In case you didn't know , in Shakespeare time , people didn't live very long . Like , you were lucky if you made it to 35 . so back then , people would get married very early
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Annabeth's POV
You know you have a pretty good life when you can swim in your own bathtub.
I dunked my head under the water and watched my own hair as it swirled around my head. Soap suds floated on the surface which gave the sun light beaming in a sort of rippled and spotted look to it.
"Annabeth!" I heard from somewhere far off. I broke the surface and took a deep breath.
"Yes?" I called back. No answer. "Thalia, who called for me?"
My life-long friend slash roommate was sitting on a chair in my room reading the newspaper. Thalia was a couple years older than me and was also my family's caretaker. Her dad died when she was very young—something we had in common—and, with no other men in her household, she needed to get a job to help save her mother and her. Ironically, her mom and her don't get along very well, so Thalia spends most of her life with us. My mom even gave her one of our guest rooms to call her own and said that she could use it whenever.
The only downside to Thalia being our caretaker is that she takes care...of me. I try not to look at her as being my babysitter, but that's basically what she is. I repeatedly tell my mom that I don't need a babysitter, but she insists that I'm "fragile." The good part to that, however, is that Thalia is totally chill and so it's like we're just hanging out all the time. It's not as annoying as it sounds considering the fact that she's my best friend.
Thalia put her feet up on the coffee table. "Your mom," she answered. "So get out of the bath and into a robe. No one needs to see you naked."
I stuck my tongue out at her. "Bossy, bossy."
"Yes I am," she stated. "Now hurry up."
I jumped out of the tub, careful not to slip, then grabbed my robe that was hanging perfectly on a hook. "What, mom?" I called again.
I heard my mom's footsteps march into the room sounding the same as always: confident and powerful. "Ugh, there you are, Annabeth."
I shrugged. "Here I am."
"Don't get sassy with me, young lady." I really didn't think my comment was sassy, but that's just Athena for you; she's not one to mess with. The best way to have a conversation with her is just to keep your mouth shut the whole time and agree with anything she says. "I need to talk to you."
"Okay," I said. "What about?"
Athena looked flustered. "Eh, Thalia, you should go for a moment. I want to talk with my daughter in private." Thalia started to remove her feet from the table when Athena put up her hand. "Actually, on second thought, Thalia, you should hear this conversation. You probably know Annabeth even better than I do."
Thalia shrugged. "Yeah, probably."
I had to hold back a giggle from Thalia's blunt honesty. Athena didn't seem to notice. "Well, I just had a talk with this boy, Luke," she said. "And, yes, I know how young you are—"
"She's not even fourteen," Thalia added, not even looking up from her newspaper.
Athena turned to her. "Ah, but she will be in a fortnight."
We both just looked at her. "A fortnight, mom?" I said.
"Fine. She will be intwo weeks. Happy?"
"Still," Thalia said. "I hardly consider that of marrying age."
I blinked. "'Marrying age?' How'd you know that's what she wanted to talk about?"
Thalia's eyes glittered and she looked at me. "I know everything, kiddo."
"Or she just ease dropped on mine and Luke's conversation," Athena proposed. Thalia gave her classic shrug and went back to her business.
My mother looked slightly annoyed but ignored it. "Anyways, yes, what she said is true. Luke came to ask me...well, straight up, he wants to make you his bride."
Dang. That was straight up. "I don't even know if I want to get married," I said. "I guess I never really thought about it." I mean, sure, the idea of having a man in my life sounded great, but that's just the girly romantic side of me talking. And trust me, that's a very small side of me.
"I think he's cute," Thalia said.
"Thalia, hush," Athena said angrily. Thalia just raised a finger in response as to say, Will do. "Anyways, Luke is going to be at the party tonight. I was hoping that you would at least look—decide if you even want him to be worth your time. If he is, I wouldn't want the wedding to be until you were fifteen anyways, so there's no rush."
