Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HOO. Rick Riordan invented those before I had the chance to :(
Annabeth was gone when Percy came back.
There was a note on the kitchen counter, explaining that Annabeth had already left. She had wrote that she was afraid she'd miss her classes so she just... left.
Percy sighed. Just when he had thought they were making progress.
oooOOOooo
Annabeth was lost. Totally and completely lost. She was somewhere in Manhatten.
Ya, that was a great help.
She took a deep breath. Ok. She had left the apartment building, turned left and then... had she turned again? Ugh! This was so confusing. Percy had said that her college was within walking distance of their apartment. Turn left, walk a block, turn right and then you were on the right street.
So where had she gone wrong?
Annabeth looked around, sat on a nearby bench, and put her head in her hands and took deep, calming breaths. Oh! Her head shot up. Her cellphone! Maybe if she scrolled through her numbers she could find someone she recognized. Someone who would probably know where she went to school.
The only problem? In her hurry to leave this morning Annabeth had forgotten her phone.
Well shit, that was a problem.
She sighed and her shoulders drooped in defeat. Maybe there was a phone booth...?
But as she looked around she saw there was no phone booth. She frowned. Well what could she do?
Just as she was deciding to get up and try to retrace her steps there was a tap on her shoulder. When Annabeth turned to look she saw that there was a woman in her late twenties with her black hair braided back. She had surprisingly grey eyes.
"Excuse me, but I couldn't help wondering if you were lost." she said warmly. There was a slight twinkle in her eyes and Annabeth got the feeling that she would not want to mess with that woman. If only she could remember why those eyes were so familiar. If she wasn't so frazzled then she would probably be able to guess it in a second.
Annabeth realized the woman was waiting for her to answer. "Oh. Oh yes I am. You wouldn't happen to know where Manford College is, would you?"
The woman smiled reassuringly at Annabeth. "Why as a matter of fact I do. Would you like me to walk you?"
Annabeth shook her head. "No thankyou, I just need directions."
The woman smiled. "Go back up that street and turn right on the first street you come across. Keep going until you see the sign. You won't be able to miss it," the woman rolled her eyes, "it's huge."
Annabeth smiled. "Thankyou so much! Can I ask your name?"
The woman paused for a moment. "Call me Theena," she finally said, "it's a nickname."
Annabeth gathered her books from the bench. "Thanks Theena! You've been a huge help."
Theena smiled and her gray eyes sparkled. "You're quite welcome. Oh and Annabeth? A word of advice dear, remember to keep an open mind. You can have opinions about something without even realizing it sometimes." The woman smiled one last time before turning and walking away.
Annabeth stood there for a moment, staring after the retreating figure. She then shook her head and followed the womans directions. Only later that night would she wonder how the woman knew her name.
oooOOOooo
As soon as Annabeth walked into the hallway leading to her first class a brown eyed beauty rushed over to her, followed by a red-head with blue eyes. She practically ran a guy over in her high heels and didn't spare him a glance at all. She just ran over and hugged Annabeth. "Annabeth! Oh my god, we've missed you soo much! How are you? Ok, so guess what! Jared asked Melanie out! How awesome is that? She wouldn't stop talking about it for weeks! Now since you're back she's probably gonna explain it to you too! How are you and Percy? We heard all about the accident. Sorry we didn't come visit you, we've just had soo much work to do! K, so you haven't missed too much. Professor Crast has just been going on about angles, extensions, balancing buildings blah blah blah. Like we don't already know all of this. Anyways you have a couple of projects due. Next week we have to hand in a design of a building. Something that is totally new and original. Then the week after that we have to actually show him the building. We have to build it! A miniature model of course, but still."
The brunette paused, giving Annabeth a chance to say something but when she was just about to open her mouth started to speak again. "And Nick broke his arm! It was terrible! They say he might not be able to play football for 2 months! Can you believe that? It's like, his favourite thing in the whole world and he won't be able to play it for 2 months! It's terrible, he's been sitting around the living room, complaining and making me make all of his meals! And I said- do you wanna know what I sai?" Without giving Annabeth a chance to reply the girl rushed on. "Well, I said at least it wasn't as bad as what happened to Annabeth! I mean I heard you had to stay in the hospital for a few weeks or something, right?"
Finally Annabeth got a chance to say something. "It was closer to a month actually."
The red haired girl stepped forward and gave Annabeth a hesitant hug. "Aww we're so sorry Annabeth. How are you feeling?" She had a soft voice, not like the brunette. She seemed hesitant and shy but at the same time, caring and looked like she would always be there to help a friend. "I called Percy while you were in the hospital. He said something about amnesia? Do you remember him yet?"
Annabeth stared at the red head, shocked that she would ask such a question. Was it any of her bussiness?
"Annabeth," the brunette touched her shoulder, gently but firmly, "are you alright? Do you need to go home?"
Annabeth shook her head. "No. No I'm fine, it's just... well I'm sorry you guys, but I have no idea who you are."
