I'M SORRY THAT THIS CHAPTER WAS LATE (AGAIN), SO I'LL JUST TRY TO STOP MAKING PROMISES FROM NOW ON, YEAH? SOUND GOOD? THAT'LL KEEP FROM DISAPPOINTMENT. I WAS ALSO UNABLE TO PROOFREAD IT THAT MUCH, SO I'LL TRY TO FIX THAT LATER, TOO!
I REALLY WANTED TO PUT THIS CHAPTER UP TODAY, AND IT'S GETTING KIND OF LATE, SO I DIDN'T PUT THE REPLIES TO REVIEWS, YET! I'LL TRY TO PUT IT UP ON SUNDAY/MONDAY (depending on your time zone), SO I'LL SEE WHAT I CAN DO! It'll probably just be an edit on the chapter, so you wouldn't get any email notifications for it. Sorry about that!
AND THAT'S RIGHT! THAT MEANS PURE 5000+ WORDS OF AN ACTUAL STORY! I WANTED TO MAKE IT UP, SOMEHOW. (EVEN IF THAT'S NOT THAT MUCH.)
Summary of Chapter Thirty-Five: It's Percy's birthday! Yay! *throws streamers* Annabeth came really early to help set up, and that just lead to a bunch of half-hearted banter. In addition, Percy and Annabeth scolded Paul and Sally for abandoning them, Percy inhaled helium, he tried to make Annabeth smile (and succeeded), and then they went to get ice cream. (P.S. Annabeth really hates the weatherman, but shh...)
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson. Rick Riordan does.
Chapter Thirty-Six
(Annabeth's POV)
"Who are all these people?" I whispered to Percy, stopping in my tracks. Our ice creams were in our hands, and after an hour of trivial conversation and stealing small samples of each others' desserts, we decided to start walking back to where the party was being held, since it already passed noon. The party should have already started, and of course Percy was late to his own birthday celebration. Surprise, surprise.
Percy looked up from practically devouring what little remnants was left of his blue ice cream, and his jaw dropped. "I, uh, I don't know."
My eyes widened. "You don't know?!" I looked back at the scene, and saw around twenty people already swimming in the water, and the another thirty were lounging around where the food was. Sure fifty people isn't exactly that many, but considering the fact that I'm only used to comfortably being around ten people, it's a lot. And considering the fact that these teenagers are being obnoxious, loud, and extremely annoying, it seems as though there are actually double the amount of people. "Please tell me that they're either lost, or not part of your actual birthday party."
Percy slowly shook his head, and all my hopes were diminished. "No, I recognize them from my classes at school. Word must've gone around, or some of our friends must've invited them."
He continued walking again, and my feet started moving again, begrudgingly, with my steps being slow and sluggish. I really didn't want to be around that many people I barely knew. "How many people did you actually invite?"
"Not a lot!" He promised. "Maybe only fifteen, twenty at most. Our regular group of friends, and some other people we acquainted ourselves with, over the school year. I told our friends that they can invite some people that they were close with, but I didn't expect nearly thirty other people to show up."
"See?" I said, pointing an accusing finger at him. "This is what happens when you decide to have an extravagant birthday party."
"It wasn't supposed to be one, though!" He protested. Knowing him, he would've thrown his hands in the air, had he not have been holding an ice cream cone. "It was only supposed to be a few friends, and my mom and Paul!"
I bit the inside of my cheek. "I am going to go have a good talk with our friends."
He chuckled a bit, probably already aware of how my 'talks' usually go. "By talking to them, do you mean yelling and cursing at them? Probably even throwing a couple chairs, here and there."
I scoffed. "Of course not. I'd throw some sharp objects, but not chairs. That's just rude."
He laughed, and I fought down a smile. Instead, I just scooped some more Cookie Dough ice cream into my mouth. "Of course. Because throwing furniture is worse than throwing objects that can slice someone open."
"Obviously," I muttered. By now, we already reached our friends who were all sitting down on a picnic blanket near the present table, so Percy didn't have a chance to respond. Music was softly blaring from a small radio on the corner of the blanket, and some snacks were being shared around the group.
"Nice to see you finally joined us," Thalia muttered, scrunching her nose as this one random person from afar clapped and cheered. What for? I don't know, and I don't want to know.
"Happy birthday!" Some of our friends exclaimed, while either hugging Percy, or clapping him on the back.
He softly smiled, with a dust of red appearing on his cheeks. "Thanks?" He said, as he and I both sat down on the blanket, while trying to ignore the nuisances known as the random strangers that are soon to be my classmates in September.
"Where'd you get the ice cream?" Connor asked, completely changing the subject.
I pointed to our right, in the direction of where the ice cream shop was. "Approximately twenty minutes that way."
His shoulders slumped, and he pouted. "That's too far."
Percy shrugged. "That's the price you must pay for ice cream. Aside from the two or three dollars that it actually costs, of course."
"My time is much more valuable," he crossed his arms, and haughtily stuck his nose up in the air.
