PLAYING THE PLAYER:
Annabeth's P.O.V:
"I had a dream so big and loud, I jumped so high I touched the clouds. I stretched my hands up to the sky, we danced with monsters through the night. I'm never gonna look back, I'm never gonna give it up. Please, don't wake me now. This is gonna be the best of my life, my life, my life. This is gonna be the best day of my life. My life. I hollowed at the moon with friends, and then the sun came crashing in. But all the possibilities. No limits, just epiphanies. I'm never gonna look back, I'm never goanna give it up. Just don't wake me now. This is gonna be the best day of my life." -Best Day Of My Life, American Authors.
CHAPTER THREE:
"You want me to what?" I hissed at her, eyes narrowed in obvious betrayal. I had never in my eighteen years of life on earth had contemplated for my closest friend to say something like this. Ever. I knew that she hated and despised Percy just as much as I did, perhaps even more, but did she really hate her flesh and blood that much?
Thalia shrugged at my angry attempts. "Oh, come on, Annabeth. You know he deserves it. Think about Rachel. He finally needs to get his just desserts." My jaw set, and I gazed at her unchangingly. Her words sounded ungenerous and it was out-of-character for her. Her mother was an alcoholic and an actress that did low-budget movies. She was never abusive to Thalia or Jason, much to my relief. Mrs. Grace was kind, loving to her daughter and son, but distant and sometimes selfish. The unfairness is how Thalia had intercepted such a wonderful personality. She cared about people- but this? This wasn't like her, and it troubled me.
"Justice and revenge are two different things, Thals. And if we stoop that low, then-"
"Don't give me all that meaningless book shit!" she half-yelled, her blue, electrifying eyes seemed to glow. My expression fell, and I knew it look raw and vulnerable. She took a deep breath, tracing the rips on her pre-ripped black jeans.
"Are you okay?" I asked her after a moment of hesitation. "You've been acting kind of... unusual lately." I expected her to fire away when I exclaimed that, but she just stared up at me sympathetically.
"Sorry, sorry. Things have been stressful at home." I nodded at those words in a silent apology.
After a long pause she spoke firmly again."But we need to do this, Annie. He's going to hurt a lot of other people. Hell, he already hurt most people at this school! Do you want to make him hurt everyone?"
"No," I said quietly, suddenly becoming interested with my worn out sneakers. "But I don't think we should do it this way. It's wrong. And Percy seems hurt, too. Why do you think he's been doing all of this?" Thalia snorted and rolled her eyes.
Scowling, she replied instantly, her voice snappish and on edge. "Seriously, Annabeth? Becoming sympathetic with the enemy."
"He's not the enemy," I replied, a little quicker than intended. "He's hurt, Thalia. I can see that in him. He's a tortured person."
Thalia tapped her fingernail up against the bathroom stall, a habit she had picked up from all the times we visited the restroom.
"Please don't tell me that you like him, Annabeth." My cheeks flushed shamefully, and I tugged on my braid anxiously.
"What?" I shrieked defensively. "No! of course not!" It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the wholesome truth either. Honestly, I didn't know what I felt for him. But it wasn't a friendship feeling; and I knew if I pinned my feelings down under lock and key, it would escalate into something bigger than intended.
She challenged immediately after my quick worded denial , "Then why do you always defend him?"
"I don't!"
"Yes, you do, Annabeth." She shook her head, a smile of disbelief on her face. But I could see the fiery rage in her eyes. "You are unbelievable, Annabeth. Just the second after Rachel breaks up with Percy, you of all people, want to try and change him. I thought you were smarter than that. I thought you were different."
"What is the matter with you?" I yelled, startling myself. "Seriously, Thalia? What's going on with you?" She shook her head, her short, pony tail remaining unmoving. Her eyes were closed, almost like she was resisting crying.
