NOEL ETHAN JACKSON
Noel and Riley had agreed not to show their faces at the breakfast table in protest. Noel had quickly and quietly moved to Riley's room while Percy, Annabeth, Clara and her friends were having breakfast, and was now sitting on Riley's desk, leaning against the wall. Her computer said it was already 71 degrees, even though it was only nine in the morning.
"Okay, Noel, could you please stop sitting like a creeper?" Riley muttered from her vanity, her eyes briefly flitting to her brother.
"Well, I'm bored," Noel grunted.
"Draw something," was Riley's advice, which made Noel grin. Riley had been the first person to get into art in the family, and Percy and Annabeth had somehow overlooked that Noel was quite the popular artist on deviantART. Most of his drawings were tattoos, graffiti or so, but he had a separate folder for drawing people and airplane photography.
"But I want pancakes!" Noel groaned, which, in turn, made Riley laugh.
"Well, how about this: when I'm done, we sneak outside and go to Ihop, okay?"
"Sounds like a plan!"
Five minutes later, the two siblings had jumped off Riley's balcony and had climbed into Riley's Mini. With the AC on (even 71 degrees felt hot with 100 percent humidity) and bad pop music blasting as loudly as it could from the stereo, the Mini pulled out of the driveway and zoomed down the street, at well over the speed limit. Minutes later, they pulled into the Ihop parking lot, where they got a few odd stares from by passers, but neither Noel nor Riley minded.
"Well, here we are at the one and only Ihop," Riley stated, turning the engine off. Noel looked out his window before getting out, but froze with his hand on the door opener. "What's wrong Bro? Changed your mind 'bout the pancakes?" Riley frowned. Noel never changed his mind about pancakes, ever. When it came to breakfast matters, her little brother was dead serious.
"Norah works here…" Noel mumbled, letting his sentence drift into the silence that was soon filled with a small giggle from Riley. "How do I look?" Noel turned to his sister, a sudden urge of panic gripping at his insides. He, contrary to popular belief, liked to always look his best when he was around girls, and really did try to be a gentleman (well, around Channy didn't count).
Riley rolled her eyes.
"Is she into dark red t-shirts and black sweatpants?"
"Uh… I guess? She seemed to want to go to the movies last night…"
"Awesome! Now, put on my fedora," Riley smirked gleefully, taking her black hat with the red sash on it off and putting it on Noel's head.
"What? No! This is a girl's hat!" Noel grunted, and moved to take the hat off, but Riley stopped him.
"Well, that shows you're secure enough to go in there with a girl's hat on and still hit on her like a man. Now let's go, I'm starving."
Noel rolled his eyes, knowing it was no use to argue with his sister. So, he jammed the fedora on his head and got out of the car, shutting the door with a powerful but elegant swing, just like they did in the movies. Sure, he could feel eyes on him; a sign which he took for good, seeing as he wanted to look good for the girl he was going to take out that evening.
They sat down in a booth at a window overlooking the highway. All around, there were families with little kids (there were two really cute twin girls who couldn't have been older than five running around with flaming red hair), families with old kids, and even a guy who looked sketchier than Noel, sitting alone in the corner farthest from them, sipping a soda. Noel faintly recognized him; he was a dealer from the rival school district. They'd smoked out a little every now and then at competitions. He was in the horseback riding team; the only team where they only tested the horses for drugs.
"Hi, my name's Bertha and I will be your waitress this morning," a pudgy woman of about fifty stood in front of the booth. Noel, who had been expecting Norah, looked positively shocked at the woman with greying hair and Riley found great pleasure at it. "Can I get you two any drinks?"
"Yeah, sure, we'll take two cokes," Riley smiled charmingly at Bertha.
"Sure thing, hon- ooh," Bertha's eyes widened as a loud jingle came from her waistband. She pulled off an ancient looking cellphone and answered it. "Bruce. I cannot believe you're calling now. No, no, you don't understand. Oh, you're going there? Oh hell, I'll go there!" She took the phone from her ear and put her hand over the loudspeaker as she turned her head to bark at a young waitress. "Yo, Ethans, take my quarter for ten!" Then she hurried away, shouting insults at her phone.
"Oh, Bertha," the replacement waitress rolled her eyes as Bertha waddled off. "Hey, I'm Norah- oh, hey Noel," Norah smiled at him. Noel swore he felt his heart stop. Luckily for him though, he had enough experience than to stutter and sound like an amateur. "I didn't know you come here."
"Hey, Norah. We don't usually, we're just trying to piss our parents off," Noel grinned at the girl, partially convinced he looked like a puppy, partially convinced he looked a whole new level of creepy. Lucky for him, Norah seemed to like the idea.
"Cool! So, I gathered that's two cokes, and do you know what you want to eat yet?" she raised her eyebrows so that they disappeared in her messy blonde bangs. Damn, she just looked so cute. Well, the fact that her apron was quite tight, giving her all the right curves. Oh, how he wished he could take that apron and tear it to shreds, no, just rip off all her clothes and- "How bout I give you some time," Norah smiled apologetically and moved on to the next table. It was only then that Noel noticed he must have just been staring off into space like an amateur idiot.
