God to my Goddess

Chapter 10

Thalia's POV

I see Annabeth leaving her final class, talking to Malcolm, who has definitely grown hotter recently. I quickly catch up with Annabeth.

"Hey, Thals. How was class?" She asks. I haven't seen Annabeth since the hospital. She has bags under her eyes and her hair is a giant mess. It looks like she hadn't slept in weeks. Not to mention the fact that she was back in leggings and her Goode sweatshirt.

"Fine. Are you okay? You look like you just got back from Tartarus."

"I'm fine."

"I don't believe you." Annabeth has always been easily readable. That's part of the reason we became friends. 'What's on your mind? Something is obviously bothering you."

"I saw Jason and Piper hanging out at lunch."

I nudge my best friend, "They always sit together, they are dating, remember?"

"But it seemed so innocent. I don't think it's fair that Piper doesn't know."

I shake my head. "There is a lot about Jason that Piper doesn't know. She'll kill us if we tell her." I hate confrontation. I know that Piper will kill us for not telling her once she finally finds out, but that's a problem for future me.

"She's our friend, Thals. I hate seeing her in a fake relationship. Especially since she loves him so much."

I reach out my hand to stop Annabeth from walking. "Look, I know it's wrong, but if we tell her about him cheating every other day, then we also have to tell her that he gets high and drunk and where he really lives. Annie, if this all comes out, then he gets kicked off the football team. He loses his scholarship and doesn't go to college and then we have no home."

"I find it hard to believe that all of that rides on whether Piper knows or not. We could tell her in private and then the relationship is over."

"You know she'd tell everyone. She likes to get her revenge."

"Thals," Annabeth protests, "You don't know her as I do. If she just knew-"

"Knew what?" I freeze and close my eyes, wishing this wasn't real. "Who?"

I turn around slowly and see Piper herself standing in the middle of the hallways while Drew and Selena flank her on either side. The rest of the people go silent and back out of the way, giving me and Annabeth a clear line of sight to Piper. I mentally curse myself. If I hadn't stopped us walking, then she would never have heard us. If I'd been more persuasive, she would've dropped it sooner. But now the secret will get out. In front of everyone. And Piper will absolutely hate us.

I see the moment Piper drops her friendly face. Suddenly she isn't the British style queen anymore. She is an evil lipstick wearing fraud who owns this place. "I know you weren't talking about me. I know you weren't keeping secrets from me."

Annabeth tries to shrink back into the crowd. "Nothing Pipes, nothing."

"Don't lie to me, Annie." Piper spits her name at her. No one talks to my friend like that.

"We weren't talking about you, Pipes." I put as much mockery and sarcasm into my voice as possible, fighting fire with fire. I know she doesn't believe me. She heard her name.

She puts on this falsetto smile. "Oh, you weren't? Then tell me, who were you talking about."

"Don't worry about it, Sweetie." I give her an evil grin and turn to Annabeth, "Let's go."

"No. Wait. I want to hear the gossip. What do I not know?"

"Not here, Piper." Annabeth pleads.

I give her a glare. Don't say anything I silently plead.

"Do you have something to tell me, Annie?"

"Piper, I'll tell you everything. Just not here."

She sashays over to where she is standing inches from Annabeth. "Go ahead. I don't care if everyone hears."

I've never seen Annabeth so scared. She is trying to hide behind her hands. The hallway is so silent, you could hear a pin drop.

"Jason," Annabeth mumbles so quietly that you can barely hear her.

"Excuse me?"

"Jason." Annabeth stands up a little straighter, a little stronger.

"What about him? You're not into my boyfriend, are you?"

"Ewww. no. There's just a lot you don't know about your 'boyfriend'," Annabeth seems to realize that she holds the power in this conversation. She stands at her full height, 5'5", taller than Piper's 5'2" frame. It does not seem to matter though, Piper has an extra two feet of power.