"Nothing. I have to go." Her voice sounded like it cracked on the end, but I wasn't positive. She stopped at the door, turning around to face me once more. "Think about what I said. If someone plays him, it just might work." And without a word of goodbye, she stormed from the bathroom. Not hotly, but with her shoulders hunched. I took one last look in the mirror, staring thoughtfully at my reflection. And for the first time in my life, I thought, who exactly was I as a person? I could do it. I could make him fall in love with me, then break his heart. But what kind of person would I be if I did that to him? Not one I would like to see in the mirror every day. But then again, this was for Rachel and all the other girls who have had their own hearts shattered into tiny pieces just like him. Would it make me a bad person if I sat back and did absolutely nothing at all? I leaned my head up against a mirror, shutting my eyes tightly and embracing the nothingness of it all.
"Uh, you okay there?" I snapped my head upward, feeling my face ignite. Standing in the doorway was a skinny girl around my age. She had long, brown hair with turquoise blue eyes and plush lips. She was wearing blue jeans and a purple, plush demine jacket on. Her brown hair was pulled into two choppy braids, her eyes looking overwhelmed.
"Yeah," I murmured. I realized that I had never seen that girl before in my years at Goode High. "I haven't seen you around Goode. Are you new here?"
"Yes," she sighed sadly. "I'm the new girl." I nodded at her pitifully because she looked so helpless.
"I can show you to your classes, if you like." She shook her head, an apology written across on her pink lips.
"No, that's alright. A boy already volunteered to when I was walking here. Thanks anyway." Suspicion was growing rapidly inside me. She was a girl. A pretty girl, at that note. Much prettier than most. And he was...Percy Jackson. His name cut through the hazy, groggy disorientation of my mind at the moment, clearing my senses almost instantly. I highly doubted that the first boy she talked to wouldn't be Percy Jackson.
"Percy Jackson?" I asked in a small, disoriented daze. Her eyebrows raised in astonishment, staring at me with a peculiar, odd look on her tan face. "Is that the boy who said he would show you around school?"
Her eyebrows furrowed, lips pulling out. "As a matter of fact, he is. How did you know? There must be hundreds of boys at this school..."
I supplied vastly, "Lucky guess. I'm Annabeth, by the way. Annabeth Chase." I stuck out my hand, and she shook y hand. Are hands clasped tightly together, jerking upward then downward.
"Piper."
"Nice to meet you, Piper." Little did I know it then, but Piper was a part of a puzzle piece that connected the whole playing the player plan altogether.
"Ditto." Earnestly, she tucked her books on the lower part of her chest.
"Oh, and by the way, be careful." I warned, glancing around my shoulder. Maybe I was slightly paranoid that Percy was going to jump out from the inside of a stall, which of course, like all my other thoughts lately, was contemptible and absurd.
"Care to explain seeing as I'm new here?"
"He's just trouble; the bad boy of the school. He's probably just going to show you around school to get to flirt with you." A grin etched on her face, her eyes showing a hopeless romantic trait in her personality.
She twirled a piece of hair in her finger, "And that's a bad thing?"
I give her a gentle smile, trying to leer her away from the temptations of Percy Jackson and show her the clear, safe path that a majority of us took. "When it comes to Percy," I took a deep, heavy breath. "It is."
Her lips twisted sideways, a thoughtful, debating look on her face. "You know what? I trust you about this; one of the perks of being a new girl."
"Good."
"Hey, I know this is kind of pressing my luck, but can I sit with you at lunch? I kind of don't want to be eating alone... or in the girl's bathroom."
"'Course." I gave her a warm smile. "I was just about to ask you the same exact thing. Can I see your schedule?" She obliged with a smile, taking a sheet of paper from her precarious position from holding all her new books.
I grabbed it, my eyes analyzing her classes. "Cool. We've got third period together."
She smiled again, and her tense figured sighed heavily and her shoulders collapsed. "Thank you. I don't know what I would've done without some sort of guide."
"Don't mention it. Actually, can you do me a favor?"
"Anything," She giggled. "Seriously, whatever you need." We both strolled out of the bathroom, carrying our books.
I gave her a look of sincerity. "Stay away from Percy Jackson."
