A/N: Enjoy!
Of Cuts And Pills
Chapter 10: Twenty Questions
"So you're name's Nico," Thalia said, munching on her taco. "Can you give us your last name? I didn't quite catch that."
"Di Angelo. But you can call me Nico," he replied solemnly, his dark, silky hair covered his eyes a little.
"Oh I don't go by first names, di Angelo," she smirked, muttering his last name to prove her point.
"So what are you in for, Nico?" Luke asked.
Nico's Adam's apple bobbed. He stared at his plate for a second before answering, "Got a little messed up and did a couple of, er, bad things. So I – uh, got sent here by my dad."
Percy, Rachel and Luke threw him sympathetic looks while Thalia just snorted, spewing a few lettuce from her mouth. "Been there, done that. You should be a little more creative in making your sob stories, di Angelo."
Rachel popped her lips at her remark and Luke and Percy rolled their eyes. They were used to Thalia's constant hostility – she was still undergoing this whole attitude-adjustment thing – but the way she acted towards the new kid wasn't so acceptable.
"Easy, Thalia," Luke chided. "You know what Desiree's gonna do if she hears –"
"I know what she'll do, Castellan. I've been here long enough to know that hag's old tricks. So kid," she turned to Nico. "If you want to make a statement, then you're in the right place."
"I'm fifteen," Nico spat. "Don't call me a kid."
Thalia snorted. "Looks like someone has a flaring temper too."
Percy gritted. "Don't be so snotty about it, Thalia. Leave him alone."
"Hey. Has anyone seen Annabeth?" Rachel asked, looking around, anxious to change the subject. "She's been gone too long."
"Yeah. Where is she? She still hasn't met our newest member in Club Zonkers," Thalia quipped.
Percy sighed, tossed his napkin on his plate and stood from his seat. "Let the nationwide manhunt begin. Alright. I'll bring her back in a jippie. Stay put guys. Lay off on Nico, Thalia."
Rachel cracked a smile. Thalia just snorted delicately while Nico just stared at his plate, inwardly grateful.
Luke raised an eyebrow. "Bring her back in one piece." Suddenly a vision of him holding on to a broken Annabeth and leading her to the rec room flashed in Percy's mind. It was an unholy day back then. He shuddered and banished the thought.
"Oh, and tell her about the party," Luke reminded.
"I will."
"Tell her her pizza's getting cold too," Thalia added.
"You just wanted to eat the pizza," Rachel rolled her eyes.
"Oh I'm concerned with Annabeth, alright. Ever since she made a pact with Beauregard's stupid diet…"
Percy did not hear more of this for he ran off towards the exit.
~0~
He groaned, brushing off beads sweat from his forehead and upper lip. Almost twenty minutes of searching and Annabeth was nowhere to be found. Percy thought about where in the world she would be hiding, and the worried about the idea that she had not eaten lunch. He pondered the instances of Annabeth doing something wacko with her stomach empty, and Percy grew more anxious and searched for her again.
No. She promised she won't cut herself again, he thought. It would only be fair that if he would keep his promise, she would also be true to her side of the matter. Percy even dared himself to open the door to the girl's bathroom, a little relieved to see only a couple of toilet seats gaping at him.
Maybe being a protector would be harder than he thought. After all, the girl he was protecting was so bent on incinerating herself he would lose his sanity for all that its worth.
Percy stopped suddenly at the sound of an instrument playing – a piano? An organ? – a melodious sound. His head turned at the rec room, its door wide open as Percy's eyes were growing by the second.
Crepe paper hung loosely at the ceilings, yellow chrysanthemums lay at the window sills. And a blond girl, her back turned at Percy, was gently stroking her fingers at the ivory keys of an upright piano.
"'Sup Annabeth?" he greeted, waving his hand though she hasn't seen him yet.
