Annabeth's Mortal Friends

Chapter Twenty-Two

Caleb Pierson's POV:

I pulled the keys out of my car, shoving them into my pocket and wincing as I heard them jingle against the screen of my phone. I held onto them in my pocket as I hopped out of the car, clicking one of the buttons and waiting to hear the locking beep before heading into the restaurant.

I glanced around the chairs, noticing a few scattered people sitting around. A small family sat closest to the door, their attention turned toward the waitress as she wrote down drink orders. A head of blonde curls drew my attention to the opposite table, but it only took a quick glance to realize that it definitely wasn't Annabeth. Finally, a rapidly waving hand beckoned me over to the back of the restaurant. Jordan sat at our usual booth, her beaming white smile in complete contrast with her dark skin.

I walked over to the booth, sliding into the seat next to Andrew and sending a quick smile to everyone. "Hey, guys! Been a while..."

Jordan smirked at me. "For you, maybe. We've been hanging out all summer, but Mr. Perfect has to stay on top of Greek and swim."

I rolled my eyes, laughing with her. Sure, I'd been busy with both of those things, but I'd been a little distracted from the whole friend group by the one member we were missing. We didn't really need to talk about that now, though...

"So summer's already over, huh?" Emma asked rhetorically. "It flew by."

Andrew sighed, spinning the salt shaker back and forth between his fingers, letting it rattle against the hard table. "Yeah, but it was pretty uneventful, so I'm not surprised it went by quickly."

Jordan couldn't help but scoff. "Of course it was uneventful, Annabeth has been gone the entire time. There's always crazy stuff going on when she's around."

"Oh my God, you're right," I said, smiling at the moment that came to mind. "Remember last year in chemistry when that giant bird flew in through the window and destroyed Annabeth's experiment?"

Everyone at the table chuckled at the memory, aside from Jordan, who grumbled quietly, "Of course I remember, that explosion burned the ends of my hair..."

Emma pouted jokingly, rubbing Jordan's back. "Awh, Jordan, it wasn't as bad as you thought it was!"

Andrew, not quite as focused on sparing Jordan's feelings, shook his head. "Jordan, your hair was totally wrecked."

Jordan threw her hands into the air in exasperation. "You guys are so mean to me!"

We laughed a little longer, consoling Jordan for a bit before calming down. Andrew jabbed me in the side, gesturing at the waitress coming our way. We all quieted down, smiling at the waitress as she took our drink orders.

After the waitress came back with our drinks, we sat in silence for a bit, just taking the occasional sip and enjoying the last bits of summer break. Eventually, Emma leaned back against the hard wood of the booth and sighed, pulling everyone back into the conversation. "It feels so quiet without them here..."

"Them?" Andrew emphasized, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, Annabeth and Percy."

I could see Jordan cringe out of the corner of my eye, her eyes widening for a split second as she looked back down at her drink. It was as if she could sense that I wasn't happy with that statement.

"Hell no," I interjected immediately, shaking my head. "We are not ruining the little bit of summer we have left by talking about Percy Jackson."

"Why not? He's our friend too..." Emma said quietly.