Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.

Annabeth's POV

Chapter One

I woke up to my alarm clock. This was the last day of school before Christmas break, and I couldn't have been more excited. Two whole weeks away from school. Don't get me wrong, I love the learning and don't mind the work. It's the people that bother me. I only have one friend, Carla. She had thin brown hair that was as straight as a board and striking green eyes. A complete opposite of my thick curly blonde hair and gray eyes. Everyone else are complete jerks. The jocks are constantly harassing me to go out with them, and the popular girls hate me for it. It's an interesting life.

I got dressed in jeans and a tee shirt and went downstairs for breakfast.

"Good morning!" my step-mom said.

"Morning." I answered, getting myself some cereal. My dad was in his study and my twin half-brothers, Bobby and Matthew, were eating scrambled eggs.

"What time does your flight leave?" my step-mom asked. I was going to New York to spend Christmas with Percy and his family.

"Five-thirty. I'll have to go straight to the airport after school."

"Okay. Don't forget to say bye before you leave."

"I won't," I finished my cereal and went to finish getting ready. I brushed my hair and decided to leave it down. My teeth were brushed and I was ready to go. Down the hall I heard the twins getting ready, so I went to say goodbye. I poked my head in their room.

"Hey guys," I said.

"What are you doing in our room?" Bobby asked.

"I came to say goodbye."

"Okay. You said it. Now leave!" Matthew said. I narrowed my eyes.

"Fine then," I said and left. I was halfway down the hallway when I felt two pairs of arms wrap around my waist. I looked down to see the twins looking up at me.

"Thought so," I said as I hugged them back.

"Do you have to leave?" Matthew said.

"I'll be back," I said, ruffling their hair.

"Okay," Bobby said.

"Be good while I'm away, okay?" They laughed.

"Right," Matthew said. I shook my head at them as went back to their room. Next I went to my dad. He told me to be careful and all of that stuff. My step-mom just told me to have fun. I loaded my bags into the trunk of my car and drove to school.

When I got there, I spotted Carla sitting on a bench reading. I sat down next to her.

"Hey," I said. She looked up.

"Hey. I was waiting for you." She said. We went to our lockers. Mine was above hers so we walked everywhere together. The day was going great. Until lunch. Carla and I went to our usual spot in the corner. We were talking about different types of dogs when our conversation was interrupted.

"Hello, ladies," said a guy named Mike. He was the star athlete and had dated, and broken the hearts, of every cheerleader for every sport.

"Go away, Mike." I said, making it clear that I was annoyed.

"Now why would I do that?" he said, sitting down and putting an arm around me. I glared at him while removing his arm.

"Because I said so."

"Oh? And what are you going to do?" I wanted to punch him so bad. But I wasn't going to. I was determined not to get in trouble at this school.

"Look," I said, "I'm not going to hurt you, but I know someone who would gladly punch you in the face. And all I have to do is ask."

"Really? And who's that?"

"My boyfriend."

"Oh come on, Annabeth. No one believes that stupid story. If you really had a boyfriend, then why hasn't anyone seen him? And 'he lives in New York' isn't an excuse." He said. I pulled out my wallet and grabbed the picture of Percy that he had sent me. He was showing me how 'horrible' school pictures were, but I think he looks great in this picture. I held it up for Mike to see. His jaw dropped, probably surprised at how incredibly good looking my very real boyfriend was.

"That's probably just a friend," Mike said. I closed my eyes in frustration. Mike was about to say something else, but the bell rang, saving me from torture. The rest of the day went fine. The last class ended and everyone was talking about their plans for Christmas. It was three-thirty and my flight was in two hours.

I hugged Carla and started the thirty minute drive to the airport. I only had a little bit of homework that I could easily finish on the plane. I was going on two planes today. The first one was from here, San Francisco, to Chicago, then I got on a different plane from Chicago to New York City. New York City was three hours ahead of San Francisco, so I would be arriving very late. My first flight was three hours, my second one two hours. I would get to Chicago at ten-thirty New York time, then my second flight leaves at twelve New York time. So I should get to New York around two in the morning. I did all of this math in my head to pass the time, and it worked because I was now pulling into the airport. I parked and rolled my two large suitcases into the airport with my backpack over my shoulders. I signed in and the people checked my bags. I now had my boarding passes and a much lighter load, as my suitcases were going to be taken care of by the airline. I went to stand in the line for security. When I got to the front, I handed the officer my first boarding pass along with my driver's license for ID. Once it was checked, the officer gave me back my stuff and I went on through security. My shoes were off and my backpack was in a bin going through the thing that checked for bombs and stuff. I walked through the metal detector and put my shoes back on and grabbed my backpack. I walked through the airport until I found my gate. I sat down in a chair and pulled out my phone. Normally, I would never use my cell phone, but Chiron had told me that it would be impossible for a monster to get inside an airport with all the security.

I dialed Percy's number.

"Hey Annabeth," he answered.

"Hey. I'm through security."