Annabeth's fingers momentarily raked at the keys and furiously swung herself, eyeing Percy's casual pose. "Gods, Percy! Don't sneak up on me like that! Do you even have the normalcy to knock?"
He shrugged. She huffed and turned to the piano, playing once again. "What is it this time?"
"Um, you missed lunch."
"Yeah, I did."
"And you're not thinking about grabbing one?"
"Nope. I'm not hungry."
"Oh. Okay," Percy said, a little miffed. He shook his head and told her, "There's a new kid joining us. Name's Nico di Angelo."
"Oh, great. Another wack job. Is Thalia being rough on him yet?"
"Too rough actually. Poor tyke."
Annabeh grinned at the image of this Nico being Thalia's new personal punching bag but did not comment. They both said nothing, letting the music fill the room for a few minutes.
"Do you want to meet him?" he asked suddenly.
She pressed the keys with much force, the pace slightly quickening. "Hmm. Sure, I guess. I'll see him at dinner. Maybe."
"Maybe? You're skipping dinner too?" Percy yelped.
"I said maybe. You know… Perhaps. Possibly – "
"I know what it means," he spat, irritated.
"And why'd you care? You're not my mom."
"Of course I'm not. What if Desiree and her goons found out?"
Annabeth shrugged indifferently and replied, "Let her find out. I don't care. For the meantime, I'll be here, if you please."
"Since when have you become the daredevil?"
Annabeth only rolled her gray eyes and did not respond.
"Anyways, why are you here?"
"I met up with Will."
Percy's gaze abruptly turned to her. "Will? Will who?"
"Will Solace. The guy from table seven. Short blond hair. Blue eyes –"
"Never heard of him," he admitted. "Since when have you been meeting up with him?"
"Started yesterday," she said blithely, clearly not noticing that Percy's flustered. "I've just met him."
"You just met him?" his voice sounding astounded. "And now you're going out with him?"
"No. No, it's not like that," she reddened, glaring at him. "Meeting up is different from dating, blockhead. As if you'd know the difference between the two," she rolled her eyes.
"I know that," he awkwardly chuckled. "So why'd you met up with him?"
"He likes it when I play."
"So?"
"So," she continued, the precession of the keys more vigorous. "I'll play music for him whenever he wants to."
"Why?"
She stopped again and sighed, adjusting her stool so she'd face him. "Will doesn't… talk."
"Wait," he furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't get it. How's that have anything to do with you banging on the piano for him?"
"Well, Will's not actually a mute. He just… refuses to talk. He only responds to music."
"You mean, he dances around the room whenever you play for him?"
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "He's paralyzed on the waist down and confined on a wheelchair. In other words, he can't dance."
"So when you play music, he speaks," he stated. He realized the more he made assumptions – no matter how wrong they might be – rather than questions, Annabeth would least likely pound on him.
"Not actually. He just nods his head with the melody."
"That's it? That's the only kind of interaction you two can have?"
"That's the only interaction anyone can afford to have with Will. Music is the only thing you can do to get something out from him. You should've seen how he acts around everyone. You might think he's a dead guy on a wheelchair with his eyes open."
"Weird. How come I've never heard or seen him before?"
"Beats me. Only you can be unobservant enough to miss something as obvious as that."
Percy sighed loudly and headed towards the ping pong table. He searched for the paddles, but did not find any.
"No paddles?" he said dumbfounded. "Are they kidding me?"
"You can play with your hands though," Annabeth supplied.
Percy snorted. "Like that'd be fun. I mean, no paddles in table tennis? And they kept on talking about following the rules –"
"That's for safety reasons, Percy. Paddles are no longer allowed because some people are not level-headed enough to stop themselves from hitting each other to death whenever they get into some squabble in the middle of the game."
"You sound like you approve of this."
"Trust me, Percy. I'm not liking this as much as you do."
Feeling idle, Percy decided to bang his palm at the green table, matching the beat with Annabeth's melody.
"Just tell me what you're here for Percy," she called after a few minutes.
