A/N: This is the night of the Acquaintance Party and I hope you'll like it.
Enjoy!
Special thanks to:
storyteller1425 – for the amazing beta. I couldn't have done it without you. I can't thank you enough. And I'm sorry for the new fic's length. I take full responsibility if you are miserable with it right now.
Of Cuts And Pills
Chapter 14: Life Of The After Parties
Tick tock. Tick tock...
Percy kept nibbling his upper lip like crazy before glancing down at his wrist watch. He glanced down at his simple get-do – dark blue jeans, black jacket, blue shirt, and sneakers. He smoothed out the creases on his shirt before running his hand through his hair. He kept looking sideways and on his back, as if suspecting a monster to pounce him like in Boggie Man 3-D.
He saw a nearby bench and was about to take a seat when he accidentally bumped into an antique-looking vase. Good thing he righted it just in time.
Crap. He was nervous.
Percy sighed heavily and scolded himself. He couldn't remember the last time his hands were this sweaty. And if it did happen before, well, good thing his previous dates, or date, since there was only one girl whom he'd ever dated, never commented on that. He wished that his date today wouldn't notice his hands going all sloppy tonight…
Wait. Who said he'd be holding hands with Annabeth tonight?
Percy mentally cursed, No to physical contact then. Would they be dancing? If they were, they would needto hold hands. And that included physical contact. So what? Maybe 'limited' physical contact. Yeah. That's it.
Crap. He really was nervous.
He momentarily closed his eyes to set his thought processes straight. He heard shuffling of feet a few yards away and his eyes opened. He rolled his eyes when he saw Lawrence McHarvey, a guy diagnosed with MPD and Cameron Shuck, a girl with Bulimia Nervosa, making out and clasping on each other like eels at the end of the dark hallway. Off to find an empty room or a random closet, maybe. Amazing how teenagers can be in one night.
"Is that… Cameron I see?" a voice near his right ear murmured.
CRASH!
Percy effectively knocked the vase of the pedestal when he yelped and stood up abruptly. "Damn," Percy muttered as he picked up the fallen pieces of ceramic. "Desiree's gonna kill me."
"I'm sorry, Percy," Annabeth managed to hide the smile in her voice. "Sorry if I frightened you. I didn't know you're jumpy."
"It's 'kay," he said, dusting his jeans a little bit. "Didn't know you were – "
Percy felt his own heart clamper up to his throat, his cheeks rising in color. He might have made a chicken-like strangling noise at the back of his throat, but half of his brain wasn't focusing on that gay sound until much later.
Because half of his brain was still in the aftershock as he tried to take in the appearance of the girl standing before him.
Annabeth was wearing a cobalt blue knee-length dress with black leggings. He looked down and saw that she was wearing black Converse shoes and yarn anklets. She was also wearing clumps of bracelets made of nylon and yarn, and Percy instantly knew who gave Annabeth a total makeover. Her hair cascaded in small ringlets on her shoulders; a perfection an ordinary hair curler would never achieve. Without her usual long sleeved sweaters and cardigans, the dress showed too much skin for Percy's hormones. The soft light of the almost burn-out light bulbs made Annabeth's eyes dance. He stifled a groan. Compared to her, Percy felt really underdressed.
Not knowing what else to say, Percy cleared his throat. "So um… Rachel got to you, huh?"
Annabeth gave him a sheepish smile and raised her dress by a fraction. "Um… Silena loaned me the dress and… uh, Rachel wanted to leave her mark. The shoes, the leggings and the bracelets are hers." She rolled her eyes and laughed. "You should have seen those two arguing about who should dress me over like Barbie. They practically burned each others' hair with those hairdryers."
Percy chuckled. "Well, tell them they did a great job." He bit his lip and continued, "You look… um, great, Annabeth."
He didn't know whose cheeks were redder; his or Annabeth's. Knowing he had to make the first move, Percy took her hand, silently praying his own weren't disgusting her, and led her down the hallway.
Annabeth blinked her eyes a dozen times as she warded the blinding flash from the camera. She peered over at Percy, who didn't seem to be having any problems with cameras.
"One last time, honey!" the photographer told her after their two tries in taking their picture. "Just look straight at the lens and smile! Don't shut your eyes!"
She rolled her eyes skyward. "I can't believe they're letting us do this," Annabeth grumbled at her partner. "It's like they want us as a souvenir from having a ridiculous party in a mental institute of all places."
"Humor me," Percy whispered blandly.