Piper pops her hip and turns to the watching crowd. "This chick seems to think there are things I don't know about my own boyfriend, that she does know. Where is Jason?" She cranes her neck to see if he's in the crowd.

"He's in the janitors closet." Annabeth's voice is so small and pitiful. Piper freezes and for just a second, I can see through the act she's putting up. She falters and that is just enough to give Annabeth confidence. Nico pushes his way through the crowd to stand next to me.

"You are telling me that my boyfriend is in the Janitor's closet?" Piper is now on the other side of the circle facing Annabeth. Drew and Hazel slowly sink back into the crowd. "What would my boyfriend be doing in the janitor's closet?"

I take a brave step forward. "Where is Selena, Piper?"

If looks could kill, I'd be dead ten times over. I give Piper an evil smile. She has never scared me and she knows she has no power over me.

"I don't keep tabs on my friends at all times."

"Liar," I spit, "You know exactly where she is. You are too much of a coward to admit it to yourself."

Piper pales under all her makeup. You have to really know Piper to be able to tell, but she is falling apart.

I can't believe I'm the one who has finally broken The Piper McLean. And I'm the only one who knows that she is broken. Well, I look over at Annabeth, me and Annabeth.

Annabeth stands up. I watch my best friend and favorite cousin bring to mind all the horrible things that Piper has ever done to her. I watch her bring all her bottled up anger to the forefront of her mind. I know she is about to explode. Nico next to me seems to realize what is about to happen as well. He makes a start towards Annie but I hold my arm out and shake my head. We don't need Annabeth on our bad side and Piper deserves everything she is about to get.

"You are the blondest brunette I've ever met. You just accept the lame excuses your 'boyfriend' gives you without a second thought. You hold him in the highest regard while he wasn't looking for anything commital. We tried to warn you. Jace is a great guy, just a suckish boyfriend. You let all the truths about him that we told you, go in one ear and out the other. Not only that, but you treat your 'friends' like dirt. You walked all over us and I'm done. I'm going to ruin your life for a change."

Piper did her best to give Annie an evil smile, "Do your worst, but then, I want a turn." She pops her hip out so far that I am sure she popped it out of its socket. She stands there like a little kid eating all the popcorn before the previews are over, her hungry eyes looking my best friend up and down, searching for weakness.

"Your boyfriend, Jason Grace, lives in an apartment with his sister. Both of their parents abandoned them. To cope? He gets drunk and high. He tells you that he doesn't like people who get drunk so that you won't go places where you see him like that. He tells you he doesn't like people who are high so you will stay away from people who do drugs so you don't accidentally see him getting the money to pay bills."

Piper scoffs. "He has a job, that's how he pays the bills. You are just making stuff up."

"What is his job, Pipes?" I ask.

She pales even more under her makeup. "We never thought it was important enough to talk about. He doesn't know my job or the name of my first dog."

"You don't have a job, Piper." Annabeth corrects. "Your parents are never around because they are big and famous and whatever and they just give you a ton of money to screw around with. That's why you are such a spoiled brat. And your first dog was named Sparky. He dies when you were 10 and you sobbed for months. You walked around everywhere with your stuffed dog and a picture of him in a locket around your neck."

"How do you know that?" Piper asks quickly, a little too quickly. Quiet murmurs are heard from the crowd of people gathered around us. I know they are starting to doubt Piper's position as queen. Even Drew takes a tentative step backward.

"Because you used to care about people, Piper. You used to be nice and have true friends. You used to be able to tell when someone was lying to you. Apparently, that has changed."

"So what, Jason likes to do normal teenager things. That doesn't mean he's not good for me. At least he treats me right. He doesn't let me see him get drunk."

Annabeth shakes her head. "You don't get it, Piper. Where was he when you got pushed in the hot tub at Drew's party?"

"There were a lot of people there."

"His buddies on the swim team were the ones leering and cheering for you to strip. He was in Drew's parent's room with a freshman. A cheerleader."

