So after I completely embarrassed myself with that last chapter, I'm back! ...I hope this one's better. Please review! :)
IV.
So now she's stuck at camp for three weeks while Clarisse goes and looks for him.
She decides that this is stupid about 3.4 seconds after Clarisse announces that she'll be leaving.
She stands up quickly, knocking over her chair.
"No."
"Annabeth-" Chiron starts.
"No! What the hell, Clarisse, you hate him. You can't go." She's past angry. She'd made her peace with Clarisse after Silena died, but this is too much.
"I can do whatever I want, thank you, Princess." she sneers, "So watch me go find your boyfriend, while you're stuck here being miserable."
"You won't find him." Her fists are clenched, the skin stretched so tightly over the knuckles that she thinks it might split.
"Watch and learn, loser." And then Clarisse is gone, swaggering out of the Big House, and she's on her way, on a hopeless quest.
"Dismissed." Chiron says sadly.
She's angry enough. She stalks out of the room.
Next thing she knows, she's standing at the door of Cabin 3, and she's not sure why. She needs to go in. There's something in there that is so important, but it's haunting her in the back of her mind. Like something she saw years ago, but took for granted, and didn't give it a second look.
It didn't matter when she was 14.
Her hand closes around the doorknob. She barely has time to think my mom won't be happy about this before her legs have carried into the place where he existed. He lived here. This was his home. Her throat catches when she catches a whiff of his scent. Sea salt and chocolate chip cookies.
She takes another deep breath.
Blue chocolate chip cookies.
She still has no idea what she's looking for, but her body seems to remember the actions. She crawls up the ladder to his bunk. His sleeping bag is still a mess, and old candy wrappers litter the edges. Her hand makes its way into his pillowcase, even though her eyes are still blurring at the few pieces of black hair that rest on top of it.
She rummages around inside, finding a small piece of paper.
A picture of the 12 year old Annabeth, ripped from binder rings. Standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, looking entirely pleased with herself.
She feels no connections to this girl. This girl loved Luke. This girl thought Percy was an idiot. This girl was young. She thought she had seen everything. The girl that she is now knows that there is so much more to see.
The water running in the background has her forgetting that he's not here. She can feel his presence, feel him saying something stupid, but yet totally endearing, and somehow making her feel a little bit more like an Aphrodite girl. Maybe she could...
She can't stay in here anymore. As nice as it is to remember him, she can't take another second of looking at his old gym shorts before her throat closes up and she forgets how to breathe.
She manages to tumble her way out of the back window. No one can see that she's been in here. They'd think she was some sort of freak who can't go more than a week without taking her boyfriend's stuff.
She trudges back to her cabin, each step taking longer than it should.
Every ounce of strength seems to have left her arm. She pushes open the door, but even pulling herself up to her bed takes more effort than it should.
She tacks the picture up, next to the 35 others that hang on her wall. A bit like a time line. It starts with a picture of her, looking ready to hit the cameraman. The cameraman was Percy.
Next, a lovely photo of her actually hitting him.
As time progresses, their faces get longer, their pictures less "gods you're so annoying", more friendly, more "hey, best friend". Then, when you get to a year ago they become more romantic. Cheek kissing, lap sitting...
And then there's the last picture. Sitting at campfire, the flames rising higher than she's seen them since. He's pulled her into his lap, laughing, and she's laughing too, even though he's undoubtedly just said something that he thinks is hilarious. (She'd never admit that it actually is.)
She's got no idea who took this picture, but it's a nice one, and she's glad she has it.
Even though it's the last time she ever saw him.
"Annabeth." the whining started.
"No."
"Pleeeease?"
"No."
"C'mon, it'll be fun!"
"No!"
"Fine. I'll go by myself." He strutted away, but slowly, as if he wished she would follow him.
She can't resist.
"Fine. I'll go to campfire with you."
"Great!"
He grabbed her hand, not even waiting for her to protest, and dragged her over to the amphitheater. Virginia Robbins was in the middle of a ghost story, but no one seemed to find it at all scary, as the flames were high and orange. He put his arm around her waist and led her up the stairs to the highest seat.
"See? Isn't this nice? I knew you'd love it once we got here."
She rolled her eyes, as the Apollo cabin started singing.
"The Minotaur just ate his horn,
The Hydra's down in dirt!
The Nemean Lion lost his head,
And now I lost my shirt!"
He hummed along, but couldn't seem to remember the words.
She knew this song by heart when she was only eight and a half, but they don't sing it every single night anymore. She was extremely bored though. "Okay, I think I've sufficiently experienced the sing-a-long. Can we go now?"
"Not yet." he looked so excited, that she had to wait with him.
"Here we go!" he cried, then, turning to her, he whispered, "I asked them to sing this one."
"Aphrodite wants you to kiss,
Whether it be a hit or miss,
It'll still taste like bliss,
Let's go lovers.
Helen and Paris were
Never serious..."
And he kissed her.
"See? I told you it'd be fun."
She smiled, and kissed him again. "If you're still so exhausted, I'll walk you back to your cabin."
She grinned. "Sure." His fingers found the spaces between hers, and the two walked back toward the cabins. Her bare feet were covered in dirt and ash, but with his hand wrapped in hers, she felt like the goddess of love herself.
He kissed her again. "Good night, smart aleck."
She hit him on the shoulder. "Good night, Seaweed Brain."
He gave her one last hug, and left, his figure disappearing into the dark.
How was it? I feel... alright about it.
Review, please please please?
~PurpleShadowMonster