I frequently checked the clock on my phone throughout the night and into the day. At some points, it was a few minutes apart from the last check, and other times, it was a few hours. Around 2 pm, Annabeth texted me Rachel's address. It was farther from the school than I thought it was going to be. It would probably take me half an hour or so to walk there. But it would take me a good hour if I strolled.

Thinking I probably shouldn't smell, I jumped into the shower and took my time. Averting my eyes from my wrist, I washed my body and hair. After trying and failing to brush my hair, I walked into my bedroom and put on some clean clothes. I pulled a black hoodie over my head, made sure my house key, phone, and earbuds were in the pocket before walking out of the house.

I felt like I forgot something. But I couldn't place what. I knew it was important because I usually didn't get this feeling when I missed a math assignment. Then I felt the eyes on my back, and I remembered. I was supposed to ask mom for Gabe's number.

Gabe has texted me before, but he always used his so-called house phone. Only mom and his buddies had his away phone number. So I quickly texted my mom asking for his away phone number.

I walked at a leisurely pace down the street. Crossing streets, passing intersections. Eventually, I started walking into a really nice neighborhood. I was a tad bit confused as the houses grew in size and stories. Then when I got to the address, I triple checked to make sure it was right. It was.

The house in front of me was a whitewashed beige color that had three stories and around ten windows on each floor. It was massive. I walked up to the front door and knocked. I looked at my phone, 4:30 pm, maybe I took too much time dilly-dallying.

The door swung open to reveal Annabeth, her hair was down, and she was wearing yellow plaid sweatpants with a black t-shirt.

"Oh, hey, Percy! You're late, you know," she exclaimed and opened the door wider to let me in.

When Rachel saw me, she placed her hand to her forehead dramatically and said in mock exasperation, "Oh, thank the gods if you had taken another minute, I swear Annabeth would have bitten her fingernails to dust in worry."

Annabeth started arguing with her as Rachel giggled at how flustered Annabeth was.

She was worried about me? Why?

"Hey man, there's food in the kitchen if you're hungry." a guy, Leo, I think, told me, and I nodded in acknowledgment.

"Ah, shit! Hold on, Jason and Piper are in there, here let me" Leo got off the couch and sauntered in front of me. He walked towards a closed door and then looked back at me, grinning. Then he turned towards the door and banged loudly on the door.

"Is everyone decent?" he shouted and opened the door a bit to look. There was a crash, and I heard a few things hit the door as he closed it.

"Ok, your good, but be sure to walk in while saying, "I'm not Leo," ok? Then hope you don't get impaled by a spatula" Leo walked away back to the couch and sat next to his girlfriend Calypso.

I slowly opened the door and said quickly, "Um, I'm not Leo. I was told to say that so I don't get impaled by a spatula."

Then opening the door fully, I saw the blonde guy, Jason holding a fork like he almost threw it and the girl who went to my competition, Piper, holding a spatula-like she knew how to use it.

They relaxed when they saw I wasn't actually Leo, and I looked at the floor surrounding the door. A few butter knives and forks were stuck in the door with an assortment of silverware and ladles laid across the ground.

"Um, I just came for food, so" I mumbled as I moved towards the pizza boxes in the corner of the kitchen. I grabbed a nearby paper plate and layered two pepperoni pieces on it. Then I grabbed one of those store-bought cookies that every kid dreams of at their birthday party and left, leaving the couple.

I walked into the room to see Annabeth in the corner reading a book and Rachel and Calypso trying their best to braid pieces of Leo's hair as he tried to solve a 3D puzzle. I sat down in a chair across from Leo, who was sitting criss-cross applesauce on the ground up against the couch where the two girls were styling his hair.

"Hey, um, if you move that blue piece to the right, you can uh, you can move the yellow piece in place," I pointed out to him as I took a bite of my cookie.

His eyes flickered to me as he tried to keep his head still. He moved the blue piece and then pressed the yellow piece into its correct placement.

