Chap 21
(Hazel's POV)
"Hey guys, I'm going over to Reyna's place tonight so we can make a game plan for the New Year," Thalia says. Annabeth sighs and stares out the window.
"Sure. Just leave Rachel out of it," Annabeth says.
"Are you insane? Why?" Piper says.
"Well, Rachel's pregnant," Annabeth sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"What?" I yelp.
"Yeah. It's Triton's," Annabeth says.
"Doesn't Triton have to go back to California?" Piper says.
"Yeah," Annabeth says.
"So who's going to raise this kid? Rachel doesn't seem like parent material," I say.
"Who do we know that's annoyingly loyal to his family, has a heart too big for his own good, and happens to have history with both the mother and father?" Annabeth deadpans.
"Percy?" Thalia says. Annabeth nods, then snaps her fingers.
"I just got a snippet of a lyric," she says.
"What is it?" I say.
"We're happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time. It's miserable and magical," she says.
"Do you ever think about what life would be like if we never got famous?" Piper says.
"Well, it'd be quieter," I chuckle.
"We'd still live with our families," Annabeth says sadly. I know that deep down, she misses her family.
"Everything has changed," Thalia says.
"Do you ever think about the way things used to be?" I say.
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't," Annabeth says.
"Okay, let's change the subject. What's something that we don't know about you?" Thalia says.
"Oh, um I'll go first. I wanted to be an archaeologist when I grew up," I say.
"Err, um… I used to tell Cherokee fables on my Granddad's reservation," Piper says.
"Oh, am I up? Well, I'm a certified archery instructor," Thalia says.
"Okay. Well, Piper might know this, but the rest of you won't. So, who was my first kiss? And when was it?" Annabeth says.
"That boy you dated for nearly a month in LA?" Piper says.
"Who, Steven? Nope!" Annabeth says.
"Yes it was!" Thalia says.
"Nope. Thals, do you really think that I wouldn't remember my first kiss?" Annabeth sighs.
"Who was it then?" I say.
"Percy," she shrugs.
"But you didn't kiss him until this year! You kissed Steven in like April!" Thalia cries.
"I kissed Percy before that. Duh. And Steven and I never actually kissed. I kissed his cheek, sure, but we never actually kissed. Piper knew about that," Annabeth says.
"When?" I say.
"Freshman year. It's no biggie," she says.
"Wait. So roughly two years before you actually started dating, you kissed Percy?" Thalia says incredulously.
"Yep," she says, twirling a lock of hair around her finger.
"And you never told us?" Piper says.
"Guys. It's her life. She doesn't have to tell us anything if she doesn't want to," I say.
"So? How was it?" Piper says.
"We were drunk. It was sloppy, and rushed, and awful. We never really talked about it afterwards," Annabeth says with a small smile.
"Oh. Okay," Thalia says.
"Who'd have thought we'd end up here?" I say. Annabeth smiles even wider.
"Look how far we've come," she says.
"Annie, I figured out who you remind me of!" Piper interjects.
"Who?" Annabeth says.
"Remember that one movie about that sorority girl who goes to Harvard to prove that she's not just a dumb blonde? Legally Blonde?" Piper says.
"As I recall, she went all the way to Harvard as part of a convoluted plot to get her ex boyfriend to love her again," Annabeth scoffs.
"That's not the point! The point is, she's driven, smart, and capable," Piper says.
"True," I say, pulling into the driveway. I leave the keys in the ignition and get out. As soon as Piper and Annabeth slam their doors, Thalia scrambles over the center console and into the driver's seat. The car peels out of the driveway.
"Balloons are in my room. Piper, did you get streamers? Hazel, did you get the pictures?" Annabeth says.
"Oh, no! I'm so sorry! With everything going on, I didn't pick them out!" I have a ton of them saved on my computer, but I need help picking them out!" I say.
"Okay, We'll help you while we blow up balloons," Piper says. We start for the door.
"Annabeth, are you coming?" I say.
"In a moment. I need some fresh air," she says, letting her hair down. She chokes up a little bit.
"Are you okay? You can come to us with anything, you know that, right?" Piper says.
"You know how a lot of my family doesn't like me?" Annabeth starts. I nod. "Well, they keep acting like they love me so much, when I know that it's only because they want to leech off of me. And it got me thinking. What if everyone I love only sticks around because they want something from me, like money, or fame? What if-" she says, bordering on the verge of hysteria.
"Annie, your family's a group of assholes. I'm so sorry about that. But the guys wouldn't do that to you. They care about you. They've known you for most of their lives. There's no need to worry. And if it's about Percy, you don't need to worry. The boy's been hung up on you since middle school," Piper says.
"Percy's coming by and helping out. I figured we could use the extra help," Annabeth says.
