Annabeth Pov
You Shine
Album: The Story of Me
You are beautiful, yes you
I look forward to seeing you everyday, yes you oh oh
Whenever I see you
Wherever you go, you shine
Shine for me baby, please
"Annabeth, have you finished your album yet? You've been spending most of your time tutoring! Don't you know that you only have five weeks left?" Sarah looked sternly at me. "Make sure they're about Luke, because when you go back, you'll need to say at least something about him."
"I thought this was my vacation," I groaned, as I plopped on my bed. "Why can't I choose to be with someone of my own choice?"
Sarah rolled her eyes. "This isn't a real vacation. It's your alone time. Anyways, Luke is for your own good. Someday you'll thank me." She stepped out of my room, making another phone call. Funny, she's been on the phone a lot lately.
I sat on my bed, thinking. Why do I have to be with Luke? Then I wouldn't have to keep stressing about my feelings for…Percy. Immediately when I thought about him, my heart began pounding 1000 miles per hour.
Stop it, my mind told me. You'll fall for him even more.
Do I like Percy? Um…I don't know. But it'll be harder for me to leave if I develop a crush on him. Plus, it'd be a harder relationship, and what would Sarah say? No boys, she'd clearly emphasized.
I grabbed a piece of paper, and began to write: You captivate me with your blue eyes
Wrinkling my nose in disgust, I opened instagram on my iphone to read over the comments –I know, there are a lot of hateful comments, but I usually ignore them. Because the fans should hate Annabeth Chase, and like the real one.
I scrolled down to a few old pictures I took a few months ago. I paused at the one of Luke and me hugging each other.
You guys are so cute! One comment wrote. You are so pretty! Another wrote. I didn't even look that good in that picture. One of my eyes looked bigger, because that day I was in a rush and accidentally smudged my eyeliner.
But one of the comments caught my eye. It said: I believe in true love. Nothing can hold it back, and that's what makes it so powerful. It was short, but it meant a lot to me.
"Annabeth? Did you even start writing your last few songs?" Sarah's voice snapped me back. I guess she was done with her phone call.
"I'm getting started!" I called, quickly locking my phone and turning to my paper. Then I made a little change.
And from that moment, I decided that I believe in true love too.
a~a~a~a
"Don't be afraid to show your feelings, oh whoah," our choir sang.
"You have a beautiful voice," Hazel whispered as we sat down.
I blushed, hoping that I didn't project my voice that loudly. "Thanks, you too."
"No, mine's average. You should really become a singer," she smiled.
"Um, I'd rather not, really. It'd be tough, with all the pressure."
"Well, maybe. But it would be great to let everyone know who you are, and the amazing talent you have."
I never thought of being a singer that way. Sarah was always controlling everything, and I've never been able to do anything as Annabeth Chase without her going over the script with me. To Sarah, being a singer was only for everyone's entertainment. And money.
"Okay, that was good, everyone," our choir teacher, Mr. Apolllo, complimented. He was really tall, and was always making up new poems. Music is poetry. They both have rhythm and a steady beat, he says. I guess he's a pretty good teacher, though I already know most of the warm ups from vocal lessons.
"And now, our next game of Singing at Random!" he sang.
The game Singing at Random was a game that Mr. Apolllo made up. He would choose one of us to come up. Then, he'd choose one of the notecards at random that each had a different song, and ask you to sing it. The class rates you 1-10, and it counts as a quiz grade.
Please don't choose me, please don't, I begged silently. But of course, I got called. Just my luck.
"Annabeth! Now, what will you sing for us today?" Mr. Apolllo shuffled the cards, and closed his eyes. Choosing one in the middle, he looked at it and grinned. "Oh, this song was the preview of the album. Can anybody guess what it is?"
Immediately, my heart sank. Though I knew what it was, I didn't bother to raise my hand.
"Katie, how about you?" he asked her.
She smiled, and said it as though it was obvious. "Be yourself, by Annabeth Chase."
"Right! Perfect, because this song by Annabeth, is now going to be sung by Annabeth!" Mr. Apolllo laughed at his own corny joke. Actually, this song by Annabeth is by me! I wanted to say, but I held it in. "Okay, Annabeth. You can start when you're ready."
I walked to the front of the room. Taking a deep breath, I looked at all my classmates' faces. There were no roaring crowds, no screaming girls in the front row, no bright lights that blind your eyes when you look ahead.
"Sometimes, I feel like my whole life is fake," I started singing. "'Cause everyone around me is always controlling me and my mind, but, I need to hold on tight. I need to straighten up. Everyone has to see, who I am, oh yeah.
"Don't let anyone force you to be someone you aren't
Just be yourself, oh
When the spotlight shines down on you
I hope you are yourself, oh
You don't need to pretend, no
Just be yourself."
I was so into it, I didn't really realize until the second verse that I was dancing along with the beat. But I didn't stop.
"Sometimes, I feel like I just need a break. Oh whoa oh oh. 'Cause everyone around me is watching me from every direction and angle, but, I need to be strong. I need to be exactly who I'm supposed to be. Everyone has to know, who I am, oh yeah.
