Percy and I were sitting in my living room with our friends all around us. We'd been in a band called The Never-ending Labyrinth since we were 16/17. By we, I mean me, Percy, Grover, and Luke. Then, there was Thalia, the daughter of Zeus. Her and Luke have obviously been crushing on each other since forever, but he still hadn't made a move. Our other friends from camp that were there with us were Silena, Bianca, Clarisse, Beckendorf, Nico, and Chris. When we went to high school in Michigan, we met some other half-bloods, named Abby, Scott, Alyssa, Miranda, Cameron, Paige, Alex, and Madi. The first five I mentioned are in a band called JPR (Just Plain Rock).
Quick biography. So, Abby, Scott, Miranda, and Alyssa all had clinical depression at the time the band was formed (not Cameron, though). They were all either on Zoloft or Prozac. That was why they had originally formed the band. They all wrote great lyrics based off of the sadness and anger. Abby picked up the guitar quick, and already knew how to play drums, so she taught Miranda. Alyssa had amazing vocals. Scott had always wanted to play bass, and decided to learn. Cameron was great at keys and was basically the supplier of the bands instruments. They were amazingly good, and I was surprised they weren't discovered before we got there.
With our help, they were signed by Fueled by Ramen. And now here we all sit, talking about how our lives are going.
Just as I had started getting into my story about how my band was still at the top, a book magically appeared in front of us. It was titled The Never-Ending Labyrinth. That's odd. I opened it and read the first page in my head.
Oh shiz. This is about our "adventures" when we were seventeen. I guess all those introductions were useless. Then something clicked. I wanted to chuck the book out a window before any of my friends could see.
The book was in my point of view.
Shitballs.
Before I could throw it, Abby spoke up. "Annabeth, what is that?" I blushed. She looked at the title and her eyes went wide, as did everyone else's. "Okay, we have to read this! I'll go first, if you want. We can rotate every chapter."
Everyone in the room was looking at me with big puppy-dog eyes and I caved. "Fine," I said as I handed the book to Abby. "Just a warning, most of it is in my point of view." They all grinned and I groaned. Abby finally started reading.
"Chapter 1: Help from lyric guy," She read. Luke, Grover, Percy, and I grinned.
I chewed the tip of my pen. My song was perfect, but I was missing some words. "Yo, lyric guy! Get in here!"
"So disrespectful," Grover teased. I just rolled my eyes. What a lame way to start a book.
Oh yeah, you don't know who we are do you?
"Yes we do!" Alyssa butted in. Stupid crazy daughter of...
Well, I'm Annabeth, and am the lead singer of a band called the never-ending Labyrinth. My best friend Percy is the lead guitarist. Grover is my other friend.
He scoffed.
He's the drummer. He also helps with my lyrics when I get stuck. Thus the term lyric guy. The three of us have been friends since we were twelve. Sorta. Our other guitarist/base player is our friend Luke. He's a few years older than us. I'm sure you're probably curious about our band name.
"No—" I put my hand up.
"I don't care." Thalia smiled at me sheepishly.
Percy, Luke and I are demigods, as in half human half god. My mother is Athena and my father is mortal. Percy's dad is Poseidon and his mom is mortal. Luke's dad is Hermes. His mom died years ago. I'll get into that more later. Grover is a satyr, meaning he's half goat. Being demigods we can't trust anybody. Therefore, we have stage names.
Percy is Fang Ride, Grover is Stid Spike, Luke is Recav Dwyer, and I'm Josie Salix.
"I've always been curious, where the hell did Percy get Fang Ride from?" Chris asked.
"I'm sure it'll be in here somewhere," I replied as I motioned to Abby to keep reading.
Any who, back to the song. I'm finally almost done. I've been working on it for almost a week. It's never taken me this long. Hope it was worth it...
Grover grinned. "Totally was. I love that song!"
Grover finally walked in and grinned. "Need some help there, Josie?" Just so you know, he's using my stage name because our bus driver, Adam, doesn't know those are fake.
"Yes, actually. I'm almost finished with this song, but I'm missing some words in a few verses. Wanna help?"
He grinned. "You know it. Give me the lyrics." I did as he asked and he looked them over, smiling. "Can you sing it for me?"
I exhaled then smiled. "Sure. I have it memorized."
Clarisse scoffed. "Show-off."
Then I began.
"Thanks for letting us know," Bianca joked. "Sing it, Abby!"
"But I can't sing!"
"So?"
"UGH! I play guitar and scream for a reason, you know." But she sang it anyway.
Miss independent
Miss self _
Miss keep your distance mmmmm
Miss unafraid
Miss out my way
Miss don't let a man interfere, no
Miss on her own
Miss almost grown
Miss never let a man help her off her throne
So, by keeping her heart protected
She'd never ever feel rejected
Little miss _
Said oo, she fell in love
What is this feeling taking over?
Thinking no one could open the door
Surprise it's time to feel what's real
What happened to Miss independent
No longer need to be defensive
Goodbye old you when love is true!
Misguided heart
Miss play it smart
Miss if you want to use that line you better not start, no
But she miscalculated
She didn't want to end up _
And this Miss decided not to miss out on true love
So, by changing her _
She went in a new direction
And found inside she felt a _
She fell in love
What is this feeling taking over?
Thinking no one could open the door
Surprise it's time to feel what's real
What happened to Miss independent
No longer need to be defensive
Goodbye old you when love, when love is true
When Miss independent walked away
No time for love that came her way
She looked in the mirror and thought today
What happened to Miss no longer _
It took some time for her to see
How beautiful love could truly be
No more talk of why can't that be me
I'm so glad I finally see…
What is this feeling taking over?
