I HAD SOOO MANY MISTAKES WHEN I EDITED THIS, BUT HOPEFULLY I GOT THEM ALL. I TRIED TO UPDATE A LITTLE FASTER AND ACTUALLY WORKED ON THIS DURING A CHILDREN'S PARTY WHILE I WAS CHEWING ON A TACO. YUM :3

DISCLAIMER: PERCY JACKSON DOES NOT BELONG TO ME! RICK RIORDAN CREATED HIM! NOT ME!

"We are all born ignorant,

but one must work hard to remain stupid."

-Benjamin Franklin

ANNABETH'S POV- CLOSE TO A MONTH LATER-

I made sure that my car was parked perfectly, before pulling my keys out of the ignition. I smiled with a mixture of glee and excitement when I saw the all so familiar apartment building of Sally and Tyson looming above me outside my car. Here in front of me lied the home of the two greatest people in the world.

I hopped out of my brand new Iacocca Silver Edition Mustang, thinking for probably the millionth time that my newfound wealth was going to take some getting used to. Ever since last year, when I finally decided to forgive my mother for abandoning me with my unloving father, she's been trying to fill the gap that she left me with all those years ago. This included having mother/daughter bonding days, moving me out of my father's house, giving me the very belated "talk", and as she so emphasized; providing me with enough money to last fifty lifetimes.

I popped the trunk of my car, carefully lifting the decently sized box covered in metallic wrapping paper, from in between two blocks of Styrofoam. I made sure to lock my car ere tapping my way up to Sally's apartment.

I wasn't even seven feet away when I could smell the wonderful scent of my second mother's cooking. I tip-toed to her door as to avoid the annoying noises my black heels were sure to make, and hid the silvery box in my hand a little away from the door until I got myself composed enough to knock.

"Mom!" I felt my heart swell at the sound of Tyson's voice. "Do you want me to get the door for you?"

I could hear various dishes being set down in what I assumed was the kitchen and I heard footsteps heading my way. "No its okay honey! Finish your food, I've got it."

A few clicks later, Sally opened the door. Wisely knowing what was coming, I braced myself.

"Annabeth!" Sure enough, Sally wrapped me in a tight embrace. "Oh my gosh! Look at you! What a beautiful dress you're wearing!"

"Annabeth's here?" My gaze landed on a jolly-faced Tyson.

"Right here," I said ", and waiting for one of your special hugs!"

Tyson ditched his plate of food and ran straight into my now open arms.

"I've missed you so much!" I meant what I said and Tyson knew it because it was almost impossible to tell who was hugging the other the hardest.

"Me too!" Tyson stepped back to look me in the eye. "I kept wishing we could've gone with you!"

"Now Tyson, you know Annabeth had to spend some time with her mom." Sally scolded. "Come inside dear, would you like some dinner?"

"Yes please, if it wont be too much of a bother." I said sheepishly.

"Annabeth, you can never be a bother." Sally sent Tyson back to the table. "Just make sure to lock the door."

"Sure thing Sally!" A knowing smile appeared on my face. "Let me get something first though."

Sally seemed a bit confused, but didn't say anything when I disappeared from view to get my late birthday gift to Tyson. Albeit, a look of understanding dawned upon her face when I returned with the box.

"What's that?" Tyson asked, spoonful of mac and cheese halfway to his mouth.

I rolled my eyes at Tyson's endearing naivety. "It's a present for you, silly!"

I shut the door behind me and gently placed the box in front of Tyson, next to his dinner plate.

Tyson eyed me in wonder. "You remembered that it was my birthday?"

"How could I forget?" I poked Tyson in the stomach and he giggled. "Aren't you going to open it?" I turned to Sally. "Is it okay with you?"

"Absolutely! Go on Tyson, you can open it." Sally gave me a warm smile. "It was really sweet of you to think of him while on the trip."

"Well like I said, I missed him." My stomach growled and I could feel my face go beet red with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry! I haven't served you dinner yet!" Sally set me up a place mat next to Tyson, who was at the moment trying to carefully unwrap his present without tearing the paper.

"Do you need any help?" I asked.

Tyson nodded his head bashfully.

"I'll un-tape one side and you'll do the other." I said.

"I forgot to ask," Sally put a plate of potato wedges, macaroni and cheese, and steamed broccoli in front of where I stood struggling with some tape, "how was your trip to Greece?"

I could feel myself turn bubbly with excitement. "It was wonderful! I was allowed to explore all sorts of places and the architecture was stunning! My mother taught me things about each building that even I didn't know!"

"She's a college professor, right?"

"Mhm." I yanked off a piece of tape that stuck to my thumb. "She also works part time in an architecture firm that's sole purpose is to model new college and university buildings."

