Hello my dearies. Author's note at the end of the chapter. ;)

Rated T/M

Shout-outs - [Love you all so, so much :3 (::) ]

Azuphere
Ashvin Wijay
AliceTonksHPJ
DestinyDLG
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PercyJHungerGames98
TyberAurora (
your question has been answered at end of the chapter but I'd suggest you read the chapter first ;) )
Horse1lover3
silena4kane

Chapter 4: Love Sucks, Trusting Hurts

"I found the heart of a lion
In the belly of the beast
And I held it in my hand, and I could feel
I could feel, feel the beat…"

Annabeth

As I opened the main hall's door, all eyes fell on me. I mean, it has been a full two days since I stepped foot in Goode. Who wouldn't want to see what happened to the poor, little, betrayed Annabeth Chase? Sure thing they thought I'd show up with eyes red from crying, random clothes, a couple of pounds heavier from the ice cream I would have possibly devoured, makeup-less and generally, the most pathetic mess I could have ever possibly been in my entire life.

Imagine how underestimated I felt when almost every face's eyes grew wide, my thoughts confirmed, as I walked in as usual, wearing nothing but my dark ripped skinny jeans, grey tank top with the D&G logo on it, high-heeled boots, RayBan sunglasses covering my eyes and well, of course with my usual amount of makeup. In other words, I appeared to be the exact opposite of what most of them expected.

As I continued walking after a couple of seconds of absolute stillness, the 'gangs' started gathering and whispering things I already knew. Things that flashed in my mind as I spent all of my strength to keep on placing one foot in front of the other, pretending to be alright.

I shook my head and chuckled sadly. This place would never change.

I found my locker and instead of opening it, I stared at it like it was the most precious thing in the world. I closed my eyes and tightened the grip on my bag, as the memories started to sink in. The bathroom, Nate, Percy. And her. I couldn't even think about her name without feeling the bitterness forming in my mouth, not to mention say it.

"Good morning, Wise Girl." Percy whispered, interrupting my thoughts and causing me to open my eyes.

I took a deep breath and looked at him. My expression must have been something between murderous and cold-blooded assassin, since he frowned sort of terrified. I half-smiled at him as he leaned against some locker. He looked so calm in his navy blue T-shirt and faded blue jeans, his wonderful eyes protected by his glasses. "I can't say it's good, but it is a morning nevertheless." I responded and he smiled sadly.

"How are you holding up?" he asked, worry and concern obvious in his voice.

I inhaled and glanced at my locker again. Before I could figure how I actually felt, my phone rang and caught my attention. I took it out and placed my RayBan higher on my hair, as I checked the phone number. For the God-knows-how-many time during those past two days, I felt my heart painfully skipping beats. Not those beats you skip when you're excited or in love, but the aching ones. The ones that you wish would stop hurting so much, but they don't.

I declined quickly and cleared my throat. Percy raised his eyebrow at me and I avoided his eyes. "Who was it?" he questioned and I started walking away, staring straight ahead.

Once I noticed that he followed me, I closed my eyes briefly and took another deep breath, right before I stop and turn around to face him. "You know exactly who it was, Percy." I said, my angry tone becoming slightly apparent and my eyes unknowingly glaring at him.

He half-smiled sadly at me again and dropped his look on the ground. "How many times has she called you?" he asked and earned himself another stray glare.

"I don't know and I can't say that I particularly care." I retorted shortly.

For a couple of seconds, he simply stood there, looking down and not saying a word. He knew he didn't have to. This was one of his many good qualities. He knew when it was the right time to speak and when silence was all it needed. Suddenly, that sad smile returned in his face and his eyes returned on my face searching for mine, as he cocked his head to the sides. I couldn't help but notice he had that sad smile on from the beginning of our conversation. I immediately felt terrible for being too caught up in my own drama –as usual- and not even asking him if he was okay. But before I could, he, as always, had to make sure if I was relatively fine. "You never answered my original question." he reminded me.

