Author's Note: Wow, guys...I just need to say how much I appreciate the outpouring of support I got from the last chapter! I received so many reviews and story alerts and favorites in just a couple hours. Nothing like that has happened in any of my stories so quickly, and it was so encouraging to me. You are all amazing people. Thank you so much.
Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson.
I Hate Prom
Chapter Two: It Doesn't Matter.
The next day, in the evening, Annabeth decided she had better give Percy a call. She'd calmed down and was no longer so angry about the whole prom situation. With her emotions now under control, she wanted to talk to Percy to sort of make up for being rude to him the day before.
But really, she'd been in public. What would the mortals have done if they saw her Iris-Messaging in the middle of the mall?
She found a fountain in a park that was currently deserted. All the children who would normally play there were home eating dinner, so she figured it would be safe to talk. She threw a golden drachma into the fountain's mist and asked for Percy.
He appeared in the mist in front of her, and smiled, "Oh, hey Annabeth!"
"Hi, Percy, how's it going?" She asked, keeping her tone cheerful. She was too proud to directly apologize about the day before, but maybe if she was nice to him he wouldn't mind that too much.
"Good." He shrugged, "Did you find what you were looking for yesterday?"
Annabeth's smile melted and gave way to a frown, but she was determined to be nice. "I guess." She replied, calmly. Though she was a little annoyed he'd brought that up. Why was he always so tactless?
"Hey, speaking of, er, prom... I sort of need your advice." Percy said, looking a little doubtful.
She froze, "What do you need advice about?" She asked, dreading his reply.
"The thing is, I didn't know who else to ask..." He mumbled, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "I'm supposed to bring a corsage for my date, right? Isn't that like a thing?"
"I guess." She said, shrugging. Everyone said so, but it wasn't like she was the expert on it.
"So, like, what kind?" He had this confused and helpless look in his eyes, and it almost melted Annabeth's annoyance.
"Just pick a kind of flower you like. And, you could ask your date what color dress she'll be wearing so you can make sure it matches."
He shook his head a little desperately, "I can't do that. It makes me feel ridiculous. Come on, Annabeth, isn't there some color that just goes with everything?"
She let out a sigh, "White, I guess, white goes with everything."
"Thanks! You're the best!" He said, brightening up immediately, "I don't know anything about this whole prom thing."
She swallowed, "Yeah, no problem."
"I'll see you at camp soon, right?" He asked lightly, in his 'I'm-totally-oblivious-to-how-upset-you-are' voice.
"Sure, see you then, Percy."
"See you, Annabeth!"
She waved her hand through the mist quickly, and sat down at the edge of the fountain, grabbing a rock of the ground and tossing it across the park in frustration.
Why was he such a clueless idiot sometimes?
00000
Two weeks later, Annabeth lay on her bed listening to her iPod. It was the night of the prom, and for some stupid reason or another her parents had made her put her dress on and do her hair and makeup. Shopping was one thing, but why did they find it necessary to torture her and make her sit at home in her prom dress all night? Did they want to depress her?
She tried not to think about the fact that Percy was currently in New York getting ready for his prom with some mysterious cheerleader.
Anyway, it didn't matter. Why should it matter to her what Percy did? It shouldn't matter, and it didn't.
But it did.
There was a knock on her door, and her step mom pushed it open and stepped inside. "Annabeth, honey, want to come downstairs and have some dinner?"
"No thanks." She said, taking her headphones out of her ears and sitting up so she could look at her stepmother.
"You look beautiful, honey." Mrs. Chase said with a smile. She approached Annabeth and reached over to fix a piece of her hair that had fallen astray. "Now, aren't you hungry?"
"Not really, thanks, though." Annabeth said, plastering a smile on her face.
But with seriously inconvenient timing, her stomach growled loudly.
Her step mom laughed, "Come on dear, you can come right back up here and pout after dinner."
"I wasn't pouting!" She protested, and Mrs. Chase raised her eyebrows, "Fine, okay, I'll come eat dinner."
"Thank you, dear, it'll be ready in five minutes." Mrs. Chase said, exiting the room.
Annabeth got to her feet and glanced at herself in the mirror, feeling embarrassed to be going downstairs for dinner all dressed up. She felt like a little girl playing dress-up again, and since she'd spent most of her childhood feeling unwanted, that was not a pleasant remembrance.
Her dress was simple, but elegant. It was a full length gray-blue gown, with a dark green sparkling sash around the waste. Her hair was pinned back loosely and curls fell over her shoulder.
She looked away from the mirror, feeling embarrassed for dressing up at all. At least her stepmother had let her wear her white converse instead of high-heeled shoes. Then she could at least feel slightly comfortable. But that didn't make up for much.
Annabeth grabbed her Yankees cap from the dresser, just in case she felt the need to turn invisible, which felt likely. Then she went downstairs to join the others at the dinner table.
Her two little half-brothers stared at her when she sat down.
"Annabeth! You look pretty!" The younger of the two said, giving her a big smile.
"Thanks, buddy." She said, giving him a small smile in return.
After that, dinner conversation was mostly normal, except that Annabeth didn't have much to say.
Once, her father obviously tried to get her to talk when he said, "I don't think the Lincoln Memorial is very architecturally sound."
"I'm not going to warrant such an outrageous statement with a comment." She told him, but she was smiling.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. It startled Annabeth, and she jumped slightly in surprise.
"Annabeth, will you get the door, since you've finished your food?" Her dad asked, calmly.
She looked around and saw the rest of her family still had food on their plates, but hers was empty. "But, Dad," She said, frowning, "I can't answer the door dressed like this!"
"Annabeth, please, the rest of us haven't finished our food." Mrs. Chase said, and her and Annabeth's father exchanged a look. Though she couldn't figure out what it was supposed to mean.
With a groan, Annabeth pushed her chair back and walked toward the front door. If she felt silly before she opened it, it was nothing compared to what she felt afterwards.
Percy was standing on her front porch.
Author's Note: So, what do you think? Was that chapter horrible? I don't feel that great about it, but I hope you guys enjoyed it nonetheless. Was it too out of character? Please tell me what you think! Thanks, you all!
