"Yes, do a pose and look over here, right! Good, Rachel's smiling face is the best!" Her hands folded together like an angel's.
"Thank you very much!" Jeremy, Sam, and Percy were all dressed in white as they posed for a picture together and alone. I too, was dressed in white with different color pants, but my smile only showed when they were taking photos. After our alone shots, we took a group one.
"It's the last shot, so please give us your best smiles! One, two, done!"
"Great, it's time for lunch." We all walked over to the buffet table lined up on by the cameras. My smile faded instantly as Percy walked away. What if he's going to tell?
"Amazing!" yelled Jeremy when we had reached the table. It was filled with chicken, fruits, sweets, sushi and a whole lot of mouth watering delicacies But I wasn't in the mood to eat. "Today's catering is so luxurious." He picked up a platter of sushi and brought it over to Percy, who was climbing up the stairs. "Percy, aren't you eating? It's lobster!" Percy turned around and looked at the food in disgust.
"Are you trying to kill me?" Jeremy gasped and looked back down at the platter.
"Oh, you're allergic to shellfish. I forgot. I'm sorry." Percy turned away, slammed his hand on the railing, and stomped back up to take a nap. "What's with him? He's in a bod mood." Jeremy glanced at Sam and saw him walking out a door. "Sam, want some lobster!" and ran to catch up with him.
I run back to the dressing room and immediately look at my phone. I sigh.
"Mr. McKenzie...he hasn't called yet." My back slid down on the wall. When is he going to call?
Percy's POV
No one, I mean no one, disturbs me during my nap. No. One. But of course, that demon fairy had to come and barge into it.
"That photographer thinks he's such hot stuff, flirting with me...even though he has no talent or looks." Of course. It's the one and only, Rachel Elizabeth Dare.
"You're a fairy with a bad mouth," I said, laying on chairs. She didn't know that I was up here, but she had the nerve to enter. She gasped and turned around to find me.
"Percy...you're here!" she tried saying in a cutesy way. But I could see right through her. "I am sorry, I didn't realize that you're here. I'm a big fan of A.J. Nice to meet you. And I'm pretty sure you know who I am."
"Still trying to act like a fairy? Psh, that isn't going to work. I see your true colors. And, I've never heard of you." Giving up, her face turned dark.
"Because it's my job to sell dreams." She huffed and sat down on one of the chairs across from mine. Her frizzy red hair matched her freckles and eyes were emerald. "You're no angel yourself, right?" Her voice was deep and disturbing. I glare at her and got up. Who needs to talk to this demon fairy. Before I was able to walk out of the place, she blocked my way. Her clothes were too school girly. They matched her fake personality. What a fraud.
"We should be able to get along well. You're just like me. We only want publicity." Her words were like poison. The absolute opposites of Andrew's. I glare at her, eyes covered by my hair, and stormed out. As I was walking out, a voice was coming down the stairs.
"Sorry I'm late, Rachel. It's bec- Ah! It's Percy!" The voice belonged to a man with a very high pitched tone. He sounded like a girl, walked like one, and kind of dressed like one, wearing all pink. "I'm Rachel's stylist, Toru. Do you remember me?" But I ignored him and walked off. Behind me, I could here him singing, and probably dancing too.
Rachel's POV
"Dos,dos, dos, love injection!" Toru shouted. How stupid.
"Shut up!" He whimpered and shut his mouth. I walk to the door in my high heels and spy Percy walking out of the room. "Percy Jackson. I'm definitely going to make you look at me. And then, you'll be mine."
Third Person POV
"So, did you tell the President?" Silena's voice was curious, wondering if the manager had already told about Annabeth's situation.
"Yes, I told him everything." But he didn't sound confident. "I came straight out and said it." He chuckled and softly added, "...up to "wo," but not, "man."" Silena stood in front of him, bent down and slapped him in the face.
"I knew that it would be like this! You only care about you're job!"