For the first time that day, I lifted my look from his other facial features and really met his all-knowing eyes, as they showed me the true nature of my following answer. How was I holding up. Was I? Was I holding up? Was I holding up to something? And I realized I didn't have to say it. He already knew I wasn't. It was like he knew me better than I knew myself. Nonetheless, I swallowed hard and held his eyes, as the words came out of my mouth. Maybe I just needed to hear it. "I'm not." I managed, struggling not to break down in front of the whole school.

He inhaled deeply and stepped forward, drawing me into a hug. I returned it without any hesitations. "Remember when we agreed to start fresh?" he asked me and I nodded. He pulled slightly back from our hug. "I'd like to think that this means we can trust each other anything. And that when you need someone to talk to, I'm going to be there for you. You can count on me." he told me and I managed to smile.

"Thank you." I responded and leaned my head back, striving to make those tears return to my eyes. "Damn it, Jackson. You almost ruined my mascara."

He smiled. "That's because I think you look way more beautiful without it."

I processed what he had just said. Beautiful. Me, beautiful. Wow. I was surprised at the minimum number of times I had heard that from someone. Hot or smoking hot or gorgeous, yes, these were my standard compliments. But listening to Percy calling me beautiful… It was sad. Sad because that beautiful girl he was gazing at would break his heart at some point. She would. I managed an awkward smile back, right before Irene joins us.

"Well well, someone is certainly not having a hard time letting go of her ex." she taunted loudly, so she could capture the attention of the students. She smirked smugly right before her face turns into a false-shocked expression. "Oops. Did I interrupt something? So sorry if I did. Keep it up. Don't mind me and the rest of the school." she sneered.

Instantly, my expression turned harsher and the soft and tender tone I used before with Percy vanished. I turned at him, my eyes begging him to listen to me. "Percy, can you leave us for a couple of minutes?" He nodded and glanced briefly at Irene before he goes to his locker. "What do you want, Irene?" I asked tightly.

She grinned cockily. "Me? Just to point out the obvious. It didn't take you long enough to replace Nathaniel, did it Annabeth? And from what I see," She body-checked Percy from the short distance between us ironically and her look returned at me. "-what a replacement. From the teacher's son to the popular jock and from that to –oh, well, who would have thought. To the new geek. I have to say, I thought you were a one type of man girl, but turns out you just love variety, don't you?" she jeered and took one step towards me. "Hope he has more talents than he appears to. And FYI, correct spelling doesn't count. But you know exactly what I mean, don't you Annabeth?"

I scoffed and ignored the giggles of the girls accompanying her. "You're the one to talk, Irene when it comes to right men choices. How did you spend your summer again? Oh, right. On a tour van constantly high and drunk, next to the one and only loser of the day, Ethan Nakamura." I attacked, but she seemed unaffected by my words.

"Well, at least it was on a tour van." she said melancholically and smirked. "Please, Chase. Do you think that anyone cares about my summer when your fall is so much more passionate and…interesting? Full with intrigue and suspense?" she said and pretended to clear the dust off her jacket. "How's Silena, by the way?"

With that, I glared at her and stepped forward. "Back off, Irene. She is off limits."

She shook her head, fake sympathy drawn all over her face. "Poor Annabeth. So hurt that you can't even stand her name. I don't blame you. Catching her about to get laid with your boyfriend can be pretty rough. I still wonder though, how does it actually feels when your best friend betrays your trust in any way possible, lies to you repeatedly and fucks your boyfriend behind your back?" she questioned rhetorically.

I stepped forward, my heart aching as she reminded me everything that had happened that Sunday night. "You've done way worse, Irene. You and your whole gang of sluts. No offense girls."

She chuckled, a sign of truth and sadness in that laugh of hers. "Indeed, we have. But even you have to admit that my friends, my sluts as you call them, have been with me forever. Haven't you, girls?" she asked and most of them nodded. She smirked confidently. "They have. And they have because they know that I, no matter how horrible or lame things I may have done and will certainly do, am never going to betray their trust. That's why they are loyal to me." she explained and placed a loose tendril behind my ear. "It's a co-depended relationship between a queen and her servants, darling. As long as I don't go behind their backs, they have no reason to go behind mine. And they know damn well that if they do so, I can make them regret that decision of theirs every waking moment of their lives."

