This house was like a maze, almost like the hotel in The Shining. There were so many corridors and doors and they all looked the same. Annabeth clenched her fists waiting for the appearance of those twin girls chanting "come play with us".
All the doors she tried were locked. She reached the end of one of the long hallways and twisted the knob of a door on her right. It clicked open to her surprise, and she slowly inched the unlatched door open.
The blonde peeked her head into the room and immediately yelped in surprise. She slammed the door shut and covered her eyes with her hands. She needed to get out of there before she dies of mortification. She walked away blindly when the door behind her creaked open.
Annabeth froze in her tracks abashed. The last thing she wanted to do was be confronted on this restless night. She swore her cheeks were redder than her roommate's hair, so her hands remained shielding her face in attempts to disappear. She turned around slowly. "I'm so so so sorry. Oh my God. I–I should've knocked," the words were smothered by her hands. How the tables have turned.
The guy emitted a warm laugh that held some embarrassment.
Annabeth peeked between her fingers and caught a glimpse of blonde. She slowly lowered her hands down to her cheeks, hoping to hide the redness. A blonde guy stood leaning against the door frame with his hands fumbling to buckle his belt. He sent her a sheepish smile, "It wasn't entirely your fault, we probably should've locked the door."
He looked like one of the guys you see surfing at Huntington Beach. His blonde hair fell into his eyes and he was fairly tanned.
Annabeth could hear the stomping of another pair of feet. Another guy stormed out of the room. He was decked out in black and was shorter. He had stark black hair and unlike his partner, he was sporting a scowl. The duo looked like polar opposites. "Yeah, you really should've knocked," he bit out.
"I'm so sorry, I was just trying to find the bathroom."
The surfer-looking dude glanced down at her chest and his eyes gleamed with mirth. He started to laugh, and his partner scowled at him, not finding the situation humorous.
"Rough night?" The blonde guy inquired, pointing at the stain on Annabeth's shirt.
"Yes… very," Annabeth groaned.
"Well, your clearly sober, who's the culprit?" The blonde continued the conversation.
"I sat her near the stairs," Annabeth turned, pointing her thumb in the direction she previously wandered in from. "I'm trying to find a bathroom to get her cleaned up and get some water in her. She practically passed out the last I saw o–"
"And you left her alone!" screeched the blonde guy as he ran past Annabeth in haste.
Annabeth looked at his quiet partner who appeared to be studying her. She cocked an eyebrow in confusion, hoping her reaction would invoke an explanation of what just happened. The brooding guy gave her nothing to work with and stormed back into the room he came from. She sighed in defeat and tried to trace the footsteps of the other blonde down the halls.
After a few wrong turns, she managed to find him crouching in front of the sluggish girl right where she left her. He cupped her face with his hands and examined her searching for other injuries.
"What's your name dear?" He asked kindly.
"Ju–June," the girl managed to utter.
"Will's in pre-med."
Annabeth recoiled at the voice as she got ready to throw a punch at the sound of the unexpected voice of the previously brooding guy.
"I'm Nico," he said coolly.
"Annabeth," she replied while extending her hand. "I want to apologize once again for...before," she trailed off feeling her cheeks begin to warm up.
Nico eyed her hand as if it were a dismembered alien's limb before dubiously shaking it changing the subject, "It's weird that you still shake hands." Annabeth noticed a slight pink creeping up to his cheeks, adding some colour to his natural paleness.
"Can you please help me with her?" Will asked Annabeth. She felt of surge of gratitude for Will. Not only was he actively helping her deal with June, but he also got her out of that soon to be awkward conversation with his partner, and for that, she really owed him one. "Let's get you all cleaned up June," Will said gently to the girl.
Annabeth and Will shouldered the weight of the pale looking girl while Nico trailed quietly behind them. It was much easier carrying her this time around, but she knew Will was supporting most of June's weight.
When they made it to the bathroom, Will directed June to the toilet. She knelt to the floor and clutched the sides of the bowl while he found a washcloth to get her all cleaned up. Annabeth applauded Will's patience as he dealt with an unresponsive June.
Despite being the mom of the group, if any of her friends got to this state, she would be annoyed. Logic always outweighed sympathy with her. Of course, she would look after them and care about their wellbeing and take on all mom-like responsibilities, but her tolerance would be worn down since it wasn't what she signed up for. If she wanted to babysit, she wouldn't have gone to university.
Annabeth was itching to leave and carry on her previous task but didn't want to seem rude and ungrateful towards Will. He dropped everything to help her and it was something Annabeth wouldn't forget.
"If you want, you can borrow one of my shirts," Will said bringing her out of her previous string of thoughts while pointing to her vomit-stained shirt. "I'm sure Nico can help you grab one," he continued, sending Nico a playful smirk and a wink.