Thinking no one could open the door
Surprise it's time to feel what's real
What happened to Miss independent
No longer need to be defensive
Goodbye old you when love
When love is true...
Miss independent
My jaw dropped, as did many others. "Dude, you totally just made that into a screamo song! Nice!" She grinned at me as a way of saying thanks.
I hadn't realized I had closed my eyes until I opened them. I looked out the window and saw that we were on the shoulder.
"Why'd we pull over?" I asked Adam. He blushed.
"S-sorry Ms. Salix, y-your voice was distracting. Please don't fire me." He was practically begging. I had no idea my voice was that good.
Everyone rolled their eyes. "What?" I demanded.
They all shook their heads. "Nothing."
"Why would I fire you, Adam? You're the best driver we've had." He grinned and started the bus back up on the freeway.
"Thanks, Josie." I rolled my eyes. We had gone from him calling me Ms. Salix to Josie? Wow, what a suck-up.
That got laughs from everyone.
At that moment Percy and Luke walked over. "Need some help?" Percy asked. I nodded. "Will you sing it again?" I nodded again and did as asked.
When I was finished, Percy and Luke's jaws had dropped. "What?" I asked self-consciously.
"N-nothing." I rolled my eyes. Suuuure.
"Annabeth, you like, totally need to stop being so modest."
"Well, I'm sorry!"
"Okay," Grover butted in, "How bout in the first blank you put sufficient?"
"Yeah," Luke said mockingly, "'Cause it's so true." I slapped the back of his head and he rolled his eyes. "Sorry. How bout in the next one you put apprehensive?"
Percy grinned. "Yeah. Then, in the next one, put jaded. Then misconceptions?"
"Woah," I mocked him. "Percy using big words? It's the apocalypse!"
He rolled his eyes. Grover laughed and our childishness and said, "In the next one you should add connection." They were all perfect. "Then for the last one put afraid. There, all done! Now sing it!" I giggled.
"Fine." I wrote in the words and sang.
Abby looked up at me. "Do I have to scream it again?" I nodded and she sighed.
Miss independent
Miss self sufficient
Miss keep your distance mmmmm
Miss unafraid
Miss out my way
Miss don't let a man interfere, no
Miss on her own
Miss almost grown
Miss never let a man help her off her throne
So, by keeping her heart protected
She'd never ever feel rejected
Little miss apprehensive
Said oo, she fell in love
What is this feeling taking over?
Thinking no one could open the door
Surprise it's time to feel what's real
What happened to Miss independent
No longer need to be defensive
Goodbye old you when love is true!
Misguided heart
Miss play it smart
Miss if you want to use that line you better not start, no
But she miscalculated
She didn't want to end up jaded
And this Miss decided not to miss out on true love
So, by changing her misconceptions
She went in a new direction
And found inside she felt a connection
She fell in love
What is this feeling taking over?
Thinking no one could open the door
Surprise it's time to feel what's real
What happened to Miss independent
No longer need to be defensive
Goodbye old you when love, when love is true
When Miss independent walked away
No time for love that came her way
She looked in the mirror and thought today
What happened to Miss no longer afraid
It took some time for her to see
How beautiful love could truly be
No more talk of why can't that be me
I'm so glad I finally see…
What is this feeling taking over?
Thinking no one could open the door
Surprise it's time to feel what's real
What happened to Miss independent
No longer need to be defensive
Goodbye old you when love
When love is true...
Miss independent
I opened my eyes again. "Perfect." Then I turned to Adam. "How long till we're there?"
"An hour."
"Good." I went to go tell the guys when I heard them talking.
"Oh, this should be good," Madi said.
"So Luke, who do you think that song was for?"
Percy groaned while Luke and Grover grinned. Everyone else just looked confused.
"Gee, Grover, I don't know. It could be someone on this very bus."
I heard Percy sigh. "Guys, I'm sure it was something that just came to her, like most of her songs." That's my Seaweed Brain. Always sticking up for me. And he was right. It really wasn't for anyone in particular.
Abby stopped reading and looked at me suspiciously. "Your Seaweed Brain?" I blushed while the girls all gave me knowing glances.
"Come on Percy," Grover said, "All three of us know how much you wish that that song was for you."
"I wish,"
Everyone outside the band gasped.
He replied. My breath caught in my throat. "But I know her feelings for me aren't like that. If she returned my feelings, she probably gave up on me a while ago." He had no idea how wrong he was. I decided to save Percy and butt in now.
They girls giggled and the guys rolled their eyes.
"Guys, we'll be there in an hour. Go get ready to meet up with everyone."
Luke rolled his eyes. "Yes mother," He said as he walked past me. He's got nerve.
I couldn't wait to see everyone again. When Luke came back to our side, Thalia quit the hunters. We'd be meeting her, Selina, Beckendorf, Clarisse, Chris, Nico, and Bianca (Who Nico finally managed to resurrect) at the Marriot. It was gonna be great.
It sure was.
I got dressed in my neon green skinny jeans and Maximum Ride T-shirt. It was my favorite book ever. That's were Percy got his stage name (Duh).
"Oh," Chris nodded. "That explains it."
I was already packed and ready so I decided to take a nap.
I got on my cot and Percy's words kept running through my head.
"I wish"
"I wish"
That makes to of us, I thought as sleep overtook me.
"Aww, Annabeth that was adorable!" Paige, Abby, Alyssa, and Miranda all cooed. I rolled my eyes and blushed.
"Who's reading next?" No volunteers. Surprise, surprise.
A/N Well, there you have it. My first time having characters commentate a book. Hope it was okay! Review!