Wisdom Vs. Beauty

I was tending to some injured kids in the infirmary until I received an Iris message. From who? I have no idea, yet. I walked outside and looked for a place that was quiet. Considering how many bloody demigods are here, it was immensely hard to find a place where you could be alone.

As I opened up the Iris message, I saw that it was an old friend, Grover. Where had he been the last five years? Beats me, but it looks like he's flying?

"Annabeth!" Grover shouted. "I'm on a Griffin with a demigod. This Griffin isn't going to last very long with two people on it's back, plus a guitar and a suitcase. We need you and Percy, fast. I'll let you know when this Griffin gives out, but please, hurry!"

So that's where Grover's been! He's been with a demigod! I've gotta find Chiron and Percy, and quick. I bolted off to the Big House to find Chiron, and thankfully, he was there.

"Chiron, Grover is in trouble!" I called out when I got inside the Big House. He looked up from his desk and straight at me.

"Grover? Where is he?" Chiron asked.

"He's been with a demigod the past 3 years," I responded. "He's trying to bring the kid here, but the Griffin they're on isn't gonna hold the both of them, a guitar, and a suitcase all at once for a very long time. He specifically asked for me and Percy." Chiron raised an eyebrow.

"Okay," he said. "You leave tomorrow morning. But you're taking Alexander with you."

My jaw almost fell to the floor. "Chiron, Alex has never been on a quest before, do you think he can handle that?"

Chiron nodded, "Of course I do. I wouldn't have told you to take him if I didn't," he said. That's true. "Besides, when you're gone, he's a mess. He's antisocial, and he doesn't participate in anything. He just stays in the cabin all day."

"He does? Well, I will have to talk to him about that. But are you sure he's ready for this? I mean, the kid's cocky, yeah, but nobody else knows him like I do. If we told him that we were to go on a quest, he'd have a panic attack." I protested. To be honest, I wouldn't mind Alex coming with us, he's just very different from all the demigods at this camp. I love Alex, he's my half-brother, but there's things out there that he by himself wouldn't be able to handle. He's got anxiety and he has panic attacks. His panic attacks aren't often, however; he hasn't been outside of this camp in 4 years. I'm not so sure he's ready to go back out there, especially since he's so fragile.

"He'll be with you and Percy," Chiron shot back. "He'll be fine. I'm sure of it. Do you have an idea of where they might be?" I sighed in defeat. I should know by now that Chiron stands by his decisions.

"I think they're both training." I replied. Chiron stood up and motioned me to the door.

"Let's go get them." he said, walking out the door and to the training field. I walked out the door behind him shortly after, closing the door and jogging slowly to catch up to him.

As we were reaching the field, we saw Drew stomping off in frustration and cursing in Greek. Chiron and I stopped for a moment to watch her, then looked at each other and said, "Alex." Of course, Chiron said his full name, while I just said his shortened name.

We started strolling down the little hill and up another small one, seeing Alex and Percy laughing harder than I have ever seen. It was sweet, my boyfriend and half-brother getting along so well. I smiled at them, knowing they don't know we're coming. But my smile went back to a straight face as Chiron and I walked up them and he said, "Alexander, Percy, come with us."
Alex and Percy obliged and followed us.

"Annabeth, what's this about?" Alex whispered to me. I shrugged my shoulders and replied with a, "I have no idea, but I think he's sending the three of us on a quest."

And as soon as I said it, his eyes widened, and I immediately regretted it. He looked absolutely terrified. I told Chiron Alex wasn't ready, but did he listen to me?

"Are you sure I should be taking on a quest, Annabeth?" Alex whispered to me again, fear lingering his voice. I knew he would get this way.

"Let's talk about this later, Alex," I whispered back. "Chiron wants to speak with us." Alex just nodded and didn't reply. Chiron led us into the conference room and we sat down as he started up the meeting.

"Chiron, what's this about?" Percy spoke up.

"Grover is in need of assistance," Chiron said. "He asked for you and Annabeth specifically, and I want Alexander to go with you." Alex looked down and bit his lip, gnawing at the inside of his mouth. He's nervous and scared.

