A/N: Another chapter! Yaaaayyyyyyyyyy!

"Skye, don't forget to upload those files to your laptop," Annabeth said across the table.

"I won't," Skye replied, not looking up from her eggs and toast.

"And if you could just go over those star charts one more time? I want to make sure our position is clear."

"Will do," Skye said, reaching for some grapes in the middle of the table.

"And please remember to-"

"Geez Annnabeth, calm down," Malcolm said from beside her, reaching over and stealing one of her homefries. "Skye has got it all figured out."

Annabeth swatted his hand away, irritated. "We are leaving in three days. I'm just trying to get everything in order."

Skye stood up. "We know. But seriously," she reached across and swiped two fries from her sister's plate. "Stop worrying."
She nimbly stepped over the bench and bounced away before Annabeth could protest.

For the last week, the camp had been bustling with preparations for the upcoming quest. Unlike most, it needed time and attention before it could begin.

"Hello Skye," Leo said, coming up beside her. He glanced down at her jean short-shorts that showed most of her legs. "Nice shorts."

"Go away perv," Skye said lightly. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her digital organiser, the next best thing to a cell-phone, which she had to ditch when she arrived at the camp.

"No, I think I'll stay," he replied, looking over her shoulder as they walked. "Whatcha doing?"

"Organising the star charts for the trip. Annabeth wants them exact."

"Oh, we won't need any of that navigational stuff," Leo said. "I mean, I'll be steering the ship. I'm a master of direction."

Skye looked up. "That's not what Piper says."

Leo scowled. "Yeah, well Piper's a-"

"Very talented warrior, so I've heard," Skye said, cutting him off. "And I therefore wouldn't be bad-mouthing her."

Leo raised his eyebrows, but kept his mouth shut. Then, a beeping went off.

"Oh," he said, touching some buttons on his watch. The beeping stopped. "I have to go check on Festus. Who knows what my siblings have done to him between now and the last time I saw him." He waved goodbye and turned around swiftly. Skye just rolled her eyes.

She closed her device and shoved it back in her pocket, sighing. Annabeth had her working non-stop; she was always either preparing for the trip, or training in the arena. After a while, even that got boring. Really, she just wanted to play two on one slaughter. The soccer kind, not the sword kind.

She was just about to push open the door to her cabin when she heard a familiar voice not far away. She turned around. Jeffrey was walking across the Olympian cabin green with a girl who looked about his age. She was tall and had long chocolate brown hair. Both were laughing, but she was laughing noticeably louder.

Immediately, Skye felt a little angry. Partly because the girl on first glance reminded her of Melissa, her arch-nemesis from home. But also because she was touching Jeffery's arm and flipping her hair at him, and for some strange reason, this irritated her immensely.

"Don't be stupid," she thought to herself. "Jealousy is a fool's emotion."

Standing tall, she took a deep breath and ran up behind Jeffery.

"Hey," she said, punching his arm. At the sound of her voice, both parties stopped laughing.

"Skye," he said, smiling widely. She smiled back, but faltered when the Melissa lookalike came into view.

"I was just..uh... saying hi," Skye said. Then almost flinched when she realised how stupid it sounded.

"Well then, hi," the girl said. Her smile reminded Skye of a pixie or a fairy.

"Oh, sorry," Jeffery said. He gestured at the girl. "Skye, this is Olivia. Olivia, this is Skye."

"Oh, you mean Skye Penderwick? The one going on the quest?You're Annabeth's assistant, right?" Skye was about to protest to this statement, but the girl kept talking."I'm going on the quest too. Representative of Demeter and all. Hand-picked by Chiron. Actually, he appointed me the leader of all the younger people who will be on the ship. To, you know, tell them what to do, stop them from doing stupid things." She laughed at her own joke, but Skye didnt really find it funny at all. "I guess that means I'll be in charge of you and your sisters. I mean, most likely.I think I'm older."

Skye couldn't find anything to say back. The girl obviously didn't know what she was talking about, but her demeanor was difficult to decipher; she seemed sweet and sour at the same time.

"Actually, Skye is more of Annabeth's consultant," Jeffery said. "And trust me, she won't have to take orders from anyone. Neither will Rosalind."

Olivia kept smiling."How do you know?"

"Because Chiron told me, and I told him," Skye replied, having regained speaking ability.

"Oh," Olivia said, pointing at the two of them. "So you two are friends?"

Skye was about to say dramatically that they were more than just friends, but Jeffery spoke first (Thank the gods). "Yeah, we are. Have been for ages."

"Got a problem with it?" Skye asked blatantly.

There was a pause as Olivia raised her eyebrows.

"Uh, she's kidding," Jeffery said.

"Hah. Right. Um, well, Jeffery and I gotta go. Breakfast." Olivia looked expectantly at Jeffery.

"Um, you go on," he said to her. "I just have to talk to Skye for a second."

"Fine by me," Olivia replied as she walked away. But she looked back, frowning when she saw how close they were.

"She's your friend?" Skye asked in disbelief as she watched her walk away.

"She's everyone's friend," Jeffery said. "I mean, she's a little hard to figure out, but she can be really nice."

Skye narrowed her eyes. "How nice?"

Jeffery smiled. "About a thousand times nicer than you. Now c'mon," he gently put his hand on the small of her back to steer her around. "We should go wake up Jane."

They started walking back toward the Apollo cabin.

"How old is she?" Skye asked.

"About 15. Why?"

"No reason."

"What? Afraid that her age and maturity will draw me to her?"

Skye avoided eye contact.

He stopped in his tracks. "Wait. You are!" he crowed. "You're jealous."

"Don't be an idiot," Skye replied, rolling her eyes. but her face was burning.

Jeffery put on a mock serious face, and put his hands on her shoulders. "Skye Penderwick," he said, trying to supress a smile. "You will always have a place in my heart.

And-"

'Shut up," she said, knocking his hands off. He grinned and laughed. She pushed him, which only made him laugh harder. They burst into the Apolllo cabin, laughing and shouting insults at each other. They jumped on Jane and yelled at her to wake up. Jane obliged after several minutes, and the three of them went down for breakfast, Jane still in her pajamas, Jeffery complaining of hunger, and Skye twirling a soccer ball on her finger.

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