Piper shrugged. "Alright. " Then after a moment she said, "Do you like him? Is that why you're asking me to stay away from him? If that's the reason, then I'll back off." I could feel my eyes widening in shock. She saw the look on my face, "Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to pry."
"You're not prying." I managed to swoop away from answering her embarrassing question without blushing once. "Come on, let's get to Mr. Brunner's History class before were late."
. . .
"There were three immortal Greek gods. They were all brothers. Their names were Zeus, Poseidon and Hades." I scrawled down a quick note on my sheet, listening eagerly to Mr. Brunner, our history teacher. He was in his mid fifties, with a small beard, and kind, soft brown eyes. I already knew all of this due to the fact that I had an insane Greek mythology addiction from the time I was seven. "They were the sons of Kronos, who was the Titan god of time and the ages, especially time where regarded as destructive and all-devouring. He ruled the cosmos during the so-called Golden Age of the Greeks, after castrating and deposing his father Ouranos into the sky. Later he received a prophecy from the Oracle of Delphi that his own son of be the conqueror of him. In fear of a prophecy that he would be in turn be overthrown by his own son, Kronos swallowed each of his children as soon as they were born."
Looks of disgust flickered around the room, Piper's included. She looked at me for a moment, an amused smile on her face. Sadly, I averted my attention towards Piper, who was still me that same knowing look that she had given me minutes ago in the bathroom.
"What?" I whispered, glancing to and from the teacher.
"Percy Jackson is the one with the green eyes, right?" My eyebrows furrowed, but I nodded. Her head tilted so her gaze was positioned behind us.
Damn.
There he was, giving us a mischievous smirk that Thalia mimicked exactly at times. The smile read 'I'm up to something'. Piper looked away quickly, and so did I. Bumping my arm playfully, she giggled, "He's staring at you."
"No, he's not," I protested fiercely, looking back at him for good measure. He was staring up at the teacher, a look of downright innocence on his face. "See?" Piper rolled her kaleidoscope eyes, ignoring my pleas.
"He was," she muttered under her breath, trying to control another smile.
"Rhea managed to save the youngest, Zeus, by hiding him away on the island of Krete, and fed Kronos a stone wrapped in the swaddling clothes of an infant. The god grew up, forced Kronos to disgorge his swallowed offspring, and led the Olympians in a ten year war against the Titans, before driving them defeated into the pit, what we call hell. Does anyone know what it's called?"
I raised my hand, shooting it high up in the air. "Yes, Annabeth?"
"Tartarus. It's where all Mythological monsters and beings go after being destroyed. Except for gods, who fade away if they lose to many supporters and prayers." A ghost of a smile formed on Mr. Brunner's lips. A person behind me snorted, and it only took one guess to figure out who it was.
"Good, good, Annabeth. Not many people really dwell in the mythologies of the Greek Gods, I admire you for being so informative on the matter." My cheeks flushed, embarrassed at all of this unwanted attention.
"Thanks," I murmured, looking down. Mr. Brunner gave me one last smile before returning to the black board.
"Many human generations later, Zeus released Kronos and his brothers from this prison, and made the old Titan king of the Elysian Islands, home of the blessed dead. Kronos was essentially the same as Kronos, the primordial god of time in the Orphic Theogonies. Afterwards the Greek gods and goddesses, or sons and daughters of Kronos, married each other and had kids with each other. Like Zeus' daughter, there was Athena, who grew out of Zeus' head, becoming the brain child." I beamed proudly to myself, considering that my mother's namesake was after Athena.
"Now the gods did marry one another, despite them being brother and sister."
"Gross," Ethan Nakamura, one of the jocks of the school exclaimed. "Who would want to marry their own sister or brother? Then again, if Rachel was my sister, I would definitely want to be her brother." He winked at Rachel Elizabeth Dare flirtatiously. Rachel's cheeks caught on fire, and her emerald eyes narrowed back at him in response.
Chiron coughed, interrupting this scene. "That's enough..."