"Cool. What time are you landing in New York? Should I bring you something to eat when I pick you up?"

"No. And I land in New York around two in the morning."

"Okay. I'll be there. Is it a direct flight?"

"No. I stop in Chicago."

"Call me when you land there. Are you sure it's safe for you to fly? What if Zeus decides that he's in a zappy mood?"

"Percy, he's not going to zap me out of the sky. My mom is Athena, remember? It's not safe for you because your dad is Poseidon."

"Just be careful, okay?"

"Okay."

"Don't forget to call me in Chicago. Love you. Bye."

"Love you, too." I hung up and looked at the time. It was five. I had thirty minutes to wait. I grabbed my backpack and went to the Starbucks that was across from my gate. I ordered a mocha Frappuccino and a chocolate chip cookie. When I went back to my gate, the A group was boarding. I checked my boarding pass. I was at the front of the B group. When it was my turn, I handed the guy my boarding pass and went through the tunnel to get on the plane. I found an empty row and sat by the window. I went ahead and turned my phone and iPod off. Once I was settled, I started eating my cookie. As I was watching the people boarding, I noticed a guy who looked maybe a year or two older than me staring directly at me. He caught my eye and smiled. He had light brown hair with matching eyes. I turned my head. Hopefully he would sit far away from me. But of course, I had no such luck. The aisle seat of my row was taken by a fairly large woman, and the guy with brown hair came to sit in the middle. I sighed.

"Hey," he said to me, "my name's Hunter."

"Hello, Hunter." I said without emotion. I took a sip of my Frappuccino.

"So, what's your name?"

"Annabeth,"

"Are you from here?"

"I live here, if that's what you mean." Before he could answer, the pilot came on the intercom. He said to turn off electronics. There was a shuffling as everyone on the plane did so. We started to move and the flight attendants did their safety routine. When they were done, Hunter continued to talk.

"Why are you going to Chicago?"

"I'm not."

"Where are you going?"

"New York."

"Why?"

"To visit my boyfriend." That shut him up.

"I'm sorry." He said after a few minutes.

"For what?"

"I didn't know you were in a relationship." I smiled.

"It's fine." The pilot said we could turn electronics on now. I got out my homework and started working.

"You said you live in San Francisco, but that's not where you're from. Where are you from?" Hunter said. I looked up from my math.

"New York," I answered. I went back to my homework. There were only four more problems in math. I quickly finished and got to work on English. I finished that just as fast, and I was done with all of my homework about an hour before we land in Chicago.

"How did you meet your boyfriend?" asked Hunter.

"At camp when we were twelve."

"How old are you now?"

"Seventeen. We've known each other for around five years. But this is only our second year dating. The first three we were best friends."

"If you live on different side of the country, how does it work?" I smiled.

"We're good like that." We were silent for the rest of the flight. When we landed, I walked to my next gate. Once I sat down and got situated, I called Percy.

"Hey, are you in Chicago?" he answered.

"Yeah. My next plane doesn't leave for an hour and a half though."

"Okay. I'll be at baggage claim at two."

"Okay, I love you. See you then."

"Love you too. Bye." We hung up. I got out my book and started to read. I was so into the story, I didn't notice when someone sat next to me. They tapped my shoulder. I looked up to see a guy with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes looking down at me.

"What's a beautiful girl like you doing all alone in an airport?"

"Waiting for my plane." I said coldly.

"Maybe I should accompany you."

"No thank you." He smiled and put his arm around me.

"Come on." I shook his arm away.

"Don't touch me. I have a boyfriend."

"So? I don't care." Luckily, at that moment they started boarding my plane. This time I was in the A group. I glared at the guy and went to my place in line. I handed the person my boarding pass and went on the plane. I again sat by the window. I didn't pay attention while people were getting on the plane. A lady sat next to me. She had a little boy with her who looked to be around three. The pilot made all of the anouncements and soon we were in the air. I read for the flight while most of the people on the plane slept. When we got to New York, everyone was waking up and looking out the windows at the lights. It was a splendid view. It was kind of funny looking at all of the tourists' faces as they looked at the city. We landed around two-fifteen. I got off the plane and walked towards baggage claim. As soon as I entered the big room, I started looking for Percy. Our eyes met, and a smile spread over my face, as did his. I ran towards him, full speed, ignoring all of the stares. He held his arms open and I ran into them. He hugged me tightly and I hugged him back.

"I missed you," he said, "a lot." I looked up at him.

"I missed you too." A single tear had escaped my eye, and he wiped it away with his thumb. Percy leaned down and kissed me. It was short and sweet. We walked over to the thing that had all of the bags and waited for mine to come around. We spotted them and Percy grabbed them. He rolled them to the car for me, and we drove to his apartment. We had to be quiet coming in because Sally and Paul were asleep. We brought my bags into Percy's room and changed into PJs. Percy crawled into his bed and I got in next to him. He wrapped his arms around me, and I fell asleep with my head on his chest.

Please review!