I pulled my head back and her hand fell to her sides. "Make your point, Irene."

She smirked again and took a sip of her coffee. "Unlike me, you treated Silena as your equal. As… a queen herself. But unfortunately, we all know how that ended." She passed me her coffee and glanced behind me. "Maybe it's time to show her who was really in charge of your so called friendship."

I turned around to check the hallway's door and my heart stopped beating in my chest. She had just entered in the building and her eyes immediately found me. I felt my eyes sting as they began to water. I turned back to Irene as I strived to control my breathing. "I'm not like you." I told her.

At that moment she looked at me without smiling, but her eyes weren't blank as usual. They were showing me something… I can't figure what exactly, but I'd swear it was… sympathy. Real sympathy. It only lasted a couple of seconds before the smug smirk returns to her face, but I frowned nevertheless. "Ah, Annabeth. Always the merciful one. That's our only difference, you know." she said wishfully. "I'm too emotionless, you're too nice. Maybe that's why it will be harder for you to break his heart." I widened my eyes and looked at the coffee. What did that have to do with Percy? She sighed impatiently and looked at me inquisitively. "Well? I don't have all day."

I closed my eyes and went back to that night. I remembered how stupid and humiliated I had felt. How hurt and used she had made me feel. I wasn't as hurt by Nate's betrayal as I was by hers. She was my best friend. And she went behind my back in the worst way possible. I opened my eyes and from Irene's satisfied smile, I understood my expression was the one she used daily; the indifferent, insensitive and cruel mask she wore every day. Only in my case, it wasn't a mask. It was who I was. A part of me that she had managed to bring out.

Suddenly, I felt someone next to me. I turned my head and saw no one else but Luke, smirking and running a hand through his dirty blonde hair. "I'd normally say I'm sorry to interrupt, but this is too important. Can I talk to you in private?" he asked me.

I eyed Irene and my grip on the coffee tightened. "In a minute. Wait for me here."

And with that, I turned 180 degrees on my heels and walked towards the person I had trusted the most for the last five years. She was still on the same spot I had first seen her that morning, frozen and waiting for me. "You're here." Silena said weakly. I waited, my expression remaining as emotionless as it had a minute ago. She looked around nervously. Everyone had stopped whatever they were doing and watched us once again. "Annabeth, I am so-"

"Save it." I cut her off. "I don't need your apologies. I'm done with your lies." I retorted. For one moment, just for one tiny second, as I looked at her, I began having second thoughts about it. But if Irene was right about anything, this was the one. No matter how cruel it might be and sound. "I'm done with you." I finished and spilled the coffee all over her face.

I immediately turned around and started pacing back at Luke and Irene. I felt like everything happened in slow motion. The surprised faces of the student as they gasped, Percy's widening his eyes, Irene's chuckle and her wink at me as she headed off with her girls and Luke's confused expression that was worth millions.

I gave the empty cup of coffee to a random girl and motioned for Luke to follow me.

We entered an entirely empty hallway and I stopped walking, staring straight ahead, realizing what I had just done. But not for a moment did I regret it.

Luke stood in front of me and cleared his throat, as he took out a packet of cigarettes out of his pockets. He placed one on his mouth and offered me one. I shook my head negatively. He sighed and shrugged, putting the packet back in his pocket. "What do you want, Luke?" I asked exhausted.

He exhaled a plume of smoke. "I haven't heard you that tired since that Rick incident." he answered worried. "Are you okay?"

"I've certainly been better." I told him. "What do you want?" I asked again.

He lifted my head and made direct eye contact with me. "What I want has nothing to do with the actual reason that I wanted to talk to you." he admitted and focused on my lips.

