Hmm, chapter nine is here…anyway, here I am, and here's chapter nine, and I am sad to say we won't get to the Percabeth just yet…because I have other plans…heh…anyway, I think we should go on, because otherwise, what is this chapter going to be but a long author's note?
IvyAntionette: Hello! Thank you very much! Yes, I like Piper a lot too, and thanks! I did! Thanks! You too! (There are so many 'thanks' in this response…oh well)
LivingInBibliomania: You leave me alone. -_- I shall defend my Friends fanaticism. And…yeah, Percabeth. Ish. Yes, Percy's…a little slow here with it. Thanks! Piper mentioned Jason…in some chapter. It was chapter four, I think, by looking at reviews? XD but anyway, yes. Yes, Christmas music is great in Oct- November. …okay, I don't listen to either of those and I don't think I ever will, but okay. Yay. Thanks!
Azure Bluet: Yes. Except, uh…never mind. Okay, you were correct. Except not mildly? Well, it is intentional because Piper likes to meddle. It is an unknown thing…poor Jason, yes. Thanks Sadie!
SunBear: Oh boy. This is going to be a LONG one…yes, it partially is your fault, but I also saw right through it. *cough* Your voice *cough*
Thank you…Jason is here, just, you know, he didn't have any scenes. Soon, soon… (lol, yes)
There were no accidents about Piper's actions…yeah, Annabeth told her to leave it, but did you really think Piper was going to stop meddling that easily? Well, Percy didn't want her to be even more mad. I'm…not going to pretend I understand what you just said.
That's okay. That means…Percy's like an extroverted version of me! Hmm…but I'm not sure I like that. Oh well. Anyway…yes, yes.
Thanks…ok, I'm skipping over the MBTI again, because I don't understand it, and the review is okay. It's long and I like it. Thanks!
-…me…
Daughter of Sally Jackson: Hehe, soon…there's a few different definitions of that. Hehe…thanks!
Annabeth's POV:
The day of Annabeth's date with Percy Jackson dawned bright and clear- so beautiful Annabeth wondered if Destiny was approving. But that wasn't going to happen, because in no universe could Percy Jackson be her soulmate, not even one where Annabeth believed in soulmates.
In any case, Piper was approving. Annabeth's roommate was oddly happy with the date, enough that Annabeth was sure it had been Piper who had purposefully parked in Percy's spot so that he'd have to park in hers, enough that Annabeth was a little afraid this was all some plot for…Murder Birds II, or something, which Piper would be conveniently planning because of her Jason Grace thing.
So when Annabeth decided that no, she was not going to go, Piper stepped in.
"Annabeth," she said- and Annabeth noticed, dimly, that Piper's voice seemed a little strange- richer and stronger, more confident- "you want to go on this date with Percy. And it's going to be okay," and Annabeth realized that she was being silly- after all, it wasn't like she was going to go out with him again after this.
This had all been a big…thing, anyway. Annabeth wasn't sure why she'd done it. "Alright," she said. "I…guess I'll get dressed, then." But Piper was shaking her head. "What, Piper?"
"Well, obviously, I'm going to help you get dressed." Piper told her, as Annabeth raised her eyebrows.
"…because I can't put on clothes by myself?" Annabeth asked, her voice heavy with sarcasm. Piper rolled her eyes at it, shaking her head. It had taken a mere twenty seconds to put everything back into place- by accidentally letting slip that she had a date with Percy Jackson. While she had regretted saying so, it was (probably) worth it to see Piper so excited. (Probably.)
"No, because of your sense of fashion that needs an upgrade for tonight," Piper said jauntily. "Now come on, Anna Bethie, for we must go look through your closet!" Annabeth resigned herself to her fate- was she really going to be able to get out of this? Piper would probably hunt her down if she didn't listen and went out 'underdressed', as Piper might say.
"…fine." Annabeth replied resignedly. Piper beamed, having won the small argument, and grabbed Annabeth's wrist and attempted to drag her to the closet- even though Annabeth wasn't putting up very much of a fight by that point.
"Hmm…this." She said, holding up an outfit and looking pleased with herself. "I think it's perfect." Annabeth looked at it and then at Piper, unamused. "Well, look, Bethie, do you want to look nice, or do you want to look frumpy?"
"Frumpy," Annabeth told her. Piper raised one eyebrow.
"Well, that's too bad, because now you have no choice but to look nice, so put on the dress and stop with the sarcasm." Piper beckoned, "so go on. You're going to look amazing, and your lovely Percy friend will be very surprised."
"He's not my 'lovely Percy friend'," Annabeth retorted, "he's a doofus who asked me out." She could envision Piper's grin as she walked toward the bathroom but didn't dare to look behind her and see for herself.
"But you said yes~" Piper wheedled, "and that counts for something," Annabeth rolled her eyes and put on the dress. Piper sighed.
