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Thalia peered around the corner, her heart throbbing in her throat. This was it. The first step. They had to get through this; she would never forgive herself if they didn't. Will had his arm wrapped around Annabeth to stop her from shaking and Katie nodded quietly to herself, getting the beat ready. Beckendorf pulled them all into one more group hug, before slipping back to where the rest of their group was seated. Thalia allowed herself a small smile, thinking about how they filled the entire fifth row of the concert hall, their little family of misfits.
Then Dionysus was on the stage, announcing that they had gone overtime and everyone could begin leaving before their free parking expired. He reminded everyone to submit his or her favourite band and the top team would be proceeding to the next stage in the competition. Thalia's throat went dry and she looked in confusion at Annabeth, Will and Katie. Was this it? All their hard work and they wouldn't even have a damn chance?
Thalia looked at the flyer. "I don't know, Luke," she admitted.
Luke grinned at her, "Why not? Your voice is amazing, and coupled with Annabeth, Will and Katie, there's no way you wouldn't win." Thalia glanced down again advertisement for the New York Battle of the Bands. The grand prize money jumped out at her, five million dollars. Five million dollars could do so much for their family, their family of broken children living in the slums of New York. Thalia sighed, she thought of how they could pay for Annabeth's admission into the collage to study architecture, expand Beckendorf and Leo's mechanic shop, pay for Katie's mother's cancer treatment, but she didn't know if she even had a fighting chance against the rich kids who had musical training all their lives.
"The admission fee is five hundred dollars, Luke. We don't have that."
He grinned impishly, and simply told her not to worry about it.
A month later, Thalia, Annabeth, Will and Katie had signed up for the Battle of the Bands competition. Luke, still nursing his blackened eye, whooped in excitement.
Thalia carefully nestled beside him, and stroked his hair. "No more dealing with drug lords to get money, Luke," she chastised. Luke smiled at her.
"I'd do anything for my family."
Thali pretended it didn't hurt too much when he said family; she had long squashed her little crush on Luke, and didn't need it to resurface. However, Luke made it hard to forget sometimes. He stood up, planted a kiss on her cheek and said cheerfully, "Six months, and we'll be wondering what to do with all the money!"
A lot could change in six months though.
Tears of anger began to well up in Thalia's eyes as Dionysus said offhandedly to also listen in on the Half-bloods, the final band of the night. Like anyone would even vote for them now.
Suddenly, Thalia heard a commotion outside. A shrill voice cried. "It's a scam! You want us to leave because then we wouldn't get to hear THE BEST BAND EVER!" She choked on hysterical laughter as Leo's voice sailed through the auditorium.
"Come on!" She motioned to her bandmates and they hurried onto the stage, taking advantage of Leo's delay. Stepping up to the microphone, Thalia's heart plummeted as she saw people standing up and moving away from their seats. She ground her teeth though, and gave a quick nod to Annabeth to begin.
A beautiful piano tune began tinkling out from beneath Annabeth's fingers. Everyone paused for a moment. Taking advantage of their hesitation, Thalia leaned forward and crooned into the microphone.
Step one, you say, we need to talk
He walks, you say, sit down it's just a talk
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through
Katie struck up a beat on the drum as people stilled and some sat back down, entranced by Thalia's soulful voice.
Some sort of window to your right
As he goes left and you stay right
Between the lines of fear and blame
You begin to wonder why you came
As Will begin jamming on his guitar, Thalia let her mind drift back to the tragedy that inspired her song.
Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend.
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
Leo held a hand to his bloodied lip and looked in shock at Luke. The blond haired boy was quivering slightly, eyes wild. Frank stepped in front of Leo protectively. "You should go, Luke. Come back when you're thinking straight." Thalia watched Luke stagger away.
Let him that you know best
'Cause after all you do know best
Try to slip past his defense
Without granting innocence
"Luke, I understand you're upset about your mom, but you can't just turn to drugs. You have us!" Thalia begged.
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you've told him all along
Pray to God, he hears you
And I pray to God, he hears you
She reached across the table to grab onto his hand, but Luke just shifted his gaze and pulled away.
Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend.
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
"You don't get it, Thalia." Luke said lowly, "I..I knew how unstable she was. And I didn't get her help. I should have watched her more carefully."
As he begins to raise his voice
You lower yours and grant him one last choice
Drive until you lose the road
Or break with the ones you've followed
"Luke, please!" Thalia cried. "It's not your fault your mom committed suicide. It sucks that you lost her, but if you don't straighten out, you'll lose us too."
Luke sneered, "Well, some friends you are then. You all have it so easy, you have no idea what the guilt of not protecting your mother can do to you." He stood up sharply, "Drugs are my only way of escaping the pain."
He will do one of two things
He will admit to everything
Or he'll say he's just not the same
And you'll begin to wonder why you came
Grover sighed and knocked on Luke's door. He knew Luke would probably be high and throw something at him again, but he checked up on him every week regardless. As he stood in the silence, he wondered why he even bothered. Luke was only going downhill despite each of his friend's attempts to pull him from the darkness that was eating at his mind.
After twenty minutes, Grover felt a tap on his shoulder. "Are you a friend of Mr. Castellan?"
Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend.
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
Thalia knew something was wrong the moment Grover called an emergency group meeting. Everyone sat around the garage, on upturned buckets, piles of tires, and cross-legged on the floor. As Grover opened his mouth, Thalia panicked. "We have to wait for Luke," she said. "Did someone get him?" Grover looked at her with the saddest look in his eyes and then she knew.
How to save a life
How to save a life
Overdose. Thalia remembers screaming and running out of the garage. Then Beckendorf's arms were around her thrashing form, and she fell limply against him, sobbing.
Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend.
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
The funeral was a quiet affair. Annabeth broke down, realizing Luke would never be there again to grab her and spin her a flying hug. Grover closed his eyes and thought about all the encouragement Luke had given him, whenever he came back from a failed protest to save a little section of forest. Thalia stood numbly and wished she had known how to save Luke's life.
How to save a life
As the final notes of the piano dissolved into the air, Thalia realized tears were falling down her cheeks. "I wish you were here, Luke," she whispered, looking up at the standing ovation. Not a single person had left the concert hall. Screaming the loudest was her family, Beckendorf, Leo, Frank, Clarisse and Grover. Thalia felt arms wrap around her and laughed as Will folded her, Annabeth and Katie into a group hug.
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