How'd you guys like the first chapter?
So sorry we've not been updating much, and a very humungo sorry to everyone who has been following Midnight Madness. That story hasn't been updated in nearly 2 months, but we can't come up with any ideas! We've been playing with some ideas in our heads and will update as soon as we get something written up. Anyway, if any of y'all have any ideas, please PM us or leave a review on the Midnight Madness story.
But for now, please enjoy chapter 2 of Chad!
~ThreeOlympianGoddesses
The next day, Percy woke up to the sound of sizzling. He immediately perked up, got out of bed, and ran into the kitchen, his socks sliding on the hardwood floor.
Annabeth was at the stove, transferring the bacon onto a plate. He frowned. She never made bacon in the mornings, since it took time and effort and they both had to go to work. In fact, there was a heaping pile of frozen waffles in the freezer and a cupboard stocked with various cereals. So what was the occasion?
Percy thought hard. No, it wasn't her birthday, (she would've dropped present hints at least 2 weeks before), and it wasn't his either, he was sure of that. No holidays today...so what?
Annabeth turned around and noticed Percy standing behind her. She smiled, and he noticed that she looked like she had put quite a bit of effort into her look today. Annabeth had her blond hair down and it was straightened. Her grey eyes shone like she had a secret. For all Percy knew, maybe she did.
"Hey Percy! I was just making some breakfast. You want?" she asked. He nodded and sat down at their makeshift dining table. Annabeth handed him a plate of pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. The smell wafted off the plate, and Percy breathed in deeply.
"Mmmm. Annabeth, when'd you find time to make all this?" he asked, mouth stuffed full of pancake and maple syrup.
"Oh, I got up early," she answered, wiping her hands on a dish rag. "I gotta go start packing, but there's more on the counter if you want." She left the kitchen, whistling to herself all the way to her bedroom.
Percy knew now. Chad had caused all this. Suddenly, he wasn't so hungry anymore. "Well, she's in a great mood," he grumbled to no one in particular. He took a bite of the delicious gourmet meal that Annabeth made. "Ugh, stupid Chad-food."
"What's that, Percy?" a cocky girl's voice asked behind him. Percy knew it wasn't Annabeth, so...
Thalia Grace stood in the doorway of their apartment. She wore a fitted black leather jacket over a silver tank top and black jeans. Though Thalia was an immortal girl that would always look like a young teen, she looked more mature now. Like, she had seen it all. She held out her arms for a hug.
"Thalia!" Percy exclaimed, accepting her hug. "How have you been?"
"Amazing. Lots of adventure. What about you?" Thalia replied.
"Who's here?" Annabeth called.
"ME!" Thalia shouted, just as Annabeth came into the kitchen.
"Thalia!"
The girls embraced each other tightly.
"How are you? I haven't seen you since forever!" Annabeth replied.
"I know. Well, Lady Artemis says that us Hunters are on break, so I thought I'd drop by. So, what's been going on lately?" Thalia asked, settling into their couch and eyeing Annabeth and Percy with a mysterious glance.
"AFRICA!" Annabeth squealed. "I'm going to see Chad!"
"Chad!" Thalia exclaimed. "That's amazing!"
"What's so great about seeing Chad?" Percy blurted out, without meaning to.
Annabeth stared at him for a moment. "Uh, what isn't? Are you okay, Percy?"
Percy nodded, quickly. "Oh, I'm fine. Er, sorry..."
Thalia's piercing blue eyes widened. "You're so lucky! I've always wanted to visit Chad! But you know us Hunters, right? Busy, busy!"
Annabeth had that dreamy expression on her face again. "Everything about Chad is amazing. The culture, the scenery, the food, the wildlife!"
Now, Percy was more confused then ever! He needed to find out more about this Chad, but first, he needed to figure out how. As we know, Percy wasn't the sharpest sword in the demigod cabin...But wait, he knew someone who was, at least, better than him. Grover!
"Excuse me!" Percy interjected. "Sorry to interrupt, ladies, but I have to call someone, okay?" He dashed off, leaving Annabeth and Thalia still chattering like schoolgirls.
An hour later, Thalia and Annabeth said that they were going shopping. Perfect, Percy thought. It gave him plenty of time to investigate.
"Aren't you coming?" Annabeth asked.
Without thinking, Percy clutched his stomach. "Uh, not feeling well today, dear," he lied.
"Don't ever call me 'dear'," Annabeth said with a warning tone, but she smiled before shutting the door behind her.
Once the girls left, Percy looked around one more time. "Coast is clear, G-Man," he whispered.
Grover came up from his hiding spot in the pantry. "Okay, so what's the plan again? You didn't exactly tell me why I'm here."
Percy took a deep breath in. "Grover, I think Annabeth is...cheating."
Grover gasped. "No!"
Percy nodded. He threw his arms in the air, exasperated. "Yes, it's all so twisted!"
"With who?" Grover questioned. He frowned. "Don't tell me Luke came back from the dead!"
Percy shook his head. "You really are stupid!"
Grover put his hand on his furry hip. "Do you want me to help you or NOT?"
"Yes." Percy rolled his eyes. Then, he grew serious. "Okay, the plan is to search the house for any evidence of this
Chad. Got it?"
"Yeah, sure," Grover said. He squinted at the counter. "Who made pancakes?"
"Just hurry up!" Percy hissed. On his way out of the kitchen, he swiped another pancake himself.
Grover was checking the file cabinets, while Percy was looking through Annabeth's old photo albums for evidence of this Chad. Just then, he saw something that looked quite suspicious. It was a photo of Annabeth as a young teen and this other wacky looking dude in dark sunglasses wearing socks with sandals. They stood in front of the Smithsonian museum. Scrawled in the corner in her neat writing was: What a keeper!
"That's Chad!" Percy cried.
Grover trotted over on his hooves. He looked at the photo and then at Percy. "Are you out of your mind?" he snorted.
"This is not a laughing matter," Percy replied, angrily.
"That's YOU, stupid!" Grover cackled.
"What? No it isn't..." he protested, but upon further examination Percy realized it really was him. He laughed. "Oh, now I remember! I lost my sneakers on the plane, and all the gift shop had was sandals."
"And you call me stupid?" Grover went back to looking in the file cabinets. He pulled out a light purple notebook and started flipping through it. Grover gasped and then slammed the notebook shut.
"What was that?" Percy demanded.
"That-was Annabeth's journal," Grover said.
Percy winced. He wanted to know more about Chad but going through someone else's journal was just plain mean. "Don't read it," he told Grover.
"Dude, if you want some answers, try actually talking to Annabeth," Grover replied, shutting the cabinet. "This isn't working. We've got nothing except your dumb socks-with-sandals photo."
Percy sighed. "I guess I have to ask her."
"Good. Well, I've got to check um, the TV if this show's on," Grover mumbled, going over to the living room. He turned on the TV to find another Glee rerun. "Yes! It is!" he exclaimed. Then, looking at Percy, he stiffened. "It's for Juniper. She loves the show, so I check if it's on for her."
Percy glanced at the TV. Normally, he'd be psyched to watch, but he had more important things in mind. He didn't really know what to do, but he found that snooping wasn't the answer. Or maybe it was...He looked at Annabeth's laptop, which had just made a Bing! sound. A new email was from Alex. Should he look?
Well, it's just for research, Percy told himself, and crept over.
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