"Are you sure that's the only reason?" Piper says.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," Annabeth says.
"Come in when you're ready," I say, before turning and going up into the house. I run my fingers across the wall, wanting nothing more than to be swallowed by the crushing darkness bearing down on me. I love my friends, but they don't understand. Thank god they don't understand. Well, maybe Percy does. Behind those sarcastic comments and troublemaking smirks, I can see a lot of repressed pain. I know Annabeth can see it too. She's got a little bit of pain in her eyes, although whether it's from Percy or some other thing in her life, I don't know. All I know is that nobody around me knows what it's like to lose a first love. Nobody understands the pain I feel, or how bad I want to be with Sammy. But I can't be with him. Not anymore. To do that would mean to give up everything. No more music, no more family, no more Nico, no more Sirens, no more friends, no more me. It seems so simple. If I give up my life, I lose everything. But at the same time, if I do it, I could see Sammy again. I shake my head quickly. Snap out of it Hazel! You're better than this! You can't be thinking like this! Yes, Sammy's gone. He isn't coming back! Don't throw your life away on the off chance you'll see him again! Live! You of all people should know what the death of a loved one can do to a person! Nico lost one sister! Don't make him lose two! I slump against the wall. My feet took me to the practice room. I stare at my keyboard, my fingers itching to touch the keys, to play a beautiful melody. I struggle to my feet and walk up to the keyboard. I start absentmindedly pressing the keys.
I was stained, with a role, And I will never see the sky the same way, Never cared never wanted And I will never see the sky the same way, As the sun shines through it pushes away And I will never see the sky the same way, I was stained, by a role, And I will never see the sky the same way,
In a day not my own
But as you walked into my life
You showed what needed to be shown
I always knew, what was right
I didn't know that I might
Peel away and choose to see
With such a different sight
And I will learn to say good-bye to yesterday
And I will never cease to fly if held down,
And I will always reach too high cause I've seen,
Cause I've seen twilight
Never sought to see what flaunted
So on purpose so in my face
Couldn't see beyond my own place
It was so easy not to behold what I could hold
But you taught me I could change
Whatever came within these shallow days
And I will learn to say good-bye to yesterday
And I will never cease to fly if held down,
And I will always reach too high cause I've seen,
Cause I've seen twilight
And pushes ahead
It fills the warmth of blue
And leaves a chill instead and
I didn't know that I could be
So blind to all that is real
But as illusion dies
I see there is so much to be revealed
And I will learn to say good-bye to yesterday
And I will never cease to fly if held down,
And I will always reach too high cause I've seen,
Cause I've seen twilight
In a day not my own
But as you walked into my life
You showed what needed to be shown
I always knew, what was right
I didn't know that I might
Peel away and choose to see
With such a different sight
And I will learn to say good-bye to yesterday
And I will never cease to fly if held down,
And I will always reach too high cause I've seen,
Cause I've seen twilight
Tears drip onto the keys, and I stare blankly at them. There are footsteps coming down the hall.
"Hazel?" Frank says. I whirl around to face him.
"F-Frank? What are you doing here?" I sniffle.
"Percy said you were going to set up stuff for the party. I wanted to help. Were you crying? What's wrong?" He says.
"Everything," I say, beginning to pace across the room. Frank sits against the wall, watching.
"You can tell me anything," he says. I sit down beside him and lean into his shoulder, shaking with grief.
"Sammy's gone and I blame myself. Why wasn't I there? I could have saved him. He might still be alive if I had just done something," I sob.
"Don't beat yourself up Hazel. I have no idea what you're feeling right now, but you can't blame yourself for what happened. Loss is… well, it's a painful thing. Every day you think 'what could I have done? How could I have stopped this?' But you can't. You can't do anything. You can't bring them back, no matter how much you want to. No matter how much you love them, they're gone. We're the ones left behind to pick up the pieces," he says.
"Do you miss your grandmom?" I sniffle.
"Every day," he says, squeezing my hand.
"I feel so empty now that he's gone," I say.
"The numbness will pass. Don't shut us out. Don't do what I did when my grandma died. Let us in. We care about you," he says. I make the mistake of looking into his eyes. They're just so big and brown and filled with concern and something else that I can't figure out that I just can't resist the temptation to press my lips to his. His eyes widen, before they shut. I grab onto the collar of his shirt and close my eyes. For the first time since the accident, the constant pain in my mind is gone. All that's there is bliss. Wait. What am I doing? My eyes open and I pull away.
"Oh my god. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done that," I say, jumping to my feet.
"Why not? What's wrong?" he says.
"It's too soon, I can't-" I stammer.
