Chapter One – Annabeth
Looking lean and limber in a slinky black dress and heels, Annabeth Chase stood at the back of the Westport High School auditorium.
Up on the stage, the kids she'd cast in the Drama Club's fall production of The Philadelphia Storywere giving the performance of their lives.
In the rows of seats before her and the balcony above, the opening night audience was raising the rafters with sounds of approval. They were laughing in all the right places and the applause was thunderous. In all her life, Annabeth had never felt so happy.
Annabeth has the esteem honor of being the first girl to ever be chosen to direct the Drama Club's annual show. The way things were going, she made the most of this opportunity. As the way things were going, The Philadelphia Story was sure to be a smash hit.
Halfway through the second act, the play was nearing its turning point – the moment when Tracy Lord, the beautiful society girl, topples from her ivory pedestal and falls in the awaiting arms of Mike Connor, the down-to-earth and oh-so-devilishly-handsome reporter.
But just then, just when Tracy is teetering on the brink of toppling, Grover Underwood barged through a door at the back of the auditorium, screams "thank the gods!" and brought Annabeth crashing back to reality.
It was Wednesday morning, a few minutes before the start of school. Opening night was still nine days away. Annabeth was standing at the back of the empty auditorium. She was dressed in her typical uniform of jeans, graphic tee shirt, cardigan and sneakers.
Grover, her stage manager and close friend, was standing in front of her looking like he was about to tell her that someone ran over her dog.
"Okay," she said, bracing herself for the news. "What is it?"
Grover continued to stand there like he was about to enter a funeral.
"That bad?"
Grover nodded and said, "Ryan Crawford."
Ryan was the boy Annabeth had chosen to play Mike Connor, the male lead that made it so easy for Tracy to topple from said pedestal.
"What about him?" Annabeth asked.
"He tried to call you, but your mobile is off. So he called me."
"Jeez Grover, get a grip. First of all, it's called a 'cell phone.' This whole "wanting to talk British" thing needs to end. Yes some girls may find it sexy, but from you, it's just weird. And secondly, what could be so wrong to put you in this state?"
"He's out."
"Say what now?"
"Out. As in out of the play."
"Say what now?"
"He has mono."
"Say what now?"
"For gods sake, Annabeth, stop saying that! Ryan was feeling ill so he went to the doctors last night and he has mono."
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"He had tests."
"Are you sure?"
".Tests!" Grover exclaimed.
"How's everyone else? Oh gods! What if the whole cast has it?"
Grover tried to use his soothing and non-British voice, "I already called everyone and they all say they feel fine."
Annabeth told herself it wasn't as bad as it might have been. At least Ryan hadn't given it to the rest of the cast. But what good was the rest of the cast if she didn't have anyone to play Mike Connor?
"What are we going to do?" Grover demanded. So much for being soothing. Normally he was about as sweet and laid back as a guy can be but in a crisis he tended to get a tad hysterical.
Calmly, as though it was no big deal, Annabeth said, "We are going to replace him."
"With who?"
"Whom."
"With whom then?"
Annabeth shrugged, "Oh, with some hot, smart, talented, tough-but-tender guy or other."
"Who can learn the part by a week from Friday," Grover reminded her.
"Exactly," said Annabeth.
"Like whom?" asked Grover.
"Who."
"Urgh! Like who, then?"
Annabeth shrugged and said "Like Robert Pattinson or Jake Gyllenhaal."
Grover blanched, "Jake, I can give you that. But R-Patz? Really? Don't tell me you are a Twi-hard?"
"What? Okay so the books leave a lot to be desired but you have to admit that Edward Cullen is a bit dreamy."
"Okay let's leave Planet Bizarro for a second. What are we going to do?"
That was a tough one. Right from the start, finding someone to play Mike Connor had been a major hassle. Mike was supposed to be a tough guy with the soul of a poet, a man's man that a woman just could not resist. And that seems to run in short supply here at Westport High School. As far as Annabeth could tell, there were not a lot of guys like that around anywhere. She is only seventeen, of course, and there is always hope for the future, but so far – in all her seventeen years – not one tough guy with the soul of a poet had crossed her path. And it wasn't like she hadn't been looking, either. In her life, Annabeth had checked out her fair share of tough guys, the soul of a horny teenage guy – yes. Soul of a poet – not so much.
But that wasn't the point. The point wasn't whether or not such a thing as a tough guy with the soul of a poet actually existed in the Known Universe. The point was, the guy who played Mike Connor didn't have to be Mike Connor. He just had to act like him. You wouldn't think that finding somebody who could do that would be such a hassle. But it was.
Ryan wasn't a tough guy and he didn't have the soul of a poet. But he was good looking in that J. Crew ad kind of way that most girls found completely desirable. And he could act - a little. With a solid month of rehearsal under their belts, he looked like he was going to work out just fine. Well, it looked like it was going to work out.
"What about somebody we auditioned?" Grover asked, snapping Annabeth out of her musing.
In her mind, Annabeth ran over the eight other guys they auditioned. Most of them seemed nice enough and a few were not totally unattractive but none of them had "it." Annabeth did not think that any of those eight guys could cause the beautiful and high-and-mighty Tracy Lord to lose her head over them.
"No one we auditioned," Annabeth said.
Out in the hallway, the bell for school rang. Annabeth had four minutes to get upstairs to her homeroom and into her seat.
"Somebody else?" asked Grover as he followed her out to the crowded hallway.
Annabeth nodded, "Somebody else."
"Like who?"
As they reached the stairs to the second floor, Annabeth stopped and turned to Grover. "I'll think of somebody."
As Grover turned and ran to his homeroom, Annabeth watched him and listened to the panicky voice shouting inside her racing mind, Like who?
A/N: As you can see, this is an AU story. No Greek gods, no monsters and no special powers. Just two teenagers who are experiencing the twists and turns of life - school, friends, and most importantly love. Reviews are welcome and greatly appreciated. Best, MFP
