A/N: I'm sorry for the late update but I had finals. But now finals are over and it's summer vacation so I'll update much faster. Probably twice a week as I used to do.

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO!

Chapter 10: Easy going

The rest of the trip was mostly normal. Percy tried to teach us more about Greek Mythology and Grover and I would sometimes intervene and correct him. He'd just look at me with a look of embarrassment and crooked smile on his face. It would make my heart flutter.

It was night outside and by my guess, we were somewhere in Northern Texas. Could have fooled me though. When I pictured Texas, I thought of barren lands, almost like a desert, except with a few towns here and there. What I saw was completely different. The cities were huge, with bright lights, crowded streets, and buildings like any other you'd find in most cities.

I looked back at the others. Percy was now explaining to Nico and Bianca about their father, Hades. Nico looked excited and would ask all these silly questions about him. Bianca was listening too. She would occasionally look over at Nico and see the excitement plastered on his face and would smile at his enthusiasm. Unlike Nico, she took in all the things that Percy said calmly, but on the inside, I knew she was exploding with the same excitement as Nico.

Grover was talking to them too. Sometimes adding in his own two cents about Hades. I took advantage of the alone time to let my mind wonder.

I thought about my mom. She was alive. She was actually alive, and I still had the chance to meet her.

I finally understood my craziness over learning and books. The long hours I spent just to answer those little questions that I didn't know the answer to finally made sense.

I stared back out the window, the cities passing by in a blur. I had a strange feeling that I was going to meet my mom sometime soon. What I didn't know was whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Some time later, Percy came over, probably noticing me being all quiet, and sat down across from me, his hands clamped together on the table. His face was emotionless.

"You're awfully quite."

He then broke out into a grin. "Usually you're ready to spurt out random facts. I like the change."

"Oh, ha ha." I rolled my eyes but my mouth betrayed a smile.

"I'm just thinking about everything. You know, taking it all in." I said.

Percy nodded. "Understandable. It's not every day you learn that you're half god and that every monster out there wants to kill you. It makes it even harder to believe when a very handsome teenage guy tells you it."

"I guess, except for that last part." I said, even though it was a lie. He seemed unfazed though.

A comfortable silence later: "So what's this thing about camp you mentioned earlier?" I asked.

Percy sat up. "Oh, that. It's a place on Long Island Sound. A place for demigods. It's the only save place for us. Well, besides the Roman camp, but that's a different situation. Our camp has a magical border that protects us from monsters. It's where we demigods go to train and learn about our history."

I nodded. All this talk about a safe place and magic is making me feel crazy. Next thing you know he's going to say there are fairies too and I'll start thinking that we're talking about Pixie Hollow.

I sank back in my seat, closed my eyes, and rubbed my temples, trying to let it all sink in. When I opened my eyes, I found a pair of sea-green eyes staring back intently.

"What?" I asked

"Huh?"

"You were looking at me funny."

He blinked twice, then looked away, his facing heating up a little. "Oh, uh sorry."

I raised a brow but let it go. I decided to keep going with the conversation. "So, this camp-"

"Camp Half-Blood" Percy said matter-of-factly.

"-Right, so, there's a lot of demigods there? We're not the only ones?" I asked.

Percy shook his head. "No, of course not. There are a lot more. Almost a hundred. Maybe more."

I hesitated. "And we just go? We don't have to do anything?"

Percy's brows furrowed in confusion. I couldn't help but think that it made him look cute. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"I mean, there isn't a test or anything? Something to 'prove that you're worthy'?" I asked.

Percy looked at me strangely. "No, you're thinking about Roman Mythology. Where people had to be brave and prove it to everyone. The Greeks are a little more friendly. Besides, you'd probably get in even if there were a test."

"I would?"

Percy thought about it. "Well, yeah. You've taken on a manticore with your bare hands. That's a really bold thing to do. Only someone with a lot of courage could do that."

I smiled gratefully. "Thanks. You're not so bad yourself." I said.

"I should hope so. I've been training since I was a kid. I should hope I'm better than you...princess.

A moment of silence.

I started laughing. Percy just looked down, obviously regretting his choice of words.

"Princess? Really? Is that supposed to be an insult?" I asked, trying to contain my laughter.

"Hey, give me a break. It's the only thing I could think of; I blanked." He explained.

"Yeah, you tend to do that a lot." I teased.

"Oh shut up."

"...Why did you call me that anyway? Do you think I'm beautiful enough to be a princess?" I asked. Honestly, I couldn't care less about my 'beauty', even though my friends always did say I was pretty. I just wanted to know what he would say.