"Hazel, I do like you a lot, but I can't wait forever. When you're ready, let me know, but until then, I'm done," he says, before storming out of the house. I trudge up towards Annabeth's room. Percy and Annabeth are on her bed, curled into each other, holding on as if they're afraid that the other will disappear if they let go. Percy is pale and disheveled. There are bags beneath his eyes, and he shakes like a leaf. Annabeth's eyes are red rimmed and glassy. She keeps tracing patterns on Percy's arm and offering words of comfort. I feel like I'm watching a private moment, so I turn away and head to Piper's room.
"Hey Pipes, can you come with me to get the developed pictures?" I say. She nods, her short hairs flying around her face.
"Wait. At this time of night? Are there any places open?" she asks. I check for picture developing shops in our area.
"There's a 24 hour picture development place in New Haven. It's an hour's drive, but we can get them tonight," I say. Piper grabs a pair of boots and pulls them on.
"Let's go. We should tell Percy and Annabeth that we're going so they don't get too worried about us," she says. We head back towards Annabeth's room. Annabeth is blowing up balloons and Percy is cutting crepe paper into streamers.
"Annie, we're going to run some errands. We'll be back in like three hours. Need us to pick anything else up?" I say.
"String would be lovely," Annabeth says.
"Alright. So we'll get string, and the pictures, and we'll be back," Piper says. Percy nods, and we walk down the steps and out of the house.
(Percy's POV)
Annabeth stares at a spot on the floor in silence, frowning.
"What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?" I say a few minutes later. She stands up and goes to close her door.
"Percy, I'm just worried about what we're going to do now. You can't raise a baby! You're only sixteen! Granted, you might be closer to seventeen by the time it's born, but still," she says, leaning against the wall. I put my scissors down.
"I don't know what we'll do. I just hope that you'll be there with me," I say. Annabeth bites her lip absentmindedly. I get to my feet and stretch. I feel my shirt riding up.
"Of course I will. I always have your back Seaweed Brain," she says, before walking up to me and turning around.
"I know," I say.
"Can you unzip me?" She says, lifting her hair up off of her back and shoulders. My mouth goes dry.
"Um, oh yeah! Sure!" I stammer.
"Scared Jackson?" She smirks. I can feel my heart racing. I fumble with the zipper, forcing myself to look anywhere but her exposed back. She steps out of the dress, and I peel my eyes away. "Don't look, okay?" she says. I nod and shut my eyes. I can hear her fumbling around. "You can open your eyes." I open my eyes. Annabeth's wearing a baggy shirt with some book quote on it and a pair of tiny shorts. She's leaning against the wall, with her arms crossed over her chest, and a frown on her lips.
"Why are you frowning?" I say.
"Everything's just happening so quickly. I wish I just had some time to process everything that's happened these past few weeks," she says.
"I know what you mean. So much has happened to us recently, what with Sammy's death, Gabe's capture, going to LA, the Winter Ball, Rachel, my broken ribs, and so much more. Stuff's happening so quick we don't even have the time to think about it before we're on to the next thing," I say.
"Remember how quiet life was when we were young? Hanging by the beach, chilling in the museums when it got too hot outside, messing with tourists who thought we were dating, water balloon fights in the park, photobombing pictures. I miss those days. We used to think life was complicated. Now, I'm famous, and you're popular, and everything is crazy," she says.
"Is crazy bad?" I mutter, stepping closer to her. I can feel her breath on my lips.
"No," she says quietly. She closes the gap between us. I automatically wrap my arms around her waist. Her back is against the wall, and she somehow manages to get one leg around my waist. My hands immediately move to support her. Her other leg wraps around my waist, so I'm pretty much holding her up. My knees hit the bed. I didn't even know we were moving! I drop her onto the bed, before collapsing beside her.
"Are you okay?" I pant.
"Percy? Are you only with me for the fame and the money?" she whispers. Her voice is practically silent.
"No, of course not! I don't care about the money or the fame! How could you even think that I'd be that much of a douche?" I say.
"I'm sorry. I was just worried. My family is pretending to love me just because I have fame and fortune. I don't want you to be like that," she says.
"I won't be like that. You're my best friend. You're stuck with me for life," I say. Annabeth rolls over to face me and scrunches her nose in discomfort.
"You don't know that. What if we broke up? Or what about the feud? Our parents? Remember Romeo and Juliet?"she says. I kiss her forehead.
"Babe, as much as I love you, I'm not poisoning myself for you, and I don't think you'd stab yourself for me. I mean, wait… you did once get stabbed for me, but you weren't the one doing the stabbing," I say.
"The way that knife was going, it would have severed your spinal cord. You would've been paralyzed for life," she whispers, shuddering.
"Hey, we're okay," I say, running a hand through her hair.
