"Hey, Thal!" 

Thalia didn't turn around, but paused, allowing the rest of her classmates to move around her as she waited for Piper and Hazel to catch up to her.

When they did, the girls were slightly out of breath. Piper stared her friend in the eyes. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?" Thalia asked, frowning slightly.

"Luke's saying that you kissed Annabeth!"

"Castellan!"

Luke whipped around to face Thalia as she stalked towards him, a lethal glare on her face with Annabeth and Reyna watching her in a confused manner from about twenty metres away. "Hey, Grace. So, was Chase any good?"

"Shut up!" Thalia growled, grabbing the hem of Luke's t-shirt and lifting him into the air as Ethan and Octavian watched in fear. Thalia was absolutely lethal when she was like this and the only one who could calm her down was her brother, who was in detention. "Just shut the hell up and listen for once in your life, Castellan!"

Shocked, Luke could only stare at her numbly as she glared at him. "I don't want you opening your big mouth again if it's anything to do with Annabeth or her roommate! I don't care if it's me, but just leave them out of it, alright?"

By this stage she was trembling violently, blinking her eyes rapidly. Suddenly, Reyna's hand was on her shoulder and she dropped Luke, allowing the brunette to lead her away.

"Heya, Thalia!" Thalia, Piper and Hazel glanced up, the later shying away a tiny bit when she realised who was talking to them; Drew Tanaka, the most popular girl in school. Despite being bisexual – which was like a taboo at their school.

Thalia, however, met her gaze evenly. "What do you want?"

Scowling at her, Drew placed her hands on her hips. "Fine, Grace. I heard you're friends with the two new kids."

"What about it?" Thalia retorted before she could stop herself.

"The one with brown hair's cute," Macey giggled, applying a thick layer of lip gloss. "You get me a date with her; I'll keep Luke out of your hair."

Standing up, Thalia stared Drew straight in the eyes. "Go to Tartarus."

The leaving the flabbergasted girl, she walked over to Annabeth, smiling at her as she sat down. "Mind if I sit here?"

Blushing slightly, Annabeth shook her head, looking down as Piper and Annabeth followed their friend and sat down beside her.

So far, most people had avoided sitting near her by about three tables. She was just the quiet nerd at the back of the class who Luke picked on with the cute roommate.

No one wanted to go against Luke, so most stayed away from her, talking through Thalia when they wanted to convey a message.

Looking up, she realised that Thalia had said her name, probably two or three times. When she nodded to show that he was listening, she smirked slightly. "I said do you and Reyna want to hang out again after school today?"

After thinking about it for a moment, Annabeth shrugged. "Sure, that sounds great!"

They turned their attention to Principle Chiron as he wheeled in, both teens failing to notice the pained expression on Luke's face as he glared at Annabeth.

"Hey, Thalia!" Jason called, running to catch up with his sister before she could enter the honours Irish classroom. "Luke wanted me to give this to you."

Taking the piece of paper her brother handed to her, Thalia frowned. "What is it?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Her brother shrugged, hands in his pockets. "See you later."

Frown deepening as her brother left, Thalia opened the folded note.

Thalia -
Meet me at the school gate alone after school
- Luke 

Taking a deep breath, Thalia walked towards the school gate, scowling at Luke as he came into view. "What do you want, Castellan?"

Luke raised one eyebrow, glancing behind her, "Are you alone?"

Rolling her eyes, Thalia crossed her arms. "Castellan, this isn't James Bond. No one followed me."

Nodding, Luke turned back to Thalia, failing to notice Reyna and Annabeth watching them from behind the bicycle shed.

With faint traces of pink dusting his cheeks, Luke glanced down. "So... you and Chase?"

"What about us?"

"You two are... going out?"

Thalia felt her heart jump to her mouth. "N-no! Well... It's none of your business!" She snapped. "Why? Going to pick on me?"

Luke raised one eyebrow again, ignoring the question. "So she hasn't asked you out yet?"

"No."

"And you haven't asked her out yet?"

Thalia shook her head, blushing slightly. "Why are you even asking these questions, Castellan?"

"So I can make sure it's alright to do this." Standing on his toes, the blonde leaned towards Thalia, pressing his lips forcefully onto hers.

And right then, Thalia swore she could hear the shattering of Annabeth's heart.

"Annie!" Reyna yelled, struggling to keep up with her roommate. She may have been the faster of the two in normal circumstances, but when Annabeth got mad, she could never control her energy. "Annabeth!"

As her brother skidded to a halt after running into a graveyard, Reyna sighed in relief, slowing her sprint to a jog, until she realised her roommate was surrounded.

"Well, well, Chase." Ethan smirked, rolling up his sleeves. "We meet again."

"Get lost," Annabeth growled, clenching her fists so tightly her knuckles were turning white. "You do not want to mess with me right now."

"Why not?" A boy with dark hair smirked, pulling off his school coat and throwing it onto one of the nearby tombstones. "You upset, Chase? You sad? You mad cause Luke got your girl?"

Suddenly, there was a loud crack. Reyna was in front of her roommate and her fist had been planted right in the middle of the boy's face, sending him flying into the tombstone his jacket had landed on.

He just lay there, writhing on the ground, hand covering his nose, where everyone could see blood already forming.

"Think you could get another lucky shot, kid?" Ethan growled, beckoning for his three friends to follow him.

