Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson genius written by Rick Riordan

In the middle of Annabeth's reading of Shock Wave: A Thalia Grace Love Story a splitting headache forced her to stop. She decided to take some painkillers and try to nap it off. After all, they still had a ways to go. It had been a wreck but they were just clearing it. Annabeth threw the phone back to Thalia.

"Hallelujah!" she heard her say as she lay down and closed her eyes. Annabeth smiled.

"Wake me up when we get there."

"Get up! We are 5 minutes away and we have to be ready!" Thalia's excitement woke Annabeth right up. Thankfully, her headache was gone; she wouldn't have been able to deal if it wasn't. Thalia redid Annabeth's ponytail making it perfectly messy. Thalia made her examine every aspect of her face, making sure it was perfect. After Annabeth declared it was, Thalia pulled out a bag and made Annabeth reapply lip gloss and some more mascara. She rolled her eyes at the request but did it dutifully anyways.

Arnold pulled up to the edge of the entrance. There was no one in sight.

"Can I help you ladies with your bags?" he requested.

"I wish," grumbled Thalia.

"You can't, we are the only ones allowed in the grounds," Annabeth said regretfully. Thanks to Thalia's packing, they each had at least 6 bags. Arnold helped to get everything out of the trunk and watched them as they approached the top of the hill that marked the entrance to the camp.

Annabeth's luggage all strapped together to form one, huge rolling bag. Thalia's, on the other hand, had to be carried by their handles. The dark wasn't helping their situation, either. By the time they had arrived, it was 9:15. The girls kept getting caught in different roots and bushes.

Finally they reached the top and waved goodbye to Arnold. As they turned to look at the little valley that Camp Half-Blood rested in, they took in the look of it all. Annabeth had always wondered why it had such a peculiar name but it worked for such a peculiar camp; they could see the Big House looking as blue as ever in the torchlight and they could see the U of all 12 cabins for all the kids. They could also see the dining pavilion which was dark. Unfortunately, they had missed dinner. The girls' eyes swept over every small aspect of the camp before seeing the large bonfire; everyone was gathered there. Thalia clapped her hands in excitement while Annabeth could feel a pit growing in her stomach. She was about to start one of the longest summers of her life.

"C'mon!" Thalia yelled, taking off as fast as she could down the hill. Annabeth followed after her. It took a total of 5 minutes to get down to the front door of the Big House. Thalia was busy arranging her luggage in a pile off to the side. Annabeth started to protest, saying that they should take it all back to their cabins now, but Thalia persisted. The girls left their stuff there. Annabeth waited for Chiron, the head counselor, to come out of the house and scold them for being late but he didn't. They must all be at the bonfire, Annabeth thought absentmindedly.

"I don't remember how to get there!" Annabeth called after Thalia, who ran in one direction and was enveloped in darkness. "Thalia!" She was on her own.

Annabeth looked around her. She could just make out the strawberry fields across from the Big House and the volleyball courts just a little further down the road. The small creek/river that ran through camp streamed quietly along into darkness. There was nothing and no one else in sight. A brief memory of following the stream to the beach, which was adjacent to the mess hall, flashed through her mind. It's the best option, she thought.

As Annabeth walked along the stream, she tried to focus on anything but the summer ahead. As she passed each building, Annabeth tried to remember good things about them but most memories were linked to one bad one. As Annabeth approached the edge of the large lake that rested at the heart of Camp, she heard the sounds of horses in the distance.

"Don't worry about losing," Annabeth explained, "it's your first time here." The satisfaction of knowing she would win yet again in a race with one of her favorite horses filled Annabeth's 12-year-old mind, and she grinned at the look on the boy who was mounting the horse next to her's. His dark hair matched the mane of the stallion he was settling onto and his sea green eyes were filled with a determination. Annabeth watched lazily as the boy whispered into the horses ear, stroking its neck with his hands. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought the boy was an expert at riding. She scoffed.

"Ready?" the boy asked. Annabeth tightened her blonde ponytail and adjusted her cap. She nodded. "3, 2-" Annabeth pressed her heels into her horse's belly and they were off. She vaguely heard a cry of protest from her opponent followed by the sounds of him catching up to her.

The forest was a blur on her right and on her left were hills. Annabeth spared a glance behind her to find her opponent gone. She laughed at his inexperience and pressed Tally, her beloved animal friend, to go faster. Finally, the pair reached the beach and Annabeth slowed Tally to a trot. The newbie was nowhere in sight. Just as she hit the sand, Annabeth heard a voice.

"Took you long enough." Annabeth whipped around to find the black-haired boy trotting towards her with a smirk on his face.

"But-" Annabeth started, an angry flush rising in her cheeks.

"I went through the woods. I thought it would be fair since you cheated first." And with that, he turned and rode off, leaving a fuming Annabeth. There was no way he could have learned to rise that well in the two weeks he had been here, Annabeth thought. She took a few deep breathes. It wasn't often that someone beat her at anything. Although she was pissed, deep in her mind, Annabeth entertained the thought of a challenge. Maybe it was a good thing there was someone to beat her from time to time. Maybe, the boy would be a good friend even. Annabeth mounted Tally. She started off in the direction her little friend had left in.

