I woke up to the sound of Annabeth's voice, arguing with someone outside the door.

"We've searched, he's not in his room," the outside voice explained, sounding urgent.

"Frank, Percy's-"

"What's about Percy?" I asked, moving blindly in the direction of Annabeth's voice, rubbing my eyes.

I don't even remember how I ended up in Annabeth's room. Or how she let me stay with her. The last thing I remember was Gabe's face and then-

Yeah...it wasn't pleasant

I realised a while back that my nightmares were...less scary when Annabeth was around. She just made me feel safe. She always did. I think that just knowing that she was around was enough.

When we were younger, she would tell me stories by our creek. On the days I didn't get a lot of sleep, like when Gabe had his poker friend's over.

Annabeth would lay on the grass next to me, telling me stories or just making up some silly tale as we watched the clouds go by after school, doing her homework or reading a book as I slept. She always made sure I was well-rested. And then make fun of me for drooling.

Frank stood near the doorframe, his eyes widening he took in my, I realised, how incriminating this seemed.

"Oh...you two...are in so much trouble," Frank whispered, taking a step back as if the sight of us burnt him.

"Everyone thinks you've been kidnapped," he said. We've been scouring the motel When Coach Hedge finds out--oh, gods, you've been here all night?"

"Frank!" Annabeth's ears were as red as strawberries," Percy just came down here to talk. We fell asleep. Accidentally, That's it."

"In the same bed," I added, attempting to help.

Annabeth glared at me, "Not helping!"

"We'd better..." Frank pointed to the elevator doors. "Uh, we're supposed to meet for breakfast. Would explain what you did-I mean didn't do? I mean . . . I really don't want that
Hedgehog- I mean coach --to kill me."

"We'll be right out," Annabeth sighed," And nothing happened! Stop gawking."

"I'm not gawking," Frank defended.

"Yes, you are. The same way you gawk every time you see Hazel," Annabeth said, a victorious smile as Frank backed down, leaving us behind after making us promise to arrive for breakfast in a while.

"You better go, hop in the shower,change some clothes and go down to breakfast," Annabeth turned to face me.

"Yeah...smart," I nodded, looking away from her. How was she so perfect looking even after waking up? I probably looked like a zombie.

"Thanks, for-" Annabeth cut me off.

"Don't say thanks," Annabeth placed her hand on my shoulder, my skin tingling where she touched.

"Now go, seaweed brain," she pushed me lightly, her gray eyes shining wth amusement, "Unless you want me to tell you about Saytrs''

"I actually wouldn't mind," I grinned as she pushed me out of the room, tossing me my bedsheet/ blanket before I left.

I had a cold shower, quickly freshening up. My room was a mess already, with the crumpled sheets and my belongings everywhere. Annabeth would kill me if she ever came up here.

The breakfast room was definitely not done by an interior decorator..The walls were yellow, giving a very 70's look to the room. Even the decor was old, with vintage saxophones and jukeboxes.

"Good morning everyone," I say to the table, after ordering a plate of pancakes at the counter.

"GOOD MORNING?? It would've been GOOD if we didn't think you were kidnapped!" Coach Hedge said, stabbing his plate of eggs with his knife, freaking out a cute old couple sitting in the room with us.

"He's clearly too annoying to be kidnapped, Coach," Annabeth helped, drinking a glass of water," They would've returned him within the hour."

Coach Hedge turned his karate eyes on Annabeth," You're at fault here too! If you didn't have to compete in a few hours I would've grounded you!"

"Coach..." Annabeth began but was interrupted by Chiron as I slid into the seat next to Nessa. She nudged me with her shoulder, an amused look in her face.

"He's right, Annabeth," Chiron nodded," You and Percy could've told us. And Percy," he turned to face me," Why on earth would you leave your door unlocked?"

"I...did....not," my face turned red. I didn't remember if the door was unlocked or not.

"Just don't do it again," Chiron sighed, rubbing his temples, "I need one of you kids to go to the store bring us some supplies, any volunteers?"

"Great," I said. "Me, Annabeth-"

"Oh, no!" Coach Hedge barked. "Young man, you are grounded. You're gonna be soon too, young lady."

Annabeth stared at him like he was speaking a foreign language. "Excuse me?"

"You and Jackson are not going anywhere together!" Hedge insisted. He glared at me, daring me to mouth off. "I'll go with Frank and Mr Sneaky Jackson. The rest of you make sure Annabeth doesn't break any more rules!"

Wonderful, I thought. A boy's day out with Frank and a bloodthirsty coach.

"Now...that settled. Let's have a calm breakfast, shall we?" Chiron spoke up, effectively shutting everyone up.

After breakfast, I was pulled away by the Coach for practice before I could wish Annabeth good luck for the competition.

She'd left earlier on the bus, taking the rest of the team with her.

Coach Hedge being the ever benevolent man that he is made us run 20 laps around the motel.

Except me.

I was lucky enough to be forced to run 40.

Coach loved me after all.

The only reprieve I had from all that physical activity was the grocery shop, which forced me to have to bathe again because apparently, I smelled like 'If a monkey ate a fish and sweated it out'

Thank you for that wonderful description, Connor.

We arrived at a grocery store, which was wayyy too huge to be one. It was practically a mall of all the stuff my mom would love to buy.

Frank, Coach and I got separated inside. Which was a mess because I'd left my phone in my room and those two had to come to find me after I gave up, lying on a doggy bed.

We spent a good one hour after that. And it was starting to get to me, the walls filled with food were making my brain disintegrate. My nerves were in a bundle, thinking about Annabeth and her game today.

"Let's hurry up please," I begged the Coach, who was contemplating whether he should buy pringles or Doritos

"Calm down, cupcake, this is important," he replied, focused on his task.

"This is a nightmare," I groaned," we're gonna miss the game."

This whole tournament was going to last a month. From the selections, prefinal's and the actual tournament. That is if we make it past the current elimination rounds. Chiron was certain we would.

"If there's no traffic I'm sure we'll make it on time," Frank said, his positivity not helping my current state of pessimism.

"Coach letsss goooooooo! We're gonna miss the game!" I urged, "Just buy them both and decide in the car."

"I will not be rushed!"

"We have a lot of other games to watch if we miss this one," Frank tried again.

I gave up

Because Coach Hedge was not rushed.(But traffic was) In fact, he was so un-rushed that we ended up going late to the game, stopping by the motel to pick up others who also wanted to watch the match.

The stadium was jam-packed when we arrived and I recognised the screams of my friends.

We'd barely made it, just a few minutes before the round ended.

Half-Blood high cheered as Annabeth scored the winning shot, leaping into the air as she did so.

"WAY TO GOO!!!'' I screamed from the bleachers, practically jumping off my seat. I regretted missing the match. She looked in my direction for a split second, laughing as she hugged her team members.

I found myself smiling, leaning against Travis as I watched Annabeth talk to Clarisse.

This girl was...something else....something special for sure.

Luckily, I always knew that

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New chapter! Late but don't blame me I have exams going on!

My first one was today and I did it kinda crappy

Ah well...any suggestions? What do you guys wanna read?

(Posted 7/5/22- 3:15 am)

Stay tuned!!!

-----S