He halted his banging. "I wanted to tell you about the party –"
Annabeth's fingers slightly plucked, the tone slightly became offbeat. "What party?" She turned and placed her eyes full force on him.
No pressure, Percy.
"Well it's kind of a 'group meeting' or a 'group session', whichever it is you'd like to call. We all gather around and huddle and bring sleeping bags in the AVR room and there would be snacks and drinks and a bunch of other things. Basically, it's like a slumber party with a very, very reliable addition of adult supervision."
"Group sessions? They hadn't mentioned that during orientation."
"Well, Rachel said it was new. They just wanted to stop that you-know-what from happening again. Really hit the hospital's medical reputation and all. But it was just Rachel's hunch."
Annabeth frowned slightly. Cleverlyn died because she felt that she was all alone, that she can't turn to anyone about her fears, her nightmares, her hallucinations. She felt abandoned by everyone and did not find anyone, like her doctor, worth trusting. Now, the staff agreed that group sessions would prevent any more cases of suicide.
Percy blinked back at the memory of Annabeth cutting herself and bleeding herself to death until he got a hold of her and brought her back to the infirmary which nursed her back to health. He stared at Annabeth's thunderstorm eyes for a moment, and realized they were remembering the same thing.
People suck at living sometimes. Others kill themselves and they don't realize they suck in dying too.
She grimaced. "And why are you telling me this, Jackson?"
"I just wanted you to know, that's all."
"Thanks but no. I think I'll pass for now." She turned her attention to the piano. Percy found himself marching forward to her.
"No? But Annabeth – "
"Give me one good reason why I should go."
He paused for a while and mused. I'll be there."
"So?"
Percy tried not to be hurt by this. He steadied himself, trying to look unfazed. "I thought – well, I thought you'd want to hang out with us for a little while," he answered, blushing despite himself.
"As much as fun as that sounds, – and I'm sure you're not dumb enough not to detect the sarcasm there – I really don't want to go," she spat, her hands stopping. "I have a lot of things to think about."
He could feel his voice getting higher. "You know what you're problem is? You think too much. No wonder you're like that. You have to stop thinking so much, Wise Girl."
"Well, thank you very much for your concern," she said scathingly. "Unlike some seaweed brained persons I happen to know, I do think a lot. And you know what? It does make me a lot better."
"You call cutting yourself to death better?" He glowered.
Annabeth's eyes flashed angrily and retorted, "And you call drugging yourself to death even better?"
Percy clenched his fists. He could be impulsive a lot of times and he was praying he could control his anger, especially now that he was facing a deadly tiger as wild as he was. "We're not supposed to be fighting, Annabeth." He breathed heavily. "We're supposed to be friends and we can't do that if we keep on trying to lunge on each others' throats. I'm sorry for everything that I've said. Not that I didn't mean it," he said, slightly grinning, ignoring the seriousness of the situation. He really did mean what he said, and he wasn't the kind of guy that took what he said back. "But it was wrong to say it to you, anyway. So I'm sorry."
Her eyes softened a little.
"Truce?" Percy held out his pinky. She did not look up. "Come on. There's no age limit in making pinky swears, Annabeth."
She smiled discreetly, though the smile did not touch her eyes. She raised her finger and twirled it with Percy's own.
"For now, I guess," she smiled.
A light flutter rippled in their hearts when Percy took a nearby stool and sat next to Annabeth.
He eyed her as she continued to play virtuously. "I didn't know that you could play."
"You've never asked," she answered simply as the tune turned to a higher octave.
"If I did, you would have told me then?"
She shrugged delicately and slightly closed her eyes, "You don't know a lot about me Percy, as much as I don't know much about you."
He thought about this for a while and said, "Then can I ask you er, about you? If you really want to uh… you know –"
"You're really smooth, Percy," Annabeth laughed.
"Oh, thanks," he grumbled with chagrin.