"Please stop," Travis said, sitting on the opposite side of the blanket from where his brother was, for some reason. Usually they were practically attached at the hip. "I can smell your ego from over here."
"Do egos even have a smell?" Connor contemplated.
"By the way," Percy butted in, knowing that this conversation wouldn't go down a particularly nice path, "why is there so much people here? Only around half of these people were properly invited, so where did everyone else come from?"
Most of them had apologetic looks on their faces. "Well..." Grover started. "You did say that we can invite anyone if we wanted to..."
Percy's face fell, and disappointment was clearly shown on his face. "You didn't. Please tell me you didn't."
"In my defence," Grover started, "I only invited about five people from the environmental club Juniper and I take part in."
Juniper nodded. "We invited the same people, so that's only around two or three for each of us."
"I only invited two sort-of friends from Construction class," Beckendorf added.
"Travis and I invited the same people, too," Connor said, stuffing some chips in his mouth.
"Yeah, just some guys who share the same interests as us," Travis continued, with an evil glint in his eyes.
Percy covered his face with his hands, in an exasperated manner. "Why? Why me?" He muttered, and I held in a laugh by eating some more ice cream. Hopefully I don't choke.
Seemingly no one else heard him, since no one acknowledged it, so Thalia just said her share. "I only invited some girls from the Hunters of Artemis club. Most of them couldn't come, though. Or, at least, that's what they told me. They probably just didn't want to come."
"I only invited Will," Nico said so softly, that I doubt much of our friends heard him.
"I asked Malcolm to come," Katie also whispered to herself. "And he invited Miranda." I could practically her the sadness in her voice, and my heart almost hurt in sympathy.
Travis also apparently heard, judging from the look on his face. It was filled with empathy—and not sympathy, which nearly made me want to pat the poor kid on the shoulder, and tell him that things would be all right—and there was also a look that almost looked like longing. But, of course, Katie didn't notice the boy seated next to her that clearly held feelings for her, because she was too busy looking somewhere else.
Everyone in the group then turned to look at the one person that didn't speak up yet, and who just so happened to have a regretful look on her face. "I'm sorry?" Silena squeaked.
"Silena," Percy started, rubbing his temples with his fingers. "How many people did you invite?"
"Some people from my classes," she listed, counting on her fingers, "some old acquaintances from elementary and middle school, and some friends from Fashion club." Her face then held a really apologetic look. "And I may have possibly said that they could invite anyone else they want."
There was a simultaneous sigh from everyone in our group, and several disappointed faces directed at her. "I'm sorry, okay!" She protested. "I didn't expect them to invite so many people!"
"Silena," Juniper sighed, "You do know that a lot of the people that you personally invited were pretty popular, right? They could simply tell one person, and the news would spread like wildfire. That person could tell someone else, and someone else might overhear the conversation, and it's like a chain reaction."
"At least not that much people showed up, if your theory is right," Percy let out a long exhale. "I just hope that my mom isn't too shocked and mad. I don't even know if we supplied that many food."
"She's fine with it, I think," Paul reassured, appearing out of nowhere. He placed a couple gifts on the present table, and wiped imaginary dust off himself. "She said, and I quote, 'Percy never mentioned that he had this many friends! This is exciting!'"
I snorted, whereas everyone else—sans Percy—were laughing to the point where they couldn't breathe. "Thanks for that, Paul," Percy said, with his head in his hands, again. "Now she's going to be even more disappointed when she realizes that I barely know these people."
Paul's eyes suddenly widened. "Wait, does this mean that we'd actually have to plan proper things to do during this party?"
Percy tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean?"
Paul shifted his weight to his other foot. "Well, usually people just do whatever during your parties, right? Because you're close with them, and they don't really care. But now that there's a lot of guests, do we actually have to do things?"
Percy took too long to answer, so I butted in and replied for him. "They probably don't care, so it's fine. No need to worry. We're at a beach, and there are plenty of things that they can entertain themselves with."
"Besides," Percy added, "they probably think that they are too 'cool,'" he used his fingers to make exaggerated quotation marks when he said the word cool, "to go along with planned events during parties."
Paul sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. At least it won't add onto the stress of having to supervise nearly fifty teenagers."
Percy's shoulders slumped, and he frowned. "Sorry about that, by the way. I still feel bad for having to make you and my mom put up with this."
Paul patted him on the shoulder, and started to walk away. "It's okay. I'm already used to looking after quite a large amount of teens, and I'm pretty sure that your mom just likes having this many people so that there's no awkward silence."
"I would prefer silence over freaking hyenas laughing and acting like complete idiots," Thalia bitterly said, crossing her arms.
Same, I thought. "They aren't acting though," I noted. By now, Paul was already out of hearing-range.
"Just think," Katie spoke out, stepping out of her somber mood, "not everyone is here yet. More people might eventually come."
I groaned. "Please tell me that that would also mean that some people would leave."
