OHMYGOSH, first off, I am so SO blown away right now. I uploaded the first chapter at almost midnight last night, and I woke up to find 5 reviews! 5! This was just amazing for me, and all of them were so nice, telling me to update soon. THEN, I checked my email, and got 28 emails, yup, 28, telling me about all of you guys who added me to your favorite stories, reviewed, and story alerts. This was my first fanfic ever I almost started crying. I was really touched by all of you. So thank you all SO much. And THAT really motivated me to finish the final edits for chapter 2 and publish it right now. Without you guys, I wouldn't have been as motivated. Love each and every one of you! Alright, so this chapter's getting the ball rolling here, and everything will just start getting bigger and better! Enjoy!
I entered the ballroom just as a guard announced, "King Frederick and Queen Athena of Greece, and Princess Annabeth of Greece."
As we came down the stairs, there was a man and woman, and a boy probably around my age, standing at the foot of the staircase, shaking people's hands. I assumed they were the Queen Sally and King Poseidon of Atlantis, and the boy was Perseus.
"Athena!" The woman outstretched her gloved arms and my mom grabbed them in her own gloved hands after they had done their quick, customary curtsy.
"It is so good to see you, Sally!" Mom said. "We'll catch up later, yes?"
"Oh, of course," Queen Sally said.
Mom moved down the line and was greeted with a kiss on the hand from King Poseidon, as was custom.
I curtsied in front of Queen Sally. "Hello dear, you look positive lovely tonight!"
"Thank you very much, my queen," I responded, trying to show decorum.
She smiled, and I moved to greet King Poseidon, and then I came face-to-face to the Perseus guy.
I could feel Mom give me a nudge in the small of my back.
I gave a small smile, my eyes glued to the ground. I curtsied and he bowed. I started to move away, but he grabbed my arm.
"Wait," he said.
"What?" I asked, not caring about "decorum" at the moment.
"Can't I get your name?" he inquired.
"I'm Annabeth. Didn't you hear the guard?" Yep, all decorum is gone for the moment. Then again, there was an extra edge to me I'd never felt before.
"Um, I guess I…distracted. I'm Percy." He had a messy mop of dark black hair and deep green eyes.
"Well. It was nice to meet you, Percy," I responded flatly. I honestly didn't understand why I was acting like this, and apparently he didn't either.
He raised his eyebrows. "That's a pretty dress by the way."
"Oh. Thanks," I responded, rocking back and forth on my heels awkwardly.
"PERCY!" A high voice shrilled. Out of nowhere, a flash of red blazed by, practically knocking me over.
A redhead in a red, form-fitting dress attacked Percy with a huge bear hug. She had on red peep-toe pumps with a humongous heel and had an enormous red stone-gem thing surrounded by little red flowers in the front.
"Oh, uh, hey Rachel," Percy stammered, fighting for his balance, gripping the banister. I took that moment to leave.
As I was walking away, I could hear her high, annoying voice saying, "I missed you SO much! Have ya missed me?" Yep, she was one of those girls.
I went over to the non-alcoholic drinks bar where there was a petite girl with satiny, shiny black hair standing next to a girl with spiky jet-black hair that featured a few various highlights of white and electric blue that matched her eyes.
"Hey," spiky-haired girl said to me. "We don't know you," she stated, as the other girl turned at me.
"Then we're pretty much one the same page," I replied, half-jokingly, half-confused.
"I'm Thalia. This is Silena," she told me, gesturing to the petite girl with the shiny hair.
"I'm Annabeth," I told her.
"I love your dress," Silena said.
"Thanks. You guys have awesome dresses, too." I meant it. Silena had on a dress with a black top that had sequins and a zebra-patterned skirt worn with a peep-toe pump in Malibu blue, which was one of the colors I had considered for my dress. Thalia was wearing a taffeta pick-up style dress in Burmese Ruby with black detailing and simply black pumps.
"Thanks, the main thing I hate about balls is being forced to wear dresses like this," Thalia replied. "They're so itchy sometimes. Give me a T-shirt and jeans any day."
I smiled back. I think I'm going to like these girls.
The DJ, well, he wasn't really a DJ, he was pretty much just some guy in a tux working for the palace that announced when a slow dance was coming up, said, "Okay, the time for our annual dance we have here in Atlantis is coming in just a few minutes."
"Ugh, great," Thalia groaned. "They never get tired of this, do they?"
"Ooh, look, look!" Silena whispered loudly, cocking her head in the direction of a boy with dark brown hair and brown eyes. "I think he's going to ask me to be his partner for this dance!"
"Wait, so they have to ask us?" I asked.
