Here's an extra long chapter, since you guys have waited so long. Hope you all enjoy it! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO

Annabeth's POV

"Did he rape you?" The question took me by surprise and I couldn't move. How did he find out? Thalia promised not to say anything. Had I made it obvious somehow? And if he knew, how long would it be before everyone else knew? He would without a doubt do something stupid to get back at Matt, if he hadn't done something already. I had to stop him before he ruined everything. I was so entangled in my own thoughts that it took me a moment to realize Percy was walking away from me, straight towards the jock table.

"Percy, wait!" I called as I hurried after him. Before I could make it to him, Thalia came out of nowhere, grabbing my arm and pulling me to a stop.

"What the hell, Thalia?" I nearly shouted. I tugged at my arm, trying to free it from her grip. "Let me go!"

"Why didn't you tell me he was harassing you?" she demanded. Obviously, she and Percy had been conversing and sharing information, but I didn't have time to be angry with her at the moment.

"It wasn't important, okay? Now, please let me go!" I tried to pull my away, but Thalia's grip wasn't wavering.

"It wasn't important? The guy who raped you has been harassing you, and you think it wasn't important to tell someone? I'm your best friend, Annabeth, I thought we told each other everything. Especially something this serious; my God, Annabeth, no one should get away with treating you like that! This is more than just an accident committed by a guy while he was drunk. Matt chose to hurt you and he chose to keep harassing you after it happened. He chose his actions and now he has to pay the consequences. You need to report him." I was prepared to yell at her for betraying my trust and telling Percy, but a loud noise from the side of the cafeteria drew everyone's attention to the jock table.

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" The chant grew in volume as more people joined in and everyone in the cafeteria hurried towards the action. My heart dropped; I was too late. Thalia looked shocked, as if she didn't expect this, and her hand dropped from my arm. Now that my arm was free, I bolted towards the growing crowd of students, hoping that I could somehow break up the fight before too much damage was done. Once there, I had to shove my way past several people, many of whom were recording the action on their cell phones, to get closer to the front. Once I got a clear view of the fight, I saw Matt throwing punches at Percy, who was pinned against the wall. I was pushed back by a muscular guy who was trying to get a better look. I shouted, trying to get to the front and pull Matt away from my boyfriend. Oh, God, he was going to get himself killed!

Then, suddenly, the fight turned and Percy was winning. I had no idea how, considering how strong and forceful Matt was, but I was relieved, nonetheless. Still, I needed to break up the fight somehow before the whole school found out what the fight was about. I watched as Matt grabbed Percy's right arm, preventing him from throwing any more punches and putting them at a temporary standstill. I couldn't see well from my spot in the crowd, but it appeared Matt had a broken nose and would be getting more than a few bruises on his face.

"What the hell, man?" Matt demanded. "I hardly even know you! What did I ever do to piss you off?"

"Oh, really, asshole?" Percy spat back at him. "How about raping my girlfriend?" There was a collective gasp throughout the crowd and my heart stopped. Did he really just announce that to the whole cafeteria? I closed my eyes, hoping it was all just a dream and that none of this was real, but I heard people whispering about me and when I opened my eyes, everyone except for a few people had their eyes on me. Stay calm, stay calm, I thought, but it wasn't working.

"What are you talking about?" Matt asked, though not very convincingly. He seemed almost as horrified as I was at Percy's accusation.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. If a girl says no, it means no!" He started punching Matt again and I could feel the tears in my eyes, which I could barely hold in. Several people were still staring at me, some of them whispering to their friends while others just watched me, like they were trying to determine whether Percy's accusation was true or not.

"Hey!" I wasn't sure if I should be relieved or not when Principal Blofis broke up the fight. On one hand, Percy and Matt were no longer at each other's throats, but on the other hand, with the excitement of the fight gone, everyone would turn all of their attention on me, which they did.

For the next hour or so, I was forced to go to class and try to act normal, but I wanted nothing more than to go home and never return. Everyone in the halls and then in my class stared at me, whispering not so quietly about me.

