I do not own PJO. All credit goes to the genius Rick Riordan.
Chapter 3:
Life in Los Angeles
Percy
I sat up in my seat, the memory of Annabeth's lips on my cheek still fresh in my mind. But I was never going to see her again. I put my chin in my hand and stared out the window at the world passing me by. I had been like that for quite a while, dodging bullets as to why I was so—as my mom put it—melancholy. My parents weren't stupid, and Grover was a terrible liar, so I knew that at any time they were going to figure something out. But, at the moment, I didn't care.
I tried to focus on the positives. For one thing, I would never have to deal with Mrs. Dodds' "Now, Honey's". I would never have to see Nancy Bobofit's liquid Cheetos freckles. No more of Principal Charon's cold, hard stares that seemed to hold thousands of years of creepy. I had never liked that school anyway.
But, there were things that I would miss. Fireworks lighting up the sky on the Fourth of July. The cool feeling of the river racing around me on warm summer nights. The sounds of crickets and cicadas in the twilight. And, of course, a kiss on the cheek at a bonfire on the riverbank. All of it. Gone like dust in the wind.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice my dad was calling my name until Grover elbowed me in the ribs. I looked up to see my parents watching me with identical looks of concern. Poseidon sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Let me guess," his voice was laced with the pity that I didn't want, "that Nobody that you met at the river wasn't just Nobody."
I was too emotional to argue, so I just nodded. He pursed his lips, trying to think of what to say. Finally, he leaned over his knees, his eyes sparked with interest. "What's her name?"
I ran my fingers through my hair, nervous. "Well… you see dad… I'm not so sure that you'll… like… enjoy hearing who she is…"
His expression instantly became wary. "Perseus… what's her name?"
He spoke in his "Business Voice." The voice that expected to be obeyed. I sighed, then mumbled so quietly even I couldn't hear. He got angry, his sea green eyes swirling like a tempest. "Perseus," he warned.
"ANNABETH CHASE!" I yelled, clenching my fists and glaring at my lap. I didn't need to explain. The daughter of my dad's business rival was fairly well known. I waited through the silence, the echo of her name bouncing around the car. After what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, my mom spoke up.
"Well, Percy," she sounded tentative, like she was worried about what she was saying, "if you like this girl as much as it seems, then I say go for it."
"Sally-" my dad spluttered, but my mom cut him off, her voice now firm.
"Poseidon, you know as well as I do that, quite like you yourself, he has an obedience streak instead of a rebellious streak. I think that it's better to give our permission than to deal with him sneaking around. Besides," she poked my dad playfully in the stomach, "it's a good chance for you to clear things up with Athena. That rivalry has gone on long enough, don't you think?"
I wanted to hug my mom, but I kept silent, waiting for my dad's reply. "I suppose," he muttered grudgingly. I wasn't sure whether to be happy or angry. Finally, I chose the latter.
"What's the point?" I muttered bitterly. "She's in Tennessee. I'm going to California."
My dad perked up at that. Obviously, he wasn't as okay with this as he claimed. But he immediately put on his poker face. When he spoke, it was with the sympathy that I had always hated. "Sorry, Percy. But, you know, there'll be other girls…"
I rolled my eyes. "No offense, dad, but how many times do I have to say this…. I don't need your sympathy. I don't want your sympathy. Please don't give me your sympathy." I glared out the window, refusing to look at my parents. My dad sighed, and they left me in silence for the rest of the trip.
We got to the LA Amtrak station around six on Sunday afternoon. Luckily, my dad had paid to ship my truck over. He had offered to buy me a new one, but I couldn't part with the old thing. It was reliable, and I liked it. Of course, my dad was probably just fine with it, since between the truck bed and my mom's Saturn, we didn't have to call an extra moving van.
The new house was huge. There were two stories for the usual stuff: kitchen, bathroom, my parents' bedroom. Then there was the attic. It was so enormous that the old owners had split it in half and built two rentable apartments. Instead of renting them out though, Grover and I were given them.
To be honest, I wasn't all that impressed by them. I had never been very interested in expensive things like that. In fact, as soon as Grover and I finished unpacking, we bolted for the truck. Then, we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the town. Since it was only the Sunday before the second week of school, there were teenagers everywhere. I liked it. It was definitely huge compared to Nashville, and fairly confusing, but I could get used to it.
At around eight, we came back and explored the neighborhood. I liked the community basketball court. Grover was slightly more interested in the girl on the staff. She was cute in an elfish kind of way, and she was fairly nice. Her name was Juniper. I wasn't very interested, but at one point, while the three of us were shooting hoops with some guys from the neighborhood, I turned to find Grover ogling over her. Of course, I always take opportunities like that, and threw the ball at his face, sending him sprawling onto the ground, the entire court doubling over with laughter.
"Hey," he cried indignantly, sitting up and rubbing his forehead. "What was that for?" I could tell he was over exaggerating for the sake of getting Juniper's attention. I'd hit him harder than that before and all he did was sit up laughing. So I picked up the ball from where it had rolled over to my feet, and heaved it at him. This time he was ready, and caught it easily. I held out my hand and helped him up, "Grover, put your eyes back in your head and try not to drool on the ball."
More laughter. Grover's face went red, but it had the reaction that I wanted. Juniper started dusting his shirt off, asking if he was okay, glaring at the guys who had just been flirting with her but were now laughing at Grover. I gave him a thumbs up, and he grinned at me thankfully. We quit the game early, and Juniper's previous followers gave me death glares on my way out.
Juniper came with us back to the house, insisting that she make sure that Grover was okay before she left. She ended up leaving with her phone number on the back of his hand and her lipstick print on his cheek. Grover thanked me so many times that it got annoying, so I left on my own to find what I had been saving for last.
Just steps away from our backyard was probably the only thing that had made this move bearable. Three miles of private beach, available only to those that lived in the neighborhood. I spent three hours exploring, and by the time I finally came back—around midnight—my hair was speckled with ocean spray. The sea had always calmed me down, and it didn't fail me this time. I was fairly good at spotting details, and had found something that obviously hadn't been found in a long time. I had spent an hour and a half clearing out the spider webs, and had made a note to come back as soon as I could.
When I got upstairs, I slid into bed, not even bothering to change, and was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
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AtlantaJackson95
