Chapter 12

Annabeth's POV:

I walked to my first class in a daze. I can't believe I had been so… thoughtless! To my best friend! She's always been there for me and this one time she NEEDED me I wasn't there. I wanted to slap myself a thousand times. Maybe if we had invited Thal's… maybe this wouldn't of happened. I remember all the times she was there for me…. When the Luke thing happened, when we were moving. She was there for me to cry on her shoulder. And now that SHE'S going through such an emotional time….and I ran off to Tokyo with someone who was replacing her. I felt tears well up in my eyes. I forced them back and walked into the classroom. I walked over to my desk and looked around. Percy wasn't here yet. I sighed and sat down, then looked up to the board.

"Ms. Chase, I believe you have homework that you forgot to get before you're special camp trip." Said a grouchy teacher. I hadn't bothered to learn his name.

"Sorry." I mumbled I said and he handed me a stack of paper. I grimaced at the amount of homework I had. English was not my strong subject. I turned and discovered a dazed Percy. I gave him a short smile but I doubt it was very convincing. I didn't feel like smiling right then. I felt like selfish and terrible friend.

I retreated to my desk and flipped through all the papers that had been handed to me. A whole week's worth of homework that hadn't been handed in. I almost fainted. I think I'll need help with all this. Maybe me and Per- there it is again. The reason why Thalia is mad at me, I always think me, and Percy. Not me and Thal's. Not even me, Percy, and Thal's. I felt tears well up again and again I forced them away. The bell rung and Percy was also staring at his pile of homework. He still looked dazed. I frowned, wondering what was bothering him but as the teacher started talking I decided to ask him after class. I needed to focus on the lesson so I could maybe do some of the homework easier.

After the lesson was finished I file out of the classroom after all the other students, a still dazed Percy beside me. I nudged him, and with a concerned voice I asked him why he was so out of it.

"Oh nothing. I'm just still tired."

I raised an eyebrow at this but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and we continued to our next classes. We had all of our classes together, which is how we even clicked in the first place. Our next class was science and again, it wasn't my best subject. I mentally groaned as I walked into the freezing classroom and walked to my desk once more. It looked like some sor of a lab and it was always cold. It was probably because our teacher was a thousand years old and doesn't have any idea how to turn the A/C over to the heater. So in winter it's like standing outside. I always stop by my locker to retrieve my thick coat, but today I had forgotten to. I looked at the clock. I still had 4 mintues until class started. Maybe if I jogged, I could make it back in time. I put my stuff down and did so. Left, right left my brain thought as I turned my lock. I opened it up to face my locker walls. Which were covered in photos of friends and bands, mini posters, and lyric quotes that I copied on notebook paper. There were also a few drawing that I did. I pulled my thick jacket off the hook in my locker and closed the picture-covered door and rushed back to the freezing classroom. I checked my watch again and discovered I still had 2 more minitues to make it back. I quickened my pace and arrived through the door just as the bell rung. The teacher wasn't there yet and I rushed to my seat as I pulled on the grey coat. The good thing about this class is that the teacher never really gives us homework. Just teaches, quizzes, the tests us and assumes that we know what the hell is going on.

I'm lucky to have that kind of teacher because in all honesty when I said it wasn't my strong subject, that it was an understatement. It is actually one o the hardest subject for me to understand. All the cells and strange words. I hate how it goes through my brain, but my brain refuses to understand how a cell can split and make 2 different cells. It doesn't understand why it does that. So it becomes a struggle to even recite that. But I guess I'll have to slave away through it anyways. Anyways I guess it doesn't matter. I still have to learn it. Willingly or by force. That's what one of my favorite teachers in middle school said. I choose to learn it willingly. But sometimes it's the hardest thing to do….