"Nice going, pothead," Riley remarked.
"Oh, shut up!"
They continued their friendly bickering until Norah came back, when they ordered their pancakes and Noel tried his best to act calm and collected while still charming her. Riley got a call from Mickey soon after and left the table for a few seconds, so Noel was left alone for a bit while waiting for the pancakes. However, the space quickly filled with someone else.
"Sorry, the seat's taken," Noel muttered, not bothering to look away from Norah's really cute butt as she lent on the counter of the diner. He heard the person chuckle in return and immediately deduced that the person was female, probably in her teens.
"Not for me. You're Noel Jackson, right?"
Annoyed that he had to direct his stare somewhere else, Noel turned his head to the girl, making it obvious how annoyed he was at her intrusion of his morning.
"Yeah, so?"
"Come on, you don't remember me?" The girl challenged. Noel looked at her through narrowed eyes, running her face through the names in his head. She had an oval face, pale olive skin and long black hair. Her eyes were bright blue, which looked weird, and her mouth was curled in such a way that Noel didn't know if it was a kind smile or an evil smirk.
He knew her from somewhere; just where?
"Come on, Noel, think. It can't be that hard…"
"That's what she said," Noel muttered under his breath, but kept thinking. "Any clues, little Miss Mysterious? Or do I needa play Veronica Mars?"
"Wow, jerk much? Uh, okay, we're sort of related, but actually not. Actually, we're not related at all."
"Wow, that really clears it up, captain obvious," Noel snarked.
"Okay, seriously, Noel. You don't remember?"
"Nope, not one bit."
"Fine! Liana di Angelo, ring a bell?"
Noel's mind finally comprehended the mix of Italian demigod and spunky daughter of Zeus.
"Ooh… yeah… right. Liana. I've met you, what, once?
"Four times," Liana corrected him sternly.
"Right, four times. So why are you talking to me?"
"Huh, offensive much?" Liana rolled her eyes.
"Well, to be honest, I was busy-"
"Ogling Norah's ass? Yeah, I know."
It was Noel's turn to roll his eyes.
"Okay, seriously? I like the girl, it's only natural. How do you know her anyway?"
"Oh, she's on the soccer team. We play matches against each other and became friends that way."
"Still doesn't explain why you were talking to me," Noel frowned.
"Fine! You and my brother, Rico, are going to be sharing a room next week, and I wanted to make sure you're okay," Liana folded her arms and glared at him.
"Okay, jeez, no need to be mean," Noel retorted, liking Liana less and less. "So… do you know who else is sharing rooms?"
"Yes. But why would I tell you?"
"Oh my god, I was just asking!" Noel burst out, feeling the anger rising uncontrollably in him. "Sorry for being a little curious!"
"Wow, just calm down, Noel! Jeez, you can't take a joke, can you? Look, all the guy-kids are sharing a room, except the really young ones and the married ones, and the girl-kids are all sharing rooms, again, except the really young and the married ones."
"Hey, guys, are there any problems?" Norah had returned with the pancakes.
"Oh, hey, Liana! Where'd Riley go?" She asked Noel. He shrugged it off, saying she had to call her boyfriend.
"Now if Liana doesn't mind, she's leaving now," Noel sneered at his sort-of-but-not-really cousin, who rolled her eyes, gave Norah an apologetic glance, and left.
"Wow, little harsh?" Norah smirked and sat down opposite Noel. "Sorry about her though. She can be a little… well…"
"Bitchy?" Noel tried, and Nora nodded.
"Yeah, bitchy. So, about today, when are you going to pick me up? And do you have my address?"
"Uh, four to the first and no to the second." Noel replied, sending his most charming smile Norah's way. Said girl seemed to pick up on this and Noel was pleased to see a blush creeping up her cheeks.
"Okay, four is good; my shift ends at one. Here's my address and cell number, in case you need anything," Norah smiled shyly as she slid a piece of paper over to Noel that she had just written said items on.
"Cool, will do."
"Okay, well, I need to go. Duty calls," Norah sighed and stood up. "See you later," she waved.
"See you!" Noel called after her. "See you…" he mumbled to himself as he poured a healthy portion of syrup onto his pancakes. "See you…" He smiled.
"Well, someone's a lovestruck little teenager," Riley's demonic voice greeted Noel's ears just as he had finished his second pancake and working frantically on his third. He briefly looked up to glare at his sister, and noted the look on her faced. She looked so happy, so relaxed, like she usually looked when just having talked with Mickey. Huh, maybe he really did make her happy.
"Look who's talking," Noel said between maple syrup soaked pancake bites.
"Corrección, amigo, yo no soy un teenager. I'm a fricking legal adult, bitch!"
"Oh stop trying to speak Spanish, Ri-Ri. Let's just stick with Greek; at least we can speak that."