Annabeth laughed again. He could feel the laugh slowly breaking the tension and continued, "So can I ask you some things? You can always bow out, but you did say that I don't know much about you and you don't know much about me and as friends I think we should –"
"Just fire away," she chuckled, slightly having fun at Percy's prattle.
He gazed at the piano keys for a while as her dainty fingers pressed them. He looked up and asked, "Why is it that you hate me so much? Aren't we supposed to get along and stuff? Have I done something wrong for you to treat me like some dimwit, scumba- "
"One at a time, Percy. Okay," she stopped playing and twitched her fingers. "I don't really know –"
"And you really hate not knowing, right?" Percy grinned widely.
Annabeth punched him in the gut. "Another rule in twenty questions. Don't interrupt when someone is answering your question."
Percy blanched and she continued. "Like I said, I don't know," she eyed him curiously. "My best guess is that we clash. Our personalities clash. As if we're made to cut each other's heads off."
"But that doesn't stop us from being friends, right?" he said. "I mean, we can try."
"Which brings me to my next question," she said. "Why are you so intent on being my friend so much?"
"Because I wanted to be friends with you," he answered just as fast as she fired her query. "Isn't it supposed to be that simple?"
Annabth averted her gaze towards the other side of the room. "Maybe. It would be a lot easier than ignoring each other, since we always sit in the same table three times a day. And besides, I have no idea why you'd want to be my friend, anyway.
"You're right. You're a cranky, hothead, butt crack know-it-all who keeps on yapping at me all day. The meth might be messing with my perspective, I guess," he snickered at her expression. "But you know, it's kinda cool that you're too smart for stereotypical blonde jokes. Really sweet."
"Ha ha," she rolled her eyes indignantly.
"Hmm. Besides the piano, what else do you play?"
Annabeth made a quick interlude with the piano and smiled to herself. "I play the flute and the violin but not much as the piano. I'll experiment with guitars once I get out of here. It looks really interesting."
"So I am right about you being a know-it-all."
"Whatever. What school do you go to?"
"Goode High School, Downtown New York. Favorite color?"
"Green. How 'bout you?"
"Blue."
"Not bad. Favorite food?"
"Barbeque. Favorite book?"
"Evolution of Architecture. You?"
"Nah. I don't read. I told you I'm dyslexic."
"Oh right. Favorite band?"
"Too many to mention."
"Just pick one. I said favorite, not favorites."
"Hmm. I can't choose, really. I mean, a lot of bands sound good to me."
"Fine, then," at that moment, Annabeth was too absorbed at the conversation and removed her hands on the piano. "Yogurt or Ice cream?"
Percy laughed. "Definitely ice cream."
Their banter lasted for almost an hour until Rachel and Luke found them and dragged them out of the rec room.
…0…
"I can't. I can't do it," Silena muttered, grasping at the bread sticks as if they were her life.
"Oh don't be such a wuss, Silena," Clarisse muttered, lying back on the carpeted floor. "You're not backing out on a deal, are you?"
"Well, no," Silena's lips quivered. "It's just that… I already ate dumplings and shrimps and a bowl of rice this week."
"Come on, Silena," Travis Stoll said. "Just shove the damn bread on your throat and get on with it."
"You lost the game, Silena. It'll be fair if you'd accept the terms. We all agreed on that," Dr. Parker, table nine's therapist told her.
Silena's eyes flickered nervously and settled at Charles Beckendorf. He just smiled reassuringly at her and Silena, little by little, nibbled at the bread stick. Woots and cheers erupted. Everyone started giving her pats at the back as she continued to chew on her bread sticks.
"Good thing Silena's getting covered," Thalia settled beside her tablemates as she chewed on her sphagetti. "It's been a while since she's eating wholly again."
"Yeah, but she still needs the whole coaxing thing," Rachel said, twirling her red hair between her fingers.
