A/N: Sorry guys. This wasn't as long as I thought it would be but, I needed to end the chapter there. Sorry Drew, you have to be the villain in this story. Uh, the next chapters will probably focus on the development of Percabeth, so. . . stay tuned?

And I was still a little depressed about the book that I recently read. It's. . . it's just there were so many feels in that book. So, I needed to drain that depression from my system by writing a supposed to be feely and angsty one-shot. And that's considering I really want to write one. (But, I never get to since I'm a great fan of happy endings and Percabeth.) Wait for that.

On a scale of one to ten, with one being great and ten being worst, Annabeth had started her day at seven.

Alright. Some thought that she just woke up on the other side of bed and she'll probably adjust soon enough, while others (mostly men population) believe that she's just having her time of the month. Or perhaps, Thalia deduced that maybe Annabeth was just being Annabeth, grumpy, stubborn and unstable.

Thalia, maybe, was half-right.

Actually, Annabeth did woke up, not on the other side of the bed but on the floor beside the bed. Her fall might just have created a nasty bruise on her ankle, as it accidentally hit one of the bed posts. The soreness of her muscle from the 200 push up punishment weren't all that healed, and she'd still have to take painkillers so as to work at nearly maximum quality. And as if those painkillers were really killers. Annabeth considered writing a complaint about the incompatibility of term pain killers, as they were more likely appropriate with the term pain instigators.

But, Annabeth misery didn't quite end there.

As a matter of fact, she unknowingly wore her old pair of stilettos, that prick and hurt her feet everytime she walks. And with the possibility of her ankle having a nasty bruise didn't help at all.

So forgive her if Annabeth might have been too edgy for anyone's liking when she entered the massive double glass doors of the building. Almost every employee knew to steer out of her way when she trudged the company's hallways like she held a signboard that clearly read: Don't you dare piss this girl or you'll never have the chance to see the end of the day.

Annabeth reached her office in sheer awkwardness, a thick uncomfortable silence wrapped around the atmosphere, obscuring the joyful glee of the sun. Pushing through the massive brown oak doors, Annabeth slid quietly into her office, nearly thankful of it's unsuspecting empty presence as she could mope about her day in solitude.

Oh boy, unsuspecting it was.

"Hey Annie." greeted Thalia, who was lazily sitting on Annabeth's black swiveling chair, with her designer boots propped on the work table, crumpling a few papers under its weight. She was scanning the latest Architecture magazine Annabeth bought, muttering some petty and stupid remarks about different designs.

"Thalia Grace," Annabeth stater plainly, not even bothering to reprimand her bestfriend for using the despised nickname, which obviously meant that she was clearly to burst in anger.

Thalia instantly backed up, not wanting to fuel the burning torch Annabeth was. "All right, all right. No need to get all tough on me."

Annabeth slumped onto her seat, pushing her lids open in an attempt to block the angry vibes from completely clouding her mind and reasoning. "I don't know, I don't know. It just so happen that when I woke up, the Fates were plotting against me," she said, answering the invisible question with Thalia's interrogating stare.

"Well, that's bad. I thought you're just being grumpy for no apparent reason at all."

Annabeth glared at her. She could see that Thalia was hinting about her quarrel with Percy, which was settled just the other day. "Why would I waste all my energy acting like a bull with red sunglasses, Thalia?"

Thalia shrugged. "Okay. But we do have our own fair share of bad days, Annabeth. It just so happen that today's your turn."

"I can only hope this wouldn't get worse than it is now," Annabeth muttered, rubbing her temple.

After a while, a familiar ring tone cut through the air, alerting both Annabeth and Thalia. The blonde grumbled, as she reached for her phone that sat atop of a stack of papers.

"Who is it?" she heard Thalia asked.

'Jason' Annabeth mouthed. She pressed the accept button before placing it in her ear.

"Hey babe." Jason's voice blared out of the speaker, making his pet name for Annabeth known to Thalia. Annabeth instantly switched the loudspeaker settings but she knew she wouldn't escape her bestfriend's teasing. It's too late to back out now.

