Thanks so much to the viewers and followers!

Annie-bell: I love to see suggestions, so please go ahead. I have a lot of ideas but need to organize them, and your review really helped :)

Also, I have no experience with modeling. If someone wishes to enlighten me, go ahead. Anything about modeling in here is a medium for my story and a figment of my imagination.

Disclaimer: I'm still not Rick Riordan

Chapter Two

Annabeth

I was seriously nervous about my first shoot. I mean, I've never wanted to be a model. What if I wasn't good enough? What if the other models laughed at my body?

"Shut it, Annabeth," I told myself. "You never really cared what people thought before. Why worry now?" I told myself that over and over again. It was my little mantra. It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, it doesn't ma-

"We're here!" Penny sang from the front seat, instantly shutting off my self-confidence pep talk.

"Yay," I exclaimed weakly. Penny justed laughed.

"Honey, darling, I have never failed in my recruiting. I don't think you will be the first. Besides, all my other girls are very sweet."

I didn't fail to notice that she complemented herself in trying to comfort me. I had begun to notice that as I spent more time with Penny. She was as sweet as a dandelion, but as egocentric as a rose. All the girls will probably be that way.

As I got out of the car, I couldn't help but gulp. Oh, what I would give to have Thalia here right now! Thalia is my best friend from Camp Half-Blood, a daughter of Zeus. She was very punk and a bit older than me, and I loved and admired how she didn't give a pickle what people thought of her, especially mortals. I was always more confident with her.

But she wasn't here. Once I told Thalia about my new career choice, she wished me luck as she nearly gagged. There was no way she would be caught dead anywhere near a bunch of live Barbie's. Heck, here favorite shirt said "Death to Barbie."

Immersed in my thoughts, I entered the building we had parked in front of and walked through the lobby. A smiling receptionist broke me out of my thoughts, and as nervousness ate at my insides, my brain registered random architectural details. The fake corinthian columns were always added for class, but they did nothing for the actual structural support of the building. That was left to the beams running along the sides and ceiling of the edifice.

I numbly followed Penny through some large doors the receptionist pointed at, into a room about the size of a basketball court. I swear, Aphrodite had exploded in there.

Long, pink drapes were covering all the windows and mirrors were everywhere. Make-up was on every flat surface and sparkles littered the floor. Clothes racks were arranged by color against one wall and makeshift changing rooms were right next to them. What little space clothes and makeup didn't occupy, girls did. Couches from pink to white were spread apparently randomly across the room with groups of girls clustered around each one. More, older women were attending to the four girls-models- that sat in chairs, doing their hair and make-up. Men and women were coming in and out of doors on the far side of the room, where I could see camera flashes.

All in all, there were about fifteen girls and lots of activity. As soon as Penny entered, all the girls rushed to hug her and we were engulfed in designer perfume.

"Penny, it's so good to see you!" squealed one.

"Penny, you wouldn't believe the shoot I was just in!" exclaimed another.

"Penny, here,"'s and "Penny, there's,"'s slammed through my mind.

"Girls, girls! Enough!" laughed Penny, quieting them, but I could tell she enjoyed it. "Darlings, I saw most of you last Saturday! You couldn't have missed me that much."

Doe eyes and yes's filled my head as the assured her, yes, they had seen her, and yes, they did miss her.

"Oh, well. I missed you too!" she yelled into the horde. More squeals and another group hug followed, until finally all these hyper models backed away. Unfortunately, that meant they noticed me.

"This, girls, is Annabeth, my newest recruit! Say hi every one," Penny introduced me.

"HI!"

"Hey,"

"Nice to meet you."

I nodded to all of them, murmuring hi. They all dispersed after that, and I was left alone as Penny went off to be a manager. I was not completely alone, however.

One last girl was standing in front of me. She looked a bit younger than me, with darkish skin and gorgeous chocolate-colored hair. Her eyes changed colors constantly, like a kaleidoscope. She seemed of Native American descent and was honestly one of the most beautiful girls I'd seen. My mind flashed to Aphrodite, but I refused to let that cloud my judgment.

"Hi," She said.

"Hi. I'm Annabeth," I responded, shy all of the sudden. She giggled.

"I know. Penny just said so." I mentally smacked myself, but smiled again.

"Yeah. I'm just a bit nervous, that's all. I've never done modeling before."

"Don't be," she shrugged. "It's not hard. Just smile and pose. I'm Piper, by the way."

"Nice to meet you."

She smiled again, then linked my arm through hers, leading me further into the room.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, how did you get into modeling? No offense, but you don't seem the modeling type," she asked, then studied me a bit more. "You look more like a book and PJ's on the couch type of girl."

I laughed, surprised.

"That's exactly right! How did you guess?" I was really curious. she was spot on. She shrugged.

