Disclaimer: Nope
Character(s)- Annabeth Chase
I'd Lie
Annabeth was going to her first sleepover.
First. Sleepover.
Ever.
No big deal, she thought as she stared at her reflection in the misty bathroom mirror. Just a party. I've been to a party before.
Yes. But that was in celebration for the moon goddesses' and your liberation from holding the weight of the sky.
"Perfect." Annabeth mumbled. She brushed half-heartedly a few times before giving up and just swishing her hair into a ponytail. "At least I'll have a conversation starter. 'I've never been to a real party before. Can you give me the instructional beginner's pamphlet?'"
Really, it wasn't such a big deal. It's just that—she never actually thought she'd be going to one of these.
Ever.
But. It wasn't like she didn't know the real reason why she was invited. One of Catherine Strikler's friends was sick with the flu this weekend. She was a last resort—being the only other girl in their age group. She didn't feel too bad about it. If she was the charismatic, fun-loving girl Cathy was, and in desperate need for a girls' night out, she'd have probably done the same.
Of course, half of why she hadn't been offended was because she thought she wasn't going to go anyway. Her mind was already planning on diseases to fake for the night—like a cold or a stomach ache. She even considered finding leftovers in the fridge, crushing them, and dropping them into the toilet to fake regurgitation.
But. Then she made the rookie mistake of telling her family.
Annabeth scoffed at her stupidity, dressing up in a blue T-shirt and gray shorts that could easily double as sleepwear for the occasion.
Her parents were only too happy to let her go. They said that she 'needed' this. However they twisted that to meet their own needs, Annabeth hadn't a choice on it. So she went along. Thinking that it would probably be okay. Not horrendous. Just okay.
Annabeth was never used to being this wrong.
"Annabeth!" her step-mom, "Cathy's mom is here for you!"
Oh. Oh no.
But—but my hair's not dry yet. Not… not that it mattered, but first impressions, to her, did.
So Annabeth tugged on her ponytail (as if that would make it dry any quicker), sent down a quick "I'm coming" to 'Mrs. Chase', and sprinted to her bedroom to pick up the bag carefully and meticulously packed with her needs.
There was another mirror in her room, and she couldn't help but look into it as she zipped up the bag with finality.
She frowned.
It all seemed so weird. She was packing, and yet, not running away.
"Whatever." She tells herself. "The sooner I go, the sooner I'll get it over with."
Okay, so maybe she did have some fun.
When she was dropped off at the house that made her insides curl (it was big enough to her to look like the mansion Percy showed her, you see, Rachel's mansion), all Annabeth felt was a starting feel of abrading catatonia. She resigned herself to this humiliation, sure, but she sure as hell planned on not enjoying it.
As a matter of fact, though, she did.
She was introduced to the girls in her class for the first time. There were six others, and Annabeth easily classified them as pups of the same litter. Or more like kittens. They looked as harmful as them, really. Even Annabeth's paranoia couldn't find a single scent of non-mortal within the house's radius. Sure, that one girl could maybe pass off as a daughter of Aphrodite, and yeah, maybe that one had the same eyes as the Apollonians. And that goth over there did suspiciously remind her of Nico…
But those were all forgotten. Because when she got there, after all the introductions and casual formalities and tourings, Annabeth suddenly found herself in the middle of an assassination game with Nerf guns. She won, of course, after she beat out the last player by springing on her from underneath the grand piano. The other girl's praised her, asked her how she had such aim (because all her foam bullets hit their marks head on) and actually offered to be students of hers (oh, if they only knew what she's taught the half-bloods at Camp. She doubted they'd think she was so cool then).
So when they were finished with a mini-food fight with Tostillos chips—after their painting contest (she didn't enjoy that for the same reason she didn't like the mansion on sight, though Annabeth did enjoy flicking drops anywhere and everywhere she was allowed to), a Bourne movie series marathon, (Matt Damon… her own Achilles heel), and silent reading time (she was impressed with the girls. They were reading novels that barely resembled "Gossip Girl", and for that she was impressed)—Annabeth came to a sudden conclusion.
These girls weren't so bad after all, and maybe, she thought wistfully, they could have even been friends in another life.
"So?" Cathy Strikler's melodic voice asked, jogging the day-dreaming Annabeth back to the present. "Who is he?"