Piper's face flushes. I hope that she is starting to see that everything Annabeth is saying checks out.

"And what about your other friends? When was the last time you felt you could confide in them as friends do? When was the last time they told you a secret of their own and not gossip? When was the last time they told you about what lie you are living? Where is Selena, Piper? Where is she? Not with your 'boyfriend,' right? She would never do that."

I freeze. Annabeth is never this mean. I know she doesn't like Piper, but this is low. These digs are beneath even what Piper would have said.

"And Piper, when was the last time your parents actually bothered to come home?"

"Annabeth!" It's Nico. He jumps into the circle and grabs Annabeth's arms. "What are you doing? You would never say something like this. This is beneath you."

I turn to one of the Stoll brothers next to me. "Go get Percy." With a nod, he turns and disappears into the crowd.

At this point, Piper is absolutely fuming. "And you have such a perfect life? When was the last time your dad did anything to support you? And your real mom, she abandoned you because you were not good enough. You have never had a boyfriend, never been good enough. Never have been worth enough. Still a virgin too."

"If you remember way back to the time we used to be friends, You'd remember that I value being a virgin. And if I remember correctly, you are a virgin as well. You've never had someone who wanted you that way."

"ANNABETH!" Nico roars.

Annabeth jerks back to reality and realizes what she has just said and done to one of her closest friends, but it's too late. Piper lunges across the circle and puts her hands around Annabeth's neck. I stand there frozen, not sure what to do, even though I've been in my fair share of fights myself. Nico gets between the two and quickly pries Piper off Annabeth.

Piper sneers. "So, you yell at her and then still stop me from giving her what she deserves?" She looks at Annabeth, "Stop being a baby and hiding behind the scrawny emo kid. Fight your own battles."

Nico shakes his head. "No one ever deserves to be physically hurt."

Piper ducks under his arm to place a well-aimed punch at Annabeth. Nico pushes Piper to the ground. She falls flat on her butt. After a moment's hesitation, Drew helps her to her feet.

The teacher, Mr. Blowfis pushes his way to the front of the circle of students. "The bell rang ten minutes ago. All of you are late. Anyone who wants a month's detention should still be here in a count to ten." Most people start to shuffle backward and eventually, it is just me, Annabeth, Nico, Piper and Drew left. "Who wants to explain what happened here.?"

To no one's surprise, Piper steps forward. "Annabeth and Thalia provoked me. They were insulting me and my boyfriend and my family. Then Nico stepped in and pushed me."

Luckily, Nico has been in trouble enough times to know that an angry outburst to correct Piper would not help our situation and Annabeth was crying too hard to care.

Mr. Blowfis turns to me and Nico. "And what do you think happened?"

I step forward. "Annabeth was telling me that she felt sorry for all the things Piper didn't know about her boyfriend. Piper overheard and made a big scene to draw the truth out. Annabeth protested several times that the two of them should go talk privately, but Piper insisted. Then, once the truth came out, they started insulting each other. Nico stepped in to stop Annabeth from saying things she'd regret later. Then Piper got angry and tried to strangle and Punch Annabeth. That's when Nico pushed Piper to the ground when you walked up."

"That is not what happened at all." Piper snapped. "Annabeth started the whole thing. They are just trying to make me appear the victim."

Mr. Blowfis held a hand up to silence her. "I wanted to hear both sides before assuming the answer. Now, I have a class to teach. Ms. McLean, Ms. Tankia, please escort yourselves to the office and let Ms. Redmond know that I will be there after the remainder of this period. Mr. diAngelo, Ms. Grace, do what you need to help Annabeth as this can not have been good for her mental health. I would like you three to also report to the office as soon as she is taken care of."

His tone clearly implied 'don't mess with me' but I'm not so sure Piper and Drew got that message. Those two goody-two-shoes had never been sent to the office before in their lives. He turns and disappears into his classroom.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Piper snaps and she turns on her heel down the hallway. Drew hesitantly turns the other way towards the office.

