Fire tests Gold: YOU, my friend, made me smile. You made me smile so much that you're the only person getting a response on this chapter. Well...and because there was a problem posting reviews on the last chapter (Thanks to my friend Smiles Burn in The Styx for confirming that for me). But seriously, thank you for letting me discover them. Those guys are actually really, really awesome. I never had an idea you could play a cello like they do and it's fascinating to see people innovate in music, especially because i'm not too big on anything that isn't a guitar. Now I take it it's my turn to recommend something. BUT, they still haven't had Synyster Gates in one of their songs, and he's my favorite, so they haven't earned my approval just yet. Que my non-existing, terrible evil laugh.

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THE ROAD – CHAPTER 7

Annabeth

How do you even begin describing jamming with Percy Jackson?

It was a different experience for me, far from what I was used to from playing with Luke back home in San Francisco. Percy was on a completely different level, a whole other planet of his own. His knowledge of music was much deeper than I thought at first. His reactions to all the little cues and signals I was sending him, sometimes just by making eye contact, was fascinating. It was like he knew just what I wanted to say, registered it in his head, and came up with a riff of his own, all within the window of a second.

So how do I describe it? I don't think I can.

After Piper interrupted our little jam session, we spoke a little more about ourselves and our interests.

"The only other real interest I have besides music is swimming. I used to do it faithfully until I gave up and focused on music full time, when I was around 7. It was just too easy!" he told me.

I told him a little about my life back home and the fact that I like to read, write, sketch, and play music whenever I have free time. I didn't go too much into my family life. It wasn't exactly stable.

My parents were very controlling when I grew up. My mother Athena, an architect, and my father Fredrick, a surgeon, wanted me to be like them. I never quiet understood their reasoning; maybe because I was an only child, since my mother found out she was infertile shortly after she gave birth to me. I was told multiple times that they cherished me when I grew up and wanted me to be the best at everything that I do – more like what they wanted me to do.

But what did I do? When I was 10 months old I was already walking and talking, all on my own. My parents said it wasn't good enough, that I could've done it sooner. When I was 4 I could draw rough sketches of my mother's designs. She said they weren't accurate enough to the real thing. When I was 6 I started getting more into art with ballet, piano, and singing. Later I added violin and the guitar, along with some cello. My teachers showered me with praise, telling me I was a natural and a hard worker but my parents weren't impressed, despite how hard I tried. When I was 9 I decided to try and impress my mother again by constructing a model of the Tiger's Nest Monastery. She said it wasn't in a 'proper scale', and that the depth of the walls wasn't right. When I was 11 I had the entire periodic table memorized. They said I could've done more.

In short, my parents wanted me to a prodigy. A perfect girl who does no wrong.

For me to even try and get into music was a real hassle. Despite dancing and singing when I was younger, my dad said it served to 'sharpen my intellect'. I hate the way he phrased it because out of all of the things I've picked up over the years, it was the only one I truly enjoyed and had genuine fun doing.

I knew Luke and Thalia from a very young age. They're a few years older than me, but it didn't stop us from connecting and being best friends. We all shared the same love for music. It was around the time that I started ballet when they started playing instruments. Thalia played the bass, Luke played the guitar, and I sang. We didn't really write anything at first, just played for fun. When they came up with the idea of starting a small band, I was hooked. I was already practicing guitar with them secretly. My parents didn't know because they couldn't know. They would lock me in my room and tell me to study and focus on my future where I could be in a skirt somewhere, like Stanford or Yale, where I wouldn't enjoy a single bit of what I was doing.

I couldn't let it happen. So one day, I decided to muster up all the courage I had and fight back.

- Flashback -

I was in my room the phone with Thalia. The band idea was really picking up speed within our small trio.

"Thalia, I can't" I told my best friend, "You know what my parents are like"

"Listen Annie, you have to tell them what you want. It's your life!"

"Thalia, I…I'm scared" I admitted to her. She was my best friend after all. We shared everything, the three of us, and didn't hide our fears. Besides, there wouldn't be a better person to talk to right now than Thalia.

"Listen, you have to stand up for yourself. Yes, it's hard and your parents make me want to pee my pants when I look at them, but if you don't they'll just decide your future for you and I know for certain that's not what you want. You have to live your life like you want to live it." She told me.

Something in my mind clicked. I don't know what made me do it but I said, "Okay. I'll call you back after dinner" into the line and disconnected. Eating hours in the house were strict. 7:00am was breakfast, 2:00pm was lunch, and 8:00pm was dinner unless my parents said otherwise. I walked down to the table and ate with them silently. I was grateful, because I had time to think about what I was going to say and do. Arguing with my parents wasn't so easy, one little slip up and they claim victory. When we all finished I broke the awkward silence.

