CHAPTER 3:

Percy POV

I woke up from a for once peaceful night. No nightmares from me, no nightmares from Wise Girl. Thank the gods.

I attempt to crawl out of bed, but Annabeth snuggles into me and burrows her face into my chest, and what kind of a boyfriend would I be if moved her? A bad one, that's for sure.

So I stayed there, it was terrible for my ADHD, but for a good 15 minutes, I waited.

She still didn't wake up. I wasn't going to deprive her of her sleep, so I continued to wait.

It didn't take long for my Wise Girl to wake up and smile up at me.

"Hey Seaweed Brain." She whispered.

"Hi Wise Girl." I responded, kissing her forehead.

She smiled sleepily. "I love you."

"I love you."

The two of us sat chatting for a little while until we heard my mom call us for breakfast.

I immediately sat up and dragged Annabeth to the kitchen, where there was a pile of blue pancakes sitting on a plate. I quickly reach for one (six) but my mom swats my hand away, "Go get Angelina first," she scolds.

I sigh, "Okay, but don't eat any without me."

Mom, Paul and Annabeth all roll their eyes at me. "Just go, Seaweed Brain."

I walk back upstairs to where the guest room used to be, but where is now my little sister's room.

I knock on her door gently, just in case, but I don't hear anything. So I just walk in.

I find my little Angel asleep, looking even younger than she is, and I smile.

I have to make sure that monsters never hurt her, if she ever got hurt, I would never be able to live with myself.

"Angelina? Angelina?" I whisper, gently shaking her.

She moans slightly and clutches her pillow tighter.

How can I wake her up? It seems almost painful to do so.

"Angel?"

"Hmm? Percy?" She said, still mostly asleep.

"Yeah. Do you want to wake up now, babe?" (AN: BABE AS IN BABY LIKE BROTHERLY LOVE. WHEN HE CALLS ANNABETH THAT IT'S LIKE BABY LIKE BOYFRIEND LOVE)

"No." I laugh.

"Please?" She shakes her head.

"Can you hug me, I'm cold?" She asked, innocently and still mostly asleep.

Without hesitation, I wrap my arms around her until she cuddles into my chest.

"Can I take you downstairs?"

She nods into my neck. I carry her so her legs are wrapped around my waist and her arms around my neck, still pretty much asleep.

I carefully walk downstairs and when Annabeth sees us she giggles.

"Aww! Can I get a picture Seaweed Brain?"

"No. I'm still in my pajamas." I stubbornly respond.

I set Angelina on the sofa, smiling at her softly-I may have only met her yesterday, but I love her already. She was my baby sister now, I have to protect her, love her, make sure no boys get near her…

Anyways…

I knew that tomorrow was Angelina's first day of school and from the poorly concealed look on her face; it was obvious that she was nervous.

By now, Angelina had smelled the pancakes and was pretty much awake.

She jumped up and eagerly asked my mom for some, which made me laugh seeing as I used to do the exact same thing.

All of us were sitting and eating breakfast when my mother looked at me. "Percy, sweetheart, could you and Annabeth take Angie to get school supplies? Paul is finishing up the paperwork to enroll her and I have to go to a writing conference."

I nod and smile. "Of course, mom. Alright with you, Wise Girl?" I asked, nudging Annabeth gently.

"Sure Seaweed Brain." She replied, kissing my cheek.

Angelina was very quiet, and I took her hand. "Hey, don't worry about school babe, it'll be great."

We all finished eating and I grabbed the keys to drive us to the store.

Annabeth sat in the passengers seat and Angelina was in the back, nervously tugging at her hair.

"We're almost there Angel. And I told you-don't worry, you'll be fine."

She smiled at me, and by then we were at the store.

I parked the car and opened Annabeth's door, and then Angelina's.

"Let's go!" I shout excitedly.

Angelina POV

How could Percy be so excited?

I was SO nervous about school…

What if I make no friends?

Or if I get bullied?

Or if the teachers don't like me?

Or-

My thoughts are interrupted by my brother impatiently tugging my hand towards the store, while Annabeth chuckled in the background.

I reluctantly follow and all three of us begin to find my school supplies.

I am in the middle of looking for a pencil case, when I bump into someone and tumble to the ground.

I look up surprised. There was a girl with black hair, piercing electric blue eyes, a silver tiara on her head and dressed sort of goth-like. (AN: GUESS WHO…?)

"Oh, I'm sorry." I stutter shyly.

"Eh, not a problem. I'm Thalia, who are you?" Thalia like Percy's cousin? Nah… that'd be way too coincidental…

"Um…" I know I'm not supposed to 'talk to strangers' but this one, though she looked intimidating, seemed nice enough. "Angelina W- er Blofis."

Her eyebrows shoot up. "Blofis? Like Paul and Sally?"

I freeze, how did she know my adopted parents?

"Um… Yes. How do you know them?" She ignores my question.

"So you know Percy then?"

I'm not totally comfortable with answering her questions now, seeing as she somehow knows my family, but my eyes must give away my answer.

"Is he here?" I don't answer again, but she must have taken that as a yes.

"Kelp Head! Where are you?" She shouts, sprinting through the aisles.

I see my brother walk towards her, shocked.

"Thals? What are you doing here?"

"Lady A let us take a break after… well… you know." She said vaguely, but my brother seemed to understand.

"Oh… So it seems like you've met Angelina?" He asks, gesturing to me.

I smile shyly, then look back at the ground.

"Yeah… Um… By the way, how do you, you know… Know her?" Thalia asks, confused.

"Oh, I guess I should tell you now. Mom and Paul adopted her when I was, well… gone. So she's my new baby sister."

I blush and look up at them.

"Well, I suppose I should reintroduce myself." Thalia says, turning back to me. "Hi, I'm Thalia. Your idiotic brother's cousin." She said cheekily, holding out her hand.

I can't help but laugh. "Hi, I'm Angelina. Your idiotic cousin's adopted baby sister." I reply, shaking her hand.

She smiles at me. "I like her." She said to Percy, who mocked looking betrayed.

"Angel how could you say that?" He fake sobbed.

I laughed. "It wasn't that hard."

He chuckled. "Fine. I guess now I have three girls against me. You, Thals and Wise Girl."

At that, Thalia looked excited. "Where is Annie? Is she here?"

Percy looks at her like 'duh.' "Yeah, we try to stay together as often as possible because of… well never mind." He said, his eyes cutting towards me.

It was obvious that he was keeping secrets, but I respected that. I just hoped that sooner or later he would tell me everything.

"ANNIE?" Thalia called loudly. She got nasty looks from shoppers, but brushed them off.

I heard footsteps running towards us. "Thalia?" She said, almost not believing what she was seeing.

"Hey there, Annie." She said smirking.

"Don't call me Annie." She said almost automatically, but hugged her anyways.

"So Kelp Head, can I come back home with you guys, I can't wait to see Sally again!"

Percy nods easily. "Yeah sure. Let's just check out and then we'll leave."

Soon enough, we were in the car heading home. Home.

Such a foreign word, but one that held so much hope in it.