Yeah, so this is my first story, pleas etell e what you think, that'd be awesome.
Credit goes to Rick Riordan for his characters.
Annabeth Chase felt like the world hadn't even woken up yet as she stepped out of her apartment building. The early morning sun was just peaking over the tall buildings of the city skyline. The street was practically empty of any traffic and Annabeth didn't see another soul walking along the sidewalk. The air still held the chill of the night even though the weatherman had promised a warm day. Annabeth shoved her hands deeper into the pockets of her jacket and wondered for the hundredth time that morning why she had agreed to get up this early. She didn't even wake up this early for school. School. Yes, of course, that was her problem. School and a demanding family.
Annabeth generally enjoyed school, yet in this case it was her adversary. Today was her last day of summer which meant her time would be occupied for the rest of the week and the weeks to come. Sadly this meant that today was her only chance to see her best friend, Thalia, before she left for college. That's where her family had to step in to make things even worse. Annabeth had two younger stepbrothers and her father asked her to babysit them after work. It was ridiculous, she thought. They were thirteen. When she was thirteen she stayed home alone, but there were major differences in the way they were raised and Annabeth couldn't argue. So the only time she had to see her friend was this ungodly hour in the morning. Annabeth cursed her father in her head as she trudged down the sidewalk with eyes half-open on her way to Super Joe's. At least Thalia had agreed to pay for the coffee.
Super Joe's was a local coffee joint only a couple of blocks from Annabeth's high school. Every high school student had been through its doors at least once, even the ones that didn't drink coffee. It wasn't a terribly big or flashy place. It only had a couple of small round tables and a bar that ran across the front window that held three stools. Compared to other places its menu was limited, but it was close to the school and cheap. Joe, the shop's proprietor and only known as Joe, was one of the few shop owners that didn't mind it when high schoolers crowded the shop and left a mess in their wake. It was something he accepted being so close to the school, besides the students brought in a lot of business, even in the summer. They were also a good supply of labor. Joe really couldn't complain that much.
As Annabeth approached the front door of the shop there was a guy on a skateboard coming down the sidewalk from the opposite direction. She was so tired she barely registered they were on a collision course with each other. In the nick of time, however, the guy came to an abrupt stop, stepping off his board, mere inches in front of Annabeth. The sudden stop made her jump and she nearly fell backward. Annabeth looked the guy up and down from his messy, black hair to his dirty, fraying shoes. There was a harsh glare in her eyes, but the guy seemed oblivious to her anger and flashed her an apologetic smile.
"Sorry," he apologized as he pulled his ear buds out. Annabeth could hear the faint buzz of music being played too loud, but she couldn't identify the song.
"It's fine." Annabeth was too tired to start something with this random guy. His grin grew a little more as he reached past her and opened to the door to Super Joe's. She accepted his gesture with a small nod and they walked into the coffee shop together. As soon as she was inside, Annabeth immediately spotted her friend.
Thalia wasn't the only one in the small shop, but she was the only dressed in all black. Her skinny jeans had holes in the knees and her shirt was a proudly worn memento from last summer's Warped Tour. She looked as dead tired as Annabeth did. Her blue eyes lit up when she spotted her friend and stood up from her seat to give Annabeth a big hug.
"Hey, glad you could work out some time for me."
"Yeah, me too," Annabeth agreed and released Thalia from the hug. She slumped down into the chair, not caring if it hurt. "I would like a macchiato. Now go buy my love."
Thalia rolled her eyes. "Alright. Alright." Annabeth leaned forward, putting her weight on her elbows and resting her head in her hands. She made the mistake of shutting her eyes. She could feel herself falling back asleep after just a few seconds. The scraping sound of Thalia pulling her chair across the ground startled her back awake. Annabeth forced herself to keep her eyes open and talk to her friend.
"So what is the plan since I have to be at work at eight?"
"I was really hoping you were joking about that whole eight thing."
Annabeth shook her head. "Then why would we be meeting at five-thirty in the morning?"
"I don't know," Thalia said with a shrug. "But nothing's happening without some coffee."
"We wouldn't have this problem if you didn't decide to graduate last year."
"You could've graduated with me. The world knows your transcript is already loaded. Aren't half your classes this year college courses anyways?" Annabeth didn't felt like explaining that colleges wanted to see four years in some subjects, regardless that she had enough credits to graduate. Thankfully, she didn't have to waste the energy because the barista called that their order was ready.
When Annabeth approached the counter she had to pause. The barista holding her coffee was the same guy that had held the door for her. It appeared as if he made an attempt to straighten his hair and changed his sweatshirt for a black polo that was a part of the Super Joe uniform. He had a bright, professional smile on his face. Annabeth had to blink a few times as she looked at him. She hadn't seen him pass her and go behind the counter. Her tired mind tried to comprehend how he could put away his things, change, and get behind the counter in such a short amount of time. It almost seemed impossible.
"Here's your drinks," he said as he handed to two girls their steaming Styrofoam cups. Thalia was completely natural in her movements, while Annabeth was mechanical.
"You're the guy who almost ran me over on a skateboard," Annabeth stated smartly.
"Yes, I am. Sorry, again for that, completely my fault."
"But you were behind me, so how did you…" Annabeth trailed off, letting the rest of her question go unsaid.
He seemed to pick up on what she was saying. His smile grew crooked and his eyes twinkled with a humorous light. "Well, don't you know you have to have a superpower to work at Super Joe's? Mine is being anywhere and everywhere."
"You're a superhero?" Thalia asked mockingly. "What's your handle? Coffee Shop Guy? That must really terrify the hardened criminals."
