She's...ALLLIIVVEE!

Okay, school has pretty much taken over my life. The end of the term was yesterday, and I swear, my teachers decided to get together and say, "Plan tests all on the same day? Kay, cool!" I had to study for a Precalculus final, AP World final, AP Psych final, a Dance final, AND I had the ACT earlier today. My brain is pretty much fried.

So I wrote Percy Jackson to make me feel better. Yay!

Also, I started writing the first chapter of a Percy Jackson one shot, but MY COMPUTER DELETED IT BEFORE I COULD SAVE IT. It was like, six pages long in Word, and now it's gone.

GONE.

So now I need to work on that mumblegroancursecomputerands wearsomemore.

So, as I say every chapter...

Let it commence.

Annabeth

My heart didn't stop pounding until we made it to the bus station. Bethany had used a shuttle line to get to LA, so she was able to show us where it was. Percy hastily purchased our tickets as Bethany and I sprawled out on one of the benches

How had the pithos gotten away from Hestia? I knew that she was taking care of it, and I didn't think that she wouldn't watch it closely. What if—

Bethany interrupted my thoughts. She put hands on my head and shoved me behind a huge potted plastic plant next to the bench.

"Get down!" she hissed.

Before I could protest, a kid in a purple t-shirt walked up to Bethany. I pulled my knees to my chest, praying he wouldn't look to his right.

"Hey, Beth, how's it going?" the boy asked.

"Don't call me that, Nate," Bethany said.

He shrugged. "Were you able to find the Greeks? I saw you follow them down an alley."

Her gaze shifted quickly to where I was hiding, but he didn't notice.

"No, I didn't find them," she sighed, looking disappointed. She sounded convincing. Hopefully it would be enough.

"What're you doing in the bus station, then?" Nate asked.

Bethany rolled her eyes. "I don't think we'll be able to find them. Besides, now that they know that there are four of us here, I should go to camp and call for more back up. Octavian would have my head if he knew I saw them."

"Fair enough. Maybe I could join you on the bus? I got a call from Octavian saying that he wants me back, too," Nate said, sitting down next to her.

Bethany shifted slightly away from him on the bench, looking uncomfortable. "Uh, well…" She definitely shot me a look this time. Help!

I slipped on my invisibility cap and quietly crept behind the bench. I pulled out my knife, and hit him hard on the back of the head with the hilt. His body gave a jolt, and he slid off the bench and collapsed on the floor. Bethany stared in shock at Nate.

I pulled off my hat, and she jumped a foot in the air.

"What the—?"

"Invisibility hat," I said, putting it back in my pocket. I shot her a sideways glance. "He seemed…friendly."

Bethany scowled at Nate, still crumpled on the linoleum. "He and I—well, it didn't last very long. I broke it off."

"That's okay," I said. "Now, what the Hades are we going to do with him?"

Bethany looked at me weird when I said Hades, but she didn't say anything. "I have no idea—"

"What the heck?" a loud voice exclaimed.

I looked up and saw Percy standing by Nate's head, holding three bus tickets, his mouth wide open.

Bethany and I exchanged looks, and she cracked a smile.

"Ex-boyfriend," I said simply.

"He wanted to sit by me on the bus," Bethany said, shrugging.

"Do you do that to every boy who likes you?" Percy said, eyeing her warily.

"More or less."

Before Percy could retort, I interrupted him.

"Anyway, when he comes to, he'll know that something's up. We've got to get on the bus."

"Good idea," Bethany said, jumping to her feet.

She and I were about to walk away when Percy stopped us. "Wait."

He handed me the tickets and hoisted Nate up under the armpits. He slumped him over on the bench and tried to sit him up. Instead, Nate flopped over and hit his head on the arm rest.

"Good enough," Percy said.

Before watching mortals could look at us hauling a limp body around, we ran away from Nate and the bench.

Things got a little awkward when we were choosing seats. Percy was in the lead, Bethany behind him, and me in the back. Percy plopped down in the seat adjacent to the driver's seat, and Bethany, not thinking, sat down next to him. I stood there, shifting on my feet until she realized what she did.

"Oh, uh, sorry," she said, running a hand through her hair. "I'll just sit…okay."

She sat down across the aisle by herself, and I took the seat next to Percy, quickly taking his hand.

"Wait a second," I said, noticing something and shooting him a glare. "Why do you get the window seat again?"

"Because I'm the man of this relationship, that's why. And I'm not moving."

"Man of the relationship my butt…" I muttered.

I looked at Bethany and mouthed boys. She gave a small smile, but looked sad as she watched us.