"Everyone knows that people won't leave until they get cake," Grover pointed out. "After that, they'd all be gone in the blink of an eye."
Percy exhaled. "Unfortunately, you do have a point."
"Well," Connor started, "some people might leave after they have at least eaten."
Travis nodded. "We speak from experience, since we've done that a couple times."
"By a couple times, do you mean so many times that you've lost track?" Katie retorted, turning her head to raise an eyebrow at Travis.
He grinned. "You know me so well, Katie-Kat." His voice slightly cracked, and judging by the expressions on some other peoples' faces, I wasn't the only one who heard it.
She softly smiled, and made a satisfied huff sound. She then turned away from him, and once again there was that certain look in his face when he looked at her that was so intense that I could almost feel it.
I then had to forcibly looked away from them, because why the Hades am I so invested in their romance? I have no right to be meddling with their relationship, and they can just be platonic friends for all I know.
Friends don't act like that, a small voice from the back of my mind said. Friends don't look at each other like that.
Yes they can, I protested. Now shut up. I then rubbed my temple, and wondered since when did I lose all sanity, because sane people definitely don't have arguments with themselves in their own minds.
"You okay?" Percy asked, bumping his shoulder into mine.
I looked up at him, and remarked how unbelievably bright his eyes were in the sun. "I'm fine," I said, giving him a weak smile. "I'm just starting to go insane from all these...people." I shivered for a dramatic effect.
He smirked, and he had a mischievous look in his eyes. "Aren't you already insane?"
I bit the inside of my cheek, and pointed at him. "That is completely rude and totally uncalled for, but I guess it's true."
I turned back to the group, and noticed that Silena and Beckendorf were already standing up. "Well," Silena said, dusting sand off of herself. "It was nice to chat, but we should go socialize with those people I invited."
"Why 'we,' though?" Beckendorf complained. "You know how I feel about talking to people."
She batted her eyelashes at him. "Please? You don't have to interact, or anything, but just be there for moral support."
He sighed, and gave in. "Fine."
"Thank you!" She gave him a quick hug, and a peck on the cheek.
"PDA!" Connor screamed, and shielded his eyes with his hands. "Make it stop! It burns!"
"It only burns because you're single," Thalia muttered.
"You are too!" He protested.
She gave him an exasperated look, "By choice." I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing.
There was a few seconds of silence, before the group erupted into fits of laughter, and there were some choruses of "Ooooooooooohs," all around.
"What?" Connor asked, with a confused expression on his face.
"Do you want some ice for that burn, brother?" Travis asked, with a Cheshire grin on his face.
Connor blinked, and slowly shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"So young," Travis wiped a tear from his eye. "So oblivious."
"You can come with us, Connor," Silena said, looping her arm through his, and pulling him up into a standing position. "Before you embarrass yourself any further."
"What is happening?" Connor questioned, as he was being dragged away.
"I'm with Connor, on this one," Grover said, once they were already out of hearing range. "What just happened?"
"I don't know," Percy replied. "Things happened too fast."
"I should probably start heading off to talk to other people too," Juniper said, standing up. "I doubt that the people we invited would be that comfortable in an environment where they don't know much people." She tilted her head, and looked at Grover. "Are you coming?"
Grover fiddled with the hem of his shirt, and almost tripped by standing up too quickly. "Uh, sure! Yeah. Totally."
Juniper giggled and held out her hand. "Come along, then."
His face practically resembled a tomato at this point, and it took a lot to keep me from smiling at how adorable they were around each other. "Yeah, um, right." He hesitantly placed his hand in hers, and—I really should give them some privacy. I forcibly looked away from them, in order to let them have this little moment to themselves, and heard them walk away, whilst talking quietly amongst themselves.
"And then there were six," Percy muttered to himself.
"Five," Thalia corrected. "Nico also left."
His eyes widened. "What?! When?!"
"While Grover and Juniper were practically flirting with each other," Thalia rolled her eyes, "Nico left to go say hi to Will." Percy seemed at a loss for words, and I was a bit shocked, myself. How did I not notice him leave?
Travis cooed. "Aww! Little Nico is growing up so fast!" He spoke in a baby voice, and wiped a fake tear from his eye.
"I should probably leave, too," Thalia said, standing up. "I don't want to be the fifth wheel." I felt my face gradually get warmer, but why? I don't know.
Katie spluttered out a response, "Wha-what? You're not the fifth wheel. You're not a wheel, at all. You're just as–"
Thalia cut her off. "Save it, Katie," she then smirked, to show that she didn't mean it in a rude way. Or maybe she was just smirking because she knew something we didn't. You can never tell with her. "I get it. Besides, I'm starting to get restless. See you guys later." She waved half-heartedly, and then left.
Katie glanced at Percy and I, and gave us a skeptical look. "Don't tell me that you guys are going to leave, too."
I blinked at her. "Well, I don't–"
"We should," Percy rudely interrupted, and stood up. I rose an eyebrow at him, and he just sent me a knowing look. "I want to introduce Annabeth to some people."
