Heeeeeelllllllllloooooooooooo! Thought that you guys would enjoy a new chapter! Not much to say, so read and enjoy!

Chapter 20-The Runaway

Being under house-arrest sucks.

Especially, when your warden is Andrew David Carter, one of the most over-protective older brothers in the world.

Travis and Conner knew something was wrong as soon as my eyes widened and I dropped my phone. Katie knew something was wrong after she had told Drew where we were and he came storming through the door demanding where we were.

The old lady with the opera glasses screamed, "Oh my!" as she fainted into the arms of the guy sitting next to her when Drew came stomping over eyes glowing with rage.

I didn't even know why he was angry. Bad day? Gwen break up with him or something?

Whatever the reason, I was the lucky person for him to take it out on!

Being dragged out the door and shoved into the passenger seat of a truck, I had the perfect view of an enraged Drew yelling a concerned Conner's head off. I could tell even from here that Conner wanted to melt into the sidewalk.

So, here I am getting lectured by Drew (obviously, I'm ignoring every word he's saying) when I need to interrupt him.

"Drew, what the hell is wrong with you?"

Drew looked me in the eye. His first emotion was anger, then sadness, and finally…betrayal.

Drew sat down across from me, putting his head in one hand.

"One of Gwen's friends caught her…cheating on me. Sent me a picture of them in mid-make out. We got in a fight, eventually leading to a break-up. And if that's not bad enough, Mom and Dad are coming to visit…with Jace and Stephanie of course."

My own anger flared at the name of Jace. My Diablo brother coming to NYC. Great.

"Oh, and when I come to find you and tell you, Percy tells me that you're gone. On a date. With a Stoll Brother. Then of course Nico shows up to grab some cookies, and asks 'How's Jaycee and Conner's date going? They dating yet?'." Accusation and anger were dripping in his words.

Not only had his one reliable source to keep secrets leave out on a date and not tell him, the girl he thought he loved cheated on him. To say the least, I felt terrible. I should've at least told Drew I was going out on a date.

"Drew-"

"No, Jay. Don't. I'm fine."

He definitely did not sound fine.

"Dre-"

"I said I'm fine!"

"Andrew David Carter! You listen to me! I'm your little sister, and I know that you are most certainly not fine!"

Drew looked at me with sad eyes. The dark brown from our mother and hints of gold. To him, the world was bleak and grey, not the happy, cheerful, and sunny world we were used to.

"Jay-"

"No! Listen, Drew, I'm sorry for not telling you about this date, but I was pretty much forced into it. I'm sorry I wasn't here when you came, but I'm here now. And I thought we promised not to lie to each other, eh?"

Drew smiled slightly. "Yeah, I guess we did. But we really need to clean up in here. Mom'll freak when she sees this mess. And she'll be here in about…."

There was a knock on the door.

"Now."

I looked at Drew. "Am I still under house-arrest?"

"Yep."

"Then you're cleaning."

"Why?"

"Cause I'm under house-arrest."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Nothing, I just don't want to clean."

"Whatever. And you'll be under house-arrest for the next month then!"

I scoffed. "Yeah, sure I will!"

He rolled his eyes and quickly tried to clean. I smirked as I got up and headed for the door. I opened it a little, just to see who it was.

Sure enough, there stood a 5' 6 ½" woman with curly red hair and brown eyes that resembled mud. I forced a smile on my face, masking that I wasn't happy to see my control freak mother.

I opened the door the rest of the way, my mother seemed to be screaming behind her, barking at my dad to get here faster. When she saw me, her face broke into a fake smile.

"Jaycee! Oh, my baby, it's so good to see you!" She said in a voice as though she were talking to a toddler.

I let her hug me, knowing if I didn't she'd ask what was wrong. She never understood the fact that I don't like to be touched.

"Hi Mom," I managed through her bone crushing hug.

She let go of me, looked me in the eye and smiled, then brushed past me like I didn't exist. And she wonders why I don't want her back in my life.

Dad came trudging over to the door, carrying about three purses and two duffel bags. Apparently, rocks must've been packed because he was dragging them all the way down the hall, panting like a dog.

"Need any help?"

"No, no, I'm fi-yeah, help would be wonderful."

I smiled slightly as I walked over to him and took two purses and a duffel bag. I slung the duffel easily over my shoulder.

