"Lukas!" I called. No answer. I called his name again. "Lukas!!"

"Sophia?" That one word resonated through my mind (literally, it felt like a ping pong ball) and I called out again.

"The entrance is here!" I brushed my hand against the wall and looked up, but the ceiling was covered by stone. "Follow my voice."

"Marco!" I heard his voice call.

I grinned. "Polo!"

"Marco!" I heard again, but this time closer.

"Polo," I called, but my voice cracked. The entrance was gone. How would we get out?

A flash of pale yellow passed by. "Lukas, I'm here!"

I heard slow footsteps as he stepped backward. He looked right, left—and then saw me.

He let out a sigh of relief. "I thought I was lost and would end up in, like, Colorado or something," he told me. "Thank the gods you're here." He looked up. "Where's the entrance?"

"I don't know." I looked away. "I've been standing here and haven't moved."

Lukas looked up. Then he said, "Two steps back."

I followed him backward.

"Now help me look."

"What are we looking for?"

"The mark of Daedalus," Lukas said as if that should have been painfully obvious.

I brushed my hand against the wall. "The mark is a triangle thing, right?"

Lukas nodded and we kept searching. (If you can call feeling around with your hands searching.)

I heard Lukas's voice again. "I found a corridor—I'm coming back."

His hand slipped into mine. Under different circumstances, I would have been a little embarrassed, but it was nice to know where he was amid cold, dark corridors.

"Here." I felt a tiny fissure in the wall. I pressed on it, and it glowed blue. A symbol appeared: Δ, the Ancient Greek Delta.

The roof slid open and we saw the night sky, the stars shimmering against the clear black night. It was a lot darker than it should have been. Metal ladder rungs appeared on the side of the wall, leading up and out, and I could hear people yelling our names.

"Sophia! Lukas!" I could hear Aliya's voice the loudest.

I looked nervously at Lukas, and then we began to climb.

~~~~~

"Where have you been?" Luna shrieked once she noticed us.

"We were only there for a few minutes," I told her.

Elena frowned. "We were looking for you for two hours."

"Time passes by in the Labyrinth faster than it does here," Aliya pointed out.

I saw Percy and Annabeth run over, looking pale.

"I hoped no good demigod would ever have to be in there again," Annabeth muttered. "We have amazing luck."

"I was genuinely worried about you," Aliya complained.

"She started crying after an hour," Felix said.

Aliya lightly hit Felix on the shoulders. I had a feeling something big happened while we were gone. I looked at Elena and she just smiled (not helpful). I walked towards Aliya.

"What did y'all do?" I asked.

"Why does everyone think we did something?" Aliya whisper-yelled.

"She tripped," Felix said, grinning.

"We didn't do anything," Aliya said, shooting Felix a warning look.

"Mhmm," I said, not believing them at all.

"Aliya tripped and kissed her cruushh!" Elena said happily.

"Elena!" Aliya shouted.

"What? I'm your hype woman!"

I laughed.

Aliya turned to me. "All right, if I must, I'll ask: what happened down in the Labyrinth?"

My face grew hot. "Nothing! We were just looking for a Delta on the wall . . ."

"Sureeeeeee," Aliya said, grinning. "Keep telling yourself that. Keeeeeeeep telling yourself that."

"Also, Leo invited us to a sleepover in the Poseidon cabin," Elena shrieked like a banshee.

I scoffed. "Leo has no right to invite everyone to a sleepover in my cabin."

"But you do," Elena pointed out.

"Darn right I do!" I stomped up to Leo. "Your stupid party sleepover thing in my cabin is canceled."

He shrugged. "Okay."

I walked back to where Aliya, Elena, and Felix were. Lukas followed me. "I'm creating a sleepover in the Poseidon cabin now! And ONLY Aliya, Elena, Lukas, and Felix are invited."

"Aw, man!" Leo whined.

Percy scratched his head. "Does that mean I have to sleep in another cabin? I mean, I'm all for it," he added with a sly grin.

"You can be there too, but bring Annabeth," I told him.

"Why am I not invited?" Leo asked.

I snorted. "Because you are very annoying. And your breath smells. Seriously, have you ever seen a toothbrush?"

"I'm offended," Leo said.

"That's what I intended." I flashed him a goofy smile.

The Labyrinth incident was left far behind us (or that's what it seemed like), so we all went to our cabins to freshen up for the sleepover I randomly called for tonight.

*~~* time skip

"What should we do now?" Lukas asked.

"NOW," I said, "We should play–"

"Truth or dare!" Aliya finished.

I shrugged. "Sure."

Aliya turned to Elena. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare!!" she shouted.

"I dare you to kiss the floor!" She exclaimed

"Lame-ooo," said a very bored Felix. "Come up with better dares."

She kissed the floor and then looked up in disgust. "The floor is grosser than you think." She poked me. "Sophia, truth or dare?"

"Truth," I said decidedly.

"Is it true you didn't do anything with Lukas in the Labyrinth?"

I flushed bright red. Aliya and Felix snickered.

"I didn't do anything," I said truthfully. I can't believe they thought I did something with him, I thought.

"You do know I heard that right?" Both Aliya and Elena said.

"I'm backing her up on that," Lukas added. "I–"

I shot him a subtle look. No one needed to know we were holding hands. Aliya gave a smile that belonged to a horror movie.

"I don't think she would lie," he finished.

Aliya and Felix grinned evilly. Aliya whispered something to Felix and they both snickered. Of course, she read my mind.

"Aliya truth or dare?"

"Umm... Truth." She said confidently. I knew I was gonna wipe that smile off her face.

"Fine," I said, smirking. "Who's your crush?"

There was an awkward silence. Aliya looked down.

"Felix," she said, barely a whisper.

I touched my ear. "Sorry? I can't hear you."

"Felix," she said, louder now.

Felix stared at her. She looked down, face red as a tomato.

"I knew you liked me!" Felix said cheerfully.

"As if!" Aliya yelled.

They continued playfully arguing until Lukas spoke up.

"Guys, calm down, I wanna ask something!"

"Jeez, chill, bro," Felix said coolly.

"Okay, Felix, truth or dare?" Lukas grinned mischievously.

"Dare!" Felix said happily.

"I dare you to kiss your crush."

"Why'd you have to expose me like that?" Felix complained. I giggled as he looked around uncomfortably. He glanced sideways, toward Aliya, and then he moved closer, closed his eyes . . . and kissed her.

"Ahhh!" I shrieked. "Cuteness OVERLOAD!"

Lukas glanced at me and flashed a crooked smile.

"Keep it PG, children!" Elena screeched.

Percy smirked, leaned over, and kissed Annabeth.

"Is this turning into a kissing party?" Lukas complain-asked. Lukas, Elena, and I sat there awkwardly as the people around us made out for what felt like HOURS.

"Hang on," I said. "Aliya and Felix just had their first kiss. Why are they making out??"

Lukas shrugged. "I dunno. They're probably just sooooo deeply in love."