. Lonely Lullaby
Disclaimer I don't own PJO
Chapter 9: Cali Life
Annabeth's POV
"Annabeth, do you know where my tie is?" Luke asks from the other room.
"On the bathroom floor where you left it." I call back. Luke's closing a deal with some fancy guy named Poseidon Jackson and everything has to be perfect. When I say everything I'm not even exaggerating. I slipped my flowy, grey, floor length dress and then stuff my feet into a pair of death traps called stilettos. I look at the shiny shoes in my mirror and then descend the staircase. Luke smiles up at me. His arm wraps around my waist and he guides me outside to the limo.
This party is basically like all other social events you might think of only the club music is replaced with classical, beer is replaced with wine, and jeans and animal print is exchanged for floor length gowns and suits and ties. The guests of honor have yet to arrive and I'm bored out of my mind. I take a sip from my red wine and stare up at the chandelier above my table. It's funny really how I ended up here. I was never a rich girl with a rich kind of boyfriend, I feel slightly out of my element. Percy would laugh if he saw me right now, bathing in the luxury of the selfish and greedy. It's pathetic really, kind of like I am. I suspect I'm an unwanted presence, like when you see that pack of Rainbow Fish in the middle of the shampoo rack. And then something insane happens, something crazy and ridiculous and bizarre!
I assume the guests of honor arrived when everyone started clapping and standing up. However, I couldn't see passed the cluster of people standing in front of me sitting in my chair, so therefore I couldn't see said guests. I don't care anyway, what are two guys in suits going to change. I wave over the waitress to bring me more wine. I'm not an alcoholic okay don't give me that kind of reputation, I just want to get a little tipsy to forget my worries. She comes back and hands me the glass and I say 'thank you', but I'm wishing she wouldn't have let me have another glass because nothing could have prepared me for what I saw next.
Messy black hair, bright sea green eyes, I just about choked on my wine. I felt like Ezra when he found out Aria was his student. I was wearing the 'oh shit' face. I think I might have a heart attack. Luke smiled at them and started walking toward me. He didn't know Percy so this wasn't his problem too it was mine. All mine. His eyes wandered to different places, smiling at different people, he seemed so relaxed which is highly unusual. I haven't seen him so laid back since we were kids. Then that look shoots straight out the door when his eyes settle in on me. We're now in this crazy staring contest until Luke starts talking.
"Poseidon, Mr. Jackson, this is my girlfriend Annabeth." He extends his hand and I shake it.
"A pleasure to meet you sir," I say and smile even though I'm horribly petrified.
"Ah the pleasure is all mine. This is my son Perseus, but you can call him Percy." He says and smiles. We shake hands.
"We actually know each other already." Percy says.
"Really? I didn't know that." Luke says calmly but I can see he's glaring at me.
"Yes we met a few months back." I say as the all sit down.
"Oh fantastic, where?" Poseidon asks.
"Well you see, I was at this little coffee shop by the bay area, you know that one I love so much right Luke? I had just ordered and this tall mocha coffee and this poor waiter tripped over someone's chair and my coffee came hurtling at me. Long story short I was burned by the coffee and was totally embarrassed but Lucky for me Percy was kind enough to let me borrow his jacket to cover up my stained blouse." Poseidon smiles and chuckles.
"Life definitely has a strange way to make up experiences." He says.
"Definitely." Luke smiles. "You know I couldn't believe your sales this year! They went straight through the rough!" At that point I zooned out. Then I stared at Percy and from what I could tell Percy was slightly uncomfortable. I stood up and put out my hand.
"Want to dance?" I ask and he nods. His fingers lace with mine and I can't help the heat the rises in my cheeks. When we make it too the dance floor his hand wraps around my waist and pulls me close, so close I can feel his breath. I rest my hand on his shoulder and I feel him wince slightly.
"Your just as cliché as I thought you weren't." he says and smiles. "California, really?"
"Hey it was the best offer I got." I sigh.
"This is crazy you know that?" He says and twirls me.
"Absolutely ridiculous." I say as he rolls me back in, wrapping both his arms around mine.
"I missed you so much." He says.
"Same here Seaweed Brain." I smile. And he rolls his eyes and smirks.
"Watch it Wise Girl." He retorts before spinning me enough to make me dizzy. We get closer for a second but then back away from each other.
"So, how on earth did you become such a great liar?" He asks me.
"What do you mean?" I ask innocently.
"That little stunt you pulled back there. You don't usually lie." He says.
"I've got an identity to protect remember. Running away isn't easy once you're at your destination. "Also, you probably don't think I ever did lie because nobody ever knew I did. I read in a book once that the simplest truth is far greater than the most elaborate lie and it's true. You tell a portion of the truth but then cover the rest up." I say.
"Well I guess I'll just have to call you a pretty little liar from now on huh?" He says.
"No I think Wise Girl still fits perfectly." He looked back at the table for a moment and the looked at me with his eyebrows knitted. "Four glasses is pushing it don't you think?" He asks. I roll my eyes.