"Dude, how did you know? I've been stuck in that spot for like ten minutes."

"Um, I used to do a lot of those when I was younger, so I can solve them pretty easily now" I rubbed the back of my neck as I looked away.

"That's so cool," he whispered and then fell into the trance of trying to solve the puzzle. As I finished eating my pizza, Jason and Piper came out of the kitchen.

"Where's Nico, Reyna, and Thalia?" Piper asked

"Nico had a date with Solace, Thalia had a club meeting, and Reyna is at a party with her debate team," Calypso said as she finished another small braid in Leo's hair.

Rachel squealed a bit, "No way! I'm so happy for Nico, but seriously, did Will ask him, or did Nico work up the nerve to ask him out?"

Calypso's face broke out into a massive grin as she started excitedly telling Rachel the story. All I got out of her fast and excited story-telling was Will asked, Nico declined because of understanding issues and then asked Will out after he said no. Honestly, a weird way to get together, but who am I to judge.

"Um, passing by the retelling of Nico's love life, let's pick a movie. But someone has to get Annabeth," Piper suggested. There were groans all around the room until Rachel spoke up.

"Let Percy do it. He's probably our best bet." she looked smugly at me as if she had chosen her champion. Since no one wanted to volunteer, I'm guessing it's not a job people jump at the chance for and usually have to draw straws to do, which is weird because I interrupt her reading all the time.

I stood up and walked over. I heard Leo whisper, "Time this! I want to see how long it takes him. Wait, also video, what if she does something funny like throw the book at him?"

I didn't know why this was such a big deal. All I had to do was tell Annabeth that we would watch a movie and needed to decide on one.

I walked over to her corner and quietly said, "Hey Annabeth, um, we're going to watch a movie and need to decide on one."

Her head snapped up, and she stood up. "Sure thing, let's head over."

I turned around and saw everyone with their jaws dropped, besides Rachel, of course. She's seen me do it countless times. Though when I did it the first time, she did look as shocked as they did.

"Wait, wait, wait, what was his time?" Leo shakily asked.

"Holy shit, a whole ass second," Piper said as she rewatched the video," a single fucking second from when he spoke to her to when she looked up at him."

"Um, is this that big of a deal? I mean, what's the normal time?" I sheepishly asked and rubbed the back of my neck, looking at my shoes.

"Fuck yes, this is a fucking big deal! I've got the best time because I squirted her with a water gun. But I still had at least a 10 second wait period for her to realize what happened. You, on the other hand, walk up to her like a normal fucking human being and ask her to come over in a quiet voice, which she responds instantly to? What the fuck, man!" Leo ranted. Calypso put her hand on his shoulder as he waved his arms around.

"Guys, seriously? Let's just choose a movie," Annabeth said exasperatedly. I turned to look at her and saw her cheeks pink.

Piper looked back and forth between us. Then her eyes met Rachel's, then Calypso's. I knew before she talked that this wasn't going to be good.

"Actually, there's a change in plans. Instead of the movie first, were going to play a game-"

" I swear if you say Truth or Dare," Annabeth started cutting Piper off.

"-Truth or Dare," she finished, completely ignoring Annabeth.

My throat closed as I felt nervousness hit me like a truck. I was terrible at friend games like this. Especially since I didn't really know anyone besides Rachel, Annabeth, Piper, and maybe Calypso.

"Um, I'll just watch," I started to say.

"Nope, no backing out, we're gonna play this right," Piper snapped and looked pointedly at Annabeth. The two girls glared at each other until Annabeth rolled her eyes and threw up her hands, "Fine!"

Piper clapped her hands happily, and we all sat in a circle on the floor.

"Ok, since I know Leo's dying to start, we'll begin with Calypso."

Sighing, Calypso looked away from her pouting boyfriend and looked at Rachel. "Truth or Dare?"

"Dare"

"Promote this used paper plate for the next two minutes."

