I've been wanting to write this story for a while now, so I hope you guys like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.

Annabeth's POV

My first day back at school was just an ordinary day, which didn't seem to make sense in my mind. Girls were gossiping about the football players, a few nerdy kids were already heading to class, my ex-boyfriend, Percy, was ignoring me as usual. Everything felt so normal, but at the same time it felt completely foreign. After what had happened Friday… A shudder went down my spine at the thought and I tried to push it away, but no matter how hard I tried, the memory wouldn't go away. It haunted me all the time, even in my dreams.

"Annabeth?" Thalia's voice brought me back to the present. "Are you listening?"

"Sorry, what were you saying?" I asked as I turned to open up my locker, which was only two down from Thalia's. Thalia sighed.

"I know you were sick, Annabeth, but you really need to pay attention. You missed, what, three days of class work? Did you even do the assignments I brought you yesterday?"

"I completely forgot," I admitted. Honestly, I'd spent the past few days at home in bed pretending to be sick while I cried my eyes out and tried to forget everything that had happened. Falling behind in school hadn't really crossed my mind. "I've had a lot on my mind lately."

"Wait a second," Thalia closed her locker and gave me a surprised look. "You weren't really sick, were you? Is this about Matt?" I bit my lip at that name and tried not to make it obvious that I felt like crying again. Thalia had no idea what had happened to me and I really had no interest in telling her. She would freak out and cause a big scene, probably even break Matt's jaw. I just wanted to be left alone and try to forget it ever happened.

"Did he break up with you?" Thalia asked with wide eyes. "No, you know what? I'm not even surprised. I warned you this would happen. Matt is just a stupid player who makes girls feel special just long enough to get them into bed and then he'll dump them. You shouldn't have agreed to go out with him. I just hope you didn't sleep with him first."

The bell saved me from the conversation I was really hoping to avoid and I hurried off to class before Thalia could say anything else. My first class of the day was health. Most of the time, we didn't really do anything, so I was hoping I hadn't missed much. Percy was already sitting down in his usual seat and Grover was sitting next to him in the spot I should be sitting in. Honestly, I didn't mind much; I had no desire to sit next to my ex-boyfriend, but Mrs. Fitch had assigned us seats based on where we were already sitting in the first week of school. Of course, at the time, I had been so happy to have a class with my boyfriend and wanted to sit next to him. I had no idea that we would break up only weeks later.

Grover looked up and noticed me standing there awkwardly, not wanting to interrupt a conversation between my ex and his best friend. He jumped to his feet immediately and started apologizing. After Percy and I broke up, poor Grover had been forced to pick sides and naturally stood by Percy, even if he didn't agree with his reasoning behind breaking up with me. He and Thalia had both tried to get us back together at first, but they had given up once I started dating Matt.

"Sorry, Annabeth," Grover mumbled as he backed away. "Ms. Fitch said I could sit there while you were gone. I didn't realize you would be back today." I forced a smile, trying to reassure him that it was all right, as I took my seat. I opened up my notebook and started doodling, trying to keep my mind occupied before I started having flashbacks again.

"You look terrible," Percy said bluntly.

"Thanks," I muttered. I was used to the occasional small talk between us now. We avoided each other when we could, but since we had to sit next to each other in first period, we would usually just say random things to keep it from being too awkward.

"So, where have you been?" he asked, though he didn't sound all that interested.

"I was sick." He nodded. And that was the end of our conversation. Percy had been a great boyfriend and I missed him now more than ever. If we hadn't broken up in the first place, I never would have started dating Matt and nothing ever would have happened. I bit my lip as I felt tears stinging my eyes. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the images from that night out of my mind.

"Are you okay?" Percy asked. He was staring at me with wide eyes and he looked genuinely concerned.

"I'm fine," I lied, wiping a stray tear that had fallen.

"No, you're not. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine," I said as I took a deep breath. I couldn't believe I had almost had an emotional breakdown in front of my ex-boyfriend. That would have been humiliating.

"Annabeth," Percy started to say just as Ms. Fitch stood up and hushed the class.

"Okay, class, turn in your books to page 394 and read the first paragraph silently." I opened my textbook and started reading, but I couldn't concentrate on what was on the page. It wasn't until Ms. Fitch walked by and commented on my textbook that I realized I was reading from my chemistry book. After rummaging through my bag, I discovered that I must have left it in my locker.

"Here," Percy whispered, pushing his book between us so I could read along with him. I muttered a quick "thanks" and attempted to read. He was giving me a weird look, almost as if he knew something was wrong, but he didn't say anything else, which was good because I didn't feel like telling him the truth. Even if I did want to, how could I? After all, he broke up with me for a reason. I wasn't sure exactly what that reason was, but if he didn't want to be with me anymore, or even be friends for that matter, why would he care about what happened to me? For the time being, I'll just keep my mouth shut and not worry anyone else with my problems.

This chapter is sort of short, but I'll probably write longer ones in the future.

Review and let me know what you think! I have a lot of ideas for this story, so let me know if you like it and I'll continue! :)