"I can't. It's impossible."
"Percy has already found out, so whatever you do, you're done for. Might as well tell now."
"No, no, no, my life is at stake here. I'll be turned into minced meat. Then, I'll be dumped into the ocean so that the fish can eat me!"
"Then what will you do?"
Mr. McKenzie had walked out of his office, crawled under a window, and ran out the door of A.J Enterprise.
"Good bye, old life. I will remember you dearly." All of his things were packed into a box and bag. But as he turned around, someone bumped into him. It was an officer. "H-hello. I wasn't doing anything suspicious." Sweat started to pour onto his face. "It's not like I was going to run away because I pretended that someone's twin sister had to be her twin brother and that she got caught and I might be made into mince meat then fed to the fish." He stopped to look at the officer, but he was just as confused as the next person.
"Whatever. Anyway, a woman came here and said that she's family with one of A. J's members. I think an Andrew Chase?" Mr. McKenzie dropped all his things and listened intently. "Well, she told me to bring this picture to him. I was wondering, since you are the manager of A.J, that you could bring this to Mr. Chase for me."
"Okay, I will." Mr. McKenzie took a red envelope from the officer's hand and looked at it. Should he open it?
Annabeth's POV
All four of us walk into the recording studio. We were going to practice for my debut that isn't that far away.
"Andrew, we're starting practice now," Jeremy said. Percy interrupted right after him.
"Forget him, he seems to have something far more important to attend to." He said all that without even looking up at me. He was just staring at sheets of music.
"Eh?" Jeremy and Sam look at me in confusion. What do I tell them?
"I-I'm sorry," was all that I choked out. Then, I ran out the door, hoping that I had made the right choice. Before the door was completely shut, I could here one more sentence from the leader of the band.
"A.J doesn't need him."
As I walked slowly towards the President's office, I ran into Silena on the way.
"Andrew, if you are looking for the president, he has gone out."
"If that's the case..." She grabbed me by the arm and dragged me to a corner.
"I'm sorry. It's my fault that you got caught. I was to careless." Her eyes looked as if she was going to cry.
I quickly say, "No, no! It's not your fault. You weren't careless. You did everything you could and I'm great full for that. Don't be disappointed" I give her one of my smiles, but this time, it wasn't all that happy. I could see her force a smile to cheer me up. Suddenly, Mr. McKenzie walked up from behind us. "Mr. McKenzie," I say in surprise.
"Someone asked an officer to give this to you. He said that a woman with a blue shirt and red pants had given this to him." He reached for his coat pocket and out came a red envelope. I slowly took it from his hands. What is it? I look at it skeptically, analyzing to see if there are any names on it. No one.
I decided to take it out. I opened the seal, but it was already opened. My hands trembled as I pulled out a picture from inside of it. My heart probably pounded so hard, that it might have been heard by everyone around me. I felt dizzy, but I didn't want to.
It was a picture of Andrew and me. But, in that picture, standing behind us and holding out shoulders, smiling, was none other than my dad.
"This...? This is..." I ran out of breath. "These twin kids are...Andrew and me! It's us!" My face wasn't filled with enlightenment It was filled with horror. I quickly ran away from Mr. McKenzie and Silena.
"Hey, Andrew! Wait!" But I didn't care. I couldn't care.
I ran out to the hall, turning and trying to get out of the building.
"Excuse me! Excuse me!" I had to yell. I was about to run down the stairs when I saw the President.
"Oh, hey Andrew. Listen, I wanted to talk to you." He blocked my view of the door and I looked over his shoulders. What am I going to do? I'm going to run out of time. I might be able to find this woman. And what if she turns out to be...
"I'm sorry, President, but I really have to go. It's a really bid emergency."
"Oh, you need to go? Well, the bathroom's that way. Let's go together. I need to talk to you about your debut concert." As he walked towards the bathroom, I mad a dash for it. He called my name once or twice, but I didn't want to hear it. Or, I couldn't hear it. Wind was blowing next to my ears, not allowing me to notice that as I walked out of the building, hundreds of fan girls started to scream.