"I feel so sorry for her," one girl told her friend.

"I don't believe it," I heard another girl say. "Matt is, like, the hottest guy on the football team. Why would he rape someone like her when he can have sex with any girl he wants? She just wants attention."

Most people gossipped about pitying me or hating me for making up such an awful lie, though no one bothered asking me what happened. I also saw quite a few people showing their friends who hadn't been there the video. I was on the verge of tears the entire time, though I knew I couldn't cry; it would only add fuel to the fire. Once class started, a few students in the front gave the pretense of paying attention, but even Miss Burns knew that no one was listening. I put my head down on the desk, wanting to hide from everyone and just fade into nothingness. I would settle for sleep, but there was no way I could sleep with everything that was going on around me.

"Annabeth." It took me a moment to realize Miss Burns was calling my name from the front of the room and that it wasn't another student talking about me. I lifted my head and saw that Mr. Blofis, or Paul, as I knew him, was standing next to the door.

"Can I see you in my office, Annabeth?" Paul asked. I picked up my backpack and hurried towards the front, trying in vain to ignore everyone's eyes on me. Miss Burns gave me a sympathetic look as I followed Paul out of the room and I realized then that everyone, even the teachers, knew what happened at lunch. There was no escaping this now. Either Matt would get thrown in jail and I would forever be pitied by everyone around me, or Matt would get off as innocent and I would be known as the girl who tried to ruin someone's life to get attention.

I followed Paul down the hall, though he walked ahead of me, so I couldn't see his face. What did he think about all of this? Would he call my family? When we made it to his office, he closed the door behind me and I sat down across from him.

"Annabeth," he said as he got situated. He looked up at me finally with a pained look on his face. I realized then that Percy and Matt should have been in the office, as well. Where were they? Did they get sent home? Were they back in class? More importantly, why was I in the principal's office? I hadn't done anything wrong.

"What's going on, Paul?" I asked. "Where's Percy?"

"Percy made a very serious accusation today, Annabeth. One that many people recorded and, as I've been informed, is already on YouTube. Because of this, their punishment is no longer within my jurisdiction. He and Matthew are at the police station right now."

"The police station?" I asked. Oh, God, this just kept getting worse and worse.

"Yes, and because you were involved in this accusation, I've been asked that you would go to the police station, as well, just to answer some questions. Would you consent to this?" I wasn't ready to talk to the cops about what had happened to me, but not going to the police station meant going back to class and being stared at by everyone.

"I'll go."

"Okay, an officer is waiting outside to give you a ride to the station." I stood up and started to go.

"Wait," Paul said, and I turned back. "Are you alright?" He looked truly concerned and I wanted to smile and reassure him I was fine, but I couldn't bring myself to.

"No. No, I'm not alright." My voice cracked slightly, but I left the room before I would start crying. I found the officer outside and he drove me to the police station in complete silence. Once there, he took me to an interrogation room, just like one in the movies where the cops interrogate suspects. I waited there for a few minutes before a pretty hispanic woman and a slightly overweight, balding man walked into the room.

"Good afternoon, Miss Chase," the woman said. "I'm Detective Garcia and this is officer Andrews." Detective Garcia sat down in front of me, smiling at me as she did so, but officer Andrews stared at me with a scowl, like I had wronged him somehow, though I'd never seen him before in my life.

"Annabeth, I'm sure you have heard the accusations made against Matthew Anderson. Would you like me to repeat them?"

"No, that's fine," I told her. I was so tired of hearing people say Matt had raped me; everytime I heard the word, I thought back to that night. There was no way I would be able to sleep tonight without having nightmares.

"Okay," Detective Garcia said, giving me a sympathetic smile. "I'm really sorry, sweetheart, but in order to get that jerk locked up, you're going to have to tell us what exactly happened."

"Okay," I said, trying to work up the guts to say it out loud. I hadn't told anyone the story before, so I wasn't sure if I could emotionally handle it. "Um, I'm not sure where to start. Well, Matt asked me out a few weeks ago and we went to a restaurant-"

"What restaurant?" Officer Andrews demanded.

