Chapter Text
Annabeth woke up two minutes before her alarm.
That was either a blessing or a curse, depending on how you looked at it.
She lay there for a moment, half cocooned in her blanket, blinking against the grey morning light that slipped through her curtains. The alarm went off anyway—like it needed to remind her the day was starting whether she was ready or not.
She shut it off and sat up slowly, cracking her neck side to side. Her room was quiet except for the distant hum of traffic and the occasional thump from her stepmom moving around downstairs. She yawned, stretched her arms over her head, and muttered, “Okay. Let’s do this.”
There was something slightly satisfying about mornings—if she got through them in one piece. The ritual helped: sweatshirt, jeans, sneakers, hair in a low messy bun. She tossed her backpack over her shoulder and grabbed a banana on the way out the door.
Her stepmom waved from the kitchen table. “Have a good day, sweetie!”
Annabeth gave her a thumbs-up and slid into her car.
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The engine rumbled to life. So did the radio.
“—and that was *‘Love or Lust’*, the latest single from Percy Jackson—”
Annabeth let out a groan and reached for the dial, but hesitated when she heard the catchy beat and that voice. Annoyed with herself, she let the song play on.
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Goode High was halfway between a functioning school and a chaotic zoo, and today leaned toward the latter.
Annabeth noticed it right away—something was up. People were buzzing. Talking in tight little groups, throwing glances down the hallway, refreshing their phones like it was a matter of life and death.
She caught snippets of conversation:
“Is it actually happening?”
“No way, that’s not real—right?”
“I saw it on his story. He deleted it, but I swear—”
She raised an eyebrow but kept walking. Whatever it was, she didn’t care. She had a quiz in third period and a headache forming behind her left eye.
Still, the weird energy followed her all day.
In calculus, the teacher barely got through roll call before half the class was distracted. In English, Clarisse passed a note and giggled like they were in middle school. In the hallway, Leo Valdez offered her a sly grin but didn’t say a word—just kept tapping something cryptic into his phone.
Annabeth shoved her way through it all. She wasn’t in a bad mood, exactly—just mildly annoyed that no one else seemed to want to focus.
By the time lunch rolled around, she finally looked at Piper across the table and asked, “Okay. Seriously. What’s going on? Why is everyone acting like Beyoncé just walked in?”
Piper blinked. “Wait—you don’t know?”
Annabeth stared at her, flat. “If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking.”
Piper leaned back in her chair, amused. “Wow. I figured you’d be the first to know. Or at least the most pissed.”
“Piper.”
“He’s coming back.”
Annabeth narrowed her eyes. “Who’s ‘he’?”
Piper gave her a look. The kind of look that meant *you already know.*
“Percy Jackson.”
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