A/N: Shoutouts go to:

EVERYONE I LOVE YOU ALL!

Thanks so much to those of you who gave me inspiration from that last chapter. I was able to submit two beautiful pieces after reading quotes, listening to images, and battling people's ignorance. So thanks to everyone who even bothered to review.

So, here is the super-long chapter I promised you guys. It took FOREVER to write, but is longer than most of my other chapters, so I hope you like it!

Also, as a side note, I listened to Taylor Swift's "Enchanted" while writing this, so I encourage you to do the same.

Enjoy!

Annabeth

"Everything has just changed so much." I plucked a leaf off of a branch of the tree I was sitting in. Percy was sitting next to me, staring at the sky.

"I know. It's been good and bad." Percy stuck a leaf in his mouth.

"Do you think Sebastian will really agree with Principal Aphrodite and kick Rachel out to let me and Piper in?"

"I don't know. Sebastian doesn't really like you."

I sighed and rested my head against the tree. I was such a failure.

"Are you mad at me?" I found myself asking him.

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"How could you not be mad at me? I've lied to you, and hooked up with Luke, and then cheated your program. I've ruined your life."

"Hey." Percy looked me in the eye. "It's not like I haven't ruined your life either. Think about it. I befriended you, then ditched you for Rachel, and then left for KMP. Plus, I almost got you expelled."

My eyes widened. "What? How?"

"Er…" Percy scratched the back of his head. "When me and Rachel were still hanging out together, we may or may not have stolen some stuff and blamed it on you when the principal confronted us."

"Oh." I frowned. It was a miracle Principal Aphrodite hadn't mentioned it to me.

"Whatever. I think we're even now." He shook some hair out of his eyes.

We sat together in silence for a few minutes, before he turned to me with a huge smile and said, "I love you, you love me, we are up here in this tree, with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won't you say you love me too?"

"You literally spent the last couple of minutes to come up with that, didn't you?"

"Maybe. Pretty good though, right?"

"I guess." And when I glanced into his sea green eyes, I found myself lost in them. I had never seen a shade quite like that. And then he leaned closer to me, and I leaned closer to him, and I closed my eyes-

"Hey! Lovebirds!" We both suddenly opened our eyes, almost falling out of the tree. Jason and Piper were standing underneath it, grinning. "Aphrodite and Sebastian are ready for us."

We exchanged a wide-eyed glance, before jumping out of the tree and heading back towards the school. In the distance, I could see the shapes of Rachel and Luke going there too.

Huh.

"I still can't believe you're not mad at me at all." I shook my head in disbelief as we walked.

"Hey. When you love somebody, it's what you do. You forgive and forget."

You forgive, you forget, but you never let it go.

As we approached Aphrodite's office, I realized just how nervous I was. If I didn't make it in, I would be shamed for cheating, I would never see Percy or Piper again, and all of this trouble would have been for nothing.

Aphrodite's face was rather neutral as we walked into her office. Sebastian was standing behind him, his blue streaked hair clashing with his deep frown. Rachel was fuming in the corner next to Luke, who had his arms crossed.

"Students," Aphrodite said, still sporting her poker face, "Sebastian and I have come to an agreement over what the fate of KMP shall be. And we have decided that Piper Mclean can be its new singer. And," she sighed, "Annabeth Chase, if you practice hard enough, you will be allowed to join in as KMP's new guitar player, because Rachel Elizabeth Dare has been kicked out."

Rachel was speechless. She was just standing by the wall, face red as her hair.

Meanwhile, Piper and I were cheering. So what if we sounded like pigs?

This was going to be amazing!

But, to be formal in front of Sebastian, I cleared my throat and said, very politely, "Thank you. I will be sure to practice as hard as I can, and I will not let KMP down."

With a small smile, Sebastian nodded.

"Now, Annabeth," Aphrodite said. "You mentioned that Rachel had stolen some things from you? Has she returned them all?"

I thought about it for a minute before nodding. "Yeah, I have everything back."

"Oh yeah?" Rachel sneered at me. "Then whose are these?" She held up a pair of keys, painted with bright orange flames.

"Those would be mine," a deep voice said from behind us.

We all turned to see a burly bald man with sunglasses crossing his arms in the doorway of the office.

I gaped. The man was Ares, Aphrodite's boyfriend.

"I can't believe you stole that from me!" I tried not to raise my voice at Rachel. Meanwhile, her face had gone white at the sight of Ares.

"I'll take these," he said, snatching his keys out of her hand. He gave Aphrodite a quick kiss. "I'll be back for the party. It's at seven, you said?"

"That's right, honey. I'll see you then." With that, Aphrodite waved her boyfriend away.

