Who I Truly Am

Ch. 28 *Edited*

Thalia POV:

"Thalia?" I look up. Some kid with dark shaggy hair is staring at me with his dark eyes like he just found his cat after it's been missing for weeks. His friend has the same expression.

"Can I take your orders?" I don't like how they're acting. Were they the ones who did this to me?

"Uh, give us a minute," the blond grabs the other's hand and pulls him away. The black-haired one keeps looking back at me. They duck behind a booth, so I can only see their legs on the floor. Do they know how dirty the floor is? That's gross.

I keep a close eye on them as I take more orders. The smell of greasy fast food fills my nostrils. Why did I get a job here? I could've gone to the shop down the street or the ice cream parlor next door, but nooo, I chose to work at a stinky-ass Mcdonald's.

"You need to come with us," the pale kid says.

"No thank you," though I would love to get out of McDonald's, I have no reason to trust them. "I have work to do."

"I'm sorry, but that wasn't a suggestion, Thalia. Our cousins worried about you, and I'm sure your hun- friends, friends are worried too."

"I'm not going somewhere with two strangers, especially two boys," the black-haired one flinches back. He grabs the blond and walks back to where they were before.

"What are we going to do?" I hear one whisper to the other.

"I don't know, Will, but we can't just leave her alone. She'll die!"

Why does that sound so familiar?

Can't leave her...

She'll die...

"We can't leave her all alone, Luke! She'll die! it's only a matter of time befo-"

"She's seven, Thalia, we can't take care of all three of us, we can barely take care of ourselves!"

"I don't care. We scant just abandon her! If we die, we die, I can't sit abandoning another Half-Blood that's found us."

What the fuck was that? Am I a runaway? Who's Luke? And half-blood? Like in Harry Potter? Am I a witch?

Nope, I am not dealing with this shit today. I take off my visor and rip it in half, then take off my name pin and stomp on it. I slide over the counter and run out.

"I quit!" So much for keeping a stable job. Welcome to paradise, I guess. Great, now I have that song stuck in my head. But it is my favorite band so whatever.

I run around the city, letting my instincts lead me around. The two teens from the store are following me. I duck into an alleyway and push open a door I instinctively knew was there. Are they trying to kidnap me?

I hear them run past and I step away from the door. Something trips the lights on and I put my hands up, ready to fight. Instead, I see a small room with a few blankets and preservable food stashed in the corner. I sit down on a blanket. There's some sort of journal under the blanket and grab it. I open it and see 'Annabeth' scribbled in the corner. Taped to the inside cover is a picture of three people. A tall blond boy with blue eyes, a short blonde girl, and... someone who looks like me?

Day 1 with my new friends

I ran into a few other kids today! They gave me this journal to write stuff in! I almost got eaten by some type of monster, but Thalia and Luke saved me! That's how I met them. Thalia's like a big sister and Luke is like a big brother to me. Thalia recognized my eyes and called me a daughter of Athena, so is that my mother? I hope I can meet her someday.