A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Every single one really means a lot.

So, I need to do a quick dedication. Abbie (WindowChild), is not only my totally fabulous friend who I spend practically all my time writing, laughing, and hanging out with (practically my alter-ego), but she is also my beta for half of the stuff I write. This along with many other reasons is why I really needed to give a shout out to her. "What's this?"

CRACK!

Damn lightning! Its stupid electrical power making all of the power in the lower west side shut off. Isn't there some egotistical god who's supposed to be in charge of the lightning again? Oh right, Zeus! Hey Zeus, could you please stop, I want the air conditioning back!

I would use my cell phone to call Grover or someone, but you aren't supposed to use cell phones in a power outage. Stupid electrocution!

You know what, I should go light some candles so I'm not staring blankly at the lifeless TV hoping a miracle would happen and theYankee game would turn back on.

Damn! Why does everything bad seem to happen at once? First the power goes off and I begin missing the Yankees vs. Red Sox game, then I realize too late that I'm out candles. This is just great.

I guess one of my neighbors has to have candles. Uh, I don't really want to have to search one out. After all, it's 11 PM on a hot, humid, night in late August. Actually, to be exact, today is August 18th, my 23rd birthday. Can you sense the excitement?

They really need a generator or something in this hallway. I mean, how am I supposed to ask a neighbor for a candle if I can't even see their door?

Finally! A door! Now, how far this is from my door, I am not quite sure. But, for now, this is good enough.

Knock

"Coming!" A female voice called, I couldn't be too close to my apartment, and this wasn't one of my right next-door neighbors.

"Hello, I'm out-" I stopped the second I saw who was at the door. It was none other than Annabeth Chase. Her AC must have been off too, considering she was wearing shorts, a tank top, and still looked like she was sweating profusely.

"Hi," She said, leaning against the side of the door, holding a candle right below her face, "Percy Jackson."

"Good evening," I said, "Annabeth Chase. By any chance, do you have some extra candles because I'm out and…"

"Why should I give you some?" She asked, grey eyes flickering, "I mean, isn't it your fault that you don't have any candles?"

"Because its my birthday?" I suggested.

"Fine." She said, walking back into her apartment, "normally, I'd send you back, but considering the fact that it's your birthday and you are out of candles, you can stay here because I don't have enough candles to give away."

"Thanks," I said, walking in. Her apartment looked similar to mine. Yet, even with half unpacked boxes here and there, his apartment managed to look 50% better than mine in the neatness area.

"Sit down, it's not like we have anything else to do here in this fucking darkness." She said, collapsing onto one of her chairs. I sat on the chair across from hers.

"Finally," I said, "Someone else shares my hatred of power outages. It really was the cherry on top of a perfect birthday."

"Why?" She asked, "I mean, what was wrong with your birthday?"

"When it's your 23rd birthday and you're wondering if you'll be able to make ends meet for the next year of your life, it's really just fantastic."

"Ah," She said, taking a sip of whatever drink she had, "That truly sounds wonderful. I don't quite understand what you're complaining about."

We sat silence for a while. Well, if you call silence the sound of thunder every two minutes, followed by lightning, and non-stop wind and rain. Yeah, it's real quiet.

"Wait," I said, a thought popping into my head, "why are you so upset? It's not like today is your celebration of failure."

She scoffed, "I can't finish my architecture project. We have to have it before school begins and I wanted to finish it tonight, but I clearly can't in the dark." She pulled her legs to her chest, and sat like a little ball in the chair.

"When does school start? Tomorrow?" I asked, almost feeling sympathetic for her.

"No, in two weeks." She scrunched her face in distaste.

"Then what's the rush?" I asked, "I mean, wouldn't it be good. This is a reason why you can stop. Why are you doing it already anyways? I wouldn't start until maybe mid next week if I had the time you have…"

"Exactly, Percy." She said, "This is why you are failing and complaining about your birthday and life, and I'm not worried about any of this stuff. You wait until the last minute, and hope that everything will work out okay. I, on the other hand, do things way ahead of time to prevent exactly what you live to do."

"This is where we disagree," I said, "sometimes you get better ideas later. So if I already did it, then I can't use my new idea, and then maybe I would get a lower grade." I ran my hand through my hair; it must look like an absolute mess.