I sighed. "Yeah, I guess I can check him out. But no promises that anything will come of it." This seemed to be a good enough answer to her question because for the first time in what seemed like forever, my mother smiled.
"Lady Athena?" a servant called as he walked into my room. He noticed me standing there in nothing but a silk robe and looked away. I awkwardly crossed my arms. "Lady Athena, the guests are all here and dinner is served. Many are asking for you and Annabeth. Please, come right away." He left hastily.
"Come, Thalia," my mother said, dropping her grin. "We should let Annabeth get ready. And honey, please hurry. I don't want to keep the guests waiting."
After she shut the door I took a breath. Just like always, I listened to my mother's wishes. Did I really have a choice?
Percy's POV
It was pretty easy for me and the other guys to sneak in the gates with the huge crowd of people to help disguise us. Getting into the actual doors won't be so easy.
"Okay, oh wise plan-maker," I said to Nico. "How are we supposed to get in?"
Nico shrugged. "Eh, we'll be fine. As long as we keep our masks on, it looks like we're supposed to be here. Besides, Grover actually is supposed to be here."
Grover grabbed my shoulder. "He's right, so don't worry. This night is just to help you find a new girl! We'll go in, dance, mingle, eat, etcetera, and then we'll leave. Simple."
I shook him off. "Well it doesn't matter anyways. I don't even feel like dancing."
"And why not?"
"I'm...well I'm still upset—and it's not fun to dance when you're upset."
Grover and Nico both just looked at me and rolled their eyes. "Pussy," Nico said under a fake cough.
I punched him in the shoulder. "And anyways, I don't really think going is a good idea. I know this sounds weird, but I had a dream last night about it." Even just thinking about my dream made me shiver. I had had dreams before about anything and everything, but this one was different. It was more vivid and life-like than any typical dream that anyone could have had.
"So did I," Grover said.
I raised an eyebrow. "Really? What was yours about?"
Grover took a dramatic step backward and bowed his head. This earned a chuckle from all the guys. "I had a dream about how dreams aren't real—they're fake; a lie."
"Except that sometimes, dreams are real," I tried to explain.
Grover held up his finger. "I see you've been visited by Queen Mab."
I stared blankly at him. "Who the hell is Queen Mab?"
He shrugged. "Eh, it doesn't matter. But anyways, we need to go."
"Yeah, seriously, Perce," Nico said. "They already finished dinner. I know these parties go until like two in the morning but still. And plus..." Nico ran his fingers through his hair. "I have to be home by ten."
I couldn't help myself—I started laughing. "Oh, shut up," Nico said, embarassed.
That put me in a better mood. Then my dream flashed in my mind—a scene of something happening at this ball that would lead me to my death. As dramatic as that sounded, it was true. I tried to push that aside and did my best to smile as I adjusted my mask and followed my friends to the party.
I wasn't expecting anything to come out of this party. I wasn't expecting Nico's plan to find a girl who somehow could top Calypso to work. So going into the mansion of the Chases, I didn't have high hopes.
Boy, were my expectations wrong.
"Holy shit." I tapped the shoulder of a servant close to me and asked, "Who's that?"
The man followed where I was pointing and shrugged. "I don't know, sir." He walked away.
Somehow, I had caught the eye of the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. If I had thought that I was ever in love with what's-her-face, then something was seriously wrong with me. And if I had ever thought that what's-her-face was gorgeous, well I just haven't seen true beauty until this night.
It felt cheesy and corny to say that it was love at first sight, but as she stared back at me, I didn't care how cheesy and corny I felt because it was the truth. I loved her and I didn't even know her name.
She was one of the only people in the house who wasn't wearing a mask. She had long, golden ringlets that fell with ease. Her skin even looked soft and perfect and in that moment, I couldn't help but to want to see if my guess was right.
Unfortunately, at that moment, she was dancing with some tool.
However even as she spun effortlessly and was being pulled closer to the tool in each step, she didn't pay attention. All her focus was on me.
