In Summer

Chapter Eleven

Age 28

"Hello?" A familiar voice asked from the other end of the phone. Annabeth gave Percy and Leo an excited grin and a thumbs up.

"Thalia? It's Annabeth," she started.

"Holy shit. You're joking, right?" Thalia asked.

"Nope. Remember Leo Valdez?" she asked.

"Yeah..."

"We work together now, so I asked him about you. He got in touch with his little brother Harley, the one who's still on the island, and he found your number," Annabeth explained.

"You're capping," Thalia said.

"Nope. Percy's with me right now, too. Do you wanna say hi?"

"Put me on speaker," Thalia decided.

Annabeth obliged.

"Percy," Thalia said tentatively.

"Hey, Thals!" he said. He was currently standing with his arm casually around Annabeth's least favorite redhead, Rachel Dare.

"Why the fuck was your first instinct after leaving Dodona to get an entirely new phone? And completely lose touch with all of us? I've been on this damn island for the past ten years. I would have gone on vacation to the US, except I had absolutely no idea where the hell any of you went! You're telling me that all of a sudden, a decade later, you thought 'Hey, maybe we can get Thalia's number! Gee, didn't think of that!'"

"We tried calling, Thals, but in case you forgot, you got a new phone too. Leo only just got in touch with Harley because they lost touch too," Percy explained.

"God, this island is almost as isolated as Ogygia," Thalia grumbled.

"As isolated as what?" Percy asked.

"Nevermind. What about Grover?" she asked.

"We haven't found him yet," Annabeth said.

"And probably never will," Percy added.

"Bet," Leo intervened. He pulled out his laptop and began typing furiously. "You said he went to Duke?"

"Yeah."

"Middle name?"

"Doesn't have one," Annabeth replied.

"Studied...?"

"Environmental engineering," Percy and Annabeth said simultaneously.

"Is this him?" Leo spun his laptop around to reveal a picture of Grover. A lot older than Annabeth remembered, but it was him nonetheless.

"How did you...?" Rachel asked, leaning closer to the Macbook.

"Don't question the mastermind, Dare," Leo said, clapping her on the back.

The sound of a key turning in a lock came from the door, and Reyna, Hazel, and Piper walked into the apartment. Annabeth's old college roommate and her now-boyfriend Jason had moved to New York a few months back. Annabeth and her friends were happy to make room for Piper in their apartment. Jason had moved in with Frank, a nice guy who lived across the hall from Percy and Rachel's apartment. Soon enough, everyone had become fast friends.

"Whatcha doing?" Piper asked, peeking over Annabeth's shoulder.

"Just stalking some people on the internet. The usual," Leo said.

Annabeth whacked him on the back of his head.

"We're trying to find one of our old friends. Oh, and say hello to Thalia," Annabeth said, holding up her phone.