"Ethan," he replied, and I saw Percy's jaw set. I knew he had never liked him, but I never thought that their hatred for each other would be this bad.
"Ethan," Chiron repeated, his eyes thoughtful. "Now, before I was so rudely interrupted," he looked meaningfully at Ethan who shrunk under his wise eyes. "The gods began to have enough of each other and...what's the word you hip people use these days?"
"Hook up?" Grover Underwood said helpfully, and most of the students in the class burst into fits of laughter, me included.
Key word: Most.
Percy just glared at Grover, and I felt a pang of sorrow for Grover. The two used to be best friends, and ever since Grover had come out of the closet about his sexuality, they hadn't spoken since. That was unfair, all things considering. Percy had done a lot of things worse than dating a boy.
I liked Grover. He sat at my lunch table sometimes, and was keen on recycling and using hydrogen cars. He was nice and funny. I didn't understand Percy's grudge; it was as if he had a personal vendetta against the poor kid.
"Yes, Grover," Chiron said, giving him a smile. "Hook up. Hook up with mortals to be specific. Does anyone know what the children of a mortal and a god is called?" Again, I raised my hand. He called on me, a smile still on his lips.
"Demigods, or half-bloods."
"Correct."
"Can any of you name one? How about you, Percy?" Heads turned so everyone was facing him. He looked up from his desk, and frantically pulled out earplugs. Mr. Brunner gave him a calculating look, his eyebrows raised.
"I'm sorry, what?" I scoffed, as most of the people in class stifled their grins. "What was the question, Mr. Brunner?" There was something about the way the two acted in class, almost like they knew each other...
And so what if they did? I thought, feeling ridiculous. But it was something about the tone of their voices, that set alarm bells ringing in my mind. I didn't know what, but I was determined to figured it out.
"Can you name a demigod? I can give you a hint. It's your namesake." Percy's face turned red with shame, and I stared at him in awe. Percy never got embarrassed. He was, Percy Jackson, bad boy player.
"I'm sorry," he replied, his voice like steel. "I don't know."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
"Very well. Annabeth? Your hand was raised before." Still stunned, I jerked my head back around and faced Mr. Brunner.
"Uh, yes. Hercules?"
"Correct. Hercules was a very famous demigod son of..." I drowned out the rest of his voice, only to stare back at Percy who was staring at the table, his eyes dark and menacing. Why was he acting this way? And why did Mr. Brunner say 'his namesake?' Percy never had a different name than Percy Jackson. I was completely positive that there wasn't a half-blood named Percy. Did Percy have a different name that he was too ashamed to tell? And if so, why did Mr. Brunner know, and call him out about it in the middle of class?
His eyes flickered upward and our gazes locked. Grey on green. When our eyes met, his eyes seemed to soften. I gave him a look of puzzlement, then tore my gaze away from his.
"I would like you all to take out a piece of paper, and write to me a couple of sentences on what you know about Greek Mythology." Papers began to shuffle around the class room. I pulled one out of my binder and placed it on my desk. My mind seemed to be spinning with confusion, and apparently I wasn't the only one in the room. Grover Underwood was also staring at Percy. the way I had just moments before. Shaking my head, I told myself I was being paranoid. But still, I felt jittery. Was it because I knew something had happened here? Something that was bad? Or was it the way Percy had looked at me when our eyes had locked? I shut my eyes tightly, feeling sick.
Piper wasn't fazed, and her pencil was flying across the lined paper furiously. I stared at the blank sheet of paper in front of me. What was I supposed to write?
I tried to concentrate on the task, but ended up writing:
What just happened here? I folded the paper and handed it to Piper, quickly glancing at Mr. Brunner who was erasing the chalkboard. She looked at me in question, and I whispered, "Pass it to Percy." A smile broke across her face and I rolled my eyes. She obliged, handing it backwards.
"From Annabeth," I heard her whisper. I tapped my pencil nervously, gently on the table. Tap, tap, tap, tap. After a few seconds, I got the paper back. Soon we were passing notes quickly, using Piper as our messenger.