She grimaced. There was no way she was gonna 'humor' him. But then Percy put a hand on her arm and she felt a shock of electricity that zapped her entire body. She wasn't a fan of touchy-touchy people, but she found herself thanking Percy for this one. Distracted by his touch, her eyes were completely open when the camera flashed, and the photographer grinned at them saying it was a lovely shot. She became hyper aware of Percy after that, noticing how he instantly shuffled his hands away from her skin and how he smiled like crazy when the guy handed them their photo.
Annabeth craned her neck to get a good look. Standing beside her was Percy smiling freely, his green eyes shining like they always did whenever he was happy. It was rare for Percy to be seen like that, and Annabeth was surprised that he put on his most cheerful look tonight, like he was actually having a great time even before the actual party. She smiled at the face beaming back at her. She'd make sure Percy would have a good time tonight whether it was on her expense or not.
"I guess my trick worked," Percy laughed out loud as he handed her the picture. Clucking her tongue, Annabeth knew what he was talking about. The aftershock of Percy's hand touching the bare skin on her arm made Annabeth's cheeks all rosy from blushing. There was a hint of a small smile on her lips and her eyes showed a really stormy gray. Her eyes – as Percy merrily pointed out – seemed to reflect hundreds of emotions at once.
"It's really hard for me to know what you're thinking," Percy admitted. "I always end up guessing. And you know me. I always end up having the wrong answers. But sometimes your eyes can drop me hints," he tugged on his jacket collar nervously and smiled to himself. "They're my favorite."
Annabeth didn't know what to make out of that.
"So…," Nico raised his punch and drank. He licked his lower lip before continuing, "How's everything going?"
"Good. Good," Percy told him nonchalantly, sipping his own drink. "We're not fighting at least."
"Everything going comfy then?"
Percy rolled his eyes at Nico's remark. The younger boy only chuckled.
"Then three cheers for Mr. Percy Jackson," Nico smirked. "Seriously Percy. Cut Annabeth some slack. She's not some condescending man-eater who's out to get you."
Percy grimaced at him. "I know, I know. No need to give me pointers, di Angelo. I can handle it."
"Then why are you acting like a doof bag?"
Percy sighed and made a furtive glance toward Annabeth and Rachel Elizabeth Dare – Nico's party date. "Annabeth's making me, what's the word? Awkward? Nervous? Well, I guess you could call it nervous. I tried, man. I tried. I tried to do be like a regular guy taking a regular girl to a school dance or something. I tried to treat her like I used to treat Calypso back when I was dating her. I just don't get it," he gulped his drink feverishly. He looked into Nico's eyes intently. "We just don't… click."
A few seconds of silence followed before Nico made a noise at the back of his throat. He gave him a disgruntled 'tsk, tsk' sound. "I'm no good at girls or at dating, Percy – and hell, you've been dating before? You must've been bad at it, I'm sure – but maybe you should try treating her like, I dunno…"
"You're really making your point, Nico."
"What I mean is that maybe you should act around her like she's Annabeth, not Calypso. You're treating her like you're taking your ex to a party. But she's not your ex, Percy. She's Annabeth Chase. And mother hell, who's this Calypso girl anyway?"
"I'll tell you later when it comes up," Percy said. "Thanks, Nico, for that uh… advice." Slowly, they made their way to their dates, who were laughing out loud at some unknown joke.
"Hi boys!" Rachel greeted.
"Hey, Rachel," Percy greeted back and sat next to Annabeth.
"Here's your punch," Nico handed the drink to Rachel. She took it and gestured to her left. Percy and Nico's eyes bulged as they watched Thalia crying on Luke's shoulder. The blond-haired guy kept on rubbing circles on her back as she sobbed. Luke must have sensed them, for he looked up from Thalia and gave them all a weak smile. His scar glinted harshly beneath the glow of the lights.
Nico almost stood up but Annabeth reproached him. "We already tried," Annabeth said. "We can't get anything out from them. We'll try to ask them tomorrow when Thalia's a little less… emotional."
"Did something happen?" Percy asked.
"No," Annabeth stated. "Like I told you, no one knows."
They all fell silent.
"It's my first time to see Thalia cry, actually," Rachel declared before sipping her drink. The three all announced assents.
"I want to know what's wrong," Nico insisted. "Thalia's our friend. We should help."
"Of course we'll help," Annabeth told him. "But for now, it's between the two of them. We need to give them space."
It was thirty minutes past midnight.
Annabeth stared at the cracks running on the plastered walls, imagining images that were not there. Thalia and Luke were long gone, and Rachel and Nico followed their suit two hours after. Percy left a few minutes ago, saying he needed a short bathroom break.
