Annabeth's Mortal Friends

Chapter Twenty-Four

Caleb Pierson's POV:

I jogged casually down the front steps of the school, waving to my friends who were sitting around one of the tables off to the side of the building. Well, almost all of my friends. Annabeth still hadn't shown up to school, which was extremely unlike her. Sure, she mysteriously missed a day or two of school every once in a while, but the entire first week? That's odd even by her standards.

"Monday's suck." Andrew groaned, slamming his head down onto the old wood of the table. "Ow."

Emma giggled at him, rubbing his head sympathetically as he lay there. He glanced up at her, shooting her a crooked grin before laying his head back down and sighing theatrically. The man had a point; it was only the second week of school and I already missed summer. Camping, beaches, ice cream; all of that definitely beat classes, cranky students, and even crankier teachers.

"No way..." Jordan muttered, pulling everyone's attention toward her.

"What's up, Jor?" Andrew asked, pulling his head up from the table.  Jordan lifted her left arm, propping her elbow on the table and pointing toward the driveway. We were all collectively confused, as Jordan was hardly ever someone to be at a loss for words. Emma was the first to turn her head, following in the direction that Jordan was pointing. Her gasp scared the crap out of me, and I looked over to see what was so shocking. There, heading toward the entrance of the building, were Percy and Annabeth, acting completely normal despite their week-long absence.

"Annabeth!"  Emma called out, shooting up from her seat.  I wasn't sure if she was trying to get her attention, or if she was just surprised to see her. Annabeth turned her head in our direction, sending a big smile and a small wave to us.

Emma stood there for an awkward amount of time, her gaze rapidly switching from Percy, Annabeth, and the rest of the table.

"Emma?" Annabeth waved a hand in Emma's face, shooting us a confused look as she tried to snap Emma out of her state of disbelief. Eventually, she blinked away the shock, launching toward Annabeth. They both went tumbling toward the ground, Percy lunging a second too late to catch them. Annabeth landed on her butt, letting out a grunt as Emma clung to her.

Emma pulled away from the hug after a second, staring at Annabeth with wide eyes. "I missed you so much! Why didn't you text any of us? You've been gone for months! I'm so glad you're back!" Emma rambled. None of us could tell whether she was glad to see Annabeth, or if she was angry that she'd been gone so long. Honestly, both feelings were pretty valid.

Annabeth laughed, smiling brightly at the short girl now sitting in the grass next to her. "I missed you too, Emma." Annabeth reached her arm up, accepting Percy's lending hand and standing up before passing the gesture onto Emma, tugging her up from the ground as well.

Jordan and I stayed at the table as Emma and Andrew tore into Annabeth and Percy, scolding them for staying out of contact with us for so long. Annabeth pursed her lips, profusely explaining that this happens every year. "You know there's no service at camp!" She pleaded.

I continued to stare at Annabeth, simply analyzing her. Her tan had darkened a bit, as had Percy's, which was probably a result from hours spent under the sun at their camp. However, this deeper tan made the pale white scars littering most of her exposed skin really prominent. Summer only ended a week ago, and we live in California, meaning it was still really hot outside. As a result, Annabeth couldn't wear her regular sweaters, jackets, jeans, et cetera. I doubted she enjoyed the scars being out in the open like this, but it was that or dying of a heat stroke.

After taking note of her tan, scars, and camping-ready outfit, my eyes locked onto her face. Her bright grey eyes and blonde hair glittered like silver and gold under the sun, but her smile shone even brighter. It was obvious that she was happy to see us again. A soft smile grew on my face, because I'd missed her too.