Oh. That's right. They were gossiping in Cathy's very pink-and-orange bedroom. And she just had to think: this is what I should be doing every night, but no, I'm too busy with the Titan War.
But yes. Annabeth was partaking in this very ancient, very feminine, very young ritual of talking about boys.
And, she was a little abashed to say, she was quite... content.
"Annabeeeeeth." Cathy persisted, and Annabeth gave her a small smile. If ever needed, may the gods forbid, Annabeth thought Cathy's determination would come in handy in a fight. "Who is he?"
The topic at hand. Right.
What does she do now? Make something up? No. She had a good time with these girls. And Annabeth was feeling just a wee bit generous.
She coughed to clear her throat and made a grab for some chips on the big bowl on the table and sipped on the strawberry-banana smoothie the girls ordered for her from Starbucks before putting them out of their misery.
"Oh. Just some guy named Percy."
Layla Dominia crinkled her nose. She was settled on the foot of a pink futuristic chair, back to back with Cathy. "Percy? That doesn't sound very hot. More like cute."
And, what surprised Annabeth then—way more than any monster jumping in through that itty bitty window on top of that orange dresser—was the fact that she had a desperate urge to just prattle out, "Oh, he is."
She almost gasped. If there were no witnesses, she would have seriously considered taking out her knife and stabbing out her vocal cords. She didn't care if it wasn't possible. She'd do it.
"Annie?"
It took a little to respond to that. She was far too un-used to teen lingo and their inappropriately cutesy nicknames.
"Hm?"
Layla moved without her noticing, and tapped her playfully on the arm. It was the first time anybody made contact with her tonight. "You okay?"
"Yeah." Annabeth nodded. "Yes I am."
Ellie Hampton laughed. Carefree. Just enjoying the night and her life. Annabeth wished she could laugh like that. "You don't seem like it, Annabeth," she said, tossing up Cathy's stuffed animal, Mr. Piggy, from her belly-down position on the bed, "is that guy really that cute?"
Annabeth pretended to think about it, saw and felt how the whole room and the girls in it silenced themselves for the anticipated moment.
Then she brought her hand to her mouth and imitated a zipper being pulled closed over it.
Maybe—maybe it was the most immature thing she has probably ever done in her life. But, although they threw stuffed animals and feathered pillows at her, it still felt strangely elating when the other girls moaned and complained and called her a 'meaner'.
She felt like a girl. A normal, teenaged, gossip-addicted, smart-and-yet-naive, normal girl.
It felt nice.
"Alright! Alright!" Cathy yelled over the buzz of complaints and teasing. She stood up, and her auburn hair was messed up on one side from the pillow she was leaning on. She was in a pair of 'monkey' pajamas, but she didn't seem to feel any embarrassment at all. And that, Annabeth thought, was a whole other level of confidence she has yet to attain. "Since new-bird Anniebell," she smiled to show that she was kidding, Annabeth smirked wryly back, "won't tell us about her boyfriend, we have no choice but to put her through it girls."
She immediately responded—like right when the accursed word left Cathy's too-glossy lips—much to the other girls' amusements. "He's not my boyfriend, he's just a friend that's a guy—" then she paused. "Wait. Put me through what?"
Cathy tossed around a conspiratorial look all around the room, and everyone but the confused and dreading Annabeth seemed to return it.
Then, all the others jumped up. Different timings, different ways, and yet Annabeth still had the impression of a litter of kittens. All different, but all so alike together.
Ellie was the only one excited enough to shout it out. Actually, Annabeth never knew a grin could get that wide.
"Truth or Dare time!"
"Alright Annabeth." Cathy warily said. She was sitting crisscrossed applesauce on the clean carpet. Just like Ellie and Layla were, and just like Annabeth was. They were the only ones left—turns out three of the other girls had to leave. One because they had a doctor's appointment in the morning and the other two (siblings) because they had a family gathering to attend to. Or something like that.
The four made a circle, all in all.
But Cathy looked positively exhausted; the other two looked almost ready to hyperventilate either from hysterical laughter or bottling frustration.
Annabeth was proud of herself, and mentally, she gave herself a pat on the back.
"Alright." Cathy repeated. "We'll do this. One more time--"
"Dare."
Ellie exploded, sounding angry but smiling anyways. "I propose a new strategy! From now on, Annie is not allowed to pick Dare!"