"Easy" Rachel then proceeded to sell us the plate by talking about how the pizza stains built character and made the next meal taste better. A bunch of other plate attributes was that it was yellow, which was a happy color, and made the plate lighten up the kitchen.

"Ok, Jason, Truth or Dare"

"Dare, I'm not scared of you."

"Oh, you should be. Sit in only your boxers until we go to bed."

Jason's mouth hung open, "Your kidding."

"Nope, strip down. I'm sure Piper won't mind."

Jason grumbled as he pulled his shirt and pants off, crossing his legs as if to hide.

"Leo, truth, or dare?"

"Dare" what was it with everyone and choosing dare?

"Eat whatever I put in front of you."

"Ah, shit, ok."

When Jason left the room, Leo started talking non-stop, "Jason's a terrible cook already, what's he going to do while he's trying to be bad? Should we send someone in there to make sure he doesn't hurt himself? Should someone make sure the house isn't going to explode?" A few more minutes of Leo being a nervous mess and Jason came out with an extremely gross smelling dish.

It was black and had the consistency of eggs as Leo picked up the fork. "What the shit do you make? Am I gonna chew up alien guts and infect everyone in the room?"

Jason just smiled evilly as Leo put the food into his mouth. Immediately his face turned green, and he ran to the restroom. Jason laughed the whole time.

When Leo came back out a few minutes later, he walked up and sat down-pointing his finger at the goop on the plate. "Never again. What the fuck did you feed me?"

"It's a secret."

"Whatever, Sparky, um, Piper truth or dare?"

"Since you're probably got revenge on your mind, Truth."

"Aww, you're no fun, fine. Um, hmm, what's the most expensive thing you've stolen?"

"Oh easy, a BMW" then she got this smirk that made me freak out. Honestly, I really hoped she didn't choose me and looked away.

"Annabeth," oh thank gods," truth or dare?"

"Dare" I could feel the tension. I wasn't sure why there was such thick tension, but it was there. Piper grinned like a maniac.

"Switch a piece of clothing with the person to your right" I immediately looked to my right, seeing Leo. I realized that it wouldn't have been me that needed to look to the right, and my breath hitched when I realized that Annabeth was to my right.

"Alright, Perce, give me your hoodie, and then I'll give you the jacket around my waist" Honestly, I was kind of hoping for a shoe swap, but this was fine. The jacket would be easier and less time consuming anyway.

I slipped off my black hoodie and immediately felt bad since it hadn't been washed for a few days. Annabeth handed me her bright red jacket, and I tied it around my waist. I wasn't worried about my wrist since I was wearing a long-sleeve.

Annabeth threw my hoodie over her head and pushed the hood down. She looked pretty cute in my jacket since it was too big, and her hands were almost all the way covered by the sleeves. I realized I was staring when Annabeth started talking.

"Alright, Calypso, truth, or dare?"

"Let's go with Truth."

"Um, what are some photos of you that you wish didn't exist?"

Calypso bit her lip and then said," The ones Leo sneaks after I finish helping him in the garage. Or that time in junior high when someone messed up my hair, and I didn't know until it was spread across the school."

Annabeth nodded as if understanding, and then Calypso perked up since it was her turn again.

"Alright Percy, you're the last one" shit shit shit, I was kind of hoping that she would forget about me.

"Truth or dare?" ok, I was in a dilemma. I really didn't want to answer anything that she asked because then it would be awkward, and they would have something on me. But I didn't really want to do the dare because I didn't want to do something embarrassing. I huffed and chose the one that I figured Calypso would be nicer with.

"Um, dare I guess" I winced and rubbed the back of my neck as I looked at a corner of the room, not making eye contact with Calypso but still looking in her general direction.

She smiled softly, which almost scared me more than if she was grinning evilly like Piper earlier.

