AUTHOR'S NOTE: HELLO EVERYONE! :) THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR REVIEWS. I HAVE NOTICED THAT I LACKED DESCRIPTION. I AM SORRY FOR THAT. I WILL TRY TO IMPROVE IT. I PROMISE. :) OC-NESS FOR THIS CHAPTER.

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DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS, OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS.

CHAPTER SEVEN

BY: IRONCOW

"Percy?"

I opened my eyes, startled that someone was waking me up early in the morning. Not realizing that someone was above my head, I stood up quickly. My head collided with the other head and with my loud yell, it probably reached Olympus. I fell on the carpet, groaning in pain. The person whom I collided with was Annabeth. She pushed back, giving herself room to sit up.

"Oh my gods! What's wrong with you, Percy?" Annabeth stood up and put her hands on her hips.

"I'm sorry," I rubbed my aching head. "It's not my fault that you surprised me."

Annabeth rolled her eyes and helped me stand up. "Look," She motioned to the window, "The post is gone. We can go home now." Pulling aside the curtains, I peeked out the window and saw that the road had been cleared out, but it was still raining.

"Why is it still raining?" I turned toward Annabeth. "Do you want to check out already?"

"Okay. Let me just take a shower." I nodded and Annabeth left.

I stared out the window, again, and scanned the surroundings. It was raining, but not that hard. It was more of a drizzle. Cars moved slowly to avoid accidents, because the road was slippery after all. Few people were walking on the sidewalks and footbridge with their umbrellas above their heads.

With a sigh, I laid down on the bed, feeling drowsy. I covered myself with the sheets, and turned to my side. I smelled the pillows and even though Annabeth used the motel's cheap shampoo, she still smelled incredible. I smiled and started to think what had happened for the past five days. I was sick and Annabeth took care of me; our silly games and my embarrassing "plan."

I was interrupted with my train of thought when Annabeth went out of the bathroom. She wore the same clothes, which she wore five days ago, and went to the room's mirror. I started to head inside the bathroom. I took off my clothes and showered. The water was hot and I felt relieved. Then, I remembered something. Annabeth and I were supposed to talk about something.

Earlier this morning, when I was pretending to be Anxiel Manakeeshter, you told me that we had a lot to talk about. Would you care to shed some light?

I remembered vividly the time when Annabeth and I were passing notes. We needed to talk. Not only about the kiss; not only about Luke; but also to figure out what we should do with our relationship. It was clear that she had feelings for me. I did, too. I quickly grabbed a towel and started to dab myself with it. I wore my clothes and dashed to the door.

"Annabeth?" I checked the room and didn't find her there.

Where could she possibly be? Maybe she went down to eat or something. I walked out of our room and walked briskly to the elevator. I clicked the button that indicated down. It was still at the ground floor… Second…Third… This was taking too long. I sprinted to the stairs. The moment I stepped on the stairs, the elevator finally opened. I wasted no time, so I continued in using the stairs. I didn't know why I acted so impulsive. I just really wanted to see Annabeth.

Upon arriving at the lobby, I saw Annabeth. She was at the reception area, probably checking out. I walked over to her, panting. My hair was still wet, and despite my previous shower, I was sweating.

"What happened to you?" Annabeth glanced at me.

"Huh? Nothing. Wait, you owe me a conversation." I said in between breaths.

"What are you talking about?"

I filled her in and she simply nodded. "Well? When will we talk then?" I said. "Annabeth?" I tried to catch her attention, but she seemed so preoccupied. "What's wrong?"

"I just want to go home and rest." I wanted to ask what was bothering her, but I simply let it go.

After checking out and making a phone call to our parents, saying that we would be home today, we got a cab to take us home. Our first stop was at Annabeth's house. I walked her to her door. It was 3:00 in the afternoon when we arrived.

"Well, thank you for everything." Annabeth said. "We should do this again." She smiled and hugged me.

"Thank you, too." I said back.

I was going to kiss her by the cheek, when the front door opened, and her dad came out.

"Annabeth!" Mr. Chase said. "I am so glad that you're okay. I was worried sick." He saw me standing beside his daughter and stood straight. "Thank you for taking care of my daughter, Percy." He said in a manly voice. "I'll let you two, say your good-byes. I'll be paying for the cab's fare." Mr. Chase walked to the parked cab and gave some money to the driver.