"Oh, okay," Travis said, placing his hands on his heart. "We see how it is. You two little lovebirds can go run off into the sunset, and completely abandon dearest Katie and I."
"Me and Katie," I immediately corrected, choosing to ignore the 'lovebirds' bit. Travis probably doesn't even acknowledge half of the words coming out of his mouth. "Because–"
"Do you know how betrayed we feel?" Travis continues, also choosing to cut me off, and ignore me.
"Come on, Annabeth," Percy said, slightly tugging my arm to tell me to get up. "Let's go."
I looked up at him, and slightly pouted, "But you know how I feel about meeting people."
He gave me another look, with one side of his mouth tugged into a small smirk, and I almost face-palmed myself from how ignorant I was being. "Please?"
"Fine," I shrugged, and allowed him to help pull me up into a standing position. He was of no particular use whatsoever, but it was the thought that count. We left our ice cream cups on the blanket, and I seriously hope that it won't make a mess, and damage the blanket.
"See you later," Percy started to walk away, and I wordlessly followed him. He then winked at Travis when Katie wasn't looking, and mouthed at him, "You'll thank us later."
I stifled a laugh as Travis' face gradually got more red, and Percy and I ignored any stuttered response he would give us. "Well, that was rude," I said, once we were out of hearing-distance.
Percy shrugged it off. "He knows we mean well."
"Where are we actually going, by the way?" I looked at him, and rose an eyebrow.
He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, and gave me a small grin. "I told you, already. I want to introduce some people to you."
My eyes widened, and I faltered in my tracks. "You-you were actually serious about that?"
He properly looked at me this time, and we both stopped walking. "I mean, they're good people, and I figured–"
"But you know how I feel about meeting people, without any good reason to actually introduce myself to them." I cut off, and my heart started beating quicker.
His eyes softened, and he reached to touch my arm, but stopped midway. "I know. What else do you want to do, then? I can just talk to them later."
I looked down at my feet, and immediately felt bad. "I don't know. You can go to your friends. Don't let me stop you." I then met his gaze, and offered him a small smile.
He shook his head. "Non-sense. They can wait. What do you want to do?"
"But they're your friends!" I continued pestering. "I'm always here, and we hung out with each other nearly every other day since I got back. How often have you contacted your other friends?"
He gave me a cheeky grin. "They're just acquaintances, and I just wanted to welcome them to the party. That's all."
I gave him a pointed look. "Are you sure?"
He softly laughed, and nodded. "Yes, Wise Girl. I'm a hundred percent sure."
I continued staring at him for a few more seconds, in order to determine if he was telling the truth or not, and I eventually sighed. "Fine. Be that way."
He smiled again, "Great!"
"Why are you smiling so much?" I questioned, wrinkling my nose. "Does anyone really smile that much?"
He shrugged. "Maybe I just like being happy. Is it such a crime to smile a lot?"
"It's not a crime, but it's not exactly a regular occurrence." I retorted. I then looked around, and fully acknowledged that we were just bickering in an area where a lot of people walked by. "Where do you want to go, now?" I asked, changing the subject.
"That's what I was asking you!" He exclaimed, waving his hands around.
"Stop that," I hastily reached out to grab his arms, in order to make them rest at his sides again. "You'll hurt someone."
He looked around, and realized how crowded the place really was. "Huh. Where did all these people come from?"
I rolled my eyes, and started walking again. Where? I don't know. "Seaweed Brain," I muttered.
"Hey," it only took a couple long strides, before he was back beside me. "Where are you going?"
"I don't know," I replied.
"Well, you seem to be heading towards the water," I can practically hear his grin.
I gave him the most un-amused face I can muster. "You don't say?"
"Do you want to go to the water?" He asked.
I shrugged. "I don't even know. I don't want to get my clothes wet, though."
"Oh!" He suddenly exclaimed, and I can just imagine a little bulb lighting up above his head. "Remember that little dock? We can go there!"
I gave him an odd look, and a little smile made its way onto my face. "Wouldn't it be weird if you ditched your own party?"
His eyes practically had mischievousness written all over it. "No one would notice if we left."
I gaped at him, while fighting a grin. "Wow, it's kind of sad because of how true it is."
He shrugged, and gave me a playful wink. "Let's get going, then." He held out his hand, and after giving him a weird look, I eventually took it. He then grinned and started running towards the dock.
"Hey-" I told him, after the sudden movement almost caused me to trip over my own two feet. "I'm not exactly athletic,you know?" Although, despite my protests, I found myself running along with him.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he said, not bothering to look back at me. "Says the person who made literally every sports team she signed up for, and received one of the highest Gym marks in our grade."
"That doesn't mean anything." I retorted, but even I knew that it was a weak argument. It actually meant a lot of things. Percy waved me off with his free hand, and we lapsed off into a comfortable silence. After several seconds of jogging, I finally caught up to him, and he let go of my hand. Immediately I missed the warmth, but I instantly cut off that trail of thought that was going nowhere.
