Chapter Three – Annabeth
Annabeth took off, racing down the hallway. It was lunch hour, a few seconds before noon on Friday, but she was not racing towards the cafeteria. With the kind of stuff they served in Westport High School cafeteria that was the last place anyone in their right mind would ever race to.
No, what set Annabeth into motion was what she was running from. And what she was running from was her history teacher and head of the Drama Club, Mr. Brunner. Annabeth felt a little guilty with running away from Mr. Brunner because he was confined to a wheelchair and was not able to duck and weave his way through the crowded hallway like Annabeth can.
"It's entirely his stupid fault." Annabeth thought angrily to herself. Even though everyone is so proud of her for being named the (first female) director for The Philadelphia Story it was not an honor she wanted bestowed upon her at first. Annabeth is perfectly happy with the behind the scenes part of the Drama Club. Annabeth loves to draw, design and create. Her sets for last year's production of Kiss Me, Kate are still talked about. To Annabeth, the sets are the unsung hero in any play. A well designed stage can make or break a production. Annabeth already had sketch books full of ideas for 1930's Philadelphia when Mr. Brunner called her into his office almost two months ago. Annabeth was all set to "Wow" Mr. Brunner with her ideas when he cleared his throat and started with his typical opening, "Annabeth, dear."
Dear Annabeth sat there not knowing what she was about to get herself into.
"Annabeth, dear," started Mr. Brunner, "I know you how talented you are artistically, but I really want you to try and spread your wings a bit this year. I want you to take a different role for this year's production."
At first, Annabeth was scared stiff that Mr. Brunner was going to tell her that shehad to be in the play. Oh no! Oh no, no, no, no, no! But then he dropped an even bigger bomb.
"Annabeth, dear. I want you to direct," said Mr. Brunner.
"Direct? Direct?" Annabeth couldn't help but notice that her voice went up a few octaves when she said that.
"Yes, Annabeth. Direct! Your dream is to attend New York University, isn't it? It is a very prestigious program and not an easy one to get into. If you want to attend, you need to show the admissions department that you can handle both sides of a production. Being a director, especially the first female director at a school such as Westport High School, will speak volumes to your capabilities as an artist and as a student."
"But what do I know about being a director?" asked Annabeth.
"Plenty my dear girl, plenty," Mr. Brunner explained, "you have vision, you have passion and you know how to get people to listen to you. Plus you are never afraid to take on a challenge once it has been given to you. All of these are traits that needed in a director."
And before Annabeth could think of an argument as to why this was an absolutely silly idea, Mr. Brunner excused her from his office. In no time at all, the whole school was buzzing with the news that Annabeth Chase has been named the director of The Philadelphia Story.
To be honest, Annabeth started to love being a director. To have complete control over the vision of the play was intoxicating. To see her cast work hard and see all the pieces start to fit into place was a rush she hasn't felt in a long time. And then it all came crashing down the moment Ryan Crawford kissed the wrong girl and ended up with mono.
Annabeth knew that Mr. Brunner would want an update on the recasting of Mike Connor and she didn't want to lie to him. She hated lying even more than she hated being lied to, which she hated a lot. Truth be told, Annabeth was no closer to finding Mike Connor 2.0 than she was two days ago. But she didn't want to tell Mr. Brunner, or anyone else for that matter, the truth, either. She was afraid, if she admitted that she hadn't yet come up with anybody to play Mike Connor, everybody would panic. And she knew that panic – a close relative to stage fright – was the last thing in the world any of them needed.
Once she knew that the coast was clear, Annabeth made her way to the cafeteria.
"Time to face the music. Maybe they won't ask me about Mike Connor" Annabeth said out loud to no one.
As soon as Annabeth slid into a chair opposite her friend Katie Gardner, Katie said, "Did you get anybody yet?"
So much for no one asking me, thought Annabeth.
"I hear they're gonna have to cancel the show," said Grover in a panicky voice.
"Grover! They are not going to cancel the show," said Annabeth.
"Then you go somebody?" asked Lily Davies
"More or less," Annabeth lied.
Then, before anybody could ask her who she'd gotten, she looked over at the food on Katie's tray and asked, "What's the swill du jour?"
Katie looked down at the unappetizing mess on her tray. "The usual," she said. "Warmish meat and glue-ish gravy."
"Yum," said Lily.
And just as Annabeth hoped, everybody was off to the races, complaining about the steady stream of indigestible inedibles the cafeteria spewed out every day for lunch.
"We need more vegetarian options," started Grover.
"Yes, and a full salad bar. Limpy iceberg lettuce and rotten tomatoes are not a salad bar," said Katie.
"And enchiladas! Lots and lots of enchiladas!" exclaimed Grover.
"Grover," shouted Lily. "You are drooling all over my chemistry notebook."
Happy to be out of the spotlight, Annabeth turned to her attention to her lunch bag and her Greek yogurt. Annabeth loved everything Greek – yogurt, literature, architecture. Her dad even let her try Ouzo once. She has a worn out poster of the Parthenon on her bedroom wall that she has had since she was a little girl. It was a gift from her grandfather, Spero. That poster is what started Annabeth on the journey as a designer. And then when she started to read Greek mythologies and plays, the worlds of theater and design collided and consumed Annabeth. And that led to her directing….
Ah! No more thinking about the play for the time being. Annabeth started to play with a lock of her hair and tried to lose herself in the debate about free range chickens that was brewing between Lily and Grover.
"I don't care if it's more humane. Eating animals is wrong," said Grover.