"Don't let anyone force you to be someone you aren't
Just be yourself, oh
When the spotlight shines down on you
I hope you are yourself, oh
You don't need to pretend, no
Just be yourself.
"I know that everyone has that something inside…you got to let it out, oh. I know you can glow, I know you can show, everyone who you are…
"Don't let anyone force you to be someone you aren't
Just gotta be yourself, oh
When the spotlight shines down on you
I hope you are yourself, oh oh oh oh
You don't need to pretend, no
Just be yourself." I finished, and looked at everyone. I couldn't read any of their faces. Oh no, I thought. I was such an idiot. I didn't realize that I just sang in Annabeth Chase's voice.
"Well," Mr. Apolllo said after a long moment. "How do you think Annabeth did?"
Everyone agreed on ten, while I stood there, cursing myself. "Annabeth, you sound like a natural. Uh, everyone here does," he added, "but you seem really comfortable on stage. Did you perform back in London?"
"Um –well, I sang in…a choir, so I guess I'm comfortable with…singing," I stammered.
He looked interested. "Really? I guess you guys performed a lot. Okay, thank you Annabeth. You can have a seat."
a~a~a~a
After Choir, everyone actually started to notice that I was alive.
"Your voice is so pretty!"
"It reminds me of someone…can't think of her now, but…"
"You look nice today!"
I suddenly wished I didn't sing fully out in my real voice. I didn't want to get noticed by everyone.
Soon, everyone knew me. At lunch, everyone was crowding around our table. "Hey, hey, everybody BE QUIET!" a voice came as a girl pushed through everyone. I immediately knew it was Drew. She was in my gym class, but never bothered to come up to me. She had pink eyeliner around her eyes, which made her expression startling. She wore so much makeup, she looked like a Barbie doll.
"Can I just talk with her for a second? Thanks, okay everybody BACK OFF. Goodbye! Go!" she shooed everyone away.
"Um, hi," I smiled uneasily at her, because when she turned to me, her expression said, ew.
"Okay, whatever you are doing, STOP IT," she said all of a sudden.
I was really confused. "What? I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't play dumb! You're dragging their attention away from me!"
Piper stepped up for me. "She's not dragging their attention away. All she did was sing. It's not anyone's fault that she has an amazing voice."
"Which she was hiding for the last few weeks, and then comes to throw it at me!" Drew retorted. She looked at me, and said threateningly, "Just make sure I'm in the center of attention, here at Goode High School." Then she tossed her glossy hair and flounced away.
"Don't mind her. She's rich, so she thinks everyone should treat her like royalty," Hazel rolled her eyes. "All she has is a million dollar house, and a pool, and –"
"She got the Annabeth Chase signature collection Breathless! I wanted that for my birthday!" Silena added helpfully. I tried not to wince at my name.
"Drew and Rachel. They think they're so 'popular'," Thalia made little air quotations as she spoke, emphasizing popular.
"What is the definition of popular anyway?" Piper asked, between bites of peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
We all thought about it for a minute. Finally, Hazel said, "Many people like you. So, in a way, famous, right?"
I choked on my water that I was just swallowing. Famous? Try taking my place.
"Hey Annabeth. Um, do you want to tutor earlier today?" Percy came over. "I have time…are you okay?" he knitted his eyebrows, looking concerned.
I tried to stop coughing, but the water wouldn't allow me. Why now? "I'm fine," I wheezed, taking another sip of water to force it down. Unfortunately, that didn't work. Percy patted my back, until I finally stopped coughing. "Thanks," my cheeks reddened, as I glanced at everyone who was watching my embarrassing moment. Add a few cameras, and that'd just be perfect. If I had all my makeup on, this would be on all the magazines within a few minutes.
"I think that'd be great –do you want to do 3:00 today?" I broke the awkward loud silence.
"Yeah, sure. I'll…call you if there are any changes in my schedule," he ran his fingers through his hair, giving me that cute little smile, and turned back to go to his table.
Thalia raised her eyebrows. "So you're the tutor my cousin has been talking about!"
"He's your…cousin?" I've already had a hard day, and now all the new information was hard to take in.
"She's also Jason's brother…not that it matters," Piper blushed. "But, yeah, Percy's her cousin."
"Oh," I nodded, then tried to change the subject. "School is over in…what, four weeks?"
Thalia's face lit up. "Oh yeah! We'll have lots of fun in the summer. No more homework, no more classes, just relaxing under the hot sun."
"Yeah. Just relaxing…" I tried to swallow my discomfort as I thought about all the things Sarah would have waiting for me in the summer.
So, how was this chapter? I hope you guys enjoyed it, and I have a GREAT story planned out for you all :) Who's read the Son of Sobek? I think it came out sometime before, but I hear it has a preview of the House of Hades! Yay! Anyways, school is almost over (for most of us) and I hope you all have something fun planned for the summer! Please review, and once again, thank you for all the followers! -Sophia