"Yep," Thalia replied, popping the p.
"We can't ask them? We can't even dance with our friends?"
"That would be correct. It is way old-fashioned, I know."
"What if no one asks us?"
Silena giggled. "That would be so embarrassing." Thalia gave her a look, and she quickly said, "Well, you're not familiar with the people here, so don't be upset if somebody doesn't ask- oh look, here he comes!" Silena squealed, nudging Thalia excitedly.
"Hey, do you want to dance with me?" the boy asked.
Silena twirled a strand of her hair. "Sure, Charles!" she squeaked.
Charles outstretched his hand, and she grabbed it, and they made their way to where a group was forming smack in the middle of the dance floor.
Thalia smirked as they went off. She turned to me. "That was Charlie Beckendorf. But everyone just calls him Beckendorf. Silena only calls him Charles for whatever reason."
"Are they like, a thing then?" I asked curiously.
"Unofficially: yep, pretty much. Except they'll blush too much if you ask them about it or mention it in front of the two of them."
"Do you think someone's going to ask you?" I asked. "Not to be rude or anything, I was just wondering."
"Don't sweat it. I don't know, maybe Luke will ask me. We're just friends, and he probably doesn't have the guts to ask out a girl he doesn't know to dance, despite the fact that most girls are vying to dance with him almost as much as they are with Prince Percy. By them, I mean Rachel." Thalia retorted, rolling her eyes. "It's pathetic, really."
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that girl Rachel practically dragging Percy to where the other boys and girls around our age, some a little older, were grouped.
Thalia caught my gaze, saying, "You met Rachel yet?"
"Um, not really, she just came over and hugged him as soon as I got there pretty much," I said simply.
"Everyone finds her really annoying. She's just "Lady Rachel", and she'll do anything to become a princess-thus, that scenario when she arrived- and eventually, a queen. That's a scary thought."
I laughed. "So, are they like dating or something?" I couldn't help myself. Why did I care anyway?
"Mm, it's kinda hard to tell sometimes. Percy and I are kinda close too, and I can tell he feels kinda smothered by Rachel-who, in her head, definitely thinks they're dating- but I feel like Percy would have done something about her. He's not really a pushover type. Maybe he likes her, but in small doses?" Thalia chuckled. "It's kinda weird."
"Hey, Thals," A boy with sandy hair and gorgeous blue eyes said, approaching us.
"Oh hey Luke, I was just telling Annabeth about you," Thalia said, grinning. So this was Luke.
"Oh," he said, glancing at me. "Should I be worried?"
"Nah," I said. "I'm Annabeth, by the way." I could feel my cheeks burning, and I ducked my head instinctively.
"Luke," he replied, giving me a smile.
"So, you're coming over here to invite me to dance, I'm guessing. Being as you're still too afraid to ask a girl you don't know to dance?" Thalia teased.
His glance darted towards me and then back to Thalia. Was there a hint of a blush on his cheeks, too? "No, I just don't want you to be without a partner, Lady Thalia," was his comeback.
"Really, 'cause there's a guy headed right this way."
Sure enough, a boy with dark hair and eyes and olive skin said, "Hey, Thalia. Do you, like, want to dance or something?" He muttered, looking up at Thalia.
"See?" She replied to Luke, jerking her black-painted thumb towards him. The boy looked confused on whether this was a yes or no.
"Great, then who am I going to dance with?" Luke asked. Suddenly I felt invisible.
Thalia looked from Luke to me, me to Luke, and rolled her eyes. "Gee, I don't know, WORK IT OUT. Come on, Nico." She turned on her heel and marched toward the dance floor, her befuddled partner, aka Nico, trailing after her.
I rocked back and forth on my heels, fiddling with my bracelet, feeling awkward as Luke watched Thalia and Nico walk away.
Luke spun around. "Oh, hey, Annabeth, you're not already dancing with somebody, are you?"
I shook my head.
"Well, do you want to dance? As in, with me?"
I almost laughed. "I'm not going to lie; I thought you'd never ask." Whoa, was I acting flirty?
He gave me a huge smile, and, taking my hand, led me onto the dance floor. My heartbeat began to pick up.
About ten seconds later, the music began to play. I was nervous, hoping not to mess up in front of Luke-and everybody else. We all moved into position so we made a giant circle. Atlantis's special song they play apparently to their special ballroom dance they have at coming of age balls and whatnot began.
Somewhere, beyond the sea
Somewhere, waiting for me
My lover stands on golden sands
And watches the ships that go sailing
"'Somewhere Beyond the Sea'" is kind of a traditional song for Atlantis, you know, with the whole 'sea' and 'oceanic' part. It's also Percy's favorite song," Luke whispered to me. He paused, then glanced away, then back to me. "You're a really good dancer, you know."