"Yes," Sebastian said. "There is a party as seven tonight. It is to celebrate our new group of KMP participants, which are you guys."

"A party? I love parties!" Jason grinned.

"Yep. It'll be you four, plus your other mates from this school. The party's at some kind of convention center or something. I'll send you the address."

"Sound great. Now, you four better get going. I need to have a chat with these two." Aphrodite jabbed her thumb at Rachel and Luke.

When we had left, all four of us hugged and high-fived and cheered. Then, Piper pushed the boys away.

"We need to get ready," she said sternly.

Percy gaped at her. "But the party's in six hours!"

"It takes time, Percy!"

Jason rolled his eyes and pulled Percy away.

Piper had way too many dresses.

"I'm sorry this is so unorganized," Piper threw a huge stack of jeans to the side to make room for us to enter her walk in closet, which was bigger than the kitchen downstairs. Shirts and skirts and dresses and shoes were scattered everywhere.

"This really is going to take six hours," I mumbled.

In the end, though, Piper picked out a spiky, deep green dress that went well with her eyes and complimented her choppy hair. For me, we picked out a bright, dark blue greek-style dress, that Piper had apparently never worn before because the price tag was still attached. Luckily, a size small fit me.

She apparently was the master at styling hair as well, because after she put my hair into a bun, I looked like a whole new person.

"You look beautiful," Piper said, smiling.

"You always look beautiful," I told her.

"I get it from my mom."

The boys were waiting outside of Piper's house, both wearing dashing tuxedos. Percy's tie was sea-green, and Jason's was electric blue. Percy was trying to get a part of Jason's hair to stay flat, but to no avail. By the time we reached them, they had already given up.

"Wow," Percy said, eyes sparkling, "You look beautiful."

Somehow, it was different when he said it instead of Piper. I felt myself blush in the late evening sun.

Piper laughed. "So where's our ride, boys?"

"Sebastian said he would send a limo to this address. It should be here soon." Jason checked his watch and turned to look down the street.

"So," Percy said. "Did it hurt?"

"Did...what hurt?" I frowned.

"When you fell from Olympus, because Gods, you are an angel."

I rolled my eyes. "Percy, angels are technically dead people."

His jaw dropped. "It was a compliment! You're as beautiful as a dead person!"

"And dead people are beautiful?"

"Well...most of them. I bet you'd still be beautiful when you're dead." His face flushed.

Yeah, he wasn't the best at this.

The limo arrived soon after, and we all climbed in. It left right away.

"Let me try," I said, clearing my throat. "On a scale of one to ten, you're a nine and I'm the one you need."

He laughed. "That's a good one."

"Hey, I've got one." Jason turned towards us. "I'm not a photographer, but I can picture me and you together."

Piper laughed loudly. "Jason, that was awful!"

He smirked. "Really? I'd like to see you do better."

"Oh, it's on." She grinned. "Are you a campfire? Cause you're hot and I want s'more."

Percy burst out laughing and I giggled. "Piper, I'd date you if you said that to me."

Piper saluted me. "Thank you."

"How about this," Percy said, " You don't need keys to drive me crazy."

"Oh, nice one!"

And we went on, telling each other crazy pick up lines as the limo got closer and closer to the convention center.

"We have arrived," the limo driver told us when we arrived.

"Thanks," Jason said as we climbed out.

The convention center was huge on the outside, and was illuminated in golden as the sun hit it. I held onto Percy's arm as we walked inside, but Piper was too busy marveling at the beauty to hold onto Jason, who was struggling to keep up with her quick pace.

Cold AC air hit us as we entered the center. The party was apparently at the tenth floor of the center, so we hurried into an elevator with several other people.

"Excited?" Percy asked me.

I nodded. I was finally part of the KMP. And a party was just what I needed.

When the elevator reached the floor, my jaw dropped to the floor.

It was beautiful.

Polished, smooth floors were home to large tables of concessions and small fog machines, and a black dance floor was in the center. Golden and black balloons decorated the place, and a large platform was overlooking the whole room above near some stairs. Light music was playing as more and more guests arrived.

And as more and more guests arrived, I noticed two very familiar people.

I nudged Percy. "Look who it is." He turned to see Rachel in a long black dress, and Luke in a casual black tuxedo. "I heard they hooked up."

He gritted his teeth. "Just ignore them. Let's have fun at this party."

"Hello people!" A voice came from the large balcony overlooking the auditorium. We all turned our heads, and there I saw the most beautiful girl in the world.

Her hair was silky black, styled over her head in a bun, falling down like a waterfall. Her eyes were an icy brown, and her dress was long and A bluish-green. There was a specific name for that color. It was—

"Jade!" Sebastian walked towards the four of us. "That's my daughter."