"Welcome back class," said the old woman "hope you had a good weekend and I hope Ms. Chase and Mr. Jackson had a good trip." I blushed because we didn't really go to a camp, but I smiled at her and looked down at my table. Percy was doing the same. And then the class went on. After about an hour or so, the bell rang dismissing us from the classroom. I walked out and started to walk myself about a half a mile across the school to get to the history classroom. Percy caught up to me I smiled and greeted him and he started rambling on about the lesson. He really likes science and that has always been lost on me but I always listen to him talk about him with a bright smile. I guess we were learning about ocean particles today or coral or something because I heard those words in a few sentences. I nodded a few times and when we approached my locker I shoved it in there and we continued our walk. I checked my watch, we still had 5 minitues to reach our destination.

"Um Annie."

"Uh yes?" I replied. Percy rubbed his neck.

"Well there's something I need to talk to you about and it's important." I nodded and he continued

"Well this morning, Thailia came up to me and started to talk about how I was stealing you from her and I think that I have an idea." I stared at him and he continued. "Well maybe we could start to include her in some of the things that we're doing. Like maybe we can take her in… Make a threesome or something like that." I nodded very quickly and told him about the mornings events, and before we knew it the bell had rung and we had to run to the classroom.

"Well, here they are." Said Mr. Brunner. He was the only teacher I had bothered to learn the name of and respected completely. He taught the students, made sure that we understood, and also had a little fun with us in the process, but he didn't let us get too out of line.

"Sorry Mr. Brunner." Percy and I said in unison and took our seats that again we had right next to one another. Mr. Brunner gave us a pointed look and started write on the board.

Percy's POV:

After a detailed lesson on World War 1, Annie and I walked together towards math. Annabeth was smiling down at her fingers and I knew exactly why. Annie is a total history geek, especially for the world wars (she probably got that from her dad who studies the world war and the planes and such.) and we just had a really good lesson. Mr. Brunner had written the notes for us and we got to do some trivia afterwards.

"You are such a geek sometimes Annie." I said chuckling. She glared at me and replied with a snark about my love for the science lesson.

"And don't pretend you didn't enjoy the lesson too." I chuckled and we continued towards Ms. Dodd's classroom. I shuttered. Ms. Dodd is the most hated teacher and I could swear that she's a monster or something. I swear to my grave that when she smiles, you can she her pointed teeth.

We walked into the classroom for a miserable lesson and I'm not even going to tell you about her crude voice as she taught us, her sneer as she took my doodles away, and her crooked fingers as she pointed at the different number on the board. And finally after an hour of her horrid voice the bell rung and we rushed out of the classroom. Me and Annie went to our separate lockers and I shoved m things into the already messy locker and slammed it back shut to go to my blonde friends colorful cabinet of organization (aka Annie's CLEAN locker).

"Hey." I said as she put her books in a neat stack on the shelf of her locker.

"Hey," she replied. "So what do you think is on the menu today? She asked with an amused look on her face. Most days it's usually some weird mix of foods all mashed together and put on a plate. Which is why Annie and I always just take the table by the line to see what people walk away with. By the time we're done laughing at their face of disgust, we've lost our appetites anyways. I shrugged and grinned at her. She grinned back at me and we started to walk towards the lunchroom in silence. When we got there, I told Annabeth that now would be a good time to start including Thailia. She nodded and we scanned the cafeteria for the raven-haired girl and when we finally found her (in the lunch line of all places) we rushed over to her and started to invite her at once. Then when I finally shut my mouth, Annie continued.

"Thal's I know that you've felt left out lately and me and Percy wanted to change that. So WE were wondering if you would come hang out with us at lunch today?"

Thalia looked at us in shock and then her face softened. I saw that in Annie's eyes that she looked desperate and helpless. I almost started to cry at her emotional state. The raven nodded and both girls grinned at each other. We began to drag her out of the lunch line but she said,

"No. I have an idea." And with the evil glint in her eye, I was sort of scared for what she had planned. Annabeth and I looked at her in confusion but walked to our table and let her get the mystery meat.

"So that went well." I said. Annie smiled at me.