"Be quiet and eat your pancakes."
…:…
When Riley and Noel got home after their most scrumptious excursion to their heaven on earth, they opened the door to Clara throwing a fit, to but it nicely. They had bumped into Angela and Jackie (who had winked somewhat provocatively at Noel, who, in turn, had slapped the freshman's butt) and they and warned the siblings of what was going on inside, but they figured they'd have to face it anyway, so they decided to be brave and walk in the front door.
Clara was freaking out, shouting obscenities at Percy and Annabeth and, when he came in, landing a well-placed punch in Noel's gut before shouting at him that it was his entire fault. Her life, apparently, had been ruined. That was until Riley pulled her younger sister off her brother and took her to her room to talk some sense into the girl, which left Noel standing there awkwardly with his parents.
"So… I'm gonna have some milk," Noel muttered. Percy chuckled and handed Noel a glass as said boy got a gallon of milk out of the fridge. "And could I have some ice for that punch? Looks like Malcolm taught her well," he added, wincing as he bent over and his gut screamed in protest. He lifted his shirt to find a bright red large spot right where his abs had been forming so nicely (they were there alright, they were just a little shy. He was, however, proud of the two lines on either side of his belly button indication that his abs were existent). Ugh, that would leave a nasty bruise.
Annabeth rummaged around in the freezer a bit before handing her son an ice pack and telling him to go lie down so that the ice could sit on his stomach.
"Do you want to see pictures of the place? We only got some of the outside; sadly, the super didn't want us to take any inside yet, but they inside's really nice."
Noel nodded at his mom as he lay on the couch, propped up so that he could see the TV and drink his milk but also so that the ice still sat nicely on his abs. Annabeth disappeared into the study for a few seconds and soon came back with a laptop, which she put on her lap after she sat down and positioned so that Noel could see it.
"Looks cool," Noel muttered, somewhat unenthusiastically. Normally, he'd be smoking at that time of day.
"Oh don't sound too enthusiastic," Annabeth countered, which made Noel crack up. I there was one thing he had always really loved about his mother (except the fact that she was his mother and he loved her blindly) was her use of sarcasm. He had inherited this snarky trait from her, as she proudly said. Riley had inherited the same snarkiness, whereas Clara had inherited her father's blunt way of speaking and complete stubbornness.
"I met Liana di Angelo today," Noel said, trying to get off the topic of New York.
"Oh yeah, Nico and Thalia's. How is she?"
"She's a b- uh… she's, well, definitely her parents' daughter," Noel grimaced and took another sip of milk. Annabeth laughed a little.
"I'm guessing she's the perfect mix of mommy and daddy?"
"Oh yes."
"Ah. Well, at least try to get along with her, okay? I think you two are the only ones who are the same age, thus you will be doing the most together."
"Hey, what about Riley?"
Annabeth sighed.
"You know, we're thinking of inviting this… Mickey person."
That really raised Noel's eyebrows, but he chose to say nothing. Instead, he asked who the children were who'd be coming.
"Well," Annabeth started and Noel could tell it'd be quite a list. "There's Riley, you and Clara. Then there's Liana and Matt di Angelo. Laura and Grace Stoll (from Travis and Katie) and Benji, Alex and Madden Stoll (form Connor and Lou Ellen). Maximus Grace should also be there. Wow, Jason and Reyna really could have been a little more creative. Piper's kid is Theo, and then Leo's are Esperanza and Felix."
"And how old are they?"
"Oh geez, always with the questions, Noel," Annabeth mock glared at her son, but then proceeded to answer the question. "Riley and Esperanza are the oldest, but I think they're going to be with their respective boyfriends. You and Liana are both seventeen, Matt, Benji, Clara and Theo are fourteen. Laura and Grace – Gracie, twins, are twelve, as is Alex. Max, Madden and Felix are ten."
"Uh- huh, so who's sharing rooms?"
"Well, Ri's with Mickey and Esperanza's with her boyfriend. Matt, Benji and Theo are sharing a room. Clara decided she can be with Laura and Gracie because they apparently adore her over webcam. Alex, Max, Madden and Felix are also sharing a room because Alex is about as mature as a ten year old."
"And what about Liana and me?" Noel asked, having a very uncomfortable feeling about the answer.
"Well… you see… we might not have enough rooms… so… we might have to out you guys in the same room."
Oh god. Holy crap. His holiday was ruined.
So yeah, tell me what you think!
So do you want to see some Noel/Liana later? I'm going with the thing that they're really not related at all. Also, do you want to see more Riley/Mickey?
For those who are confused:
Percy and Annabeth: Riley, Noel and Clara.
Nico and Thalia: Liana and Matt.
Travis and Katie: Laura and Grace.
Connor and Lou Ellen: Benji, Alex and Madden.
Jason and Reyna: Max (Maximus).
Piper and unknown god (will be revealed): Theo.
Leo and Khione: Esperanza.
Leo and Gaia: Felix.
So tell me what you think! Please, I run on reviews!