Don't know what you're talking 'bout.
Don't bullshit me, Jackson.
Uh, oh. Annie's swearing... maybe I should go tell the teacher to get you extra detention.
Something tells me you won't do that.
That so?
Yeah. You know him. And what did he mean by your namesake? Your name is Percy, right?
You're acting insane, you know that?
Maybe so, but I'm right.
Of course you'd think that. You always think you're right, don't you, Chase?
Yes. Because I always am.
The bell rang, a consisting sound, piercing throughout the classroom. Piper flinched, nearly jumping out of her chair. Sheepishly, she brushed her braid back.
"Whoops," she said. "Just a bit jumpy; my last school didn't have bells." I nodded, the corners of my lips twitching. People began to hand in their sheets, Piper climbing up to do so. Panic overwhelmed me as I realized that there was nothing to hand in. I looked back at Percy, turning my body around. I sent him a look with wide eyes. He just shrugged in response, getting out of his chair.
"Follow my lead," he whispered in my ear, sending shivers down my back. Piper was already at the doorway, handing in her two paged paper. Her handwriting was sloppy, but by how engrossed she was in her paper, I could just tell it was good.
I got up next to him and our hands grazed next to each other for a moment, making my heart pound irregularly. Then, the warmth and the sparks were gone. Blinking, I followed him to the door, trying to look casual.
"Annabeth? Percy? Did you hand in your papers?" Percy gave him a sly grin, and I nodded quickly. "Okay... I suppose you can go." After we exited, I slapped his shoulder roughly.
"Ow! What the hell was that for?"
"You know what," I snapped back. "If you had just answered my question, I would've had time to finish my paper!"
His green eyes widened. "You're seriously blaming me? You're the one who gave me the note in the first place!"
I sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry, okay? It's just... what are we going to do when he notices that our paper's are missing?"
"Lie." He sent me another grin. Exasperated, I turned away from him, but not before he managed to tug on my hair.
"See you at lunch, Annie."
. . .
"Is it just me, or is Thalia acting weird?" My friend Silena whispered to me when I sat down with my bagged lunch. I pretended it was nothing, by shrugging, but now I knew that it wasn't just me.
"Nah, it's probably just a phase."
"A phase?" Silena's eyes narrowed in suspicion. She lowered her voice, eyeing me carefully. "What kind of phase requires you to hang out with Luke Castellen after school?" My fork fell from my hands, and I felt a flicker of jealousy run through me.
"What? No! You guys know that I like him." It was true. Luke... he was perfect. He had blue eyes and sandy, blonde hair. He was muscular, due to being on the swim team, and toned. He was also nice and kind, which wasn't something that was in a lot of guys here at Goode. Despite my mingled, confusing feelings for Percy, I knew that I had a major crush on Luke. "Thalia wouldn't do that."
"Says you." Silena opened her plastic water bottle, twisting the cap off. "Think about it Annabeth. My theory matches up with everything. She's been distant with all of us, mostly you... she rarely hangs out with us anymore after school. BTW, that's when Luke gets off practice."
"Still...why wouldn't she tell you or Katie?"
She huffed, folding her hands in her lap. "Keep up, Annabeth. She obviously doesn't want you to know, therefore not telling you is her only solution."
"That's ridiculous."
"Think about it, Annabeth," she whispered to me hastily as we both caught sight of Thalia. She took a seat next to me, smiling at us.
"Sup, guys."
"Hi," Silena said, pulling on a phony smile. Thalia gave her a peculiar look as she opened her milk.
"Er...hi?"
"So? Is Luke in your Spanish class? We're taking French, so we wouldn't know." Thalia's blue eyes averted her gaze down to her lunch, her face paling.
"Why would you want to know?"
"Duh!" Silena replied, playing with her manicure. "Annabeth has the hots for him. And besides that, we all know what you- ow!"
I kicked her shin from underneath the table. She glared at me icily, before taking a long, exaggerated sip of her water. Rolling my eyes, I faced Thalia.