"Sorry about my dad, he's paranoid like that." She said blushing. "Good-bye. Be careful." She went inside her house, with her dad following behind.

I sighed and headed to the cab. Half way to the door, I heard someone running towards me. Annabeth came to me panting, and hugged me. I stood there stunned. She whispered "thank you" and "sorry" in my ear and let go. I caught her before she could get any farther. I leaned down to her face, and kissed her on the cheek. I blushed, and so did she. Before I entered the cab, I waited until Annabeth was inside her house safely.

An hour later, I arrived at our house. My mom was outside with an umbrella over her head. She fetched me by the cab's door, and we went inside our apartment.

"How are you, Percy?"

"I'm fine. Where's Grover?" I looked for him at the kitchen, but he wasn't there.

"He had something to take care of. He left a couple of hours ago. I don't know when he'll be back." She closed the umbrella and continued talking, "Are you hungry? There's some food in the refrigerator. But I think Grover ate most of it, before he left."

I laughed and thought of Grover, "No, thanks. I think I'll just go to my room. My back is aching." I remembered sleeping on the couch and felt tired.

"You have to make a phone call first." I shot her a confused look. "Annabeth called an hour ago. Twice. She wanted to know if you're here already." She smiled and gave me a piece of paper. The paper had Annabeth's number.

I went to our phone and dialed the numbers carefully and at the first ring, someone answered. "Hello?"

"Annabeth? It's me, Percy. I'm home already."

"Oh. That's great." I waited for her to say something more. "Listen. I know you want to talk, but something's been bothering me." I straightened my back and listened carefully. "I have been dreaming about Luke. It's like he's asking for my help. Every night, when I dream of him, he looks so afraid and helpless. I don't know what to do." I heard worry in her voice. It made me sad and disappointed, at the same time.

"Don't worry. I'll Iris message Chiron, okay?" She said good-bye and hung up the phone.

I went up to my room and found no drachma in my drawers or cabinets. That was a problem. Checking Grover's things passed my mind. But, to tell you the truth, I was afraid of what to find inside. Also, it kind of reeked. I sat on my bed and thought.

Why was Annabeth still worried about Luke? She shouldn't even be thinking about him. He brought great destruction to Camp Blood-Hill. Lives were at stake. I get it that Luke took care of her when she was little, but things changed. And I don't even want to admit it, but change happens for a reason. Changes can be for the better or for the worse. Luke changed for the worse. Everyone has a choice in every decision. It's up to him to choose what's best for everyone. Luke should have been the son of Nemesis, goddess of divine retribution and vengeance. Luke was hurting Annabeth. He doesn't even deserve Annabeth. Annabeth was his loss. She was great in so many ways that I can't explain.

I felt tired. The clock read 5:30 P.M. It was still early, but I decided that sleep would be good for me to clear my thoughts.

My thoughts of Luke flooded my mind when I woke up the next day. I didn't want to think about it anymore. I stared at the ceiling and felt relaxed. Someone tapped on my window. I looked at it and saw a shadow behind the blue curtains. I took precaution and readied myself to fight. Someone tapped, again.

"Open up! It's me, Grover!"

"Grover? Where have you been?" I asked while walking to the window to open it. The sun blinded me and it took me seconds to adjust to the light.

"Camp Half-Blood. Something's up: it involves Kronos' troops. All satyrs were there and were ordered to track down all demigods. I think this is it, Percy. You do realize that you're turning sixteen in two weeks, right?" Grover said while fitting himself in my window.

Two weeks? It was that close already? "God! Really? What do I do now?" I felt myself tremble.

"Well, the only ones who know about this are the Olympian gods, people in camp, the satyrs and you. The satyrs were at camp, merely to be prepared. You can't tell anyone, okay? Even Annabeth and your mom. As much as I want to tell someone, we can't risk it. It can be anybody we're talking to. They might be even spies of Kronos!" He said.

"So, what you're trying to say is that I just pretend that everything is fine? Lie? Is that what you're suggesting?"

"That was the order, Percy." Grover said apologetically.

"I could do that… I guess."