I glanced at his and struggled to look away, knowing that if I stared for too long, I wouldn't hold back. "Which is…?" I waited.

He ran a hand through his hair and cleared his throat. "I know." he said. "About the true deal, Jackson, everything."

I widened my eyes and my heart skipped a beat. "You what? H-How?" I managed to ask stuttering.

He tensed and let his cigar fall to the ground, right before he steps on it. "It doesn't matter-"

"Yes, it does, Luke! I-" I paused and blinked furiously. "Of course it does. Did Irene tell you about this?"

"Hey, relax." he said and placed his hands on my forearms. "She has absolutely no idea that I know. I found out that morning while I was making out with some random girl from Mane. I heard pretty much everything."

I blinked even more and my mouth slightly opened, unable to choose of how to react. "Oh my God." I murmured astonished. "You are such a huge douchebag."

"Annabeth-" he tried, as I pushed him off me.

"No, Luke!" I shouted at him. "You've known about this for almost two weeks and you hadn't given me a single clue!"

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me close to him, his face inches from mine. "Dammit, listen to me." he said sharply and low-voiced. I refused to look at him, but his hand grasped my face and forced me to. "I wanted to tell you. More than anything else. But a lot have happened since last week and I never found a proper chance to."

I snatched my wrist and released my head from his grip. "And why should I believe you? For all I know, you might be just like Silena. Nothing but lies and more lies." I snapped painfully.

His eyes sparkled, but then, he focused on my lips again. "I would never lie to you, Annabeth." he murmured and stepped closer. "Never have, never intend to."

I let him stroke my face softly and I closed my eyes, sensing his fingers running up and down my cheek. When I reopened them, I sighed and let myself focus on the lips I so wanted to taste. I moved my hands up to his neck and brought him closer, until our lips touched. We parted almost immediately and I realized it wasn't enough. "Jackass." I whispered before I kiss him for real and deepen the kiss instantly.

He smirked as my tongue explored his mouth and picked me up. "You like it way too much, Chase." he teased me and picked me up.

"Shut up, Castellan." I retorted and wrapped my legs around his waist, as we headed for the janitor's empty office.

Percy

They say people can't change from one minute to another. I believe they can. Because from one moment to another, Annabeth Chase turned into the cruelest person I had ever known my entire life.

I had no idea five years can change you so much. I changed. But I hoped she hadn't. I wished every day that I was in Los Angeles that she would remain the same. She would still be my best friend. But she wasn't. She had forgotten everything about me and her old life. And no matter what she had told me, I thought that there was the possibility that she didn't want to remember. Due to her fear of changing or her fear of losing her social status. I didn't know, but she was afraid of something.

After her humiliating Silena in front of every student in the hallway and taking off with Luke, I ran to her former best friend and took her away from all the ironic chuckles and giggles. I just took her hand and dragged her out of there.

Once we were at the cafeteria and consequently far enough from everyone and everything, she sat in a table and cried. Really cried. A terrible cry, filled with gasps and sobs.

I jumped behind the counter and grabbed some napkins, a towel and a bottle of water –everything I found with a quick glance. I placed them on the table and waited for her to finish. It wasn't fair. She might have done something wrong, but it was pretty clear to me and several others that she had truly regretted her mistake. And she hadn't even got the chance to say how sorry she really was. She didn't deserve this. At all.

A couple of minutes later, she managed to stop. She lifted her look and gazed at me short of ashamed. I took a napkin and started removing the coffee from her face. She didn't say anything, just sat there and let me clean her face.

I had managed to clean one third of her face when the faint sound of the bell was heard across the room. She looked at me again and half-smiled. "You don't have to clean everything." she said and I frowned. "You'll miss your class."

I opened the bottle and wetted the towel's edge. "I don't care." I responded, a light smile playing on my lips. She blushed and looked away. I carefully cleaned her neck with the towel and removed the last stains of coffee from her eyes and cheeks. I placed the towel down and gave her one crooked smile. "There you go. I didn't manage to get the one from your hair or your shirt, but-"

"You've done enough already." she cut in and placed her hand on mine. Under different circumstances, this would be extremely awkward for me, but I knew she did it only in gratitude that I helped her. She looked away again, her eyes turning sad. "You're a special guy, Percy. Don't let them change you as they changed her." she said and I blinked when I realized she was talking about Annabeth.