Luke yawned and stretched her arms over the sofa. "She's still making progress. Maybe she and Beckendorf would be out of here in a couple of months."
"What's with her and Beckendorf?" Percy inquired.
"Let's just say they've got something going on for the past months in their stay."
Percy stared at the two, imagining Silena's thin and frail body around Beckendorf's ripped and buff arms.
"Wow. Great couple," Rachel slightly sneered.
"Oh, they are one heck of a couple, I'll say," Luke told her. "Silena's the only one who can get away in using Beckendorf's first name. You should have seen them last Fourth of July."
"They're the gooey and sugary kind of couple" Thalia wrinkled her nose and munched on the pasta. "An unusual pair, yes, but still the sweetness alone makes me gag."
"Your just jealous no guy's gonna like you enough to ask you out on Valentine's Day," Nico laughed.
Thalia's blue eyes flashed, tiny sparks flying. "If I hear one more word from your putrid mouth, I swear –"
"Table three? Would you like to join us in the circle, please?"
The six whirled their heads and saw their therapist near a neat row of sleeping bags, waving at them. They all exchanged looks and grudgingly went towards her and sat at the linen cloth spread across the tiled floor.
"I'm back!" Desiree chirped. "Did anyone miss me?"
A couple of Yeahs and Sures and Whatevers sounded.
"Well, then. Before I start, I wanted to say I'm sorry about missing Cleverlyn's memorial."
They all furtively looked at Annabeth who was now staring down at the cloth.
"I had to run a few errands. And it took a long time for me to do than I thought it would be. So now that I'm here, let's start the session. Is there anyone who wants to say something?"
Nobody made a sound and they just stared glumly at the clothed floor.
Desiree tapped her chin. "Hmm. It seems that you are not accustomed to group sessions yet."
"We're having like a hard time telling you what you want to know, and now you're expecting us to blurt out everything to everyone else?" Rachel exclaimed.
"It's not that easy," Thalia ascended.
"Yeah," Nico nodded gravely. "And if you didn't get the memo, I just got here."
"That is why you six needed the group session the most," Desiree answered. "You needed to exert yourselves and guide each other. Like confidants. You kids need to tell what you feel not just to me, but also to others."
Luke pounded his fists. "This is pointless. It's not like we're still going to be best buds when we leave this place. Just admit the fact that maybe not all of us can be cured in the way you want us to."
Desiree shook her head. "You might as well know that setting you all together tonight is not my idea. Orders have been given out that you kids should be grouped together to discuss your problems, for being with peers may help alleviate the tension and you can be able to express yourselves freely."
"Not in here, we don't," Rachel muttered.
"All the same. Now that the matter is settled and closed, shall we start?"
~0~
"I was told my mom wasn't always like that. If only my father stayed…" Luke's voice wavered and he settled to stare at the white curtains ahead.
Desiree nodded. "And has it ever occurred to you that your running away might have caused her more pain?"
"Smart move you made back then," Thalia quipped.
Luke growled. "That's a pretty smug comment coming from a girl who made the same mis – "
"Hey. Chillax guys," Rachel grinned, earning annoyed looks. "Doc's just saying. Besides, you all went back to your parents, right?"
"Speaking of which, have you started reconciling with your own parents, Ms. Dare?" Desiree asked.
The redhead slowly angled her head and answered, "I don't know. They won't understand – "
"Have you tried telling them the truth?"
"Well, no. They only know that I'm being difficult. With the visions and fainting spells and all…" she driveled on.
"So Luke," Desiree said after a while. "You're starting college – "
Luke almost groaned as the subject was turned back to him. "I'm in my second year," the blond boy said flatly. "Majoring in Philosophy."
Thalia laughed out loud. Rachel, Nico and Annabeth suppressed smiles.
His eyebrows scrunched. "What?"
"Nothing," Thalia snickered when the laughter subsided. "It's just um… you and Philosophy? There's no way you're getting a career out of that one."
