disclaimer: so yeah, i don't own pjo sadly
Annabeth
18 months, two weeks, and 6 days. That's how long it's been since I decided to leave the hell hole I called high school, and join into a band with my friends.
It's how long Piper, Thalia, Hazel and I have been on our own, leaving our past behind, our own little girl gang.
We're the true family that we've never had, the ones who see the good and the ugly.
The band met more success than we thought it would. 'Sirens' graced magazine covers world wide, and just like that, we shot to stardom. The money, the fans, the interviews all just rolled in.
We almost forgot what life was like before.
Almost.
18 months, two weeks, and 6 days. That's how long we thought it was finally over. The bullies, the fear, the rejection. We would never go back, ever. We were free.
18 months, two weeks, and 6 days. That's how long we've been trying to move on. Move on from the boys, move on from the pain, and look towards the bright future of singing for the rest of our lives, together.
Moving on was a lot harder than we thought.
It's hard when you can see their faces everywhere you go.
It's hard when you have boys flirting with you left and right, but all you can think about is why couldn't they be here.
It's hard to move on when you're still in love, but you know they don't feel the same.
You've known.
You've always known.
18 months, two weeks, and 6 days. That's how long it's been since I've seen Percy Jackson.
My best friend, who I once considered as close if not closer than Piper, Thalia, and Hazel combined.
We'd been through hell together, and knew each other better than we knew ourselves.
Betrayal from him was the worst of all. The wounds are still there, underneath the bandages of fame and carefree smiles, but they are still there, buried deep within my heart.
How do you forget someone you wanted to spend forever with?
I can still remember it like yesterday, we all do.
Sophomore year, 18 months, two weeks, and 6 days ago, the beginning of it all…
Half Blood High, the setting of the haunting of our memories.
We weren't always famous, well-liked, and the envy of everyone's eyes.
No, more like the scum on the bottom of your shoe. No one realized we were there until they looked, more often than not, with disgust lingering in their eyes.
At Half Blood High, cruelty is a sport, and no one plays it better than The Bees. That was our little nickname for them back then. A small taste of rebellion in the face of the vicious monarchy that ruled us all. In one way or another, they all had us wrapped around their fingers.
Reyna Ramirez-Arellano. Although she'd never admit it, we'd been grade school friends. Something about her natural leadership and my natural brains had made us a formidable pair. Of course it was fitting now that her natural leadership was now perfectly disposed ruling as a Bee.
Khione White. With looks that rivaled a Greek Goddess it wasn't hard to imagine her as a Bee. Her raven locks, milk white skin, and exotic eyes made her look like an evil Snow White. She delighted in any chance to prove her superiority over us. It didn't hurt that her dad was also a rich asshole. Made some fortune way up in the Arctic Waters.
Rachel Dare. She was, well, a curveball. At first glance, you wouldn't think that someone like her would possess a cruel bone in her body. All tangled messes of red curls, dabs of paint competing with the freckles on her cheeks, and the greenest eyes you could dream of. Not Percy green, but green nonetheless. She looked like a nymph of nature. A paint splattered nymph of nature. When she wasn't painting, her tongue could slap some pretty cutting remarks of its own.
And then, there's Drew Tanaka. Queen of Queens, a goddess among mortals. Not to mention Piper's half sister. That was one of the unspoken things between them. I suppose that's partly why she hates us so much. Hates that Aphrodite left her for Piper and Tristan. She doesn't realize that Aphrodite and Tristan are probably a match made in Olympus. Drew obviously inherited Piper's mother's, Aphrodite's, looks. The girl, as much as I hated her, was drop dead gorgeous. Thought, I would much rather she drop dead. She rules high school like it's her court, and we're all loyal subjects. Most of us are. As she might be considered fairest of them all, she's also cruelest of them all. A serpent's tongue lies underneath the flowers of her beauty, a witches mind beneath soft tresses.
