Chapter 8 was finally updated. Thank you Daughter of Poseidon 32. Here's chapter 9.

P.S. Sorry I haven't updating lately. I wanted to, but due to how school was going for me, I just decided that I wasn't going to update until summer. Now that summer is finally here, I'll be able to start updating again. I'll update as much as I can throughout the summer. This is a promise I swear to you.

Percy's POV

After our game of laser tag, which lasted for about two hours, we went to get some ice cream. We were all pretty sweaty and tired. We didn't smell too badly, but we were still drenched in sweat, and we were very tired right now. I won the game. Everyone had an advantage over the other two. Malcolm had better strength and endurance(how well one can take a hit inflicted on him/her), Annabeth had better intelligence and accuracy(how well one can hit and hardly miss his/her mark), and I had better speed and evasiveness(how well one can dodge and know how exactly he/she should react in a tight situation). Malcolm may have been stronger and Annabeth smarter than me, but I was way too damn fast and accurate than them. But enough about the game, let's get back to the ice cream events happening right now.

Malcolm went to pay for the ice cream. I told him I could've paid for it and that I had no problem with it, but he wasn't going to allow it. I have to say, Malcolm hasn't changed too much since we last met. His personality hasn't changed one bit, but he has definitely gotten taller. He's even gotten some muscle for a change. Not that he never had any muscles, but he just always seemed a bit of a stick-like dude to me. I'm very happy to see him again. It's not too often that I get to see someone that actually has a decent conscience around here.

As Malcolm was getting our ice cream, Annabeth and I are just sitting down and having a few conversations.

"You did great Annabeth." I said, trying to start up some kind of conversation.

"Thanks Percy, you were amazing. I never knew you were so fast." She said.

"Swimming has done it's rewards for me, that's all I have to say." I said.

Malcolm just arrived with the ice cream. We didn't really say much, we were a little tolo preoccupied with our ice cream. As we ate, I couldn't help but steal some glimps of Annabeth. She really wasn't like any other girl I've ever met before. She's so sweet, funny, smart, and amusing to be around. I could easily see she was nothing like Rachel, and that made her all the more special.

-LINE BREAK-

Annabeth's POV

We arrived back at home at around 11:30. Thank God it's a Friday night. I think that ice cream might actually keep me up for a while. It didn't seem to have much of an affect on Malcolm. He looked like he was ready to pass out, which is why he went straight to bed as soon as we got back.

Which left me with Percy in the kitchen. He looked like he wasn't going to get any sleep for a while either. We were just leaning on the kitchen counter, talking about how we thought our game went today. But that's not what I wanted to talk to him about. I wanted to talk to him about how I feel and that I figured out what happened to him with Rachel. I was having trouble finding the courage to talk to him about it though. That's when I led him to the couch in the family room to talk to him about this.

"Percy?" I asked.

"Yeah?" He responded.

"I'm sorry for what happened." I said.

"What are you talking about." He asked confused. This was making me very nervous. I was worried he would hate me or make something terrible go on in the house.

"Malcolm told me what Rachel did to you." I said, preparing for what he might say or do.

He just starred at me. I didn't know if he was surprised, mad, or sad that I know what Rachel did to him. I was still expecting him to get angry or something. But instead, he just sighed and moved his gaze to the floor. "I had a feeling you'd find out sooner or later." he said.

That was a huge surprised for me. I wasn't expecting that reacting from him. But at the same time, I was relieved that he wasn't mad at me.

"I just want to tell you that I feel for you, and I want to ask you something. Something I've been meaning to ask you from the moment we first met. I said.

"What's that?" He asked. He seemed to be taking this pretty well.

"Why is it that you always refuse to join the popular people? I mean, people always think of you as a popular kid, but you don't nor do you even want anyone to think of as that. And I'm really wondering why." I explained. I really wanted these answers from him.

"Because unlike most people, I see popularity for what it truly is." He said.

"What does that mean?" I asked, not really understanding what he was trying to tell me through that.

(Just so you know, what I'm typing about popularity here is how I look at it as. This is nowhere near made up. So if you consider yourself popular or if someone considers you as popular, make sure you and all others learn from what I share with you. This is actually very important to learn, so read carefully and let this information sink into your mind very well.)

"Popularity is nothing more but a disease, a plague, a sickness that infests the mind and drives you mad. It's nothing more but a curse. All it ever does is turn you into a complete monster, something that you're not and something you really shouldn't be. As you let it swell inside of you, it leads to you living a life as a fake. It makes you give people the wrong idea about you. It's addicting and hard to resist. In truth, it makes you weak and vulnerable." He explained.

I was completely shocked. Never have I ever heard such words, nor have I even thought of this subject as such a thing. No wonder Percy was completely against popularity. He sees it for what it does and what it causes. This was a very great learning experience for me. It drew me closer to him, literally. Right now, I'm scooting closer to him and I'm tangling my fingers in his.