"Keep your opinions to yourself," Luke muttered.
"Um, Percy?" Desiree called. Rachel squeezed his arm tightly. His eyes snapped back, pulling him from his trance. "Huh? What?"
"You okay? You kinda zoned out."
"Oh well, yeah. I'm fine," he shook his head. "I'm good."
Desiree shot him a look, quirked her stencilled eyebrows and turned to the others. "Well, it's already nine thirty, so I guess let's wrap it up and hit the hay."
"Thalia, gain control. Try counting one to ten, try not blacking out and keep taking the medications I've given you. No strangling please. Luke, learn to be a little independent and think about more of the consequences. Nico, private session starts tomorrow at 10. Followed by Nico would be Annabeth. And Percy, try not to doze off. "
She clamped her hands. "All of you are doing great. Thank you for participating tonight. I do hope you'd be doing better next time."
"Next time!" Nico groaned, exasperated.
"Oh don't worry. I'm sure it would be less… gruelling day by day," she smiled and stood from her chair and left.
~0~
"Is she always like that?" Nico jittered nervously as he watched Annabeth set out her sleeping bag. "Are you sure the doctors checked her for steroids?"
Annabeth smiled ruefully. "Well, she guts almost every single person she meets. And that's a natural thing. To her, I mean."
"Oh, joy," Nico pouted.
"Look. Thalia's acts like your everyday punk with the rebel attitude. But don't forget that she's also a girl. You'll get used to her. You just wait."
"Pscchh. Alright. I'll wait. Until all my bones would be broken and floppy like jelly."
"Oh, she won't break all of your bones. Maybe just one or two of them. But not exactly all…"
"Thanks, Annabeth," he said.
"Hey, no problem. Just do what you have to do."
~0~
Rachel pulled out an iPod from her torn jeans and slips the earphone buds in her ears. Percy watched her eerily, the moonlight illuminating them enough to see her get settled. "They actually allowed you to have music players here?" Percy whispered and pointed at the iPod. "I thought they confiscated those kinds of things."
She shrugged and pulled the sleeping bag over her body. "Let's just say I have a few tricks in bending the rules."
"And when you said 'I', you meant 'my ridiculously rich father'," Annabeth muttered.
Rachel stuck out her tongue and rolled her body to face the other way.
"What about her father?" he mumbled to Annabeth.
She jerked her head to Rachel's direction. "Ask her."
Slowly, Percy tilted her head at Rachel, boring his eyes on a floppy mop of red hair. He wanted to know what they were squabbling about a minute ago, but he did a double-take. Nothing caps off the perfect evening like a tired and cranky Rachel Elizabeth Dare trying to rearrange your face.
He momentarily stared at the ceiling. "Hey, Annabeth," Percy half-called, half-whisphered.
"What, Seaweed Brain?"
"Can you tell me some long philosophical quote right now? I'm feeling a little insignificant."
Annabeth chuckled lightly. "You know, I'm always wondering what's going on in that thick head of yours."
Percy cracked a smile. "Aww. You think about me."
Then a flying pillow landed squarely on Percy's face.
"It's out of professional curiosity," she hissed and retracted her pillow.
"Okay. Okay," he said, fighting a laugh.
They stared at the ceiling.
"I'll let you in my head if you'll let me in yours," he blurted stupidly.
"It's getting late…"
"I know," he exhaled. "I'm sorry. I'm being a jerk. Go ahead. Get some sleep."
He gazed at the chandeliers until he heard Annabeth sigh and demanded, "Fine. What do you want to know?"
Percy hoped it was dark enough for Annabeth to not see him smiling uncontrollably. "Tell me five random things."
"And you'll do the same?"
"Unless you'll bore me to sleep with your flowery dialogues, sure, why not?" He can almost feel the glare Annabeth was throwing at him.
"Uh…," she mused. "On my thirteenth birthday, my dad gave me the bike I've always wanted when I was a kid. I fractured my knee when I tried biking on the steel railings."