Unconsciously, her lips pulled up to reveal a ghost of a smile as she gaped intently at the white walls. She didn't expect all of this to go smoothly. Well, being in a place for loonies might rule out exceptions regarding one's expectations. Although seeing Thalia crying on Luke's shoulder was something to consider, everything that happened tonight turned out… normal. Normal for them, anyways. If she was willing to admit, she had fun. If fun was the feeling her past schoolmates would feel after a school dance or even prom, she'd be more than willing to join. She almost regretted all those times she would bow out on a party, or even a formal dance after spring break. She had a reason, of course. Whether it was because her two best friends would be skipping too, or it was because that she'd completely humiliate herself by not bringing a date to the dance. None of the human male population in her school would be caught dead having a blonde brainiac who cut herself and didn't dress right.
Annabeth still couldn't figure out why Percy had asked her out in the first place. There were tons of other psychotic girls in the hospital who are much better-looking than her. She was sure Venus and Desiree coaxed him to do it, but why would he agree? He was as stubborn as hell.
She looked down and assessed her appearance tonight for the umpteenth time. She wasn't flattering. She didn't have all those curvy parts that made quarterbacks at her school drool. Percy did say that he liked her eyes very much. But other than that, she couldn't fathom anything that Percy would like about her. She was just… plain.
She stared at her scars for a while and smiled in spite of herself. It was irony for her to wish that she could be a drug addict or a klepto instead of a manic-depressive girl who cut her arms for fun. Wishing she was a different kind of abnormal. Stopping herself, she shook her head slowly. Something was messing with her thought process. Must have been something with the punch…
"Why are you shaking your head?" a voice asked her. Annabeth looked up and met Percy's gaze. His brows knit together as his eyes questioned her.
She shook her head again. "It's nothing."
Percy's eyes continued to bore into her until he finally let it go. He sat next to her. They were silent for a moment.
"I'm sorry if I suck at making conversations," Percy apologized. "I didn't talk that much before I got here."
She nodded. "It's okay. Being ostracized is something I can relate to," she looked up the ceiling and followed the cracks lining up walls. Hmm… maybe the designers should have used a different building material. Sighing, she looked down again. "People always thought of me as weird."
"You're not weird," he amended. "I would have talked to you if I went to your school."
"I doubt that," she grinned. "And I'm sorry if I always end up killing you every time we managed to get through the 'making conversations' stage."
"Well, you're not strangling me today, actually. I must be doing something right for a change."
She laughed. "Maybe."
Percy paused for a while before his face shattered into an ear splitting grin. "You know how to dance, right?"
"What in the world are you talking about, Ja -, " before Annabeth could protest even further, Percy swiftly grabbed her hand and dragged her down the dance floor. The white linoleum glowed beneath the colorful lights, and Percy looked admiringly handsome even in casual clothing. The mischief in his eyes became more pronounced as he watched Annabeth's eyes flicker from awe to embarrassment.
"Oh come on, Percy!" Annabeth griped, wrenching her hand free from his grip. A bracelet fell off from her wrist. Shoot. She hoped that the clump of yarn wasn't Rachel's particular favorite.
"I promised Rachel I would dance with you."
"Liar. I know Rachel didn't say anything about that."
"Let's just assume she did."
"Cut the crap, Percy."
"No whining, please," he interjected.
She flashed him an angry stare. "Look, Percy. I don't want to dance with you."
A flash of hurt suddenly crossed through Percy's features, but he masked it just as fast. "There's like only ten of us left in here, excluding Dr. Garses and the DJ. Is there any reason why you don't want to dance with me?"
"Lots, really."
He rolled his eyes.
She sighed again. "Look. What I meant was I don't want to dance with you because… because I can't. I don't … know how to dance."
He smirked but his eyes were puzzled. "Don't you have school dances back at San Fran?"
"Of course we do, Seaweed Brain! It's just that… nobody asked me to one. So I, uh – never got the chance."
"Oh," his voice grew soft. Unknowingly, he smiled. After all this time, he found something that Annabeth was – or as she claimed – not good at. He wasn't much for dancing, really. But why not flaunt what he can do while he still had the chance?
"Well, there's a first time for everything."
She shook her head. They'd keep on playing this stubbornness game all night if he wanted to.
"Seriously, Annabeth," he said, frowning this time. "I promise I won't let any of us humiliate ourselves tonight. I'm not leaving you in less than a perfect condition; whether it is you merely tripping or if a meteor falls out of the sky and hits your head or even if you come home running around with only three toes on your left foot. I won't hurt you during a dance, Annabeth."
Annabeth gnawed on her lip as she took interest on her shoes, considering his words.
