The Chosen One (Earth 7)

LXVII) Annoying Intervewer.

Annabeth went to bed and got an unexpected visit from her mother.

Athena stood, overlooking an ocean.

"You know that he won't end up with you." She said harshly.

Annabeth gulped, "I never said he would."

"I've seen your attempts." She said, "I never raised my daughter to be so pathetic."

You never raised me at all. She thought.

"That's true." Athena said, much to her surprise, "But you're still my daughter and I want you to act that way.

"How am I supposed to act?" She asked.

Athena sighed, "Be smarter than you are being right now. Trust me, you're wasting your time."

"How do you know?"

"Because he likes Rachel." She said, "Shouldn't it be obvious? He's so called terrible memory memorizes her phone number? I thought you were smarter than this."

Annabeth looked away, knowing deep down that what she was saying was true.

"Everyone falls in love at some point." She said, "But not everyone let's that break them."

"It's never really that simple, is it?"

"Of course not." She said, "But you'll have to stay strong. Don't be distracted by the boy and focus on the war. That boy is a distraction."

"He's my friend." She muttered.

"A friend? He's been distant and you know it. He even picked that blonde boy over you."

Annabeth felt uneasy as her mother went on and on about how he's changed and she hated it. She hated that Athena was right.

She scanned Annabeth's face carefully, "You still don't believe me, do you?"

Annabeth hesitated, she had never thought of Percy as a distraction, even if he was sometimes.

"Yule ball this year." She said, "He's going to ask Rachel. But don't let that break you. You'll become something stronger without him dragging you down."

Her heart clenched as she heard that, she hoped that what she was saying was false but she could just picture it.

She raised her gaze and met Athena's eyes, "I won't let him break me."

Even though she sounded confident, she felt like the 7 year old that fought every night, out on the streets. She felt vulnerable. She felt small. She felt weak.

A ghost of a smile appeared on Athena's features, "Good." She said, "I hope you don't fail me."

The world around her crumbled as she woke up.

"Morning." Hermione yawned, stretching her arms.

Annabeth rubbed her eyes, "Morning."

"You guys get up way too early." Piper muttered, pulling her bedsheet over her head.

Hazel, who was wide awake - not that she could sleep well anyway because of nightmares - made her way towards the bathroom.

Though the four had been roommates for a few days now, they hadn't been able to bond with Hazel all that much. She was more quiet and reserved and she seemed uncomfortable around them.

Hazel was just uncomfortable around people in general. She was used to being looked at oddly, mostly because she was a Pluto kid, but even before she knew who her father was, she would get bullied.

Her trust issues didn't really help her in making friends, and now that she had messed up a friendship with one of the only guys who was nice to her unconditionally, she didn't want to try making more.