"Percy? You know that we are basically living a Romeo and Juliet situation right now, right? Our parents are both wealthy and they hate each other, and we're caught in the middle of it, despite wanting no part of the feud. Then there's the whole love thing, and, well you get the point I was trying to make," she says. I laugh.
"You're such a nerd," I say.
"Well, just my luck. You have a thing for nerds," she says.
"True," I say.
"Well you're lucky that I have a thing for skaters," she says. I smirk.
"Oh really?" I say.
"Wipe that smirk off your face," she groans.
"Or what?" I say.
"I'll wipe it off myself," she says.
"And how exactly would you-" I start, getting cut off by her lips. I roll over so that I'm holding myself over her. She pulls away.
"Does that answer your question?" She smirks.
"You little shit. You did that on purpose." I say, before leaning down and kissing her again. I pull away.I can tell that we're both thinking of the same thing. "Is this okay?" I say. She goes silent for a few moments.
"Yes," she says.
"Just so you know, they're all over me," I say, unbuttoning my jeans.
"What?" She says.
"The scars. They're all over me. I just thought you should know, you know, in case you see them," I say.
"I don't care. You're still the same boy I fell in love with. Now shut up and kiss me," she says.
(Reyna's POV)
"How is Rachel handling things?" Thalia
says. I shrug.
"Not well. How's Percy taking it?"
"He seems to be alright. Annabeth's freaked though," Thalia says.
"Why's that?" I say.
"She and Percy are just kids. Rachel made a mistake, and now they've got to raise a baby that isn't even theirs. The universe has a habit of screwing the two of them over. They're still just kids who had to grow up way too fast," she says.
"Annabeth doesn't have to raise the kid. Neither does Percy. It's Rachel's responsibility," I say.
"You know Rachel better than I do, but do you really think that she can handle parenthood? And when Triton goes back to LA, who's going to be left behind to clean up his mess? Percy," she says.
"I'll give you that, but Annabeth doesn't need to be involved," I say. Thalia laughs.
"Wow. You really don't know them, do you ? When Percy has a problem that he can't solve on his own, who does he go to to help him solve it?" She says.
"His mom?" I say.
"Well, when Annabeth's not around, sure. Look, I've known Percy since we were three. Annabeth's known him since they were one. Annabeth's all he's got. We've been around most of his life, but Annabeth is like his rock, one of the only constants in the hurricane that is his life. Even when things got bad, she was always there with a joke, or a plan to fix things. Percy rarely does anything huge without knowing he has backup from Annabeth. We're there for him too, but not always, because we've got families, and family stuff to do, but Annie's willing to put all of that aside to help those she cares about. And vice versa. Percy and Annabeth might just be the best thing that ever happened to each other. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't believe in true love. Because if what they have isn't true love, then I don't know what is," she says.
"Yeah, they're good to each other," I say.
"I just wish Rachel saw it that way. I'm worried too. That Rachel's always got some tricks up her sleeve when it comes to getting Percy back. I'm willing to bet that she's going to try and suck him in with this baby. I pray that it won't work. Look, Annabeth and Percy, they're unique. They're polar opposites. By all accounts, all logic, they shouldn't work. They're just too different. But they do work. Even though Percy despises the type of music we make, and Annabeth wants nothing to do with sports, they make it work. If Rachel tries to ruin that, she's going to get burned badly. I don't mean to sound rude, but she doesn't know them like I do. Or like Piper does. Or Jason. Or anybody in our friend group really. The others see him as a skater kid with a terrible temper, an attitude problem, putting all of his energy into swimming to keep himself from fighting, but that isn't who Percy is. Yes he's got some anger management issues, but he's trying so hard not to be like his father. Or his ex stepdad. Often times, his bad attitude comes from a place of frustration. When he gets frustrated or angry, he tends to lose the filter between his brain and his mouth, but he's working on it. He skates because that's how he got away from his problems at home. You don't think of a skateboard as a legitimate mode of transportation, but it was all he had to get out of that place growing up. He swims because he's good at it. Maybe he could get a swim scholarship, ease the cost of college for his mom and Paul. Everything he does, everything Percy is has a reason. He's not some angry kid who's lashing out at the world for his perceived issues. Percy's a good kid. The world tends to screw him over, that's all. Same with Annabeth. Who she is comes from a place of fear. Growing up, her mom accepted only A's. If she didn't have them, if she wasn't perfect, she was a disappointment. She became a know it all because maybe if she knows everything the teacher is going over, it will be easier to get the grades. Annabeth has a fear of failure. And a fear of disappointing her mother. But everything Annabeth loves, her mom doesn't like. Annabeth loves music. Athena thinks it's a waste of time. Annabeth loves Percy. Athena hates him simply because of who his father is. Annabeth's run herself ragged trying to please that woman, but the moment she decides to quit doing things only to impress her mom, Athena tries to stop her. It's awful. Annabeth's extremely worried about being abandoned by the people she cares about. Her mom left her, then her dad forgot about her after her stepbrothers were born. She lived with me for five months when we were younger because she couldn't take her parents anymore. The two adults that should have been there for her let her down. It broke her heart. She doesn't want to lose anyone else," Thalia adds. I sigh.
