Percy & Annabeth

Monday Night

Annabeth's POV

For nearly four hours, I waited in my room in silence. Thalia knew not to bother me as I took the time to get ready for my first—and possibly only—night with Percy and my parents seemed to be busy with their own thing. However, I have to admit, I wasn't very patient. I kept pacing from one side of the room to the other, checking pieces of furniture and decorations that were already spotless and perfectly placed. At one point, I even scrubbed my balcony floor.

I watched as the sun set and butterflies filled my stomach higher and higher; the time we planned to meet got closer and closer. I danced around my room to no music just because I was that full of bliss. I felt like flying.

It's amazing how quickly the atmosphere can change.

I heard Thalia's scream echo through the house. Dropping my scrub brush, I rushed into the hallway. "Thalia?" I called. More screaming answered my call and my heart started pounding.

Then Thalia came into view. Her face looked horrified and her eyes were glazed over. That was enough to make me want to throw up because Thalia never cried, and I really do mean never. Like, ever.

She didn't even seem to touch the ground before she got to my floor and literally pushed me back inside my room, slamming the door behind her.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Clarisse is dead," she said bluntly. I wasn't sure I heard her right.

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me."

My throat closed up and my heart raced. I didn't know what I was expecting to hear but that definitely wasn't it. I was never a huge fan of Clarisse. Sure she was my cousin, but she was mean, violent and...well, mean. However that didn't change the fact that she was part of my family. For her, tears started falling.

"H-how?" I managed to ask. "How did it happen?"

Thalia froze. Only her eyes looked in my direction before she said, "You might want to sit down for this one."

"I'm a strong girl," I said. "I can take it."

Thalia sighed and clenched her fists. Unlike me, Thalia had a decent relationship with Clarisse. They didn't really like each other either, but they were closer and more alike than her and I were. I even remembered a time when Thalia referred to Clarisse as her friend. "It was your little Romeo," she muttered in disgust. "Percy."

I blinked and I quietly took the few steps from where I was standing to my bed to sit down.

"Told you," Thalia said.

I ignored her. My head was spinning and I really did feel like I wanted to throw up. No way—no way did Percy kill Clarisse. Percy was too sweet, hot, and perfect to do that, especially considering Clarisse is my cousin. Or, err, she was my cousin.

"What happened before that?" I asked. "Did he, like, get in a fight or was he being threatened or something? Because my Percy would never do that to me, feud or not. He just said that he was sick of this stupid fight. That was the whole reason we got married, wasn't it? Not to mention the fact that I love him! Oh my, God, Thalia what if he doesn't actually love me? What if he was faking it just to get his dad and my mom to make up and then he was just going to dump me like garbage? Or maybe he—"

"Annabeth!" Thalia shouted. "Look, he killed Clarisse after she killed Grover. Clarisse came after Percy for crashing your mom's party but he backed down. Grover took over and...well, he lost."

"Grover's dead too?"

She nodded sadly and paused. The silence was almost worse than hearing the news. With silence, I actually processed it which only made me feel worse and more confused. "This just...wasn't your day."