“All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorms room. Or maybe they'd realized I got my Essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.”

“something inside me clicked, like an engine shifting into higher gear. My thinking suddenly became faster and clearer. The anger and fear didn't go away, but I realized they weren't important. They weren't going to help me...”

“Then she did something that really surprised me. She blinked back tears and put out her arms.I stepped forward and hugged her. Butterflies started turning my stomach into a mosh pit."Hey, it's... it's okay." I patted her back.I was aware of everything in the room. I felt like I could read the tiniest print on any book on the shelves. Annabeth's hair smelled like lemon soap. She was shivering.”

“She studied me with concern. She touched the new streak of gray in my hair that matched hers exactly—our painful souvenir from holding Atlas's burden. There was a lot I'd wanted to say to Annabeth, but Athena had taken the confidence out of me. I felt like I'd been punched in the gut.I do not approve of your friendship with my daughter."So," Annabeth said. "What did you want to tell me earlier?"The music was playing. People were dancing in the streets. I said, "I, uh, was thinking we got interrupted at Westover Hall. And… I think I owe you a dance."She smiled slowly. "All right, Seaweed Brain."So I took her hand, and I don't know what everybody else heard, but to me it sounded like a slow dance: a little sad, but maybe a little hopeful, too.”

“Are you kidding?" She looked at me as if I'd just dropped from the moon. Her cheeks were bright red."What's the problem now?" I demanded."Me, go with you to the...the 'Thrill Ride of Love'? How embarrassing is that? What if somebody saw me?""Who's going to see you?" But my face was burning now, too. Leave it to a girl to make everything complicated. "Fine," I told her. "I'll do it myself." But when I started down the side of the pool, she followed me, muttering about how boys always messed things up.”

“At first I was protecting you two because I promised. Now even if I hadn't promised, I would. You two are like kittens to me. I won't fail you again."I'll admit I got a lump in my throat. I'd never been called someone's kitten before.Sadie sniffled. She brushed something from under her eye. "You're not going to wash us, are you?”

“but I felt as if I’d just been Photoshopped out of my own book cover. And if there was one thing I wasn’t used to, it was being ignored”