Percy's POV
I am so excited! I finally get to see Annabeth! It has been so long!
I think giddily to myself as I speed through town in my blue convertible. I check the time. I should get to Annabeth's house in about ten minutes. Right on time. I smile and casually flip on the radio. My favorite song!
I dance in my seat and belt out the memorized lyrics.
"It's Friday, Friday OMIGODS it's Friday!" I scream into the frigid night air.
I close my eyes and make up new lyrics, fitting them perfectly into the song. I scream louder than the song itself that is already blasting at full volume.
"Everybody's lookin' forward to the date with Annabeth, Annabeth YEAH! Annabeth, Annabeth YEAH! Love, love, love, love. I LOVE ANNABETH CHASE!"
A sleek silver car pulls up next to me. A girl with beautiful, short, curly orange hair and bright, joyful eyes smiles at me.
"Rachel," I murmur under my breath.
"Gods, Perce, you're really looking forward to that date, aren't ya? She laughs.
"Rachel, I have plans. With, erm, my girlfriend," I frown, my good mood slowly diminishing.
"Ah. I had other plans, but I guess I can…make adjustments," she says with a wink.
My cheeks turn redder than tomatoes. I swerve to avoid a honking car, and Rachel slows to my pace.
"Look, Rachel, you're the oracle. You can't…we can't…" I trail off helplessly.
She slowly moves her car closer and closer to mine, close enough where we basically share one-and-a-half lanes. I shiver with fright and cold.
"I gave up that job…so I could be with you," she whispers.
She laughs maniacally. Then we come to an intersection. To the side you can swerve into an empty country drive, and if you keep on going straight you can stay on the highway.
I immediately make a mental choice to stick to the highway. I start to tell Rachel.
"Um, if you insist on following me, then let's make sure we take the-" I'm cut off when Rachel crashes her car into mine, sending us both flying into the open country.
"Rachel!" I exclaim in annoyance, slamming the brakes.
She expertly zooms forward and swivels her car around so we're facing each other. Then she rushes toward me and slams her brakes, stopping her car right next to mine. She leans out her open window towards me.
I quickly unbuckle my seatbelt and scramble into the passenger seat.
She gives a knowing smile and drives around to the other side of my car, finding her window next to me once again.
I get a genius (not) idea and strap myself back into the driver's seat. Then I turn around and zoom back towards the highway, hitting speeds over 100 mph.
Well, I'm quite an idiot.
Rachel is next to me again. She raises her eyebrow at me and gestures to the intersection. I ignore her. My brain finally comes to its senses, and I frantically try to brake.
Rachel looks ahead with a questioning expression. Then she gasps and stomps on the brake pedal, pulling back on the steering wheel with fright.
I clasp the steering wheel with white knuckles and close my eyes.
I love you, Annabeth.
Metal meets metal as cars spin and glass shatters. I am jerked back and forth and feel burning pains in various places repeatedly. I exclaim with agony every time.
Then it's all over.
My demolished car hits a fence along with Rachel's (which looks virtually unharmed) and some other destroyed brown car. We're all breathing heavily, and Rachel glares at me, blood trickling from a cut on her lip.
I gingerly touch the long slash on my forehead, and grimace at the blood stains on my dirty fingers.
The demolished radio spits out a last garbled word:
"Friday."
I glance at Rachel, who's window is again next to mine. I find this just a bit creepy.
Then Rachel leans forward. I, for once, don't resist.
Rachel gives me a passionate kiss on the cheek before revving her engine and speeding off. Somehow, no damage was inflicted upon her perfect car.
I frown and wipe the blood from my cheek.
Then I smile confidently and attempt to rev my engine. I press on the pedal and I'm rewarded with a boom and a flaming engine. Then I sigh, open the creaking door, and step into the frigid winter air. The tattered door cracks off of its hinges and clatters to the pavement.
The old man in the car next to me is screaming and cursing about teenage idiots, but I ignore him. I lean against the icy green highway sign and wearily read it.
Wait a minute…Annabeth's town…half a mile away?!
Maybe my night won't be so bad after all.
I jump for joy and bravely laugh at my totaled car. Laughing in the face of…a car.
Then -after looking both ways, of course- I leave my demolished car behind and skip towards Annabeth's house.
…
"You're late!" Annabeth screams when I show up at her door.
I sheepishly check my watch.
"Only…an hour…" I mutter, but she's already dragging me inside her house.
