"Percy? Percy, honey, wake up." I pry my eyes open to see my mother over me, shaking me. "There you go, sweetheart. It's time for school." I lift myself up on my elbows and rub my eyes.

"Great." We sit in silence for a minute while I wake up fully. "Hey mom, where were you yesterday?"

"I'm sorry honey. I worked late yesterday and when I got home, you were already asleep. Hurry up now. You are gonna be late."

I nod and get up to get changed. "I forgot to ask, can I go to Thalia's on Saturday around twelve? Please."

My mother smiles at me, handing me my t-shirt. "Of course. Is Annabeth going to be there?"

I can feel my cheeks go red. "Mom! I don't have a crush on her. I can barely stand her."

My mom begins to walk out of my room, her back to me. "You just keep telling yourself that." I laugh and continue to get ready.

~

I am walking alone, on my way to school. Annabeth and I usually run into each other but I haven't seen her at all today. She might've gone early, or maybe she is just avoiding me from yesterday.

I continue onto school alone, arriving at 7:52. I find Thalia at my locker talking with Annabeth. Thalia smiles at me, Annabeth is just looking at me, with no emotion shown on her face. After our fight yesterday I expected her to say something or be glaring at me. Now she does not even look mad at all.

Thalia smiles at me, "Hey Perce."

I smile. "Hi. Thalia, I can come on Saturday."

Her smile grew. "Yay. Now everyone is coming." I smile back, and look over at Annabeth, who had he back to us as she is searching through her locker.

I nodd, looking around, " Where is everyone else?"

Thalia thinks for a minute. "Luke and Leo are in detention. I saw Jason and Frank studying for Chemistry in the library. And I think Piper and Hazel are in the courtyard. Why are we not good enough for you?" She is clearly joking, with her hands on her hips.

I say with a straight face, "Well.." Before I can continue, she slaps me across the arm. My hand shoots up, rubbing my arm. "Damn it girl." Thalia and even Annabeth chuckle at that. The warning bell rings, saying we only have five minutes to get to or first period. The three of us head to our first class together with Mrs. Mason.

~

The entire group isat lunch. We talk about the upcoming weekend. It is Thursday now and I cannot wait for Saturday. During our debate on if F.R.I.E.N.D.S. is better than How I Met Your Mother, a tall, scrawny, black-haired kid comes up to our table and walks over to Hazel and tells her something I cannot make it out. He walks away after giving our table a quick half-smile.

"Who was that, Hazel?" I ask. I am sure the rest of them know but since I just recently meet them, I do not.

She shakes her head, continuing to eat her lunch. "Just my brother, Nico."

I nod and go back to my lunch, after saying, "F.R.I.E.N.D.S. is better." That statement earns a few disagreements from around the table, getting us into a heated debate again.

Immediately after lunch I find Annabeth at her locker. I need to talk to her about yesterday. Today has been very awkward; being in classes together, and both of us in the group of friends. We cannot have group conversations when both of us are there. It gets awkward whenver one of us says something. This ends now.

I walk uo behind her, "Annabeth?" She turns around and leans against the lockers, gesturing me to talk. "Okay. So today has been really weird and awkward with the two of us. So, I am sorry about yesterday. I just got a bit pissed. I understand that we probably cannot be friends but for now, truce?" I hold out my hand for her to shake it, her arms stay by her side.

"I don't know. Yesterday, some of it I said in the heat of the moment, and I am sorry if it hurt you. And maybe I think all of that because I do not know you well enough. I don't know, so I guess truce." She shakes my hand. "But Percy, you said you will be gone in a month. I am confused. Are you moving or something?"

I shake my head. "No. I don't really stay at one specific school for long. Something always turns up and I have to transfer or we have to move. Nothing I know is going to happen, but don't think I will be here long."

She nods. "Okay, well, I have to get to class. Bye." We are going to the same class but I do not say anything. I let her walk off as I grab my books from my locker and meet her in the same classroom.

~

I meet Thalia at the lockers after classes. Luke and Jason are waiting beside her. "Hey Perce. How was your day?" She asks while piling books into her small backpack.

I shrug. "Fine. It's not like I had fun at school."

She chuckles. "I understand." Once she is fully packed she closes her locker and swings her backpack over her shoulder. "Have you seen Annabeth? She usually meets me at my locker."

"Maybe she got held behind at our last class. I could not tell, I ran out of there."

Thalia jokes, "Could not wait to see me?"

"Of course I was bouncing in my chair, so excited to see you." I say, sarcasm evident in my voice.

The three laugh as we walk out of the school. Luke turns to us, "I have to go. My mom needs me to babysit Noah tonight.See you later." He kisses Thalia on the cheek and waves to Jason and I before he turns and runs down the street."