"She's beautiful," Piper said.

"Thank you for coming, everyone." Jade grinned at all of us. "I just want to say what an honor it has been to be a part of the Kentucky Music Program. My wonderful father, Sebastian Cray, is the one to thank for this amazing party, as well as all of my knowledge of music. But enough about me! How are you guys?" The large crowd of people that was slowly forming started to cheer.

"So enjoy this party! I'll see you guys down there!" With that, Jade waved and turned away from the balcony.

"Is your wife here?" Piper asked Sebastian, looking around.

Sebastian ground his teeth together. "Um, no. She left us a very long time ago."

Jason gave him a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"No," Sebastian said. "She left us for another man."

"Oh." Piper frowned. "Well, it's her loss. She doesn't know what she's missing."

Sebastian smiled. "Thanks. Now, you kids go have fun. It is a party, after all."

Apparently, 'go have fun' was the equivalent of Jason chasing Piper through the concessions and Percy and I conversing by the concessions.

"So...it finally happened." Percy grinned. "You and I will be together forever now."

I smirked. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. You still haven't heard my guitar skills yet."

"I don't need to. I know they're going to be amazing. Just like you." He smiled, and my heart melted.

I felt so lucky at that moment.

Percy laughed a little, and leaned closer to me. I instinctively leaned closer to him, and he was about to close his eyes when I stumbled and fell on top of him. He staggered back for a second, before laughing and giving me a hug instead. "I love you, Wise Girl."

"Really?"

"Really."

"That's bad for you, because I'm loving these concessions more." I turned away from him and looked over the several bowls of multicolored punch, large varieties of chips and dips and basically, every appetizer ever served at any restaurant. Ever.

Both of us were already at required age to consume alcohol, so Percy grabbed a beer for himself and handed me one, too.

"This is how it was supposed to be two years ago," his eyes sparkled. "We were supposed to drink together. Not me and Rachel; not you and Luke. Just me and you."

We clinked our glasses together, and took to watching Piper throw chips in Jason's face as he tried to tickle her. They were both laughing and having such a good time. They were so lucky they had met in the hotel the day Rachel had hit me with that wrench.

And I was so lucky I had met Percy the day his music was too loud.

"Remember that day you came down to complain about our music?" Percy asked, practically reading my thoughts.

I nodded. "Sorry about that, by the way."

"Are you kidding? I would never have seen those amazing grey eyes if you hadn't complained."

I chuckled, remembering our pick-up-line battle from earlier. "Your eyes are blue, like the ocean, and I'm lost at sea."

He grinned. "Annabeth, my eyes are green."

I rolled my eyes. "Way to be appreciative."

A few moments passed, before Percy looked at me and said, "You owe me a drink."

I frowned. "Why?"

"Because you made me drop mine."

I shook my head at him. "Am I that ugly?"

"Wow." He shook his head, mimicking me. "Way to be appreciative."

Our flirting eventually carried itself out to the balcony. The stars were out already, and gusts of wind swirled around us as we leaned on the rail.

"Annabeth," Percy said, "You are one of a kind."

"Percy," I replied, "You are one of an unkind."

He laughed way harder than he should've at that joke.

I rolled my eyes. But after he had stopped laughing, we found ourselves wrapped in silence. It caused chills to roll down my spine, and the wind wasn't helping.

But, after anxiously waiting for something to happen, Percy put his almost empty beer bottle on the ground and turned towards me. "Can we try that kiss again?"

And so we did. It had been forever since I had been wrapped up in his arms.

It had been forever since I had felt real love.

There I was again tonight

Forcing laughter, faking smiles

Same old tired lonely place

Walls of insincerity,

Shifting eyes and vacancy

Vanished when I saw your face

All I can say is, it was enchanting to meet you

Your eyes whispered, "Have we met?"

Across the room your silhouette

Starts to make its way to me

The playful conversation starts

Counter all your quick remarks

Like passing notes in secrecy

And it was enchanting to meet you

All I can say is I was enchanted to meet you

This night is sparkling, don't you let it go

I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home

I'll spend forever wondering if you knew

I was enchanted to meet you

Jade

Nobody cared.

Sure, I had made my amazing speech in front of everyone, but now I was just another face in the crowd. It felt so weird to be alone. I was used to surrounding myself with other people at my school, but everything was starting to change.

I decided to stand in a corner near one of the smaller concession tables in a corner of the auditorium. I resisted the urge to grab a cookie off of it.

Little did I know, someone else had also been standing near it.

"Nice party, huh?"