"It's smaller than I remember," Percy muttered, once we've arrived at the dock, after a couple minutes of jogging.
"Well," I started, while we both headed towards the edge of the dock, "considering the fact that the last time we've been here was seven years ago, it makes sense. We were smaller then, so everything seemed bigger."
"No need to get deep, Wise Girl," he mumbled, while kicking off his sandals, and sitting down on the edge.
I sat down next to him, and crossed my legs. "That wasn't even philosophical at all, though."
Percy leaned back on his hands, and his legs were swinging back and forth in the water. "Still."
I let the conversation die down because, even if we can still hear mindless chatter coming from Percy's party that wasn't too far from here, it felt rude to disturb the silence. No one was lingering around here, which came as a shock, considering how beautiful this place was. I was thankful for the isolation, at least.
Percy and I remained in silence for around fifteen minutes, before I pointed out how we should start heading back. "We can't just avoid human interaction forever," I half-heartedly joked.
He snorted, and took his feet out of the water. "Yeah, you're right. Who knows? Maybe someone did notice our absence."
I softly laughed, and shook my head. "That is still extremely rude. I am disappointed."
"It's not my fault for telling the truth," he whined. I continued shaking my head, as we both stood up, and he awkwardly shook his feet. "Ech. Wet feet."
I almost rolled my eyes. "Well, what else do you expect from dipping your feet in the water?"
"I thought that maybe, for some reason, wet feet wouldn't feel that uncomfortable." In the end, he just placed his feet back in his sandals, despite the fact that it was still wet.
"You'd feel even more discomfort on the walk back," I noted, scrunching my nose.
He shrugged, "I'm used to it."
I didn't bother dignifying that with a proper response, so the walk back was just filled with some more silence. Once we reached the general area where the party was being held, we both went our separate ways, and after a few seconds of debating, I decided to go back where our friends set up their picnic blanket.
"Hello, again," I said, sitting down pretzel-style on the blanket. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you still here?"
Katie laughed, and tucked her knees to her chest. "I don't know. I decided to enjoy the alone-time, a bit."
I looked around, and noticed that someone was missing. "Where's Travis, by the way?"
One of her shoulders went up, in a sort-of shrug. "He went to get us some ice cream, but it's been a while. Maybe he got lost, or something." She smiled at her own joke. "Where's Percy?"
It was my turn to shrug. "He said that he wanted to go talk to some acquaintances-slash-friends."
She tilted her head to the side. "Wasn't that why you originally left? Or did you guys just lie to us."
I laughed, and looked down at my hands that were folded in my lap. "That's for us to know, and you to find out."
She gaped at me, while fighting a smile. "Don't think for a second that I didn't see you two sneaking off, and whatnot."
I gave her a weird look. "Were you stalking us, or something?"
She just winked at me, and left it at that. I was about to retort again, but then I noticed her happy mood suddenly diminish, only to be replaced with a small frown. Her eyes were focused somewhere else, which was probably the centre of her attention. "What are you looking at?" I asked, trying—and failing—to spot what was the cause of her somber mood.
She shook her head, and looked at her lap. "N-nothing."
I looked again, and noticed these two figures standing in the water. One of them—a male, judging from their build and height—was splashing the other, who was clearly trying to shield herself from the water, but to no avail. "Is that–"
"Yeah," Katie sighed, cutting me off. "It's Malcolm and Miranda. Their chemistry is very prominent, huh?"
We both looked back to them, and saw that they were done with splashing each other, but instead, were already standing really close to each other. Even from far away, I could tell that there was pretty much no space left between them. After a couple of seconds of what I guessed was staring into each others' eyes, their faces were slowly getting closer to each other, and well, you can guess what probably happened after that.
I looked away to keep from invading their privacy, and instead, looked at Katie. She was biting the inside of her cheek, and I could see her eyes start to get teary. "Hey," I said, softly. "Are you okay?"
"I–" she took a shuddering breath, "I'm fine." She ducked her head. "I mean, I already t-told you guys that I," another breath, "pretty much had no chance, and–" her voice caught in her throat, and she suddenly stood up. "I have to go."
I hastily stood up, too, and reached out to touch her arm, "Do you want me to come with you?"
She shrunk away from my touch, and I retreated my hand, "I-It's okay. I just want to be alone."
"Are you sure?" I asked, but even before I finished saying the sentence, she was already speed walking away. I debated going off after her, but before I could make a decision, a voice interrupted my thoughts.
"What happened?" Travis asked, from behind me. I turned around, and saw him tightly holding onto two cups of ice cream. "Is Katie okay?"
I ran a finger through my hair, and almost screamed in frustration. "I don't know!" I exclaimed.
Travis bit his lip, and looked down at his hands. "I'll go after her."
"She wants to be alone, though." I said, before he could leave and ignore me.
