Okay, so maybe dating Percy was a sure way of getting my heart broken.

My name: Annabeth Chase. My parent: Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle. My predicament: complicated.

My boyfriend Percy had gone missing, long story short.

But good thing—we were going to get him back.

Jason, Leo, Piper, Nyssa and I.

Now, I may have faithfulness issues, because I found myself staring at Leo a lot while we were building his boat, Argo II. He's cute. He's intelligent. He has a decent sense of humor. He's not Luke.

Luke was cool—I actually did wonder what if sometimes—but he was dead. I mean, can you date a ghost?

But Leo…this guy had stood up to a god—Luke had never been able to do that. He had also used money—Luke had never done that, I'm sure. (Son of the god of thieves, coming through—ma'am, you might want to watch your purse.)

I was pretty sure the way to get to him was through Piper.

NO! I am Percy's girlfriend, Percy is my boyfriend. Oh, my gosh. Like I mentioned, I have issues. SO HELP ME I AM A PART OF PERCABETH!

But Jason came from where Percy was right now, the Roman camp, and he had said that there were several pretty girls there—including Reyna, daughter of Venus. We still had no idea if she was a charmspeaker or not, which would be a problem for Piper.

Maybe Percy had fallen in love with another girl?

Maybe Percy didn't love me anymore?

Maybe…maybe…

I hope Hera left him with enough sense to save him.

I knew Percy was going to be torn from me when Luke became Kronos. Then again when Nico relayed to me every bit of detail from the ghost of Beckendorf, mainly about kissing that annoying Rachel Dare. But this was worse than everything—combined.

I decided that I was just going to let go of Percy.

When things got dangerous, he would run.

And I was not going to date a coward.

So I decided Leo was my best option.

And so I went up to him that night, while he was in Bunker Nine, alone, talking to the dragon head that he had salvaged from his large bronze dragon he had called Festus. He had revived it and could talk to it, but I knew little else.

I stood by the door, not wanting to disturb him.

"Yeah, I know, Festus," he said. "I'll put you up on the mast myself."

The dragon head roared.

"Sorry buddy," Leo said. "I've never forgiven myself for leading you into a death trap. I'm so sorry. Lasers." He cursed in ancient Greek. "I'm so stupid."

"No you're not," I said, revealing my presence.

Leo took a large hammer out of his toolbelt and hurled it at my head.

I ducked. "Dude…just wanted to say hi." Cute, smart, funny, and violent. Does this guy not have shortcomings?

"Sorry," he said. "I just found out my last foster parents were looking for me and I really want to stay here, instead."

"Must suck, moving from place to place."

"Not really," he said. "You get used to it. Mierda santa!" he screamed. His hands had caught fire.

I guess I should explain. Leo Valdez was a fire user. The first since 1666. I guess that's another reason why I thought he was hot. (Lame pun, I know.)

"You're so cute when you cuss in Spanish," I blurted. I don't know where that came from. It's like my mouth had a voice of it's own.

He smiled his crooked smile at me. "You think so?" he asked.

Too late to back away now. "Yeah," I said. "Like, no one but you knows what you said, so you can totally insult someone and they're like, 'Hey, you're my best friend, too!'"

Leo cracked up. "El petimetre, me quiere usted? Porque pienso que es raro. No, yo no le quiero realmente porque trató de matar Jason la primera vez usted lo vio y Jason es mi amigo y yo soy tan en amor con Drew."

"What the heck did you just say?" I asked. I am really good with languages, but I couldn't get my mind around Spanish. People who could just fascinated me to no end. I guess that was why I liked Leo.

"Oh, basically I just said I hate Drew. I like you."

I couldn't believe my ears. "Really? I like you too."

"I thought your boyfriend was Percy." He seemed genuinely confused.

"No. I gave up on Percy. He runs away when he's scared and I don't do cowards." I think that might have come out wrong. Leo had run away from several foster homes before this. "I mean, he runs away from stuff like stupid dog demons and stupid death demons."

"Well, I can understand the second one," he admitted. "But dog demons? Mierda santa! It's a dog!" He pretended to be freaked out and ran around the bunker, screaming.

It was my turn to crack up.

"You realize that when you don't look like you have grey eyes," he said, stopping in his tracks, "you actually look normal."

That was something I couldn't tolerate, even from Leo. "I have worked my whole life to look normal, and you're saying that the one thing I can't change is the one thing that sets me apart?"

"Sorry," Leo said, but he didn't sound like he meant it.

"No, Leo," I said, my feelings just as conflicted as they were before I went in here. "I know you didn't mean it. Maybe it's best if we just forget this ever happened."

Leo nodded—much too enthusiastically for someone who supposedly liked me. I decided to let it go.

"Later, Leo."

"See you around, Annabeth."

I left the bunker, listening to elated whoops while he danced around Bunker Nine. Wait…he was happy to let me go? This guy was more messed up than I thought.

But whatever, I thought, as I went back toward cabin six. You're Percy's girlfriend. Percy's your boyfriend. Let it go. It's not like there was any potential.

And those were my last thoughts before a pain in the back of my head left the world black.