𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫. ── 𝐣𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞

𝐢𝐯. 𝐯𝐮𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢-𝐭𝐞𝐚 𝐚 𝐥𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞

ANDY'S EYES WIDENED AT EVERY NEW thing she saw in New Rome. No matter how much she wanted to leave, she couldn't help admiring the terraced gardens, the fountains and temples, the winding cobblestone streets and gleaming white villas. Whoever designed New Rome had clearly poured a lot of time and love into the project.

Jason smiled, and nudged her. "What do you think?"

"It's..." she took a deep breath, "beautiful. Honestly, Jace, everything here is so... regal. Formal, you know?"

Jason nodded. "It can feel overwhelming sometimes, but at the end of the day, it's home."

Andy's heart panged at Jason's words. This was Jason's home, not Camp Half Blood, and the more Andy tried to separate herself from that fact, the more her heart hurt at the fact that their homes were different. But he looked so... happy. Andy couldn't bring herself to pop his heart.

"Yeah," she sighed. "Home." Andy wondered what that meant, to her. She must have scowled more fiercely than she realized, because Jason laughed.

"Jeez, babe, you look like you're going to stab someone." He smiled, lacing his hand with hers. "Do you want to see the university?"

She looked up at him. "University?"

His eyes widened. "I haven't talked to you about that yet? Gods, the university at Camp Jupiter is amazing... and, I was thinking about our future together, and I thought it would be here, you know? Camp Jupiter is the perfect place for building a life. I mean, when we're older..."

"I don't know, Jace. I don't even know if I'll make it to 18 at this point."

He frowned. "Don't say stuff like that."

"What would we even do at a university, Grace?" Andy asked. "Like, what's the point."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Get drunk." He deadpanned. "What do you think? We're going to study, obviously, so we can be functioning members of society. I can study political science, and you can study...?" He looked at her, like he was waiting for her to finish his sentence.

Andy bit her lip. She didn't plan to go to university, hell, she didn't even have living in her plans. But a part of her wondered—if she did live past 17, would it be that awful to spend time with her loving boyfriend in a prestigious university full of demigods, without worrying about problems like homicidal algebra teachers? "Like... business, or something." She smiled as she saw Jason's face lighting up because she was playing along. Again, was it truly a horrible idea to go to college here?

"Hey," he frowned, fiddling with his hands. "You... don't have to do it if you don't want to, you know. I don't want to force you to go to college here, or go to college at all."

She took a deep breath. "If I'm being honest, Jace? I haven't really thought about my future yet. When I was eleven, I was dropped off at Camp Half-Blood, and every day since then I've just been wondering if I would be able to stay alive till the next day. It's been so hard, and I know you feel the same way. It's just that..." she blinked back tears. Was she being too vulnerable with him? "I haven't got anywhere to go. Percy has a home with Sally, his mom, and I know that I do too, but... there's nothing left for me, at the end of the day. My mom is, as far as I know, either dead or a deadbeat drug addict. My step-dad despised me, thought me as a result of his wife's infidelity. He left me in the middle of a forest when I was almost four, and my real dad is a god who barely has time for me. At Camp, Percy and Annabeth get all the glory for doing things that I was part of too. I mean... when I have twelve, I was psychologically manipulated by an immortal sorceress, and won. But Percy and Annabeth got all the applause for bringing back the Golden Fleece." She sighed. "Sometimes... I just feel like a side character in Percy's life. Like everything's always about him, and anyone else who does anything great has to be shot down, just because he's the first child of the big three to come to CHB in 200 years, or something."