"Oh, I've always been good at reading people," she dismissed it. "So?" She looked at me, expectant, "How did you get into modeling?"
"Oh, well, Penny's an old friend of my stepmom's, and she came over for brunch. She managed to convince both my stepmom and my dad that this was the perfect way for me to earn money for college."

Piper nodded sympathetically as we sat on a couch.

"So, what about you?" I asked back. "You don't seem like the modeling type either." She bit her lip, and I could tell it was a sore subject.

"You don't have to tell me," I said quickly.

"No, it's okay," she took a deep breath. "You seem like I can trust you." I was flattered that she thought that after only five minutes.

"Well," she began. "Promise not to tell anyone?"

"I promise."

"Ok. So my dad is Tristan McLean." She lowered her voice and glanced around to make sure no one heard. They hadn't.

"Ok. Wait, really?!" I barely remembered to keep my voice down.

"Yeah. And he never really has time for me… So I stole. Well, not really stole, but asked people to give me stuff, and they did."

I wrapped an arm around her to comfort her, but something wriggled in my mind. Successfully asked people to give her stuff? Why did that ring a bell?

"Go on," I urged, seeing she had stopped.

"And well… the stuff had to get bigger, to get his attention." I nodded. It made sense. "So one day, I stole a car. I don't know why," she rushed on, blinking tears from her eyes. "He could have just bought me one, if I'd asked. But I did anyway, and his assistant Jane told him before I could. She convinced him what I needed was to work and learn the value of money. The only thing we agreed on was modeling." She grimaced at this. I squeezed her shoulders.

"And what did your mom say?" I asked. Bad question. A tear escaped her blinking and slid down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away.

"She left us." She tried to sound angry, but all I heard was sadness.

"I'm sorry," I soothed quietly.

"It's okay you, didn't know." After a second of silence, I looked back at her.
"My mom left us too," I whispered. Now she put her arm around me. "Right when I was born. But not only that, my dad didn't want me. He remarried and didn't really care about me. I ran away when I was seven. I made some friends, they took me in."

"Oh, Annabeth, I'm so sorry," Piper tried to calm me.

"Why? It's not your fault, is it?" I laughed bitterly. The memories hurt too much. "We've made up, Susan is better now, so is my dad. We're a family again. But I can't just forget, can I? Seven. Most kids are attached to their parents at that age. I was disconnected. Alone. It wasn't until I was twelve that I went back. Five years from my family I can't get back. It took longer still to understand why my parents did that in the first place." I was crying. I could feel the tears running down my face.

"Shhh, Annabeth, it's okay," she comforted me, both arms hugging me now. Strangely, it felt true. It was okay. That was years ago, and I knew Athena had to leave me. My dad just didn't know what to do. He loved me now. I let Piper's voice wash over me, soothing me completely.

I thanked her and then we both walked over to one of the make-up stations to get "false-efied" as Piper jokingly called it. I laughed, and I knew I'd found a friend.

~o0o~

I was very glad for the comfort of a friend for the next part of the shoot. According to Piper, this was a small, not very important shoot for some inside pictures in a girl's magazine. We were made up in simple yet eye catching makeup and dressed in apparently "hip" clothing. I was surprised at the small amount of work done on us, especially hair, but Piper told me that since it was a large group, not much intense was going on.

The photographer was yelling directions at us as we posed, like which way to turn and to laugh or smile or make cute faces or what not. We had already been lined up in order and, to my delight, I was near Piper. We were constantly laughing at each other, making our smiles genuine.

After an outfit change, another round of pictures, and a water break, the photographer went on to smaller group shots. This got the girls excited. Apparently, smaller group shots were better, highlighted you more or something.

I hung back as selections were made, honestly having enough for one day. However, as all the girls left, Piper came back to get me and our, I quote, "clashing looks but friendly auras" made us ideal for the double shots. I swear we both groaned at that.

Penny did not share those feelings, though.

"Oh, darlings! How marvelous! Yes, yes, you both really do have quite a spark. Natural talent," she gushed at herself as she wandered away, leaving us at the mercy of Alfonso, the photographer.

"LAdies, it is time for the biggest part of this shoot!" he called to us. "We need you to act like best friends and look gorgeous for these pictures. Hair! Makeup! Wardrobe!" He wandered off, looking for the right supplies.

"Great. I've always wanted to be plastered on magazine pages." Piper said sarcastically.

"You've never been on a magazine before?" I asked, surprised. Someone like Piper surely would have been chosen for special pictures before.

"Only group shots," she grinned mischievously. "I have somewhat of a 'troublemaker' reputation in the modeling circles."

I laughed and we were whisked away for wardrobe changes, hair, and makeup.

So Annabeth is getting emotional... But Piper is there to help! I always liked their friendship. And don't worry, Percy is coming soon!
Thanks for reading! Please review and suggest, constructive criticism is welcome! =)