Sooo...Heeyyyy...PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I have been INSANELY BUSY with finals AND I had some INTENSE writer's block. I tried writing this chapter many times, but it didn't click until this morning. I had no idea where I was taking the rest of the story but now I have a much clearer picture. Blah blah blah you don't care. Here's the much awaited chapter.

Chapter 6

We had peeled off our hats, gloves, scarves and kicked off our boots caked with snow, and were sitting around a table drinking rich, warm hot chocolate made by the palace chefs. Thalia was clacking away on her MacBook Pro, apparently messaging Calypso who was having a problem with her video-chat, unable to establish a connection or something like that.

I was sitting uncomfortably between Luke and Percy, Thalia on Percy's other side. Rachel was sitting on Luke's other side, chatting to him about who cares what. Since she'd pretty much gotten the boot from Percy, she'd been looking for some other eligible guy to flirt with. Luke seemed pretty uninterested, but too polite to ignore her. That was one of the many things I liked about him. Percy and I were sitting there quietly, unsure what to make of the situation we were in.

"So Percy-" I began, the silence between us becoming too unbearable to ignore.

"GOT IT!" Thalia said excitedly. "Hey Calypso!" She said into the screen of her notebook.

Everyone shifted over to be able to see the screen. There sat a pretty girl our age, with a honey-colored braid off to the side. She had on what looked like an oversized off-the-shoulder teal cable-knit sweater. Her nails were perfectly trimmed and painted a platinum color.

"Hi guys," she said, smiling, giving a little wave. "Jeez, you guys really are snowed in there. Thalia could barely get enough Internet connection to get this video chat working." Her eyes roamed across the screen. She looked at me. "Hi, who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Annabeth," I said.

"Oh, cool. She looked toward Percy. "What up with you, birthday boy? Gettin' everybody trapped at your place, I'm not surprised, Perce'." She wasn't…flirting with him. Was she?

"Hey, watch it," Percy said back playfully.

"By the way, thanks for ditching us, Calypso," Luke said jokingly.

"Ugh, you guys KNOW I had no choice in the matter. Besides, I was trying to avoid Percy anyway," Calypso added with a little wink.

"Hey!" Percy protested.

My eyes narrowed, and then I blinked and tried to re-focus. I was being all paranoid and weird. Something about this Atlantis air must be messing with my head.

"Um guys I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be right back," I said quietly. Luke looked over and gave me a smile. I got up and walked out. I needed to process my thoughts.

What exactly happened with Percy? There was that, I don't know, spark at the ball, then the dancing where he almost kissed me, and he blocked me from an iceball and there was that weird confusing short conversation we'd had. I still don't really know what we were even talking about, we were both kind of jittery.

Then there's Luke, who is really good looking and really nice and caring, he really cares about me. I'd fallen instantly for him. We both really liked each other and he was really cute and everything. He and Percy were really different. They were both such good guys.

But what was the deal between Percy and me? I think he likes me, but then he seems flirty with Calypso. Is that just how he is? He's just a flirt, and he's only flirting with me, and doesn't actually like me as much as Luke? I know Luke likes me, I mean, I'm almost positive. I like him a lot, too. Didn't I?

I reached for the door to the bathroom, but it opened up before I could. Mom walked out, to my surprise.

"Annabeth, honey! How is everything going, sweetheart?" She asked.

"Um, well we're having fun, we-" I said.

"Good. I'm sure you and Percy have been well acquainted by now?" That look in her eyes returned, and I fought the urge roll my eyes.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. But I've also met-"

"Prince Percy is quite a charming young man, isn't he Annabeth?"

"I guess, but I've also met other people BESIDES Percy, you know," I told her.

"Mm?"

"Yeah, I've become friends with everyone like Thalia and Silena. I also met Luke, and he's really nice," I spilled out.

"Oh? Luke Castellan, son of Duke Hermes Castellan and Duchess Castellan? Yes, he seems like a rather nice boy." She sniffed. "I had a rather nice chat with his mother this morning. He and Percy seem to be good friends."