"Holy shit," I repeated.
A new song started up and the girl pulled away from the stooge. I slipped into the crowd, hoping to get to her without making a scene.
As I approached her, she was kind of raising her head over the crowd as if she were looking for something—or someone. I came up behind her, grabbed her hand (God, it was so soft and perfect), and pushed through the rest of the crowd into a hallway that was, at the moment, empty.
I turned to look at her and took off my mask. Now that I was closer, I noticed that her eyes were a stormy gray color. They were strong and confident but at the same time they were soft and beautiful. They fit her perfectly.
What I also noticed was her confused but also slightly embarrassed expression. But the way that she looked at me seemed almost as intense and passionate as I was looking at her. "Uhh," I started. "I'm, err, sorry about that."
She shook her head. "No, no. Don't be."
"I, err..." She just stared at me. The edge of her lips were fighting a smile. "I just wanted you to know how beautiful you look tonight."
She smiled. God, even her teeth were perfect. "Wow. Um, thank you."
I rubbed the back of my head. "And, err, sorry for, uh, dragging you...kind of."
She giggled. "Well, it wasn't the most gentlemanly thing ever."
I smirked and took a step back. "Hey, I am a perfect gentleman."
She matched my smirk. "Oh, sure you are."
She started to turn around when I stopped her. What's life without a little risk? I thought as I took her hand again. "Indeed I am," I said. "You want to know how?"
"Yes. How?"
"Because," I wrapped my other arm around her waist. "If I wasn't a gentleman, I would have kissed you by now without asking your permission—but I am."
She raised an eyebrow. "Ask nicely."
With my eyes locked to hers and my heart beating so fast that it was as if I had just run around the world, I asked, "May I kiss you, my lady?"
She smiled softly and escaped my grasp. "You know, just holding a girl's hand should be enough for any guy. Holding hands is almost like a kiss."
"Except that it's not as special or memorable," I said. "My only question right now is why are you being so stubborn?"
At first, I debated on taking my comment back in fear that she would be offended, but her being perfect, she just smiled. "I'm a master at playing hard to get."
I smiled. "Oh, shut up. Kiss me." I stepped forward and landing my lips directly on hers and my heart beat even faster when I felt her kiss back. At that moment, I was flying and nothing else but her mattered.
I pulled back and felt her take a long breath. The warmth of it tickled my lips. "So," I said. "Hard to get, huh?"
She stuck her tongue out at me and didn't reply before pulling me back in for one more, which I graciously accepted. She put a little more force into this one, wrapping her arms around my neck and even playing with my hair. I ran my tongue along her bottom lip and she smiled before opening her mouth to let my tongue explore.
Her being her, she switched to her confident-gray side in an instant and fought for entrance to mine. And in my book, I always have to let the girl win, so I did.
"Annabeth!" a girl shouted down the hallway. We both pulled back and the girl let go of me, her cheeks pink.
"Annabeth?" I asked, but she didn't have time to answer because the other girl—a who looked a bit older than her and with dark hair instead of blonde—grabbed her wrist.
"Annabeth, you mother has been looking for you." Dark-haired girl shot me a look of both curiosity and horror before taking Annabeth back with her.
My gaze followed them until the end of the hall where I saw Lady Athena herself standing with the same confidence that Annabeth showed. Then I saw my lovely Annabeth go up to her and half-smile. Then. They. Hugged.
I gasped and stumbled back, running behind a column. "She's...She's a Chase?"
I peaked back around the column only to see Athena gone and dark-haired girl talking to Annabeth with a stern face. Annabeth's face looked probably just about as confused and shocked and hurt as mine did at the moment. The only words I could make out coming from dark-haired girl was my name—Percy Jackson.
My eyes locked with Annabeth's for a moment or two. Neither of us ran towards the other, neither of us even blinked; we just stared. The only thing that I had on my mind was, I'm in love with my enemy.
Then I turned around and left.
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