I knew that look, but I was hesitant to say something. She had just seen her ex-boyfriend, and I had feeling she wasn't really over it, and by the looks of what happened earlier, he wasn't either.

Everyone got on the bus, and soon we were trundling down a freeway. Things were silent between the three of us for a while, and soon Percy's hand grew slack in mine, signaling that he had fallen asleep.

"I'm afraid of commitment," Bethany said suddenly. She had leaned her head against the seat in front of her, and she was watching me and Percy.

"Hmm?"

"Me and Nate. He and I were together for about a month before I broke it off. I'm just…afraid of people getting hurt that I get attached to. So I end it. I can't stand seeing something bad happen to…" she trailed off and heaved a sigh. "I don't know why I'm telling you this."

I looked at her sympathetically. She reminded me of Piper in some ways. "It's okay. If you ever want to talk, just let me know. I know that we've known each other for a total of about five hours, but I have a feeling we could be good friends."

She relaxed slightly. "How long have you and Percy been together?"

I leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling. "Well, we've been best friends since we were twelve. He just showed up at camp one day, collapsing inside the borders with the Minotaur horn in his hand. I was…reluctant of him at first, but that was me probably just denying my feelings for him. We've been on so many quests together, we fought in the Titan War together, and things just happened. After the War, we ended up officially together on his birthday. Of course, after that, he decides to go missing on me for six months, and we've just been reunited about two weeks ago or something. I can't quite remember. Things just happened so fast once we arrived in Camp Jupiter."

I'd blurted out the last part without thinking. I looked quickly at Bethany, but she didn't look offended.

"It's okay," she assured. "I agree with you. Camp Jupiter hasn't really done anything to earn the trust of you Greeks. Really, we've—well, Octavian mostly—have just ruined everything. I don't know if we'll ever be able to work together."

She looked sad again.

"Bethany, everything will be fine. The three of us can work together to bring peace. We've been able to get along just fine, right?"

She nodded, but didn't look convinced. "You and Percy seem perfect for each other," she said, changing the subject.

"I hope so," I said, looking at him slumped against the glass, drool trickling out of his mouth. I squeezed his hand and looked back at her. "I really want this to be something that lasts a long time."

"I'm sure it will," she said softly.

I realized that I probably made things worse. "Bethany, maybe things will work out between you and Nate. He seems to still really like you, and I think you still like him. You just need to get over your fear. Things will take their course, and if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. If you truly like each other, then you'll be able to make it through thick and thin. Relationships take sacrifices, but I can tell you they're worth it." I glanced back at Percy. "I've had to sacrifice some intelligence just standing to be around him sometimes, but we bring the best out of each other."

She drew in a shaky breath. "You're really easy to talk to, you know that? I feel like I can dump out everything to you." She paused. "Anyway, since I'm a daughter of Victoria, I always feel like I have to prove myself. Always be successful. Always know what to do and put on a tough face. I need everything to be perfect, and sometimes relationships…aren't. I get stressed out because things aren't running smoothly, so I back away. But then that makes me look weak, and goes against being successful. I just…put myself under too much pressure. I need to learn to relax, let things just run how they're supposed to, but sometimes it can just be…so hard." It looked like she was going to start crying, but she angrily blinked back the tears and hit the seat.

It looked like she was done talking, but I felt like I had to say one more thing. "No one can be perfect. We're all made up of flaws. Do you know what my flaw is? Pride. I think I can make everything better than what it is. Fix it. Even think I'm better than other people sometimes. But we need to learn to get over them, fight back, and conquer them. I know I'm not at that point yet, but I know I can be. I think my relationship with Percy helps. He keeps me grounded. He's so caring about everyone he loves, and we balance each other out. Maybe if you're in a relationship with Nate, he'll keep you grounded, too."

She sucked in a deep breath and nodded. She looked better, and even smiled at me. "Thanks, Annabeth. That means a lot."

"Don't worry about it," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Things will get better. They have to, right?"

Yay! Character development!

Now you know more about the fabulous OC Bethany (owned, of course, by the lovely PercabethAndZebrasFTW)

Bethany is a fabulous character, tied up with self-torment and difficulties. I love it! Challenging to write, but extremely satisfying at the same time. :D

[PAZFTW, if I've done something wrong, as always, let me know!]

Anywho, I felt like Annabeth and Bethany needed some girl to girl talk, (thankfully, not like Bellatrix and Hermione. We all know how that disaster turned out) and on the bus seemed like the best place.

Also, I know it's a lot of words before an indent. Sorry. I was having too much fun.

I'll (hopefully) see you guys soon!

OKAY BYE.