"Are you going to be okay?" I asked her concerned.

She smiled reassuringly and nodded. "I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. Most of the time." I took a deep breath and took off my glasses to clean them. "You've got a thing about cleaning, don't you?" she joked.

I chuckled and put them back on. "After my parents got a divorce in Los Angeles, I used to break my glasses all the time, so I could get my mom and dad at the same room for more than ten minutes." I told her and she laughed frowning confused. "The alimony covered any health expenses, so he had to meet with my mom." I explained. "Anyway, after seven broken pair of glasses, my mother told me that this eight pair would be my last one. She specifically threatened me by saying that if I dared to even scratch them, she'd throw them away herself and leave me sightless for the rest of my life." I continued and she bit her lip. "I got so scared of staying blind that I ended up cleaning those glasses almost every hour of every day." I concluded and she began laughing for real. She did have a great laugh.

"Seriously?" she asked somewhere between her laughs.

I chuckled a little bit myself and nodded. "I used to have nightmares that Tyson, my younger brother, would take them and he'd accidentally drop them, and I would never see anything ever again." I confessed and she laughed even harder.

When we calmed down, she wiped away a few tears laughing had caused her to shed. "You had a very interesting childhood, Percy." she resulted and I shrugged.

"It was pretty normal to me." I admitted. "What about you?"

She sighed and messed with her fingers nervously. "Oh, you don't want to know. It includes way too much parental drama."

I straightened my back and smiled. "I think I can take it. Mine did too. And this school is filled with drama anyway."

She pursed her lips and glanced at the window to the wall next to us. "My mom…She was a fashion designer. One of the most famous in the country." She paused and I nodded. "She met my dad in one of those boring galas. He owned a catering company that served deserts in things like this one. They started talking about sweets and he asked her out on a date. After that, it's the same old story. One thing led to another and two years later, she had me and my brother, Mitchell. But my mother, she was kind of… adventurous." she continued, a sad smile playing on her lips. "She had never been married to anyone, not even my father. She wasn't a family type of woman and at some point, the media found out. About a year after they had us, they discovered her affair with that famous actor, Tristan McLean. Gosh, he was handsome." she commented. "A month later she disappeared. No one knows what happened. She just took off and I never saw her again."

I scrunched my eyebrows together thinking. "Just like that?" I asked.

She pursed her lips again and slightly raised her eyebrows. "I don't think so. I knew my mom. Even though she never planned on being a mother, she wouldn't have left us unless she had had a very important reason to. "

"Have you ever searched for her?" I asked after several moments of silence.

She nodded. "Didn't found much." she answered, a sign of defeat in her voice. Then, her expression changed. It included a hint of hurt. "The only thing I managed to discover was that she had had another baby with Tristan a week before she disappears. The media never found out about the little girl and McLean never made any statements when it came to the legendary Aphrodite." she finished.

Aphrodite. What a name. "So, you have a half-sister out there." I concluded and Silena placed a strand of sticky hair behind her ear, looking outside again.

"And I don't even know her name." she added wishfully.

I frowned and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. About both of them." I murmured.

She shrugged. "We'll never know, right? She might as well be in Dubai drinking cocktails besides a gigantic pool."

I half-smiled. "Everything is possible. I still have that pair of glasses." I joked comfortingly.

She chuckled and got up. "Thank you, Percy. For… everything."

I got up as well and smiled. "Do you need anything else? A shirt, anything?"

She shook her head negatively. "I'm good. All I need is some brains to find a way to repay you."

I grinned. "You don't have to. I just… wanted to help. That's all."

"I do." she insisted. "Now go, you'll miss your entire class."