Classes resumed the next week. TV channels, radio announcements and newspapers reported a lot of damages from the storm. If you're a human, you will just think of this as a natural phenomenon. But if you're a demigod, you'll realize that something bad is happening at Olympus. Before going to school, I talked to Chiron to know what was happening, and to talk about my "birthday."

I raised the drachma over my head. "O goddess, accept my offering." I threw the coin into the rainbow. It disappeared in a golden shimmer. "Half-Blood Hill," I requested.

"Be careful with those arrows!" Chiron's face appeared in front of me. He felt my presence and tried to make a composed face. "Hello, Percy. Sorry about that. I have some problems with handling the new recruits." He apologized and smiled.

"It's okay," I smiled back. "Chiron, is something wrong with Olympus? The storm was very destructive. Do you know what's happening?"

"Oh. About that, well, to make things simple, let us just say that the gods have tripped a couple of months ago. The after effect happens after 4 weeks and lasts for two weeks. But each day that passes by, the storm gets calmer and calmer, until it disappears.

"You mean literally tripped?" I questioned. "So, if they trip, I get soaked?"

"That is what I have heard from the Hermes cabin." Chiron laughed and nodded.

"Alright. Chiron, what's happening?" I asked seriously.

"Kronos has decided to invade camp. He is preparing, and he is stronger now. As you very well now, Kronos is taking over Luke's body. We have to be careful with him. If we are careful enough, we might even save Luke while defeating Kronos at the same time."

"What? Chiron, no offense, but he has made his choice to betray all of us. He doesn't need any saving from us. Even before Kronos took over his body, he was bad." I said.

"Don't say that. Luke deserves a chance. Remember to not tell anyone, okay? I have to go now. Dionysus wants me at the big house at 6:30 am sharp. You have nothing to worry about. Take care, child." He waved and the mist disappeared.

Goode High School had minor damages. Tree branches scattered everywhere, moist soil and leaves scattered on the ground. The janitors of the school were still cleaning the school grounds. While walking on the stairs, I slipped and caught the metal handle. But the metal was also slippery, so I fell backwards. Thankfully, someone was behind me and supported my back. I turned and thanked Grover for saving me from bruises and from humiliation. Grover has had a full recovery from stomach flu, by the way. How? Well, according to my mom, after cleaning up Grover's vomit for two straight nights, it just disappeared. It must be a satyr thing that I would'nt understand.

As I was setting my books into place, Grover leaned into my table and grinned at me.

"What's up with you?" I questioned.

"Because we didn't have any chance to talk during the weekend, I was not able to interrogate you." Grover raised his eyebrow and smiled. "Tell me what happened. I'm a satyr, remember? I know what you feel. Also, the empathy link is a big give away."

I was about to speak when Annabeth came out from the door. She was wearing a white shirt and a skirt that was not short or too long. She walked across the room and sat to my right.

"It's so cold outside!" Annabeth shivered while speaking.

I took off my sweater and gave it to Annabeth. She stared at it and looked at me.

"What do I do with that?" She said.

"You said it was cold. And you are wearing a skirt." I said looking down.

She followed my gaze and blushed. Annabeth snatched it from my hand and wore it. My sweater was too big for her little body. It ended at her knees.

"Good morning, everyone. Just a quick recap: I am Mrs. Norm, your Dramatics teacher. We meet once a week for two hours," She said loudly in order for everyone to hear. "You very well know the tragedy that happened last week. The principal has decided that we make a fund raiser next week."

"Like a fair?" Jared asked.

"Yes, some what like that. For the freshman, each class will perform a play. Sophomores, they will prepare a song number to present on the day of the fund raiser. Juniors, they will be the ones who will handle the booths with food. The seniors will be the closing act. They get to dance." Everyone cheered and Mrs. Norm smiled that they were very enthusiastic with the idea.

"Today, our agenda is to finish a film. A classic! I really cried in this movie! The plot line was written beautifully." She quickly prepared the DVD player and went at the back of the room.

Because I had nothing else to do, I decided to watch. The movie was Shakespeare in Love. So I guess we'll be dealing with William Shakespeare. The man who wrote beautiful plays, poems and sonnets.

FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER, PERCY TRIES TO ACT NORMAL AROUND EVERYONE, ESPECIALLY TO ANNABETH. HE IS ALSO WORRIED OF WHAT MAY HAPPEN IN TWO WEEKS, HIS SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY.

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