Annabeth was worried.

Luke was now waving his hands at her, as if her obvious eye contact with him didn't seem to work. He was stumbling a little, and Annabeth wondered if he was drunk- but he wasn't, because she knew he wouldn't.

"It's midnight Luke, what the hell do you want?" She didn't care that he winced at her ferocity, he had woken up a sleep-derived girl on a school night- of course Annabeth would be mad- no, furious. Actually, grab a dictionary, find all of the synonyms of angry and smash them all together, that was how Annabeth was feeling.

"Going to a party, you want to come?" Luke asked normally, pointing behind him.

Do you want to die?

"A party?" Annabeth quickly checked the clock on her wall. "At one am? You're delusional."

"Come on, just for two hours?" Luke was pleading now, dramatically begging on his knees and holding his hands out like he was praying. Annabeth made a face, scrunching her nose and frowning a little. Why would he want her to go to a party, probably filled with seniors and undergraduates, filling their throats with booze? She didn't want any part of that, though Luke's pleading was probably never going to stop.

"One hour," Annabeth sighed, and Luke pumped his fist in the air, and Annabeth smiled fondly. That was really cute, she thought, the way Luke would sometimes act like a little child, Annabeth loved that. It reminded her of their old relationship, the one where Luke was actually responsible. It was funny, really. He sure has matured into a handsome man, but his mind seemed to stay in the same state of a five year old, one that had an extreme liking to raging parties.

"One hour and a half?" He asked, and Annabeth gritted her teeth.

"Thirty minutes," she warned, and Luke seemed to get the gist.

"I'll wait for you here, then?" Luke smiled, and although she was fond of his personality, and especially when he wasn't filled with crazy ideas, Annabeth had had enough, and for once in her life, she didn't smile back.

"Why not?" Annabeth shrugged, shivering a bit from the cold breeze that had managed to sneak past and reside in her room. "You already broke into my backyard and threw rocks at my window, make yourself at home."

She didn't wait for his reaction, going to her wardrobe and grabbing a random tank top to wear. Tank top? She thought, placing it on top of her to see the outcome. At a party with probably drunk men, looking to take you for a ride . . . nah. Annabeth put it back in its old spot, taking instead a black top, making sure not any part of it was see-through.

"Are you done yet?" Luke yelled from the ground, and Annabeth so badly wanted to open the window, throw a thick book at him thus knocking him unconscious, and going back to sleep like nothing happened.

Unfortunately, Annabeth didn't want to dent one of her precious novels, so she threw away the idea. I'll kick him in the nuts if he does something stupid, Annabeth decided, changing from her baggy pyjamas to more suitable clothes.

She left the home, not before making sure that her father and Helen didn't hear, closing the door with a small frown on her face.

"Come on, Annabeth." Luke laughed, putting his two index fingers on either sides of her cheeks, pulling them up slightly. "Smile a little bit."

Annabeth swatted his hands away, her grimace deepening. She looked back at her watch, showing him the timer that she had put on, just in case the idiot had forgotten. "You woke me up at one am, forced me to go to a party, and now you're telling me to smile?" Annabeth turned to him. "What else do you want me to do, your highness? Shine your shoes?"

"You're so dramatic." Luke's joking tone was gone, and Annabeth knew she had taken it too far. She didn't care though, Luke deserved all this and he needed to get it through his thick skull.

"Dramatic?" Annabeth was breathing hard now, trying to keep her anger from getting the best of her now. "I'm not doing this for free, you know." She changed the subject, and with the way Luke's brain apparently worked, he had the memory span of a goldfish.

"You name it? I'll hand it on a gold platter."
Luke emphasised, and Annabeth slightly laughed.

She was about to reply, when Luke turned to a massive house, the music blaring and shouts of people coming from the inside. With one look, Annabeth knew she was going to hate it. Streamers were strewn all over the house, as if a unicorn piñata had exploded right there and then, leaving its messy entrails on the marble floors. A row of mostly drunk high schoolers were dancing crazily, some chewing on paper and what Annabeth thought was a cigarette.

"Come on," Luke's eyes twinkled. "The inside is where the good stuff are."

. . .

Annabeth had officially started panic-mode, Luke was nowhere to be seen and it was nearing four am. About four men had asked her to 'dance' and even repetitively saying no didn't work for them to leave, and she had to resort to the old fashioned punching of the guts. Two girls had offered her some 'water', though Annabeth could smell the whiff of alcohol from a mile away, and she merely left the scene altogether, leaving the two girls to down the water themselves, giggling hysterically after. A man had tried to kiss her, and Annabeth swapped her face with a cup, leaving him to curse as beer landed all over his trousers.

