♫          ♫         ♫

-Annabeth-

By the age of sixteen, I had made my own life. In a general sense. Sure, I still missed my best friend Percy from when we were kids, but that too was my dad's fault. What had he been thinking? Making me pack my bags at two am and catching a flight for Helen?

Of course, he didn't even care that I was a world famous singer. Theana, I called myself. No one knew who I really was. I liked it that way. One of my classmates had found out and I had gone from being silent nerd to Miss Popular in seconds. So I changed schools. All the time. I was seventeen, and I was done with all the schools in the area.

And that's when I got the craziest idea she'd had in a long time, just lying there on my bed.

I'd move back to New York!

Our apartment was still there, my dad hadn't even put it up for sale. And the odds of me ever stumbling into Percy were very very low. He'd probably moved to another apartment or something? And the chance of getting into the same school as him? Pfft. That's like that one chance to defeat Thanos is Infinity War. Yes, I am obsessed with Marvel. Currently friendless, obsessed with Marvel and Harry Potter, yeah, if not for my secret singing career, I was a total nerd.

I walked down the stairs bravely in order to confront Helen and my dad. Well, almost walked. My annoying step brothers Bobby and Matthew had attached a trip wire. Of course. Simple, yet effective. And effectively painful.

I fell with a loud 'thud'.

She heard her dad call, "What was that?" To which I grunted, wiped my bleeding nose and limped in.

"Helen, dad..." I began.

"Mom darling, after all this time, you can call me mum." Helen said smiling.

I scowled at her. "Anyways, dad, Helen..."

"Is this about that silly song business you started?" her dad interrupted.

"No." I took a few breaths before continuing. I would definitely not be allowed to study in New York if I judo flipped either of them.

"I'm going to finish high school in New York." I said.

My dad raised an eyebrow. "Why? California not good enough for you?"

"No, it's just that, you see—."

And then Helen interrupted.

"Let her go, Fredrick."

My eyes might as well have popped out of my skull. Helen agreeing with me? And just when I thought I had rotten luck.

Helen gave my dad some knowing looks and he sighed.

"Fine. Where will you stay?"

"Our old apartment. It's still there. I checked."

"Okay then. And I expect you to be responsible."

"Sure." Not that he'd care once I left. There would not be a single call from anyone from home. Because they didn't care.

I left at once to pack. I'd honestly earned a living already, at least way more than the average seventeen year old. I booked the next flight and then noticed a small cardboard box in the corner. It had a faded, 'Open when you turn 12.'on it.

Pfft. I was seventeen. What could it be? I pulled it out. Inside was a small blue bag with a note.

'Dear Wise Girl,

You are the best friend ever. I found this when we were playing at the beach. My mum inserted the leather thing in. Hope you like it.

Love, your Seaweed Brain.'

Percy. Percy wrote this when they were ten. For me. I couldn't remember the last time anyone had actually cared what was going on in my life. He had. I suddenly regretted choosing New York to go to.

What if I met Percy?

What if I didn't?

What if he'd changed?

What if he'd forgotten me?

What if he was dating someone? Wait. Why would I care? I shook my head and pulled out what was in the bag.

It was a red coral pendant with a fake leather necklace. It was beautiful.

♫ ♫ ♫

By night, I felt free. I sat, waiting at the airport for quite a while. That's when another girl came and sat down next to me.

"Hi!" she said. I could barely hear her over the music.

"Hi?" I answered, pulling off her headphones, secretly hoping she didn't know that I was the 'great' Theana.

"I'm Piper and you looked bored reading."

Maybe the book had gotten a wee bit boring. It was a book on 'How to Make Friends.' It was complete bullshit. But instead I said, "It was okayyy and I'm Annabeth."

"How old are you? I'm seventeen. Going to join a school in New York."

Woah Piper talked a lot. I wasn't exactly used to it. I answered my fans, but it was only at big events and they didn't exactly know who I was.

"I'm here for the exact same reason you are."

"That's cool! Which school? I'm going to—." Piper asked grinning. I was starting to like this happy friendly extremely pretty girl with kaleidoscope eyes.

"Goode High." She and I said together.

"That's amazing. Why you moving?" She asked.

And surprising herself more than anyone, I found myself opening up to her. I didn't tell her she was a singer, of course, or the fact that I was bullied for writing songs about freedom, but I gave her a general idea.

They spent the rest of the time talking. Piper's dad was actually an actor, and she hated all the attention. She also wanted people to respect her. She'd tried to hide her beauty, by making her hair choppy and wearing no makeup, but she was still beautiful. Her dad tended to give her what she wanted, and once in an argument she said she'd rather study in New York and thus she landed up on the very plane I was on. We'd be a whole week late for school, but I was just glad that I'd made a friend.

And honestly, by the time we got off the plane, we we practically best friends.

Piper and I walked to the apartment. Piper went ahead, hers was a block away, while I climbed those familiar rickety steps that Percy and I used to play on.

I turned in the old key and swung open the door.

Other than the fact that it was covered with an inch thick layer of dust, nothing had changed. The photographs of my mum still hung on the wall, the blue rug still lay below my now childish-looking fairytale bed. The picture of me and Percy when we were seven was still on her bed side. The broken vase lay there. I'd broken it when I'd refused to leave. Then my dad had grabbed me harshly and made me pack. I closed my eyes at the memory.

I spent that entire day cleaning up the place, with it's disgusting cobwebs and musty smell. I'd even found the source. A wet sock in a lunch box. Weird.

Not once did I hear noise from down the hall, so I presumed that Percy really had moved.

Monday morning, while making breakfast, I got a text from Piper asking about walking to school together.

I texted her back.

"I'm guessing you found the apartment and are waiting outside my door then?"

"Oh you know me so well.:)" she replied.

I swung open the door to find Piper standing there, with a backpack on her shoulders and a coffee in her hand.

I looked at the coffee and went, "Eww, how do you drink that stuff?"

Piper looked positively hurt. "Can't live without it." She said, sticking her tongue out.

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "The world has never tasted heaven called Oreo milkshakes."

Piper grinned. "Hurry up, we're gonna be late."

We walked to school, judging every one around us. It was fun.

"I think that dog has a hangover." Piper had said.

"Yeah and it's owner broke up with someone." I said, grinning.

"Ooooh that guy is cute." Piper said.

He had blond hair. He looked like a jock.

"You into blondes?" I asked.

She turned deep red. "Maybe."

I smirked and realised just how much fun it was to have a friend.

We were just hanging out in front of school when a tattered black minivan zoomed in at like, a hundred miles an hour.

I saw a scary looking girl get out with the keys jangling in her hand. Then a cute, couple? Maybe. But an Asian looking guy and a girl with curly cinnamon coloured hair, also got out.

Then I turned and joined Piper in her conversation. We were in the middle of a heated discussion about the ship 'Linny' when Piper's jaw dropped.

"He's hot." She said. She was looking at a guy with blond hair and sky blue eyes.

But I was looking at the person next to him. It was him. And I saw the colour drain from his face when he set his eyes on me.

I met Percy Jackson again.

♫         ♫         ♫

Word count- 1539

Next update: next week (I have a lot of homework to catch up on)

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Love you guys,
~Rajita