Chapter 17

Percy sat in his studio, drumming his pen against his table, staring blankly at the lyrics that were in front of him. The lyrics that he had wrote after his talk with a Miss Annabeth Chase. A Miss Annabeth Chase whom he couldn't get out of his mind. Literally. It was as if she was stuck there, he was constantly thinking about her, they way she smiled, the way he could see her thinking about every word he said.

He smiled.

His phone rang, he grabbed it and jammed it against his ear. "Hey," he said.

"Percy!" Nico's voice blared loudly over the speaker of his phone. Percy held the phone back and flinched away from the sound.

"Wow Nico, are you trying to blow my eardrums out?" Percy asked, continuing to tap his pencil against the table.

"I just got your song that you emailed me."

"What did you think?" Percy asked.

"It's good, real good, I knew you could do it," Nico said.

"Yeah," Percy sighed. "Only nine more songs to go." Percy paused a minute, debating whether or not to tell Nico his news. Finally he decided Nico had a right to know. "I found her."

Nico was quiet for a moment. "Your story writer?" He asked.

"Yeah, and I talked with her yesterday," Percy said.

"Oh… and how was that?" Nico asked politely, unsure of what else to say.

"She's… well she's like I was," Percy said. "She's searching, she's lost. Gods Nico do you have any idea what it's like to talk to someone who's lost, who's lost and can't seem to find their way out of darkness?"

"Percy, I know. I've talked to you." Percy heard someone shout on the other side of the phone. "I've got to go Percy, I'll be back in two days. Don't do anything stupid 'kay?"

"Me do something stupid?" Percy scoffed. "You jest."

Nico snorted. "I'll see you Percy."

"Well look who's here." Annabeth looked up from where she was reading her book and her eyes met green eyes for the second time in two days. "Hey there Wise Girl," Percy said, standing over her, holding a milkshake in his hand. It was blue. Annabeth nearly smiled.

"Nice baseball cap," Annabeth said, nodding to the cap.

"Thanks," Percy said as he sat down across from her and taking a long drink of his milkshake.

"I don't remember saying that you could sit there," Annabeth said as she looked back down at the tiny print in her book.

Percy shrugged. "Last time I checked it was a free country and plus it's Riki's booth, not yours." He grinned at her. "What are you reading?" He asked, his hand itching towards her book. Annabeth slammed her book closed and jammed it into her bag on the seat next to her.

"A book."

"No way Wise Girl," Percy said rolling his eyes. "What book?"

"Just a book. What are you doing here?" Annabeth asked, trying to change the conversation. For some reason, letting people know what she was reading was just… strange. Some books were too special to try and share with someone else.

Percy shrugged. "What does it look like, I'm drinking a milkshake. Riki's makes the best and I always drink milkshakes when I'm working."

"You work, I'm surprised!" Annabeth said.

"Haha, you've wounded me," Percy said back sarcastically. "I read your chapter last night."

Annabeth shrugged this time. "What can I say, you made me think okay? Maybe it wasn't a good time to kill Hannah."

"You called me your angel," Percy pointed out.

"Oh shut up, ever heard of trying to be poetical?" Annabeth asked.

"I think I like being called an angel," Percy said, tapping his jaw. "Yep, it's official. You'll have to call me that from now on."

"Yeah right, in your dreams," Annabeth said rolling her eyes. "You're more like the devil in disguise with the way you've been stalking me."

"Stalking? I hardly call a coincidence in meeting you at a popular diner, which by the way happens to be the best in New York, stalking."

Annabeth was about to answer when she saw a familiar face enter the diner. She moaned and ducked her head. "Act like you're talking to me," she whispered hurriedly to Percy.

"Isn't that what we're doing?" Percy asked, confused.

"Just act like we're in a very in-depth conversation," Annabeth said, trying to make sure she avoided looking at the front of the diner.

Percy turned around, catching that she was trying to hide. Two men had just entered the diner. "You hiding from one of them?" He asked.

"Possibly," Annabeth muttered.

"Eye-patch dude?" Percy asked.

"Oh gods no," Annabeth said. "I would die before I dated Ethan… or even was in the relatively same distance as him."

"Then scar-face?" Percy asked. Annabeth nodded. "What is he? Your ex?"

"Kinda…"

"How can he be kinda your ex? Either he is or he isn't right?"

"Well we're sort of dating… he came over last night and honestly I'm not in the mood to be in the same room as his anymore… he wears me out."

"Then why are you dating him?" Percy asked.

Annabeth shrugged again. "I don't know… left over from a childhood crush. But there's nothing there anymore."

"You shouldn't date him because of a childhood crush," Percy said. "As I remember, a certain someone in her Thoughts for the Humble said: Love is not something you can throw away, it's not something you can give freely. To love is to be vulnerable. To love is to give everything you have for someone else. It's to completely sacrifice everything for them. So make sure you love them unconditionally, make sure you love them without a doubt and beyond words can describe. Because your true soul mate is only out there once. So don't waste your heart on someone you know isn't them. Keep your heart in one piece to give to the one person you love more than yourself. Don't let yourself be fooled. Keep your eyes open."