Annabeth felt the temperature in the small bathroom drop 10 degrees as Nico sent Will one of the scariest death stares she had ever witnessed. Annabeth noted to get lessons from the goth to improve her own stare to maybe finally be able to ward off the Antichrist. She even noticed June shivering over the toilet bowl letting her know that it wasn't just her feeling the shift in the atmosphere. Annabeth looked back at the blonde wide-eyed, scared for his life only to notice the grin dig deeper into his cheeks.
"Uh... it's alright but thanks for the offer. I'm wearing a sort-of tank top under here," Annabeth replied while looking down her shirt. "I should be fine."
"You're all good to go if you want to. You've seemed to have had a rough night and I have a feeling it's not over yet." Will uttered, however, his gaze fell back on June as she was retching her guts out. Annabeth grimaced but couldn't help but feel for the girl and her soon to be sore throat.
Annabeth thanked Will for taking over the situation as she began to leave the bathroom to continue operation: "finding Clifford the big RED pain in my ass". She shut the door gently behind her not before hearing Nico mutter "At least she won't be hungover in the morning."
Annabeth took her time making her way back to the staircase to descend back into the sea of delirious students. It was quieter upstairs and despite the pressing matters, she couldn't help but revel in the peace and somewhat fresher air.
She peered down at her shirt and decided it was time for it to go. She looked to her left and right, making sure she was the only soul present in the hushed corridor. She began unbuttoning when she decided the coast was clear even though it didn't really matter in the end. She felt slightly exposed and uncomfortable. Under her button-up was a green bralette that could pass off as a tank top especially in her present environment. Unfortunately, Annabeth tended to be a modest dresser who lived in oversized sweaters and button-ups. She commended her friends and other girls for being able to feel comfortable in cropped and fitted clothing, but that just wasn't her style.
Annabeth felt her heart begin to race as her nerves of stepping out of her comfort zone settled in. No one will even notice you. She chanted the mantra in her head, using it as an anchor to finally plunge back into her own personal hell.
While making her way down the stairs and back to the cramped dance floor, she checked her phone for any missed notifications. There was one notification for a voicemail from an unsaved number. Annabeth chose to wave it off focusing on her current endeavour.
She called Piper and Jason only to be met by their voicemails. She caved and called he who shall not be named and was greeted by his infuriating voicemail.
She groaned frustrated with the world. Despite having a shitload of work waiting for her, she was just about ready to turn in with a cup of hot tea and maybe pamper herself with a facemask and some episodes of Community. Hell, she deserved to treat herself after this train wreck of a night.
She looked out into the sea of students to try to see a blob of vibrant red somewhere in the crowd, or the pair who could clearly not get their hands off each other (even when their friends are witnessing their sickly-sweet interactions). But the flashing coloured lights and the density of the crowd made it nearly impossible. With her grimy shirt balled up in her arm, she continued her descent, hoping to see a friendly face in the crowd.
Once she found herself within the crowd, she was willing to take anyone's help. She asked those she caught looking or smiling at her if they had seen her missing roommate. All the responses she got were mostly shrugs or the typical "I hope you find her."
She travelled a full lap around the crowded living room and was about ready to throw in the towel. The crowd was getting wilder as the night went on, and she was starting to get sweaty due to the close proximity of hundreds of strangers jumping, swaying, and grinding around her. Based on her experience tonight, Annabeth was not excited to go out next weekend.
She was itching to leave this god-forsaken house and make some calls outside, where the air was clean, and the environment was somewhat peaceful in comparison to the one she's currently in now.
After navigating her way around the makeshift dancefloor, she discovered that the best way to move around effectively was if she herself danced and shimmied along with her drunk peers as they were more willing to give way if she acted drunk than if she revealed she was sober.
She felt kind of bad for ditching Percy, even though he did deserve it. You're not like him Annabeth, don't stoop to his level. Text him when you get back and ask him for updates on Rachel.
The front door was just in her line of sight and relief washed over her, easing her bones as she could taste the sweet peppermint tea she would be sipping in under an hour. That was before someone tapped her shoulder. Not wanting a repeat of what happened with June, She took a couple of steps forward before turning around.
Annabeth turned around facing a slightly frazzled Percy. His eyes widened a fraction and the confident exterior she usually saw him carry crumbled before her. He looked flustered and surprised.
Annabeth tilted her head observing his body language with intrigue. She's never seen him like this and has never expected him to be something other than the cocky son of a bitch he usually is.
"An–Annabeth? Oh, um yeah…hi...uh," Percy managed to stutter out while sheepishly scratching the nape of his neck. Despite the flashing lasers and colourful lights, Annabeth managed to spot a pink hue brushing his cheekbones.