"Thalia, you should have seen him when he realized Annabeth was gone. It was awful. He looked like hell. He just retreated inwards, only talking to the guys. He'd snap at anyone. He was suspended for a few days, because someone insulted Annabeth, and he just exploded. It was almost like Annabeth kept him in check, and when she left, he had nobody to stop him from losing his cool," I say.
"How bad was it? The damage?" She sighs.
"Percy had a black eye and bloody knuckles, plus a three day suspension. The other kid had a fractured eye socket, two black eyes, a split lip, plus that three day suspension. I believe he transferred to West Bridge, that school for troubled kids down by the museum. Apparently he was a druggie. When Percy absolutely destroyed him, he had to go to the hospital. They found drugs in his bloodstream," I say.
"I guess you all know now: Never, ever, fight Percy Jackson. He will kill you," she shrugs.
"You're oddly calm about it," I point out.
"Look, Percy comes from a background of terrifying rage. His dad has severe anger issues, Triton does, he does, even little Tyson has them. He and Tyson learned to control it for the most part. Triton and Poseidon didn't. Then his first stepdad was a physically and emotionally abusive monster. Annabeth keeps that rage in check, because she's seen what he can do. Percy doesn't like people insulting his friends. You can rip into him all you want, and he won't care. But if you insult any of us, oh he'll make sure you suffer hell," she says.
"What kind of hell?" I say.
"The guy can do fifteen one handed pull ups while holding Annabeth up. He puts his fists through walls and breaks things when he gets angry. He once kicked his mother's birdbath so hard that it broke in two. If he wasn't my friend and I didn't know how much of a sweetheart he is, I'd be terrified of him," she says. I shudder and think back to that day in class.
Percy shuffles into the classroom. His hair is limp and looks like it hasn't been brushed in days. It hangs into his eyes like he's trying to hide. He awkwardly tugs at the sleeves of his jacket. He looks like he hasn't slept. His friends don't look much better.
"How are you taking things, man?" Jason says. His fingernails are bitten down to bleeding stubs. His hair stands up on end.
"How do you think? She's gone. she left without saying goodbye," Percy says. He sounds broken. The loudspeaker crackles to life.
"Attention staff. Four of our students are to be on the Elpis daytime television program in fifteen minutes. Please tune in in support of Annabeth Chase, Thalia Grace, Hazel Levesque, and Piper McLean. That will be all," Chiron says. I pretend not to notice Percy perk up at the mention of Annabeth's name. The teacher turns on the projector and goes to the show's website. We're just in time.
"Our next guests are the stars of a viral song video on YouTube. Here to perform their viral song Who Says, please welcome Annabeth Chase, Thalia Grace, Hazel Levesque, and Piper McLean, or as they are professionally known, The Sirens!" The overly peppy host says. The four girls sit onstage with their instruments. My jaw drops. My mind is racing so much that I miss their song. "So girls, what made you decide to post that video?"
"Well, at our old school, we were bullied. We all liked music, so we jokingly tried to write a song about what we went through. We didn't know it would get so popular," Piper says.
"Yeah, apparently people connected to us through that song or something," Thalia says.
"So, how has the city been treating you?" The host says.
"Good. It's a bit overwhelming though. We're just four girls from Mystic. Two weeks ago we were sitting by the shore with our friends, watching the boats go by. Now we're here, and they're back there. We didn't say goodbye. We didn't even tell them what we're doing now. We just left a note on their beds saying we were going away for awhile," Annabeth says.
"How hard was it to leave it all behind?" The host says.
"It was one of the hardest things for me to do. I left my brother behind. I never told him goodbye. I'm pretty much the only family he's got. Our other sister… well, she's gone now. He was the only thing holding me back at first, but I realized that he'd just want me to be happy. So I left," Hazel says quietly. Nico curls inward, clutching his stomach like he's been punched.
"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't hard. My brother is back home too. He's the only one in my family who made an effort to understand why I act the way I do. I miss him," Thalia says. Jason wipes at his eyes with the sleeve of his letterman's jacket.
"It's not easy, I'll tell you that." Annabeth scoffs, wrapping her arms around her waist. She takes a shaky breath. "I miss my parents, I miss my brothers, I miss my friends. Heck, I even think I might miss my bullies! Wait, scratch that. But I miss my brothers and my best friend the most. I never even told my best friend that I could sing. He'll figure it out pretty soon. But my little brothers? It was so hard to say goodbye to them. I raised them. Now I may not see them for a long time." She says. Percy stares open mouthed at the screen.