"I don't want her to get hurt, though. Who knows what could happen when she's in this state?" I carefully scrutinized his face, and my eyes softened. He really does care about her.
"Just–" I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again. "Please take care of her, alright?"
He winked at me, and started walking backwards. "Don't worry. I won't let her get hurt." Despite the situation, I managed to smile because I just knew that he was telling the truth.
"Good luck," I managed to say, before he turned around, and jogged in the direction where Katie ran off.
I sat back down on the blanket, but I was constantly on edge. My leg wouldn't stop fidgeting, and I was biting my nails, which I never do. Quickly, I took out my phone and sent an emergency text to all my friends saying what happened. Sure the situation wasn't exactly life-or-death, but Katie was our best friend, and she was hurt. Of course we'd have to care for her, and be there with her.
I then quickly shut my eyes, opened them, and tried to think happy thoughts. At least she didn't fall too hard for Malcolm, yet, as far as I was aware. At least the damage wasn't as severe as it could've been. At least Travis was there with her, to protect and care for her. I immediately smiled at that thought because, even if Travis can be immature at times, and is incredibly dense, he visibly loves Katie, whether it be as friends, or romantically.
I then lied down on the blanket, and shut my eyes again. At least Katie is in good hands.
I'm sorry that this ending is abrupt, and extremely cheesy, but I couldn't think of any other way to end it. So, yeah. I'll add in the reviews later! Or, if anything, I'll put it in the next chapter. (But that would just add a bunch of false hope for a long chapter. The reviews would probably take up 2000 words.) The next chapter would have some more of this party (which is kind of being a stretch. I apologize), and an OTW letter, if all goes well.
EDIT:
I fixed some grammatical errors in this chapter, but they aren't that major, so there's no need to read over everything, again. (If any of you were actually willing to do that, which I doubt anyone was.) Also, since some people said that they wanted the reviews added, and no one objected, I'll add them from now on! (I'm sorry if you guys would be cringing at your past-self, and I'm sorry that it'd be up here forever, unless this FanFic gets taken down, for some reason.) Anything underlined would be the actual review, by the way, and my response would be in regular type. And, because the format might be a bit confusing, and it might be really squished, I'll separate each review with a little line break.
By the way, guys. The reviews/follows/favorites take up 2000+ words. 2000 WORDS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! AND THAT ISN'T INCLUDING A/N'S. Just keep that in mind, for future chapters. Just subtract 2000 words, and that's the actual word count for the story.
Guest: AGH! SO AMAZING UPDATE SOON
Haha. Sorry! I was procrastinating too much.
Guest: UPDATE! SO AMAZING PLEASE UPDATE! ITS BEEN TOO LONG!
Sorry! I had exams, and then I was procrastinating, and Tumblr is a thing, and I apologize.
Percabeth. Wisegirl12: Hope u update soon ur story is one of my favorites!
Thank you! And, sorry for not updating in three weeks. :/ All the reasons why, are above.
Person: What do you mean "You aren't funny"? That was literally one of the funniest Fanfics I have ever read!
Haha. Thank you! This story is not really intentionally funny (not serious too, and just kind of there), but if you find it funny, then I am honoured!
Guest: Amazing fanfiction please update soon!
Sorry for updating late! And, thank you!
Happy duckling: Love your story you should consider becoming a writer. Also UPDATE PLZ!
Thank you! And, haha. I don't really want to be a writer as an actual career, but I'll consider it as a back-up plan! Who knows? Maybe I'll change my mind, in the future. And, sorry for not updating!
titancrusher: Is any thing gonna be in anybody else's POV or is just annabeths And I really like it thougb it took me only two days more like one and some hours to cqvh up but it is really really good and are u gonna have Percy and Rachael go out uh so should mention more solangilo
Uh...Maybe there might be another person's POV in the future, but as like a little snippet/side-chapter, or something. Not as an actual chapter in the story. I'm still considering it. I don't think I'm going to add Perachel, but if I do, it's not going to be as important, and they're not going to date. I'm working on the Solangelo! Thanks, by the way!
NamesAreFutile: Hey Azuphere. I have an account now! Yay, I guess. Whatever, I still love your story.
Haha. Thank you! And, yeah. :p I noticed your newly-made account.
(And because you've left more than one review...)
Hey. My friend is writing a story. I hope that you will read it. Her name is myawfod (no capitals). It isn't very accurate as she is making it set in Australia but she isn't making it anything like Australia. She doesn't really care though. By the way, Percy is a babe!
I still need to check that out! I'll be sure to do so, sometime this week. Haha. Yes he is.
divergentxolympianxtribute: I have been reading this story and only this story for a week now, and can I just say: It's amazing. It really brought my mood up after getting my 'time of the month ' again. I love this story. Please read mine. They aren't as good as yours but eh, they're okay. Bye!