"You've got to trust me," he implored, offering his hand.
She made the very mistake of looking in his eyes, eyes that had been reoccurring in her dreams lately much more than they should have. It was embarrassing to tell how much she dreamt of him. She dreamed about his smile that could turn things around. She dreamed about his laugh that she liked to hear whenever they cracked an inside joke. She dreamed about his eyes that noticed every move she made and knew almost everything about her.
Now his green, green eyes were telling her to trust him, and how could she refuse?
Even with spite, she took his hand.
Percy gave her a small smile before completely engulfing her on the dance floor. He directed her hand to his shoulder and put his on her waist. They started waltzing with the slow beat of the music, and Percy kept on humming the melody as they strode on.
"Not bad, not bad," he remarked. "You only stepped on my toes once. You're not giving yourself that much credit, are you?"
Annabeth pouted. "I don't feel like I'm dancing. You're doing all the work."
"Hey, come on. The guys always have to lead, so no pressure. You're doing great."
"I hope so," she whispered. "And have you noticed that we're the only ones dancing right now?"
He shrugged. "Oh, I don't care."
Annabeth kept on looking down on her feet and tried to memorize each of Percy's movements. Right, left, right, left, backward, twirl, right, left…
"How weird is weird?" Percy asked, his voice queerly husky.
She shot him a look. "What?"
"You said you were weird, looking back at it. How weird were you?"
"Hmm… I'm guessing I just didn't relate to people very well. I don't know. Let's just say I'm weirder and more problematic than you. No contest."
"Can't let you win, miss. I've been kicked out of eight schools in a row, so don't lecture me on who's the weirdest in the bunch."
"Being kicked out of schools doesn't imply that you're weird," she pointed out snidely. "It probably means you've got issues or something."
"Isn't being weird and crazy an issue?"
Annabeth huffed loudly and her partner only laughed.
Percy twirled her again and said, "Okay. We are just two weird people hanging out in a party and dancing around the room like complete idiots. No other knots or strings attached."
"Just two weird people," she mused.
"Just two weird people," he agreed.
After a few moments of silence, Annabeth asked, "Is there something you've been trying to tell me?"
Percy's cheeks turned slightly pink. "How did you know?"
She shrugged. "I just… do."
He looked away, turning to the bowl of nachos directly ahead of them. "Have you ever felt like there's this person… that makes you feel something. Something really, really different. But you can't figure it out. It's like a blind spot in you. Really confuses the hell out of me," he smiled at her, though it didn't reach his eyes. "I just can't – I can't put my finger on it, but it is something. Have you ever felt that way? To anyone, I mean?"
Right, left, right, left, backward, twirl… "No," she lied instantly. "No, I don't."
"Oh. Okay," his eyes quickly averted towards the disk jockey nearby. "Just curious."
Annabeth only nodded. "S'kay."
Backward, twirl, right, left, right…
"Uh hey, " Percy said lamely. "The uh, music stopped."
They let go of each other's hands and looked at each other, smiling sheepishly.
Percy ran his hands through his hair, making it stand up slightly on the sides in different angles. "I guess the party's over. About time, right?" he said.
Annabeth gave him a tight smile.
"So can I have the pleasure of walking you home?"
He sounded so blasé that Annabeth couldn't help but laugh.
Percy initiated another full round of twenty questions as they walked down the deserted hallways.
Annabeth wasn't sure if this was the same game they played a few months ago, because, with doing a little arithmetic on her part, Percy did most of the interrogating. Percy would ask one menial question after another, his eyes straight ahead and with his right hand buried in one of his jean pockets. She was surprised at herself when she would answer and even gesture with her hands. They started talking animatedly when they got to their plans for the future; Annabeth wanted to be an architect (Probably explains why Rachel always complains about your stack of building sketches draped around the floor, Annabeth), and Percy wanted to be a professional swimmer (So it was you who flooded the bathroom!).
Annabeth's forehead creased as Percy kept on asking things like her favorite movies and books. She couldn't imagine anything about her that would interest him. She ranted endlessly when he asked her about her genre of music and his facial expression did not betray any sign of fascination or interest. But his eyes were smiling.
"I didn't know you liked that," he would say, and then fired off another round of questions.
The trip back to room 385 seemed to take longer than usual, and that was saying much. Percy and Annabeth weren't sure if they ever talked this much in their life. The two talked about everything about each other's existence, past, present and future likes and dislikes, occasionally passing through humorous and riveting things. They both felt self-conscious, like they were boring each other one way or another. But the unusual answers (Oh my gods! You hate cheesecake?) and the constant stream of remarks (His voice stinks, if I should say so) coerced both of them to continue.