I shrugged once again carelessly and headed to the exit. I glanced one last time behind me and saw Silena gazing at the window for once again. She was just as tortured as Annabeth and I had been. She didn't deserve that ridiculous amount of drama in her life.

Any of that drama.

xXx

After I finished my fifth period, I headed towards the gym. I always went there when I needed to think. It was like being in the pool, but it was exclusively for the swimming team. The gym was the second best thing when it came to quiet places in between the breaks.

I sat at the stands and took out my iPod. I pressed shuffle and 'Black Out Days' by Phantogram began playing. I sighed as the last line of the song hit me. I don't recognize you anymore. Couldn't ask for anything more suitable. She had been on my mind the entire day. I needed to talk to her and clear things out. The fact that I hadn't seen her the entire morning after her humiliating Silena hadn't been much helpful though.

I sighed again and threw my head back, hiding it with my palms. I had to stop thinking about her the whole time. It was unhealthy and pointless. At least now that she had turned into Miss Popular. I had exactly zero of potential to make her accept going out on a real date with me. Or even meet me somewhere so we could talk. Maybe that's what she did to all of those guys who were drooling over her. She was introducing herself and enchanted them, showed them a harsh side of her personality, and then left them wondering who she really was or if she had been actually interested in them. She was enchanting, mysterious, tortured and beautiful. The killer combination for any guy to deal with.

Suddenly, I felt someone standing next to me. I opened my eyes immediately and took off one of my earphones. "Girl trouble?" the guy asked me.

I frowned and blinked confused. I recognized his face but I couldn't remember his name. Maybe I had seen him around and never happened to know it. I sighed sort of defeated and grinned. "How did you figure?"

He shrugged. "Music, a quiet place to think, lots of sighs. Not that hard." he answered.

I chuckled. "I never thought that someone like you would ever have this kind of trouble." I said. He was one of those fair blue-eyed football players that girls usually fainted for. He wore a red t-shirt, grey sweatpants and a pair of Jordan shoes; casual outfit of a jock.

He chuckled as well and sat to the seat next to me. "Dude, you have no idea." he murmured and scratched the back of his neck. I distinguished an eagle SPQR tattoo a little lower than his wrist with a lot of black lines below it. He noticed that I was watching it and rushed to answer my upcoming question. "I got it my first year on the military summer camp down in San Francisco. Every line corresponds to every year I spent there."

I frowned in pain. "You have at least ten lines in there."

"Twelve actually." he ascertained.

I widened my eyes shocked. Was this guy serious? "You had a tattoo when you were four or five years old?"

He chuckled sadly. "Dad is a chairman at an uprising company, too busy to let us strolling around the house, discovers a military camp across the country. You do the math." he said.

I looked straight ahead, his description of his father reminding mine. They had a dangerous amount of common ground, both in their lives and characters. "Sounds like my dad."

He looked at me frowning. "Businessman?"

I nodded. "Ship owner. That's why we moved in L.A. at the first place. More clients, best market. He insisted it would be a fresh start for all of us." I told him. "But it turns out it was fresh solely for him."

He placed a hand in my shoulder, as 'Black Parade' began playing at my now one earphone. "Jason Grace." he introduced himself and extended his hand.

"Percy Jackson." I replied and shook his hand firmly.

He glanced at my iPod and strained his ears. "MCR. My sister was nuts about them." he stated.

I turned the song off, trying not to be rude by letting it distract me and keep me from having a conversation with him. "Uh, and like everything worth of listening, they disbanded." I commented.

"Uh, you did not want to be around my house when she found out about that." he added false-terrified and I chuckled. "Look," he began. "I saw you helping Silena this morning and I thought it was kind of cool that you did when no one else took the time to. I wanted to, but in the end I didn't, and I feel awful about it now." he admitted.

I shrugged and looked at the basketball court. "She didn't deserve this. And I didn't want everyone to continue mocking her when she had just been hurt by her former best friend. I know I wouldn't want to feel like this if something like this had happened to me." I responded.

