Annabeth's Mortal Friends

Chapter Thirty-Four

"I am not."

She shrugged, resting her elbow on the arm of the chair and looking up at me. "Whatever, man, fill me in."

I stared at her for a bit, but she did nothing but blink right back at me. I still really can't tell how she feels about this plan, but I need to tell someone where I'm going, just in case I get caught and Percy kills me or something.

"Okay, well Percy and Annabeth's camp is in New York, right?" I began.

"Right." Jordan nodded.

"They always talk about wanting to go back to it, right?" I said.

"Mhmm."

"Okay, well then they're probably going to sneak off there at some point, and I'm going to follow them."

"Okay, that...wait, what? Are you insane?" Jordan sat a bit straighter, giving me a puzzled look.

"What do you mean?" I tilted my head to the side.

"Don't you literally think that this place is a cult?" She asked, mirroring my head tilt.

I forgot that she doesn't know everything that I know. I open my mouth to correct her, but then shut it again. Would she even believe me if I told her what I knew?

"I can take care of myself," I reassured her.

She stared at me a bit longer. "Are you sure? I don't want you getting hurt - er - doing something you'll regret," she muttered, looking down at her lap.

"I told you already, Jor, I have to help Annabeth."

"Right, anything for Annabeth..." She trailed off.

"What does that mean?" I asked, but she kept her eyes glued to her lap.

"Nothing, Caleb," she replied.

I shut my mouth, continuing to watch her. Something was up. I wasn't sure what her problem was, but I can take a hint, and she clearly doesn't want to talk about this.

Emma walked back up to our row, taking one look at Jordan than another at me. She raised an eyebrow, and I shrugged in response, lifting my legs to let Emma back into her seat. She finally slides the window open again now that Jordan is awake and stares out at the clouds floating by beneath us.

As soon as Emma sits down, Jordan stands up and walks off to the bathroom. I turn my head and watch her leave, frowning. I wish I knew what was wrong.

My eyes naturally floated to where Percy and Annabeth were supposed to be sitting, but they're nowhere to be found. Andrew's sitting in the window seat, his back against the wall and his feet rested on the other two seats as if the pair were never there. Now that I think about it, I never actually saw them on the plane...

"They aren't here, you know," Emma said behind me. I turned back around in my seat, trying to look nonchalant.

"What?"

"Percy and Annabeth. That's who you were looking for, right?" She asked.

"Right..." I responded warily.

"Yeah, apparently they both really hate planes. Annabeth said it was 'life or death' so they must share a pretty serious phobia of flying." Emma said, her gaze flickering out the window again.

I could imagine Percy being scared of flying, but Annabeth? She isn't scared of anything... at least I thought...

I joined Emma in looking out the window.

If all these Greek gods are real, doesn't that technically mean I'm flying in Zeus's house right now? You would think Percy and Annabeth would feel safe in the domain of a god...

With the massive clouds surrounding the plane and the ground several miles below us, I couldn't help but feel like a single speck of dust in the grand scheme of the Earth.

———————————————

Wooooow it has been a while since my last chapter. I know I always apologize for that, but now I actually have a way to make it up to you guys.

Surprise, I have an updating schedule now!

It's VERY late in the game because there's like less than 10 chapters of this story left, but better late than never, right?

I will now be posting a new chapter every single Monday, so stay tuned! We're almost done...

5/3/21