Previously in Half Blood High~~

"We need to talk."

"Um. Yeah. Okay. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"No… Now!" Annabeth said. She needed to get it done.

"Sorry. Now? I'm kinda busy."

"Luke. It's 3am." Annabeth heard some murmuring in the background. And then Luke's moans. Then they stopped abruptly.

"It's an ungodly hour Beth. I gotta go. We can talk tomorrow, a'ight?" And then the dial tone.

Percy stared at his phone.

He had been avoiding Annabeth for the last two weeks. He was very successful. Dodging her in the halls, going to opposite corners of the room, not looking at her during lunch… he was absolutely miserable.

He stared at the screen, his thumb over the dial button under Annabeth's name.

Then he held his breath and pressed the button.

"Sorry. The number you have dialed is not available right now. Please hang up and try again later."

Stupid phone company messages.

Percy was worried now. What if Annabeth decided that she had had enough of his silent treatment? What if she was perfectly happy with Luke and didn't want to hear from him ever again. Wait no. Never mind. Percy remembered, whenever Annabeth wasn't looking, he would look at her. She looked just as miserable as he did.

Les Miserables. WTF. Okayyy ADHD, get back on track.

Annabeth always looked annoyed or tired next to Luke. And… Percy missed her.

She hasn't gone to any of his football games lately, which was weird, since Luke was on the team too… But seriously. He never saw her outside of school hours. But when he did, he'd stiffen up, get nervous and then go the other way.

Sighing, he rolled over on his bed.

Lately I've been, I've been loosing sleep…

Dreamin about the things that we could be…

He sighed again. Before sleeping, Beckondorf, his roommate and him were talking.

-Flashback-

"So what's up with you and Annabeth." Beckondorf's deep voice boomed from the other side of the room.

"You're really loud you know that?" Percy retorted. Beckondorf shrugged and smiled. "I don't know man. She's dating Luke."

"Tch. Luke." Beckondorf scoffed. "I don't what's up with that guy. He's different now. We used to be tight, man. But then after the summer after 8th grade he went all… weird. I don't where to place my finger exactly but he's just not the same."

Percy looked at Beckondorf.

"Now he's a dxckhead who just plays with people's feelings." Beckondorf took a swig of coke. "Annabeth liked him so much. But after they got together, she's been kinda warry of things. I mean, man, he tries to kiss her, but she always draws back. If she really liked him, she'd kiss him back. I mean, look at Silena and me."

"Yeah you guy are like the ideal couple." Percy grinned, but he felt a tug at his heart.

Maybe Beckondorf was saying something. Maybe Annabeth didn't really like Luke…

-End of flashback-

'Gods I feel so freakin selfish.' Percy pulled the blanket over himself tighter.

He just couldn't sleep.

•

The next day, Luke wasn't in school.

"He skips several times a year." Grover said from beside Percy. "No one knows where or why. They just stopped asking cos Luke never answers."

"Hey Kelp Head! I need to talk to you." Thalia's high pitched voice called out from the other side of Percy.

"Jeez. How do you just spring up like that?" Percy held his chest. "Don't do that!"

Thalia knocked his head. "Whatever, pissface. Come on." Before Percy could protest, she dragged him over to a corner of the school.

"Seriously dude, what do you want?" Percy groaned.

"Annabeth thinks Luke is cheating on her." Ah. Thalia. Straight to the point. Just like that.

"Um. What does this have to do with me?"

"Gee I don't know? Comfort her?!" Thalia stared hard at Percy. "I'm kidding. She's not a sappy heartbroken twat. But she said that it sounded like her was… you know."

"He was probably on a date with his hand."

"Percy!"

"Sorry!"

"You're impossible." The bell rang. "Let's go to class. You need to talk to Annie soon. It's so obvious she has a thing for you and you're totally in love with her."

"Hey! I am not! Who told you that? I don't like Annabeth! Seriously! What the heck?"

"Chill out, idiot. You're making it even more obvious."

•

-Another week goes by. Luke is still missing, which is unusual. And Percy has been putting off talking to her.-

Annabeth tried calling Luke. She called him 30 times. But he didn't pick up.

She sighed and texted him.

'Where ARE you?'

Then

'It's serious. Come back!'

And then

'Luke. Come on! We need to talk.'

And even

'I'm worried. Please come back.'

Then she eventually gave up. But she was feeling uneasy.

She shoved her phone into her right pocket in her jeans and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Wise girl."

She missed that voice.

"Percy!" Her face broke into a smile, then it went blank. "What do you want?"

"Um. I want to talk to you about something."

"Yeah?"

"I… never mind." Percy turned his head. "Annabeth. I… I miss you. "

Annabeth looked at him. But then something snapped inside of her.

"Look Percy. You've been avoiding me for three weeks. Three whole weeks, okay? I tried calling you and texting you and even emailing you. You hear that? Email! No one does that anymore! But you never answered me! Do you know how pissed I am? My friend was ignoring me! And then out of the blue, he just comes up and decides 'oh Annabeth we need to talk about something'. Blah blah! Bullshxt! Do you know anything that's going on in my life? No! Because you never bothered to talk to me."

"Wise girl—"

"No! Don't you 'Wise Girl' ME! My step mother is a giant pain in the AZZ. Always trying to get me in trouble, blaming me for the twins' mistakes and crap! My dad thinks I'm a nuisance wasting my time here at this school instead of applying for college right now, and my mother never talks to me unless it's about a grade! And to top that, Luke is missing again and I don't know what he's doing!"

Annabeth looked close to tears. Her face was red and her nose was running.

"Look. I gotta go. Goodbye Percy."

Percy stared at her, stricken, and full of regret.

•

"I don't know why I snapped like that." Annabeth groaned, sliding down the gym locker, talking to Juniper.

"Maybe you were just stressed. After all, Luke is missing again… And school's getting more busy too." Juniper offered kindly. Sweet Juniper, always defending people.

"I don't know…. I think I totally killed any chances of Percy and I being friends ever again." Annabeth felt tears welling up in her eyes. "I like him so much it hurts. And then there's Luke. Lying, cheating, stupid bastard who just didn't bother to come home for a week. Why do the guys in my life ignore me?"

Juniper hugged her. And then, Annabeth's phone rang.

"Hello? Her voice was all scratchy.

"Annabeth! It's Thalia. I'm at the hospital. I found Luke. Come. Now." And then the line went dead.

and I'm sorry guys! I don't hate Luke that much. But something's wrong!

OH NO! What's going on? Reviews reviews my lovelies 3