"If I get a new better idea I'd just do it over. It's as simple as that." She said, getting up, "Want some lemonade? I'm getting more for myself and I forgot to ask if you wanted any earlier."

"Sure." I answered, and followed her into her kitchen.

Her kitchen was similar to mine, but a little larger and more cluttered. It was hard to tell by candlelight, but stuff seemed to be all over the place. Between various papers, food (half of which was take out), and other things that were hard to make out (it kind of looked like various rulers, which seems a bit odd, but hey, I'm not here to judge).

She began to search through cupboards for an empty class. Once she found one, she began to pour the lemonade into the cup.

"Here you go," she handed it to me, "I made it earlier today. Sorry if it's sour, I tend to like things that taste more tart."

"Figures." I mumbled to myself, once she was out of ear reach.

"Hey, this isn't bad." I said, after I took a sip.

"You sound surprised." She said, taking a sip of her newly refilled drink.

"You just don't really seem like the type of person who would be good at making lemonade." I commented, taking another sip.

"You don't even know me. How can you judge?" She asked, lighting a match.

"Well, I from the three times that I've met you, you never gave off a 'good at making lemonade' aura. I'm sorry." I said, sarcastically.

I could see her roll her eyes through the candlelight reflecting off her face. Her expression looked stress, a bit angry, but also happy. Like she was enjoying company, but that could just be me making things up.

"Do you hear that?" She said, responding to the large thumping sound.

"Yeah," I said, joking, "It sounds like Justin and his girlfriend Lauren on Valentines day."

"You mean everyday." She corrected. It was true. Every time I saw Justin, I saw his girlfriend Lauren with him, making out. And it really didn't help that he is my next-door neighbor.

"Aw," I said, "It's not that bad."

"Are you kidding?" She asked, her eyes opening wide, "I think it's disgusting."

"It can be." I agreed.

"Seriously," she said, "I really prefer to not have the first thing I see in the morning be her tong down his throat. It's not a good way to begin the day."

"They're never out when I leave." I said, truthfully.

"Maybe that's because you sleep in too late. Maybe if you got up earlier, you'd see them right outside your very door making out."

"Another reason why to sleep in."

"For the first time tonight, you have a point."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Then we just sat there, staring at each other for a while. It felt weird, like I couldn't take my eyes off her. I'm not sure, but it feels like she felt the same thing, because she continued to stare into my eyes the whole time too.

Then suddenly, there was a flickering, and the lights turned back on.

"Thank God," Annabeth said, getting up, "the lights are back!"

"Finally," I commented, "Back to the Yankee game."

Sadly, good things don't last too long, because I then knocked my lemonade over and it fell onto the table, covering some magazines in clear, yellow liquid.

"Sorry!" I said quickly, grabbing the glass and lifting it off the table, "should I bring this to the kitchen?"

"What do you think?" She said, a bi angrily, "while you're there, could you grab some paper towels?"

"Yeah, of course." I ran into the kitchen. It was just as crowded and cluttered as it was in the dark, but now you could what everything was.

I grabbed a whole bunch of paper towels and ran back into her living room with them.

She was kneeling against the table trying to move papers out of the way of the liquid.

"Here!" I said, throwing her the paper towels. She caught them, and began to mop of the counter top.

I brought the trashcan to her, so she could throw the wet paper towels into the trash and not have to carry them across her apartment.

Once the mess was cleaned and therefore no longer a problem, I said, "I guess I'll be going now."

"Yeah," She said, walking me over to the door.

"So," I said, lingering by the door just a little, "I guess I'll see you around."

"Well, you are my neighbor after all."

"It's inevitable."

"True." She said, "Bye Percy."

"Goodnight Annabeth."

I turned around and began to walk back to my apartment, but I suddenly felt a finger on my shoulder.

"Happy Birthday, Percy," She said, I swirled around.

I couldn't help but notice how close her face was to mine, "It's not actually my birthday anymore, it's past midnight."

"I guess." She said, and then she backed up, "See you later."

She shut the door, leaving me by myself, in the hallway. Only hearing the sound of the rain and the thumping from Justin's apartment. Oh geese.

***

Once again, I know this isn't good to be writing really late at night, but I can't help my self. Still no plot, but I'm feeling much, much closer to one. Plus, I've got another character!

Patrick Johnson: Stupid, determined, black hair, green eyes.

I hope you liked it! Please review; it would really make my day!