To be frank, Annabeth is a nervous wreck.
Like. It isn't even the first time she's babysat. It's just that all of Annabeth's previous clients had been busy moms who barely spent time with their kids. It was so easy to babysit them. It was heartbreaking the way they claimed to love her more than their own mother, the way they shrugged off time with their parents to play with Annabeth. Heartbreaking, but easy.
But Sally Jackson's five-year-old girl? The one whose brother accidentally flooded the building a while back? The one who stubbornly refused any attempts at replacing Sally with a babysitter with a two-hour-long screaming session?
Yeah, that one.
Get why she's nervous now?
"Excuse me," Annabeth hears a voice behind her. "Do you want something, or are you just standing here for no reason?" The speaker's a teenage girl with black hair and a Kill Barbie shirt showing a very, very dead Barbie doll, holding her own leg in one hand. It's quite morbid, actually. Annabeth slowly takes a step back, trying to avoid her glare.
"I'm, um. Babysitting. At the Jacksons'." Annabeth does her best to look courageous, failing miserably. She wouldn't even be surprised if the Kill Barbie girl took out a knife and chopped her head off. But to Annabeth's surprise, the girl's expression softens.
"Oh. I'm Thalia. Percy and Cari's cousin. I'm glad they finally found a sensible-ish babysitter."
Annabeth is more than mildly offended. "Sensible-ish?" She demands. "I'm way more sensible than you."
Thalia snorts. "Uh-huh, Princess. Keep tellin' yourself that. Oh, and a tip for the job, since you're clearly a newbieㅡ"
"I am not a newbie."
"ㅡtry not to run out screaming when something goes wrong."
If Annabeth were a better person, she would've kept her cool. She wishes she were a better person. Because if she were a better person, she wouldn't have punched Thalia in the face. And the worst part?
At that precise moment, the Jacksons' door opens..
Thalia stumbles back, mouthing ow. Annabeth is about to apologise, to explain she wasn't usually like thisㅡshe usually was, thoughㅡbut then Thalia starts laughing.
Laughing.
Who the heck laughs after getting punched in the face?
Annabeth stands there, baffled, her apology dying on her lips. Thalia laughs for a good thirty seconds, long enough for Annabeth to start feeling very uncomfortable, especially with Sally Jackson standing at the door.
Sally Jackson.
And right then, Annabeth realizes she probably lost her job. Who lets a violent teenager babysit your kid? "Mrs. JacksonㅡI'm so, so sorry, I really...really didn't mean to. To, um. Toㅡ"
By then, Thalia stops laughing. She kind of winks at Mrs. Jackson, and Mrs. Jackson turns to Annabeth. "Call me Sally, dear. Come on in, it's almost time for me to go. I was starting to wonder where you were."
"Iㅡ" Annabeth feels really stupid. "Forgot to ring the doorbell. But, uh, aren't you. Well. Firing me?"
"Don't be silly. Thalia just has one of those facesㅡ"
"Yeah, everyone just loves punching me," says Thalia sarcastically.
"ㅡbesides, you were standing up for yourself. I like you. Strong but sane." She laughs. "Usually? It's either one or the other." She loops her arm around Annabeth's shoulders and guides her inside.
Cari is absolutely adorable.
When Mrs. Jacksonㅡright, Sallyㅡhurries off ("I'm closing up Blue-tastic Delights, my candy shop," she explains with a smile. She's clearly proud of her shop, and Annabeth makes a mental note to stop by one of these days) Cari plops herself on the couch and turns onㅡwait for itㅡthe Hunger Games.
Annabeth blinks rapidly. "Youㅡyou're watching the Hunger Games?" she stammers.
"Yup," Cari says, and presses play.
"Uh, Cari, I'll be right back, okay? You stay here." Cari ignores her, entranced by the TV.
Annabeth makes her way into the kitchen. She fishes out her phone and tells Siri, "Text Piper McLean."
"Text Flying Marina?" Siri asks.
"No. Text PIPER MCLEAN."
"Text Piping Mickean?"
Annabeth gives up and opens Messaging.
Annabeth:
piper help
Annabeth:
cori is watching the hunger games help what do i do she's FIVE YEARS OLD
Annabeth:
pipes this is NOT NORMAL
Piper:
let her watch
Piper:
she's old enough to make her own choices duh
Annabeth:
what piper she's five
Annabeth:
she should not be watching kids kill each other
Piper:
ehh
Piper:
why not?