Those 18 months, two weeks, and 6 days ago, the Bees would finally find the last straw we had to give, and pull it, painfully.
The sound of heels striking table resounds throughout the cafeteria as Drew Tanaka nimbly scales up, until she's on a table, high above us mere mortals.
"I think there's a particular announcement to make. One especially made for our very own Dumpster girls" At this, I remember the sinking feeling of inevitable dread, my stomach dropping all the way to the floor at the look in Drew's eyes. In the look of all of their eyes.
The cafeteria grinds to a standstill.
"There's been a new advancement. It seems that these girls have crushes," Khione mutters snidely.
The oxygen in the room has been squeezed out, leaving me gasping for breath. The logical side of me screams this is impossible, as the cafeteria is neither vacuum sealed or on the planet Mars.
I force myself to stay calm, strong, never let your opponent have the upper hand as mother would say. I glance around Thalia, Piper, and Hazel, reaching for their hands. We could get through this, like we always did right?
My eyes circulate the room, sending silent pleas of mercy to the mirthless sets of eyes, when I spot them.
Percy Jackson, Jason Grace, Luke Castellan and Frank Zhang.
Standing next to the Bees.
Good gods.
My ears pick up the voices of dooms before I register them, "For Annabeth Chase, one Percy Jackson? The poor girl, thinking she stands a chance," Rachel sneers in my direction. For a brief moment, Percy meets my eyes, with, confusion? Disgust? Definitely not love, I realize, blurry eyed. As my heart falls, dashed to pieces, I feel my pride, the pride that had always been my fatal flaw, give way as well. Did their cruelty know no bounds.
"What do we have here? Thalia Grace and Luke Castellan?" Khione croons, earning a couple of snickers from the more sick-minded of the school population.
"Sweet, little Hazel Levesque, in love with Frank Zhang," Reyna gloats.
"And Piper, Piper, Piper, dearest, you thought you had a chance with Jason?" Drew's shrill taunts are the final nail in our coffin.
The tittering in the cafeteria has become almost unbearable. Each boy, refuses to meet our eyes. The boys we'd called friends since junior high, abandoning us to the cruelest of games. The game of love.
"Sorry girls, but this announcement is to make it official. These boys will always be ours," Drew finishes off, embracing Jason. Reyna and Frank pair off, Khione snakes a hand around Luke.
And then there's Percy.
Willingly leaning into Rachel Dare.
There, rising from the ashes of my heart, comes a calm, cool, anger.
Anger, that rolls over me, allowing me nerves to burn in an icy sensation. Burn, because these stupid girls hold this much power to ruin our lives. Burn, because they're hurting my friends, and I can do nothing. Burn, because this entire miserable Half Blood High does nothing in the face of over glorified bullies. Burn, because the boys we were devoted to with all our hearts, would betray us just like that. Burn, because it was obvious now that Percy had meant more to me, than I had to him.
I let that anger, renew my fuel, set aflame the passion for the things that really mattered now.
Piper.
Thalia.
Hazel.
I would never let these stupid 'Bees' hurt them again.
I let the sensation roll over me in waves one last time, before I rolled it up, savoring it for another day, until those waves were just a tiny ball. And then I stored that tiny ball of anger, deep in my heart, ready to come out again if I needed to protect those I love.
I stood up from our table, the metal legs of the chair scratching the cafeteria floor. A last swan song, one last act of defiance. My friends stood up in suit.
No longer, would we take this.
No more.
And then we walked out of there, proud of who we were, leaving the cafeteria doors swinging.
Walked out of our old lives.
For what should have been forever.
a/n: wow ok so it's been awhile. awhile is kind of an understatement for a year, so i'm really sorry. for a while i kind of lost inspiration for this story, but then i came back and i was like, wow my old writing was kind of atrocious, so here i am, rewriting! yes, i deleted previous chapters, but they make way for new BETTER ones :))) so yeah, i hope you like it? maybe leave a review or favorite, it means a lot