A/N: Hey, guys! New chapter, yay! Mostly because I have MAJOR writers block and I don't want to keep you waiting so I posted it now. Enjoy chapter 26!

San Francisco had wonderful weather when compared to New York in the winter. The temperature was in the upper forties, but that felt warm to Annabeth after experiencing the winter in New York.

As Annabeth walked downstairs to breakfast, she heard her father and her stepmother talking.

"Those boys are ridiculous," she heard Susan say. "They want to meet their friends at the park; it's freezing outside!"

"It's not freezing out, Susan," Frederick replied with a laugh. "And it's perfectly normal for the boys to want to hang out with their friends."

"Then you can take them," Susan countered.

Annabeth chose that moment to actually walk into the kitchen, not saying a word to either parent.

"I have to go to work," Frederick pointed out.

"Well, I'm not taking them," Susan protested.

"I'll take them," Annabeth offered.

Both Frederick and Susan turned to her in surprise.

"My goodness, Annabeth. I didn't even realize that you were in here," Frederick said, holding a hand over his heart. "You scared me."

"Sorry," Annabeth said, sheepishly. "Years of training made me awfully quiet when I want to be."

"It's fine," Susan replied. "You don't have to take the boys, though. They can survive not going this once."

"I want to go. It's nice out. I won't get cold, and they can stay as long as they want."

Susan and Frederick shared a look.

"I think it's a great idea," Frederick said. "Now I'm off to work. See you girls later." He stood up and kissed each of them on the forehead.

Susan sighed. "Okay. Once the boys are ready you can go. You can take my car if you'd like. Though, the walk isn't that far."

Annabeth chose to walk. Matthew and Bobby weren't too fond of the idea, but they got over it.

"So why the park?" Annabeth asked. "I doubt that you're all going to play on the playground."

"There's this big field that us and our friends staked a claim to," Matthew explained. "We do different things there all of the time. Sports, games, lots of things."

"Hm," was Annabeth's reply.

Once they arrived, a group of about ten children ran up to Matthew and Bobby.

"Where were you two?" one asked.

"What took you so long?" asked another.

"Our sister made us walk instead of driving us," Bobby replied with a laugh and an eye roll.

"What are we doing today?" Matthew asked.

"We have no idea," one of the girls answered.

"We've been trying to figure out something, but we've already done all of the things we thought of," another explained.

Annabeth watched as the preteens discussed all of the things they could do, and she got an idea.

"Have any of you ever played Capture the Flag?" she asked.

"That game is no fun," a boy said. "It's just glorified tag."

"Not the way I play. Do any of you have things you can use as swords?"

A few minutes later, the kids were armed with anything from foam swords, which a few of them actually had, to sticks they found on the ground.

"Okay, here's how his works," Annabeth explained while inspecting the area. "Two teams. Matthew and Bobby are captains. Split up evenly."

The group split up quickly. They probably already had teams.

"Okay, we need two territories: one for each team. What's the best way to split the field in half?" Annabeth thought out loud as she inspected the playing field.

"We could tie together jump ropes. They're brightly colored, so we'll all see them," someone suggested.

"Great! Do that," Annabeth replied. "We don't have flags, so we need to have something that will act as flags. They need to be something that everybody will see you have."

"Can we use stuffed animals? My little sister always slides a couple into my bag. She thinks that they'll protect me," one boy suggested.

"Sure that's why they're there," someone teased.

"Shut up!"

"What do you have?" Annabeth asked.

Matthew's team ended up being "Team Giraffe" and Bobby's was "Team Pink Teddy Bear."

"Okay," Annabeth started to explain, "Rules are simple. You'll choose as many people as you like to defend your flag. The rest will figure out a plan to get the other flag which will be hidden in the trees on the other side of the field. The goal is to get the other teams flag... er stuffed animal into your teams territory. The only difference between this game and any game you've played before is the fact that you are, in a way, armed. If you get hit, you're dead. Out for good. Any questions?"

None.

"Okay, you have five minutes to come up with strategies. Then you'll begin," she instructed.