"I…need my purse, Perce, and…where's your car? Why are you…late anyway?" Annabeth asks skeptically.
I quickly stop laughing. Purse Perce! You gotta admit that's funny.
"Ah, minor car accident, nothin' big," I try to laugh it off.
"Uhh, what about the huge cut on your forehead?" Annabeth gasps.
"It doesn't hurt. Come on, dinnertime?" I ask, hoping to change the subject.
Annabeth laughs. "Alright, Perce. Let's go."
"Purse Perce? Or just Perce?" I laugh, leading her into her car.
I let go of her hand and yank on the door handle. Then I yank harder. It won't budge!
Annabeth cracks up, and presses a button on her keys. Click.
I smile sheepishly and climb into the driver's side.
"Nuh-uh! You are not ruining my car, too!" Annabeth scolds.
She elbows me away and takes the wheel. I start to make my way over to the other seat. But then she backs out of the driveway…without me.
"Hey! Wait- Annabeth!" I scream as she pulls away.
Then she stops. I run down to the sidewalk as she screams a reply at me.
"What? Fine, if you want, you can reheat the pizza in the fridge and watch a movie. Now I got a date with Jason!"
Then she pulls away…for good.
I sit in the grass for at least ten minutes, waiting for her to come back, but she never comes. I scream with contempt. I lay there in the cold until I hear the faint rumble of an engine. I stand straight up…to see a tow truck towing a demolished brown car. An angry old man sits in the truck, cursing under his breath.
I lay back down.
A moment later, Annabeth pulls up in tears from laughing so hard. I glare at her and dive into the car before the old freak notices me.
"That…was…hilarious!" she hyperventilates.
"Yeah, real hilarious," I mumble.
We drive off, Annabeth still cracking up at random intervals. I duck every time I see a brown car.
Then we pull into the parking lot of a fancy Italian restaurant. I smile and take Annabeth's hand. I walk her to the door and naturally trip over the step. I desperately try to regain my balance, but I tumble to the icy ground. My callused hands slip and slide on the ice-covered porch. Annabeth wobbles in her high heels and grabs the railing, but she manages to keep her balance.
She helps me up, embarrassed. Then she click-clacks into the restaurant with me in tow.
Inside, we find that the usually-popular restaurant is nearly empty. A waitress with a somewhat questioning expression leads us to a small table. She lays out menus, fills our glasses with ice water, lights the candle on our table, and hurries off.
We make small talk while looking at our menus. The waitress returns, and we place our orders. She brings breadsticks and we munch on them. I smile. My night is actually getting better.
But, of course, that can't last long.
I try a joke on Annabeth, and she giggles. I'm not sure if that was at the joke or at me, but I hope it's not the latter.
Then, over the loudspeakers, an announcement blares:
"The restaurant will be closing in ten minutes. Please enjoy the rest of your evening at Zé Italianó restaurant."
Annabeth and I stare at each other with our mouths wide open. We try to find our waitress so we can signal her over to cancel our orders, but she is nowhere in sight. We wait for her to come back impatiently. Annabeth taps her foot quickly on the ground in irritation.
Our waitress returns, but she is carrying a tray piled with our food. She smiles with blinding white teeth and places our orders in front of us. The steamy aroma drifts into our noses, and we mentally decide to just wing it and eat the food.
We immediately start choking down the food, as more announcements blare at minute intervals.
Seven minutes.
Five minutes.
Three minutes.
One minute.
I toss my fork onto my empty plate and lean back with a sigh. Annabeth daintily lays hers down beside her small portion of leftover pasta.
"I'm full," I yawn.
"Me too," she groans.
The smiling blonde waitress returns. She lays down a bill and, with a flash of her pearly whites, she stalks off. Jeez, this girl smiles too much. I pull out my wallet.
I paw through it and pull out crumpled dollar bills. Then I reach into my front pants pockets and pull out change. I add it in my head.
"I've got $37. How much is the bill again?" I ask Annabeth.
She checks the receipt, and her face turns ashen.
"$53," she mumbles dryly.
She rummages in her pockets and brings out a single petite, neatly folded $1 bill.
"Perce! We…we can't pay!" she whisper-screams.
The waitress clacks over.
"Are you two ready? The restaurant is closing," she smiles knowingly.
I wipe a bead of sweat from my brow.
"Ah, we…gods, I mean, God, I don't know how to put this," I mutter.
The waitress frowns, but covers it up with a perky smile.
"Well, are you?" she asks sweetly.