Annabeth was just asking him about his favorite basketball players when the door to her room opened. Rachel was smirking as she leaned on the door post.
"Well, well, well. Look who just arrived. Oh, and just in time for curfew," she tapped the glass on her wrist watch.
Annabeth rolled her eyes emphatically. "Oh cut the crap, Rachel, and let me in," she said impatiently.
Rachel's smirk went across her face as Annabeth bid goodbye and went inside. Rachel closed the door behind her.
"I see you still have limbs," she told him. "What a surprise."
He grunted in response. "Nothing happened, really."
"And why is Annabeth giggling like a 1980s school girl?"
He snorted. "Annabeth doesn't giggle."
"You might want to know what other people are seeing from the outside, Jackson. Now tell me. Did you or did you not kiss her?"
"I most certainly did not," he replied in an offhand tone. "There was no lip touching whatsoever."
"Not even a single tongue contact?"
Percy made a slightly inaudible growl as Rachel laughed.
"How about you and Nico?" Percy retorted. "You guys did something hardcore?"
Rachel's expression turned scandalous as she smacked him hard on the head.
"Just kidding... And speaking of the devil – "
"Hey, Percy!" Nico waved as he jogged towards the room. "Oh," he stopped short. "Hey, Rachel."
"Hi there, di Angelo. Um, I'll leave you two alone with your business. Goodnight, you guys," she winked slyly at Percy before closing the door.
Nico shook his head before saying, "Rachel's been cryptic with me all night. You've got any idea what she's trying to say?"
Percy shrugged. "She's congratulating me on a night played well. Other than that, no. That's the gist of it."
The younger boy shifted his feet. "Did she say anything about, you know… me?"
"Well, actually she didn't. But don't worry, man. From the looks of it, it seems like she had fun."
Nico gave two sighs of relief. "Thanks."
"So what's going on?"
"Oh," he pointed back to the dark hallway. "Dr. Garses wants us to clean up the place. He's waiting for us. Come on."
Percy could not believe he was having a wrestling match with a bunch of crepe paper and he was losing.
He cursed as he leveled the red paper over his head and then noticed more tangled yellow ones on his sneakers. He managed to scoop up another and then threw it hastily to a black garbage bag nearby. Almost all the boys were gathered back and were now cleaning up the mess. The clock tolled noisily, gesturing it was three o' clock in the morning.
Nico handed him another garbage bag as his own became full. He tossed discarded crepe paper inside the bag, and placed it next to the eight feet long painting of an unknown landscape. Luke came in a few seconds after and helped Carlo Ramirez with the empty punch bowls and snack trays.
Not noticing, Percy threw a full garbage bag at someone else's face.
"Watch where you're throwing that thing, man!" Justin Holmes, a guy Percy recognized from table five, glowered at him.
"Sorry," Percy apologized. "My bad."
Justin's grimace turned into a sneer. "Hey! Where's that ditzy blonde girlfriend of yours you've been flaunting for months now?"
Percy's whole body grew rigid. He unconsciously let go of the crepe paper he was holding. "Her name's Annabeth Chase," Percy growled. "She's not ditzy. And she's not my girlfriend."
Nico instantly shimmered to Percy's side. "Don't listen to him, man," he muttered. "Ignore him. Maybe we should move on with the –"
"Don't interrupt, pipsqueak!" the buff Justin called off. "So, Jackson. I've heard a lot of things. And you do realize how practically true these things can be."
"Get the hell out of here, Holmes," Luke exclaimed, coming towards Percy's defense.
Justin rolled his eyes. "Seriously, Jackson. What kind of friends do have here, huh? No sign of respect, eh?"
Percy's fist balled tightly. He was starting to see red, and Nico whispered frantically to him. "Don't listen to him!"
"Oh sure," the boy leered, rolling his eyes. "But that Chase girl really is something, eh? Did you know her mom was a prostitute?" He laughed cruelly. "Like mother like daughter. Same old, same old. I gotta say, you should have gotten laid when you had the chance, Jackson. Care to share that Anniebell with me?"
Percy wasn't seeing red anymore. He was seeing black. He was hardly hearing Dr. Garses' yells and feeling Luke and Nico trying to hold him back. His anger overtook him and without regret, he punched Justin Holmes squarely on the face.
A/N: I know, I know. I'm always leaving you hanging. I'll post the chapter as fast as I can. No worries.
Please review!
P.S. – thank you all for the support! I can't believe I'm one review away from reaching 200. And thank you to those reviewed my newest oneshot,Bloody Perks.Thanks so much.