Annabeth moaned. "I hate when I'm right," she said. Percy laughed. "Can we just get out of here?" She asked.

"We? I don't remember being a part of this scheme. Maybe I'll go and introduce myself to him," Percy said grinning.

"You wouldn't dare," Annabeth said. Percy raised an eyebrow, daring her to stop him. "Please Percy don't," she begged.

"Only if you say I'm the best in the world," Percy said. "As well as the hottest, most amazing person ever."

Annabeth stared at him and then sighed. "I am the best person in the world as well as the hottest, most amazing person ever."

"That's not what I meant," Percy said, scowling. Annabeth grinned.

"But that's what you said. Next time make it clearer. Now come on, you've got to act like you're talking to me while we leave," she said, standing up and grabbing her knapsack and swinging it over her shoulder.

"I already told you, that's what we're doing," Percy said exasperated. Annabeth glared at him. She pulled up the collar of her coat as if in an attempt to hide her face. "You know you look like you could be a Russian spy or something," Percy contemplated. Annabeth pinched his arm. "Ow!" He complained, rubbing the sore skin. Annabeth gave him an overly sweet smile.

The duo brushed past Luke and Ethan, Percy purposely bumping into them and elbowing Luke in the gut. He didn't know why but this Luke figure seemed like a bad sort of guy, call it a gut instinct or something. He probably deserved that elbow to the stomach at one point or another in his life.

And plus he seemed incredibly familiar.

Like the boy that teased Percy in his freshman and sophomore year.

Outside Annabeth let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you," she said.

"You know what, he seems familiar, I think I went to high school with him," Percy said.

"Luke? He's like two years older than me. Luke was a junior when I was a freshman," Annabeth said. "But we'd been friends since I was like seven."

"What's his last name?" Percy asked.

"Castellan," she said.

That name brought back nightmares.

Nightmares of before Percy got "hotter" as the girls would put it. Back when he was getting shoved into a dumpster when he didn't have his growth spurt.

Now looking back on it, Luke deserved much more than an elbow to the stomach. He deserved a kick in a spot that Percy would rather not be kicked in.

"How did you get mixed up with Luke Castellan?" Percy asked.

Annabeth shrugged. "Do you want to walk with me to Central Park? I'll tell you on the way there." Percy didn't even hesitate with his answer even though he was supposed to be working on his songs.

"Sure."

They began walking down the busy streets but in New York they could talk freely about anything, no one cared, no one even took the time to look at everyone else. No one took the time to actually listen.

Listening was a lost art in the world.

Everyone was always trying to be the loudest or the biggest.

"I was seven. I had been a playground, hiding under the slide, it was like I don't know nine at night."

"Why were you at the playground at night at night as a seven year old? Even I'm not that dumb," Percy said.

"Thanks," Annabeth said sarcastically. "I had just run away from home if you're so curious. Luke and Thalia had been at the park. They had snuck out of their homes to get some 'fresh air' as they told me. Really they were getting away from their parents who were just as abusive or neglecting as my parents. Luke heard me, he always had a really good ear, and I nearly brained him on the head with my hammer I had been carrying with me."

"You carried a hammer as a seven year old?"

"Of course, what would you carry if you were alone on the streets of New York? I mean I couldn't get my hands on a gun and a butter knife wasn't going to help me that much, so I took the next best thing," Annabeth scoffed.

"I'd be very terrified to meet you as a seven year old if that's how you thought," Percy said. Annabeth stuck her tongue out at him.

"I nearly brained Luke on the head with my hammer but Luke's always been fast, he managed to disarm me. I still remember what he said to me though, he didn't bring me back to my parents or anything after I told him about them. He told me that I needed to go back for just a few more years until I was old enough to leave them, but he told me something else too. He told me that we'd be family and that he'd come back for me and make sure that they weren't hurting me. He told me that I was a part of his and Thalia's family now and he promised that he wouldn't let anything hurt me. But most of all he told me that he was not going to fail me like my parents and his parents and Thalia's parents did."

Annabeth sighed and tucked a loose piece of blond hair from her braid behind her ear. "Ever since then we were the closest three friends ever. Thalia was a year older than me but she had been held back a year because she ran away from school for a year so she went to class with me. We all went to the same middle school and elementary school. Luke was like my big brother. And I thought… well I thought that I loved him."

"When I was in tenth grade and he was a senior, we started dating. Do you have any idea how big that was? He was the captain of the Baseball team, he had won state back to back for us. He was the most popular senior ever and he wanted to date me, little old Annabeth Chase, the girl he had taken care of since she was seven."

"I'm guessing it was a pretty big deal," Percy said. Annabeth nodded. They were walking through Central Park now, the trees having lost most of their leaves and crunching beneath their feet when they walked.