"Thalia, Jason, do you have to work today?"

Jason shakes his head. "No. Mom said it would be fine if we skipped today, since it is Friday." He looks behind us. "Here comes Piper, we were going to go get something to eat. Want to join us?" Jason puts his arm around Piper, awaiting our answer. He most likely is just asking out of common curtosy, and does not want us to come. I shake my head, as does Thalia. They should have some time alone as a couple. The two nod and walk away, starting up a new conversation immediatly.

I look back at the doors of the school. "I wonder where Annabeth is." Truthfully, I do not care. I don't want another awkward conversation with the three of us. Right now, I am simply starting a conversation and this is the first thing I thought of.

She shakes her head, looking around us once more. "I have no idea. She did not tell me anything. Maybe she had an emergency and had to leave right away. We'll see her tomorrow at my place. By the way," She grabs my hand and begins to write on it. "This is my address. We will most likely eat dinner at my place and then head down to Central Park to camp. If that's okay with you?" I nod. Suprisingly, living in New York my entire life, I have never camped out in Central Park. I never lived close to the park and Gabe always made me stay home anyways.

"Sounds fun Thalia. I cannot wait. What time should I be at your apartment?"

She scrunches her eyebrows together. "Um, how about twelve?"

"Sounds good. I told my mom I would meet her at her store after school, want to come?"

Thalia smiles, "Sure. I do not want to go wait at the cafe until mom gets off work. She is not comfortable with us staying home alone." I nod. First time we were in New York mom never let me stay home alone. She thought the city was too dangerous, which it is for a eleven year old boy, but I am old enough now. Thalia's mom must be a bit more protective than others.

Thalia and I walk down the street towards the store my mom works at. We talk about the new project Mr. Blofis, our English teacher, assigned us. Thalia and I are in a group with another guy in our class named Andrew. We have to make a poster representing the book we read and all three of us write essays. Andrew never works and usually spends the entire class on his phone or sleeping. So the project is all on Thalia and me.

We approach my mother's store, which is a small accessories store called Polka Dot. It is a small store owned by a fifty year old woman. I have meet her a couple of times, she always pinches my cheeks when she sees me rambling about how much I have grown, when really I reached my growth spurt in ninth grade and I have not gotten taller since then.

We walk in the door, the bell ringing catching my mom's attention. She smiles and runs forward to hug me. "Percy! How was your day?"

I smile, hugging her back. "It was fine." I gesture over to Thalia. "Mom, this is my friend Thalia."

My mom smiles at Thalia. "Nice to meet you. Percy has told me about you guys."

Thalia smiles, "Nice to meet you too, Ms. Jackson."

My mom turns to me and pulls out her wallet, "How about you two go get something to eat? I don't get off for another hour so I will just meet you at home."

I hold my hands up, stopping her. "No Mom, it is fine. I have some money."

She refuses. "Do not argue with me Percy. Take the money, my treat." I give up, knowing I will not win this one. I take the money from my mom, wave her goodbye and leave the store.

"You're mom is really nice." Thalia compliments.

"Thanks. I love her."

We walk in silence until we reach a small cafe close to my apartment. We both order an espresso. Thalia sits across from me at a table in the corner of the cafe. "So Percy, what's going on with you and Annabeth?" She smirks.

I groan. "Oh not you too. There is nothing going on between me and Annabeth. We can barely stand each other."

Thalia shrugs. "Hey, I hated Luke for weeks before I started to develop feelings for him. Look at us now."

I shake my head. "No Thalia. Not happening. Stop being a teenage girl about it."

She gestures down to herself. "In case you have not noticed Percy, I am a teenage girl. It is in my nature."

I laugh. "Well then, let's just talk about something else, besides Annabeth."

"Okay, okay. Whatever. Oh, you have a step-father. What is he like?"

I freeze up. I knew they would ask this question eventually, but I have not planned what to say yet. "He is not my favorite person in the world, but I deal with him. I do not see him much anyways."But when I do see him he beats the life out of me.

Thalia takes a sip from her drink. "Does he work a lot?"

"Yeah. He is a mechanic." I seem to be a good liar. Thalia does not ask any more of Gabe and we continue to talk about other things, such as our favorite TV shows and things to do in the city. Thalia gets a call from her mother for her to go home, so I walk with Thalia to her apartment and then back to mine. Once I get home, my mom is not there yet. I quickly run to my room, avoiding Gabe, and locking it as soon as I get inside.

~

[EDITED]

Sorry if it sucks. I am no Rick Riorden, as you can easily tell.

-LU