"She seems like a very busy women." Sally got her own plate ready and sat down. "Doesn't she ever get stressed?"

"The only times she does is when she's not doing something." Tyson and I removed the wrappings and put them to the side. "My mom always has a plan though, so it's very rare."

"You two have a lot in common." Sally grinned. "Its such a relief that things went well."

"That's one of the reasons we got along and it's great because now I don't have to live with my father anymore." I sat down and pushed my chair forward. "We arranged it with the court that I'll now be able to stay with some relatives who live in Manhattan. My mom will come and visit me every break because I wouldn't let her quit her job for me. I'll be sharing an apartment with one of my distant cousins."

"Is she-"

"Wow." We both turned our attention to Tyson's hushed voice. He lifted his gift out for us to see and Sally's eyes widened with astonishment.

Dangling from a ring of incised silver on golden chains were the shapes of skillfully handcrafted marine animals, both mythical and non-mythical, made from a variety of material. This included hippocampus shaped out of a reflective glass that shimmered with the colors of the rainbow, lionfish made of a deep red metal that I assumed was bronze, and dozens of other subtly detailed creatures. Tyson held the fragile mobile with excessive care and I could tell that I had made the right choice in getting him what I did. After all, Tyson has a love for delicate objects.

"Annabeth!" Tyson looked ready to nominate me as president. "I can't find the words to tell you how awesome this is!"

I laughed. "You don't have to! Your face says it all." I gave Tyson a quick hug. "Happy late birthday."

"Thanks!" Tyson gave my hand a squeeze. "I'll be right back! I know the perfect place to hang this!"

Once Tyson left the room, Sally got over her astonishment. "Where did you get the mobile? It looked like it was custom made!"

"A friend of my mom's helped me design it and we worked on it together." Sally chewed on a morsel of her mac and cheese and I took that as my cue to start eating.

"Really?" Sally paused to wipe her hands on a napkin. "How long did it take to make?"

"Around three days or so. Long enough for me to go on a date with his son Leo." I replied.

"What?!" I dropped my fork when I heard the sound of a surprised person yelling and a muffled object crashing down onto the fire escape outside.

Sally jumped up from her seat and grabbed a broom. "Is it just me, or did you hear that noise too?"

I grabbed the house phone, ready to call the police. "No, I think someone was spying on us through the kitchen window."

Sally started to walk toward the where the commotion had come from. "I'll check."

I grabbed one of Tyson's baseball bats from the floor and stomped towards the window before Sally could stop me. "No, I will."

I slammed open the window and looked outside. No one was there; the fire escape was empty. "Who ever is out here better leave unless you want me to call the police!"

Sally appeared next to me. "Do you really think someone was listening in on our conversation?"

I scanned the parking area outside and saw nothing. Tyson walked into the kitchen and furrowed his eyebrows at the sight of his mother and I holding household weapons and sticking our heads out the window.

"What did I miss?" He asked.

Sally lowered her broom. "Nothing Tyson, me and Annabeth just thought we heard a noise."

"What type of noise?"

Still scanning the streets for movement, I answered Tyson's question. "The type that makes me want to go curtain shopping with your mom."

XXXXXXXXXNYANNYANNYANYANNYANNYANXXXXXXXXX

"Have I already told you that I missed you?" Thalia asked.

"Saying it more often wouldn't hurt." I started to drive again when the red light turned green.

Last week, Thalia had sent me an e-mail asking if we could ride to school together since it would be our first day, and I agreed for old times sake. Now here we were, making our way to school with an old 80's station blaring from the radio.

"You know it would." Thalia flicked my cheek. "Saying things too much takes away from the rarity of it."

"It depends on what the thing is." I slapped Thalia's hand. "Stop flicking me! I don't want to crash."

"Somebody's grumpy." Thalia sing-songed.

"I barely got back from Greece yesterday night. What do you expect?"

"A hug would be nice." Thalia replied. "They make me feel loved."

"You know what would make me feel better?" I asked.

"What, oh dear friend of mine suffering from PMS?"

I glared at Thalia through the rearview mirror. "I'm only letting that pass because I'm driving."

"Nah, its because you think I'm too awesome to injure. Admit it." Thalia snapped her fingers to some Stevie Wonder.

"Telling lies isn't my specialty." I replied. "Anyways, what I really want right now is a good parking spot."

Thalia sat up in her seat. "It fells weird hearing you say that."

I parked my car a little away from the school and removed my key from the ignition. "Why is that?"

"I don't know how to explain it without sounding like a whining prissy."

"Try." I got down from the car, and Thalia followed me up to the school.

"It's like this; years ago we dreamed of all these things happening to us. Having a car was the ultimate thing on the teenage to do list and now that we actually have it, I feel like we won't have much to look forward to later on." Thalia shrugged. "It makes me feel a bit nostalgic."

