Chapter 2

~Percy's POV~

"Hey! Seaweed Brain!" I looked up as I exited my empty cabin, having dumped and organised all my stuff inside. Unpacking really took a lot out of me.

Annabeth stood in front of me, arms akimbo. "Had a good summer?" I asked as I bent to tie my shoelaces. "Ah, it went fine. Hey, have you seen Octavian?" My head snapped up so fast I almost got whiplash. After the war, Camp Jupiter had to be rebuilt under Annabeth's direction and Reyna's supervision, so Chiron had invited the Romans to camp here temporarily. Even now, three years later, only a few cabins had managed to move back in, and the majority were still here. However, that meant Octavian the troublemaker was here too. I rounded the bend, and gaped. Octavian seemed much more imposing now, casually chatting to his apparently now huge group of followers, who hung on to his every word. "Oh man." I groaned and turned to Annabeth, who was staring at him neutrally. "Yeah, he appears to be much more popular now." I nod-shrugged, tilting my head head to one side and examining him critically. He seemed to have grown a bit and bulked up a bit too, but he was still on the scrawny side, and most of his sway still came from his influence, smoothly winning over the Romans and even some of the Greeks, even though they were treated more condescendingly than the Romans.

I shook my head, pursing my lips. When I turned, I noticed some of my friends on the other side of the hill. Piper, Jason, and Hazel stood there, talking relaxedly. When they saw us, they waved and beckoned, inviting us over. I glanced at Annabeth, but she was already gone, racing down the hill towards them. I followed at a slower pace.

"Nah, no way!" Piper and Jason were arguing. "Yeah, totally!" "No!" "Yes!" I rolled my eyes. "What's the matter, guys?"

"He said-"

"No I didn't!"

"You totally did!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yuh-huh!"

They glared at each other and I eyed Hazel. "Should I be worried?" She shook her head in mock-weariness. "I really don't know. They've been at it for a while now." I grinned. "I can tell." She smiled at me, and I smiled back, before looking up the hill. "Where's Frank?" Hazel's smile faded a bit as she glanced in the same direction as me; the Roman camp. "He's...he's sorting out a few issues about his praetorship. They aren't...cooperating as well as we thought they would." I nodded in understanding.

Suddenly, two slender arms wrapped themselves around me and I turned to find Annabeth inches from my face. I hugged her back, but my heart wasn't really in it, and Annabeth could tell. Shooting me a subtly confused and slightly hurt look, she disentangled herself from me. I tried to look apologetic, but I wasn't sure how long I could keep it up. All of it, this whole facade of being straight. Again, my heart wasn't in it anymore, and I knew the cracks were beginning to show. It was as if my heart was asking, did it really matter anymore that I was gay? Was it really that big a deal?

But the only reply my brain had to make was a replay of the abuse I received from my so-called 'friends' back then.