Piper:
gtg i'm going to a carnival w/hazel bye
Annabeth:
thanks for the HELP
Piper:
ur welcome
Just then, a knock sounds. Annabeth calls, "Cori, I'm opening the door."
Cori answers, "Rue, noo!"
Annabeth sighs and opens the door. There, in all her glory, stands Thalia. "So," she says offhandedly. "Why did I just hear an explosion?"
"Oh, Katniss just blew up the Careers' food supply," Annabeth informs her.
"What?"
"Cori's watching the Hunger Games."
"Oh. Gotcha." She adds, "You're a great babysitter."
"Why, thank you."
"It's called sarcasm, Princess."
Annabeth closes the door and sits down in front of the TV to watch with Cori. They're at the very end when Cori remarks, "You're a good babysitter."
"Yeah," Annabeth rolls her eyes. "Thalia already told me."
"Oh, don't worry 'bout Thals. She's a fluffball covered in spikes. But really. Last one I had started screaming when I asked to watch Divergent."
Annabeth can't help it, she laughs.
"You should meet my brother," Cori says. "He needs to get a girlfriend 'cause his friend Jason said he'd never find one. He told me so."
Annabeth almost chokes. Guess who Piper's been pining over the past few years? Jason. God, how small is this world?
"Uh, no thanks."
"Your loss," Cori shrugs. "Let's watch Catching Fire."
"How about we play a game?" Annabeth suggests.
"Not happening," Cori says matter-of-factly.
Annabeth shrugs and sits down next to the girl, trying to hide her smile.
It's eight forty-seven, Cori's asleep and Mockingjay: Part One is playing when the doorbell rings again.
Since Sally isn't due back till ten, Annabeth figures it's Thalia again. She opens the door, but the person standing there is definitely not Thalia. He's average height and wearing a grey sweatshirt and faded jeans. His eyes are a light green, like sea water. His hair is the only feature he and Thalia shareㅡit's a dark brown-black.
"Uh, hey," he says. "Please don't kill me if you're, like, an intruder or something, but this is kind of...my house. I'm Percy Jackson?"
"Oh," Annabeth blinks. "Oh. I'm Cori's babysitter."
"Oh, okay. So, what's the emergency?"
"What?"
"Cori texted me that something's wrong. And unless she's upset that Peeta's captured by the Capitol or somethingㅡ"
"How do you know she's watching the Hunger Games?"
Percy waves the question off. "It's something of a babysitting initiation of hers. I dunno. Anyway, I was worried you, like, ran away."
"Don't worry," Annabeth says. She's pretty proud of how calm and collected she sounds, considering inside she keeps on thinking how Cori said girlfriend and looking at him is so hard because she thinks she kind of maybe got forced into a crush on him? Is that a thing? "I even got your cousin's stamp of approval."
"Thalia?" Percy smiles. "Oh, she's hard to please."
"Well. I also punched her in the face, so."
"Ni-ice."
"Yeah."
They both stand there, unsure of what to say.
Finally, Percy breaks the ice. "Hey, I...uh, never got your name."
"Annabeth," she smiles. "Annabeth Chase."
"Cool."
"Yeah. So. You coming in?"
Percy looks kind of surprised, with Annabeth finds odd, considering this is his house. "Sure. Here, I'll make you some oolong tea."
"Some what?"
"You don't know what oolong tea is?" Percy asks, baffled.
"No?"
"You're missing out on life, you poor thing. Come on."
Five minutes later, Annabeth comes to the realization that Percy is an absolute drinks snob. When she'd informed him that oolong tea wasn't her favorite thing ever and politely suggested having the Sprite in their fridge instead, he'd turned on her.
"Are you crazy? Sprite destroys your teeth. It's literally evil in a bottle. Evil!"
Yeah, apparently he has some strong Sprite-hating feelings. Who'd a thunk?
So that's why Annabeth is sipping chamomile tea ("It's not tea," Percy argues. "Just similar.") when she has the idea to check her phone.
23 New Messages
All Annabeth can see is a flurry of annabeth check the news and lock the doors stay safe love you and annabeth are you dead DON'T YOU DARE BE DEAD's from Piper, and a sole text from Sally: hide.
Just then, the window explodes.