"Luke!" She shouted over the blaring music, though she doubted he could hear. "I'm leaving!"

He didn't answer, and Annabeth bit her lip nervously. Luke had taken her there, and she didn't know where the hell her own home was, and asking a person here would definitely be her last decision.

Tears started to flow, and Annabeth wiped them furiously on the sleeve of her shirt. Why did I listen to him? She thought glumly as she stepped outside of the house, sitting dejectedly on the floor, looking like a clingy girlfriend that just got dumped.

Her phone fell from the pockets of her pants, and Annabeth raised her eyebrows. Please can he be awake, Annabeth thought to herself. Please, please, please.

She sent a message to him, and smiled hysterically as he answered straight away. Annabeth wanted to dance right there on the spot, though it would probably leave her with some very weird looks from pedestrians.

What's wrong? Percy typed back, and Annabeth was about to reply when she was instead answered with a call.

"Hello?" Percy's voice sounded rough, like he had just woken up. Crap, Annabeth thought.

"Could you . . . umm could you pick me up?" Annabeth asked, and the sound of sheets moving filled her ears.

"What the heck are you doing out at quarter to five, on a frigging school night?"

She was about to answer with a blunt 'Luke', though Annabeth knew that Percy would flip out. He'd always had a strong dislike to the boy, and although the feeling was mutual, Annabeth never really liked that and always hoped the two could be best friends.

"I . . . I went to a party -"

"Was it Luke?" Percy sounded mad.

"It wasn't him, I went there by myself because I really wanted to know how it was." Annabeth laughed hesitantly. "Turns out . . . I hate it?"

"Where are you?"

Annabeth checked the house number and told it to Percy, and he abruptly ended the call. Annabeth groaned in frustration. Did he just bail on her, or was he going to come? She decided to stay put and wait for a few minutes, praying that he was coming. If not? She was going to be on headlines for murdered on the street for going to a late night party, or actually being the culprit due to murdering Luke. Either way, the outcomes weren't good.

A car honked loudly, and Annabeth looked up at the commotion, smiling at the prius. She quickly went in, hoping he wasn't going to ask.

"It was Luke, right?" Percy asked, he sounded annoyed. Annabeth didn't know whether it was from her, or from the other blonde idiot.

"It was my own doing," she cringed at her words. I sound like I'm at a freaking court for goodness sake.

"No one in their right mind would do this, Annabeth." He quickly turned away from the streets to look at her. "You or Luke? I want the truth."

Annabeth turned away from him and to the window. What would she rather risk, her friendship with Percy, or keeping him safe from harm? She decided on the latter, as long as he was okay, she was okay. Or at least, that's what Annabeth thought.

"It was me." She replied shakily, and Percy gripped the steering wheel tightly, swerving to the left and Annabeth gripped the handle so as not to bang her head on the window.

"We'll talk about this tomorrow." Percy said, and Annabeth noticed the sudden change of tone. She had caused this, and Annabeth could feel the heat rush to her face. Why can't I do anything right? She thought to herself, as Percy stopped right outside her house.

"Bye," he said half-heartedly. Annabeth smiled, getting out and closing the door. Percy was about to leave, though she stopped him.

Giving him a hug, Annabeth whispered in his ear. "I'm sorry, I really am," and left it at that, going back to her house, closing the door and residing to her home.

Annabeth flopped onto her bed, placing her head on her hands in sorrow. Her window was still open, and Annabeth shut it quickly, as if reminding her of her past mistakes. It was always Luke, always him that managed to get her in trouble, yet still sneak his way out so he was now the good guy. Annabeth would always fall for his looks, remembering of their past times and becoming a victim of his spell, she hated it and loved it at the same time.

Luke was always a lost cause, a simple crush that she had gotten from her childhood, simple yet it had managed to stay after all those years. If it was so small, why couldn't she just leave it, stop smiling with him, stop agreeing to his favours, favours that greatly affected her. Favours that greatly affected her and Percy's relationship.

Annabeth went over to her mirror, gasping at the red eyes, obviously urging for sleep. She couldn't though, far too awake to go back and sleep it all out. She needed to write out her feelings, she needed her journal.

Going over to a new blank page, Annabeth started to write effortlessly in her book, not even caring if the words were spelled incorrectly, as she'd forge it in pen later.

