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Summary: Annabeth thought Percy Jackson was just your average attractive popular heartthrob at Goode, well, that is, until she saw him crying in the courtyard.

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO! :(

Annabeth Chase was annoyed, and not to mention tired. It seemed at this point, life just dragged on. Her routine was always the same: get up, get ready and go to school, hang out with Thalia, watch the girls at Goode swoon over Percy Jackson, do homework, sleep and repeat. She thought of what it must be like to be Percy Jackson. He never really seemed to be worried about everything. He broke so many hearts, and yet didn't seemed phased by it at all. And although Annabeth thought he had no morals, she still felt as if a life like that must be carefree and worthwhile.

"Hey Perce," Percy's best friend, Nico asked, disrupting Annabeth's line of thought, "You tapped that, right?" He pointed to Piper Mclean, one of the popular girls at this school.

Percy gave a smirk as he nodded, "Of course I did, Nicki. I couldn't let anyone else have her."

"That's my man," Nico fist bumped him, "You make me so jealous, buddy. I wish I could just get any girl I wanted."

"They never change," Thalia said appearing beside Annabeth, "I feel disgusting being related to them. I wish mom had kicked them out of the family when she had a chance."

"Thals, even if they are sexist pigs, you can't just give up on family," Annabeth looked over at her friend.

Thalia shook her head, "Let's just get away from them and go to class, okay? I don't enjoy talking about my two cousins like they actually deserve to be addressed civilly."

Annabeth sighed and began walking to her first period of the day: Ancient Greek, and sitting in the seat next to hers as per usual was Percy. This class period always made her confused. Not because of the material, that was easy, but because of how Percy acted. In this class, he seemed like a totally different person. He was genuine and cared about girls and their opinions. He wasn't checking himself out constantly. He was just smiling at everything and everyone. And this Percy Jackson was the one Annabeth Chase found attractive, not the one that she saw in her other classes or during lunch, this one. She didn't understand how they could be so different though. And despite not wanting to believe it, she thought the sexist Percy was the real one and this one was just an act to get girls like Annabeth interested.

"Hey Annabeth," he smiled at her. He knew her name? He knew her name? Percy Jackson actually knew Annabeth Chase's name.

'Probably just trying to flirt with me,' Annabeth gave him a small fake smile, "Hi Percy."

"I can tell a fake smile when I see one," Percy turned his head to face the front of the room, suddenly looking a little sadder than he just did. Annabeth scoffed, 'How could Percy possibly tell what a fake smile is? That boy is too obsessed with himself to even make time to read other people's emotions.'

(Annabeth's POV)

"Hey Annabeth," my close friend Grover said as he threw his arm around my shoulder. You see, Grover and I have known each other for a long time, since we were in middle school. I'm basically the only girl he is physically capable of talking to without blushing like a maniac. You should have seen the first time we met. He could barely make out a syllable.

I smiled, "Hey Grover. What's up?"

"Nothing much. Percy invited me to hang out with him today. It's been so long since we have, ever since," he trailed off and quickly shook his head, "Never mind." That was another thing about Grover, he used to be Percy's best friend, but after the eighth grade (we are juniors now), they just stopped talking. No one except Grover and Percy really know why they stopped. It was just one day they were best friends, the next they acted like they didn't ever know each other.

"Percy? Are you two friends again?"

He looked at the ground, "Not really. He says he wants to go back to the way things were before everything happened, but he's changed. On the outside, he just doesn't seem like the old Percy."

I gave a bitter laugh, "He's changed? You just noticed that Grover. He's a complete ass to every girl he ever mets."

He brought his eyes up to me, "Yeah, but he has his reasons. I tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted that it had to be done to save them."

"Taking their virginity and breaking their hearts is saving them?" I raised my voice, "How on earth is that helping to them?"

"You don't understand, Annabeth. It's just something happened." And that's what Grover always did. He would always allude to an event that I had no clue about and he just expected me to get it.

"Grover, I don't get what your saying."

He bowed his head down again, "That's because you're not Percy. He always understood. It was just like we had some kind of empathy link between us. We just got each other like that."

I learned a new thing about Grover that day: he misses Percy more than anything.

Annabeth sighed once her school day ended and saw the one person at school that was a worse person than Percy: Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Or in other words: Percy's new girlfriend of the week. She was the one girl that Annabeth was fine with Percy being with. They were both stuck-up, disrespectful and a string of other words Annabeth would prefer not to use.

"Hey Percy," she giggled, "We are still on for tonight, right?"

Percy smirked, "Of course we are, babe. I can't wait to get to your place."

"Oh me too, Percy," She winked, "And just so you know. You won't be my first, so don't get your hopes up for taking that away from me."

"I may not be your first, hun, but I'll be the first one to rock your world."

She giggled again, "Oh Percy, you're such a charmer. I'm so lucky I got you this week. I couldn't afford to lose you to some other girl that isn't even close to as pretty as me." She gave Percy a chaste kiss on the lips, "Well bye, Percy. I'll see you tonight." Annabeth felt like gagging and when she looked over a Percy, it looked like he did too.

"Fucking Gabe," Percy swore out loud, "I can't wait until you're gone for good."

Her day was back into its regular pattern, and she wanted to do anything to break it. And for some reason, sitting in the courtyard seemed like the perfect place to do so. It always had this tranquil feeling to it that made her realize she wasn't alone and life would look up.

"Mom, or should I call you Sally now, because I've disappointed you so much. I'm sorry about what I've been doing and how I've been acting, but," a familiar voice began, "I don't know what else to do. Is there any real way out of the mess without one of us getting hurt? Fuck." Annabeth was shocked. The voice sounded so heartbroken, so dead.

The voice continued, "Look, I'm talking to myself now because I know no one will listen. Gabe's at home and I don't want to go back there, mom. I don't want to spend my nights breaking their hearts. I never wanted any of this, but Gabe…." the voice grew distant, "Well, you remember how he is. All I'm trying to say right now is that I'm sorry, mom. I'm not asking your forgiveness, I just hope you understand me. I miss you."

Annabeth couldn't take it anymore, not knowing who this person was. And she couldn't help but be surprised when she noticed it was none other than Percy Jackson and he was crying.