"It was a tiny family owned barbecue place. I don't remember the name of it, but I can look it up, if I need to."

"How do you not remember the restaurant a guy took you to before he raped you, as you claimed he did?" He leaned down, getting closer to me as his voice grew louder. My heart sped up and I leaned back slightly.

"Robert!" Detective Garcia scolded, standing up so she was at his level. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just trying to get the facts, Joanna. If this girl really was raped, don't you think she would remember all of the details about the night it happened?"

"I think you need to leave," Detective Garcia told him. "I knew this wasn't a good idea." The door opened suddenly and we all turned to look at the officer in the doorway.

"Detective," he said. "The chief needs to see you immediately." Detective Garcia turned to Officer Andrews and gave him a warning look.

"I'll be right back. Don't give this girl a hard time, okay?" She left the room and the moment she did, I wished she hadn't. Officer Andrews sat down across from me and crossed his hands in front of him, making me extremely uncomfortable. Weren't cops supposed to be the good guys? Why was he so bitter towards me?

"So, Miss Chase," he said, staring at me intently from across the table. "Tell me the rest of the story." I took a deep breath and tried not to look as intimidated as I felt. He was a cop, so he wasn't going to hurt me, right?

"Um, well we went to the restaurant and talked a lot while we ate. After about an hour, he took me back home and dropped me off."

"He dropped you off after dinner? So, what you're saying is that he did not rape you?"

"No," I told him. "That's not the whole story. After he dropped me off at home, I was there until almost midnight, when he called me. He said he was at a party, drunk, and that he needed a ride home. I fell for it and went to pick him up, but he...he raped me." I bit my lip and looked down at my hands. Don't cry, please don't cry.

"That's it?" officer Andrews demanded. "You aren't going to give the details about how exactly he forced you to have sex with him?" I flinched as he spat the words at me. He didn't believe me. How could he not believe me?

"I'm sorry, officer, but I can't tell you the details. I don't think I can handle it."

"You can't handle it? You're trying to ruin my nephew's life and you can't even handle telling a story?" I was at a loss for words. Officer Andrews was Matt's uncle? That was definitely going to make my case against Matt more difficult.

"Matt has a bright future ahead of him," he continued. "He has a football scholarship to the college of his choice and I'm not going to let some girl ruin that for him. Now, I'm going to give you a chance to admit you're lying before this goes too far. I'll make sure everyone forgets this whole thing ever happened and Matt won't press charges. What do you say?"

"You know what I have to say?" I demanded, standing up from my chair. I'd had enough of this and I wasn't going to let some jerk in a uniform get the best of me. "Your nephew raped me and he deserves to go to jail. If you think I'm going to let him get away for doing that to me, you're an idiot. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find an officer who will listen to me." I walked to the door and opened it, planning to make a dramatic exit, but I froze when I saw Percy in the doorway.

"Annabeth," he said, looking slightly shocked that I had opened the door. "Detective Garcia said I could come see you." His lip was cut and there was a bruise forming on his cheek where Matt had punched him, but other than that, he seemed unharmed.

"Are you in trouble?" I asked.

"Paul said he has to give me detention for a few days, but that's it." We stood in silence for a moment, not quite sure what to say. I wasn't sure how to feel towards him at the moment; part of me was happy that he had stood up for me, but I was also angry that he had picked a fight with Matt and brought the truth to everyone's attention.

"Are you okay?" he asked finally, looking at me intently with wide eyes.