The girls both stepped back, the brunette's hand dropping from Annabeth's shoulder. For a second they looked stunned but then the brunetter smiled at her. "Ha ha, very funny Annabeth. Look Mel and I think Percy's really upset about this so maybe you shouldn't joke about it. For a second I actually believed you too."
The red head, who must've been Mel, touched the brunette's shoulder. "Jamie, I think she's serious."
Jamie turned to stare at Mel for a second before she looked at Annabeth again. "Of course she's not serious, she would've said something. You're kidding, aren't you Annabeth?"
Once again Annabeth shook her head. "Look I'm sorry, but I don't remember anything from when I was 12 to when I woke up in the hospital."
"But, but then-" Jamie's eyes widened as she realized something. "What about you and-"
RIIINNGG!
The three girls jumped. "Damn! I can't be late for classes again, Crast will kill me!" Jamie exclaimed. She looked at Annabeth seriously. "Mel and I are going to have a serious talk with you later, you hear me?"
Annabeth barely had time to nod before Jamie grabbed her and Mel's hands and dragged them to the room where Annabeth's Architectural Technician class was being held.
"Look," Jamie said to her, "you sit here, beside Ethan and Tyler. Sorry," she whispered as an afterthought, "Ethan likes to chew gum... like really loudly. It makes it hard to concetrate, but it's not like we got to pick where we sat. At least Tyler is fine, although he keeps to himself mostly."
Annabeth slowly sat in the chair Jamie motioned at. It wasn't comfotable, but it wasn't uncomfortable either. The table was just that. A long table, leading down the row where Annabeth sat. There were 5 rows, each a bit higher than the one in front so that it was possible to see the teacher and what he was writing on the board that took up the center of the far wall.
Jamie and Mel scurried of and split up. Jamie sat in the 2nd row, Mel in the 4th and Annabeth sat between them in the 3rd. They were all near the middle, Jamie being in the exact middle, Mel a couple of seats to the left, away from the door and Annabeth was closest to the door having about 4 seats between her and the middle on the right side.
Annabeth examined her table. It was just an ordinary table, it didn't wobble; thank the gods for small miracles. That would have been annoying.
The three girls were the first ones there. Next in was a boy who had curly brown hair he reminded Annabeth of someone. Tyson. The name was suddenly in her head but it was definitely right. Tyson, that's who the person reminded her of. The guy came and sat down on Annabeth's left. Without looking at her he mumbled a "hey."
"Hi." Annabeth replied.
The boy glanced up at her, and then pulled out his phone, a blackberry. "Good to have you back Jackson."
"What?" she asked him, her mind going hazy for a moment.
The guy raised an eyebrow at her. "I thought you didn't mind me calling you that anymore? Want me to go back to Chase?"
"Ummm..." she trailed off, not knowing what to say.
He was pretty attractive, Annabeth had to admit. He had a nice toned body (Annabeth could tell by his arm muscles) and his face was round but not fat. Skinny, but not gaunt. He was tanned and his hair was attractive in that 'I took no time on it today and it still looks fine' kind of way. He was wearing a black t-shirt, blue jeans and some no name brand sneakers. There was a chain with a small metal framed picture of a girl in it hanging on his neck.
"You there Jackson?" the guy asked her again, waving a hand in front of her face to snap her out of her trance.
"Umm ya. Look my name's Annabeth." Annabeth explained.
"Ya I know that." the guy said.
"Well why don't you just call me Annabeth?" she asked.
"Cause you like Jackson better," he said. "or at least, you used to."
"Look I'd prefer if you just called me Annabeth ok? No last names."
Once again he raised an eyebrow. "So the memory loss thing's true. Sorry 'bout that."
Annabeth looked at him closely. "How do you know I have amnesia?"
He laughed at her. "Look, Annabeth," he said the word slowly, testing it out, " you love being called Jackson. You never say it, but you do. I heard from... people that you might have memory loss. It must be true."
She shook her head. "Fine, but you're right. I have memory loss. I can't remember anything from since I was 12."
The guys eyes widened. "Damn," he whistled, "so you probably don't remember my name then right?"
She nodded, watching him warily.
He set his blackeberry down, and held out his hand. "I'm Tyler. Tyler Krask. Nice to meet you."
She slowly put her hand in his and shook it. "Annabeth Chase."
He nodded thoughtfully, about to go back to his phone before turning to look at her. "Damn, so that means you won't remember Percy either. Am I right?"
Annabeth winced. That was 3 people now who asked her about Percy and she was only 10 minutes in. How often did she talk about Percy to have that many people know? "Well... no, not really. We're working on improving my memory though."
Tyler shut his blackberry and slipped it in his bag. "Poor Perce. Poor you. I'll have to come visit him sometime."
Now it was Annabeth's turn to raise her eyebrow. "You've been at our place?"
He nodded. "Yup," he said popping the p, "I've been there once or twice, mostly to see Percy. We watch games together with some other guys sometimes." Tyler looked at her closely. "You really don't remember? You used to tell us to quiet down or you'd rip out the TV cable." He shook his head. "It was pretty close sometimes."
