Chapter 4

Annabeth's POV

I was going crazy, and it wasn't an exaggeration.

I wanted answers.

Whenever I am unable to answer a math or science question, my ADHD acts up (which I may have forgotten to mention beforehand). I start to twitch and my legs can't stop bobbing up and down- not that they don't do that anyways. At that point I start to get distracted by the ADHD and over think the question even more than I when I started. When PJ left, I started to shake so badly Malcolm had a doctor come over and check if I was okay. Physically, I was as healthy as you could possibly be. I wasn't so sure you could say the same for my mental health.

I was a mess.

I made up infinite amounts of questions that involved that night, which only added to my anxiety. The more questions I had, the worse the shaking got.

And it most certainly did not help that I didn't sleep that day.

I spent hours pondering about him, and when I saw the first light of dawn, I knew that the next 24 hours was going to be like a day in Tartarus.

Right when I saw that it was morning, I bolted out of bed, got dressed and didn't even get breakfast. I wasn't hungry. Most of the people at school were relieved that they were healthy. Most of the time I would tune them out. I don't like distractions. But this time I let them in. I needed to distract myself.

Some people stared at me like I was possessed. I can't say that I blamed them, because it was not normal for someone to be shaking worse than a chihuahua. Definitely not something you see everyday.

When the teacher finally got to the class, he almost sent me to the main office to get sent home. And then when I found that I couldn't pick up my pen properly, he actually did.

It took a good 30 minutes of explanation to show that it was just my ADHD making me have a really bad day. Then the principal of the school, Mr. Dionysus, made me go home. He said that I wouldn't have been productive at all during the day, but everyone in the school knew that he just hated kids. The less of them, the better.

Great day, wasn't it?

On the walk home, more people stared. On my route home, people knew my face. They probably thought it was completely absurd that Annabeth Chase, Athena Minerva's daughter, was going home early from a school day. Everyone knew that I wouldn't miss a day of school for the world, which was very true. They had to actually drag me out of the school and lock the doors in order to get me to go home.

I stopped by the library to get some books, because I had no homework to do. I figured that I was just going to get home and read. It helps clear my head.

When I got home with 5 books in hand, I sat on my desk in my room and began to read.

After a couple of hours, I started to feel a little dizzy. Maybe it's time for some sleep. When I got up, I didn't realize that I started to breathe very deeply.

Then, I collapsed.

When I woke up on my bed, it was late afternoon. How long was I sleeping?

"About time, Sleeping Beauty."

I flew up and saw him there, flipping through one of my books. "Y-You…"

In that instant, I felt nauseous again and sunk back down into my bed.

Wait, my bed?

PJ laughed. "Surprised to see me?" If I had the energy, I was going to get up, slap him, and tell him to get the hell out of my house. I'm sure my facial expression showed that. "Don't worry, I didn't do anything to you. I just simply picked you up and put you on your bed."

"Why are you here?" My voice was scratchy. God, today was a mess.

"I was watching over you today, and found that you were very shaken up after yesterday. I knew you didn't sleep last night because you had the worst bags under your eyes, and it was easy to find out you didn't have breakfast. You left your house at least 30 minutes before you usually do, and your stomach was practically screaming at you the entire time you were walking home. I have no idea how you didn't notice."

As if on queue, my stomach growled. I bit my lip. I knew I didn't have all that much energy, so if I got up, I would just collapse.

PJ sighed and handed me a cookie. A blue cookie. Immediately thinking that it was poisoned, I shove it back at him and tried to get off my bed.

Looking bored, he blocked my way off my bed. "Chase, it's food dye. It's also the best cookie you'll ever try in your life, so I'd suggest eating it."

"I don't trust you."

PJ seemed to smirk under the black cloth hiding his identity. "I think it would be in your best interests, but if you insist you can continue on into your kitchen if you can make it that far. I won't force you," he said, breaking off a piece of the cookie and offering it to me. "This is your last chance, Chase."

I reluctantly took the it and took a small bite.

My eyes widened. "What kind of magic was this made with?"

His eyes shone with happiness when I said that. In that moment, he didn't seem like a suspicious person who murdered three innocent girls. He seemed like a normal guy. "My mom made it, so I suppose she's magic, then?"

"Why's it blue?"

"It's my favorite color."

"Your mom dyes the entire batch of cookies blue?"

"Yeah."

"Seems like you're a Momma's boy."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Not necessarily." As I finished up my piece of the cookie, I stared at the other half in PJ's hand. I didn't eat any food since the day before's dinner, so I was- to say the least- very very hungry.

"If I give you the second half of this cookie, you'll owe me a favor." I immediately reached out for the cookie, and then he said, "Great! Now, you have to go out after your curfew with me this weekend!"

I almost choked.

So... hi there?

Sorry if you really liked this story and wanted an update. I got distracted with everything happening around me (video games in particular) and had almost forgotten about this story. I've come back, and I'll definitely try to get an update out soon. Things have gotten quite busy around me lately.

Sorry again... There's no excuse for 6 months, but hey, at least I'm here, right?

~KawaiiChick