"Dad, these are extremely light to me. Either I'm incredibly strong, or you're just weak."

I heard the sounds of a video game coming from the duffel Dad was dragging.

"Oh yeah! High score!" Came a muffled, high-pitched voice.

"What'd you do? Trap Justin Bieber?" I joked.

"You wish," Dad smiled at me then unzipped the bag. "Jace Carter, what are you doing in that bag?"

"Well, it wasn't like I was going to actually carry any of this stuff," He said in a duh voice. "So, I decided to chill in the bag where it was nice and cozy!"

"Jace, get out of the bag!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going!" My seven year old brother climbed out of the bag, still focused on his game, and stumbled into the apartment.

I followed him in with a sigh, knowing my mom would want to be staying for a while. If I'm lucky, I'll get her out by the end of the day.

I set down the purses and duffel bag on the couch and grabbed my phone.

"I got to make a call! Stay out of my room!" I yelled at them, as I headed for my bedroom door. I could hear Jace complaining loudly about his game battery as I shut the door behind me. I was about to dial Leanne's number, when I got a call.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey," Came the voice of the son of Iris I'd met early this afternoon.

"Noah?"

"Surprised?"

"Yeah, I am. How'd you get my number?"

"Straight to the point, aren't you? Anyway, the reason I called is because your family is in danger right now."

"Yes, because hanging in an apartment belonging to three demigods isn't dangerous at all!" I said sarcastically. There was a banging on the door.

"Jaycee! Who are you talking to?" My mother called through the door. I covered the receiver.

"I'm on the phone, Mom! Having a private conversation! Not for mortal ears!"

I could hear my mom's exasperated huff. She'd never accepted the Greek gods. She continued to believe that the man she had two kids with was a musician whose stage name was Apollo and that they'd met in her parents joke shop.

"Who was that?"

"My mom. Nobody special."

"I heard that!" My mother called.

"You were supposed to!"

"Do you guys have….issues?"

"To say the least," I sighed. "Any other reason you called? And how in Hades did you get my number?"

"Not the problem! The problem is-"

He was cut off by the sound of a loud roar and the low, long beep signaling that the line had been cut, disconnected, or he ran out of time at a payphone.

I looked at my phone, confused. I hadn't ticked off any gods recently, had I? I certainly hadn't met any gods recently…had I? I shook my head trying to think straight. Failing, I decided I'd call Leanne now. After dialing the number, I put the phone to my ear.

"Yello?"

"Hey, Leanne. It's Jaycee."

"Oh, hey, Jay!"

"Yeah, hey, I'm-"

"Jaycee, what happened at the restaurant? You guys were having such a good time until you got a phone call!"

"How'd you know I got a phone call?" I demanded.

"Oh, well…" She trailed off.

"You were spying on me! Weren't you?"

"Well…"

"Weren't you?"

"Uhh…"

"Answer me!"

"Yeah…kinda…"

That was all I needed to hear.

"Well then…I called to tell you that I wasn't going to make your party, but I guess I did make it in a way."

"Jaycee-"

I hung up the phone, angry that my friends would do that. Annoyed that Meg hadn't stopped them, knowing I wouldn't want-nor liked-to be spied on. Furious, knowing that it was probably Lana's idea.

I threw my phone on my bed, grabbed my bow and arrows, and opened the window. I almost jumped out right away.

Almost.

But the thought of leaving Drew without anyway of contacting me was unbearable. So, I went back over to my bed, grabbed my cell, turned it off, and shoved it back into my pocket. I silently went over and unlocked my door, then ran for the window.

I jumped out quickly, landing on the fire escape, looking off towards the evening sun that was slowly dipping into the horizon. I took a deep breath, then jumped from the fire escape and plummeted down towards the streets.

The worst I got was a twisted ankle, but as soon as I hit the ground, I dashed off for nowhere.

I had run away.

Again.

Again? Jaycee's already runaway once? Obviously not in this story, but yes, she has runaway once. Sadly, she didn't get too far when Drew had found her and dragged her back 'home'.

But what's going to happen to her family if she's not there to protect them, knowing full well that Drew will be the one to follow and bring her back? (If he even finds her that is.)

Just have to wait and find out! :)

There's a poll on my profile for a new story(s)! If you want to have a say in it! (Check my MoA fanifc-Chap. 40-to see more details!)

~*J.C*~