"It was hard, but I burned pretty much every bridge before we left. It was an accident. Our friend- there was an awful fire. Nobody made it out alive. Our friend was one of the three who died there. I couldn't stay. I couldn't bear to watch everyone pretend that they cared about him, or that they were friends. I just wasn't ready to deal with everyone. So I left. I miss my friends, but my family was rarely in town anyways. It was just me and sometimes my dad's personal assistant. But yeah, it hurt to walk away," Piper says.
"So, you've been signed by Olympus Records?" The host says.
"Yeah. It's kind of surreal. We grew up on Olympus's music. To be making music for them is a dream come true," Hazel says.
"Well, best of luck to you girls. I look forward to hearing your first album soon," the host says. The teacher turns off the projector and gets to his feet.
"I need to go make some copies. Be right back," he says, walking out of the room. Prometheus sits on Percy's desk.
"What a load of bullshit. They're overreacting. We all go through shit here, and you don't see us running away from our problems. What a bunch of cowards," Prometheus says. The room goes silent.
"I'm sorry?" Percy says, his voice steely calm. His hands are balled into fists. His friends share nervous looks.
"Percy, no," Frank says.
"It's not worth it," Nico says.
"The girls dumbass. What were their names? Pepper, Annabelle, Tammy, and Hannah? Whatever," Prometheus says.
"Not worth it? We watched our friends get bullied, yet we did nothing! And now they're all gone! Leo's dead, dammit! He died thinking we didn't care about what he went through! The girls left because they thought we didn't care! I let these people push them around for too long, okay? Even though they're gone, I can't let these asses attack them anymore!" Percy snaps. He shoves Prometheus to the ground and scrambles out of his seat. Prometheus writhes on the ground as Percy pins him and punches him again and again. His friends beg him to stop, but he doesn't. Prometheus hits him right below the eye. Percy laughs, a short little insane cackle. His face twists into a smirk, before he slams his fist into the side of Prometheus' nose. It cracks, and I gag a little. Frank and Jason rush forward and grab Percy, pulling desperately. He doesn't budge, just keeps slamming his fists into Prometheus' face. His eye is starting to swell shut. His hands are bleeding, and Prometheus cowers under him. "Don't you ever insult Annabeth or the girls again, do you hear me?" He growls, before punching him across the face.
The front door opens, and Hylla comes in.
"Hey Hy," I say.
"Is that any way to greet your sister?" She says.
"Hi, I'm Thalia," Thalia says with a wave.
"I know. You're kind of a big deal. One of the first Mystic natives to make it big. Everyone in town knows you," Hylla says. Thalia flushes.
"Whoops," she says with a sheepish smile. She grabs her coat.
"So Thalia, I'll text Annabeth the plans," I say.
"Great. See you at school. Or before, I don't know. Bye," she says, before walking out of the door.
(Thalia's POV)
I drive through the neighborhoods in silence. I pass my old house. I can see Jason in his room, pacing across the floor. I tear my eyes away and focus on the road. My house comes into view minutes later. I pull into the driveway next to a beat up Prius. Percy's here? I walk into the house, and up the stairs. Annabeth's door is shut, but every other door is open. I figure that everyone is in Annabeth's room so I open the door. The room is dark, so I flip on the lights. Percy hurriedly zips up his jeans.
"Thanks for telling me that my fly was down," he grumbles. Annabeth leans on her arms.
"I didn't notice. Sue me," she says.
"Where are Piper and Hazel?" I say.
"Emergency at Mr. McLean's," he says. Annabeth looks the other way. I notice how messy her hair is. Her lipstick is smudged.
"Err, Annie?" I say.
"What's up?" She says.
"Your lipstick is smudged," I say.
"Oh. Whoops." She says.
"Percy's got some of it," I say. Percy clears his throat and pulls at his shirt collar. Annabeth brushes her hair behind her ear.
"Happy birthday," She says.
"Oh, it's past midnight?" I say.
"Hey, I should get going," Percy says.
"Aww do you have to?" she whines.
"My mom will worry. I have to go," he says. He kisses her forehead before getting to his feet.
"I'll walk you down," she says. She gets to her feet and they walk out of the room. I decide to go to bed, so I go back to my room and collapse onto my bed. I'm out like a light as soon as my head hits the pillow.
(Annabeth's POV)
I stare at myself in the mirror. I look like a disaster. My hair is a tangled rat's nest where Percy ran his hands through it. My lips are swollen and my lipstick is smudged all over the place. I grin. My mom would kill me if she saw me like this. I pull my hair up off my neck and gasp at the amount of bites, hickeys, and scratches there. I take a shower, put on some new pajamas, and go back to blowing up balloons. When my hands start to cramp, I cut some streamers. It goes on like that for I don't know how long. Piper and Hazel walk in after all the streamers and most of the balloons are ready. They're both clad in pajamas.