Luke has yet again been an a-hole, not surprised there. What I am surprised about here is the fact that I chose to listen to him, I need to learn how to say no, he's too much of a risk taker for me to like.

Luke: 1000
Me: 0

Yet again, I've fallen into his spell.
I need an antidote,

Annabeth Chase.

She ended it with that, firmly closing the book with a sigh and getting to bed. Looking up at the clock, Annabeth frowned. It was currently half past five, and Annabeth had to be awake in thirty minutes. She'd spent that time partying with Luke- no, sitting down glumly while Luke was doing whatever, that was how she spent the night.

The clock ticked as if taunting her, counting down the minutes till she had to get up and go to school. She had done it, she had officially done an all-nighter- but on a school night, so Annabeth had also officially signed her death sentence.

. . .

"Annabeth? Annabeth, wake up!" Thalia's voice rang through her ears, and Annabeth shot up,  rolling her eyes at Thalia's smug smile.

"What's wrong?" Thalia asked. "Not have enough sleep yesterday?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Just sleepy."

"You're never sleepy, Annabeth." Thalia sighed, swinging an arm over her best friend, "just tell me what's wrong."

"Just sleepy," Annabeth lied, and she frowned at the floor. That was the second person she lied to after Luke's little favor, she was risking it all just for him.

"Alright," Thalia seemed off, and Annabeth had to bite her lip to stop from blurting out that it was all him, he had caused this.

"You want to head over to Percy over there?" Thalia pointed at the crowded table. "He looks kind of bored."

"It's scientifically proven that mid high school is always when you lose touch with some of your closest friends," Annabeth played with her straw, not noticing the perplexed expression on Thalia's face.

Annabeth knew one day that despite her feelings, she'd have to say goodbye to Percy. It was all a dream, and one day she would wake up, into a reality somehow worse than hers. Percy was already losing touch, it was only a matter of time till he left altogether, leaving Annabeth to wallow in disappointment.

Annabeth sighed, "when we didn't go to the same school, we were closer friends." She stated. "How is it that when we're physically closer, we're not mentally?"

"You're like a philosopher, Annabeth. You dig deep into things finding the answer when it's right in front of you. Annabeth, just tell him." Thalia urged, and Annabeth turned to Percy, laughing at someone's comment.

"He seems happy with them, I shouldn't interfere," Annabeth shook her head, and Thalia grabbed her by the shoulders.

"If you don't tell him now Annabeth, someone will, and you're going to regret it. You're going to wish you listened to my words." Thalia looked at Annabeth straight in the eye. "I've seen the way girls look at him, do something before he sees."

"Do what?" Annabeth snapped. "You can't just make someone like you, that's not how it works. You wait, and you wait for them to give you a sign." Annabeth shrugged. "He's given me nothing, I've given him tons though. Maybe he knows, just too scared to tell me he doesn't feel the same way."

"Too scared to tell you he does," Thalia finished, giving Annabeth a soft smile. "I've got to go, see you after school."

"Bye," Annabeth said long after Thalia was gone, overthinking yet again of her mistakes. How does he do this? How can he just become friends with half of the population of the school, while his best friend was at the back table, eating her food alone, wishing that he was there.

She remembered when it was just them two, they would rule the world together and no one could stop them. Percy would be the king, and he would always say that Annabeth would be a Goddess, and she'd laugh, trying to hide the already formed blush.

When they had their first proper fight, it wasn't because Annabeth was petty and she didn't like being name called. It was because that was what people would say behind her back, whispering though she could clearly hear. Annabeth was scared, scared that he'd form into one of them, and she'd lose the person she loved most.

Annabeth remembered reading that book about love, something her teacher gave to her which she could use as extra credit. The part where it said, when your heart has been broken, it can never be healed. Physically? Yes, but mentally, you have to have someone to help pick up the pieces, giving you their own to fill the holes, that had always confused her. She'd never really liked the idea of love and crushes, because they were all so petty. His cheekbones, so sharp! Or I'd totally go under the covers with him. It disgusted her, disgusted Annabeth that no one really liked the mental parts of a being, only the physical aspects that were shown to everyone, as if saying this is my prize! You can't have him. To her, it was the personality that counted, and that was all she needed.

So then why, Annabeth thought. Why is it so hard to find someone?

The book on her table fell, and Annabeth ducked down to retrieve it, only seeing it had already been picked up by someone.

The person smiled, "Hi."

What do I say, do I say hi back? Or do I say 'you want to sit here?' Annabeth thought quickly, trying to see if there was a way out of it . . .

"What do you want?"