Author's Note: Hola. Here is the unintentional chapter two. I really hope that you like it! Chapter one was just setting up for chapter two, so never fear, it will be better (hopefully). Remember to review to tell me what you think! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Most people on fanfiction don't, yet we still put these disclaimers on the top, I mean really, who's going to sue us? BS!
Annabeth's POV:
Thalia ran faster than she normally did, dragging me across the camp behind her. All I could see was her spiky, black hair bobbing up and down in front of me, because her sneakers were kicking up so much dust.
I had never actually been inside the Zeus cabin before, so I had no clue what to expect. It was by far the biggest of all of the cabins, and kind of intimidating. The front was grand and pure white, and the large bronze doors looked like they were steaming in the sun's heat. Thalia waited patiently beside me while I gawked at her home. When I turned to face her I saw her looking hesitantly and shyly into my face, like I wouldn't like her cabin.
"It's... it's..." I just couldn't find the right word. I noticed that Thalia face was bright pink from holding her breath. "It's magnificent," I finally said, even though that word didn't quite cover it all. Thalia grinned and pulled me up the marble stairs. She grabbed one of the bronze lightning bolt shaped handles and wrenched open the heavy door. Coolness flooded over us, which I knew from my architecture studies, was because of the marble that it was constructed with.
Thalia wiped her dusty sneakers on the small blue doormat and stood nervously in the doorway while I took in the cabin. It was carpeted, unlike the other cabins, with a deep blue thick carpet. The walls were white marble, with bronze letters spelling out ZEUSon the door frame. There was an elegant stained wood dresser in the far corner and a giant mirror that that went from the floor to the spectacularly high ceiling. The ceiling was so high that it seemed to blend right into the sky, and it seemed to be based off of the night sky. It was painted a deep, dark blue, and its height made it look darker. There must have been hundreds of tiny inset diamonds that were supposed to be the stars that glittered every time a light was cast on them. The most spectacular, though, was the large bronze lightning bolt that was set into the ceiling and was polished to perfection.
It was so perfect, so spectacular, that I couldn't even speak. The Zeus cabin was so much grander and higher class than all of the other cabins, that it made me slightly jealous, but then again, Zeus was grander than any of the other gods. I couldn't even imagine someone actually living in this amazing cabin, and that's when I remembered, that no one was supposed to. Zeus's cabin probably had so much work put into it and was made so beautiful because it had the original intention of not having any campers living in it. Since Zeus wasn't supposed to have demigods, it was made as a place more for display, and less as a "crib" for a teenage girl.
I couldn't say a word, but the smile I gave Thalia must have displayed all of my astonishment, and she relaxed a bit. The cabin was spacious, and she led me over to where she kept her things. The bed was stained the same colour as the dresser, which sat right next to it, and had white sheets with blue blankets on it. As sophisticated a cabin as it was, Thalia was sure to remind anyone who entered that a teenager lived there, not a queen. There were posters of punk rock bands and mortal actors taped all over the wall around her bed, and pieces of black clothing were strewn all over the bed and floor.
"So..." Thalia said, trying to break the silence, "shall we dress you?"
I had to pull myself out of my state of shock to nod and then turn to face my doom. Thalia reached over to the dresser, pulling drawers out and flinging random items of clothing at me. While she was flinging black clothes everywhere, I looked for something I might like to wear.
"Thalia, this is nice," I said, holding up a baby pink skirt with black stripes on it.
"Ugg! I jammed that under my bed for a reason," Thalia moaned as she grabbed it from me and slid it back under the bed. "My aunt bought that for my past birthday and thought I would like it just because it had black stripes on it," She then returned to her search for good clothes.
I gave up trying to lie to myself that I liked anything in the room, and plopped myself down on her bed while she searched. Her dresser appeared to be bottomless because she just kept pulling outfit after outfit out of it. All the while, she had this smile on her face; and that was when I realized how much Thalia really loved clothes. "Oooh, you'll look great in this," Thalia exclaimed as she held up an outfit for me to examine.
I tried really hard to control my face, but I couldn't help but look scared. The clothing ensemble included a black tube top with a blue lightning bold on it ("My dad got that for me for my birthday," Thalia had said) a black miniskirt and fishnets. I felt my face turn green, but before I could get sick, Thalia grabbed my arm and whispered, "Hey, a deal's a deal!" I nodded my head and reminded myself never to make bets ever again.
She made me change while she looked accessories. I felt just so weird in it. My blond curls didn't really seem to go with the blackness of it all. The giant mirror was taunting me, tempting me to look in it, but I knew that I might faint if I looked, so I decided not to.
When Thalia turned to me, instead of smiling, she pursed her lips. She looked me up and down, tapping her hand against her leg. As though she had just been struck by lightning, she dashed back to the dresser and began rummaging through the bottom drawer. She pulled out a blue studded belt and quickly slipped it through the loops of the skirt. She then dashed over to a closet that I hadn't noticed before (if she had had so much clothes in her dresser, I was afraid of what was in the dresser) and pulled out a pair of black boots. She slipped them on me, fastening the buckles while I tried to focus on one breath after another.