"Wait!" She knew she wasn't that far behind him.

"Percy Jackson!"

Annabeth snapped out of her memories, cursing herself for letting that one resurface. She ran the rest of the way, leaving thoughts of little green eyes behind.

Finally, after a good 5 minute jog, Annabeth knew she was close. The singing and chatter of happy campers alerted her as well as the smell of smoke. She stopped behind them all. Everyone's back was facing her, their attention on one of Apollo's kids playing a guitar and singing closest to the fire. Thalia bounded up to him and put an arm around his neck. He stopped playing to yell her name and tackle her in a hug. She then faced Annabeth with a smug look. Thalia waved as frantically as she could at her, jumping up and down. Every single face turned around to look at Annabeth. She didn't think it would go well for her to scream 'Fuck you' to Thalia so she shyly waved and smiled. Everything was silent except for the crackling of the huge bonfire.

Annabeth felt their eyes judging her, examining her. She tried not to look scared and uncomfortable but how could she not? She had basically disappeared from them for two years except for the constant publicity everyone saw in the magazines. The bad publicity. A thought crossed her mind. Had they read that one fan fiction?

Then someone broke the silence. One of Annabeth's half-sisters stood up and called her name. She rushed up and hugged her. It was Sadie; she was 14 when Annabeth left for good and she was one of the nicest sisters Annabeth had. Now that she was 16, her looks had matured. Her dark brown hair had grown longer and she had grown taller and curvier. As Annabeth pulled back from the hug, more of her siblings came up and welcomed her. Soon, the whole crowd was gathered around her shouting greetings. A few campers gave her harsh looks and the younger ones had confused ones, but both joined in any way for fear of being left out. She searched for one pair of eyes in particular, but thankfully didn't see them. Then one person's voice rose above them all.

"Settle down children, it's not like Miss Chase has been brought back from the dead!"

Someone to Annabeth's side said something that sounded like 'she might as well have been'. Before she could turn to see who Annabeth was enveloped in someone's arms. She knew immediately who it was.

"Chiron!" Annabeth exclaimed. She may have hated camp, but Chiron was one person she definitely had missed.

She pulled back to look into old brown eyes.

"I see you've decided to make a reappearance?"

"More like Mother decided to…" Chiron looked at her with knowing eyes, and something in them made Annabeth think she was going to get some sort of lecture later. As everyone settled back in their seats, the camp's director came onto stage. Technically, he was Annabeth's uncle but he insisted on everyone but his own two sons calling him Mr. D. Short for Dionysus.

Mr. D had been assigned to Camp Half-Blood a few years ago for some affair he was having with a girl who was definitely not approved by anyone of Annabeth's 'Aunts and Uncles'. Especially not by Thalia's dad, Zeus. So Mr. D was dropped off at camp to spend a good long time being in charge of a bunch of crazy kids. To top it off, all liquor was banned, making life very, very hard for Dionysus. He was a know addict of drink. Now, Mr. D was a cranky man who loved to play card games and drink Diet Coke.

"Yes, yes. Our beloved Annabeth has decided to take a break from her endless life of partying and boys," Annabeth opened her mouth to argue that she did not have an endless life of partying and boys but he held up his hand in her direction. "There will be plenty of time for stories tomorrow." Everyone started to protest in unison.

"Get your asses to bed!" Mr. D yelled at them all before stalking off stage muttering to himself. Annabeth giggled. It seemed he hadn't stopped his swearing around everyone then, she thought.

A mass of orange t-shirts started walking to the cabins, teasing each other and talking. It seemed everyone was happy to be back. Annabeth couldn't understand why.

"I'll see you tomorrow then?" Chiron asked Annabeth, startling her. She forgot he was still at her side. She faked a smile and nodded enthusiastically. "Good." And with a pat on the back, Chiron started off to the Big House. She watched him get in his little wheelchair and start pushing himself over the dirt road. Everyone knew Chiron was perfectly capable of walking but no one knew why he insisted on being in a wheelchair half the time. When he wasn't in one, he was on horseback. It was one of the many things that made Chiron, Chiron.

Thalia appeared at Annabeth's side, linking their arms.

"I got a few of the Hephaestus boys to get our luggage!" she exclaimed happily. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"We couldn't do it ourselves?" The girls started to walk to the cabins.

"They were more than willing to help!" Thalia explained.

"So there was no threatening at all?" Thalia mocked hurt. Annabeth laughed. "Have you seen Luke?" Thalia shook her head.

"Who knows where that one is." Thalia and Annabeth continued their walking in comfortable silence, enjoying the warm night air, the smell of strawberries and the soft chatter of friends. Suddenly, Annabeth broke into a run.

"Hey!" Thalia shouted after her. "You're leaving me?!"

"Payback's a bitch!" Annabeth called back, earning some looks from some people. She was determined to be the first back at her cabin so she could steal the best bunk. Just as she neared the cabins, she looked behind her to see if Thalia was coming too. Then she hit a wall. A rock-hard wall. And then she was falling with her hands clinging to fabric for dear life. Annabeth felt the impact before she heard the 'oof'. She opened her eyes, and froze.

Her only thought was 'payback is a bitch'.

Of course she had run into him.

It was John Reed.