"That was such an inspiring statement Percy." I said emotionly.

"Thanks. The way I see it, the world would be a much better place if there was no such thing as popularity in the first place. Even though there are so many people who take it when they're given the opportunity, I'm one of those who have no intention to let such a plague ruin me." He said.

"It's no wonder Luke can never get you in his group. He thinks he can eventually get you to see things his way, no matter how many times he gets rejected by you." I said, finally understanding it is Percy is trying to teach me.

"Yeah, Luke and his friends/supporters are insane if they think what they do is the best decision to make in life. And also, there's a great phrase that you could use to describe the difference between people like Luke and People like me." I made sure I was extra ready for this lesson Percy was about to teach me. "It takes strength to resist such a thing as popularity, only the weak and the desperate embrace it." He said.

"I couldn't agree with you more." I said with a heavy heart.

I couldn't hold back the happy face I was giving to Percy. He was a great and wonderful person. It made my heart ache for him more. "Percy?"

"Yeah?" He said.

"I - I - I want you to know that, I appriciate what you told me and . . ." I couldn't continue because I saw him leaning towards me. He was looking deep into my eyes. "and that I don't look or act anything like Rachel and . . ." I was getting very nervous. I wanted to tell him now, but I was really losing my cool. He kept leaning closer, his face now a few inches away from mine.

"Annabeth?" He whispered.

"Percy?" I whispered back.

"Shut up." He said and that was when I finally experienced it. He kissed me. His lips touching mine, it was just a brand new way to experience sensation. He wrapped his arms around my waist while I wrapped my arms around his neck, the both of us bringing ourselves closer to each other, kissing ever more deeply.

The kiss lasted for about five minutes, that's when we needed to get ourselves some air. When we caught our breaths, We just held each other, enjoying the peaceful silence and each others' company.

"I love you Annabeth." He said.

'He loves me!? He loves me! I knew Luke was wrong about what he said to me. Percy Jackson, you are so the angel of my life.' I thought to myself.

"I love you too Percy" I said as I smashed his lips back into mine. We kissed as much and as long as we could, until we, at least it's what I remember, passed out on the couch, with me on top of him and him holding me.

There you go. Chapter 9. I had to think a lot about it, so I hope you all liked it. Again, I'm sorry for not updating like how I should've. I really wanted to, but school was murdering me. With it finally being over for a while, I'm free to update as frequently as I can. Daughter of Poseidon 32 will have the next chapter as soon as she can, and we'll go on from there.

P.S. I'd like to let you all to know of what will be happening over the summer. I'm gonna start three new Percy Jackson fanfictions very shortly, and some Danny Phantom fanfictions(how many, I don't know yet). I still have some planning to do for the Danny Phantom fanfictions, so I can't really explain what I'll go for with them. But I'd like to share what the new Percy Jackson fanfictions are gonna be.

1. Clash of the Immortals - For those of you who don't know, last summer, I wrote a fanfiction called After The Titan War. This fanfiction is a sequal to that. So if you haven't yet, check that out. I think most of you would like it. I wanted to work on it through the school year, but I never got the chance. I never forgot about it, I just wasn't able to find the time I needed for it exactly. I'll be writing this fanfiction with the help of my little brother who is also a fanfiction writer: Master Porky Minch. If you've never heard of him, I honestly wouldn't expect you too. He likes Percy Jackson, but he doesn't fanfictions for it. He writes fanfictions for japanese cartoons. Why, I don't know. But he likes After The Titan War, and so I offered for him to be the coauthor for Clash of the Immortals. He agreed, and a good thing to in my opinion. He needs at least one Percy Jackson fanfiction in his account.

2. A Dying Romance - This fanfiction was a request from a friend, Shadow Gumball of Death. This fanfiction was his. And before anyone gets on my case about, no I'm not stealing his fanfiction. He asked me to do it for him since the story isn't coming to him anymore. Don't believe me, ask him yourself, he'll tell you how he requested I work on his fanfiction for him. It's not really something I would consider on most occasions, but he really want me to work on it. He said he loves my fanfictions, and that he would love to see me bring his story to life. So for that, I'm giving life to his story for him.

3. Love The goddesses - This one I really wanted to start on New Years, but again, I couldn't find the time. So, I'm going to start it in summer. This is my idea, and it's a story I'm going to work with on my own. It's basically gonna be a fanfiction where Percy is being forced to spend time with every single greek goddess. That includes minor, olympian, titan, giant, and primortal. If your in to sexual fanfictions, great. If not, then don't read, I don't know what else to tell you.

I'm still gonna work on the other fanfictions I need to finish, It's just gonna take a little longer to finish them up. I'll work on them as much as I can. I'll see you all later.