Troubled

58

chapter fifty-eight
annabeth

For the first time in a while, I was excited.

After my few couple weeks of apparently satisfactory school, my mother finally agreed to me having one of my friends over, even if only for an hour.

Even though Athena was very strict, I was still relieved I was able to see someone I knew. Meeting people at university was tough since I didn't live in the dorms, and my mother didn't allow me to linger after class, so the only person I really spent time with was my mother, who was rarely even home.

Immediately my mind turned to Thalia. My mother supervised me as I wrote her an email that I was certain she'd never respond to since Thalia didn't seem the type to check her email.

"No one checks their emails these days!" I berated my mother, my arms crossed against my chest.

Athena rolled her eyes. "Don't argue with me, Annabeth. I can call this whole thing off if you'd like. It's email or nothing."

Deciding against arguing with my mother, I turned back to the screen and anxiously waited for a reply, which I was sure was never coming.

I was wrong. Thalia replied within the hour, her email full of worry, excitement, and grammatical errors.

"You sure this is the one you want to invite over?" Athena asked as she peered over my shoulder, her eyes scanning the screen. She raised an eyebrow as she read it, most likely because of the mistakes. Her hair had fallen out of its signature tight bun and was cascading down her shoulder.

I nodded as I read Thalia's email over and over again, grateful for any contact these days. "Yes, I'm sure. And look, she's even in town. I wonder why..."

My voice trailed off as I quickly shot back an email to Thalia, my mother still craning her neck to see what I was writing.

Once she was satisfied she headed off to her office, telling me not to stay up too late. I rolled my eyes as I slammed the computer shut and made my way to
my bedroom.

Another speedy reply from Thalia confirmed that she was coming to see me tomorrow, and when my mom was at work. That meant we could actually talk, and perhaps I could learn why she was in town and, most importantly, how Percy was doing.

Percy and Thalia were no way near friends, especially when they met. Thalia warmed up to him near the end of the school year and they ended up tolerating each other, so I was sure Thalia would most likely not have news on him.

Every day at school I tried to catch another glimpse of Paul with no success. The last I'd heard about Percy was he was getting a little sister.

God, how I wished I was near him. He's probably so excited right now to meet her. He'll probably be a
good big brother, too, even if he's clumsy.

I missed him, no matter how much I didn't want to.