He smiled again. "You're a nice guy, Jackson. Probably too nice for your own shake." he told me.

I scowled thoughtfully. "Perhaps you're right. It might cost my back a few more meetings with the lockers, along with the slight help of Castellan."

"Oh, that's just Luke's unique way to welcome the guys in Goode. He uses an entirely different method for girls." he informed me.

I chuckled once again, already knowing about this. "So I've heard."

All of a sudden, another guy stormed in the gym. "Hey, Jason!" he shouted and jogged to us. His skin was dark and he was muscular, probably another athlete. He had short messy brown hair and similar big eyes. He was in a pair of military green basketball shorts and black jogging sleeveless blouse. "Man, I've looked all over for you. Come on, we have practice in ten."

Jason glanced briefly at me and thought about introducing me to our practice buddy. "Beckendorf, this is Percy Jackson." he began and I got up. "Percy, this is Charles Beckendorf."

Charles grinned and shook my hand firmly. "Beckendorf for friends." he told me and I smiled.

"Nice to meet you." I responded.

"Beckendorf is our key to success for this year's basketball tournament." Jason informed me smirking.

I frowned and gave them a crooked grin. "You play basketball?"

He nodded. "Since I was five. I'm actually here on a sports scholarship." he explained and I shook my head acknowledgedly.

"Interesting. I didn't know Goode had a basketball team." I said honestly.

Jason placed his hand on Beckendorf's shoulder. "Beck and I decided to form one for this year's tournament."

Beckendorf chuckled. "Yeah, we'll make sure everyone knows Goode has a considerable team."

I laughed along. "That's great guys. I hope this works."

After smiling in gratitude, Jason frowned thoughtfully. "Hey, Perce, would you like to try out for the team?"

Both of the guys stared at me and I widened my eyes surprised. "Me?" I asked pointing at my chest. "I …don't think it would be a very good idea." I said chuckling.

Beckendorf exchanged a look with Jason. "I don't see why not. Have you ever played before?"

"Yeah, sure. I played a little bit back at my L.A. school team, but besides that, I've never actually been a part of a team before." I told them.

"Well, you can always try out and see." Jason suggested. "Plus, it'd be fun."

Beckendorf agreed and I sighed. I never really managed to give them a proper answer, since I was cut off by Silena's sudden storming in the gym. "Hey guys." she greeted and managed a wide smile at all of us. She paced slowly towards us and I noticed she had borrowed one of the extra employer's t-shirts from the cafeteria. They kept them there for the cook or the ladies behind the counter in case they had an 'accident' or something.

Jason smiled warmly and apologetically at her and placed his hand on her forearm once she reached us. "Are you okay?" he asked and she shrugged, glancing at me.

"Yeah. I'm… holding there." she answered and turned at Beckendorf. "I believe we haven't met." she told him and extended her hand at him. "I'm Silena."

Beck, who had been gazing at her from the moment she had stepped foot in the gym, slightly shook his head as if he was waking up from a daydream and smiled awkwardly. "Ch-Charles. Charles Beckendorf." he introduced himself, his voice containing a fair amount of nervousness.

Silena smiled back. "Can I call you Charlie, Charles?" she questioned and he nodded, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sure."

She grinned at him and a slight blush appeared on her cheeks. "Coach Hedge wants to see you and Jason in his office. Something about a basketball team." she informed them. "Are you planning to form one?"

Charles looked at Jason almost desperately, but he just shrugged. "You tell it, Charlie. I believe I can't recollect all the information correctly." Uh, what a tease Jason Grace actually was.

Beckendorf glared at him momentarily, but pulled himself together the next second and smiled at Silena. "Yeah, we decided to try… restoring the old fame that the basketball team used to bring Goode all those years ago. We are currently…gathering members to…try out for the team." he stuttered, thinking that she would find him absolutely boring and take off, but much to his surprise, she kept standing there and listened to every single one of his words, nodding from time to time to help him. "Like Percy here." he announced suddenly and turned at me. "Tell her Percy."

