Disclaimer: I do not own any of Rick Riordon's characters because I am not Rick.

Chapter 1: Annabeth

I walked out of the door, one hand clutching a text book and the other one clutching Percy's hand. I rested my head on Percy's shoulder as we walked to the subway station. I could feel the muscle moving under my ear. I let out a little sigh of content. Percy looked down at me and kissed the top of my head. When we got to the station we swiped our metro cards and got on the subway. It was filled with business people on their phones and students on their way to class. I watched everyone go about their mornings amazed at how peaceful the world could be. After the war, I cherished every moment of peace and content. Coming back from Tartarus had been hard to say the least. Nightmares plagued my sleep and every time someone touched me I nearly jumped out of my skin. The only exception was Percy. I felt safe in his arms and he was the only thing that made the nightmares better. He was the only thing that kept me sane. I couldn't stand being apart from him for more than a few hours. So now, we basically did everything together. We slept in his room in the apartment with Paul and Sally, went to school at Goodie, did homework together, and spent all of our time together. That was the only way we could actually function. Yet, I never got sick of Percy. Spending time with him was my favorite thing to do, and not just because things between us had definitely gotten very ... physical. I won't go into details but lets just say that Percy has many talents.

We strolled out of the subway station and through the gates into the courtyard in front of Goodie. It was mid October so the ground was covered in a layer of leaves. Students were streaming into the front doors of the school coffee cups and textbooks in hand. Percy and I walked inside and made our way to the locker we shared. When we got there, one of Percy's swim team friends was standing their waiting to talk to the captain, Percy. While they talked about swimming, I got my books that I needed for class. When the bell rang, Percy gave me a quick peck on the lips and left for his biology class.

My first period was math, something I both loved and hated. I normally love math being and architecture geek and everything, but the way that class was run drove me up a wall. I could go on for hours ranting about it. When I walked into the door, Clair, my friend, was already their. I sat down next to her and got out my notebook and calculator. Clair was talking to our other friend Sammy about a guy she was having a thing with.

"He spent the entire evening talking to this other girl and flirting with her, but when we left, he complimented my necklace and brushed my hair out of my face and then left! He is literally so confusing! I wish he would just make up his mind and either ask me out or stop flirting with me." Clair kept talking after that but I just sort of zoned out. Clair was always talking about different guys and there was no way I could keep up.

Soon after, Mr. Lanchester, the teacher, walked in and started instructing. It wasn't particularly interesting as functions generally aren't. I looked over to see Clair staring off into space and Sammy doodling on her paper. I had no doubt that Clair was thinking about her boy. She was a little boy crazy but that's okay. She would get into a serous relationship but apparently most high school boys aren't good relationship material. Sammy on the other hand was in a relationship with this total douche but she insisted that he was a complete gentleman. High school girls. Who can understand them?

The day flew by. I saw Percy at lunch but otherwise I was on my own. We did, however, have our last period together. It was gym. I generally enjoyed the class but the girls in that class were so stuck up and snobby that it felt like taking gym with Regina George's before the bus incident. I walked into the locker room and was immediately slapped in the face with the smell of perfume. I gagged a little bit and walked to my locker. I pulled out my gym uniform and started undressing. I had just taken off my shirt when I heard someone laughing behind me. I turned around to see Isabel, aka Regina George, laughing with her friends and obviously looking at me. I quickly turned around and finished getting changed. I knew from experience that nothing good ever came out of Isabel's mouth and I really wasn't in the mood for her rude comments.

I made my way out of the locker room and onto the track field. Percy was already standing around waiting for class to start. I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his chest. He hugged me back and gave me a little kiss on the head. Before anything else could happen, our gym teacher, Mrs. Gerup, yelled at everyone to start running laps. A quick description of Mrs. Gerup. Her thin blonde hair was pulled back into a small pony tail and her tight gym shorts and shirt emphasized her scary mussels. As a demigod, one would assume that I was used to muscly women, and I was, but Mrs. Gerup brought mussels to a whole other level. She used to be a body builder when she was younger. She kept up her work out regiment only ate more resulting in one very large, very muscular woman. It didn't help that she was six foot tall.

Percy and I started running around the track, as instructed by Mrs Gerup. Usually this was my favorite part of class, but today running just felt difficult. My body felt sluggish and slow and my stomach was not too happy with me. I brushed it off and kept running. However, after a few more steps I knew things were about to go south. I made a beeline off the track and barely managed to move my hair out of the way before my lunch reappear in a brown and chunky mush that had little to no resemblance to my salad lunch. And as if things could get worse, I hear Isabel laughing as she ran by. I had no doubt that the entire student body would know about this by the time I entered the school tomorrow morning.

Mrs. Gerup sent me to the nurse. Percy insisted on accompanying me but Mrs. Gerup insisted that he stay and run more so I ended up going by myself. I walked into the nurse's office and sat down on one of the weird bed things waiting for the nurse to come in. When she did I told her about my puking incident. She proceed to take my temperature and ask me about how I otherwise felt. The funny thing was that I felt perfectly fine otherwise. A little hungry, but nothing else.

"Have you missed your period?" the nurse asked. It took me a moment to respond. See, me and my period didn't have the best relationship. The demigod life style does not account for periods and I often missed my period because of stress or injuries or whatever. There are so many things that can mess up your cycle. And when I did have my period, well, it was a regular period so it basically sucked.

"Yes, but that's not out of the ordinary. I don't have a regular cycle."

"Are you on birth control?"

"No." I had been meaning too with Percy and I but hadn't gotten around to it.

"Are you sexually active?"

"Umm..." the sudden turn in conversation had caught me off guard. Why would the nurse ask that? "Yes."

"I see. Are you using protection?" Oh. That was why the nurse was asking. She was wondering if I could be pregnant.

"You think I'm pregnant?" Just the thought of being pregnant made me laugh. There was no way that the gods would do that to Percy and I. And anyway, we were using condoms.

"It's a possibility. It would explain the vomiting. I have tests here if you would like one, but I understand if you don't. It could also just be a stomach bug." I thought about what she had said. On the one hand there was no way that I was pregnant, but on the other hand I hate not knowing things for certain.

"Can I take the test?" I said with a dry mouth, "I'm sure I'm not pregnant but I just want to know." The nurse nodded her head and opened a cabinet and handed me a pink and white box. I went into the private bathroom attached to the office. I peed on the stick and then washed my hands while I waited for the test to develop. It was probably the longest time I had ever spent washing my hands. When the two minutes were up, I picked up the test and looked at it. Two little lines stared back at me as I opened the door.

"Two lines mean not pregnant, right?'

To be continued on Saturday, December 26.

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