Percy & Annabeth

Sunday Night

Annabeth's POV

You know you have a pretty good life when you can swim in your own bathtub.

I dunked my head under the water and watched my own hair as it swirled around my head. Soap suds floated on the surface which gave the sun light beaming in a sort of rippled and spotted look to it.

"Annabeth!" I heard from somewhere far off. I broke the surface and took a deep breath.

"Yes?" I called back. No answer. "Thalia, who called for me?"

My life-long friend slash roommate was sitting on a chair in my room reading the newspaper. Thalia was a couple years older than me and was also my family's caretaker. Her dad died when she was very young—something we had in common—and, with no other men in her household, she needed to get a job to help save her mother and her. Ironically, her mom and her don't get along very well, so Thalia spends most of her life with us. My mom even gave her one of our guest rooms to call her own and said that she could use it whenever.

The only downside to Thalia being our caretaker is that she takes care...of me. I try not to look at her as being my babysitter, but that's basically what she is. I repeatedly tell my mom that I don't need a babysitter, but she insists that I'm "fragile." The good part to that, however, is that Thalia is totally chill and so it's like we're just hanging out all the time. It's not as annoying as it sounds considering the fact that she's my best friend.

Thalia put her feet up on the coffee table. "Your mom," she answered. "So get out of the bath and into a robe. No one needs to see you naked."

I stuck my tongue out at her. "Bossy, bossy."

"Yes I am," she stated. "Now hurry up."

I jumped out of the tub, careful not to slip, then grabbed my robe that was hanging perfectly on a hook. "What, mom?" I called again.

I heard my mom's footsteps march into the room sounding the same as always: confident and powerful. "Ugh, there you are, Annabeth."

I shrugged. "Here I am."

"Don't get sassy with me, young lady." I really didn't think my comment was sassy, but that's just Athena for you; she's not one to mess with. The best way to have a conversation with her is just to keep your mouth shut the whole time and agree with anything she says. "I need to talk to you."

"Okay," I said. "What about?"

Athena looked flustered. "Eh, Thalia, you should go for a moment. I want to talk with my daughter in private." Thalia started to remove her feet from the table when Athena put up her hand. "Actually, on second thought, Thalia, you should hear this conversation. You probably know Annabeth even better than I do."

Thalia shrugged. "Yeah, probably."

I had to hold back a giggle from Thalia's blunt honesty. Athena didn't seem to notice. "Well, I just had a talk with this boy, Luke," she said. "And, yes, I know how young you are—"

"She's not even fourteen," Thalia added, not even looking up from her newspaper.

Athena turned to her. "Ah, but she will be in a fortnight."

We both just looked at her. "A fortnight, mom?" I said.

"Fine. She will be intwo weeks. Happy?"

"Still," Thalia said. "I hardly consider that of marrying age."

I blinked. "'Marrying age?' How'd you know that's what she wanted to talk about?"

Thalia's eyes glittered and she looked at me. "I know everything, kiddo."