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Annabeth

"Wow," I whipped around, a million people running through my mind. Percy was my first thought. How he -how anyone- could have walked up behind me without me knowing was my question. I almost wanted it to be Percy, but when I saw who it was, my jaw dropped.

"Luke!" I rushed forward, crushing him in a hug. I hadn't seen Luke in years, and he brought with him a great deal of memories. I met him back when I tried to run away from home at seven years old. My father had just remarried and the idea of having a stepmother both scared and angered me. I ran into Luke who took me under his wing, along with Thalia, until my father could find me. That summer, my father sent me off to camp Luke and Thalia had both been counselors there. Our ages made no difference when it came to the kind of friend he and Thalia were to me.

"Annabeth!" He stepped back, holding my face in his hands. "You look beautiful." He hugged me again, but ended it quickly so he could straighten out the wrinkles in my dress. I thought I saw some pink in his cheeks, but it faded as quickly as it came.

"How have you been?" I asked, realizing that I hadn't seen them since I was sixteen, his last year at camp.

"Good," he said. "but I'm not important. You are. How have you been?"

Blushing, I answered, "Great!" I opened my mouth to say more, but Thalia appeared in the doorway, wrapped in a bathrobe, and interrupted me.

"She's been doing so well," Thalia said, a sarcastic look crossing her face. "that she has a date tonight." The extra emphasis she put on the word "date" made me uneasy, causing my already blushing cheeks to become darker. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched her slink back into the bathroom to get ready.

"It's NOT a date, Thals!" I yelled after her defensively. "We're going as friends… and she's going too." I said, more to Luke than to anyone else. I turned back towards the mirror, directing my attention away from the conversation. Luke ran a hand through his hair nervously.

"I have somewhere to be," Luke said, taking my hand. "But it was really nice to see you again, Annabeth." He kissed me cheek and walked out, leaving me more confused than ever. I checked my hair one last time in the mirror. Behind me, I could see someone. Percy.

"Who was that?" He asked. Was that anger in his voice? Jelousy?

"Oh!" I felt the heat rising in my cheeks as I leaned clumsily against my dresser. "Luke… he's an old childhood friend… Thalia's too." I added the last part quickly, to ease the tension between us. It must have worked, for as I said it, his shoulders seemed to relax.

A lopsided grin appeared on his face. After looking me up and down, his smile widened. "You look awesome!" He said. "Wow…" He trailed off, taking a peculiar interest in his shoes. I walked up to him looking at his cute blue tie. Ironically, it matched pretty well with my dress.

"You don't look too bad yourself, Percy" I straightened out his tie, which was almost as lopsided as his smile. For a moment, we locked eyes, grey swimming in green.

"Hey Lovebirds!" Thalia's call shocked us out of our trance, turning both of our faces beet red. "We should get going. We reserved a table for 5:30, not tomorrow!" I nodded and stepped in front of Percy, leading the way to the door. As we walked, I was astonished to see that Thalia was wearing a dress! I had never seen it before, so I assumed she had just recently bought it, probably during my shower. It was definitely Thalia's style; black and fitted with simple slits in the sides. Her choppy hair was spiked up, making her look like a heavy metal rock star at the Red Carpet.

"You look good, Thals," Percy said first, reading my mind.

"Yeah!" I added enthusiastically. "You should dress up more often. You look hot!" Thalia snorted in reply, but I could tell she was blushing.

"Let's go," She grabbed her jacket and I grabbed mine. Percy showed us to his car and helped us in. I let Thalia sit in the front, even though I could tell she wanted me nice and close to Percy. We chattered as we drove, as if we had all grown up together; as if Percy were just like Luke.

By the time we reached the restaurant, I had learned much about Percy, and even some things I didn't know about Thalia; like how she enjoys archery, and how Percy has a childish fascination with marine life. I shared my fondness of architecture, feeling that I should contribute to the conversation.

"I want to build something permanent," I said, after rambling on and on about the wondrous architecture of the Empire State Building, and my appreciation for old, Greek structures. "Something that will last forever…" Thalia, as always, was staring at me blankly, pretending to be interested. Percy, though, was watching me intently, truly engrossed in what I was saying. I stopped, breathing heavily after my endless speech. I looked at Percy, who was still staring at me, jaw half open, and found myself blushing yet again. That would make… the billionth time today?

"Well," Thalia cleared her throat to cover up a yawn. "We're here. So, let's eat!" She stepped out of the car and brushed off her dress. She checked her phone, then stared up at the sky as if she were anxious for something. Before I could think about it any longer, Percy arrived at my side.

"Madame," He said with a pathetic British accent, offering me his arm. "Other Madame." He rolled his head to the side, adding a dramatic hair flip. Thalia sent her eyes to the sky and shook her head. "Why do I even do this?" She muttered, half to herself, as she took Percy's arm.

Percy strolled off and dragged us along with him. When we reached the front desk, he smiled to the girl behind it. "Table for Jackson," he said, matter-of-factly. "Please." I had to cough to stop myself from laughing at his accent; he either didn't notice he was till talking in it, or he didn't care. I found it quite alluring. The girl shot me a look of pure hatred; her red hair seemed to be on fire. This only made me want to laugh more, but I regained my composure.

"This way," She (her nametag read Rachel) said through gritted teeth. "You're back here." Rachel brought us to the very back and sat us down. Her eyelids fluttered as she asked Percy what he would like to drink. To be honest, I found it very immature, and she had awful flirting skills. Her girly smiles and giggles extinguished the instant she looked at either me or Thalia. Being his normal, oblivious self, Percy had no idea Rachel was flirting with him.

We ordered our drinks and, much to my pleasure, Rachel walked away. Thalia gave me a look, as if to say, "give us a minute," so I excused myself to look for the ladies room, hoping I wouldn't bump into our waitress. On my way, I took a detour. I strolled around, staring at the architecture. The room was beautiful; the different-

A vibration in my pocket pushed away my thoughts. Pulling out my phone, I read Thalia's text… U can come back now. Wondering what they could have possibly talked about, I made my way back to the table. Once I turned the corner and saw their faces, a wave of nausea swept over me. My stomach felt like it was in a knot, one I didn't know how to untangle.