"Yeah, Thal's may seem like some sort of hard ass, prideful funk but she is actually really sensitive to certain things; that includes loosing a friend, or whenever that friend is in need… I just wish I had been there for her."

I nodded and pulled her into a hug and she returned it. After we released each other Thal's walked up with her big plate of… Actually I'm not sure.

"So, what's this little idea you have?" asked Annie. Thailia smiled at her and then took her spoon and plopped a pile of the meat onto it and flung it over to a table that contained two twin pranksters. The Stoll brothers. I looked over at her as she sent another flying at the table.

"Dang, you've got a good aim!" I said in awe. She smiled at me and sent two more flying before she threw away the rest of the "food". Annabeth was snickering.

"Remember when you did that to Clarrise with cake on your birthday?" she said while laughing.

"Oh my gosh, I'm not kidding she almost killed me later!" Thailia replied. I smiled at the two, I'm glad that Annie is happy with her best friend. Then the blonde looked at me and asked why I was smiling.

"No reason." I said with a bigger grin. She hit me in the shoulder and said.

"Come on tell me."

"Oh it's nothing you just had a little meat on your hair." I said. She felt her hair frantically and when she discovered none she hit me again.

"Hey! No hitting. I didn't know I had an abusive best friend!"

"Oh trust me she is." Said Thailia.

"How abusive does she get?"

"Ah not too much, she's a bit of a weakling but I always pretend to me hurt when she hits me."

Annabeth looked at us in shock.

"I'm not abusive or weak!" she said. I chuckled and put my arms on her shoulder.

"Yes you are Annie."

I saw the blush on her cheeks before she could even to start to stutter out her next sentence. Then the bell rang. Annie groaned and we walked to the gym/swimming pool for swimming after saying our good byes to Thailia.

"I hate swimming." Grumbled Annie. I chuckled and we walked to our separate changing rooms. There was already a set of swimming trunks set out for all the boys to take and I assumed there were swimming suits for the girls.

"Hey Perce!" said my friend Grover.

"Hey G-Man, what's up?"

"Oh nothing much about you? I've noticed you're hanging around Annie lately, what that all about?"

"She's my friend man, I like hanging around my friends." He nodded and we put on our swimsuits and walked out.

"OK cupcakes. It's time to get your swim on. Start your warm ups. Chase, Jackson 10 extra push ups for your absence." Said our short but frightening coach, Coach Hedge. Annie and I nodded and we began the warm ups of push- ups, sit-ups, and stretches of all sorts. After we all completed the task, the boys and girls were separated to one half of the pool; boys on the right side of the pool and girls on the left.

"Alright ladies," said the coach to the boy side of the pool "You need to get to the other side of the pool and I'm sure the girl on the other side will help motivate you." All the girls either blushed or looked offended or both. I looked at the girl on the other side of the pool. I groaned; it was Rachel. She smirked at me and I glared in return. Usually whoever is on the other side has to help the other person up because we don't have any footholds on our pool to help us up; and I knew that Rachel would just try to hit on me some how. She did last year when we were in swimming together last year. Then Coach Hedge blew the whistle. I dove down beneath the chilly water and did he stroke that he had instructed us to do. ((I don't know too much about swimming so you can just think of it as any stroke you want)) When I finally reached the end of the pool, I went down to the bottom and pushed off from the floor; which blew me out of the water. Turns out I didn't need the sluts help after all. I smirked at her, and she glowered at me. All the boys including me toweled off and went back to our side of the pool. We all went to random spots, and thank god Rachel didn't turn up on the other side. With pool water in my eyes, my vision wasn't too good but I couldn't see any red hair. I shrugged and waited for the whistle to blow.

I thought about a few things as I waited. My thoughts were full of "I wonders" or "what ifs" and then the whistle blew, pulling me away from those thoughts. I braced myself to catch the girl who was bulleting through the water and when she reached the other side, she got her head out of the water. It was my blonde friend. I smirked at her and reached down to pull her out of the water. She took my hand and when she was finally out of the water I noticed her blush. I raised my eyebrows but she didn't seem to notice.

