The Fresh Air of Nowhere
With her murderous death glare, Annabeth Chase was not to be taken lightly.
Her peers knew this. Her friends knew this.
Heck, people who met her just once knew this.
Unfortunately, her own mother didn't.
"Don't give me that look, young lady," Athena Chase said, giving her daughter a look. Annabeth tried to tone it down, but she couldn't.
So she took up the option of going up to her bedroom and sulking. Of course, because the world hates her so much, her phone had to ring. And Annabeth was ready to strangle when she saw who had called.
"I'm so so so so so sorry, Annabeth," the caller rushed out, and it just made her eye twitch. No amount of 'so' could stop this murder from happening.
"I thought you loved me," she managed to choke out, her voice still coming out calm and controlled. In reality, she was ready to rip out some intestines.
And before you ask, these kind of thoughts are healthy for a 17 year old girl.
"I was just mentioning it in passing like 'Maybe Annabeth could join us' and next thing I know they called your mom and told them. And she agreed. So you should blame your mom, Annie, not me."
"Don't call me Annie," she deadpanned, too used to saying this sentence fifty times a day.
"Right, sorry." And it was the use of 'sorry' that made Annabeth blink.
If Thalia was saying 'sorry', then she must really feel bad about this.
"Hey, Thals, it's okay. We'll have fun in... sweet, old Virginia. Two months, yay... Cheer up!"
Which was hypocritical because Annabeth wasn't cheery about Virginia. Not in the least.
"Tomorrow evening, Annie. Pack up and come here by 3:30. Or we'll miss the flight somehow," Thalia informed her after a half-hour of talking about the promises of Virginia. And even though you shouldn't nod to someone through the phone, Annabeth did, because Thalia would know. She always knew.
"See ya then."
When she saw Nico, she had to stifle laughter.
The poor boy looked so sullen, Annabeth almost pitied him. But then she remembered that she was the one getting dragged to a compete stranger's house.
She allowed herself a smug smile when Nico looked at her, and he scowled at her.
"Hello, Sunshine," she greeted him, and he gave her his special finger. She gasped, mock-scandalized. "Well, that wasn't nice. How would Bianca react if she found out her dear, dear, dear brother was-"
"Shut it, Chase. You're the one getting dragged to meet with strangers."
It was a bitter truth, and since neither of them were happy about this, they decided on a truce.
Somehow, they ended up on a plane that had two seats in every row.
Of course, she got lucky when she saw that she was sitting next to Jason.
Jason was the only one out of the others who actually understood Annabeth's love for academia. Mostly because he possessed it.
In fact, throughout the years, they had even kept a friendly rivalry. They had the same exact GPA, however, meaning that they were both eligible to be valedictorians. The school had had no idea what to do.
"Anne," he greeted her, tilting his head slightly in her direction.
"Jase."
They both started an intellectual conversation about the theme of "Paper Towns" by John Green.
"PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!" a girl's voice shouted.
Thalia and Nico smiled maliciously, whereas Bianca and Hazel just gave one of those 'I-miss-those-moments' smiles. Meanwhile, Jason and Annabeth narrowed their eyes in disapproval.
A guy with uncombed black hair was running around with a choppy-haired girl on his back. Despite her yelling, the girl was laughing.
"The best of times," Annabeth muttered under her breath, then turned to Thalia. "What's your cousin's license plate number?"
"P-S-J-8-1-8."
Jason nodded. "Let's look for it then."
They walked around the parking lot and found that the license plate belonged to a dark blue Honda Pilot. The model was probably from 2010 or 2011.
"This is it," Bianca said, her gaze scouring around the car. "But where is he?"
"Maybe he got lost," Annabeth suggested, rousing laughs from Thalia and Nico, head shakes from Bianca and Hazel, and a small smile from Jason.
Maybe Thalia or Nico would've commented, but just then, the guy and girl from earlier came again, still in the same position.
"PUT ME DOWN, YOU DOOF!" the girl cried, and the guy set her down on the ground right next to the car.
"Happy?" he mocked.
His companion retaliated by narrowing her eyes at him and gritting her teeth before muttering out a "Very."
They stood in a glowering contest before breaking out into laughs.
"Your cousins," the girl choked out.
"Should be here," the guy breathed.
"We are here, you Kelp Head," Thalia said loudly, making sure they could hear. They turned to the sound of her voice.
It was quiet for a moment.
Quiet.
Quiet.
"OH MY GODS, THALS, IT'S YOU! THE LAST TIME I SAW YOU, YOU WERE SO TINY!"
The guy jumped on to Thalia, hugging her tightly, and Annabeth saw Nico fail to stifle his laughter. As soon as the first chuckle broke through, Percy turned to him.
"OH MY GODS, IT'S BABY NICO! HE WAS STILL IN A CRIB LAST TIME I SAW HIM! LOOK AT YOU!"
Needless to say, Nico became the object of a bone-crushing hug as well.
"Percy, you're making everyone uncomfortable," the girl who had been with 'Percy' said, and he coughed awkwardly before pulling back to stand next to her again.
"Sorry," he muttered under his breath then looked at all six. "Introductions?"
Thalia rolled her eyes at him, and Annabeth had to hide her grin. This guy was acting like he didn't know them after practically jumping on two of them.
"You know Thalia," Jason said, taking charge. "And Nico. I'm Jason. That's Bianca," he said, nodding to the girl with a green hat on, "that's Hazel," he tilted his head towards the younger girl with gold eyes, "and this is Annabeth," he finished, nudging Annabeth with his shoulder. Annabeth decided not to stand next to Jason if they were ever in the same position again.
The guy with the green eyes nodded. "Right. Well I'm Percy, and this is my lovely Valentine, Piper."
He said 'Valentine' in a mocking tone, one that Annabeth didn't understand the reason behind. And judging by the way that Piper grinned, it was an occasional joke.
"Where's my rose?" she teased.
Percy replied with something not exactly PG-13, causing Piper to put her hand on his mouth. "Not. Another. Word. I mean, there are kids here." She teasingly waved at all six of them, as if they were the only grown ups here. It made Annabeth's cheeks flush from embarrassment.
"What was that scene we saw?" Hazel asked quietly, trying to diffuse the tension from Piper's words.
Percy and Piper grinned at her, rolling their eyes as they exclaimed "Memories!" in unison. They received an eye roll from Jason, Annabeth, Thalia, and Nico. Bianca and Hazel just smiled.
"Let's get in." They waved everyone into the truck.
Don't ask her how, but instead of ending up in between Thalia and Jason, Annabeth ended up riding shotgun. Piper immediately claimed the seat right behind the driver's to be hers, making Hazel and Jason sit next to her as Bianca sat with Nico and Thalia in the back. Which left her all alone with the doofus who likes running around the airport with his 'Valentine' on his back.
"Don't kick my seat," he playfully warned Piper as he drove out of the parking space. Piper blew a raspberry in response.
"Uh... Percy?" Annabeth said hesitantly, feeling nervous in her seat. "Is it dangerous to be siting shotgun while you drive? It doesn't seem like the safest thing."
Piper guffawed from behind her. "Don't worry," she said in a comforting tone. "Percy only goes above the speed limit like fifty times in one drive." The grey-eyed blonde was not reassured.
"Relax," Percy said, his tone mischievous. "It's not like I'm going to drive off a cliff."
"Are there cliffs in Virginia?" Nico called from the back seat. Percy grinned maliciously.
"Maybe."
Annabeth internally sighed of exasperation.
Shall I continue with this? Three reviews saying yes means an ambush of pranks.