November 2013
When Annabeth came over three days before the trip to Greece, I thought of the many ways to get out of it. To be honest, I would go to the full extent of licking concrete to get out of this. With the mix of my insomnia and more than a tad bit of depression, I wasn't emotionally nor physically ready for this. Not to mention my fear of planes. On November 27th, the day of the flight, I figured I had two options; 'Forget' to pack or throw up right before we get on the plane. Either way neither of those would work. When I arrived home from the bar (not to mention I got one too many vodkas the night before) and opened the heavy rusted door, I found Annabeth smugly standing over a suitcase full of my stuff, hands on hips and a pointed look in her stormy gray eyes.
I swayed a little as I closed the door. I don't think I can get out of this. "Um… what are you doing?" I asked, attempting to make my voice sound casual but failing.
"I packed for you. No way you're getting out of this, Percy." Panic rose in my throat and my face paled visibly. "And my dad had to change the flight to our private plane. They re-routed the commercial a stop before Greece and it would've made him late." She added casually. "The flight's in two hours. One more hour before we leave." Annabeth then grabbed her purse and opened the door while saying, "I'll pick you up at 2; you don't know where the plane is."
Once the door slammed shut, I began to fidget and walked over to sit down on the couch. I pulled my legs up to my abdomen and rested my head between them, taking deep breaths. Annabeth wasn't going to let me back down, and my next best alternative was to drink. I had no beer money left either. My ransom had been changed to monthly rather than weekly and double the cash. I was slowly sinking, deep into a void of starvation, depression and sleepless nights.
One Hour Later
Annabeth found me staring blankly at the television when she came to pick me up. I didn't turn it off when we left- it was off to begin with. I dragged my luggage lifelessly to her convertible and threw it into the back while climbing into the front seat. The ride was silent and we nearly hit every red light. Annabeth was a dirty driver; she flipped off a lot of people for not a lot of reasons. The sound of Lana Del Ray's song, Video Games rang through the air before she switched it to a somewhat more upbeat song by Fall Out Boy. I didn't mind. My thoughts were cascading down into one, repeating itself over and over again. I have to get on the plane. It probably seemed simple to one who wasn't or isn't afraid of planes, but all my life I was warned not to go on them for very specific reasons. Reasons I can't think about- for my own sanity in the tiny, claustrophobic car.
The plane was located in an airfield, perhaps military, where Annabeth's father wore sunglasses, a suit, and had a very annoyed look on his face when he spoke rapidly into the phone. As the car drew closer, he began to conclude the phone call and turned it off when Annabeth pulled the keys out of the ignition. As we exited the baby blue Thunderbird, her father, Fredrick, had a questioning look pasted on his face.
"I thought you were bringing Piper." He asked, escorting her to the plane, which had Chase delicately planted on the side of the body.
"She couldn't come," Annabeth lied. "I'm bringing Percy instead."
"Your boyfriend?" His eyebrow arched, quickly scanning me, pointing out every visible flaw.
"Um, no I have a girlfriend." I said, without thinking. "Or had."
Annabeth's head snapped towards me, "You guys broke up? When? Why?"
Fredrick rolled his eyes as his daughter bombarded me with questions as we steadily approached the plane. I gave a vague answer of, it's complicated, to delay the Q and A for another time. I had more things to worry about. As we stepped on the plane, I pushed my fear down my throat, although I had begun visibly shaking and I looked rather pale. I tried to distract my mind at every detail I saw; like how two men took our luggage and put it in the plane and how there were tiny screens mounted on the ceiling. Annabeth took my wrist and led me to two seats on the right side where her dad began to walk farther down the cabin muttering, "I have some business to attend to." I sat unsteadily down in the seat which was more comfortable than my couch, and buckled my seat belt. Annabeth did the same. The pilot's voice sounded through the hollow structure; going through what I believed was standard procedures.
As the plane took off, my hands clawed at the arm rests, and I stared forward at empty seats in front of us. Every time the plane hit standard turbine, I would wince or jolt. Annabeth was stationed to the right of me, and she looked at me with concern. I waited three minutes until we could take out seatbelts off and bolted towards the bathroom before I could hyperventilate. I opened the plastic door, which had a small metal "no smoking" sign on it which clanged when I slammed the door shut. My head began to spin as I found a snug corner (that was thankfully clean) and sat down.I brought my head between my knees and took a long, deep breath, my head still spinning. I grasped my unruly black hair with my sweaty palms as breathing became harder and harder. I clenched my eyes tighter and tighter as a beat of sweat rolled down my face. My body was shaking harder as I heard a knock at the door and a soft voice. I opened my eyes only to have my vision blurred. I tried to reply but no voice came out. I heard a quiet click, and I formed my eyes into slits to see Annabeth's legs. I couldn't imagine her seeing me like this; I was already weak in her eyes. I felt the humiliation as I heard her whisper my name and crouch down beside me. I was still hyperventilating and I pulled my body closer together. I felt like I was going to die.
A gentle hand touched my arm and I flinched away, my whole body following in pursuit. Once again, my breathing was reduced to short, rapid gasps for air, and my whole body began to go numb. Everything began to seem unreal, although a comforting voice was whispering in my ear and I began to relax. I vaguely recognized Annabeth squished in the corner next to me, trying to subdue the panic.
"It's okay," She said in a hushed voice.
And the strange thing was- I did feel okay.
It was a panic attack.
-Phrontistery.