I was caught completely off guard and didn't know where to start from. A part of me wanted to kill Beckendorf, but I knew he only transferred the conversation to me because he was more nervous than a groom would be on the stairs of a church, waiting for the bride to arrive. Before I could manage to form a sentence, Silena, having raised her eyebrow, asked me surprised. "Are you trying out for the team?"

I shrugged. "I…don't know yet." was all I answered. "Perhaps. I might. I'm not sure." I added quickly.

After a couple of moments of awkward silence between the four of us, she spoke again. "Okay then. I better head back in. I haven't seen her since this morning and I really don't want to end up with another coffee all over my clothes." she joked and we gave her a series of sad smiles. She took a couple of steps backwards and turned at Beckendorf, smiling. "It was nice meeting you, Charlie."

He smiled back. "You too, Silena." he responded and she bit her lip right before she turns around and climbs the stairs towards the exit door.

Suddenly, Jason began laughing and patted Beck's shoulder comfortingly. "She likes you, champ."

Beckendorf stared at him. "Shut up, Grace. You put me in the middle of this in the first place."

He laughed even louder and turned at me. "Yeah, whatever. Hey, Perce; let me know when you make up your mind, okay?" he said and I nodded. "Come on, Beck. Let's not keep this satyr waiting." he said and they took off for Coach's office.

I picked up my stuff and heard the bell ringing. Try out for the basketball team. Could I do that? Should I do that? I mean, if Luke's on the team too, I might as well sign a death contract. I didn't know. Don't let them change you as they changed her, Silena had told me. If I signed up for the team, would this mean that I would change? Change into someone so cold as Annabeth had acted today? Or even worse, get the permanent disease called Irene McAllister? Jason was an athlete –obviously. And popular. But he wasn't like the others. He was nice and accepting. He wasn't a jackass. He could totally be one, but he had chosen not to.

I wasn't sure and I had no idea of what to do. But one thing I had found out today was that Goode wasn't as bad as it looked like. It might seem dreadful in the mornings, but as the day went by, it could turn out pretty good.

I smiled as I reached my locker. I could get used to it.

Bam, the end. :D Please read the awfully long Author's Note.

- Answer to TyberAurora's Question: I hope that writing the whole Jason-Percy meeting has answered your question. Sorry I couldn't answer you earlier. My life has been a chaotic mess lately. In case it hadn't been clear enough, I decided to not make Jason Percy's cousin. I believe that in the specific fic, he would be much more useful to him as a friend than as a family member. But I have to admit, I am not so sure yet. It might change in the future as this is mostly high school and family drama, plus, I have been thinking of writing a sequel to this story (when it ends) and maybe, just maybe, I might use this relation to reveal something entirely different. Thanks for your review. :)

-I'd like to apologize –once again- for the awfully long wait I put you guys through. Tenth grade is beating my ass. Plus, this chapter was awfully difficult to write. It kept me up for a week and I was basically falling asleep on my desk in the mornings, having nightmares about it. I do hope you'll like it.

-Now, about the next one; I have to be honest with you guys, I have absolutely no fucking idea when I'm going to post it. I hope faith and luck will treat be nice for once and let me post it in a month and a half. Otherwise, things don't look good on the horizon. I'm not going to stop this story (I haven't gone completely nuts yet) but the updates might take longer than usual.

-About Annabeth and Luke; no comment.

-I'd like to hear your opinions on whether Percy will join the team or not. Also, I have written the scene when Annabeth and Percy find Nate and Silena about to get it on in the bathroom. Tell me if you want me to post it as an extra or not.

-Any questions acceptable. You can send them to me via PM's or reviews.

-Also, thank you so much for your feedback & your reviews. I want you to know that I read every single one of them and they are both highly appreciated. (::)

-Irrelevant: I wanted to post this on 9/11 but I never managed to. So, I just want to say that may the souls of those who lost their lives at that horrific day rest in peace. I lost someone that day too. Tragedies like this one should never happen.

~TWDoP23