Smirking, Reyna got into a fighting stance. "I'd say so."

All four threw punches at Reyna at different times, but the brunette was small and easily managed to duck out of the way. She ran towards Ethan, realising him to be the brains of the group, but was intercepted midway by two of his cronies.

After slamming their heads together in one, swift motion, she moved back towards Will, delivering a hook punch to the boy's gut. Backing away a few steps, Reyna glanced around, realising that the third boy was now closing in on her. After a quick sweep if her legs, said boy was sprawled on the ground, clutching his head. He had probably hit it off a tombstone or a rock.

As Reyna turned to move towards her roommate, however, she felt someone's foot meet the middle of her spine and she was sent flying into one of the tombstones.

Looking up, she growled as he realised it was Jason, Thalia's brother.

Before she could move however, Annabeth was there in front of Jason, fist clenched. "Get your hands off her."

When Jason was on the ground, however, the other five were up again, ready to fight their new target.

Reyna winced before standing up as she heard a crack, followed by a loud thud, where a tombstone promptly fell.

Idiots, she growled, watching the scene unfolding before her. They shouldn't have gotten her mad...

Finally, even Ethan was lying on the ground, bruises forming all over his face, a swollen lip and black eye forming as he clutched his middle, grunting in pain while Annabeth stood above him, panting slightly, fist still clenched.

"What's the matter?" Annabeth panted. "Are you done already? You're pathetic."

Turning her back on the group of five, she walked back to Reyna, who put a hand on her shoulder before leading him back to their house.

Within seconds of the door closing, Annabeth broke down, slid to the floor and began sobbing, barely noticing as Reyna sat beside her, an arm around her shoulder.

Several hours later, Annabeth's father returned from the hospital to find them asleep in those exact positions.

Thalia froze as Luke kissed her. She couldn't move out of surprise.

After a few seconds though, she glanced sideways and – seeing the roommates running away as fast as they could – she regained control of her body and pushed Luke away from her.

A moment later, he had a red mark in the shape of her hand forming on his cheek and she was wiping her lips. "What the bloody hell was that about?"

"You said Chase hadn't asked you out!" Luke defended himself. "So... so do you want to go out?"

Thalia stared at Luke in both disgust and shock for several moments. "No! Castellan-"

"Just call me Luke."

"Fine, Luke, I don't like you – or any boys – in that way, and I've never particularly liked you in any way before! Why should I start now?" Scowling, Luke shoved his hands in his pockets while Thalia – seeing the sad look in his eyes – began to feel guilty. "Look, I don't like you in that way, but maybe we could be friends again?"

Luke sighed, ducking his head. "Fine. I'll see you around then, Thalia."

Smiling, Thalia nodded, clearly seeing the expression of pain etched on his face, even with his head down. "Okay, Luke. Bye."

As Luke nodded and walked off, Thalia bit her lip and began running in the direction she had seen Annabeth go.

She had to find her and explain.

No matter what.

Thalia growled as she reached the graveyard, seeing her brother – bloody and bruised – stumbling out.

Grabbing him by the hem of his coat, she pulled him closer. "What the hell did you do to her?"

"Who?" Jason growled, squirming to get out of her grip. But, when she wanted it to be, Thalia's grip could be vice-like.

"Annabeth!" Thalia spat angrily.

"We didn't do anything!" Jason cried hysterically. "We got in one punch at Reyna together, and then Chase beat the hell out of us!"

Narrowing her eyes, Thalia pulled him closer, "I don't believe you."

Now completely hysterical, her brother pointed to Ethan, Octavian and three boys she didn't recognise. "Ask them! Ask any of them! I swear it's true, Thalia!"

Releasing him, she threw him to the ground, glaring at him. "I'll deal with you later."

Then, turning towards their house, she began running as fast as she could towards their estate.

Seeing Reyna about to close the door, Thalia called out to her. "Reyna!"

Ignoring the glare, she ran up to the door, trying to see past her. "Is Annabeth there? I need to talk to her."

"She's here all right," Reyna growled, pushing Thalia away. "And she's a mess because of you. Just stay away from her, Grace, and make everyone's life a bit easier. She doesn't want to see you again, ever. So why don't you make her day a bit better and give her that?"

And with that, she slammed the door in her face, not realising that she had slammed the door to her heart as well.

Thalia had – at one stage – never opened up to anyone in fear of her friends leaving her. Finally, she opened up to Piper and Hazel and she and Jason began to grow apart from one another.

Before she had begun making friends, the two were inseparable. Now, however, they were ready to fly at one another at the drop of a hat.

Face hardening, Thalia began her walk home, walking up to her brother's room as soon as she closed the door.

When she walked in, Jason glared at her. "Who said you could come in here?"

But then, seeing her shoulders shaking and tears forming in her eyes, Jason stood up and led her over to his bed, where they both sat down. "Hey, what's wrong? Come on, 'Lia, you can tell me."

Thalia looked up at her brother. "R-Reyna told me... that... that Annabeth never wants to see me again..."

Pulling his sister, into a hug, Jason glared at the wall as she laid her head on his lap, sobbing herself into an uneasy sleep.

He and Thalia may not get along that well anymore, but if anyone messed with her emotions like that, there would be hell to pay. And he didn't give a damn if she liked the girl or not.

Annabeth Chase would pay.