All of the kids looked excited as they separated and came up with plans. Matthew and Bobby were leading their teams like pros.

Definitely my brothers, Annabeth thought to herself with a smile.

Five minutes passed, and she yelled, "Let the game begin!"

"Hey, we've never seen you here before," a voice said behind Annabeth.

Annabeth turned to see a teenage boy, about her age, surrounded by several other teenagers.

"Yeah, I don't really live here. I'm visiting family. I'm Annabeth Chase; my brothers are Matthew and Bobby," she said.

"Ah, the twins. Those two are hilarious. None of us can tell them apart, though. I'm Dan, by the way. These guys are Tanner, Darian, and Christine. We get stuck with our siblings every time they have a game day like this," Dan replied.

"Did you just get all of the kids to listen to you?" Christine asked. "We can never get any of them to listen to us."

"That's because she's the twins famous older sister. They never shut up about her when they hang out with my brother," Tanner answered. "Not that that's a bad thing," he added.

"Wow, I must be pretty awesome," Annabeth joked.

"So, tell us about yourself, Annabeth. Where are you from?" Christine asked.

"I live in New York City with my brother on my mom's side. Those two knuckleheads are my dad's," Annabeth answered.

"Are you in collage?" asked Dan.

"No, high school. I'm a senior."

"And you don't live with a parent?"

"My mom almost always checks in on us."

If you count being a goddess who can literally see anything she wants at any given time checking in on us, she added mentally.

They talked for a while until they decided to walk around the park.

Darian hung back from the rest of the group as they walked, so Annabeth decided to be friendly.

"What's up with you, Mr. Dark-and-Mysterious?" she asked, causing Darian to crack a smile.

"I'm just not really close with those guys. We only ever hang out when our siblings do," he explained.

The others had gotten pretty far ahead. Christine was animatedly talking about something while the other two were intently listening.

"How long are you in town for?" Darian asked.

"Only until the end of the week," Annabeth asked.

"Will you be back often?"

"I'm not sure. I only came back this week because my dad got me a plane ticket for Christmas. The next time I'll definitely be back is when I move out here for college."

"Well, any time that you're here, I'll probably be free to hang out, if you'd like. It helps to have friends in different places."

"Thanks. That's really nice of you."

"If you want-"

He was cut off by Annabeth's phone ringing. She checked her caller ID and saw that Percy was calling.

"Hold on to that thought," she said to Darian then answered her phone. "Hey, Seaweed Brain."

"Hello, Wise Girl. How's San Francisco?" he asked.

"It's nice. I'm at the park right now. I taught the twins' friends the fun way to play Capture the Flag, just with fake weapons and stuffed animals for flags."

"You're not playing?"

"Please, with a bunch of twelve-year-olds? I would crush them. Plus, I made sure that the teams were even."

"Is anything awkward with your dad or stepmom?"

"Surprisingly, no. Susan and I have officially put everything behind us."

"That's great! I miss you. Will you be back for New Year's?"

"Depends. Just how badly do you want to kiss me?"

"How badly do you think?"

Annabeth laughed. "I'll see what Dad's plans are and get back to you."

"Fine. Make any friends?"

"Sorta. I met a group of teenagers today at the park. I was talking to one of them when you called."

"I'll let you get back to your fun day, then. I just wanted to hear your voice."

"You really can't last without me."

"No, I really can't. Come back soon. I love you."

"I love you, too."

Percy hung up first, and Annabeth put her phone away with a smile.

"You were saying?" she asked Darian.

"Doesn't matter," was his reply.

"Okay, let's catch up with the others!" she said, pulling him alongside her.

The rest of the day was spent talking and laughing with her newfound friends while their siblings played Capture the Flag.

Thoughts? So I am running out of ideas. I know how I want to end the story, and I don't want to draw it out if I have no idea what to write. If there is some kind of high school experience that I missed and you want to see Percabeth go through, feel free to tell me. I briefly thought about bringing in other characters. If I do that, who would you want to see?

I'm really trying to get past this writers block because I really want to actually finish this story eventually and not just leave you guys hanging.

Until next time! Please leave a review telling me your thoughts on where to go next!