A/N: ATTENTION ALL READERS! You know in the last chapter where I said that Mr. Brunner taught History? IGNORE THAT COMPLETELY! I have a much better alternative, and you will find out who it is in this chapter, now I'm going to shut up so you can enjoy the chapter.
"Hey, Annabeth, wait up!" Thalia yelled, running up to me in the hallway as the final bell rang.
"Hey, Thalia, what's up?" I asked, shouldering my bag. She finally caught up to me, not even breathless.
"Not much. I wanted to know if you wanted to come with me to this really cool coffee shop. It's just around the corner and I can get us a discount." I laughed a little at the mischievous look on her face.
We pushed through the double doors at the front of the school, and stepped into the warm late August sun.
"Sure, but may I ask how you intend to get us a discount?" Over the past couple of days, me, Thalia, and the rest of the guys had gotten to be great friends.
"My Aunt Hestia owns the place, and I just happen to be her favorite niece." She stated, smirking triumphantly.
"Sure, I'm up for it. When's our next rehearsal?" I asked as we walked through the parking lot to her red convertible, unlocking it, and getting in.
"Tomorrow. What was the assignment Miss Athena gave us? I forgot." I laughed. Thalia always 'forgot' our assignments.
"We have to read chapters three and four in our history books on the Civil War, and then answer whatever we didn't get done on the worksheet she gave us." I happened to have finished all of my homework, so I didn't have anything to do that night.
"That's just wonderful. Give a dyslexic kid with ADHD oodles of homework that requires reading." She said sarcastically.
"I have ADHD and dyslexia, and I finished all of my homework." We took off speeding out of the parking lot blasting Green Day from the radio, and me screaming in terror at Thalia's insane driving.
"Thalia, shouldn't you slow down a little bit?" I yelled, my hair whipping around my face. I couldn't even see our surroundings. It was just a big blur.
"No way! I drive like this all the time." She said like it was no big deal. She slammed her brakes in front of this coffee shop with a huge picturesque hearth in front of it. In the fire it said 'Hestia's Hot Coffee'. Not the most original name, but it looked pleasant and inviting.
"It's really good, but it isn't all hot coffee. It has some ice coffee and then it has various assorted pastries. Very, very good. I'll bet if it's a good day, I can get it for free." She got out, me following, worrying about my wallet.
"What if she doesn't let me get my stuff for free?" I wondered aloud as we walked into the store. It was cool, and it smelled very strongly of coffee, and, as Thalia said, pastries, which made sense.
"Then, I pay for whatever you get, and you help me with whatever homework I have. And, if your's is free, then you still help me with whatever homework I have." She said with humor, directing me to a table. She knew about my general no money predicament.
"No, I couldn't let you-" She shoved a salt shaker filled with sugar in my face.
"Shut up. You're not paying." She said determinedly.
"But-"
"I've known you for a couple of days, and I know for a fact that you are one of the most stubborn people in the world, but I am ten times more stubborn than you are, so there's no logic in arguing. Now, what are you not going to do?" She asked, slowly removing the salt- I guess sugar shaker from my face.
"Argue, and pay." I sighed, knowing that it was a lost cause.
"Good girl. Yo, Apollo, get your butt over here, and take our orders!" A blonde-haired, green eyed guy walked over to us with one of those waiter's pads in his hand, and a pen in the other.
"Would it kill you to say please?" He asked when he got over to us.
"Yes, now I want a caramel ice coffee, and a custard filled doughnut. Annabeth?" She asked in a mock sweetness kind of way.
"Same." I stated, watching as he wrote it down, mock-glaring at Thalia. He walked away, shaking his head.
"That's Apollo, my half-brother. He has a twin sister named Artemis. She started an organization called the Hunters of Artemis. It's an organization that helps teenage girls who are in horrible condition. Meaning depressed, heart-broken, and all that crap. She actually helped me once." She trailed off, chewing on her painted black pointer fingernail.
"That's cool." I didn't say anything else, mostly because I didn't have anything else to say.
"Here you go. Tips are appreciated." Apollo said, bringing out our various food and beverages.
"Yeah, well, you're not getting any." Thalia said, patting Apollo on the shoulder. He walked away with a scowl on his face.
"Well, that was an interesting exchange. How-" But, I was then again interrupted by a very beautiful woman holding a bunch of cards.
"Hi, Thalia, who's your friend?" She asked in a musical voice.
"A'rodite, 'his is Anna'eth." Thalia said through a mouthful of doughnut. She nodded with a grimace on her face, probably due to Thalia's monstrous eating.
"Hi, Annabeth, I'm Aphrodite. Here's my card. I'm the head of a matchmaking and beauty salon." She said, handing me the card. Who says beauty parlor anymore?
"Thanks, but I'll be okay." I replied, sipping my coffee. She frowned and walked away.
"Hey, do you know about any job openings around here?" I asked Thalia, biting my doughnut, and then appreciating the custardy goodness on the inside. She swallowed her coffee, and thought for a minute before it looked like a light bulb went off in her head.
"Yo, Hestia!" She yelled, waving to an older woman who was talking to another customer. She said bye to the customer and walked over to us.
"Hey, Thals, good to see you." She said when she reached us.
"Do you have any job openings?" She asked, causing Hestia to snort.
"A job? You want a job?" She laughed, causing Thalia to glare like nobody's business.
"Not for me, for my friend here! This is Annabeth, and she wants a job." She snapped, poking the last quarter of her doughnut.
"Oh, okay, then. Yeah, I do have some openings. I could always use some more waiters or in your case waitresses." She said, rubbing her hands together.
"Great, do I need an interview or something?" I asked, looking at her hopefully.
"No, you're hired. You start this Saturday, twelve 'o clock." She said, and walked away. I stared after her, my mouth gaping.
"Dude, close your mouth, you're going to catch flies." Thalia said, devouring the last of her doughnut. I snapped my mouth shut, and watched her wave Apollo over to order a new one.
"I'm just surprised. Normally, people interview me first." I said, surprised.
"Yeah, well, Hestia is a very trusting person. Just don't betray her confidence or anything or she'll go off on you." She said, ripping into her new doughnut like it was the last one on earth.
"Of course not." I nodded, nibbling on my own doughnut.
"So, what's going on with you and Percy?" She asked rather bluntly, I might add. I blushed, and looked down at my coffee.
"I don't know what you mean, we've only known each other for two freakin' days!" I exclaimed, looking back up at her.
"You know darn well what I'm talking about! I see the way you two look at each other. Oh, and, of course, you're playing his Juliet in the play, am I correct? I thought so. This can only end up with you two together." She said, leaning back in her chair, and pouring sugar into her hand.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever you say." I said, leaning back in my chair as well, and sipping my iced coffee.
"Yup, now, help me with my homework!" She demanded with a smile, pulling out her history book, which was stuffed with paper. I'm going to save you all of the boring history work, and skip to when Thalia dropped me off at my house.
I ran up to my room to avoid my same age, loser, drop-out, good for nothing 'brother'. He's not completely horrible, I just don't like him. I got on my laptop, and searched the internet for scholarships. I had applied for several colleges, but I hadn't gotten any replies yet. I had about four thousand dollars saved in the bank from previous jobs that I had, but if I didn't get a huge scholarship, I wouldn't be able to go to college. I stayed in my room until dinner, and that was a quiet event.
After that I stayed in my room.