A/N: Hi guys! I'm so sorry I was away for so long; I had a billion track meets because they all needed to be made up because of so many rainy days… and then I had tons and tons of cram work because finals are coming up and all of my teachers freaked out at the same time and decided it would be a good idea if they overloaded us with work. Aren't they awesome! (rolls eyes)

So anyway, I'm back and should be updating regularly again. Enjoy! :-)

Ow. Whoever invented sunshine sucks. It really, really hurts your eyes if you're not expecting it. Which is why I made sure I dragged Percy and Grover to the nearest store that sold Ray Bans and bought myself a nice pair or red fake Wayfarers. I put them on, and of course, looked like a boss.

It doesn't really matter that I didn't have enough money to buy them. This should just be a lesson to all storeowners that people DO manage to steal things even though there are those little beeper buzzy things at the entrance.

As we walked along the sidewalk, I turned to Grover. I had decided to leave Percy alone for the time being, because really who wants to talk to a scared, anguished, barf-y little demigod?

Oops. I didn't really mean for that to sound so harsh…

"Hey Grover, what are we going to do about Chiron? I mean, it's not really like Mr. D can run the camp alone. Plus, it's Chiron! I mean, come on. Nothing gets done without Chiron! The world will end if we don't find him!" I started this sentence off calm and cool, and ended in a nervous wreck.

Yeah, 'cause I'm just cool that way.

Grover looked worried as well. "I really don't know. Were there any clues about where he could have gone?"

I thought back to my little trip around the school, about how I looked for Chiron, noticed the smell of monsters, found Chiron's room in shambles, figured out that Percy and Grover's math teacher was a Fury-

I stopped dead in my tracks when I came to the realization. Grover and Percy took a few more steps but then stopped too and looked back at me questioningly.

"Guys! There was a note! A note on the Fury's desk! I didn't read it; I was too busy concentrating on getting to Chiron's room! I have to go back and read it!" I was almost hysterical at this point, and I'm not even sure why.

Grover's visage adopted a skeptical visage. "Annabeth, are you sure about this? I mean, we are already out in the open enough and targeted for monsters, but to go back to the lair of a monster, even if it is a temporary one? I'm not so sure that's a good idea…" He trailed off, now looking a little lost.

To my surprise, it was Percy who came to my rescue.

"I think we should go back and read the note. If it's a clue to find this Chiron guy, you should look at it. It's the only lead you have, and besides, you talk about him like he's a really important guy that has to be around."

I was shocked. I mean, this was Percy. The guy who, about 20 minutes previous, had found out he was a demigod. The kid who barfed after learning about our world. He had to have some kind of guts to willingly go back to the place of a monster, especially since our world was so terrifying to him.

"Thanks for having my back, Percy," I smiled my best smile at him. I almost laughed when he blushed. Well, simultaneously almost laughed and fainted. Who knew blushing could be hot? I didn't. I definitely did not.

I continued. "Although, you do still look a little green around the gills. You feeling okay?" I asked, concerned.

He took a deep shuddering breath, and his eyes narrowed. "Actually, no. I'm not okay. I was just told that I'm a half god, that my entire life I've been chased and hunted down by monsters, that until extremely recently, I'd only dreamed about or thought were myths. On top of this, I have to go to some weird summer camp where all these weird kids go so they can be safe from monsters. My whole life has been turned around. Oh! And how could I forget? I just found out that my best friend is half barn animal."

He looked half-livid half-desperate by the end of his little outburst/monologue/whine session.

Grover looked mildly insulted at the end of Percy's little temporary lapse of sanity. "I am not a barn animal!" He pouted like a three year old.

I was getting seriously sick of these two. I know I'm not supposed to, but I was really wishing I had just stayed at camp.

I know I never get a chance to go out in the real world, but I don't care now. I just wanted to go back to a place where everything made sense. I kept my cool though and just calmed myself down.

"We are going back to the school. It's not like we've gone too far, and we need a lead on where Chiron could be. Okay? Now Grover, Grow up. And Percy? Get over yourself and just go with it. I'm aware that this is a lot to take in for the moment, but just please, restrain from any outbursts. Frankly, no one cares and we all went through the same thing, so don't get a big head thinking that you're a special case. Because you're not. Even if you are a really powerful half blood."

With that all said, I turned on my heel and started walking back to the school.

I could not believe I just said that. I just basically ripped Percy apart. Yeah, Annabeth. Real nice. Now he would be even more prone to freak out. Like I just did… So much for keeping my cool. I'm going to take a wild guess here and say that I had completely lost my mind for a second.

I adjusted my Ray Bans and looked back towards the boys once I realized they weren't following me. They were both staring me with stunned looks on their faces.

Maybe I had overdone it just a teensy little bit…

I put that thought out of my mind. Grover seriously did need to grow up and Percy really had needed to get a hold of himself. Maybe I just shouldn't have told them like that… Ah. Oh well. What's done is done.

They finally started trudging back to the school with me. The only thing was, neither one would look at me or talk to me. This was going to be a looooong day…

SO! Annabeth freaks out! The characters' emotions in this chapter fluctuate pretty often, but cut them some slack. They're going through a tough time, and unfortunately for them, I decide what goes down…(grins evilly) ANYWAYS, leave me a review and tell me what you think!