"Hey, don't be dissing the title. I have a very important job. Without coffee the fair citizens of this fine city would be endanger of falling asleep at the wheel or getting hit by wild kids on skateboards." Annabeth couldn't help but laugh at Coffee Shop Guy's mock seriousness. He could hold his own against Thalia, it was rather entertaining. His grin grew, encourage by her reaction.
"Percy, stop clowning around. You're here to make drinks not do a comedy routine," Coffee Shop Guy's co-worker called grumpily from the register. He was obviously not as much of a morning person. Annabeth couldn't blame him.
Percy let out an exasperated sigh. "No fun," he said quietly under his breath.
"It's all good. Sounds like you have a fair citizen in distress that needs to be saved right away," Annabeth teased, mimicking the ridiculous tone he had used.
"Duty calls." The barista straightened up a little and gave a mock salute to the two girls before they turned to leave the counter. They were both laughing at the boy's ridiculous antics. At least it helped wake them up some more.
"Why does this place have to get a good barista right before I have to leave?" Thalia asked as they sat back down at their table. Annabeth took a long sip of her drink, feeling the warm liquid slide down her throat and wake up her senses. Then she shook her head at her friend.
"Derrick is still better." Derrick was one of Super Joe's senior staff members. He had worked there for over four years. He had attended the same school as Annabeth and Thalia before he graduated. Now he was working his way through community college with the tips he earned from Joe's. He would always sing when he got tips, his voice was really good, so he always got the best tips. Thalia had tried to recruit him for her band one time, but that dream never went too far. She was always changing members in and out and practices were practically nonexistent.
"This is very true," Thalia agreed.
"So, back to my first question, what are we going to do?"
Thalia sat back in her chair with a thoughtful expression on her face. "Well, nothing is really open this morning. So... video games at my place?"
"Yeah, sounds good. I have to give you back your controller anyways," Annabeth agreed, downing the last bit of her coffee. She scrunched up her nose at the bitter taste in her mouth.
"Strong bit of coffee?"
"No, just remembered I left your controller at my dad's."
"Behind enemy lines," Thalia said ominously over her still steaming cup of coffee.
"Come on. If we leave now, maybe they will still be asleep when we show up." The two friends stood up from their seats, making the chair legs scrap across the floor. The noise seemed a little too loud n the half-filled shop, but not a single eye glanced their way. As Annabeth turned to throw away her cup, she one last glimpse of Coffee Shop Guy. He waved at her before ridiculously posing like he was about to take off and fly like Superman. Then his co-worker hit him in the back of a head with one of the rags they used to clean the counters. Annabeth just rolled her eyes and joined her friend out on the sidewalk. She tried to forget herself in their animated conversation about movies and not think that she was headed to her dad's place. She thought it was bad enough she was being forced to go there once today, now she had to show up again.
Annabeth's parents, Athena and Frederick, were divorced and had been for a long time. It happened so long ago that it didn't really bother her that they were divorced. It only bothered her when her father tried to be a part of her life. He had left when she was three with the age old excuse that he was no longer in love with Athena. She let him go and raised Annabeth by herself. Athena was a strong woman; she was angry not devastated. The divorce didn't destroy her. Sometimes Annabeth thought it had made her even stronger and more successful than if Frederick had stayed with her. When Annabeth was five he remarried and had two sons. He didn't cut out when they turned three. In fact, he actually tried cutting into Annabeth's life instead. They still lived in the same city, so it wasn't hard to arrange visits every now and then. To her surprise, Annabeth didn't hate her father, not really. She hated his life- his new one with a new wife and new kids. She hated what he did. Alone with her father at some restaurant or movie theater, she could deal. It was at his house that she couldn't push away her bitter emotions or bear to look at him.
"So why is my controller here anyway?" Thalia finally decided to ask as Annabeth was unlocking the door.
"The last time I had to babysit my brothers I forgot it here."
"I let you borrow my stuff because I think you're responsible, and then you forget it."
"Shut up. I left it in my spare room. It's perfectly safe." Thalia made a sound like she didn't believe her. Annabeth just ignored it and pushed the door open. Unlike Annabeth had thought, everyone in the house was not asleep. Her father and stepmother were both sitting on the living room couch and she could hear her brothers rummaging through the kitchen pantry. Her father stood up when she walked through the door. He had a weird expression on his face like her was nervous.
"Annabeth, I wasn't expecting you this morning."
"Yeah, I only came to pick something up." Annabeth was going to say more, but she stopped. There were two other men in the living room that she hadn't noticed when she first walked in. Both men wore expensive looking black suits and had neatly trimmed hair.
"Annabeth Chase?" the first man asked. "It's actually very good that you showed up. I'm Special Agent Mason from the FBI."
"Why are the Feds at your house?" All eyes in the room turned to focus on Thalia. She didn't seem bothered at all. Even the judging eyes of the two FBI agents didn't unsettle her. It was one thing Annabeth loved about her friend, but at the moment it wasn't helpful.
"Uh, Thalia, I think that maybe you should go."
"What?" Thalia objected. Then she caught Annabeth's eye and a silent message was passed between them. No matter how much they both hated it, their day together was over. "Oh, yeah, probably should head out. I'll catch you later." With her friend gone Annabeth turned back to the adults in the room. The silent tension was almost suffocating in the small room.
Agent Mason cleared his throat. "As I was saying, I'm Special Agent Mason. This here is my partner, Special Agent Costello. We work for the FBI. I'm sorry to inconvenience you like this, Miss Chase, but we'd like to ask you a few questions about your mother."
"My mother?"