"Well I'm not even feeling tipsy yet so I think I'm fine." I say.
"That doesn't mean you won't later." He debates.
"What would you rather I down a bottle of scotch and get it over with?" I ask and he shakes his head laughing.
"No of course not, I just mean be careful. I already had to drag one drunken girl back to her house this month. Let's not make it two." He says with a smirk.
"Rachel?" I guess she never just drank at a party it was more like she was trying to drown herself in the amber liquid.
"She's been driving me out of my mind lately." I laugh.
"Well Rachel is just kind of that way. I think it's the whole 'artists are tortured souls thing'."
"Yeah probably," He says and runs a hand through his already messy hair.
"How are we talking to each other like nothing happened?" I ask and both his hands drop around my waist.
"I have no idea." He says. "Is Luke really your boyfriend?" he asks and I can see a glint of pain in his eyes.
"No. I think he thinks he is but he's not. The feeling isn't mutual." A new spark takes its place in his eyes.
My sight was blurry and I could hardly tell what I was doing. Lights were going passed me too quickly.
I had a glass in my hand. I chugged the rest before I dropped it and it broke.
Something felt heavy in my hands. Turns out I finally found my shoes. It also turned out I wasn't done running yet.
"Annabeth slow down!" I laughed louder and twirled around pushing passed people.
Warm hands laced with mine and soon we were running, hard and fast. I could feel the sidewalk under my feet.
The last thing I remember is collapsing on something soft with someone breathing next to me.
My head hurt, my stomach felt empty, and my breath reeked. I knew that much for sure. I wriggled around and turned to see a head of messy raven black hair. I looked down at my dress and felt sick so I threw myself onto the floor and crawled to the trashcan. It felt like someone was trying to beat me up from the inside. I went to the bathroom and washed my face and then squirted toothpaste into my mouth. Once it was clean, I stripped of my dress and took a shower. I put my underwear back on and grabbed one of Percy's shirts. I lay back down on the bed and wrapped my arms around his torso. He smelt like the sea. He smiles and turns around.
"Hey." He says.
"Hey." He kisses my forehead. "What the hell did we do last night?"
"I don't know but whatever it was I sure had a lot of fun." He says and grabs his camera. "Check it out." His camera is loaded with pictures of us running around. I have a bottle of liquor in my hand and my hair is just a blonde blur.
"Luke's going to kill me." I say bluntly.
"Oh please, I'll make sure he doesn't, but first let's take a selfie." He says and I'm already annoyed.
"Okay seriously? You too? That song sucks! It's not even a song it's just complaining to a beat." I say but he wraps his arm around my waist and puts the camera above us.
"Smile Chase." He says and snaps the picture. "That one is going on my wall."
"No it can't. Not unless I come clean and come back." I say.
"Then why don't you. I'm sure I could swing it passed my dad." He says with a desperate smile.
"No Percy, what I mean is that I'm not ready to go back there. What would my parents think, the kids at school, what if I don't want to be caught? What if I don't want to go back to a place that is so cruel and crazy and mean? Why would I go back to a place where some of my worst memories were formed?" I say in a lowered tone.
"Look I know it'll be difficult at first but-" I cut him off.
"No Percy, there aren't any buts. I can't go back. Not yet." I say. "This was a mistake, I'm so sorry Percy." With that I pull my dress back on and hail a cab back home.
I'm disappointed in myself. Luke was mad when I got home. He had a fit and drove off somewhere. I'm now sitting alone in my room in the dark, with only the static sound of the city to lull me into sleep but I can't stop thinking. What if I did go back to New York, what if Percy and I got together for real this time, what if it all went really badly instead? What if, what if WHAT IF! I take a deep breath and close my eyes again. This isn't helping my hangover. I want to scream and live a happy life but I don't want to be ignorant.
Questions start flying in from the corners of my mind and at some point I'm on overload and I breakdown. I few tears slide down my cheeks before I compose myself and turn on the light. I'm far too paranoid to sleep in the dark and my nightlight isn't doing anything for me right now. The TV is my best bet and I turn it on to the news.
"And in recent news on a girl that's been lost for a year. Annabeth Chase went missing at age eighteen at a graduation party. Nobody has seen her since then until authorities have picked up her trail again. An anonymous source has said the teen might have gone off to San Francisco California. Hopefully, we will be able to find her soon. And now, Detective Zeus Grace will fill you in on any details." She says and my mouth is agape. They cut to footage of Thalia's dad. Thalia's dad is leading my investigation. Crap.
"You've practically filled them in on most the details but her description would be, curly blonde hair, grey eyes, she's rather tall for a girl, and she has both ears pierced. Can we get ca picture of her up on the screen?" My face appears on the screen and I gasp. I guess I knew I wasn't going to get out of this all that easy.
Hey guys so this story is starting to pick up it's pace hopefully. So does anyone else here like Pretty Little Liars? Because if you do you probably got a few of those references. If you didn't I'm sorry. Have a good night, day, afternoon, morning, evening.
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