Nico and I look at each other. He has Annabeth wrapped in his arms and is supporting her sobbing weight. As if on cue, Conner Stoll enters the now deserted hallway with Percy hot on his heels.

"Annabeth!" He sprints towards her and takes her from Nico. "What happened?"

I shake my head. "She and Piper got in a little bit of a brawl."

He uses his thumbs to wipe the tears from her eyes. I notice that his hands are cupping his face as if to kiss her. The same thought seems to cross his mind because he flushes slightly and drops his hands. "Let's go sit in Mr. Chiron's office. I hear he has restocked the candy bowl."

Annabeth nods slightly and the two of them head down the hallway the same way Drew went. Nico and I follow them to the office, preparing for the worst.

In the office, Percy leads Annabeth into another room. Mr. Chiron's office I suppose.

Nico gestures for me to sit in the other vacant chair next to Drew while he stands. I know that we will be here for a while. I listen intently to the words coming from the room next to me.

"Oh, Percy. It was awful. She hates me. It just came pouring out." I hear her sobs and my heart aches for her.

"Hey, hey hey. it's okay. Don't worry about it."

"But she's going to kill me."

"Look at me. Look at me." There is a lot of force and authority in Percy's voice. "Do you really think I'd let her do that? Do you think Malcolm and Thalia and Nico would let her do that?"

She giggles slightly. "Nico already stopped her."

"Good for him. I'll have to tell him not to do my job for me." He is playing with her now. I can see the smile teasing on his lips. I know that look all too well.

She replies with the same playful edge. "Well, if you had been there."

"You wanted me in on your girl talk with Thalia? I don't think so."

"It's not like we were talking about anything special."

"Just talking about school then, like the little wise girl you are."

I grin to myself, knowing that the name 'Wise Girl' was going to stick.

3rd person POV

As soon as she is out of sight of the others, Piper breaks into a sprint. She wipes the few tears from her face, chiding her self for shedding a tear over that worthless chick. She wasn't worth jack-squat. Not to Piper at least. Once she is feeling more confident again, she slows to her normal walking pace and approaches the janitors closet.

Annabeth had to be wrong, right? There is no way Jason would ever do that. He would never keep these kinds of secrets, especially from his girlfriend.

SO why was she checking as though Annabeth still pulled some weight in her mind?

With a quick glance over each shoulder, she determines that the hallway is truly empty. She approaches the door with caution, straining to hear even the slightest sound.

She hears nothing. she smiles softly, this just confirms that Annabeth is dirty and low for lying to her like that.

Then she hears a sound she knows all too well. A breathy moan. She is instantly reminded of the nights of sitting outside her parents' room every time they were both home together. Hoping for some family time and all she got was a locked door and those moans. Her whole body tenses. She takes a few more cautious steps.

"Oooh yeah, Jason. Right there."

Piper closes her eyes and tries to block the picture that comes to mind. She tries not to see the images that scarred her brain as a child when she didn't quite understand why the door was closed. She tries not to hear the profanity that came out of her mother when uninterrupted. She tries not to remember how much trouble she'd been in for opening the door that one time. She tries not to compare it to what will happen when she opens this door.

And open the door she did. She flung it wide open, praying that the waterworks had not yet started.

There they were. Her boyfriend grinding against her best friend. Selena's shirt was hanging over the mop bucket and Jason was attacking her chest with his mouth. Both turn towards her, frozen like deer in headlights.

"Pipes, I-"

"Don't even, Jason. Annabeth was right. About all of it. You are a dirty scumbag and you have done nothing but lie to me and cheat on me. And now the whole school knows. I am worth so much more than this." She gestures to whatever the heck was going on between her two exes. With another shake of her head, she turns on her heel and runs for the nearest exit. She spends the rest of the day hiding in the bathroom and eventually just leaves, abandoning Drew to face punishment alone and without a ride home.