Hidden in Plain Sight

Annabeth and Jason sit in the kitchen, her polishing her knife and him pouring cereal into a bowl. He takes a bite. Annabeth looks up and wrinkles her nose. How he can eat that sickeningly sweet stuff, she has no idea.

     "I talked to Reyna last night," Jason says, his voice echoing around the mostly empty kitchen. Everyone else is still in bed or showering, even Coach Hedge.

      "Hmm?" Annabeth's hands stop moving over the blade, and she glances at him.

     "She didn't have any updates," Jason continues, "They're still in the same area, moving at the same pace. But she seemed really…I don't know. Odd. I mean, she wouldn't meet my eyes, and the way she talked was really detached. I'm thinking…well, do you think that one of those spirits could be using her or something?"

     Annabeth looks down again. "How long to you think she's talked to you like that?" she says, tone guarded.

     Jason squints up at the ceiling, a classic thinking expression. "Um, you know, now that I think about it, she's seemed like that for a while. Since I saw her again, actually." He blinks at his cereal, then shrugs. "Huh. I wonder why."

     He picks up his bowl and goes back to eating. The kitchen fills up with silence, spar the sound of Jason's spoon dipping into his breakfast.

     It takes him a moment to realize that Annabeth isn't cleaning her knife again. She's just staring at it, a crease forming between her eyebrows. Then she says, "Do you really have no idea? No clue at all?" There is a vaguely masked sharpness to her voice, and Jason swallows hard.

     "About Reyna? Uh…no. Of course not." Jason scratches the back of his neck nervously. Annabeth can be pretty scary when she wants to. "It must be because of the war or something." That must not be the right answer, because Annabeth sighs audibly. "Do, um, do you know?"

     Annabeth looks up at him. Her expression is deadpan, with a little anger hidden underneath. "Jason you can't be serious."

     "What?" Jason says, his voice going higher than he'd like. He raises his hands, as though she's going to hit him and he wants a shield. "I am!"        

     "You don't think it has anything to do with the fact that she obviously likes you?" Annabeth snaps. "Anything to do with the way you went missing for six months and came back with a girlfriend?"

     Jason raises his eyebrows. "How is that my fault? It wasn't like she and I were dating!"

     "But you know she liked you. And I'm guessing you liked her, at least a little bit," she says, crossing her arms.

     He shrugs uncomfortably. "Of course I did. We were really good friends. We went through a lot together. I guess we might have—I mean, if I hadn't—" Jason sighs in annoyance. "Never mind."

     One of Annabeth's eyebrows goes up. "Right. You could have been a couple if Hera hadn't gotten involved." He starts to interrupt, but the words die in his throat. "But the question is, have you talked to her about any of that? Even acknowledged what's gone on for the past six or seven months? Or have you just pretended that you and she barely knew each other before?"

     Jason glares at her. "How do you know so much about all this?"

     Wrong question. Annabeth stands up, her chair slamming back. "Because I know exactly what it's like to walk into the cabin of the guy you like and find it empty and search the whole camp and call everyone you can think of but not find him anywhere! I know what it's like to stay up all night not only wondering if he remembers you but wondering if he's alive! I know what it's like to wake up and think everything's fine and then remember that it's so not! I know what it's like to hold all of that pain back because you're the leader and everyone's counting on you! I know what it's like to wonder if he remembers you—or if he even wants to anymore! If I hadn't chosen the guy I did, I could have very easily ended up in Reyna's position. That's how I know so much about this." Annabeth pauses, her chest heaving. She's still clutching her dagger, and Jason's worried she might stab him with it. "So maybe, instead of saying, "Hi, Reyna, meet my new girlfriend," you should say, "Sorry I disappeared. I missed you."

     On the last part, Annabeth bangs her fist against the table. She glares at him, and Jason wonders how he went from eating breakfast to this.

      Annabeth storms out of the room just as Percy walks in, wearing pajamas and a confused expression.

     "She's not mad at me, is she?"