Ben's POV

I was sitting with my best friend, and crush, Annabeth Chase. Annabeth, you could say, flawless. She had long, curly blonde hair that she hardly ever combed, but was perfect. Her eyes were this stormy grey colour that scared me, but suited her perfectly. They seemed to analyse your every move, calculating every possible action. They were also filled with sadness—as if she faced some sort of loss. If she did, I would be there for her. Of course I would. We were best friends. I knew her better than anyone.

We were also with our other friends, at her house, in her living room. Yes, I was in her living room. Our friends were Sara, Claire, Roger and James. We were playing truth or dare. I was hoping one of my friends would ask Annabeth or who we liked, since we liked each other. Then, we could finally kiss and go out. They all knew I liked her, so why not?

"Annabeth, we're bored!" I heard a whiny voice scream.

One of Annabeth's twin brothers. They annoyed me, but I pretended not to dislike them for Annabeth's sake. She's grateful to anyone who tries with them. Except they don't like me.

"Yeah, come play with us!" the other twin screamed.

"Take us to the beach—"

"Or the park—"

"Or anything!"

"Go in your room, I'm busy!"

"Fine!" they stormed off, leaving us relieved.

"So, Annabeth, truth or dare?" James asked her.

My heart raced. This was it. This was it…

"Truth."

"Who is the closest person to you ever?"

He winked at me and I gave him a grateful look. I leaned forward a bit, anticipating the answer.

"Percy."

My jaw dropped. My name was not Percy.

"I'm sorry who?" James asked.

"Percy, you don't know him, he's my best friend."

"How come we've never met him?" I choked out.

"Lives in New York. But yeah. I'm closest to him."

"What about us?" Sara asked in mock hurt. I was actually grateful for the question.

She laughed. "I love you guys. But Percy knows me better than I know myself. No exaggeration. It's actually annoying…"

We were about to question more about Percy when Matthew and Bobby raced down the stairs, wearing matching swimming trunks.

"We're going to the beach!" they yelled in unison and raced to the door.

"Hold it!" Annabeth yelled. They froze. "Reverse!" They slowly backed up towards us.

"You guys can't go without someone to watch you."

"We do have someone to watch us."

"Bye now!"

"Wait!" she screamed again.

"Neither of us are going to watch you."

"We know that," Bobby said slowly.

"Percy'll take us." Matthew finished.

As if on cue, a black haired and green-eyed boy raced down the steps, and stopped short when he saw us.

"Told you guys we should've gone through the back!" he yelled throwing his head back.

"Percy, why are you here?" Annabeth asked impatiently.

"Boys said you were ignoring them. I know how that feels. We're going to the beach. You know your dad won't mind. Not after last year."

Huh? Mr. Chase has never left me alone with the twins before. Why would he trust this Percy? He seemed reckless.

"Hurry, out!" he screamed to the boys, and the three of them raced out the door.

Although I didn't like the boys, I still felt a little jealous that they were so comfortable with him. If I was going to be with Annabeth, I had to be close with her family.

Annabeth sighed. "I should have seen that coming! Course they'd call Percy."

"I thought he lived in New York?" Claire said, more like a question.

"Must have been in town," Annabeth grumbled, but said something about a stupid Di Angelo kid under her breath.

"Sorry, guys," she said louder. "That was my oh-so-great best friend, Percy," that last part was sarcastic. "But the boys idolize him. He's over here a lot."

She sighed. "What now?"

Annabeth's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Chase came in. I greeted them quite politely.

""Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Chase, how are you?"

"We're fine, Ben, thank you? Annabeth, where are the twins?" I stopped myself from smiling. They didn't trust Percy if they didn't trust me.

"They went off with some boy," I tell them.

Their eyebrows knit in concern.

"Percy," Annabeth says simply.

"Beach?" Mrs. Chase asks.

"Where else?"

To my surprise, they all laugh. Why would they trust him to take their kids to the beach.

About 2 hours later, after our game of truth or dare, and watching tv, and just goofing around, the front door opened.

"We're home!" I heard Percy call.

"You don't live here, Perce!" Annabeth screamed from her seat beside me. Yes, yes, beside me.

The three boys walked into the room.

"It was"

"Awesome!"

"Percy makes the beach"

"The coolest place on the planet!" the twins screamed simultaneously.

Mr. and Mrs. Chase, who were in the room, smiled.

Mrs. Chase shushed them and sent them to go bathe. The gave in and ran to the bathrooms.

Annabeth then sighed and stood up much to my discontent. "Well, this is Percy. Perce, that's Claire, James, Roger, Sara, and Ben," she spat. "You could have told me you were coming, you know?"

"Well, I'm sorry, but when Matthew and Bobby IMed me saying you were ignoring them, I thought: Well, she ignores me all the time. I know how it feels. Plus, I love them. Why not?"

"I do not ignore you!"

"Yes, you do!"

"Perseus Jackson, I do—"

"When we were twelve! That's pretty much all you did! Percy you're so stupid. Percy, why can't you leave me alone? Percy, I hate your dad!"

