Here we go again! :) FYI, as you might figure out from this chapter, I don't particularly like Jason. :/ Haha. Review please!

III.

She spends the next two and a half weeks practicing being numb.

Sure, it hurts that Percy's gone, but that's not the reason.

Every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, she has to teach some new kids Ancient Greek, and every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, some new kid asks her who Percy Jackson is.

So after the first two disastrous times, when she launched into a three hour explanation, she practices saying "My best friend. I miss him." And then explaining how tenses work in much greater detail than necessary.

So when people she trusts start talking about him, to retain the numbness, she'll just leave.

One day, after dinner, she doesn't have anything to do, and campfire isn't worth it, without any new intriguing campers and no one to kiss quietly when the flames are down during a ghost story.

So she's strolling around the volleyball courts, her hands stuffed in her pockets, when Piper comes up to her and demands information.

"Alright, Annabeth. You've avoided me enough. It's time to talk."

Annoyed, she walks quickly towards the Big House.

"Nope. You're not getting away this time." Piper grabs her wrist and shoves her down on the grass.

"Now, I want you to tell me about Percy Jackson."

"No thanks." She has no desire to tell Piper about anyone today, and if she had to talk, she wouldn't say a word about Percy. She moves as if to get up.

"Uh uh. You're sitting right here, and telling me why everyone here practically worships him. If you don't do it quietly, I'll resort to charm-speak."

As serious as Piper looks, she's not about to spill her heart out to a girl she's only known three months. Sure, she may be a child of the Great Prophecy, and Piper's pretty pleasant –for a daughter of Aphrodite- but she's friends with Jason, and try as she might, she simply can't find a redeeming quality in that boy. She has no idea what Piper sees in him. Talking to him is like talking to a brick wall.

"Sleep tight, Piper. See you in the morning."

"Oh, no you don't." She can see Piper gearing up to use her charm-speak on her, but she'd rather just tell the girl than be forced to.

"Fine." she answers, not planning on saying more than a few words. "What do you want to know?"

"What is he like?" Piper looks excited.

"Nice, and sweet. He's also really dense, and a bit stupid, but he's a good battle partner. Bye, Piper!"

"Come on, Annabeth." Piper shoves her back down again, grass staining the seat of her new shorts. "Start from the beginning. Tell me a story about when you first met him."

Piper sits.

She takes a deep breath, preparing to explain how she met him. "It's sort of a weird story."

Piper raises her eyebrows.

"Alright, princess." she sighs, "It was an unusual day to begin with."

"I heard a bunch of yelling coming from the top of Half-Blood Hill, but that wasn't uncommon. I figured it was some new demigod, doing something stupid."

"Was it?" Piper half smiles."

"Didn't I just tell you he's pretty stupid?" she smacks her on the shoulder. "Anyway, Chiron and I went up to get him, and he'd just killed the Minotaur."

"You mean the Minotaur?"

"Yep. Without any weapons, or anything. He'd ripped off the horn, and stabbed it. Then he passed out. I met him by nursing him back to health."

"Wow." Piper looks awed.

"Happy?" She doesn't want to talk to Piper anymore.

"No, no, tell me more. What happened during the next year?" Piper is practically jumping up and down from where she's sitting.

"We went in the Sea of Monsters and saved our friend Grover. He met his half brother Tyson. He's a Cyclops."

"And the next?"

"I almost died because of a manticore, and then he saved me from holding up the sky. That was over winter break."

"And then? What happened over the summer?"

"Piper, it's getting late. Do you want to be eaten by harpies?" She's done talking. Thinking about all of this just makes her miss him more.

"Just a few more? Please, Annabeth?" Piper puts something into the please. Probably charm-speak, but it could have just been her "Bambi eyes".

"All right. That summer, we went into the Labyrinth, I thought he was going to die, and I kissed him."

Piper draws in a long breath. "Did he die?"

"Honestly, Piper. I thought you were a smart daughter of Aphrodite." Piper giggles, and she can't help but smile a bit too.

"Then, he saved the world, and we kissed again at the bottom of the lake."

"And you've been dating ever since?"

"Yeah. Yeah, we have."

An awkward silence follows. Piper pushes herself off the grass, and brushes the dirt off her hands.

"Well, thanks, Annabeth." she announces. "Nice talking to you."

"Hang on. You're not going to tell anyone about this, are you?"

"I wasn't planning on it."

"No, swear it." Worry fills her eyes. "Swear in on the River Styx."

"I swear it on the River Styx. Annabeth, is this really that big of a deal?"

"Yes." she responds. If anyone knew what happened in Mount St. Helens..."You know what? Good night, Piper. I'll... see you tomorrow."

"Bye." Piper still looks slightly lost, but she leaves anyways, walking faster than usual.

She walks back to Cabin Six, feeling empty. The hollowness inside her chest seems bigger now that she's resurfaced old memories. She slips in the door, not unnoticed by her siblings.

She knows they hear her, but they make no move to acknowledge that she's finally arrived, a quarter of an hour after curfew. She shuffles into her pajamas, and crawls onto her bunk. Her laptop is still whirring away, but she hasn't even opened it in three months. She buries herself in her sleeping bag, and for the first time in her life, wishes that her stupid demigod dreams would come.

And with the tear that falls down her face as she scrunches her eyes shut, the ounce of happiness that she got from talking to Piper leaves her body faster than it came.

Wow, that is not my favorite. :( Anyways, still review please!

~PurpleShadowMonster