He hadn't seen her since the day they graduated high school.

Counting Stars

Annabeth

Chapter 4

In my face is flashing signs

Seek it out and ye shall find

Annabeth awoke to the bright morning sun peering through her windows. "Reminder of the Day," she said, "get curtains." She shuffled into the kitchen. No one else was up yet. Annabeth poured herself some cereal and milk before sitting down at the counter. She checked her phone.

2 new messages.

Silena: runway at noon ;)

Piper: Fwd: runway at noon ;)

Annabeth sighed and set her phone down. She finished her cereal and put the bowl in her sink before taking a quick shower.

When she stepped out, a note was on the toilet. Went out for a bit, apartment's all yours. -Luke & Thals

Annabeth looked up from the note and sent the mirror a stern look. "Guess I'll be going to Silena and Piper's sooner than I thought." She didn't have classes today (thank God), and she wasn't really feeling up to them anyways. She put on a white blouse and grey floral jeans before blowing drying her hair and applying a quick swipe of lip gloss.

Taking a deep breath, Annabeth shouldered her messenger bag. She stepped out into the hallway. "Ah!" She stumbled upon someone. Blonde hair that wasn't hers took over her vision. She looked up. Her eyes met a pair of electric blue ones. Annabeth stood up and dusted herself off, helping the person up. "Jason," she said. "Hi. Um, Thalia left earlier, do you need something from the apartment? I can run in and get it for you..."

Jason shook his head. "Er, no. Sorry about that by the way. I guess I can come back later. Thanks though! Oh are you going to Silena and Piper's fashion thingy?"

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah. I've gotta model for it. Woo." She flicked her hands in a sarcastic manner.

"Well, Piper wants me to be her date,―"

"The person running the thing needs a date?"

"―and I was wondering if Thalia can help me choose what to wear. But since Thalia's not here, could you help?"

Annabeth smiled. "Sure. Just dress in a sweater, skinny jeans, and comfy shoes. Casual but... er, cute. Or some other word that means "trendy" and "attractive"." Jason nodded and smiled.

"Thank you so much. Alright, see you there!"

He scurried off down the hallway.

Annabeth laughed at his nervous fit.

"And here's Annabeth Chase, showing off the third piece in this collection: Au Revoir!" Piper gave the crowd a beautiful grin.

"The outfit is very classic. As in simple. Not older. It's a striped, light green turtleneck sweater complete with high-waisted jeans and riding boots. A lightweight, yet soft brown scarf ties it, no pun intended, together. There is also a perfume to match this. Remember this outfit hugs your body. Or, more so, curves. Much more sexy that way. Perfect for that last kiss. If you're the one ending it," Silena winked as she added the last statement.

Annabeth confidently strode down the catwalk. At least until she saw him. What in the world was he doing here? She just saw him yesterday, and that was catastrophic. Why would he be here? His eyes asked the same question. He shook his head and closed his eyes.

Annabeth stopped. The noises quieted down. A single be-e-e-ep went through her ears. Cameras flashed, but they were merely flickers as her eyes stayed locked on Percy Jackson.

Au Revoir, she mouthed. Percy cringed, a slight twitch in his right eye. Microscopic.

She began to walk back. The curtains closed behind her. Annabeth released a low scream and kicked a chair. "Wow. Careful. Don't wanna ruin that pretty little foot of yours."

Annabeth whirled around. "What do you want?"

Percy watched her carefully. "Why the sudden harshness? You seemed fine yesterday."

"A lot has happened sinceyesterday." She slipped off the boots. Percy raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Sure," she shrugged. "Do you think you could unzip this for me?" She turned around and motioned to the zipper going down the back of the turtleneck sweater. Percy pulled the zipper down. Annabeth turned back around and smiled, pulling it off her head. She was completely dressed from the waist down, but only wore a bra from the waist up. Percy's face heat up. Annabeth smirked. "What? is it hot in here?"

"Yeah," Percy smirked right back. "Very."

Annabeth winked. She slipped off the jeans and pulled off her socks. "Percy, can you hand me my jeans?"

Percy obeyed, glaring at the ground as he did so.

Annabeth laughed and pulled on the jeans. "And my shirt."

"Sure. Whatever."

