I wake up, still leaning on Percy. My arm's around him. "Percy." I whisper. He opens his eyes. "Yeah?" He asks. "I think it's morning." I say. "Morning? Man." He says. He looks down at me and I laugh. We both get up. I put the blankets in the backpack and carry it. Percy and I walk with our heads down to a park that I used to go to when I was a kid. "We're here for.. what?" Percy asks. "The apples." I say. The trees have apples on them that we can take and eat instead of going into some breakfast place. "Oh." He says. I go up to a tree and climb it. He climbs up and he sits next to me. We're on a big branch. I lean over and grab an apple. I hand it to Percy and he puts it in the backpack. I get a few more apples and then we sit there. We put the apples in the backpack except for two.
Percy and I sit in the tree and eat them. "So... we live in a world of monsters?" I ask when we both finish our apples. "I don't like to think of it that way. More of a... world of excitement." He says. "But don't you ever think what it would be like if we weren't demigods?" I ask. "I used to. But now, I don't want to change a thing. Yeah, not being chased by monsters would be a good thing, but if I wasn't a demigod. I wouldn't have met Grover or some of the people at camp. I wouldn't have this sword. I wouldn't be able to breathe underwater." He smiles for a second. "And worst of all, I wouldn't have met you." He says. We lean in to kiss but just when I think we might, somebody yells, "Look, it's that loser, Olivia!" Percy and I back away from each other. I look out and find the popular kids- or as I like to call them- the Brat Pack.
Yasmin Delorez, Jenny Lae, Gia Nickolas, Xavier Parker, and Warren Frank. I look at Percy. "The Brat Pack. Yasmin, Jenny, Gia, Xavier, and Warren." I say. "Why would they call you a loser?" He asks. He stares at them and Yasmin, Jenny, and Gia get smiles on their faces. "Because I am." I jump down from the tree. "No you're not." Percy says, jumping down. "To you and some people at camp, no. To everyone else, yeah." I say. Percy starts walking towards them. "Percy. Percy, what are you doing?" I say. "Stop, Percy." I say, but he keeps walking. So I follow him. "Who's your cute friend, Olivia?" Jenny asks. "This is Percy." I say. "What did you call Olivia?" Percy says. "A loser." Xavier laughs. "She's not a loser." Percy says. "Whatever you say." Yasmin smiles. "Don't call her a loser, ever again. Got it?" Percy says. "Never. If she's friends with you, she's totally cool." Gia smiles.
"Yeah, right." Warren laughs. "Are you, like, her boyfriend?" Xavier asks. Yasmin, Jenny, and Gia frown. I look at Percy. "..No." Percy says. Xavier laughs. Percy steps towards Xavier and you can tell Xavier's scared. "But I'm her best friend. So stop calling her a loser, or you won't be laughing anymore." Percy says. Xavier winces. "Not the face. Not the face!" Xavier says. "Come on, Olivia." Percy says. "Call me!" Gia yells, as we walk off. "Thanks, Percy." I say. He smiles at me. I take off my backpack and get another apple out. "Want one?" I ask. He nods and I give him one. I zip up the backpack and put it back on. I wish that we could've stayed in the tree. Continue what was going to happen before the Brat Pack interrupted. I guess Percy was right though. If I wasn't a demigod I couldn't have found a new family. I wouldn't have met Percy.
We eat the apples and sit down in an alley. "Okay, so you said you would tell me about your dream." He says. "Oh, yeah." I say, nervously. "It's okay, Olivia. Just say it." Percy says. I take a deep breathe. "Well, I couldn't speak in the dream. I was in complete darkness, just me. But an evil voice was speaking. It said that if I didn't do what it said people at camp would be in danger. It mentioned Annabeth getting hurt if I didn't do what it said." I say. "What'd it tell you to do?" Percy asks. I try to remember exactly what it said. "It said to go to the Empire State Building with.. the prize? It said I'd know what that was, but I have no idea." I say. "A prize?" Percy asks. I look at him and he seems just as confused as I am. "I don't know what it meant." I say. "Okay, then... so, you were upset because it said people would get hurt?" He asks. "Yeah." I say. I decide not to tell him about the part about him.
"And that was it?" Percy asks. "Yeah." I lie. "And you're sure about that?" Percy asks. He stares at me and I'm sure he knows that I'm lying. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be sure?" I ask. He stands up. "No reason." He says. We start walking. "What's at the Empire State Building?" I ask. "Olympus." Percy says. "Why would some evil voice want to meet there?" I ask. "Maybe, they're against the gods." He says. "But why me? Why would it speak to me? I just realized I'm a demigod. I'm new at this." I say. "Well, yeah. But you're strong." He says. "Wouldn't that be a bad thing? Like I'm a threat?" I ask. "Sometimes, but maybe it thinks you'll work with it." He says. "Why would I work with it?" I ask. "Maybe that's the thing. Maybe it will get something that it knows you'll do what it says for." He says. "I hope that's not the thing." I say.
"So the Empire State Building's in New York. Why can't we just go there now?" I ask. "You don't have the 'prize.' So, if you went there and it was there or whatever's gonna happen. You could get hurt or someone or something else, if you don't have it." Percy points out. "But how will I know when I have it?" I ask. He shrugs. "You'll figure it out, sometime. I think." He says. "You're a big help, Percy." I say, sarcastically. "I know. You're lucky." Percy laughs and hugs me. "Are we gonna go back to camp?" I ask. "We'll be in big trouble. The Athena cabin will probably have a watch going on, if we go back. When we get the prize, we'll never be able to make it out again." He says. "Okay, so where are we stopping tonight?" I ask. "Let's just go to a hotel. My back hurts from sleeping on the ground." Percy says, rubbing his back. I laugh and we go to a hotel/motel.
It doesn't cost much. We got a simple room- Two beds, a bathroom, and a closet. The room has a TV and drawers and a table and chairs. It's really small though. I take bath and then Percy does. "I feel so good now." I say, running my hands through my- now dry- hair. "I know right." Percy says. We fix the beds and I sit on Percy's bed and he sits next to me. "We'll leave tomorrow." He says. "I thought this was supposed to be dangerous." I say. "Usually it is." He says. We sit there for a second. "You know, we never really finished what was happening in the tree." Percy says. I look at him. We start leaning in and I smile and he does too. Then we kiss. When we stop, I stare at Percy and he smiles. I smile back. I stand up. "Well, good-night Percy." I say. "Good-night, Olivia." Percy says. I lay down and go to sleep. Percy and I aren't dating- and I don't know if we will- but I know I like him and he likes me. Which makes me happy as I fall asleep.
