~Frank's POV~
"How long does it take someone to get Percy?" I asked impatiently.
"Chill, dude. She's probably just talking to him." Leo said.
"About what?"
"I don't know, maybe where we're going?" Leo said sarcastically.
Leo and I were waiting my Thalia's Tree, just by the camp's barrier.
Annabeth, Jason, and Piper eventually showed up. The only people who weren't here were Hazel and Percy.
"I wonder what's taking them so long..." Piper muttered.
'Percy is probably flirting with Hazel.' I thought angerly.
"You are such a jerk!" Someone yelled. Hazel.
"Oh, come on! Don't act like that now !" Someone else yelled back. Percy.
Hazel was stomping towards us with a furious look on her face. Percy was trailing behind her like a lost puppy.
"That thing..." She said, motioning towards Percy. "can not be Percy."
"That 'thing ' is right here and has ears!" Percy retorted.
"What do you mean that 'thing ' can't be Percy?" Annabeth asked.
"I'm sorry Annabeth and Frank," She started turning towards us."but that 'thing ' was going to cheat on you for me!" She said with a disgusted look on her face. "And he didn't even care!"
Everyone gasped, knowing how much Percy sacrificed for Annabeth, just to say he doesn't care about her.
"We really need to get the regular Percy back." Jason said, pointing at Percy. "Look."
We all looked at him. He was now flirting with a daughter of Aphrodite. She blushed and giggled as he said something to her.
"PERSEUS SOMETHING JACKSON, GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE!" Annabeth yelled. Percy turned away from the girl and grinned at us. He whispered something in the girl's ear, causing her to laugh. He waved at the girl and walked back up to us.
"It's Daniel." He answered, causing everyone to raise their eyebrows in confusion.
"What?" Everyone asked.
"My middle name. Perseus Daniel Jackson." He rolled his eyes as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. Then, he turned towards Annabeth. "And yes? Is there something wrong?" He asked calmly, with an annoying smirk on his face.
Annabeth threw her hands up and yelled in frustration, walking outside the camp border. We followed behind her.
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*In the city*
"I used my phone to call some taxis, so they should show up anytime soon." Annabeth explained.
"Who's going with who?" I asked.
"We can 3 people into one taxi, so there would be 2 taxis with three people and 1 taxi with one." Annabeth said.
Leo gripped the sides of his head. "Ah! Math! Help me!" He joked.
"It's not that bad, Leo." Jason said.
"Anyway, back to Frank's question. You can just pick who you want to go with." Annabeth said.
After some discussing we decided.
"Okay, Frank, Leo, and I in one cab, Jason, Piper, and Annabeth in another, and Percy by himself." Hazel said, as three taxis pulled up.
"Fine by me, mother f*ckers. I wanted to be alone, anyway." Percy snapped, getting into one of the taxis.
"Moody, much?" Leo muttered as we all got into our taxis.
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~Percy's POV~
"Where do ya' wanna go, kid?" The taxi driver asked.
"The nearest salon." I said, gritting my teeth.
The taxi driver looked at me and smirked. "Ooh, the salon, eh?"
"You better shut the f*ck up, or I'll do it for you." I growled.
"Alright, alright." He said, beginning to drive off.
I looked out the window and saw the two other taxis. In one of them, Annabeth, Piper, and Jason were having a discussion. In the other one, Frank, Leo, and Hazel were laughing, probably at something Leo said.
I slouched down in my seat, crossed my arms, and huffed. 'I don't need them.' I thought, looking back out the window to see Annabeth, Piper, and Jason singing to a song. 'And it looks like they don't need me either.'
My eyes started watering for some reason. I sniffed and wiped my eyes, quietly laughing at myself for crying. 'You are NOT going to cry just because your friends don't need you! '
Finally, I couldn't hold them in anymore. I began to sob softly into my hands.
"Hey, kid, you okay?" The taxi driver asked.
"I'm fine." I snapped, wiping my eyes.
"You sure?"
"Yes."
"Look, kid, I know you want to maintain your reputation for being 'cool'. I understand that. I was like that when I was your age." He said.
"And?"
"My point is, you don't always have to act tough. Sometimes everyone needs a good cry."
I didn't respond, but I mentally agreed with him.
A few minutes later, we arrived at the salon. I stepped out and was greeted by the taxi driver.
"If you ever need a ride again, just call me." He said, handing me a business card with his number on it.
"Thanks." I said, surprising myself. I walked up to the front of the salon and shoved the piece of paper in the pocket of my jeans. Everyone was standing there, with an annoyed look on their face, like they'd been waiting hours for me.
Suddenly, the annoyed looks turned into concerned looks as they saw me.
'Sh*t, my eyes are probably red.'
"Percy, are you okay?" Annabeth asked.
"Do you think I'm okay?!" I snapped.
No one answered.
"Fine, let's just get this over with." I said, shoving my way through everyone to get inside.
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