"Hey guys, I'm almost done," I say, tying a balloon.
"That's enough Annabeth. We need to get these scrapbooks done. You're working on Thalia's, and Piper's doing Jason's. I'm going to be tying string to balloons," Hazel says quietly.
"Alright," I shrug.
"Where's Percy?" Piper says.
"He had to go home. His mom's worried about him, you know since Triton," I say, starting to paste pictures into the book.
"Too bad," Hazel says.
"Hazel got into an argument with Frank," Piper says absentmindedly. I gasp.
"What happened?" I say.
"I kissed him. Then I told him that I couldn't do this anymore and that I wasn't ready. Then he said that he wasn't just going to wait around for me to be ready, and that he was done. Then he said that I could call him when I changed my mind," Hazel says. I hum under my breath.
"How are things with you and Percy?" Piper says.
"Great. He's the sweetest guy. Where are you and Nico taking the twins?" I say.
"We're taking them to that restaurant over in Groton," Piper says. We work in silence for a few hours, the only noise in the house being Thalia's soft snores. I close the scrapbook and grab a roll of black and blue wrapping paper. Piper sings under her breath as I wrap the gift. I feel warm, so I pull my hair into a ponytail. The girls gasp.
"Annie, what happened to your neck?" Hazel says.
"What do you mean?" I say. Better play dumb. If they think I don't know how it happened, I'll be off the hook.
"Your neck is all bruised and scratched!" Piper says.
"What?" I yelp. I get to my feet and run towards the mirror. "Holy shit! How'd that happen?" I say.
"You mean you don't know?" Hazel says.
"I have no idea what happened," I say. Piper wraps her scrapbook up. I yawn.
"I think it'd be best if we went to sleep. We've got a ton of work to do tomorrow," Piper says. I nod and climb into bed.
"Goodnight," I say. My phone buzzes. New text from: Seaweed Brain. I grin and open it.
Look at this old picture I found. Attached is a picture of Percy, Grover, and I standing in front of Mt St Helen's. I have my lucky Yankees cap on top of my head and a wicked smirk on my face. Grover's got his old Rasta cap pulled over his hair and is holding a soda can. Percy's wearing a black band shirt and a beat up black snapback. his arms are crossed, and I can see the streak of dye in his hair.
Is that the elusive emo phase Percy? Taking a picture? Oh my god! I say.
Ha ha very funny. He responds.
If it's any consolation, that emo phase wasn't easy for me either, I say.
How so? He says.
Okay, so this is going to be embarrassing, but we don't keep secrets from each other. Anyways, almost every girl has this dream of dating a troublemaker. You know the type: tall, brooding, attractive, etc. when you went through that phase, everyone else noticed that you looked the part. I didn't really care. I knew that deep down, you were the same sweet kid I had known my whole life. Listening to those girls talk about you like that was awfully uncomfortable. Also, that was around the time you started skating shirtless. Not exactly the best time for me to have a crush on you, I say.
Wow… um okay. Is that like the locker rooms in middle school gym? He says.
What? I say.
Um in middle school, when you started to um… develop, the guys in my gym class noticed. They asked me to act as a go between when they wanted to ask you out. I said sure, then never actually did it. I told them you said no, he says.
Wow, jealous much? It's fine, I was the same way. I say.
You know, you left a lot of scratches tonight, he says.
Sorry, but did you really have to leave so many hickeys and love bites on my neck? I had to explain those to Piper and Hazel, I say.
Sorry. How'd it go? He says.
They don't suspect a thing. I'm not going to tell them. I say.
Nice. Btw, thanks. He says.
For what? I say.
Everything. I love you so much, and you probably don't really care since I tell you that I love you like all the time, but I really do love you. He says.
I love you too. And wow, nothing I say right now could really top that confession. Did you have to make me feel like a shit girlfriend? I say.
Well clearly you're the sex appeal of the whole relationship so I obviously gotta remind you how much I love you so you don't walk off. He says.
I highly doubt that I'm the sex appeal, Mr to "Sexiest Guy in the Junior Class" (not my title for u btw a list went around in like November). And I'm not going to walk off. U know that, I say.
Sorry just a bit worried. Neither of us have the best models for stable relationships what with our parents not having the best stability, he says.
We're not going to be like them, I say.
I hope so, he says.
Anyways, I had fun tonight. I mean my mom would probably kill me if she found out, but oh well. Guess she's never going to know, I say.
Same. My dad would kill me if he ever found out that I did that with one of Athena's kids. And also Triton. Can't forget about his colossal screw up. He says. I sigh.