"Ignore her, she's being hormonal." Silena scowled, before beginning to pick at her salad of leaves. Thalia used to call her a rabbit girl in Elementary School before we were all friends. "So... how was your day?"
"Fine. Why do you ask?" Her eyes glanced around, like she was afraid someone was going to jump out at her. I gave her an 'are you serious?' look.
"...Because it's the first day of school?"
"Oh. Right. You know what? I think I'm going to go get another burger." Pushing in her chair, she stiffly walked back into the lunch line, money in hand.
"You totally scared her off, Sil!"
"Did not! She's just being distant and paranoid. Thalia thinks were onto her. Did you see that scared look on her face when I mentioned the 'L' word?"
I scoffed, taking a big bite out of my apple. "You. Are. Ridiculous. Period. And you know, maybe Thalia's not the paranoid one. Maybe you are. " Scornfully, she looked away, but that only led to her staring at Ethan.
"He's totally hot." Her voice was dripping in longing.
"He's a psychopath." I simply stated, taking out Wuthering Heights and flipping to the page I was on. "And besides, aren't you taking Beckendorf?"
Her head tilted to the side, her blonde hair falling to the side of her face, covering her thin cheekbones like drapes. Her eyes glistened to Rachel, who was sitting with her own group of kids from the Art Club. She was still pissed at Thalia. After I had left, apparently they had gotten into a fight. "Do you think he really likes Rachel?"
I let out a long breathe, putting down my book. "What?"
"Do you think he likes Rachel Dare? Like, for real?"
"Oh, God..."
"What? I'm just trying to figure him out." She exclaimed, picking up a piece of tomato with her plastic, white fork. "And yes, Beckendorf and I are dating. But is it bad to have some eye candy?"
"He's bad," I said, clearly frustrated that I couldn't read my book. "Ethan Nakamura does bad things."
"And yet that doesn't stop you from eye groping Percy Jackson. I don't blame you, Annie. He's smoking." She let out a whistle for good measure, and I felt my temperature rise rapidly.
"Why are all you people insisting that I like him?"
"Because it's obvious. You two always quarrel. He likes you back too. I can tell these sort of things. Speaking of which, why exactly is Rachel sitting over there with all of the Art Geeks?"
"God, you're vicious today," I retorted, smiling a little. Her judgmental attitude was the reason why we were so close. Sure, I felt like strangling that little tiny neck of hers some days, but mostly we were like best friends.
She shrugged. "You know it's part of my charm."
"He doesn't like me back," I muttered under my breath, but it was loud enough for her to hear. "And I don't like him!"
"Why? He's a free man now, Annabeth."
"I'm smart, Silena. If I do like him, not saying that I do- he would just sleep with me, then break my heart."
"Yeah, but it's hard to resist true love, Annie Bannanie." I rolled my eyes at her ludicrous nickname for me. "Trust me, I know."
"Whatever. I wouldn't do that to Rachel," I replied quickly, just as Katie Gardner joined us.
"Hey, girlie," Silena piped up, gesturing to the seat next to her. There were six chairs to a seat, and already our table was half way full. I hoped that Rachel would come to her senses and come sit with us, I knew she'd regret it later.
"Hey, guys," she said cheerfully, handing me a flyer. My eyebrows furrowed, and I stared down at it confused. "Drew's throwing a back to the school year party! Says anyone's invited!" She filled in for me, handing me a hot pink flyer. Silena scowled scornfully, taking her flyer and crumpling it up into a ball.
"God, my half-sister's such a slut."
"At least you aren't fully sisters," I supplied sympathetically.
"Yeah," her voice trailed off, and her eyes looked glazy. "Whatevs."
Someone cleared their throat from behind us. Piper Mclean standing behind me, shifting and fidgeting awkwardly. "Hey, Annabeth. You said I could sit with you...so, here I am."