(I hope that you're not uncomfortable with this review being up on this chapter.) Thank you! It means a lot. And, sure! I'll see if I can check them out sometime this week. :) I'm sure they're great.
kurosimba: hey nice chapter once again and of course post the reviews and make percy eat more rum cake XD PS: Guess the loyal review i am since i change my name , lets see how much you know me XD
Haha. I'll see about the rum cake. :p Thank you! And, errrr. I'm not good at guessing. May I pass? :p I really don't want to get it wrong.
shann: It's okay..just wanted to make their love life interesting ;)
Haha. Well, it might be a possibility! I'll see.
I'mADemigodConsultingDetective: Awesome story! But I think you should make Reyna and Nico together instead of you know. Will and Nico. Please make Reyna and Nico together and update soon.
Thank you! And, I'm sorry, but I think I'm going to stick with the Will/Nico. ***SPOILER ALERT FOR BLOOD OF OLYMPUS, IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY READ IT!*** Because, you know, it's canon. I apologize.
the Oracle of Akemi: That was an awesome chapter, do you have another arc your planning to do?
Thank you! And, what do you mean by "arc?" (I'm sorry, but I'm not up-to-date on this terminology. :p I might have a sort of idea on what you mean by that, but I'm not 100% sure, and I don't want to give off inaccurate info.)
TheOneThatSitsAndLISTENS: This story is awesome. The way you write is so clear and I mean I could just picture what was happening in my mind you have a real talent. I also like the originality of your story I've never read a story with the concept like this one do I'm psyched for how it'll turn out since I've only just started reading it.
Thank you! Like, wow. That means a lot! I really don't know what to say. :p
Nicky: I think Percy is in loooooovee. He totally has a crush. Nice chapter. Can't wait for more. Literally. HURRY UP. no pressure;)3
Haha. His feelings are quite obvious, aren't they? :p Thank you! And, sorry for taking a long time.
PercabethFangirl77: More Percabeth! Pretty please? I'm glad you actually give the characters some time to develop feeings because I've read stories where Percy and Annabeth get togethewr in less than a week but please don't make us wait like Rick! I love this story so far! Keep writing! :)
I hope this chapter gave some more Percabeth? BUT NO WORRIES! There will be some more Percabeth moments in the future. That I can guarantee. Haha. I see your point, and it's okay. I won't wait five books to make them get together. :p Thank you!
Zammy987: Heyo! I like your story, but there's too many filler chapters than I'd like. And could you check out my one story?
Sure! I'll see if I can check it out sometime this week! And, haha. Sorry about all the fillers. I just can't smoothly add a four month skip without it being too choppy, so fillers are necessary. :')
Josie: Amazing story. I love your plot . Your a great writer. Keep up the good work.
Wow. Thank you! It means a lot!
gopercyjacksonstuff: This is so cool. Please don't stop writing this. I wonder what's going to happen at the party... will Percy end up being rum-cake-ified again? Or even just act like that, even without the rum cake? The Percabeth in this story gave me feels. The same kind of feels as the kiss in BotL, the underwater kiss in TLO, and "Because you're my friend. Any other stupid questions?" in TLT. In summary, you're a brilliant writer. Never stop writing!
Haha. Sorry about the lack of rum cake. I think he had enough. (For now.) :p Wow. This story causes that much feels? I apologize. Thank you! It means a lot.
Lizzy Dane: Hi Hi! Ok, as you can tell, my name is Lizzy Dane. I was wondering if you had been anointed to be a Writer of Olympus. Have you? Well, your story is amazing. I love the creativity you used. I had no idea that a thing like Open This When letters can be turned into a book. That is genius. I love how you made Percy a ice cream mister type of person. Is he that crazy of what? Hey, I also love how YOU see the characters. Everyone sees them differently. I ove your fanfic. Please don't forget to answer my very first question. Bbbbbbyyyyyeeeeee!
...No...? I haven't been anointed. What is a "Writer of Olympus?" And, wow. Thank you! It means a lot! Haha. Percy is crazy. :p I don't even know how I see the characters, but still. Thanks, again!
Sweet Cats: Awesome as always, but it wasn't as funny as it usually is. :( It's okay though, because I know what you're planning. ;) Percy's birthday, huh? We know what happens on Percy's birthday, AU or not. ;) There better be some blue cement cupcakes if you know what I mean. ;)
Thank you! And, sorry about that. (The thing is, I usually don't try to purposely be funny? It's more like I'm just adding a bunch of overdramatic sayings, and typical hand gestures, in hopes that it shows off a bit of their character. I don't know how effective that really is, though.) Woah there. Maybe not this birthday. :p It's only his fifteenth, after all.
RiptideFTW: Great chapter as usual, it just makes me smile not overly so but just you know... it makes me happy reading this stuff. Anyways update soon!
Aww. Really? Well, I'm glad it makes you happy! :) Thank you! And, sorry for the late chapter.
myawfod: I love it! It's really cute how they're both trying to hide stuff and awww!
Haha. Thank you!
Abooknerdandproud: Wow...great chapter soo glad you updated this is such a great chapter, and fanfic update soon
Sorry for the late chapter, and thank you!