"I've thought about that too, but I always ended up pushing it out of my head. We're always going to keep changing and there's no way to stop that so why think about it in a bad way?" I playfully hip bumped Thalia. "Weren't you happy when you decided to go punk?"

"You know it!" Thalia popped her leather jacket to emphasize her point.

Thalia and I steered our conversation in a more joking direction, but in the back of my mind I couldn't stop thinking about just how much these years have impacted us. Not one of us had escaped the metamorphosis know as time.

Thalia had taken on a more gothic style, always wearing eyeliner and giving people hell like nobody's business. Unless you really got to know her, you wouldn't understand that she's actually not a mean person. Strangers in the hall are always scared to go anywhere near Thalia, thinking that she's going to rip their throat out or something. I don't blame them, ever since the problems between her and her father got worse she's been more cautious towards who she shows he true self to, but I also wish that people would try a bit more to find something that they can't see with their eyes.

It isn't just Thalia who's become more weary of people. Both Nico and I are careful when it comes to making friends with anyone. These days, strangers refer to us as the "guarded trio" meaning that all three of us have a hard time trusting pretty much anyone. We all deal with it in different ways though, and that's what gives people the ultimate deciding factor on what to stereotype us as. Everyone thinks I'm an over-achieving nerd, Thalia's a freaky goth, and Nico's some anti-social kid addicted to the color black. In reality what people perceive isn't how we see ourselves, and in my opinion that's all that matters.

I mean, yeah I am academic, but not to the point of dropping down exhausted from too much studying. I let myself have a social life and fun in the appropriate times. I admit that Thalia can be cold, yet that isn't her primary characteristic. It takes a while for her to warm up to you and when she does it's totally worth it because she is one of the best people you could ever befriend. And Nico? Well he's even harder to get through. Underneath all that black clothing and slight bitterness, there's a boy who's just looking for a new purpose in life. Once his sister died, he changed his appearance into something darker, making him seem foreboding when he's really only a harmless kid. Speaking of which….

"Sup death breath!" Thalia called up to an annoyed Nico. "Annie's back!"

"I can see that." Nico leaned onto one of the pillars of Goode High, taking shelter in the buildings shadows. "How was the trip?"

"Exciting." Thalia and I hopped up the steps of the school and Nico led us inside. "Have the problems between you and you know…him gotten any better?"

Nico's expression hardened. "I don't know. The last time I talked to that man was a week ago."

Last November, Nico's dad had decided to propose to a girlfriend he's had for five years without telling Nico until a month after he did it. Not because he forgot or was nervous about telling him, but just because he didn't bother to inform his son that he had now replaced his mother. In case you're wondering, yes, I am being bitter here. My father had done almost the exact same thing to me when my mother had left. That's why Nico gets angry when anyone refers to his dad by anything other than "that man".

I don't mind that our father's want to be happy, but it's annoying when to do that they lie to us. Nico's dad never gave him attention and its only gotten worse since the Bianca incident when he decided to neglect Nico for good.

Thalia chose that moment to speak. "We should all get our dad's one of those number one dad mugs for April fools. That would be a pretty hysterical joke."

Nico chuckled slightly, all iciness leaving him. "Nah, my dad's head is so dense he probably wouldn't get the message."

"So that's where you inherit it from?" Thalia said in wonder. "I figured that it was because you were dropped as a baby."

"I would kick you if it wasn't illegal." Nico grumbled.

"Now, Nico," I gave my friend a mockingly scolding look ", be nice to your cousin."

"I will once she stops being insulting." Nico crossed his arms.

"You look like a whining five year old when you do that." Thalia remarked.

Nico's eyes went wide. "See?!" He pointed an accusing finger at Thalia. "She has no respect for my feelings!"

"Awww! Poor defenseless Nico!" Thalia said in a baby voice. "Did mean old Thalia give his little sensitive heart a booboo?""

Nico flipped off Thalia.

"You two are so immature," I gave Nico a pointed look ", and vulgar."

"Sue me." Nico replied.

I could see the door to our homeroom and I strayed a little behind my cousins because I knew them well enough to know what was coming.

Nico was about to walk into the door, when Thalia pushed him to the side. "Lady's first."

Nico stepped in front of her. "Respect your elders!"

He was about to walk into the class when Thalia yanked him back from his shirt collar. He fell onto the ground with a groan. "I'm taller so your argument is invalid."

Thalia walked went in to take her seat while I helped Nico get to his feet.

Blushing, Nico said, "thanks."

I plopped onto a seat at the back of the class next to Thalia, and Nico sat in front of me. The teacher, a dull-looking balding man, paid us no attention so I tried for a hello.

"Good morning Mr. Boring." I had read his name off my timetable, but as it turns out (and I'm not surprised) neither Thalia nor Nico did.

