For the record, Annabeth Chase was not planning on getting drunk.
She only agreed to go to the bar because A) her friends claimed she needed to have some more fun (apparently, they didn't think the praxis and assemblage of Richardson Romanesque structures were fun) and they begged her to come with them (damn Piper and her puppy-dog eyes), and B) she knew her friends would get drunk and she'd have to drive them home. So at 8 PM, she found herself in a car full of sober girls that somehow already seemed tipsy.
"Annabeth, you've got to relax once in a while," Piper McLean sighed, as she sank deeper into the passenger seat of Annabeth's silver Lexus and examined her cuticles.
"Yeah, Annie, you're a little too tightly-wound sometimes," Thalia Grace added from the back seat.
"Don't call me Annie," Annabeth hissed through gritted teeth.
"See what I mean?"
Annabeth exhaled. "I can't help it. I get it from my mom."
"Your mom's sweet, Annabeth," Hazel Levesque replied.
"Yeah, well, that's because you didn't grow up with her."
"Don't blame your mom, Annabeth. The truth's the truth, and that's why we're gonna get drunk tonight! Besides, it's like our 3rd college reunion or something. Let's celebrate three years out of that hellhole!" Thalia cried.
"Hear, hear!" Piper cheered.
"College wasn't that bad," Annabeth muttered.
"Yeah, because you were the only one of us that got anything out of your 200,000 dollars," Thalia retorted.
"Well, excuse me for actually trying in college."
"OK, yeah, the rest of us weren't really the best students."
"That's an understatement."
"Hey! We weren't that bad," Piper objected.
Annabeth raised an eyebrow.
Piper sighed. "OK. We were."
"But, however badly we failed in college, we can see one thing. You need a boyfriend, Annabeth," Thalia brusquely cut in.
"Uh...what?"
"Annabeth, you're burying yourself in your work. You gotta let someone in," Hazel clarified.
"But I have you guys and Athena!" Annabeth protested.
"Yeah, have fun raising a family with your cat. But also, when was the last time you've hung out with us? Hell, when was the last time you've gone out with anybody?" Thalia retorted.
"We...uh..." Annabeth rubbed her neck and looked at her feet. "Dammit. I'm sorry. I'm a terrible friend."
"No! It's fine. We know you're busy. You've got a good job and all, but we're just concerned for you. You just need to let some tension out of your shoulders," Hazel quickly replied.
"Yeah, OK. Thanks." Annabeth snapped her head back up with a mischievous grin on her face and a gleam in her eyes. "Alright, girls. Who's ready to get drunk?"