In Summer

Tap, tap.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. Whoever was at the door, they were ruining the end of her book. Lupin had just told Harry he wouldn't be teaching again next year.

Annabeth sighed and continued reading, only to be interrupted by more tapping a few moments later.

"Annabeth, will you get that?!" her dad yelled from his office.

"Four pages, Dad!" she shouted.

"I'm working, Beth!"

Annabeth grumbled something unintelligible and untangled herself from the mass of blankets on her bed. Five minutes is all she needed.

She went downstairs, feet thumping on each step. She opened the door to find a familiar raven-haired boy grinning up at her.

"What are you doing here," she said, not really saying it in a questioning way.

"We're friends now," Percy responded as if it was obvious. "Also, I'm staying right... there!" he pointed to one of the rental houses across the street. "Also, I'm bored. Wanna go swimming?"

Annabeth started to close the door.

"Okay fine no swimming!" Percy grabbed the door to keep it from closing, clearly desperate for a playmate. "What do you want to do then?"

"Read," Annabeth said.

Percy frowned, and his lip jutted out slightly. "Okay..." His eyes lit up again. "Read to me!"

"You're not going to have any idea what's going on," she told him.

Percy shrugged and took a step forward.

"Hey! You aren't coming into my house!" Annabeth said, closing the door far enough so that there was no space for him to walk past.

"Fine. We can read in the hammocks then," he suggested.

At the same beach Percy and Annabeth had met, there was a small cluster of palm trees with a pair of hammocks attached. This also happened to be one of Annabeth's favorite places to read.

"Fine. But I need to get dressed," Annabeth decided.

Percy jumped up and down. "Okay! I'll wait out here."

Annabeth closed the door and muttered "Seaweed Brain."

::::::::::

No less than fifteen minutes later, Annabeth was back outside in a white sundress and sandals with her book under her arm. Annabeth wasn't a huge fan of dresses, but most of her other clothes were dirty and her stepmom had insisted on buying her dresses when they went shopping.

'Shopping'. Almost as if Helen was trying to have some sort of mother-daughter bonding time. But Annabeth knew better. She saw how Helen prioritized her sons, and how she couldn't care less about Annabeth's mother's death.

Although she would never admit it to Percy, the real reason she hadn't wanted to go swimming yesterday was that, deep down, she was scared. Scared that the same thing that happened to her mom years ago would happen to her.

Percy stood up from the curb where he had been sitting. "Ready?"

Annabeth responded with an eye roll. "Whatever, weirdo."

They set off down the sidewalk, side by side.

"Why are you hanging out with me, anyway?" Annabeth asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"Why not?" Percy countered, lazily kicking a stone.

"You're on vacation, aren't you?" Percy nodded. "So shouldn't you be doing things with your family? I'm guessing you didn't come alone."