"Mother" I started, "I have to tell you something"

"What is it?"

I saw my mother's eyes narrow. My father put down the newspaper he was reading as they both looked at me. Whenever it was that I asked to speak with either of them, it was mostly of school. It was to confess to them that I got a bad test mark or showed up to class late or missed a homework assignment. This is one of the ways I realized grey eyes were intimidating. Staring into my mother's, which are just like mine, wasn't an easy task.

And then I spoke.

"I want to be a musician" I said confidently.

"No" my father answered first, very sternly.

"Why?" I retorted. He looked at me in shock, since I never speak back to either of them.

"Annabeth" he warned me. Despite that I stood up from my chair, letting my legs push it back.

"My daughter is not going to throw away her education for something as silly as that. I will not let you sink down to those teenagers' level" my mother added.

"Mother-"

"The answer is no, Annabeth" my father said.

"Why are you denying me my dream?" I asked both of them. My mother stood up as well, eyeing me.

"Annabeth, I will not let you do that. I will not let you become one of them, all high and mighty while they drink and party and ruin their lives" She said.

"Mother, I'm not like them!" I yelled, and I really wish I didn't. There was a shift in her eyes, the usual piercing grey becoming stormy and angry. I was shocked myself and had to stop my knees from failing me. That was the first time I yelled at her.

"Annabeth Chase, you will not raise your voice at me! Now you will listen to me and you listen will to me well. The answer is no and that is the last we will talk of this matter!" My mother answered, her voice rising. I felt smaller under her gaze. But with some new found divine courage, I stayed standing.

"Why?" I asked in a loud tone.

"Because you're my daughter and-"

"Why are you so insisted on controlling my life?-"

"I won't let you throw-"

"You don't know what you're talking about-"

"A perfectly good future and-"

"You're denying me my dream!" I yelled, nearly screamed, after our small banter, which made my throat sting. Both my parents were left speechless. "Mother, I love music." I said, calming my tone trying to gain confidence despite how shaky my voice was, "It's what I want do. I want to make music, Mother. You always say that you love me but when I find something that I want to do, something that I'm happy with, you take it away from me. I never once felt the same love for architecture that I do for music. And I'm taking that offer. And you're not stopping me" I told them before going to my room.

- End of Flashback -

The next few days were horrific. My parents didn't speak a word to me until I told them I had a show. I didn't know why they even bothered but they showed up. And that's how my career began.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Wise Girl" Did I mention Percy already came up with a nickname for me? He has a nickname as well, Captain Guitar, which Leo gave him, since it's all he talks about. I didn't like it and bet Leo I could find him a better one.

"Stop calling me that" Also, did I mention I don't really like that nickname?

"You love that name" Piper told me and I couldn't resist the urge to smile, "See? She's smiling" she said to Percy, "Look, it's better than Owl Head" she turned back to me. She was right. That was an old nickname I got from Luke a few years back. I sighed as both Piper and Percy laughed.

"We're writing and recording tomorrow, right?" Percy asked us, his carrying case in hand.

"Yeah, of course" I answered.

"When should I be here?" he asked again.

"Well, I'll be here early, but knowing you guys, you'll probably be here by noon." I said. Piper gave a small smirk, "I'm referring to both of you" I added as her smirk became a pout.

"She knows me too well" Piper told Percy. Percy gave her a fist bump and did the same for me.

"I'll see you two tomorrow!" he called as he walked out the door.


THE NEXT DAY


"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Percy yelled from inside the control room. His fingers were already turning red and he seemed extremely frustrated with himself. He wrote a new solo last night, which we decided to record and save in case we decide to use it later. I didn't even keep track of how many times he's tried already, or how fast his fingers moved across all the different frets. This was one of the parts I admired about him – he was an absolute perfectionist, just like me. He wanted to get the part absolutely right and it seemed like he wasn't giving up anytime soon.

"I can't stay in my own head for that long!" he added.

"Maybe you should take a break" I suggested. He eyes shifted to meet mine, glaring at me. He didn't seem satisfied. "Just a few minutes" I added.

"No, no, no" he said with his head in his hands, rubbing his temples.

"Percy, you need to calm down. Take a break" I told him, more sternly this time. He looked around the room, possibly for some support that wasn't coming.

"Fine" he sighed and picking his guitar off his lap and leaving the recording room and back to the control room. But instead of relaxing, he put the guitar back on his lap, playing through the same part slowly, over and over again as I watched.

"I'm going to see the others. Don't you dare step in there, Seaweed Brain" I told him.