Fully clothed, she crossed her arms. "Did you come back here in a pathetic attempt to taunt me, or do you have something to say?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "What would you do if I were to say both?"

"Walk out of here right now."

"Alright. I have something to say."

Annabeth glared at him. "Spit it out. I've gotta go out there after this is over. Life moves on, you know?"

Percy glared right back. "You looked hot." Annabeth jaw dropped. Percy smirked in victory only to have it smacked from his face.

He cupped his cheek. "The heck was that for?"

Annabeth slapped him again. "It's one thing to break the rules and come back here, but it's another thing altogether to go and flirt in an offense manner with your ex!"

Percy dropped his hand and clenched his fists. "Oh so now this is about our breakup!"

"Heck yeah! That's how all this started!" Annabeth took a step closer to him, anger burning bright in her eyes.

"It was your fault for our breakup! I cared, you know? I loved you!"

"You expect me to believe that?" Annabeth cried. "You expect to believe that even though you called me selfish, you loved me? You wish!"

Percy crossed his arms. "I guess you didn't care in the first place though. Because, despite me only calling you selfish, you called me: needy, whiny, clingy, stupid, and, over everything else, selfish!Oh, gee, I felt the love, Annabeth!"

Annabeth shoved him backwards. "Shut up! It was only because you started it!"

Percy stayed put. "Oh. So you have to put yourself on top? You have to be the correct one?"

Annabeth blinked. "No!"

"Guess what, Annabeth? You won't always be correct!"

"Shut up!"

"You're not as smart as you think you are! You won't always get your way!"

"Shut up, Percy!"

"You'll never be perfect!"

"Go!"

Percy stopped. "What?"

"Go!" Annabeth pointed to the doors. "Go, and get the heck away from me. I hope to never see you again." She wiped at her eyes. No tears.

Percy stared at her hand. "Alright..." He walked towards the door. "I'll go."

Needless to say, Annabeth wasn't seen at the end of the show.

Annabeth sat on the couch. Empty chip bags and candy wrappers created a collage of colours on the cushions next to her. She pressed pause and Brave stopped playing. The phone was ringing.

"The heck was that, Annabeth? You just go back home and don't even tell me? The heck is wrong with you?"

Annabeth sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Silena, I don't have time to deal with this right now. Maybe you should pay more attention to who goes to you fashion shows."

There was a moment of silence from the other end. Silena finally spoke: "I'm sorry."

Annabeth shook her head. "It's fine. You didn't know. No tears anyways. Waste of time if you ask me."

"What are you doing now?"

"Mindlessly eating while watching Brave."

"Aw, sweetheart, you shouldn't be doing that! Wait... do you have that emergency kit I prepared for you?"

Annabeth didn't answer.

"Okay, good. It's filled with everything you need. It's under level two, I believe. You've already used level one. Am I correct?"

Annabeth frowned at the phone. "Yeah. The breakup."

Silena sighed. "You poor thing. Alright. Well, you get out the kit and open up level two. Enjoy."

Annabeth scuttled over to the pantry. She pulled out a large, heart-shaped package. It had five drawers in it. They were labeled.

Level 1- The Breakup

Level 2- The Battle of the Exes

Level 3- The Wallowing in Self-Pity

Level 4- The Almost Healed Heart

Level 5- The New You

Annabeth opened Level 2- The Battle of the Exes. Inside was an array of chocolates, movies, gift cards to coffee shops and boutiques, and other little items. Annabeth picked up an owl plushie. A scarf was around it neck. Annabeth took it off and opened it up. Athens, it read.

She brought the items with her back to the couch.

Let's get this over with.

Disclaimer: All canon characters and possibly mentioned canon events belong to the owner who had ever so rightfully copyrighted their hard work, and I, the Artist, am in no way whatsoever, that person. In this case, the "owner" is Mr. Richard Russell "Rick" Riordan, Jr.

Guess what, guys? My fingers defrosted! What-what! Yup. I can now type without messing up 'cause my fingers were shaking. If you touch them, my hands are still cold, but that's just how they are. Anyways, I won't do shout-outs this chapter because there were only about two to four changes, and that's not enough for shout-outs. Next chapter will have them though! Oh and by the way, sassy Juniper was a hit! (in my mind at least LOL)