They all ran right towards me, holding up mean signs about how they didn't want me in the band.
"Hey, you!" one of them shouted. "Don't bother A.J again. Just get out of here!" There were agreements, but I could really care less about what they think.
"Right, you're not needed." I tried to push my way through them, but there was too many of them.
"Please, please, let me through," I begged.
"You make Percy seem like the bad guy, but we all know that it was you who made him seem bad. You're at fault!" I finally managed to break through the crowd and ran with all my might. I was captain of the track team in high school, so it isn't that hard.
I run into the city, ignoring all the stares I was getting from people. I know that they knew I was Andrew, from A.J. But right now, I'm Annabeth. And I'm searching for my mother. I frantically looked around to find a woman with a blue shirt and red pants. Where, oh, where? Fans started to come at me.
"Hey, it's Andrew from A.J!" When they had heard that, they all ran towards me. No, not now. When I'm this close to finding my star. They came from all different directions.
"Please give me an autograph!" one shouted. Another screamed.
"Excuse me, sorry!" I tried to push, but they were all surrounding me. They took photos, grabbed my clothes and tried to hug me. "Please let me through!" Then, all the girls screams were directed behind me. I turn around and my eyes turned wide. This person grabbed my arm and pulled me in from the crowd.
Percy's POV
"Maybe you shouldn't be that hard on him," suggested Sam. He's always the nice guy.
"Yeah, Percy. You should just cheer up and have fun. If you get to know Andrew more, you might want to hang out with him." Jeremy was always the one trying to be cheerful.
"No, I don't care about that scum. As if I want to hang out with a liar like him. I wouldn't want to be in the same room, no matter what." There heads hung low. But Sam decided to step in and stand up for that idiot.
"What did Andrew do exactly to make you this mad?" I didn't answer. I was hesitant. Should I tell them? I mean, they have been my friends for a very long time. Maybe even my best friends. But I told Andrew that he was the one to tell the President or I will.
I didn't answer, got up, and left with a puff. Jeremy made a baby face and started to play on his drums.
I walk through the hallway, straight to the president's office. There, I saw Silena and Mr. McKenzie.
"Oh, Percy!" Mr. McKenzie said in surprise. I gave him a glare and he immediately shut up. But that didn't stop Silena to talk.
"Percy, Andrew ran off. You have to go get him. We don't know where he is. He could be hurt!"
"As if I care for that little dirt bag. Don't act like you don't that he is actually a she. You were the one who made her into a boy. It's your problem. You guys deal with it." Walking to the window, I looked outside for a second. Then, I turned back. There was Andrew.
"What's she doing?" I found myself wondering, then, pushed it aside. "Psh, I shouldn't care about her. She made this mess, she has to get out of it." But I couldn't help but feel a little weird. What was this feeling inside? Why am I like this? Peering out the window once more, I see Andrew running from the crowd.
"Aish!" I yell. Why can't I stop thinking about that stupid idiot? But I knew what I had to do. And I knew that I was going to regret it.
I grab my gray, leather jacket and put it on over my blue shirt. Putting on a pair of sunglasses, it was the best disguise that I was able to get at the time. I ran out, ignoring all the girls that were screaming at me for my autograph. As I made my way through the city, I see that girls all around start to recognize me. So, I ran. They probably already figured out who I was. I frantically looked for Andrew. She must be somewhere over by the buildings, since I saw her run that way.
I reached this tall building. The screams of girls were a little farther behind. Alright, all I need to find is a group of screaming girls. They would either be screaming for an autograph, or screaming at her to die. I smirked at knowing that my fans disliked Andrew because of the rumors. But I had no time to crow about my fans. Because right now, I'm trying to run away from them.
