Forbidden Quests

Chapter 15

Annabeth

"So what took you guys so long?" Jason asked after I had let him and the two other boys go.

"Remember the LLC?" Percy replied with a question. I sent him a confused look, and he explained, "It stands for Larissa's Learning Center."

I nodded, and Jason answered, "How could I forget those kids, Perce! They're awesome."

"Yeah, well, we kinda ran into them! They got introduced to Annabeth, and asked if she was my boyfriend, then two said she was pretty, which I couldn't disagree with," He said that last part with a wink, but it sounded honest. I tried to hied the blush in my cheeks by looking over, but I made the mistake of looking at Nico.

And he could easily see the redness in under my cheek bones, causing him to smirk at me. I glared back, then tuned back in again to Percy and Jason's conversation.

"They said they missed you, and were wondering if we could play a game of soccer."

Jason snorted at Percy's last sentence, "We probably played about one hundred games of soccer with them. Aren't they tired of that game yet?"

Percy shrugged and grinned, "I don't know."

We continued to walk, but in silence. It wasn't as awkward for me as it would've been this morning, though. I felt a lot more comfortable with these three than I had been, and I even consider them friends now. I'll have to thank Thalia later.

Soon, we reached the restaurant that Thalia told everybody to meet at. I saw that most of our group was there, including Thalia and my three brothers.

Thalia smiled at us when we walked up, "How was your day?"

I returned the smile and answered, "Great. And yours?"

"Horrible." Came the short reply.

I raised an eyebrow, "Care to explain why?"

"Nope."

My uplifted brow was soon brought back down as I frowned at her, my eyes glaring, "Seriously, Thalia."

She chuckled, "Just playing with you Annabeth, loosen up. My day was great until about lunch time. We went to this lobster place and I apparently ate a bad lobster. So after I had a stomach ache and after I threw up, we went to go get some dessert. And guess what? I ate something bad. So after I had a stomach ache and after I threw up, your brothers insisted we try this sample these people were giving out. And guess what? I ate something bad. So after I had a stomach ache and after I threw up, it was time to come and meet you. But, along the way, we got some water. And of course, I had to have something in my water that was making me have a stomach ache and I threw up. Now we're here!"

Me, Jason, Percy, and Nico were all staring open-mouthed at her. That was some serious bad luck and coincidence. Or maybe it wasn't coincidence… My unbelieving gaze turned to my three brothers, and they were all completely straight mouthed. And when you were as unsmiling as they were now, and in this instance, it was because they were dying laughing on the inside. And why were they dying laughing? I was about to find out.

"Well, that's… interesting. Thalia, could you go see if the rest of the group is coming? Oh, and see if you can spot Piper, she should be here any minute." My excuse to make her leave worked, and she nodded right before walking away and around the corner to get a good look.

Right after she disappeared from our line of sight, I turned and scowled at my brothers, snapping, "Spill."

They all three got constipated looks on their faces, then burst out laughing, unable to hold it any longer. Darryn, who wasn't rolling on the floor with laughter was able to answer my command, "It wasn't me or Malcolm and we didn't know about it until Castor told us, which was when we got here."