"Thanks, I've been practicing this," I shrugged. "I love to dance. It's kinda my favorite thing and what I'm best at."
Somewhere, beyond the sea
She's there, watching for me
If I could fly like birds on high
"The small switch is coming up, isn't it?" Luke asked. "I always forget."
I nodded quickly.
Then straight to her heart, I'd go sailing
Luke spun me, as did the other boys to the other girls, and we spun in opposite directions. He moved one place to his right, and I moved one place to my right, and a boy came face to face with me. He had curly brown hair and chocolate brown eyes.
"I'm Grover, he said.
"Annabeth," I replied. I looked around for Luke over his shoulder.
It's far beyond the star
It's near beyond the moon
I know beyond a doubt
My heart will lead me there soon
We'll meet beyond the shore
We'll kiss just like before
Happy we'll be beyond the sea
And never again I'll go sailing
There was what sounded like a trumpet or some musical instrument, and the pace of the music picked up.
Grover spun me, as the other guys spun the others girls, this time with more gusto and flair, taffeta and a rainbow of colors swirling through the air. After "twirling", the girls, including me, had moved three places to our right, while the guys had moved three spots from their right, so we all ended up six places from our original partner.
I fell into place and a mess of jet-black hair almost fell into me, fumbling to gain balance and get into position without getting off-beat. The clumsy dancer looked up at me. It was Percy.
"Wow, fancy meeting you here," he joked.
I rolled my eyes, not in the mean way, but in the 'oh you're just so annoying but kind of funny' way.
The music slowed down a bit, and there were no lyrics, just instrumental, and the tune became sweeter and softer.
"Luke told me this was your favorite song," I said softly.
"Yeah, I like it a lot," he said. "I'm just not very good at-" His right hand fumbled from my waist as he looked down at his feet which were apparently dancing to a completely different dance, "-dancing." His whole expression turned into embarrassment and confusion.
"It's just a box step here, so I go forward while you step back, then we go a step to your right then I go back while you go forward, then we go to your left, making a square shape, see?" I instructed him. "Then we do a small spin."
He spun me out, and I spun back in, perfectly in sync with the rest of the dancers. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the parents looking on proudly.
I know beyond a doubt
My heart will lead me there soon
"Wow, that really worked, thanks," he exclaimed.
"Well, I love dancing and I do it all the time, so I guess it just becomes easier with practice," I told him.
We'll meet beyond the shore
We'll kiss just like before
"Hmm, I guess you're right. Rachel usually leads 'cause she knows what she's doing," he confided.
I didn't really know what to say in reply. Something about him saying her name just…irked me. I just looked away at the other dancers. Rachel was dancing Charlie Beckendorf, and Luke was dancing with Silena. I couldn't see who Thalia was dancing with.
And happy we'll be beyond the sea
And never again I'll go sailing
No more sailing
So long, sailing, sailing, no more sailing
Goodbye, farewell, my friend, no more sailing
So long, sailing, no more sailing
No more, farewell
No more sailing
The music and lyrics died down, and Percy and I broke apart. He grinned at me. "Thanks for the help. And thanks for coming to you know, this."
I shrugged. "Anytime."
Percy was about to say something when Rachel bounded out of nowhere. Again.
"PERCY! Ohmigosh, I wish we could have danced the whole dance together, wouldn't that have been FUN?" she squealed, grabbing his arm, and bobbing up and down on her horrid red heels. I could have sworn I saw a glare cross her face as we made eye contact for a split second. "Per-CY, come with me, 'kay? I wanna check out the photo booth I saw set up in the east side lounge."
Percy looked back at me. "Um, I gotta go, but we'll talk later?"
I gave him a weak smile and a small shrug. He must've taken that as a yes, because he then let himself be dragged away by Rachel who gave me a menacing look as she turned away.
Didja like it? Review, lemme know what you're thinking! You're all amazing, especially you all who took the time to review and let me know what you thought! I'll be doing shoutouts at the end of the next chapter. For any of you wondering, I tried getting the song Beyond the Sea as perfect as possible, and that ended up taking most of the time to this chapter. For those of you who want to hear the song while you're reading it so you can get a better sense of the dance (I literally played this 100 times trying to get the beat down pat to make it seem more real), this is the youtube link. It's actually really cool with the music. /watch?v=EchU-2S4SwA I'm going to leave links in my profile for the dresses the girls are wearing, so check it out if you're interested. I always love getting the visuals when it comes to the clothing in fanfics. Stay tuned! XO, PearlsAndPens