"It's all about The Circle of Life, Grover," said Lily.
While looking at her lock of hair, Annabeth had to wonder when was the last time she had it cut. It seems like this play has consumed her life. It's not like Annabeth is a girly girl, but she does like to take a little pride in her appearance. She just doesn't go around flaunting her goodies for all the guys to ogle over.
Annabeth is tall and slender and people often say she is pretty. As a matter a fact, she did have a pretty face – oval shaped, with lightly tanned skin as smooth as porcelain. Her hair, which is long but she often wore in a ponytail, is honey blond and with a hint of auburn highlights where it has been kissed by the sun. She had an impertinent little nose and sensuous mouth, whose natural expression was a slightly mischievous grin.
But the feature that people always remember most when they think of Annabeth was her eyes. Steel grey and dazzling, Annabeth's eyes blazed with intelligence and glowed with humor and radiated life.
Out of the corner of those breath-taking eyes, she noticed a flurry of activity at the far corner of the cafeteria.
Without thinking, Annabeth picked up her things, rose from her chair and began to weave her way through the crowd to where the action was.
What had caught Annabeth's eye was Luke Castellan. A tall guy with sandy blond hair, twinkling blue eyes and a lopsided grin, Luke was the school's reigning prankster. What was most astonishing was that Luke hardly ever took credit for his escapades and he never got caught. Like the time he patched the filters into the intercom system so that when the principal, Mr. Dionysus, (aka Mr. D.) made the morning announcements, he sounded like a chipmunk stuck in a coal mine. No one knew for sure it was Luke who did it. Or the time someone covered all the school hallways with hay and then let a whole bunch of chickens loose. No one, not even the Connecticut State Police could prove that Luke was the mastermind behind it all.
Just what Luke might be up to this time, Annabeth couldn't guess. Luke and his usual sidekicks, Connor and Travis Stoll and Chris Rodriquez, had hustled into the cafeteria carrying a giant black trunk, on the side of which they stenciled "Woks Up?"
Abandoning their "warmish meat and glue-ish gravy," a number of students have risen from their tables and hurried to gather around Luke, Connor, Travis and Chris.
Moving with lightening speed, Luke persuaded a group of students to turn their table over to them. Then, popping the trunk open, he whipped out a long white linen tablecloth, snapped it open with a flick of his wrists and settled it over the table.
Next out of the trunk were an array of wooden bowls piled high with red bell peppers, yellow onions, sugar-snapped peas, and snow-white bean sprouts.
Then came a carving board, bearing a king-size slab of lean red beef.
After that there were bottles of soy sauce and sesame oil, followed by stacks of paper plates, napkins and piles of plastic forks and knives.
To cap it all off, Luke pulled out an enormous, tapering, round-bottomed aluminum pot – a wok. At Luke's nod, Connor plugged it in. At the same time, all four guys pulled out bandanas that looked straight out of The Karate Kid from their back pockets and tied them around their heads.
Then, as Annabeth moved in closer, Luke swung into action- oiling up the wok; carving up the beef into thin strips, slicing the peppers and onions; grabbing up fistful of peas and sprouts; heaping everything into his sizzling wok; stirring and seasoning and serving up his mouth-watering creation – doing everything at once and all of it asfastasthat!
As soon as the students realized what Luke was up to, a cheer went through the crowd. People started lining up to be served. Travis began passing out a basket, soliciting 'contributions.' Chris docked his iPod into a wireless speaker system and flooded the cafeteria with soothing "Sounds from a Japanese Garden." While Luke was busy chopping, stirring and even flipping food into the open mouths of the drooling students in front of him, Connor started to give a running commentary, with Japanese accent and all.
The whole thing was like a party – a giant, impromptu lunch party. Students were having a blast sharing their plates of Luke's tasty creation and laughing every time Connor would say, "Soy! Soy! Soy!" And Annabeth witnessed it all. Right up to the time Mr. D. showed up with the security guards.
However, with his uncanny sense of timing, Luke somehow anticipated the appearance of the riot police and, moments before their arrival, he and his accomplices had packed up all their stuff and fled the scene of the crime. As a result, by the time Mr. D. stormed into the cafeteria, there was nothing to be seen but a bunch of kids grazing over their stir-fried lunches, as peaceful and content as a flock of sheep in a meadow. With no armed riot to quell, Mr. D. was sorely disappointed.
"Where'd you get that?" he demanded, pointing to the food on Jesse Cloherty's plate.
Jesse looked up at him, smiled and said, "From a friend."
Everybody cheered.
Wheeling on the crowd, Mr. D. announced, "No one is allowed to prepare or serve food in this cafeteria without my permission." Then, turning back to Jesse he continued, "Nor is anyone allowed to eat food that has been prepared and served in this cafeteria without my permission."
Looking up at Mr. D., Jesse nodded and raised a finger to his mouth and said "Do you want me to put it back?"
Everybody almost died.
Mr. D., turning a violent shade of violet, bellowed, "No! I do not!"
With that, accompanied by the security guards, Mr. D. turned on his heels and marched out of the cafeteria.
After he was gone, everybody waited a respectful five seconds before they broke out laughing and cheering.
Annabeth, while cheering with her fellow classmates, was smiling for another reason. She just may have found the solution to her problem.
A/N: Many thank you's to those of you who have added me to your Favorites/Alerts. And for those who sent reveiws, I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to do that. I will answer all reviews by this weekend. The next chapter will be about Percy and it should be up in the next few days.
Thank you for taking the time to enjoy this story.
Enjoy and Happy Reading! MFP