Thalia stepped back to examine her victim. "Perfect!" she exclaimed, which I knew for me mean it was horrible, "I was right when I thought that blue would go nicely with you. It really compliments your skin tone," She pushed me over to the mirror and I gasped at what I saw. My clothing was horrible and I looked like I was about to be sick to my stomach. Thalia, who stood next to me was practically glowing.
"Ok, you've had your fun, now can I change?" I asked, my voice cracking as I almost fell to hysterics.
"And you call yourself a daughter of Athena? We haven't even done your hair and makeup!" I groaned and collapsed back onto her bed. She just pulled me back up and rushed me to the bathroom that I hadn't noticed.
The other cabins didn't have bathrooms, but I guess that as the daughter of the King of the Gods (I guess that would make her Princess of the Gods, but it's not like I would tell her because she would kill me for calling her a princess), she got a cabin of luxury. The entire bathroom was snow white marble with bronze sink handles and mirror frames. This time, Thalia didn't let me goggle at her living quarters, and pushed me into a stained wood chair opposite the mirror. She opened drawer after drawer of cosmetics. She rummaged through them hurriedly, throwing a bottle of this and a can of that onto the counter whenever she found something that struck her interest. The scary thing was that most of the bottles were black with black substances dripping from them, which could only mean goth makeup.
Thalia stepped back from her handiwork and examined the various items on the counter. She then spun my chair around to examine me. She poked and prodded my face and hair with such an expert touch that it felt more like she was about to do surgery than give me a makeover. When she finally released me, she groaned and mumbled, "Annabeth, you are so not made to look like me. I've got a ton of work ahead of me," and with that, she grabbed my hair and pulled it into a tight ponytail.
I really didn't want to embarrass myself during the makeover, for she had one the bet, fair and square, but she pulled my hair so sharply that I couldn't help but yelp. Using a black elastic, she gave me a tight ponytail and wound the rest of my curls into a tight bun. Keeping one hand on my hair to hold in it place, she sprayed what seemed like the entire can of hair spray all over my hair (and unfortunately face too).
Thalia pulled a hairnet from the counter and slid it delicately over my stiff blond hair. "Uh, Thalia, what are you doing?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Annabeth, you call yourself a daughter of Athena! Isn't it obvious? Blond hair so doesn't go with your outfit, and since I figure that Chiron won't like it if I forcibly die your hair black, I decided to put a wig on you,"
"But wouldn't hair dye be easier, you probably have a lot of it,"
I cautiously met Thalia's eyes in the huge mirror, and they were livid. She finished fastening the last bobby pin to my hairnet, and then grabbed her own spiky hair. "Do you think this is fake? Do you actually think that I'm such a poser that I would die my own hair black? Do you think that I'm a brunette, or ginger, or a blondie?" she gestured to my blond hair. "No, I'm no poser. I dress how I am, and I don't change stuff about myself to try to be anyone that I'm not. This is me!" she exclaimed, pointing to her punk clothes, hair and makeup in the mirror.
I nodded guiltily and clamped my lips tight. The makeover was becoming more and more awkward as Thalia was exposing me to her world, the world that she considered normal. This was clearly a touchy subject for her, just like how bimbo-blond is a touchy subject for me.
Thalia pulled out one of the lower drawers and revealed a black wig. I didn't even want to know why she had that.
She fit it over my head snugly, attaching even more bobby pins. It went to about my mid back with long, straight black hair. There were "emo bangs" that went straight across my forehead, almost touching my eyes. It looked horrible on me, and with my tan skin, I looked like a Mexican rather than a Caucasian.
Next, Thalia moved to the makeup. I started trembling, awaiting my horrific fate that lay in the black bottles that littered the counter. Now, I'm not much of a makeup girl, occasionally I'll put on a bit of blush or lip gloss for when I'm seeing Percy (and other people too, so don't think that I just dress up for Percy!) but I never wore my makeup as heavy as Thalia did.
It was incredible how quickly Thalia could transform my face from a pretty California girl, into a punk rocker girl. She applied heavy black mascara in order to cover the fact that my eyelashes were blond, and even heavier black eyeliner. It seemed so heavy that my eyes would close, but surprisingly, I was able to keep them open. Thalia then gave me the punk jewelry, which included taking out my little owl earrings and replacing them with large black earrings that were shaped like circles, as well as a chain for my skirt, and a studded choker for around my neck.
Thalia stepped back to admire me while I tried to keep from trembling. "Wow, Annabeth, you look so beautiful!" I groaned, knowing that if Thalia thought that I was beautiful, then the rest of the world thought I looked terrifying. Thalia steered me over to the huge mirror in her bedroom, while I tripped over the clunky boots.
I felt the blood drain from my face as I saw myself in the mirror. The room began to spin, and I felt Thalia's hands supporting my back, "Aww, Annabeth, don't pass out now!" exclaimed Thalia's voice from what sounded like far away. In a few moments, I had control over myself again, and attempted to look at myself in the mirror again.