He looked up at me, the frustration in his features replaced with amusement and a smile, "Seaweed Brain? What the hell is that?"

"That is your new nickname. I don't like the other one so I gave you this one and you're stuck with it" I answered with a smile of my own.

Percy shook his head and rolled his eyes, but he still had that mischievous smile on his face, "Whatever you say" was his answer.

It was an unfortunate time to leave and see what Piper was up to with the other players, because they were in the middle of some heated argument. Before Percy went to record his solo, he was with them, going over the rhythm sections of the same song he was soloing for. Apparently the guys, excluding Piper for obvious reasons, were having a war about which chord is played during one of the transitions. Just before I stepped inside, Piper walked out of the room.

"How long have they been at it?" I asked her.

"Why don't you go and ask them yourself?" she told me and disappeared toward where Percy was.

"No, it's this" Nico said to Frank, playing a short few chords on his guitar.

"No it's not!" Frank retorted, a guitar in his own hands, playing a different chord that didn't really sound all that different.

"No, you're both wrong. When I play this" Leo interrupted and played a part on the drums, "You come in with your part and then Percy and Nico join with their duel thing" Leo tried convincing Frank.

The 'duel thing' is another thing I loved about our band. Percy and Nico had a certain part in the song that we all just fell in love with instantly. Nico wrote it and Percy took it, changing some of the notes and harmonizing over it but playing the notes an octave or two higher, which resulted in them playing similar parts in a very ballad-like manner.

"All of you are wrong" a voice said behind me. Percy and Piper appeared with smiles on both their faces. Percy's was more of a grin.

"What are you doing here?" I asked Percy, "We're not done recording your solo yet"

"Yes we are" Percy said and nodded over to Piper. I fixed him a glare which he shrugged off, "She let me"

"He gave me his puppy dog look" she tried reasoning with me. I was unimpressed, which she noticed, only raising my eyebrows. "You've never seen his cute dog face"

"Whatever" I answered. At least his solo was over with.

"Thanks for throwing me under the bus, dummy" Piper said to Percy, sarcasm all over her voice.

"You're welcome" Percy answered as he went over to the other players, instructing them how the parts are played perfectly. I couldn't help but stare at them, specifically him. He still awed me. He just looked so graceful when he was playing, his hands sweeping through all the strings and notes with ease, how he tapped his foot or bobbed his head back and forth in time with the rhythm, it was-

"Hello, Earth to Annabeth?" Piper interrupted me. I couldn't stop my face from flushing.

"You were staring" she told me. Thank god for the music in the room.

"No I wasn't." I resisted the urge to raise my voice, or our conversation would be overheard, "I wasn't. I was checking out his technique."

"'Checking out his technique?' Like you have anything to learn from him; he's a guitar genius, Annie." She teased me.

"Can you stop it?"

"Stop what?" She asked innocently, but my question was serious. I grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the room. She protested and tried speaking, but I cut her off.

"I don't have anything for him" I told her. She smiled at me, teasing, and I had to resist the urge to slap her. I would've if she wasn't one of my best friends.

"What are you smiling at?" I asked her, which was a bad move, because now she was laughing. At what? Don't ask me, but as much as I love Piper, it was irritating. "Stop laughing!"

"I'm sorry" she said and wiped some tears out of her eyes, "It's just that you're so closed off, that's all"

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means your big brain is denying you your feelings. It's okay to feel something for someone. It's not a bad thing. You make it seem like it's a sin. You'll have to open up sometime, and how knows, maybe he'll end up being the one for you"

"But what if he isn't?" I retorted. There was some truth to what she was saying. But giving your heart to someone is a deadly weapon. In a way, it's like telling someone with a knife where your Achilles heel is. You give them the power to destroy you. I got too close, too dependent on old friends and when we had to part ways I was devastated. So in a way, yes, I put up mental blocks for my own protection.

"I'm not saying it's him, but it's bound to happen sometime. You'll find a guy and you'll fall head over heels for him." She said.

"I won't. It won't happen, Piper" I answered, trying to sound as confident as possible.

"Whatever you say" Piper shrugged and walked away. I was left in the hall of our studio with conflicting emotions, my thoughts running absolutely wild. Our conversation did more confusion to me than good, but one thing was certain to me now, more than ever.

I can't have feelings for Percy Jackson.


A/N: So...yeah. I had Percabeth feels today. If you read my other story, Finding the Old me, I definitely will not make the mistake of bringing them together so quickly like I did in that one. I'm hoping to base their relationship here more like how it went in the books. That's a big hope for me...This update was pretty quick, the next one may take a little longer. I was just excited.