Golden Gate Bridge, one of my favorite bridges. For some reason, I felt like there was something important about it.

What if…what if Percy is somewhere near here?

My thoughts were interrupted by a gasp coming from Bobby.

"Percy taught you how to surf? NO WAY!" he said, holding up a picture of me surfing terribly on the beach at camp, with Percy close by my side, ready to catch me if I fell. I widened my eyes and snatched it away from him, almost ripping it. I clearly remembered stuffing the pictures in my pocket. Those little monsters.

"Bobby! Stop looking through my stuff!" I yelled at him.

Dad sighed and looked at us through the rearview mirror. "Boys, stop it. One more time and you're grounded."

As they protested and complained, I could only think of one thing: There's something up with this bridge, and I have to find out why I have a feeling that Percy's somewhere near here.

A/N: OOOH! What could it be? Tell me what you think! Suggestions, complaints, compliments, or questions? Send me a PM or REVIEW! I'll try to answer as quickly as I can! Don't forget to check out my poll on my profile, and answer the QOTD!

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*sniffle* You will be dearly missed.