Chapter Three

A Bit of Reading

Annabeth POV

That night I had trouble sleeping. Seeing Percy again, after all these years, had a horrible effect on me. My dreams were nightmares. Mostly I relived bad memories from our old camp, but there were times when I woke up screaming because I'd dreamt about marrying Percy.

Someone shook my shoulder, bringing me suddenly awake.

"Annabeth, get up."

"Huh?" I rubbed my eyes.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me!" A voice squealed.

The first thing I saw was the beaming, perfect face of my manager Silena Beauregard. The second was the brightly colored magazine she held in her manicured hands. Usually I ignored stuff like that—the media was probably wrong anyways. But that was before I saw the front cover.

"Oh my god!" I screamed.

"Oh my god is right," Silena assured me. "I can't believe you never told me! You two are so cute together."

"No we're not." I gasped, yanking the magazine from Silena. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. On the front was a picture of Percy and me last night at the cast party. I was being carried in his arms. In big bold letters underneath was PERCY JACKSON AND ANNABETH CHASE: HOLLYWOOD'S NEW POWER COUPLE? PG. 26

I hurriedly turned to page 26. The same picture was printed on the top, and the article:

Could Percabeth be a couple? I don't think any of us saw this coming! Olympic heartthrob Percy Jackson (17) was seen last night with teen actress Annabeth Chase (17) in his arms. ADORBS! Reports inside the party say they were talking and laughing together. Mr. Jackson even walked the lucky Ms. Chase to her car, asking her to call him. Rumor has it they will even be in a movie together! Thoughts on Percabeth? Leave your comments on our Facebook wall!

The magazine slipped from my fingers and dropped onto my bedroom floor. "This cannot be happening to me."

"I think you're so cute!" Silena gushed. "I ship Percabeth!"

"Perca—There is no Percabeth," I snapped.

"There is now."

I froze. "You know he got the lead role in—"

"—in your movie? Yup. I talked to his manager last night. He agreed that you guys will do the movie together!"

"I can't work with him!" I screamed. Maybe I was overreacting, but it wasn't for no reason. "I hate Percy!"

Silena's perfect forehead crinkled. "Why do you dislike him so much?"

I paced in front of her, running a hand through my already messy blonde hair. "We went to camp together until the summer of eleventh grade," I told her. "Camp Half-Blood."

Silena's blue eyes lit up. "I went there! It was awesome!"

"I thought that too until I met Percy." I fumbled for words. "It—we just—didn't get along. At first we were friends but then—" I struggled to remember "—he publicly humiliated me. There was a guy I liked, and he stood up and told him, in front of the entire mess hall. It seems like such a silly thing now but it all went downhill from there. It got to the point where I asked Athena not to make me go to summer camp because Percy was so horrible. But she made me, all the way until I was sixteen and my acting career really took off. I hated her for it, but you know how Athena can be." I pictured my mother in my head, her steely gray eyes and impeccable sense of wisdom.

Silena nodded wisely.

"I've never seen him since, until yesterday. And I was just fine with that. If I never see him again it would be too soon." I faced my manager pleadingly. "Please—now that you know you can't possibly—"

"I can, and I will." She stood up firmly. "You two are going to have to put aside your differences and make it work. I recommend you start packing."

"P-packing?" I spluttered. "Of course." Silena pulled open the door to my cavernous walk-in closet and began throwing clothes at me. "Did you really think I'd let you go on set without all your stuff?"

I dodged a gray mini. "Wait—you can't actually be making me—"

"Annabeth." Silena faced me and I took a step back. She had that look in her eyes, like she was about to strike you down with Superman lasers. Absolutely terrifying and beautiful, like a warrior goddess. "You are doing the movie with him."

"I can't!" I cried. "I hate him, Silly!" I used a nickname I knew she hated.

"Too bad."

Three hours later we pulled up outside a beach resort near Hollywood. The golden lettering on the archway read Palm Cove. From what I could see through the passenger window it was beautiful, but I sat stubbornly in the car, refusing to come out.

"Come on, Annabeth."

"No." I crossed my arms like a two-year-old.

"If you don't I'll have Percy come out and carry you out of there," Silena threatened.

I climbed out, fuming. Silena led me into the lobby, trailed by an attendant carrying my luggage. I sat sullenly while she talked to the receptionist, grabbing the keys to my room.

The place was the perfect mix of luxury and tropical island. Cozy bamboo huts clustered around sleek bars and carefully maintained eternity pools. The blue ocean lapped gently at the white sand, sparkling in the afternoon Californian sunlight. The corner of my mouth tugged up, almost against my will. It really was a gorgeous place.

Silena stopped at a cabin with a wooden nameplate reading Royal Palm I. She unlocked the door and ushered me inside.

It was so adorable. There was a wet bar on one side, complete with a sink and black oak minifridge. The one king-size bed was dressed in white linen and there was one bathroom. Two dressers stood next to a full-length mirror and a white vanity. A Jacuzzi bubbled outside the teak French doors, on a large balcony complete with several cushy-looking beach chairs. Stairs opened onto the gently sloping white-sand beach.

I looked uncertainly at Silena. "Are you sure this is the right place? It seems a bit big."

She checked the piece of paper in her hand. "Royal Palm I Honeymoon Suite. Nope, this is the right place."

I stared at her, completely baffled. "Honeymoon Suite? But why would you—"

My manager said nothing as Percy Jackson walked in.