Despite relishing in seeing the one and only Percy "The Player" Jackson floundering for words, she was tired and frankly over with the events of the night. "Any updates on Rachel?" She asked trying to make herself heard over the out-of-pitch rendition of Mo Bomba sung by literally everyone around them.
"What?" Percy yelled reminding Annabeth of an old man who was hard of hearing. He moved to get closer to her, but he was breaching the mental border she made specifically for him. Rolling her eyes at the situation they were both in, she grabbed his arm and pulled him out the door with her.
"God, were you trying to dislocate my shoulder," Percy whined while winding the arm Annabeth yanked.
Annabeth stared back at him void of any emotion. "Sorry, I thought it would be easier to hear each other if we were out here rather than our words getting lost in the genius words of Sheck Wes," she huffed.
Percy stared back at her puzzled. "Did you just... apologize?" Percy paused eyeing her cautiously not sure how to treat the version of Annabeth that's not quippy and doesn't fight back. She hated that look, no matter who gave it to her.
"Look I know we have lots of differences but I would really appreciate it if we just got through this without any jabs so I can go to bed. Now, have you heard anything about Rachel?" She exhaled while pinching the bridge of her nose.
Percy looked perplexed for a second and corked his eyebrows. "Didn't she call you? She called me to say she was back in your dorm. Her phone died so she used your neighbour's cell. She told me she called you."
Annabeth let out a sigh of relief. She was glad Rachel was safe in bed, but she was going to kill her for making her go on a goose chase. "Great now that that's out of the way I'm goi–"
"Hey, Percy! Why don't you come back inside and we can continue what we started," shouted a brunette from the front porch.
Annabeth gave him a pointed look. "Go ahead prince charming, your damsel is waiting. And while you've been vacuum suctioning the face of your victims, I've had a terrible night and I am going to bed. Have a good night and let's maybe not do this again," Annabeth proposed while pointing between the two of them.
Percy gave her a small smile, "Agreed." He stuck his hand out and she stared at it for a minute waiting for her last two brain cells to make her do something. She shook his warm, calloused hand and couldn't stop the small smile that mirrored his own.
He was the first to let go and he began to make his way back into the frat house. She turned away to start the seemingly long, cold walk back to her dorm. Her current attire was not suitable for the nippy October winds. Maybe if she ran home she would warm up. She looked at her watch, not realizing it was close to 2 am. Fan-fucking-tastic.
"Hey, Annabeth... wait up!" Annabeth turned around to see Percy barreling towards her. She made it to the sidewalk in front of the bustling frat. She noticed the girl who previously hollered at Percy glaring at her from the porch.
Percy was standing in front of her wearing a navy tee holding out a hand clutching the hoodie he was previously sporting, pushing it towards her for the taking. "You're going to catch a cold," he stated while gesturing at her chest. His eyes never left her own and she couldn't explain the appreciation she had for him in the moment.
"I don't want your sweaty hoodie Percy," she fixed pushing the sweater towards him.
"I'm not leaving until you take it, and even though I know how much you enjoy my company, I got other matters to attend to," he replied while pointing at the waiting girl staring at the pair.
"Fine," Annabeth responded exasperatedly. "Doesn't mean I have to wear it," Annabeth mumbled.
Percy fixed her with a pointed stare. "Why the fuck do you have to be so stubborn. Can't you just accept that maybe I'm just trying to be nice?"
"You? Lucifer's favourite demon? Be nice? Now I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure only two of those things go together," Annabeth couldn't stop the small smirk from appearing.
"Go fuck yourself Annabeth," Percy responded light-heartedly while running back to his rendezvous.
"No, you go fuck yourself," Annabeth retorted in hopes to get the last word.
"By the rate at which things are going, it doesn't look like I need to fuck myself," Percy countered while turning around so Annabeth could see the shit-eating grin gracing his lips.
The pair went their separate ways and Annabeth made sure to be out of view of the frat house before slipping on the warm hoodie.
The long wait is over! You get a chapter, you get a chapter, you all get a chapter.
Thanks for the patience everyone. I really appreciate all of you. To all my college/university homies out there semester 1 is done! We made it peeps.
Still have one more final on Monday, but let's forget about that for now.
I hope every single one of you are staying safe wherever you are. Vaccines are on their way and I hope you and your families can get access to them.
I hope everyone has a great winter break and happy holidays. To those of you who are spending the holidays alone don't forget there are people who are there for you. Make plans with friends to have virtual tea, coffee, or a virtual pub night (if you are legal age... or not, I'm not your mom).
Cheers peeps. I'll try to crank out a chapter before the end of the year, but I mean we shall see. If I don't before the 31st, have a happy new year. 2021 can't be as bad as 2020...right? – K