I turned to see a boy with short blond hair and blue eyes. He was smirking at me and leaning against the wall.

"Um, yeah." I responded awkwardly.

"I heard you give that speech up there. Why aren't you with your KMP cronies?"

"Cronies? There are no cronies. I don't know anyone here."

"Nobody?" Something changed in his expression, but I couldn't tell what it was. "Not even Percy or Annabeth?"

"Who?"

"Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. They're the talk of KMP." He pointed to a couple on the dance floor, moving perfectly in time with each other. The girl was beautiful, with golden curls and dark eyes, and the boy had raven hair and an odd eye color-bright green.

"I think I heard some names like that. Annabeth's a newbie, right?"

"Yeah."

The truth was, I had heard of the girl before. I had actually been instructed to do something about her, but I couldn't. I just couldn-

"I'm Luke, by the way."

"Jade. But you already knew that."

He smiled-a true, genuine smile. "I like you, Jade."

"Pfft. You barely even know me." But that didn't stop butterflies from flying around in my stomach when he winked at me.

"I'd love to get to know you more." He grabbed a cookie off of the concession table and popped it in his mouth.

And then it turned into a kind of share-fest. He was telling me about how everyone pretty much hated him, but how he was misunderstood because of a hard childhood. His mom, May, had gone crazy after a freak car accident, and his father, Hermes, barely did anything about it. He was always a very snappish person after that. And I was telling him about how everyone always looked at me like I was a waste of space-like the reject prize on a TV show. My mother, Hecate, had left my father for some magician, and since then, we were alone. I was sometimes rude and angry and sarcastic, but other times very peppy and enthusiastic.

He laughed. "Like split personalities."

I shrugged. "Kind of."

The song that was playing ended abruptly, and a new song came on. It was too fast-paced to be a slow song, but not fast enough to twirl around to.

In short, it was perfect.

Luke smiled at me, all signs of his cocky smirk gone. "May I have this dance?"

I felt my face flush. "Um, sure."

And then we were on the dance floor, and we were moving at a steady rhythm to the beat of the song. I found myself actually enjoying it.

When the chorus came on for the second time, though, and Luke spun me around, I noticed a stick-thin figure stalking into the auditorium.

Oh. No.

"Um, I'll be right back." I pulled away from Luke, who looked completely dumbfounded, and walked up to the stick-thin man.

"Mr. Dare would like to see you." He said in a monotonous voice.

So, frowning, I followed him out of the auditorium and into the corridor, eventually walking inside of a large office. At a desk in the middle, a man with rusty brown hair and green eyes sat, examining his fingernails. When he come in, he gave me a wide smile, but it was dripping with insincerity.

"Ah, Jade, my darling. How are you?"

"Forget that. Why did you call me here?"

"Hmm. Why did I call you here? Well, first, have a seat." He gestured to the chair at the desk with his fake smile, but his eyes told me I didn't have a choice. So, sighing, I took a seat.

Mr. Dare took a sip out of a large coffee thermos. "Jade, I gave you a job a few days ago, did I not?"

"Yeah, you did."

"And what was that job?"

I gulped. "It was to-"

"It was to sabotage Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Piper McLean, and Jason Grace so that my daughter and her boyfriend could join instead." He interrupted me without a care.

I frowned. "Wait-who's her boyfriend?"

Mr. Dare waved his hand. "It doesn't matter. What does matter, is the fact that you haven't tried to sabotage them at all yet."

"Mr. Dare, I can't. I can't ruin somebody's life like this. They deserve to be in KMP"

The man laughed heartily. "Ms. Cray, I can easily buy the whole KMP company. You can't even imagine the amount of money I currently have sitting in the bank to my disposal. So I suggest you do what I ask, unless you want to live on the streets with your father. I'm offering you a large sum of money. What more could you ask?"

I was about to respond, but he cut me off. "Wonderful. Now why don't you go back to your little party and get some sabotage going?"

Apparently, it wasn't a choice, because the stick-thin bodyguard pushed me out of the office before I could even sneer at Mr. Dare for his awful plan.

So, I headed back towards the auditorium.

A/N: Wooah! Cliffhanger-ish!

Sorry that took SUPER long to come out. I've been really busy reading Neverseen (no spoilers you guys, I haven't finished it yet) and writing a bunch of other stuff. So, I hope you guys liked this chapter!

Tell me what you think of Jade, which was an unexpected OC who just popped up while I was writing this.

I will give you guys a preview of my new PJO story soon. Don't worry-it's coming.

Also, it may take a while for me to put the next chapter up, mostly because so many things are going on. But, hopefully my schedule will calm down and I will binge-write on this story!

Until then, Bie!