"Shut up! You're so irritating! You—"

"And you're not? Annabeth, all you do is call me—"

"You're no better than your dad!"

"You say that like your mother is such a prize! Well—"

"My mother is better than your father!"

"Oh, really? I beg to differ—"

"Where'd you learn to say that?"

I watched them in bewilderment. I was guiltily happy they were fighting. They'd probably stop talking and I would be Annabeth's best friend. I looked over to Annabeth's parents, who acted as thought nothing was happening. They probably were waiting for them to fight and stop being best friends.

"You are the must insufferable person I've ever met!"

"I'm surprised you know how to use that word! You know, sometimes I really do wonder if you have a brain, or if it is actually filled with seaweed!"

"Yeah, well, you're such a know-it-all, it's annoying!"

"At least I'm not as dumb as…as…I don't know! Uncle Ferdinand!"

Percy immediately burst out laughing. Annabeth joined in. Soon, both of them were lying on the ground next to each other, tears falling with laughter.

Percy caught his breath and sputtered out, "L-L-Lotus Casino!"

That threw Annabeth into another fit of laughter. "Guinea Pig!" she shouted.

"Wedding dress!"

I watched in complete and utter shock.

"Does this happen often?" Claire asked.

Her parents said, "At least once a day. They're best friends, they always start looking like they're going to kill each other. Then, something about their past comes up and they laugh about it like it's a joke. They forget they were fighting in the first place," they explained.

"Hey, Helen, Frederick," Percy said finally.

"How are you, Percy?"

He shrugged. "Usual. Hey Helen?"

"Yes?"

"I'm hungry!" he grinned like a maniac. The only thing running through my head was that he had no manners.

"Blue pancakes?"

Percy's eyes went wide and he hugged Mrs. Chase. "Thank you," he whispered dramatically.

She laughed and went to the kitchen.

"Percy, how are you getting home? You live in New York," Mr. Chase asked. Ha, I wanted to hear this!

"Think I'll stay."

He nodded and walked away.

"You won't ask permission to stay?" I ask finally.

"Don't have to," he says simply.

"That's an understatement," Annabeth laughed. "He has clothes here, a toothbrush, and a key."

I gape.

"How come we don't get keys?" Roger joked.

Annabeth shrugged and laughed off the question.

Percy went upstairs to bathe and "IM" his mom saying he's be home tomorrow.

"Guess what, Annie?"

"Don't call me that."

"Whatever. One of our old friends visited my mom." Her eyes widened. "Everything's fine, but I've got to get home to, you know. I called Nico already. I'll IM you later, kay?"

"Yeah, course. Oh, and, tell Sally hi!"

He rolled his eyes saying, "You two are too close for my comfort. Anyway!," He added louder, "Helen, Frederick, Stoll Juniors, I'm leaving!"

"Bye, Percy! See you whenever you pop up again!" Mr. Chase called from wherever he was.

Mrs. Chase hustled in and handed him his blue pancakes before saying goodbye.

The twin rushed down the steps. "You aren't staying?" they looked crestfallen.

I felt horrible. I should have been nicer to them. They often ask me, "You aren't leaving?" with the same disappointed look.

"Sorry, guys, next time."

"Bring Travis and Connor!"

"NO!" Annabeth and Percy screamed in unison. "

"You four cannot be in the same house together. The last time that happened…let's just say you two and the Stolls could be brothers," Annabeth explained.

"Well, Nico's gonna be here like, now. So, bye guys. 'till nest time!"

With that he ran through the door leaving two disappointed twins and an amused Annabeth.

"Okay, missy. Explain." Sara said.

"About?" Annabeth questioned.

"That hot guy that just came and left as if it's the most normal thing to do."

"It is to him."

"Explain!"

"What do you want to know?"

"Who is he?" Roger asked.

"Why does he have a key to your apartment?" that was James.

"How did you meet?" Sara, of course.

"Are you dating?" asked Claire.

"How come we've never heard of him? How long have you known him? How come he's your best friend. I thought that was me—er, us." I sputtered out.

Annabeth sighed.

"That was Perseus Jackson, the most clueless person you will meet on the earth. Also, my best friend in the world. I literally trust him with my life—and so does my dad—and he trusts me with his. He has a key to my apartment because I have a key to his and we never announce when we're visiting. We met when we were 12. It was one of the weirdest encounters. Hated each other at first, but we went on a trip and became best friends. We are most definitely not dating. You've never heard of him because he never came up. He's my best friend because he's been there for me through most things and more than anyone I know. You guys are my best friends at school, yeah, but definitely Percy. At camp. And not at camp. But you get it."

"He goes to your camp?"

"Uh-huh"

"Oh."

I needed some time to think about this, so I pretended to get a text from my mom and let the house, my friends following me. Everytime I asked to go to her Camp, she told me no. How come Percy got to go? If there was one thing I hoped, it was that I wouldn't see Percy again.