"Alright then, for the rest of the night, the person to your left has to sit on your lap" oh, thank gods. I thought this was going to be embarrassing. All I had to do was let this person sit on me for a few hours, nothing too hard.

I breathed a sigh of relief until I realized that Annabeth was to my left. This dare just got a whole lot more complicated.

"Um, Annabeth, if you don't mind?" I asked sheepishly and looked away, my ears tinting red as I refused eye contact with her. I heard her shift, and she moved in front of me. Sitting down, so her back was against me. I unfolded my legs, and she sat in between them, leaning against me.

I tried to make sure I wasn't having a panic attack as I breathed slowly. I saw Rachel, Piper, and Calypso smirking at me, and I felt my cheeks warm up.

"Alright, I'm going to go make popcorn. Rachel, Calypso want to come help?" Piper asked as she walked towards the kitchen. The two she asked stood up and followed Piper, and closed the door.

"Ok, so Piper told me to get us to choose a movie, so, what are the options?" Jason started.

"I'm thinking a horror movie," Leo said.

"Why is it always horror?" Annabeth asked exasperated

I nodded next to her and said quietly, "Why can't we watch Finding Nemo or The Little Mermaid?"

"What? Nemo? No way bro! At least do an action movie like Mission Impossible," Leo whined.

"How about Sherlock Holmes or, um, Monty Python, and the Holy Grail?" Annabeth suggested.

"No, I agree with Leo's statement, a horror movie. The only people that don't like them are Annabeth, and I guess you, Percy. So if the girls come back in and agree with horror, then Nemo is out of the question," Jason reasoned.

I sighed, first Truth or Dare, then a horror movie, when will the torture end? Though the pizza was good and my dare wasn't terrible, I mean, it's kind of nice to have Annabeth in constant contact; it was relaxing. But then again, she didn't help my heart by wearing my hoodie. I just hoped I was breathing at an average pace, and she couldn't hear my heartbeat.

After around fifteen minutes of small talk and long silences, the girls came out of the kitchen with four big bowls of popcorn. They were giggling as they came out, and when they looked at our questioning faces, they just started laughing all over again. Rachel handed Annabeth the popcorn, saying that we would share, and then sat down by herself on the couch. She had her own individual bowl that was the size of everyone else's.

"What movie are we watching?" Piper asked as she sat next to Jason, who was still only in his boxers.

"Um, about that, we have a tie between a horror movie and Finding Nemo," Jason said softly.

"Wait, Finding Nemo?" Calypso asked, surprised.

"Yea, but we figured we'd wait for the odd number to return so we could decide," Leo finished.

The three girls looked at each other, then they looked at me, and then they smirked. I really wasn't liking whatever was going on telepathically between them.

"Well, I think the horror movie would be good," Rachel started. Both Piper and Calypso nodded as Annabeth groaned.

Jumping up, Leo grabbed the remote and pressed a few buttons, turning on the TV and selecting a movie. I groaned quietly and leaned back, resting my weight on my hands behind me. I looked at Rachel, and she motioned at Annabeth. Sighing, I readjusted myself and looked at the TV, just in time for a jump scare.

I jumped at least three feet in the air. Don't question how I managed with Annabeth on my lap, but I did. In an attempt for comfort, I put my arms around Annabeth's waist and pulled her tightly to my chest. I heard her inhale sharply as I buried my head into her shoulder.

I felt her body slowly relax as she moved her arms, eating popcorn. Every time there was a scream or a yell, I jumped. Every time that creepy music that fueled anticipation came one, I hugged her tighter. I couldn't deal with horror movies; no matter how lowly rated, they always got me.

Thankfully having my own personal calming human helped me through the movie. Annabeth's lemon-scented hair helped as I quickly calmed down after every scare. I slowly stopped being so uptight and didn't jump as much when I heard someone scream. I rubbed my face into Annabeth's shoulder and felt a wave of drowsiness hit me. I closed my eyes and breathed out, completely relaxing as I drifted off.