Wednesday Morning

I looked down at my recently manicured nails, then back at my girls. We called ourselves the 'A-List', and we kinda ran the school… behind administration, of course.

"Girls…" I said, surveying my friends, or allies, which would be a more fitting term. "We've got a situation. A 100 degree HAWT situation."

Next to me, Jhanvee nodded.

"Tania," She said, putting a hand on my arm, "It's more like a 400 degree situation."

All around our table, straightened hair flopped and perfectly glossed lips cracked a smile.

"I'll have to agree with you, Jhanvee," added Kelli, taking a clip out of her back pocket and pining back a loose strand of blonde, "It's a huge situation."

"I'm not saying it's not," Charity added, blinking her mascara-drowned eyelashes slowly, "but if the situation is what I think it is, I'm thinking it's not the best idea."

I rolled my eyes. "Sweetie, when it comes to boys, the A-List is never not the best idea."

Charity sighed. "So we are talking about a boy."

Kelli tutted. "Of course it's about a boy. What else would it be about?"

"Percy Jackson, of course! He's not a boy, he's a man!" Jhanvee gushed. I smirked at my two friends naïve nature, and looked to Charity, who was pursing her lips and had a worried expression.

"What's wrong?" I asked, and she took a deep breath.

"He has a girlfriend." She looked around the circle, and we all broke out in almost simultaneous laughter, except for Charity.

"When has that stopped us before?" I asked, almost in disbelief. Charity was the one that established the girlfriend rule.

"Never!" Jhanvee interrupted, and Kelli smiled, nodding her head quickly and excitedly.

"No, I know, but I actually met her, and…" she trailed off, and I nudged her.

"And what?"

"And she's actually pretty cool." She looked up at us, embarrassed. The laughter was gone, and it was dead silent, aside from the background noises of the cafeteria patrons.

None of us had ever hung out with anyone else other than each other.

The other two girls looked kind of lost, and Charity looked guilty. I decided, after about a minute, to break the silence.

"So. What do you suppose we do about that?" I asked coldly, my expression blank.

"Well, I think you guys should meet her." Charity admitted in a quiet voice that I rarely heard from her.

"Girls?" I said, looking for confirmation on my other friends (or allies) faces. They looked to each other, and Kelli broke the stare.

"We think… it might be nice to meet this girl. We could… invite her to the Friday night girl's night." Jhanvee nodded.

"Really?" Charity looked relieved.

"You guys sure you want this?" I asked, shocked that the other two had actually gone along with it.

"Yeah, I mean, what's the harm of one sleepover?" Jhanvee reasoned, and Kelli swiftly agreed.

"Totally!" I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Ok. I'll talk to… what's his girlfriends name?"

"Annabeth." Charity supplied.

"Ok. Tomorrow, I'll ask Annabeth to join us for lunch. Next time we see her, I'll ask about the sleepover. OK?"

Charity looked relieved, and the other two looked ecstatic at even hanging out with someone else.

Thursday, lunch time

"Hey… You're Annabeth, right?" she was the girl hanging around Percy and those other two goth kids.

"Yeah?" She said, turning around and detaching his hand from her waist, as he had been pulling her close to him at the sight of me. I came closer, then slapped Percy in the face.

"Gods Damnit!" He exclaimed, (he said God, as in singular, right?) as a teacher passed.

"Lunch Detention, Mr. Jackson. In the security office." The teacher grabbed Percy's hood and dragged Percy down the hallway.

"You bitch!" The goth girl exclaimed, and a passing teacher grabbed the hook on her backpack.

"Lunch detention, Ms. Grace, now."

I looked at the other goth boy, who rolled his eyes at me (the nerve!) and shuffled away, taking a pause to jot something down in that ugly little notebook of his.

"What'd you do that for?" She exclaimed, and I put a hand on her shoulder.

"I just wanted to clear up your lunch schedule so that you can spend it with my friends and me." I smiled, and she narrowed her eyes at me.

"Come on, let's go." I took her hand (A ring? Purity ring) and pulled her down the hallway (although she resisted), glancing at her outfit. She was wearing a navy v-neck, a pair of skinny jeans, and black converse.

It could use a little work, because if she was gonna hang out with us, she had to dress a little better. She'd stick out, I noted, getting closer to the table where the rest of the girls were. Charity was wearing a floral tank-top and a pair of shorts, Jhanvee was wearing a vintage dress with gold accent jewelry, and Kelli was wearing a jean skirt with a peasant blouse. I was wearing a tight dress with 4 inch wedges, and seeing Annabeth next to me made her seem horribly underdressed. (Or me overdressed, but I prefer the former.)

"Girls, I brought our little guest to join us for lunch!" Annabeth waved, still with a confused expression on her face, and the girls waved back.

"Hey, Annabeth," Charity said, and Annabeth brightened a little.

"Hey. So, what's up, guys?" Annabeth asked, sitting down.

"Hmm. Nothing much, just chilling." Answered Kelli, picking at the salad in front of her.

"Oh." Annabeth looked embarrassed,

"So, girls," Jhanvee stated, putting down her food and slapping her hands on the table, "Let's talk. What did you think of Molina's dress on Friday at Jared's party?"

"I think she looked like the Norwegian fish she is." Kelli snorted, and I shot her a pointed look, quickly shutting her up.

"Girls, we don't talk like that in front of guests. Why don't we ask Annabeth what she thought of it." We all looked to Annabeth just as she was about to take a bite of a sandwich. She didn't respond, so I touched her shoulder.

"What? Oh, sorry, I zoned out, you know, ADHD." She shrugged. "What was the question again?"

"What did you think of Molina's dress at Jared's party last weekend?"

"Oh. I wasn't there." We looked at each other. She wasn't even invited to Jared's parties?

"Wait, were you not invited?" Charity asked, voicing the question running through our minds.

"Oh, I was, but Percy and I had other plans." She smiled, and Charity's mouth formed an 'o'.

"Does it have anything to do with…?" Charity asked wagging her eyebrows. Annabeth nodded excitedly.

Jhanvee, Kelli, and I exchanged confused looks.

"What are you two talking about?" I asked, pursing my lips. I was supposed to be the one that knew all the secrets.

"Well, last Friday, while you guys were all at a party, I got this." She held out her hand and on it was the ring I'd felt earlier. It didn't look like a purity ring, though. It was a tiny gold band with a tiny little diamond to match. Wait…

"Oh my God… he proposed?" She shook her head, as to say, 'so so.'

"No, promise ring, but just as cool." I nodded absently, thoughts whirring in my head. Maybe she wouldn't be so bad to have at a sleepover.

"Hey, Annabeth," I scooted a little closer to her on the lunch bench, as did Charity on the other side of her. Jhanvee and Kelli leaned forward, so there was one of us on either side of her. "How'd you like to come to a sleepover at my house this Friday?"

She exhaled, then waited a second before answering. "Sure?"

Ok guys, especially you rabid fangirls: I'm doing a NICO-Centric one next… any preferences on what-about?

Thanksss :D