Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus, or any of its characters

Chapter Eight

A Misunderstanding

Annabeth's POV:

"What do you mean she's not human?" I bolt upright in my seat and glance sideways at Percy. He has a bewildered look on his face. Typical. I blow a strand of curly, blonde hair out of my eyes as Athena responds.

"She's not a demigod. Just smart. I thought you knew that..." Athena's dark eyebrows cinch together in confusion.

"Of course I wouldn't know! I don't go around stalking Olivia! I don't even like her." Rage bubbles up inside of my as I realize everything Olivia has done was deceive me. How could I have let this get so out of hand? She's not smarter than me, and it was my job to make sure she was 'fitting in' with the other demigods.

Percy let out a low string of curses as he realized we'd been tricked.

"What do we do now?" I ask Athena. My voice quivers, and I'm on the verge of crying tears of frustration.

"It's up to you, Annabeth. Only you can separate right from wrong in this situation. Good luck," Athena's image fades out of sight; leaving the cabin quiet.

Tears well up in my eyes as I struggle with breathing. Percy's arms automatically go around me from behind, and I can finally close my eyes.

Teardrops stream down my face in silence.

Percy's POV:

Annabeth crumples in my embrace.

"I hate hate hate hate Olivia," she spits out. She seems really upset by her, but why? What could make Annabeth so mad at her that she'd cry? It just doesn't make any sense. Annabeth's one of the toughest girls at Camp Half-blood, counting Clarisse.

"It's okay," I try to console her. "We'll find another way to get back at her. I promise."

"It's not that," she sniffs. "It's the fact that she keeps finding ways to humiliate me. Even in front of my mom. And why me? Why not somebody else? Because she hate me, and I don't even know the reason for it!" She babbles on and on, trying to create some logical reason for why Olivia was being such an idiot.

I'm legitimately sorry.

I know it's been, what, three months since I've updated?

And I know this is a terrible super-short chapter.

But I'm going to try to update every day instead of on some days, so in some way, it makes up for it, right?

Please review xx