The cashier at the local Circle K was bored to death. It was a slow day. The only person in the convenience store was some 45-year-old hillbilly with a beer belly, trying to decide whether to get Bud Light or the original. The cashier stared down at the newspaper article in front of him. Just the headline made him chuckle.

MORE THAN 100 U.S. CITIZENS DIE FROM H1N1

Pez couldn't help himself. He liked depressing things. Not just depressing things. Bad things, evil things. It was just in his blood. His mother left him when he was a child. His father's stuck in prison for life after being caught robbing a jewelry store. The boy shook his head at this memory. Pathetic. Pez could have easily gone in that store and gotten away with thousands without even a second glance from the owner.

He was still reading the article (even though the dyslexia made it a little difficult) with a slight smirk on his face when a rude cough interrupted him. Glancing upward, he noticed that the fat man was ready with his items. He looked down to finish his article, not caring. Hey, he didn't really need the job all that much.

"Is this all for today, sir?" he asked with an exasperated sigh. The stout man grunted in response as Pez took the items and started scanning them. A six-pack of Budweiser (guess he's not on that diet), a bucket (what?), and even a box of Trojan's (like he was going to get lucky anytime soon!). He bagged the items and handed them to their new owner without a smile, a 'You're welcome,' or even a 'Have a nice day!' That's just the kind of guy Pez was.

He continued to read his newspaper, laughing at the depressing articles, scowling at the happier ones.

The bell from the front door rang, signaling a new customer coming in. Usually, Pez wouldn't give a care in the world, but something deep down in his gut, way deep down, told him to actually pay attention to and care for this random customer.

The said customer came up to the front register with her two items: a Mystic Mountain Blueberry Powerade and a Twix bar. She had two 20's out, as well, which he was guessing was for gas.

Pez looked upward. She was wearing a pair of jeans and an orange shirt with words, which were unreadable because of his dyslexia. She was female. That was for sure (Give Pez a break. He's a 17-year-old boy; of course he's going to look at her breasts). But when he got to her face, that was what he loved most. She had dozens of perfect golden ringlets of hair tied in a ponytail. Her eyes…were the most beautiful things he'd ever seen. Would he ever tell anyone that? Oh hells no! But, something ruined her eyes. They were slightly red and puffy, like she'd just been crying. Correction! She still was crying.

Pez couldn't help it. It just came out. "You're crying."

"Huh?" She acted surprised that he was so straightforward. "Uh…yeah, sorry." She sniffled a bit.

There was an awkward silence while Pez checked out her items. "What happened?"

"Do you really care?" Again, she was a bit surprised by his curiosity.

Pez shook his head. "Not really, but it would be kinda rude not to ask, right?" Since when did he care about being nice? He shook his head once more to get rid of the thought.

She smiled a bit, but the tears kept coming. Pez felt a small pang of pain in his chest. He had no idea why. "Well…" she stretched the word out a bit, and paused as if she didn't really know what to say. "It's just…my boyfriend's being a complete idiot. " She shrugged as if it was no big deal, but he could tell it was quite a deal.

"What'd he do?" the cashier asked.

The girl took a deep breath. "Well, he has this…friend named…Callie, and, well, Callie's been going through some tough times lately. Her dad's abusive, her mom left her when she was little, and apparently there's some bully or something at the school she goes to." Pez nodded along with the story, acting like he knew exactly what she was talking about. "And Percy, my boyfriend, has chosen this week, the week we were supposed to spend together, to be with her at her house, and…" she trailed off at the ending. Another tear escaped her gray eyes, as she shook her head. "Sorry. Now I'm rambling, and you don't even care, and..."

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Pez said quickly. She didn't have anything to be sorry about. "That Percy guy's a jerk. He's just being stupid not to choose you." This actually made her laugh.

"How would you know? You don't know me…or Callie."

"Yeah, but if I said I'd choose Callie that'd make you feel awfully tooty, wouldn't it?"

"Tooty?"

"It's funner than saying bad."

This caused another giggle, which made Pez smile a bit too. "Yeah, I guess it is."

"So that's why I chose you."

Se smiled once again, and started picking up her items. "Well thanks for making me feel better," She squinted at the nametag he was wearing. "Peter."

Pez made a face. "Ugh! Don't call me Peter."

Another heart-melting smile. "What?"

"Call me Pez."

"Pez?"

"Yes Pez, just like the candy." She opened her mouth to ask another question, but he put up a hand to stop her. "My name tag says Peter because that's my real name. Peter Evil Zelman." She wanted to comment once more, but he stopped her again. "Evil? What kind of middle name is that?" he asked in a terrible impersonation of the giggling girl in front of him. "Well, it used to be Franklin, but Peter Franklin? What the hell kind of name is that?" Her laugh was music to his ears. "Plus, now I can say 'Evil is my middle name' and it's completely true!"

Her laughter was contagious, and before he knew it, he was busting up too. A loud car horn interrupter the giggle fest and caused the two to calm down a bit. "I gotta go. Argus is gonna be absolutely pissed."

Pez nodded in agreement as she was walking away. "Bye Pez!" she shouted as she left the building. He sighed and looked down, but the bell rang once more. He looked up to see that face once again, now, completely free of tears. "And my name's Annabeth. Annabeth Chase."

He was about to comment, when that annoying car horn beeped again. "I gotta go," Annabeth said as she raced out the door, waving goodbye.

Pez sighed once more, no longer smiling. Usually he liked depressing stuff. It was what he lived for! But this…this was too depressing for anyone to like, even him. He was never going to be able to see Miss Annabeth Chase again, with her gorgeous gray eyes, and that long blonde hair, and her bell-like laugh that was still ringing in his ears. He could also hear her scream…but he never heard her scream…not until now.

It's kinda short, really, but I truly love this chapter a whole lot more than the first!

Pezzabeth! Pezzabeth! Pezzabeth!

Anywho, thanks for reading and reviewing and I need to give another wonderful thank you to Aces and Eights for reading this over for me! Thank ya very much!

I don't own PJO, Twix, Powerade, or anything else I mentioned up top. All except for Pez. ...heh heh heh...

:) Jordan