"It felt like I was in Heaven for two months, it was perfect. I had had the biggest crush on Luke ever since seventh grade, he seemed so amazing and wonderful. But then one day I caught him and Tracey German, the captain of the Cheer Squad kissing each other behind the dumpster at Goode. My life was completely ruined. Imagine seeing the boy who you thought you loved kissing another girl. It is the most devastating, horrific experience ever. Some people try and sugar coat it and say it isn't that bad. But it is. It was the worst moment of my life. I stopped talking to Luke after that."

Percy studied Annabeth's face, the way she kept her chin titled upwards as if she wasn't going to let anything pull her down, she looked as if she thought she was better than the world. He guessed that you had to look strong to go through what she was going through. From her story, he had determined three things about her life:

She was abused as a child and neglected.

She had her heart broken, she wasn't just dumped. Her heart was broken in two when Luke betrayed her.

She was lonely.

"I'm sorry Annabeth," Percy said softly.

Annabeth sighed. "You know what's funny? Only one other person knows that story and that's Thalia and she's my best friend. And here I am telling it to a complete stranger! I must be losing my mind," she said, laughing.

Percy shook his head. "No. Sometimes it's easier to talk to strangers than it is talking to the people you know."

"I'm telling you, you should become a psychiatrist if your day job fails, you could make serious money."

Percy shook his head. "I don't think my day job is going to fail anytime soon."

"What do you do for a living?" Annabeth asked.

"I work," Percy said shrugging. Annabeth took it as a sign to drop the conversation.

They walked down the park path, neither of them talking to each other as they walked. There were some things that were better of left unspoken then spoken. The unspoken word was far more powerful sometimes than the spoken.

Percy casted a side long glance at Annabeth, at her red cheeks from the cold wind, at her dark grey eyes that seemed like storms, at her tan skin. There was something about her, something so familiar that it was drying him insane. He wanted to know her better. He was scared to admit it, but there was something about her that made him want to comfort her when she was hurt.

She didn't deserve to be hurt.

But he wasn't sure he was ready to do that.

At the same time Percy was looking at Annabeth, Annabeth was also looking at Percy, at his sea green eyes that spoke volumes, at his pale skin. She wondered what his hair looked like. She was betting it was black… raven black. He was so familiar but she couldn't put her finger on it.

And it terrified her.

It terrified her that she had only known him for one day and he was already breaking down all of the walls which had taken forever for her to carefully construct.

It terrified her that she was connecting with him.

That he made her laugh and smile.

After all to love was to destroy.

Wasn't it?

"So where do you work?" Percy asked.

"Well unlike you I actually am not secretive of my work, I work at Olympian Scrolls," Annabeth said.

"The book store with the yard in the front?" Annabeth nodded. "I'll have to come and visit sometimes. Usually I avoid bookstores like a plague… too many smart people. But I might make an exception for this place if you're there."

Annabeth felt herself blushing. Was he flirting with her? For some reason that thought made her smile.

"You know you're a terrible flirt," Annabeth said, slugging him in the shoulder. Percy shrugged.

"I don't know, you should ask the hundreds of girls that follow me around like puppy dogs, I think they'd say I'm an excellent flirt."

Annabeth snorted. "I seriously doubt that you have hundreds of girls following you around."

You're right, more like thousands Percy thought to himself as he shoved his hands into his pants' pockets. He was still wondering when he should tell Annabeth that he was the Percy Jackson. He was already shocked that she hadn't already figured it out, but she didn't seem to be that much into pop music, more like classical.

"So what were you doing at Riki's ?" Percy asked, "Other than hoping to avoid your boyfriend?" Your boyfriend who seems very familiar and who I am growing more and more jealous of. Whoa! Did I honestly just think that? No, no, no. Stop thinking about that Percy! Percy scolded himself.

Annabeth shrugged again, she seemed to do that a lot with Percy, like she was at a loss for words around him. "Reading, thinking. Riki's is my favorite place in New York so… it just seems like the perfect place to go to."

"Same here, I think they put drugs in their food or something that makes us addicted to it or something," Percy said thoughtfully.

Annabeth laughed, she did that a lot too around Percy. She couldn't help herself. He made her smile and laugh like she'd never done before. "I don't think that's legal."

"Lots of things aren't legal and yet we still do them," Percy said.

"True," Annabeth said, agreeing with him. She checked her phone and then made an awkward squeaking noise. "Oh my gods, I've got to go, Thalia and I are meeting up at her place. See you later?" She asked and Percy could almost hear the hint of hope in her voice about them meeting again. He grinned. "Of course."

Annabeth grinned back. "Okay, see you around… Seaweed Brain." And then she turned and ran down the path.

He stood there, grinning stupidly at where she had been.

It was then that Percy realized that he was an idiot for two reasons:

She had just called him Seaweed Brain.

Thalia! Gods that was his cousin's name! Why didn't he realize it sooner!

She was Annie, the girl from the party!