I finally found a group of girls. And inside of that circle, was none other than Andrew Chase. My eyes went wide as I found that the other fans had caught up with me. I ran towards to circle, knowing that I was going to get surrounded by them. I finally got them to all pay attention to me so that Andrew was able to get out. As soon as she got out, I grabbed her arm and pulled her away.
"Percy!" she yelled, trying to get out of my grip.
"Hurry up!"
"My mother could have come here! She could be nearby!"
"Hurry up, first!" I scream at her.
"You can't understand how I feel!" A powerful memory came back. The same one I had the night before.
"Mom!" I was crying, left alone. I was only seven.
I look back at her, silent, but the air had gotten tense.
"Understand? Understand? I don't want to understand!" I advanced towards her, not caring if paparazis were taking photos, not caring if fans were running at us, not caring that the rumors about bad relations with me and Andrew were true. "'Mother, mother' is all I hear! You're just being annoying! I don't want to understand this!" The volume of my voice had gone a little lower. I don't want to know what it feels like. But I already do. "Don't create any more problems that would cause trouble to the band again.
She stood there, breathing heavy and speechless.
"Now, hurry up!"
Once we got back to the building, I immediately spotted the president and brought Andrew over with me. He had noticed us for the very first time.
"Percy! Great timing! I was looking for you."
"Andrew has something important to tell you," I blurted out. I turn to her, seeing that her face was filled with terror. You don't want to get on the president's bad side. But you don't want to get on my bad side, either.
"Eh? What is it, Andrew?" She gulped.
"Go on, tell him." She glared at me and blinked a couple of times. She gulped and her hands were clenched together. But the president just had to ruin it.
"I'm sorry, Andrew. Can we talk tomorrow? I have a lunch meeting right now. I need to get there in five minutes." I look at him in anger. "Percy," he snapped his fingers, pointing at me, "you come with me."
"Why do I have to go. I still have rehearsal after this-"
"It's okay, it's okay. I'll give you around thirty minutes, but you have to be there. Have to." He clicked his tongue and walked away. I looked at Andrew.
"Come here." I grabbed her hand and dragged her outside, to the balcony.
The air was peaceful, swaying through the trees. The trees acted as shade for Andrew and I. We had both calmed down after a little bit. The sun wasn't setting just yet. But aside from Andrew standing next to me, I felt at ease.
"The lady who brought this picture and found me...must have known Andrew and I. Maybe...Maybe...she might be my mom." I look at her, arms crossed over my chest. I knew that it must be difficult talking about it. Especially when I looked like a statue and had yelled at her about her whining. But for some reason, I found myself looking at her when she started to talk. It was like m=soft music was playing in the background. "I fell like I'm dreaming. I won't get disappointed even if she isn't my mom. If I get to hear some tidings, I'll be glad." She looked up at me and I quickly turned my head so she wouldn't think that I was actually listening to her. "She'll come, right? She left this picture so she will surely come." I couldn't see it since she had it kept in an envelope.
I look back at her. She was staring at it, like it was the most precious thing to her. Like she would die without it. Like she would lose everything if it were to be gone. Her eyes were closed. I face her.
"So, what will you do?" She opened her eyes and looked at me.
"Huh?"
"Even if she comes, you won't be here." She was silent for a few seconds before I continued. "I'm going to make sure that you aren't here when your brother comes back. You're going to be somewhere else, not causing trouble."
"Percy...I might find my mother."
"Stop. I hate people talking about their own poor history and whining about it."
"But, at least until she comes again, let me be here." Her voice was strong and I knew that she wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"No." She was startled. No matter how strong she is, no matter how much she prays, I won't allow it. "Andrew, you're out. Nothing changes." And when I finished that sentence, I walked out, leaving her speechless.
Going through the lobby of the building, I walk without hesitation. I need to be at that stupid restaurant in five minutes.