Annabeth laughed. She could just imagine Percy surrounded by friends, watching a game and being too loud while she was telling them all to be queit. She felt a pang in her chest. It sounded like fun, she thought to herself sadly. If only she could remember.
"Anyways I'll have to come over soon. Tell Percy so he'll have enough food stored up." Tyler told her.
"Sure. I'm sure he'll be glad to hear-" Annabeth started but was cut off by someone's throat clearing.
"As you can see is back, having recovered enough to rejoin her classes." A male voice said. "And thank goodness you actually showed up on time today Ms. Tan, I would have hated to assign you extra work." As soon as the man finished his sentence Jamie blushed but smiled.
When Annabeth turned she saw a man, dressed in a suit, standing in front of the blackboard studying the students there. She hadn't noticed the rest of the students come in and take their seats, and she definitely hadn't noticed the professor walk in the room. He had brown, thinning hair and was pale skinned. He was wrinkled, but the wrinkles around his eyes told you that he smiled often.
After the lesson that day, Annabeth didn't have a clue where her judgement had gone. The man (who was obviously Professor Crast) never smiled. Not once. He lectured, made you take notes, answer questions and quizzed you, but he never smiled.
He was the most strict, down-to-the-point teacher Annabeth could ever remember having. And she loved it.
He left no room for goofing off, not paying attention or cheating. It was like he had eyes in the back of his head! He told Ethan (who was very very annoyingly chewing his gum) to stop looking at her paper and answer the questions on the paper in front of them himself. He asked Tyler to keep his phone off when he was talking, or else to keep it out of his classroom when Tyler got a text message. He asked a pretty girl in the front row to stop doodling and start writing or drawing.
What Annabeth loved most however, was the fact that she almost couldn't keep up.
It was a challenge. A challenge which Annabeth loved. The other students seemed to have the same problem. Professor Crast would speak so acurately, without pausing, that it was difficult to understand. But when he went and demonstrated what he was trying to say, you did understand. He got through to everyone. Everyone listened and everyone got it.
It was fun.
Before Annabeth knew it, the 4 hour lesson was over. It was already 1 o'clock.
"Wow." Annabeth sat there stunned at all she had just heard.
Tyler nodded, watching Ethan's retreating figure. "Tell me about it, how you forget any of Crast's classes I'll never know." He stood up and watched as Annabeth packed up the many papers covered in her notes and diagrams. "See you around Jackson." he said, before winking at her and exiting the classroom.
Annabeth watched him go, wondering just how well she and Tyler knew each other. As he turned to walk down the hallway she once again saw the glint of the metal encircled picture on his neck.
Annabeth stood up, her things packed in her bag, and was just walking to the door when she heard and already familiar clear of a throat. "Ms. Chase?"
She turned and watched as Professor Crast made his way up the stairs on the right side of the room that led to the door.
"Professor?" she asked uncertainly.
His eyes widened a bit in surprise. "I thought you were fine with calling me Mr. Crast. Professor makes me sound old."
Annabeth smiled a little at him, albeit hesitantly. "I'm sorry. Yes, Mr. Crast?"
He smiled at her. The first smile she had seen him wear that day. It made him look suddenly very warm, and fun. "I know about the amnesia, so be sure to ask me anything. Just know that I won't be able to stop this class for you Annabeth."
Annabeth nodded understandingly. "Of course, I never expected that you would. And thank you. I'll make sure to ask for help if I need it."
He nodded. "Just so we're clear. You know about the upcoming projects due?"
"Yes, Jamie told me."
He rolled his eyes, but smiled. "Of course she did. Well I hope you have a nice day Annabeth. Tell Percy hello from me."
"Tell Mrs. Crast hello from me." Annabeth said automatically, then she froze. What? She didn't even know a . What was she talking about. She was just about to apologize when the Professor nodded like this was a usual response.
"Of course." he answered her.
Annabeth nodded and turned, trying not to run away. She was thinking about how she had responded. Almost like she knew the Mrs. Crast. Her voice hadn't just been polite, it had sounded caring. Annabeth shook her head. She would ask Jamie or Percy about it later.
She had just reached the door when 's voice rang out. "Oh and Annabeth?"
She turned, her hand on the door handle. "Yes?"
He smiled at her again. "It's good to have you back."
Annabeth stood, taking that in for a moment before smiling back at him. "Thank you; it's good to be back."
And despite how confused she was at the moment, she meant it.
oooOOOooo
Yay! Another chapter done! It wasn't as boring as I expected! I actually liked this one. Anyways, I'll try to post another chapter today too! We have a day off school so this was a perfect opportunity to work on this story! The next chapter's the date so it'll be more interesting.
I went and saw the Host this weekend, amazing movie. If you loved the book you'll love the movie. And I saw Beautiful Creatures a while ago with some friends too! It was great as well!
:)Anyways thanks to the reviewers, favouriters and followers. You know I love them all! They do keep me writing after all!
Love to you all!
Percyjacksonfan3 :)