Percy covered his mouth to muffle his laughter. "Extreme sports. Wow. I'm liking you already."
She continued. "I once had a puppy, three goldfishes and rabbit. They all died."
"Remind me not to give you a hamster for your birthday."
She chuckled softly.
"Anything else?"
"I used to wear my Yankees cap all the time but my dad told me to leave it in my house," she frowned. "At least I'll have an incentive not to make a run for it."
"Must be a really special cap. You follow the Yankees?"
"I'm not into baseball, really. My mom gave it to me when I was... still young. She died in an… accident." She looked away for a second.
"I'm sorry, Annabeth," he told her.
"It's okay. Don't be. I'm not sorry," she smiled at him bitterly. She shook her head. "Anyways, I should tell you that I always dip my fries on my sundae."
Percy grinned. "Tastes great, doesn't it? It's my favourite combo in McDonalds."
"Yeah. I'm starting to miss all those greasy things they try to sell us."
"You've got one more," Percy stated.
"I'm under scholarship."
Percy snickered. "An A plus student. Well, why am I not surprised," he whistled and Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Most people are afraid to say about their scholarship status, if they are one. I like your guts."
"Why, thank you."
"So you have to keep a point average? 95 or so?"
"92. 95's for creepy geniuses without a life," she said as a matter of fact.
"So you're saying there's a lot more of people who are much smarter than you?"
"Loads."
"Whoa," Percy mused, dwelling about the fact that there would be a bunch of seventeen year olds who were smarter than Annabeth, who, by the way, was one of the smartest person he's ever met.
"Your turn," she announced, nudging him.
"Well," he thought for a while. "I got kicked out of school… a lot. Nine times, to tell you the truth."
"Nine times?" Annabeth tried to control her voice, avoiding the squealish quality in tone.
He nods and glances up the ceiling. "Goode has been my ninth school."
"You don't look threatening, really."
Percy made a face. "I don't beat up people. I just – well, school life just sucks for me," he shrugs indifferently.
Annabeth made an understanding noise under her breath. Not able to fit in well with schoo: that's something they can relate to.
"I hate confined spaces. They make me go nuts."
"Why?"
"I don't know. I constantly feel like the whole world's closing in on me. Like a bazillion eyes keeps on staring at me."
"Who would possibly want to watch you all the time?"
"I don't know. Surveillance guys?"
"Your head is full of kelp."
They fell silent.
"I like to eat blue food."
Annabeth looked at him speculatively. "Say what?"
"I said, I like to eat blue food."
"Blue food?"
Percy nodded, grimacing. Annabeth laughed out loud, not bearing it anymore. "Hey! No making fun of the food."
"All right," Annabeth wiped a tear from her eye. "I'll let you explain the... blue stuff."
Percy glowered at her before continuing, "See, my stepdad had an issue with my mom, and then she started mixing my food with blue food coloring when I was a kid. Kind of a ritual," Annabeth noted his voice turned nostalgic. "Almost everything I eat back home got dyed in blue."
"Blue cakes, blue pastries, blue candy..."
"Yeah."
"How come you're tongue's not blue?"
He laughed. "And I thought I'm the one who always ask the stupid questions."
"Jackson! Chase!" A booming voice from the far north side of the room, a dark silhouette mooning. "Group session ended forty-five minutes ago! If you two would stop flirting any time now, your fellow tablemates would really appreciate it!"
Muffled sniffles and laughter echoed across the room and Percy and Annabeth hoped it was dark enough for anyone not to notice them blush. Percy glanced at Annabeth, whose blond hair glinting over the silvery moonlight. She closed her eyes and said, "I'll get back at you for this."
On his mouth escaped a ghostly chuckle and whispered, "I'll be waiting for that."
A/N: Certainly not one of my bests.
Review please, though.
[Edited: 07/21/11]