I know you're upset Percy, but it'll all be okay. Things happen for a reason, I say.
Right now I think the reason is that Triton couldn't keep it in his pants but whatever, he says. I snort.
Oh hush. The boy made one mistake, and you roast him for it, I say.
Believe me, it's not just because of that. This was just one mistake in a series of bad mistakes. Triton's a creep, he says.
I don't understand. Why do you think he's a creep? I say.
When we were fourteen, I saw him looking through a crack in the door when you were changing in the bathroom. Please don't be mad, he says.
WHAT? WHY DIDNT YOU TELL ME? I say.
Because I was scared. I thought that if I told you, you wouldn't want anything to do with me anymore. I was worried that you'd leave. Triton, he messed with my mind. He made me think that you'd blame me if I told you. So I handled it on my own. There's not a day that goes by where I don't regret not telling you immediately, he says.
We will be talking about this later Percy, I say.
Tomorrow? He says.
I gotta go. Something came up. Be right back. I say, before pulling on a pair of shoes. I examine myself in the mirror before pulling on a pair of sweatpants and pulling a hat over my wild hair. I leave a note on my bed telling the girls that I'm going to my Dad's to hide a few presents for the boys and that I'll have my phone on me. Then I walk out of the house and towards the car. I climb in and drive to Percy's house. His bedroom lights are the only ones that are on. They face the road. I throw a clump of slush at the window.
"Percy!" I whisper. Then I find a few pebbles and toss those. His window opens.
"Annabeth?" He says.
"I need to talk to you!" I say.
"Alright. You know the way up, right?" He says. I nod. I climb up onto the porch railing and grab the gutter. With a jump and a push, I'm on top of the roof. Then I clamber over to his open window. I crawl inside and shiver. "What's up?" My phone rings.
"Hello?" I yawn.
"Annabeth," my mother says coolly.
"What do you want?" I say. Percy pulls me into his chest.
"Who is it?" He says.
"Just my mom babe. It's fine." I whisper. His lips press against the crook of my neck. I hum in appreciation.
"So I assume you understand why I didn't want you getting involved with that Jackson boy. It was a recipe for disaster from the beginning," Mom says.
"Mom, I love him. Even though we fought, I still love him. I'm gonna make this work. I don't care what you say. I don't care what you say about him. I still want to be with him. And no stupid feud is going to change that. Haven't you ever even been in love, mom? When you're in love, you're willing to do anything to make it work. So that's what I'm doing. I've gotta go," I say, before hanging up.
"So why'd you drop by?" He murmurs into my neck.
"We need to talk about Triton," I say.
"Alright, what do you want to know? What exactly happened? What I did to solve it?" He says.
"Both?" I say.
"Alright. So you were changing into your bathing suit in the bathroom. Remember, the door was warped? There was a huge gap between the door and the doorframe in certain spots? Anyways, I caught Triton peeking through one of those gaps. So I pushed him away, dragged him outside, and told him off. Then I forced his head into my mom's old birdbath. He swore never to do it again," he says.
"What a scumbag," I say. I hear footsteps outside.
"Hide!" Percy hisses. I dive behind Percy's laundry basket.
"Percy?" Triton says.
"What's up?" Percy says, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I could've sworn that I heard Annabeth's voice," Triton says, stepping over to the basket. I curl up smaller, praying that he doesn't notice me.
"That's insane! Why would she be here?" Percy says, chuckling nervously.
"And do you have a logical explanation as to why she's crouched behind your laundry basket?" Triton says.
"Don't tell Mom?" Percy says.
"We were just talking?" I say.
"Mmmhhhm," Triton says.
"Honest!" Percy says.
"Don't sleep together while Tyson and I are in the house," Triton says.
"We weren't!" I sputter. Triton walks out. "By the way babe, you left these in my room." I say, before tossing Percy a pair of blue boxers.
"Thanks," he says.
"No problem. I'll see you tomorrow?" I say, before crawling halfway out the window. Percy leans out the window and kisses me again.
"Hey Percy have you seen my-" Triton starts. Percy jumps back.
"Dude, a little privacy?" He says. I grab the collar of his shirt and crush my lips against his. There's a rustling noise, then a silvery packet hits the back of Percy's head. He pulls back again and glances at it.
"What is up with my family and hitting me with condoms?" He says. I laugh.
"Love you," I say.
"Love you too," he says. Triton gags in the background. I inch down the roof and jump down onto the lawn. Then I run back to my car. I drive away with a smile on my lips despite the growing unease in my gut. The future's so unclear, but right now, in this little town, I have my own little safe haven. No matter what comes for me, I know I can do it as long as I have Percy, my family, and my friends by my side. And that's enough for me.