"Oh, hey Piper. Of course. Take a seat. Everybody this is Piper, she just moved here from California. Piper this is Silena Beauregard and Katie Gardner. The punk girl who comes back from the lunch line is Thalia Grace." She gave a nervous smile, shaking hands with everyone.
"Hi, nice to meet you all."
"Hello," Silena chirped brightly, and she gazed at me, sending me a wink. "It's so fab to finally meet you. I've been longing for a new friend."
"...okay?"
"Ignore her, " I piped in, kicking Silena another one in the shin. "She's weird."
"I am not weird." Silena faked hurt, her eyes moistening. She's a damn good actress, I'll give her that. "Gosh, Annabeth. That really hurt my feelings." I gave Piper another look.
"Did I mention she's a really good actress?" Piper gave me a thin, wincing smile, and took the seat next to Katie.
"Cool." Was all she said, before she took out a veggie burger and a juice box. "When I was little I thought I was going to be an actress. Then I realized how crappy I was." Katie gives a smile at her, but I could cut the thick awkwardness in the air with a knife.
Thalia finally returned, but she wasn't carrying a burger and sweat was coating her face. "Hey, I thought you were getting another burger."
"I was, but I had to use the restroom." Silena sent me a meaningful look, and I couldn't help but look down. Everything that Silena had said was starting to make sense, like lines connecting to the dots, or puzzle pieces fitting into place.
"Huh. Took you awful long in there," Silena winked. "I wonder what could make a person take that long in the bathroom." Katie stared at the three of us, confusion scrawled across her features.
"Okay, what's going on? Am I missing something here?"
"You tell me," I muttered, taking a sip of milk. Silena gave Thalia a smug smile before taking another drink of her water.
"I, uh, don't know what you're talking about." Her face is pale and I catch her hand beginning to tremble. She stuffed it in her leather jacket pocket, but I caught glimpse of it. She's not nervous- she's afraid.
"Silena, stop it," I hissed firmly.
"No," she said to me before turning back to Thalia. "In fact, I think I'll join Rachel. I don't enjoy sitting with liars." Without another word, she got out of her chair, and walked over to Rachel, her high heels clanging against the newly cleaned floor.
"What just happened?" Katie asked, not really addressing anyone.
"I have no idea." I looked at Thalia. "What was she talking about?"
"Nothing. She must've been bullshitting you." I gave her a nod, but I'm not entirely convinced at her trip to the bathroom excuse. Piper looked extremely nervous among the group of people who she had just become acquainted with.
"So...who's hungry?"
I opened my mouth to engage in conversation, but not before a polished fingernail tapped me roughly on the shoulder. Whirling around, I come face to face with the Queen B of this school- Drew Beauregard.
"Hey there, Annabeth. What do you say you and I have a little chat?"
"Uh, okay." I climbed out of my chair, and she gripped my wrist pulling me to the side. "If this is about Silena, I don't want to here it. You guys just need to work out whatever problems on-"
She cut me off, her eyes glazed with determination. "I know about Thalia Grace's plan to play the player. And I want in on this. I want Percy Jackson to feel the pain that I felt when he used me and manipulated me. So, I need to know now. Are you in? Or are you out?"
My mouth fell open in surprise. "You were in one of the stalls eavesdropping, weren't you?" She snorted, flattening down her hot pink shirt.
"Please. It's a public area, it's hardly eavesdropping. Anyways, I need an answer."
"Now?"
"Yes, now! I need you to do this- please, Annabeth! He's too far gone and I know you're the only girl in this entire goddamned school that can help him. Well, break his heart, but the objective is the same. You date him, make him fall in love with you, then dump him, resulting in a broken heart. But he'll change his ways after that. I'm sure of it. You can't honestly sit back and watch him break more girls, can you? If you can, then that makes you some kind of monster!" My grey eyes widened at the rashness and desperation of her words. She took a deep, choked breath, composing herself.
"This is me we're talking about here. I wouldn't be begging Annabeth Chase if I wasn't serious. Are you in? Or are you out?"
My mouth opened, telling her my answer.