"Hey. . .Jason." Annabeth gulped. "Sweetheart."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Thalia do some victory dance. Her bestfriend was now smirking at her, making an awful kissy-face.

"Annabeth? Is there something wrong? You sound distressed," Jason asked from the other end.

She glared at Thalia. "No, no. I was just having a bad day. Thanks for worrying."

He chuckled on the phone. "Of course, I worry about you. If you want, I could call you more frequent."

"No. I appreciate it, but really I'm fine. Your big sister here was just giving me a hard time," Annabeth replied, clucking her tongue out to Thalia. The punk sent her an incredulous look.

"Is that so? I'll try to talk to her later. Speaking of, she mentioned something about you."

Annabeth swallowed thick. 'Could Thalia possibly told Jason about-No. Thalia wouldn't do that. Perhaps, it was something else. "Something about me?"

She could hear Jason took a nervous breath. "Yes. According to Thalia, you were talking about me. . . being a good kisser. Is that true?"

If the intensity of Annabeth's flustered face could be converted into Celsius, her phone would have been melted by now. Surely, if anyone was to make fun of her, who would it be rather than her utterly supportive bestfriend? Thalia had a triumphant grin on her face, obviously aware of Annabeth's current situation.

"Uh. . .Annabeth? You still there?" he asked uncomfortably.

"Sorry. I didn't hear what you said earlier. Uh, a client interrupted me," Annabeth lied. She really didn't want to inflict more damage to Jason and guilt to herself by actually owning those words. She knew if he held onto that statement, it'd be harder for both of them when the time comes that their ties were finally severed. Especially him being the brother of her bestfriend. Annabeth could only hope that Jason would just disregard that statement, or she'll have to face the consequences for that matter.

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt on you. Go on, babe. I'll text later," Jason muttered apologetically.

"I miss you, Annabeth," he added.

"Miss you too, Jason," Annabeth replied before he hung up It was as if those words were programmed to be reciprocated, that all of Annabeth's responses were more of a habit than a statement she actually meant. She took a deep breath before dropping her phone onto her lap, ignoring Thalia's impending stare that stuck like daggers onto her head.

"How long?" Thalia asked, her voice gravely and dead serious. "How long are you going to keep this facade, Annabeth? Make him believe that all those words are real?"

Annabeth shuddered, even though no winds blew from her closed window. Her usual sharp and alert gray eyes were now dull and unfocused, staring at something that was mainly never there.

When she spoke, her voice was hoarse and broken. "Those words were real, Thals. I mean them. It's just-" "You do mean those, Annabeth. I know. But, it wasn't meant like he believe it to be. Words have their own way of expressing different meanings to different people. It just happened that those words mean differently for you and Jason," Thalia concluded, crossing her arms over her chest. "What are you going to do now, Annabeth?" Annabeth sunk lower onto her chair,distressingly pulling at the loose curls that obscure her face. She had grown tired of the misgivings her day had gave away, but she really didn't expect to deal with this drama, right now. "I guess I'll just have to stick with this, Thalia. If love could only be planned and all."

Thalia stopped Annabeth's hand from tugging on her hair, and gave her a one-armed hug. "You, of all people, Annabeth should know that love was above all, illogical. I don't really support your choices but you should know how to learn from mistakes. That is the only way to set things right. Don't forget that I'm still your big sister, right?"

Annabeth flashed her a sisterly smile. "I know, Thals. Thanks for being a sister and bestfriend to me. I really appreciate it."

"You know this isn't free right? I deserve a treat later."

She meekly shook her head at Thalia's antics. "You never change."

Annabeth Chase might be grumpy, stubborn and unstable particularly for this bad day, but she was fairly sure that the black obi perched on the edge of the sink was hers and hers alone.

Yet, this impossibly grumpy - as - well Asian girl was claiming it for her own.

"Excuse me," Annabeth tapped the girl's shoulder. "I think that is mine."

The girl didn't spare her a glance.

"Miss? I think that is my obi you got," Annabeth stated again, raising her voice a bit in case she didn't hear her.

