"Rachel, don't be an ass!" I practically screamed. Rachel went red and finally stopped talking. "I'm sorry, we've gotta go."

I instantly grabbed Rachel by the arm and pulled her into a near empty area. "What the hell was that about?"

Rachel groaned as she placed her hands on her hips. "I'm sorry, I know that was super uncalled for, but seeing her and knowing that you to used to go out...I'm not the jealous type but, man, it's hard not to be jealous of her!"

"Rachel, I'm with you," I assured her. "I wouldn't have brought you here if I weren't with you, okay? Now please stop whatever you're doing!"

I stormed away from Rachel, who didn't bother following me. After peering through the crowd I finally located Luke, who was chatting with some fancy looking people.

"Hey there, Luke," I said. "Where's Annabeth?"

Luke shrugged. "I dunno, I think she mentioned something about the bathroom, but great party!"

I rolled my eyes as I shoved past Luke and into the fancy bathrooms that were practically empty, which was surprising.

Although I felt awkward about it, I lightly knocked on the door to the women's bathroom. After a few seconds it swung open.

"I'm sorry about the wait, you can have it now—" Annabeth started before seeing me. "Um, this is the women's bathroom."

"I know," I said as I peered at her. Her face was red and looked splotchy like she'd been crying. "I wanted to apologize about Rachel. She feels really bad about it, too."

Annabeth laughed weakly as she shook her head. "Ah, don't worry. I mean, she's right. I'm an idiot for taking Luke back. I shouldn't have even come, I'm sorry."

She pushed past me but I grabbed her arm, causing her to stop. "Percy, let me go."

"Annabeth, stay. Please, for me," I asked weakly. She avoided my eyes. "You helped me a lot on this album, you can't just leave. And I need you here."

"You dork," she whispered. "You're fine on your own, and I helped with one song."

"Please."

She sighed. "Only if you promise to release me."

"Deal," I said as I dropped her hand. "Now I'm going to go up on that stage, give a fake speech written by one of Chiron's employees, and I'm going to look for you in the crowd, alright?"

"Good luck."

She winked at me before joining the crowd. Before I could catch up I was grabbed by someone who placed me on the stage.

"First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for coming here tonight. Your continued support means a lot to me and I wouldn't be here without you guys, my fans," I read off of the notecards given to me. "I'd like to talk about some people who helped with this album, like the record company, my manager, Chiron, and all the wonderful employees here."

Then my eyes found Annabeth in the crowd. Her face was still puffy from crying, but she was wearing a huge grin. Then I placed the notecards in my pocket.

"I'd like to thank someone else, who's been through thick and thin with me. Someone who's my best friend, someone who without, this album wouldn't be here," I spoke. "This album is about them, a person I love."

"I'd also like to thank my mother, my stepfather, and my little sister, Estelle. Thank you!"

People clapped and cheered as I stepped off of the stage and attempted to find Annabeth, who was nowhere to be seen.

The rest of the night was just dull conversations with snooty people congratulating me. Even Rachel seemed to ignore me, although she informed me she liked my speech, certain it was about her.