When he looked up, he spoke, but it was barely audible, "W-Where i-is h-he?" Alex stammered.
"Baltimore," Chiron said simply. "I thought that since you've been getting better I'm training and you're from Baltimore, that you could join on this quest."

"Oh," Alex responded. "I-I g-guess I c-could g-go." Oh, I really feel bad about not standing up for him, but I saw the demigod Grover was with behind him. I remember about two years ago, Alex was sad about a boy he had met on that day. He showed me a picture of himself and that boy, before Alex came here. That boy that Alex showed me had two-toned hair. It was black and blonde, and he was wearing a Blink-182 T-shirt in the photo. The boy behind Grover looked exactly like him, except his hair was shorter and styled differently.

When Alex first came here, he was an emotional wreck. He was crying and talking about how much he misses some Jack kid to his protector, Rian. I guess Rian knew the guy also, because he would always comfort Alex and say, "I know you miss him, Lex, but this is for your safety. He'll be here one day, but for now, you just gotta stay strong."

And Alex would always say, "But I love him. I'm not even sure if he felt the same way." Then Rian would pull him into a huge hug and rub his back, comforting him some more.

Alex would really only talk to Rian about Jack, but he told me the boy in the picture he showed me was Jack. So if I'm right, Jack is that boy behind Grover. And I know that Alex wants nothing more than to see him again. And as much as it pains me to see Alex nervous and terrified, it'll all be worth it seeing Alex cry with joy instead of sadness over Jack.

"When do we have to leave?" Percy asked, taking me out of my thoughts.

"You leave in 30 minutes. They're riding on a Griffin and it's not going to hold them very much longer, not to mention that they have a guitar and a suit case with them. Go pack your things, you head out to Towson in precisely 30 minutes. Oh, and Annabeth, bring extra drachmas." Chiron explained. I nodded.

"T-They? T-Towson?" Alex stuttered again. Chiron simply shook his head yes.
"Grover has a demigod with him."

Alex face lightened with joy, "Do you know who it is? Is it Jack?" he asked desperately. Chiron shrugged.

"I have no idea." Chiron replied. Alex looked down in defeat and muttered an "Oh, okay." before Chiron kicked us out and told us to pack our necessities for the trip to Maryland.

Since Alex and I some from the same goddess, we walked together to our cabin. When we got inside the cabin, there was no one there. Great, now I can talk to him about somethings without him clamming up! I exclaimed in my head.

"Alex, can I talk to you?" I asked, sitting down next to him on his bunk. He nodded, looking down at that picture of him and Jack again.

"Tell me about why you get depressed every time you look at that picture of you and Jack before we go," I stated politely, "Please, Alex. You never talk about him, and all I know is that whenever you hear his name, your face lights up and your smile is genuine, what he looks like and his name. Please tell me. You know I can read people well, so you might as well spill the beans anyway."

Alex sighed in defeat with a tiny smile tugging at his lips. "Okay, okay," he said. "I'll tell you." He paused for a brief moment, trying to remember his memories with Jack. I let him do that, because throughout this trip, I want him to talk about this kid non-stop if I want to see a 100% genuine smile from this kid.

"Jack was my best friend. We went to the same boarding school, however, we weren't roommates, but we'd act like we were. We were very close. He was always the person I'd go to whenever I was down. He knew everything about me, except one thing..." he trailed off.
"Alex, what was that thing?" I asked, bringing him out of his thoughts. I held onto him gently, so he knows that he can tell me.

"That I like him. A lot. I never stopped." he said, getting quieter at the end. I knew it. I knew he liked that boy!

"We should get going," I said, grabbing my bag and standing up. "Percy's probably waiting for us outside with a chariot." Alex followed suit and we walked out of the cabin with our things.

"If you want, we don't have to talk about Jack anymore, and we could talk about those bands you like?" I suggested, trying to get his mind off of the boy he had been crushing in for ages.
Alex grinned, "Yeah, okay." he said, showing off happiness for the first time since we spoke about Jack. It was sweet.

Notes

I updated this a few days ago on my Wattpad, and every time I got on the computer, I kept forgetting to put it up on here. Sorry! I have one other chapter for this story to put up!