The Story of My Life

        I slammed her cabin’s door behind me.
        I rarely got angry, really. Annoyed, yes. But actually angry? No, that was Annabeth’s job.
        Annabeth.
        Her name was also rarely associated with anger.
        But another argument. Another one.
        Why did she always insist she was right? Just because she was Wisdom’s daughter didn’t mean she would be right about everything.
        I could be right too, sometimes. She had to see that.
        I walked to the front of camp.
        No one bothered to question it—I had been at camp so long people rarely questioned me about anything, except some of my friends, or enemies, normally.
        Chiron was in the Big House, so I assumed that he wasn’t going to need the car any time soon. Except maybe if he decided he wanted some donuts or something.
        I got my drivers license a couple summers ago, so I knew how this worked.
        Luckily, Camp had left the keys one the dashboard (I mean, who would even steal it? It’s not like mortals could enter) so I started up the car.
        Where I was going I wasn’t sure. The fact I was going somewhere I was sure of.
        I passed through the barrier and turned on the radio.
        I hadn’t been caught up with the current world so I didn’t recognize the song.
        “The ground beneath my feet is open wide,
        The way that I been holding on too tight,
        With nothing in between”
        Even though I had never heard the song, there was something about it that... connected to me. Maybe it was the tune. But I was pretty sure it was the lyrics.
        Even though the war (or more like wars) were over and there were no large threats, I felt this was one of the most pressing times of my life.
        Everything had become so unbearably normal. I started holding on to all that I loved even harder, as if it could keep me from craving the adventure I was use to. The ground had fallen from under me anyway, though, because sometimes holding on too much to some things makes other things fall away.
        “The story of my life,
        I take her home,
        I drive all night to keep her warm”
        Okay, I hadn’t really driven anywhere to keep her “warm,” but I felt that was not what it meant.
        I had done so much for Annabeth... so much. Given up so much. Taken so many risks. I would’ve died for her if I had to.
        I fell into Tartarus. And out. With her. Only for her.
        And on the second quest we went on she cut herself loose and swam after the sirens.
I had to get to her, which was super dangerous, and only being a son of Poseidon had saved us.
        And I had had to go through a lot from her. I knww it wasn’t her fault, but before, when she had to follow the Mark of Athena, she ignored me. Entirely. I know she had a lot of pressure, but still... it had been six months. Six months. And after a short period of time, all of a sudden she’s about as reachable as stone.
        “The story of my life
        I take her home
        I drive all night to keep her warm
        And time is frozen
        The story of my life
        I give her hope
        I spend her love
        Until she's broken
        Inside”
        I fell into the song. I let go. I fell into the void, but as I fall something catches me.
        Letting go... letting go... let it go... let it go... lose it. Forget. Remember. Start over. It’s okay. Okay.
        I sighed in my seat, feeling like a glacier that had been cold too long; I had to return to the ocean. Let it wash over me. Let me be born again.
        Soon I realized that was where I was driving, and in not too long I was at Montauk.
        This was where I first really discovered who I was. When Grover first became a satyr to me, when my mom showed her bravery and knowledge of what I was.
        And where I felt at home.
        It was starting to get dark; not too dark, but dawn’s fingers were gripping the edge of the world like Atlas on his mountain.
        I got out and closed the car door, taking my shoes off in a matter of seconds.
        I had held the same sky, a burden I never wished to have again. Annabeth had too. She had held it simply because she didn’t want an old friend die, even if he was evil.
        She was pure then, perfect.
        And has she stopped being like that? I asked myself. Is she any different, any less pure? Any less loyal and beautiful in so many ways?
        The sand hugged my feet as I dug my toes in.
        The salty breath pulled me in and soon I was sprinting down it as the waves chased me.
        I felt like I was running from so much: fear, boredom, nerves. All of it was left behind me like a picture show, spread out clip by clip, but gone. Gone.
        My legs started to burn, but I kept my motions clear and my breath even. My face was screwed up in concentration and I almost felt like I was flying, lifting off the ground as I sped up like a horse.
        Power.
        Freedom.
        Power.
        New. I was new.
        I stopped finally and collapsed onto the wet sand, splayed like a dead body but never feeling more alive.
        A wave came up to me, all foam and salt and sand, and I let it fall over me like a warm and slippery blanket tucking me in.
        The water seemed to rejuvenate me, and soon I had my breath back.
        I started grinning like a madman, but I didn’t care.
        She hasn’t changed. She’s always been there; you just have to look for it. She has done so much for you too. You just don’t remember!
        I started walking into the waves deeper and deeper until it was to my chest. And then neck. And then it was over my mouth.
        She went six months without you and searched Every. Single. Day. She wasted her life away for you. And in the titan war she took a knife only because I would’ve died. She tried to sacrifice herself for you. And she has saved you countless times. So many. Nothing’s changed. I would’ve died for her then, and I still would. I still would. I love her, through arguments and drama. And I will forever.
        I was now a few feet beneath the surface and the dimming light cut through the water, lighting my face with a dappled green.
        I walked deeper and deeper until only a small bit of light could be seen.
        Even then, I could still sense everything, so I stopped and started looking. Looking for something...
        I didn’t know what I was looking for until I found it.
        A shell. A beauty of light and glitter and everything. The sea. I was of the sea. And this shell was of the sea.
        It was about the size of my palm, and I walked back to the surface, breaking through without a drop of water on me.
        There were not many people on the beach, except for a few couples, and it was now on the darker portion of the sunset, so no one would notice.
        I looked at the couples. They leaned into each other's shoulders and it looked like stars danced in their eyes.
        I suddenly missed Annabeth, so now, determined, I climbed back into the car.
        I didn’t turn music on. I just drove. Quickly. Urgently. I had to get to her soon. I missed her laugh, her face, her smile. Even her frown.
        Soon I saw camp, so I sped up and stopped the car back where it had been before, putting the keys on the dashboard.
        It would be a miracle if no one noticed I had been gone, and as I walked back in, I started getting asked where I went. But I told them “later” and continued straight to Annabeth’s cabin, the shell held in one hand.
        I knocked five times sharply and smiled to myself. My face was warm because I knew I was going to see her again.
        The door opened and I could tell it was her instantly.
        “If you’re here to argue more you can- Oh.” She stopped talking  to me and looked confused, but happy, too.
        “For you,” I said, handing her the shell.
        “Percy... it’s beautiful... but I thought you were still angry?”
        “Angry at you? Nah. Okay, maybe a bit, but now I realized there’s no point to being angry. I’ll love you anyway. And I decided being happy and in love was much better than being angry and in love.”
        “Percy...” She looked at me and smiled. “I love you, you know, Seaweed brain. Even if you get on my nerves.”
        “Me get on your nerves?” I said incredulously.
        Then she raised an eyebrow.
        “Fair enough...” I grinned again. “Want to go to the beach? It’s been too long since we’ve done that.”
        “That it has. Sure. I’m coming.”
        She stepped out of her cabin and closed the door.
        “I’m always coming.”