"No! We…we can't pay!" Annabeth blurts.
We both look down. The waitress narrows her eyebrows.
"You…can't pay?" she gasps.
We nod. The waitress massages her chin in thought.
"I would tell you that you could stop at home and then come back, but it's too late. You shouldn't have eaten here without enough money," she scolds angrily.
"We're really sorry," I sigh.
She cackles maniacally. I catch a glimpse of her teeth again…and realize that they're unusually pointed. Like…fangs.
"I suppose I'll have to report you too my boss," she mumbles with a crazy hint to her voice.
Annabeth and I exchange glances.
The waitress winks and stalks off to find her "boss".
As soon as she's out of sight, we bolt out the door, leaving our leftovers. We scramble into the car and speed off.
Once we're a safe distance away, I glance at Annabeth.
"I just found fifteen dollars in my back pocket," I admit.
"WHAT?!" she exclaims, slamming the brakes.
"Oops," I murmur.
She resumes driving, and I smile.
"Hey, I'll bet there won't be any monsters at the movies!" I say hopefully.
She looks at me, and I notice the corners of her mouth rise ever-so-slightly.
…
Once we're in the theater, we try to decide what movie to see.
I gasp.
Jojo the Truck Finds the Magical Golden Headlight!
"Annabeth! Annabeth! Annabeth! Can we see that one?" I plead, pointing to the sign.
"What? The little kid movie? That's G-rated, you know!" she exclaims.
"So? I wanted to see it for, like, forever! PLEEEEASE!" I beg.
She sighs. "Whatever you want, Perce."
I erupt with a cheer. I hug her so tight that she nearly chokes.
After we buy tickets, I frown as we pass the concession stand.
"Why no popcorn?" Annabeth asks.
"Umm, we're kinda out of money," I reply unsteadily.
She laughs. "Do you really think I'd leave all of our money to a monster?"
She pulls out a handful of bills, so we order a large popcorn and candy. Then we're off to the big screen.
We're lucky enough to get front row seats. The theater is nearly empty. It's like nine o-clock and this is a kid's movie, so what do you expect? Finally, the movie begins.
It's a really good movie, but I shouldn't eat so much popcorn. Halfway through the movie, I excuse myself to the bathroom to vomit. I'm done with the popcorn after that.
But the highlight was at the end of the movie. Jojo finally finds the golden headlight and is heading up the mountain to retrieve her prize.
I turn to Annabeth.
"Annabeth," I gently call her.
She turns from the movie. "Yeah?"
I take a deep breath. "I know this night really sucked, but…I have to tell you something. You…there's just this thing about you…" I find myself at a loss for words. She is just so beautiful.
I begin again. "You…you just have this thing, you have…you have…"
I brush her bang out of her face so I can see her eyes. But then I notice little white flakes speckling her hair. My eyes widen.
"You have…DANDRUFF!" I scream.
She backs away in surprise. I scramble out of my seat.
"Gotta wash my hands, can't get infected. Wash, wash wash," I mutter quickly as I make a beeline for the bathroom.
When I'm sure that my hands are dandruff-free, I emerge from the restroom.
I trudge over to my seat, the hum of the music from the credits ringing in my ears.
Annabeth is slumped in her chair with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Annabeth…I… I'm sort of a clean freak and…" I mutter.
She ignores me.
"I showered before you came, you know," she mutters.
I look down. My stomach rumbles loudly, and Annabeth raises her eyebrows.
"Uh, it's a bit embarrassing to have to ask this, but can we stop at McDonalds? I kinda vomited up my dinner, so…" I trail off.
She stares at me incredulously.
"You know what? Fine, Mr. I-Eat-Like-A-Satyr, we'll go," she mutters.
…
At McDonalds, we push open the door…and see Jason sitting at a booth.
"Hey Jace!" Annabeth smiles.
I try to joke with him.
"So how was your date with Annabeth?" I laugh.
Annabeth's eyes widen and her cheeks turn beet-red.
"Uh, pretty good, actually," he tells me.
I think he's just joking around, but I furrow my eyebrows when he converses with Annabeth.
"Hey, Annabeth, I'm still laughing about that café thing earlier today. That was hilarious, right?" he asks, not noticing Annabeth's "cut it out!" gesture.
"Wait, earlier today? When?" I ask skeptically. Annabeth looks like she's going to die.
"On our date earlier, I thought you knew," he says slowly.
He and I look at each other. Then we turn our glances to Annabeth…who's now bolting for the bathroom.