I had to hand it to Thalia, she did an amazing makeover. You would never have guessed that just an hour ago, I had had blond curls and was wearing pink and white flats. I looked like a full fledged punk, and I was almost unrecognizable except for my body size and my face (but even that was a bit contorted my all of the eye makeup).
"Ummmm... uh, thanks Thalia," I mumbled, because really, I had no clue what to say.
"Good!" I guess she didn't pick up on the sarcasm in my voice. Thalia grabbed my arm and attemped to drag me out the door.
"What are you doing? Do you expect me to go outside like this?"
"Well, yeah, I mean, what's the point of dressing you off if I don't get to show it off?" Thalia said it as though it were clear as day and I were mentally retarded.
The shocking sunlight and stifling heat were startling different from the dark and cool haven of the Zeus cabin. It was obvious that camp activities had been canceled for the day, because camp was a wreck. Kids were everywhere, and running wild. Orange shirts littered the ground, seeing as the majority of the guys had taken them off. There was a massive water fight taking place over by the strawberry fields, and at least 20 towels with sunbathers were laid outside the Aphrodite cabin.
Thalia led me swiftly away from the water fight (probably in fear that I'd mess up my hair or makeup), and over towards the entrance to the woods were several campers were gathered. I scanned the group and gulped as I noticed that the majority of my friends were gathered there. As we approached, several jaws dropped, which only caused Thalia to beam even more. Percy, Grover, Clarisse, and Ethan Nakamura all stood together, wet with sweat and water. Clarisse's brown hair was matted against her head with sweat, and she had a large sweat mark on the back of her shirt. Grover (probably two skinny and embarrassed to take off his shirt) stood in his dripping camp shirt with his jaw dropped so open that his goatee was touching his collar bones. Ethan's hair was drenched, making it look even blacker than before, and although he was extremely thin, his bare chest was also rather muscular. Percy was completely drenched, and stood shirtless (I almost passed out) with his wet black hair sticking up in all directions in a way that suggested that Grover had been rough-housing with Percy's head. All of them stood with their mouths wide open, in shock. Grover, always the silence breaker, cleared his throat awkwardly and asked, "Um, Annabeth?" as though he didn't think it was me.
I smiled shyly, afraid of what they would say. Percy, being the seaweed brain of the group shouted, "Holy Crap! Annabeth, you're dressed differently!"
"Wow, this is so unlike you!" Clarisse snickered.
Thalia, desperate to be given credit, exclaimed, "Yeah, well, Annabeth lost a bet to me, so I got to give her a makeover! Doesn't she look great?"
It was an extremely awkward silence that followed, only broken by when Ethan stated, "Well, I think she looks sexy,"
Yeah, great, I thought, so the weird guy, not Percy, thinks I'm sexy.
"Uh, Annabeth, I, um," Percy started, and I could tell he was trying to explain his feelings without hurting those of Thalia, "you look... good. But... I kind of like you blond more," Grover nodded eagerly in agreement, clearly not trusting enough of his tongue to speak his mind.
Thalia looked me up and down and said, "You know, it's one thing to dress them up, but they're always the same girl on the inside," She then looked up at me and asked, "You ready to get back in your old clothes?"
I was afraid that I had nodded to eagerly, but Thalia smiled playfully, "Go on then, just don't make too much of a mess in my bathroom!"
I laughed, and waved as I dashed back to the Zeus cabin to become good old Annabeth again.
The sun was setting, one of those beautiful summer sunsets. Percy, Grover, Ethan, Thalia, and I had headed down to the beach to watch the sun set. I had changed back to my normal self; blond curls cascading over my shoulders, and my bright and not-black clothing on my body. We all lay in the sand, absorbing the setting sun, savoring the last strands of sunlight. With Thalia on my left, and Percy on my right, I had to smile at how good I had it. Clarisse was further down the beach, torturing a crab with a stick, Grover lay on Percy's other side building a sand castle, and Ethan lay in the water flirting with the naiads. This was the way that camp was meant to be.
I felt eyes on my face, and turned to look into Percy's gentle green eyes. His mouth streached as it turned into my favorite smile and he whispered, so not to let Thalia hear, "You look so much better than before, Annabeth,"
I smiled in return, watching the sun set with my family all around me; because really, we are a family.
Author's Note: Sorry for the cheesy ending, but it's early in the morning, and I just wanted to get this fic finished, and that seemed like the nicest way to sum it up. I also love beaches, so of course that was a great place to end it for me. As for the whole Ethan Nakamura thing; sorry, I just love that character and just wanted to throw him in! Thanks for reading chapter two, and pleeeeeaaaaassssseeee review!!!! It means so much to me to hear what people thought, it means even more than the number of hits I get. I would rather get 5 hits and 5 (positive) reviews than 200 hits and only 2 reviews. Ok, maybe that's kind of a stretch, but you get the idea. Anyways, thanks so much for reading and please review!!!!!!