Percy's eyes were wide and he was getting really red. "What? No! I don't think you're beautiful!"

A second passed before he realized what he said.

"No, wait. That's not what I meant. I-I-you are beautiful. I mean-" I had gotten enough info out of him by this time so I cut him off by starting to laugh again.

"Very smooth Kelp Head, very smooth." I said."

"Kelp Head? Oh, I get it, because I'm a Son of Poseidon and you think I'm slow. That's really funny." Percy said sarcastically.

I just shook my head at him. I looked to my side and noticed Bianca coming over so I scooted in to make room for her. She sat next to me, still radiating happiness.

"You seem really happy, Bianca." Percy said, voicing my thoughts.

"Well, yeah. It's not every day I find out my dad is still alive. Even if he is a god." She said, shrugging.

"So, what are you guys flirting about?" She said casually.

"What? We're not flirting." I ended with a nervous laugh, my face turning a little red. Now that I think about it, it did seem like we were flirting.

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"We were talking about camp. You know, the place I said we were going to." Percy said, obviously trying to change the subject.

"Spare me the details. I've had enough info for one day. Although Nico looks like he's up for it. Why don't you go talk to him about it? I'm sure he'll annoy me about it sooner or later so no need to tell me." Bianca said, rolling her eyes.

Percy agreed and went over to where Grover was talking to Nico.

Bianca and I sat in a we-don't-know-what-to-talk-about-but-we're-best-friends-so-it's-not-really-awkward silence.

After a while, Bianca sighed. "Why so red in the face Annabeth?" She asked, not looking at me.

I realized that I was still flustered and tried to cover it up. "What do you mean?" I tried to cover it up.

"You like him." Bianca said. It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

"Who?" I asked, playing dumb.

She darted her eyes toward where Percy was sitting with Grover and Nico.

"Nico? No, I don't like him. He's a good friend but he's too dark for my taste." I said.

"No! Not my brother!"

"Grover then? He's part goat!" I said, trying to avoid her question.

"I'm talking about Percy and you know it." Bianca said.

"Yes, I like him." I said, in a small voice.

"Like like him?" She asked.

"Like like?"

"Yeah, you like like him like he like likes you."

"So your saying I like him like you like him and he likes you and he likes me so I don't like like him like you think he like likes me?" I said.

"Annabeth!" Bianca said, getting exasperated.

"What?" I asked innocently.

She sighed but then grinned at me. "You must really like him to avoid my question for this long." She said.

"I don't like him that way." I said.

"Yes you do." She insisted

"No, I don't." I countered

"No?"

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes."

"I knew it!" She said.

"No! Not yes I like him. Yes that I agree with you that I don't like him!" I said. Now I didn't even know what I was saying, and that's saying something, me being a daughter of Athena and all.

Bianca just shook her head, apparently getting what I said. "You keep telling yourself that, Annabeth. It's kind of obvious you know."

"Fine, I like like him. Happy?" I grumbled.

Bianca smiled. "Very." And with that, she left to go over to the others.

At around 10 at night, we all decided to go to sleep. We didn't have to worry about sleeping on the seats because there were these beds that could be pulled out of the wall above are seats.

I was sitting on the bed when I looked to my left and saw Percy on the bed across from mine.

"I'm so glad I can sleep on a bed today. Even if it is really small." He said.

"Yeah, I'd rather not go through that whole experience on the couch in the hotel lobby again." I said. He blushed.

"Well, good night Wise Girl." He said, smirking at his 'witty' new nickname for me.

"Night, Seaweed Brain." I said, giving him a mock smile. He frowned and gave me the evil eye but eventually settled for going to bed.

The smile still played on my lips as I got under the covers of my bed.

I looked next to me and saw Bianca already in bed.

"You like him." She said in a small sing-song voice, her eyes still closed.

"Shut up." I muttered.

And with that, I went into a blissful sleep.

A/N: Yeah, so not as long as the previous chapters but don't worry, they're not getting any shorter. I'll update faster too, seeing as it's summer vacation. Expect an update by Wednesday. Maybe Tuesday.

So this chapter wasn't really eventful. It's just showing the growing relationship between Percy and Annabeth and shows a little more of Percy's thoughts. Personally, I liked this chapter but I'm not sure about you guys. Tell me if it was bad.

Anyway, just a reminder, vote for my next story on my profile! Some of them are tied for first and second so I need to know which ones I'm going to do next.

As always, review and get a sneak peek. Thanks for reading!