I stepped out of the car after giving my dad a quick bye, and walked towards the massive front steps of my Goode High. Then I noticed someone walking next to me.

"I was wondering when you would notice." I looked up to find two electric blue eyes staring at me from under a mop of spiky black hair.

"Thalia?" Was it just my imagination, or was Thalia Grace really here.

"Hey Annie. You've grown up." She grinned.

Yep. It was Thalia alright. She was the only one who ever called me Annie. I tackled her in a hug, almost knocking her over.

"Well, at least someone's happy to see me!" I couldn't believe she was actually here!

"What're you doing here?"

She shrugged. "I should be asking you that same question."

"Thalia! Where's Jason?" Percy ran up behind Thalia. "I need to go over some answers for the math packet from yesterday."

"He's over there, Kelp-head." She jerked her head to where Jason was talking to Piper and Frank.

"Thanks Thals!" He smiled at me and ran off.

"You know Percy?" We started walking up the steps.

"Sure I know him. He's my cousin." She shrugged again, like it was common knowledge.

Huh. I could kinda see the resemblance. It wasn't all that striking, but eh. I didn't really care too much.

"Are you serious, Luke? How could you?" I looked over to see Luke and Drew. Drew had tears streaming down her face from something Luke had apparently said to her. Luke looked like he was trying to comfort her, but she pushed him away and ran off. He looked at me knowingly, and I knew he had just broken up with her. Maybe there was still a chance that he could actually want to date me. I shook my head. There was no way I could be that lucky.

I turned and ran up the rest of the stairs, trying to catch up to Thalia.

~•~

Several hours later, I walk into the cafeteria, relieved that it's finally lunch time. I'm looking for a place to sit, when someone taps me on the shoulder.

"You're still gonna sit with us, right?" I nod as Luke steps out from behind me. I follow him as he walks to his table. My eyes wander around the cafeteria. I spot Percy looking at me again. It looks like he's kinda worried about something. Then he looked away when I got to Luke's table. I shrugged. I wasn't going to let it bother me.

I looked around the table. Drew wasn't there. I wasn't too surprised. I sat down next to Silena, who smiled at me. The conversation quickly turned to the upcoming football game. From what I could tell, it was gonna be a big one.

"The Titans are tough, and they're well trained. But if we put our heads together, we can figure out a way to beat them." I heard Luke saying to Dylan.

"There is a one in a million chance you will beat the Titans." Octavian said without looking up from his food.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Try and stay positive, Octavian. That's all we need, is a good dosage of optimism."

I smiled. I was liking Luke more and more. He looked at me.

"You're going to the game, right?" I didn't know what to say. I wasn't the biggest fan of football, but if it meant I could see Luke in his own "territory", then I was down for anything.

"Yeah, I'll be there." Luke grinned like I had given him a birthday gift.

The rest of lunch passed in a blur, the boys discussing plays for their game, and the girls talking about their cheer routine.

I felt out of place. I didn't understand anything that was being said. Looking around the cafeteria, I saw Percy's table. Everyone was laughing, and Leo was making a weird face. The sight made me homesick for Katie and Nyssa.

Thankfully, the bell rang. I picked up my bag and walked out of the cafeteria. I looked around at the other students as I reached my art class. I stepped in and immediately calmed down. I was in my own territory.