Troubled

69

chapter sixty-nine
percy

Gee great, I thought sarcastically.

I peered at my calendar on my phone and sighed. Only a few more days left of Thanksgiving break, yet it felt as if it had just began.

Time passed by so quickly. The days after Thanksgiving were filled with sleeping until noon, eating leftovers and tons of blue food, and ignoring any responsibilities and reality.

I pulled my eyes away from the screen and tousled back my messy hair. The weight of break ending and the homework I had yet to do threatened to kill me.

Why couldn't Annabeth be here to explain all of the homework to me like she'd done last year? That had been so helpful, and, oh, how I'd taken it for granted.

After locating my stuffed full backpack which I'd shoved in the corner of my room, I started to work on my homework, my head pounding after a few minutes.

My phone buzzed, instantly distracting me from my thoughts. I tossed aside my textbooks and read the notification.

Rachel: sorry for thanksgiving. U still wanna come over?

A smile spread across my face as I read her message over and over again. Rachel and I hadn't talked since Thanksgiving, but it's not like I was mad at her or something, more confused.

Confused about how I felt towards her, friend or more? Confused about how she felt about me. And mostly confused about my current relationship with Annabeth.

Percy: yeah sure, sounds great. So I finally get to see the dare mansion?

Rachel: if u keep referring to it as that then no

Percy: will there be a golden Lamborghini in the driveway?

Rachel: no that's stupid. My dad and mom prefer golden Ferraris anyways

I laughed as I placed my phone on my nightstand and peered out of my window. Suddenly an idea popped into my head. I grabbed a sweatshirt and headed towards my window.

Our new apartment, coincidentally, still had a fire escape near my window, so I pulled my sweatshirt on, opened my window, and cautiously made my way out onto the fire escape, trying my best to make it quiet.

It was well after midnight and I didn't want to wake Paul and my mom as they'd probably rush in here, thinking there was a home invasion or something bad like that.

The cold air hit me, causing me to shiver despite my sweatshirt. I tousled my hair back and stared down at the city, wondering if Annabeth was one of the many people walking down in the streets from the Thanksgiving rush of tourists.

Was it really less than a year ago we had been out on a similar fire escape on a night just like this? Was that even possible?

I tried not to lose hope of ever seeing her again. After all, Piper had told me she was in the city. She must be here somewhere, right?

New York is huge, but so is my determination.