Annabeth sputtered, trying to conceal that she was, indeed, enjoying herself.
"That's not fair!"
"No one said life was!" Again, joking, but so apt it made the honey-haired girl feel all ironic inside. Layla huffed. "Sorry. Just. Come on. You squeezed the life out of Mr. Piggy for one whole minute, you sprayed cheese on Olly's"—that was Cathy's older brother—"Lindsay Lohan poster, and you already licked Cathy's mirror. Three times! Time for Truth."
Then they closed in. Ellie with her straight black hair and clear blue eyes, Cathy with her messy auburn and deep brown, and Layla, with her brown curls and searching hazel eyes. All hunching forward to squeeze some info out of the curly-blonde, gray eyed girl that was their prey.
Annabeth had no other excuses up her sleeves.
"What's his name?"
"Percy—you already asked me this though—"
"Where'd you meet him?"
Easy. "Summer Camp."
"Favorite songs?"
Easy, again. "Ramble on by Led Zeppelin or Let it Rock by Kevin Rudolph."
Layla's shaped eyebrows rose. "Impressive."
Cathy's turn. "Any siblings?"
"Um." What had Percy been so excited about two months ago? Oh yes, that's right. "I think he has a sister on the way. They got the gender checked two months ago. The doctor said that she'd be as beautiful and as healthy as the mother."
And Annabeth laughed. Because she remembered how Percy laughed when he explained how Paul reacted to that.
"How cool." Ellie offered, then it was her turn for a question. "How does he look?"
What? Annabeth panicked. She didn't know how to answer that... "Well," she said, dragging out the word. "I guess. He looks. Decent."
Ellie threw her hands up. Cathy did a face-palm. "That's not what I meant! I meant, like, what kind of hair? Or eyes. Or just general body... stuff."
"Oh. Well uh. He has messy black hair, sort of like... unkempt, sort of. Just plain messy, even when he tries to brush it out." Yes. That was so specific Annabeth. "He has green eyes. Deep sea. That's... the only way to describe them. Sea-green." And she smiled because it was all so wry. "It's exactly like his dad's. And they change, sometimes. From dark when he gets confused or angry, to a lighter and... more gentler green when he laughs. And he's not heavy built--he's sort of... lanky. But strong. With muscles here and there--enough to be fit, but he's not like, a buff head or anything. At least I don't think he is. He's stronger than me, but he lets me win in arm wrestling because..." Annabeth made a pfft sound. "Well. I don't really know why he does a lot of stuff. I'm not really the best person to ask about him. You could ask his Mom, he loves her. Or Grover. They've known him much longer than I have."
It was silent.
"So uh," big finish, Annabeth, "that's it."
Cathy whistled. Layla and Ellie looked ready to collapse.
"What?"
"Nothing. Nothing." Layla assured. "Just that... wow. You're in that deep?"
Excuse me? "I'm in what?"
They all looked at each other.
"Never mind, Annabeth. We have just one more question." Cathy held up one finger. Annabeth felt like it added unnecessary tension to their whole ordeal.
"Do you," dramatic pause. Still unnecessary. "Do you love him, Annabeth?"
Annabeth didn't freeze. In fact, she felt almost glad that the girls so obviously--yet so bizarrely--obsessed with her love-life got it out of their systems. All that was left of it was one sentence hanging tauntingly in the air.
Do you love him, Annabeth?
What? No. It was just Percy. It's not like it meant--
Its okay if you do you know, a little voice seemed to say. If you do, there's no point in lying to them. They're only mortals. What are they going to do about it?
So?
Do. You. Love him?
"No." Annabeth smiled. "No. I don't."
She didn't look to see their expressions. If they believed her, great, if not, equally great. What the issue at hand is, now, was what they were going to have for dinner. Because Annabeth was starving.
"Hey. Can we have pizza?"
And I can tell you: his favorite color's green
He likes to argue
Oh, and it kills me.
His sister's beautiful; he has his father's eyes
And if you ask me if I love him
I'd Lie
Song: I'd Lie by: Taylor Swift
A/N: Started and completed in about three hours. Didn't plan on making it this long. This is a song-drabble after all.
o_o. Good or not or decent? I don't know. Reviews make me happy tho :) even if it's criticism. And song requests are very very appreciated.