"This is mine," the girl stated plainly, flicking her straightened black hair at Annabeth's direction.

Although Annabeth made sure she carry enough patience for stubborn and bitchy persons she might encounter on her way, today was an exception. Which meant she didn't have enough for this Asian girl's whatever you call it attitude.

"I am pretty sure that is my obi tied around your waist." She pointed at the black piece of cloth worn by the Asian girl. Drew— Annabeth thought was the Asian girl's name, for she heard from the hushed conversations of the females around the shower room about their argument.

Drew sneered at Annabeth. "This is mine, I told you. Why would I wear something that isn't mine to begin with?"

"But I'm positive that is my obi you are wearing," Annabeth argued.

"Do you have a proof that this is yours?" Drew challenged, glaring at the blonde through her eyes that were almost slits.

"There should be my initials embroidered at one end of the cloth. AC stands for Annabeth Chase," she answered looking almost positive.

Drew untied the black cloth and searched for the two letters. Indeed, there's an AC embroidered at one end, and Annabeth couldn't help but smile smugly. However, Drew was red on the face and she stormed out of the shower room together with her friends, shoving Annabeth's shoulder in the process. "Be careful of who you talk to, bitch." The blonde ignored her, focusing more on calming herself before she faces Percy.

Annabeth was still clearly in hostile waters with Percy, even though they had made a truce just the other day. It's just she couldn't help but feel intimidated by his almost carefree and laid back attitude, which were the exact opposites of Annabeth's composed and careful one. Through with the truce, she felt her installed anger for the Jacksons dissipate a little, but that wouldn't mean she's about to be succumbed to Percy's request. Annabeth made a mental note to herself to annoy the hell out of him, so she wouldn't bother to hate him if ever his attractive personality infiltrates and governs Annabeth's thinking system.

If ever. But her plan was certainly a fool - proof one.

Annabeth took another glance at the mirror, meticulously checking her reflection to make sure everything's all right before walking out of the room. Unfortunately, Thalia wasn't with her today, since the punk apparently has 'some important arrangements' to take care of. Whatever those are.

Since her confrontation with Thalia, Annabeth could somehow say that her bad mood decreased from 7 to 5, a generous amount to consider. Right now, she didn't seem to be radiating any unstable and reactive vibes, except maybe when she passes again that Drew 'whatever you call it.'

When she entered the training room, everyone was now sitting cross - legged around Chiron, who looked to be explaining something. Annabeth sprinted to the nearest individual and plopped down. She caught Percy's eyes across from her, who had a lopsided grin hanging on his face. She rolled her eyes.

"As you may know, we have roughly three weeks left to train and hone your skills for the upcoming clash of strengths. And given that we only have sessions every other day, all of you must observe critical and extensive training. Of course, if you are well - determined. But if you lack determination and perseverance," Chiron gave a dramatic pause. "You might as well pack your bags and save yourself from future humiliation.

There's a long, heavy sigh from the people around the room, the nervousness could be tasted bitterly from the air. Chiron didn't seem moved or rattled at all, as his calculating gaze traveled across the faces of each individual without so much emotion. The lights from the room gave his thinning gray hair an almost halo - like appearance, and Annabeth thought that he might be a pretty normal grandfather for each of them.

Chiron's voice thundered once again. "So, for this day, well have an official sparring match, for everyone to further sharpen some faults on their moves and might as well gain techniques from everyone. This could be treated as a simulation or preparation for the future clash, so might as well give your best shot."

All of the people nodded in understanding.

"You may choose your opponents from yourselves, but take note, they should never he your partners for the competition."

Annabeth thought about it. She couldn't choose Percy, since they are partners. She also couldn't have Thalia either, for she wasn't physically present. Nico di Angelo, perhaps. At least, he somehow knew Annabeth, unlike the rest of the population.

Annabeth stood up to find Death Breath, but when she turned around, she was met by Drew's sheering face.

"So, what do you say, Chase? I'll make you bow down to my feet."

Hohoho.