I could hear Nico trying to suppress a chuckle.

"Hello?" The teacher seemed a bit surprised to have a student greet him.

I was about to say something else, but decided not to when groups of kids started to walk in. I didn't really want to be known as a suck up to the teacher on the first day.

"Hey Annabeth!" I smiled when I saw that Piper, one of our friends, was making her way towards us. Her choppy brown hair was tied into a messy braid and her pants were slightly ripped, but she looked beautiful despite her efforts of playing herself down. She sat down next to Nico. "How are you guys?"

"Dandy as a doughnut." Nico grinned at what he thought was a clever answer.

Thalia gave him her signature 'WTF' look. "I'd be a lot more happy if Nico quit it with the Dr. Seuss impressions."

"I thought that was a pretty good rhyme." He looked genuinely hurt.

Piper rolled her eyes. "Thalia and Nico still bickering I see?"

"The day that they don't will be the day I turn stupid." I replied solemnly.

"That'll never happen." Thalia stated it like it was obvious.

I smirked. "Exactly."

"So did you guys hear about the new kid?" Piper changed the subject.

"No, where'd you hear that?" I leaned forwards because having someone new was a pretty rare occurrence at a school like Goode. Most people went to the High School a few streets away.

"Guess." Piper challenged.

"Drew?" Nico asked.

Piper nodded. Drew was Piper's annoying popular sister. All gossip that spread around Goode was 99.9 percent due to her.

"Figures." Thalia said.

"What'd she say?" Nico tilted his head slightly. We all knew that even if it was gossip, it was truthful gossip. Despite all her other tendencies, Drew was at least honest.

"I was walking down the hall when Drew walked up to me saying, and I repeat." Piper changed her voice to match her sister's high pitched one. "Oh my gosh Piper! Did you see how hot the new guy was!? You can totally tell that he's been working out! Never mind a six-pack! He's got an eight pack! Ugh! He's so yummy!"

Nico choked up some spit. "Did you just say yummy?"

Thalia gave him a disgusted look. "Mind where you aim your mouth snot, you moron!"

Nico was too busy laughing to pay her any attention.

"Anyway, he's supposed to have homeroom with us." Piper finished.

The bell rang, signaling everyone to be quiet. Well, almost everyone. Nico got in one last "yummy" followed by a snicker.

"Okay class," Mr. Boring said in a dull voice ", pay attention please. Mr. Butch has come to speak to you about a certain matter."

At the sound of this, we became all ears. Our principal, the said Mr. Butch, stepped forward and scowled at the class. "Some of you may not know this, but today we've got a new student. We'll take a few minutes to let you ask him some questions, and then go on with your class. Got it?"

Everyone, minus Thalia, said yes.

"Now without further ado, brats let me introduce you to Peter Johnson."

With the air of something that was rehearsed, a boy with raven-black hair long enough to hide the view of his face walked in.

"Actually sir," the boy turned to face the class ", my name is Percy Jackson."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

SO HOW WAS IT? I WANTED TO RE-INTRODUCE YOU GUYS TO NICO, THALIA, AND ANNABETH BEFORE GOING INTO THE DETAILS. DID YOU MISS THEM :D?

RANDOM POLL: IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE ONE, WOULD YOU RATHER BE KNOWN AS A LIAR OR A THEIF?

GUEST REVIEW REPLIES-

TO GUEST (WHO STARTED THEIR REVIEW WITH :AWESOME CHAPTER): DON'T WORRY, TYSON AND SALLY PLAY A PRETTY BIG ROLE IN THE STORY. THEY DON'T KNOW IT, BUT THEY ARE ONE OF THE FEW THINGS THAT STILL LINK PERCY AND ANNABETH TOGETHER.

TO HOTNESS AND MUSIC (WITH A C!)- EH, ITS OKAY. SOMETIME'S I DON'T FEEL LIKE LOGGING IN EITHER. YES THAT IS COMING UP, BUT ITS NOT THE TYPE OF LOVEY DOVEY "PERCABETH" REUNION OTHER STORIES USE. IT'S ACTUALLY NOT VERY CHEERFUL. BUT THE ONLY REASON ITS LIKE THAT IS BECAUSE ANNABETH IS MAD AT PERCY FOR LEAVING EVERYONE BEHIND WITHOUT EXPLANATION. SHE DOESN'T KNOW THAT HE DID IT TO SAVE THEIR LIVES. IF SHE DID THOUGH...KEEP IN MIND THAT THE TWO MAIN CHARACTERS ARE PERCY J. AND ANNABETH C. *HINT HINT*

GUEST (WHO ASKED IF ONE OF THE CHARACTERS WAS A TRAITOR)- MAYBE. MAYBE NOT. I'M NOT TELLING. WAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!