Wear something nice?

That thought kept racing through my head as I nearly ripped my closet to shreds, peering at all of my clothing and judging it mercilessly.

After finally settling on a plain yet flattering outfit I peered at myself in the mirror and sighed. Is this nice enough?

I had settled on a dark blue dress that ended just below my knees. I'd paired it with matching accessories and had allowed my hair down, purely based on Percy's reaction the last time I'd done so.

Who am I? I thought with a frown as I readjusted my dress for what seemed like the millionth time. Worrying about whether or not some boy will like my outfit. You'd think I was just some schoolgirl with a crush!

"Annabeth!" Thalia bellowed from the living room, causing me to sigh and pull my gaze away from my mirror. "What are you doing? Where are you?"

"Getting ready," I explained as I opened my door and approached her. "Does this dress look good on me? I haven't worn it in a while...."

Thalia wrinkled her nose, which I took as a bad sign. "Why are you doing this? You're just playing with him at this point, Annabeth!"

"Keep your voice down, Alice is sleeping," I snapped and headed to the kitchen. Unfortunately she followed me, but I chose to ignore her.

"Alice is a sound sleeper," she barked at me. "And this isn't good! You need to cancel this right now."

I shook my head as I pretended to look through the fridge to avoid Thalia. "I'm not playing with his mind, I just want to thank him for saving Alice's life. I feel like he should be thanked for that!"

Thalia shook her head and sat down at the kitchen table, her arms crossed. She was fuming and radiated anger. "Sorry, but he's going to find out if you keep doing all this!"

"So what?" I asked, cashing Thalia's eyes to widen. "Would it be so bad if he knew? He seems great, Thals. Maybe I should tell him...."

Thalia shook her head. "Annabeth, you already decided not to tell him, at least not during your project. You need to remain professional, that's what you decided."

"But what if—"

"Annabeth, I don't wanna see you get hurt again," Thalia interjected firmly. I closed my mouth and furrowed my eyebrows, but I had nothing left to say. "You cried for months, Annabeth. I can't let you go through that again."

Even before I knew of Alice I'd started crying. Moving to California by yourself wasn't so easy, and my recent break up hadn't helped. Then I found out about Alice and Thalia moved in with me, which helped but not enough. When Alice was born she looked so much like Percy I think I cried more than she did.

"You heard that?" I whispered.

Thalia nodded. "I know you didn't want me to, but I did. Annabeth, you're my best friend. I'm just looking out for you, okay? I know Percy seems amazing and all, but you need to get through this project professionally and leave emotions out of it. After all, you don't even know how Percy will react once you tell him."

I closed my eyes tightly, but I knew that Thalia was right. "I just...being around him makes me feel like a kid again, you know? Like I'm back in high school. Just being around him....I-I don't act like myself. I dunno, maybe I've just missed messing around, having no responsibilities. It's been a while."

"I know," Thalia said as she helped me up from my chair. "You're gonna be late."

"Wait, you don't want me to go," I said with a frown.

Thalia shrugged as she went around the kitchen and located my bag and coat, which she promptly handed to me. "I don't, but you clearly do. And you deserve a night off. Go, have fun. But not too much fun, and don't get your heart broken."

Then I pulled Thalia into a hug. Miraculously, she didn't pull away like she usually did. Instead she grinned and patted me on the back. "I won't get my heart broken."

"Good, because you can't do that again," Thalia informed me seriously. "I can't bare to see you like that again. Now go have one last night of fun, then strictly professional until you're done working with kelp head."

"Thanks, Thals."

"Eh, don't mention it."