"Should I be okay?" I asked, my voice shaky. "I was raped, and harassed, and now my boyfriend picked a fight with the guy who did it, and why did you do that? Did you think I couldn't take care of my own problems? Just because I wasn't strong enough to keep Matt away from me doesn't mean I can't handle myself!" I tried to stay angry, but I couldn't stop myself from breaking down into sobs. Percy wrapped his arms around me and held me while I cried.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, holding me tightly. "I'm so sorry. I love you so much. I'm so sorry this happened to you." I wanted to calm down and tell him I was alright, but the I couldn't stop, and I knew I wasn't alright. Everyone knew about Matt raping me, there was a possibility I was pregnant, Matt could get off without any charges, and now Percy knew the truth, which meant he, as well as everyone else around me, would treat me differently. The idea of a trial just made everything worse. I would have to testify against Matt, which meant reliving that dreadful night over and over again. No, I was not okay.

I'm not sure how long it was until I calmed down. When I finally did, we moved to a bench to wait for my family to show up. Percy sat down and I laid my head in his lap, trying to go to sleep. I was exhausted after such a long day, and lack of sleep in general. Percy draped his jacket over me as a makeshift blanket and he played with my hair as I dozed off. I was actually almost asleep when I heard the yelling.

"What's going on? Where's my daughter?"

"Dr. Chase, please calm down."

"I received a phone call telling me to come here immediately. Now, where is my daughter? Tell me what happened." I groaned and closed my eyes tighter, trying to drown out the voices as an officer told my family what had happened. Unfortunately, I couldn't do that and I heard every word of the conversation. My dad was furious and didn't believe the officer, at first. Then, he must have noticed me because I heard his voice get louder and footsteps approaching. I decided to pretend to be asleep, rather than face my dad. I wasn't ready for that yet.

"She's asleep," Percy said quietly. I felt my dad's hand stroke my shoulder.

"Is it true?" my dad asked softly. I didn't hear a response, so I assumed Percy nodded. My dad cursed and his hand fell from my shoulder.

"How could he do that? How could he do something so awful to my baby girl?" I couldn't be certain, but it sounded like he was choking up. "Thank you, Percy, for being there for her when I wasn't. I've been such an awful dad. I never suspected anything. I should have noticed, put two and two together. Looking back on it, there's no way she was just dealing with heartbreak. I can't believe I didn't think anything of it."

"You're not the only one," Percy agreed. "It was my fault. I never should have broken up with her in the first place. And then I never noticed how strangely she was acting. God, I could have prevented this. It kills me to think none of this would have happened if I had never broken up with her." I wanted to say something, to tell them both that they were wrong and that neither of them was to blame, but I couldn't. I was supposed to be asleep.

"Well, I'm glad you gave him a good beating," my dad said. "If you hadn't, I would have had to do it myself." I felt relieved at the slightly more light hearted turn in the conversation. I decided that was my cue to "wake up" and stretched my arms slightly before slowly opening my eyes.

"Hey, sweetie," my dad said, giving me a bittersweet smile, though there were tears in his eyes. God, I'd never seen him cry before. This was not something I had been prepared for. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I said, sitting up slowly. Percy's jacket fell to the ground and I picked it up, handing it back to him.

"Wear it," he told me. "You have goosebumps." I noticed the tiny bumps on my arms and put the jacket on, feeling slightly better as I did so. They both were watching me intently, like they were trying to figure out just how fragile I was and if I would break down. Part of me was annoyed and wanted to tell them that I wasn't going to cry, but I was too exhausted to start an argument.

"I'm tired," I said after a minute or two of silence. "Can we go home?"

"Whatever you want, sweetheart," my dad said. I looked at Percy and gave him a small smile.

"I'll text you later," I assured him.

"Okay. Let me know if you need anything." He stood up, offering his hand to pull me up, as well. We hugged, though I was sure to pull away quickly out of fear that I would start sobbing again. As we were walking out of the police station, Officer Andrews walked in the opposite direction and glared at me. I pulled my hood up and stared at the ground while I walked, trying to shake the discomfort I felt from his gaze. Unfortunately, though, I realized I would soon be all too familiar with being stared at and talked about constantly.

So, what do you guys think? Review and let me know! :) I love you guys!

Happy early birthday, wisegirlwannabe! And any other readers who had a birthday recently or have one coming up, have an awesome day! :)