When I reached there, I saw that the president was talking to someone. As I walked into the room, my eyes were on the floor. No one else was there. But when I looked at the guest, they were shocked. My whole body froze. I couldn't move.
"Percy, this is Adeline Regan." She stood up and nodded.
"It's nice to meet you. I am Adeline Regan." I didn't say anything. I just stood there, fearing for my life.
Annabeth's POV
Looking back at the picture, it brought my a good kind of relief. I might finally get to find her. My star. But I won't be able to stay long. It brought back great memories, but I wondered how everything went wrong.
"Andrew," someone said suddenly. I put the picture back into the envelope and stuff it in my pocket as fast as I could without making it look suspicious. When I turned, I saw Sam standing in front of me. "Do you have time?"
Percy's POV
After a while of talking (mostly between the president and that devil) they finally brought in some food.
"We'd like you to do this song arrangement," said the president. I already knew my answer. "I also like this song a lot. I really feel honored!" Adeline Regan chuckled.
"I wonder if you would help me?" I look at her like she was crazy and quickly said my answer.
"I decline." The president suddenly choked on his food, covering his mouth so that he wouldn't spit it all over the place. Adeline Regan sat back on her chair. After coughing, the president started to talk once more.
"Jesus! Hey, Percy! Are you kidding me?"
"President Allen, could we talk while we eat?" Mr. Allen looked at me then, back at her.
"That sounds good." I didn't say another word because my eyes told the whole story. I hate her. Mr. Allen dug in with his spoon. "Delicious!" Adeline Regan smiled and started to eat. Mr. Allen turned to me and said, "Eat, please!" I rolled my eyes and picked up my spoon.
I put the spoon into the food and took a small bite out of it. I started to chew. It did taste really good. But then, there was this small tingling in my throat. I blinked a couple of times, trying to figure out what it was. Instead of trying to ignore it, it started to feel even weirder. I dropped my spoon onto the table, earning looks from Adeline. My eyes blinked rapidly and my hand tried to massage my throat, but it didn't work. I tried to cough it out, but the president looked at me in concern.
"What's wrong?" By now, the tingling in my throat became a burning sensation.
I managed to choke out a few words. "There's...shellfish...in this."
"Really?" The president tried his best to pat my back. The she-devil looked at me with eyes full of confusion. "I am very sorry, Ms. Regan. Percy is allergic to shellfish." Her head made a jerking motion and looked at me, eyes wide. I couldn't stand it anymore so I got up and ran out of the room.
I could hear the president behind me say, "It's alright. It's natural that you don't know. I mean, this is the first time that you've met him. And he never makes anything public."
When I reached the restrooms, I was having a coughing fit. I turned on the sink and tried to wash my mouth with it. The tried drinking it, to get the remnants of the shellfish out of my mouth. But I would end up spitting it out because I couldn't hold it in, not being able to breath right. My breathing was very heavy. I look in the mirror slowly and saw that my eyes were watery and red, not like the usual white with the sea green iris. Just seeing myself like this brought back another painful memory.
My step mom and I were at a fancy restaurant. It was before she decided to leave me. That she-devil.
"Why aren't you eating?" she asked. I didn't answer, afraid that she was going to get mad at me for it. "You're so stubborn. Just like your father." She took a bite out of her meal and I just looked at mine. I didn't know what to do. The shrimps were scattered around my plate, next to a couple of clams. In this case, I was going to eat death.
But I didn't want to disappoint her. So, I grabbed my spoon, took a bite of the food, and instantly, my spoon fell to the floor.
She looked to me in surprise and saw me coughing.
"Percy." I continued. Tears were pouring out of my eyes by now. "Percy!"
It was the exact face that I was doing now. The exact face I see in the mirror. I slammed my hand on the sink and stood up. I kept breathing heavy. I kept sweating. I kept thinking that she didn't remember something that could kill me so easily.
If you guys are confused, Percy wants to keep his relationship with his step-mom, or Adeline Regan, a secret.