"Oh, that's great," I said, uninterestedly. "Well, I kinda have to go-" I tried to step around her to go into the bathroom but she stopped me.

"Just remember Annabeth, time goes very quickly. As inconveniencing as this snowstorm may be, I do think it shall give you a great chance to form relationships. This is prime-time for relationship formation, you know. I met your father when I was your age. Do get to know the boy better, as best you can before we leave," Mom replied.

"Yeah, I know," I mumbled, going into the marble bathroom. I stopped short. "Wait, which boy are you talking about?"

Mom was already halfway down the hall.

The girls and I all were all lounging around in our bedroom, killing time until dinner. The guys said they'd get some movies that we all could watch after.

Thalia was sprawled on her bed, reading the latest issue of Punk Weekly, Silena was organizing her makeup bags, as in multiple BAGS of eyeliner, lip-gloss, and various types of blush, Juniper was curled up in the bay window staring out at the falling snow, and Rachel was trying on various types of heels she'd brought with her.

I'd been lying on my bed trying to read, to no avail. I gave in. "Thalia, can I borrow your laptop?" I hadn't checked Facebook or my email since before we left for the ball.

"Sure," she replied, sliding over the sleeping laptop. I opened up Safari, and entered my username and password into Facebook.

Thalia looked over. "Add me, while you're at it."

There were 4 Friend requests and 2 Notification. The friend requests were from Grover, Nico, Luke, and Percy. Luke had written on my Timeline: "Hey Annabeth, I found you here on FB!" Percy had commented: "well obviously".

I giggled and liked Luke's post. I friend requested Thalia, Juniper, Silena, and Rachel. I clicked back to Percy's timeline. Before I could stop myself, I was going through photos. I don't even know what I was looking for but I guess I found it.

There was an album from a few months ago at Calypso's coming of age ball. Calypso looked gorgeous-sigh-and wore a beautiful floor-length gown any girl would die for. She wore a modest silver tiara on her head, with little rosebud-diamond detailing. She was surrounded by friends, boys and girls alike. I recognized a bunch of the boys and girls I'd seen at Percy's ball. I scrolled through some photos, and then stopped short.

On the screen was a picture of Calypso and Percy. They were sitting on the couch and Percy had his arm around her, and she was giving him one of those side-hugs. Calypso had captioned it "luv ya perce! 3" Underneath it, under like 7 billion 'likes', Percy had written: "love u 2 bday girl". That wasn't all. Underneath it, Silena had commented "couple of the year?" That comment had a bunch of likes too. Somebody I didn't know commented "omg u guys r so adorable together ;)".

What? Was this happening? So all the flirting I saw between him and Calypso wasn't actually my paranoia. He really did flirt with a lot of girls. This was happening. I couldn't believe it. Here I thought he really did like me. I guess he did, but no more than he liked any other girls. It wasn't like I was anything special to him. I was shell-shocked. I was also disappointed. In myself, to be honest. How could I have not seen this coming? I should have expected it. He was the rich son of the King and Queen of Atlantis. He was charming, good looking. How could girls not like him?

"Hey, can I see that for just a-" Thalia leaned over.

"WAIT!" I yelped. I minimized the window as quickly as I could. Thalia raised an eyebrow at me.

"Sorry," I said quietly. "I just-"

Thalia gave me the wave of the hand. "I don't care."

I sighed with relief and disappointment.

What did ya think? If you're as disappointed as our little Annabeth, STAY TUNED! *Dun Dun DUUUNNNNNNNNNN*

Since I love you my loyal readers Oh So Much, I'm making a summer's resolution: A new chapter every week. That's my resolution. Wanna help me stick to it? Here's how: Click that button and REVIEW! You know me: the more reviews I get, the more motivated I am! That's always why this chapter took so long. So, if ya want it really quick you can help me out by reviewing and telling me what you think. That helps the most out of anything. Okay, love you all! XO, PearlsAndPens