"Alright cupcakes, it's time to get out the pool." Said the short coach, after we swam a few more laps like that. I chuckled as I heard Annie make a comment about how he looks like he lives on cupcakes. She looked up at me and smirked, then blushed. I laughed and we went our separate ways to the different locker rooms.

Annabeth's POV:

Ok, lets get one thing straight. I was NOT blushing at Percy's completely exposed abs. I was blushing at his gorgeous eyes. Ok? Ok. And another thing, don't tell Piper.

After I changed out of the wet swimsuit I dried my hair under a hand dryer and made a mental note to buy an actual hair dryer for this kind of stuff. I shivered slightly and made my way back to my gym locker to retrieve the bag I'd brought with me.

"Hello there, the angel from my nightmare the shadow in the background of the morgue. The unsuspecting victim of darkness in the valley, we can live like Jack and Sally if we want." I sang under my breath. I didn't' like my voice but I loved to sing. It's kind of a win/lose situation whenever I sung but meh. I was singing I Miss You by Blink 182.

"Whatcha singing?" asked Piper, who suddenly popped out of nowhere thus scaring the shit out of me. I jumped. "Holy shit Piper!" I yelled, and help my heart, which was beating quite fast. "Sorry, but I neeeeeeeedd to talk to you about something." She said with a wink. I scowled at her. "There's nothing to discuss about that." I said quietly, I felt my face turn red.

"You're blushing! There is something to discuss so I need comformation: do you or do you not like Percy?" she asked. I froze. Do I? I don't know. I really like being around him, and I always think about him. Whenever I see something stupid, I want to laugh about it with Percy. When I see something amazing, I want to show Percy. When I'm angry, sad, or just not feeling well I want Percy to be there to make me better. He makes me smile. Holy shit. I think I do like him.

You like him! Duh! Said the girly part of my brain.

No just because his friendship makes me happy and he makes me laugh and smile and blush and crap, doesn't mean I like him. It just means that Im happy he's there. Go away, Annabeth doesn't like it when you talk to her. Said the logical and my favorite part, of my brain. I sighed.

"I don't know. I like being around him, and he makes me happy but I am scared to actually scared to like people. Because of this thing that happened but I shouldn't get into that. Why am I even discussing this with you, I barely know you. Wait I do know you a little I just ugh." I replied. Both sides of my brain were talking for me leaving me with a weird mixture of dumb and logical sounding remarks. I just slapped myself (nasty habit) and then walked out of the gym, leaving behind a confused Piper.

"Hey!" greeted a familiar male voice I felt my face perk up. "HEY!" I replied and smirked, when Percy covered his ears. "Are you trying to deafen me?" he asked. I smirked and looked around at the now empty pool area. "Yes of course I am! And where did everyone go?" I asked. Percy just shrugged and flung his arm over my shoulders as we exited the chlorine-scented room. I felt myself blush, and then slapped myself.

"Hey, don't do that." Percy said.

"What?"

"Slap yourself."

"Oh sorry, nasty habit." I explained.

"Well make it a non-habit now." He said with a frown. I frowned back at him before Thalia walked over to us.

"Hey Thal's!" I said. I felt better knowing that she wasn't mad at us anymore.

"Hey Annie!" I glared at her.

"You know I hate that." I grumbled.

"That's why I do it Annie." She said with a smirk. I glared at her more, and she just laughed.

"How do you not cower in fear? Her glare is fucking scary!" Percy exclaimed.

"I've been her best friend for awhile now, and I'm about 10x more badass than you so you know." She replied with her famous smirk. Percy pretended to be hurt, and held his heart. I smiled and rolled my eyes. Yes I am very glad that Thal's is back.

Yeah I know it's short, but I wanted to put up a chapter soon because I was gone for SO long. Again I am SOOOOO sorry. I'm going to try to be good to you guys and put up longer chapters, more frequently.

OK, bai I love you.