PixelArtyGirl1: Gods, it's been too long. I haven't reviewed in AGES. AGES I TELL YOU! Don't worry though, I've been reading and you're doing amazingly! Exams have taken up 99.99% of my time but I'm FREEEEEEE. Percy's birthday is coming up! *gasps* I NEED TO HAVE A PARTY WITH MY FRIEND BECAUSE I'VE CONVINCED HER TO READ PERCY JACKSON! Capitals, sorry. I just had marshmallows in my hot chocolate with cookies and I'M SUPER HYPED. I need to calm down. Have a nap or something...
Haha. Thank you! And, that's fine! I don't want you to feel obligated to review, and stuff. Just do it whenever you feel like it, but you don't have to. (That same goes for anyone else who might be reading this.) Right?! Exams were horrible. YAY FREEDOM! And, CONGRATS ON CONVERTING ANOTHER MORTAL TO DEMIGOD-ISM(?)! It's okay. Capitals are fine. Lucky! I want hot chocolate. :( Even if it's summer.
The Titanical Cup: I love the fluff at the end! It's so cute and sweet! Can't wait for the next chapter!
I'm sorry that I updated late. :( And, thank you!
Chouxes: Aww! A little Percabeth moment! Great! 3
Haha. Thank you!
Corrupt Vergil: I need more Percabeth but anyways, great job and keep up the good work!
Sorry about that. :p There'd be more Percabeth-ness in the future. That I can ensure. Thank you!
purplicouspolkadot: OMG's! I squealed so much at the percabeth! Nice job :)
Haha. Thank you!
racingheart14: That was actually a really great filler chapter. I almost squealed when there was the tiny moment filling the balloons. Percy was distracted! I love it because it was legit like feelings for her and not platonic. One of the first real Percabeth moments! Not just one of the friendship teasing each other thing (but those are great too!) I honestly might die if you don't update within a month. You gave all those hints in your review to the other people reading the story about how somethinf is going to happen in the next chapter! Ekk! Please update as soon as possible! I can't wait any longer for Percabeth! Ahh! I'm kinda having a pycho attack right now, but I'm so excited!
Thank you! And, maybe it was for that reason, and maybe it wasn't. :p (But we all know which one it really is.) Er...Three weeks technically isn't a month, so...I hope you're still alive. :p Okay, well, the Tratie-ness happened, so I'm sorry if that got your hopes up. Heh heh. I hope you weren't too disappointed in this chapter, then. Thanks, again! And, sorry, again.
imaagine4ever: Great chapter! It was cute :) Yeah, I mean, id be fine with putting the reviews with the responses. It would be very helpful since I usually forget what I said in the review... :/
Haha. Thank you! And, true true. That's always an issue. Thanks for the permission! (I'm sorry if that sounds sarcastic. It's not meant to be.)
Wolf-P. J-2. 0: Adorable! Only Percy would think of liquid rum cake... and now I want some... darn. I'll be back.
I hope you were able to get that rum cake you wanted. Thank you!
QWERTY135: (I condensed everything so that they're on the same line, so I'm sorry about that.) Oh that's a shame Are you going to to put them with a OC (Nico Thalia) Or are they just going to be single for the story? Love how the book is going You are such a good writer keep up the good work -Qwerty135
Well, I'm going to keep Nico with Will, and Thalia might just stay single. (I don't really like adding OCs, unless they would play a minor role.) Haha. Thank you!
Kuzo101: do it!
If you're talking about adding the reviews, then it is done. :p
Catsrawesome: Very cute. You can post my questions in the chapters if u want. It's completely fine.
Thank you! And, thanks for the permission! (I'm sorry if that sounds sarcastic. It's not meant to be.)
Kittyaceres: The only appropriate thing to say when you've been sucking on helium, other than "I'm a chipmunk" is to sing the Christmas Song from Alvin and the Chipmunks.
Haha. Of course! Maybe even singing any song would be perfectly fine, too.
QueenofSilver: Awwwwwwwww, they are so CUTE! Oh the feels, the feels, the feels. I ship them sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much! Can't wait for the next chapter... *gasps*! I just remembered, what did Annabeth get Percy for his birthday? (Do I seem hyper 2 u?) update soon please!
Haha. I agree wholeheartedly. :p Sorry for the late update. And, maybe I'll add a bit of the presents in the next chapter. (Maybe just a little. :p)
Thekillerfangirl
TwoLlamas
WiseGirl8. 18
blizzard12989
kayleeeeeeee
AmazingGrace37
jinhwanro
LisaBriley
Percabeth818712
ThePlaidMexican
Narsill
daughterofposideon12
Koko's gone loko
Changzye
food. chain. kidhotmail. com
percabethaddict24
animateTheWords
benyoung2001
sunnykaren1
titancrusher
Thegingerstoryman
pages-of-books
*Everyone who reviewed/favourited/followed for this chapter will be added in the next, if that makes sense.*