"You look lovely, so now I am going to do your hair, because it literally ruins everything. It's a rat's nest, do you never brush your hair?" Piper, meanwhile, braided her hair almost every day, usually with feathers Annabeth wasn't sure where she'd found. "I mean, it's not like it's rocket science, and I bet you could do that too…" Annabeth snorted, but didn't want to give Piper any ideas.
"No, I've never learned rocket science and I highly doubt I ever will, and it's not like I always have the time. I fix it enough to be presentable." Piper huffed, her hands stilling on Annabeth's head momentarily. "And anyway, it's not like I'm your kid or something, no one looks down on you for hanging out with me." Annabeth paused. "Actually, people probably look down on you anyway, Miss Movie Star."
"I'm not a movie star," Piper protested, "if I did, I could have the connections to date Jason Grace," she sighed, "and be his girlfriend…" Annabeth rolled her eyes, still not understanding what the deal was with Jason Grace. He was probably like all those other celebrities- involved in scandals, with a lot of publicity…well, Annabeth hadn't paid attention to that sort of gossip for years, but she had a vague idea.
"I don't know if Jason Grace would want you to be his girlfriend, your obsession with him would probably creep him out," Annabeth pointed out. Piper 'accidentally' pulled on Annabeth's hair. "Ouch, it's true!" she could envision Piper sticking her tongue out, but couldn't see it as, for some reason, Piper was not letting Annabeth see what she was doing. It scared her somewhat- Annabeth didn't like Piper's intentions, especially after the hair pulling.
"Yes, but a girl can dream, Miss I-Don't-Even-Want-To-Date-A-Regular-Guy," Piper told her. "And it's not like I'll ever meet Jason Grace anyway, so I can have my weird obsession and all will be well without your pessimistic ways." Annabeth shrugged.
"I'm being reasonable, not pessimistic. There's a difference, you know."
"Difference schmifference, it's not like you're encouraging me on my 'obsession' with Jason Grace, instead you're looking down on it."
"Still, Piper."
"Still, Annabeth." She mocked. "Anyway, you have a date with Percy Jackson, so why are we talking about Jason Grace?"
"Because you brought him up!"
"What are you, Mnemosyne? Go have a nice date!"
And that was how Annabeth found herself waiting outside of the Skyview Snack Bar for Percy Jackson. She wasn't sure if they were having their date there, or just meeting there, and Annabeth wasn't really sure she wanted to know. After all, the result might not be what she wanted to hear, and while Annabeth usually didn't like surprises, she didn't want all her questioning to end in something sad.
"Good evening, Miss Chase," a smooth voice said from behind her. Annabeth whirled around on instinct, not relaxing when she saw it was Percy. How he'd snuck up on her, Annabeth didn't know, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know. Well. She did. If he was able to sneak up on her like that, she wanted to know how he had managed to do it, otherwise that was just kind of irresponsible.
"Percy," Annabeth acknowledged him. "You're late." Percy shook his head adamantly.
"No, I'm not. I made sure I was here on time." Annabeth waited for the clock to change to another minute, instead raising her eyebrows at him.
"Look again, Jackson."
Percy's expression was guilty. "Uh, I'm really sorry that I was late..."
"It's fine," Annabeth told him. "It's not like I got here at the crack of dawn, anyways." He smiled a little. She liked his enthusiasm, a little bit. It was kind of infectious, though she wasn't sure if that was in a good way.
"So... shall we?" he held out his arm, a gentlemanly gesture Annabeth appreciated. She took it.
"We shall."
Percy brought her all the way to...his car. Annabeth raised her eyebrow, unimpressed. "This is the most romantic date I've ever been on." Percy flushed.
"Well, I'm sure you know that New Pine Creek is kinda small..." Annabeth nodded in agreement. "...so, I thought we could go somewhere else for dinner, since I doubt I could wow you with, you know, somewhere you've probably already been fifteen times because it's like the only pizza place."
"You were planning on taking me out for pizza?" Annabeth said, mostly to make him backpedal or something. There was nothing wrong with pizza, especially on a date Annabeth wasn't planning on following up on.
"Well, you know, pizza's nice, and I know some really good places in..." Percy paused. "...New York." Annabeth smiled slightly.
"There's nothing wrong with pizza, obviously. Where to...Percy?" It almost felt weird, calling him that. Even though that was his name, though it also almost felt weird that she was on a date with Percy. Almost, but not quite- it worked, somehow. Annabeth wasn't sure how, but it did.
"I thought we could drive to Lakeview," Percy told her. "Since it's bigger, I think, and it probably has some restaurants you've never been to, and it's only like, what? Twenty minutes away?" Annabeth nodded. "So...?" it took her a moment to realize he was talking to her.
"Oh. Yeah. Of course."
The drive to Lakeview was nice, Annabeth noticed. Percy wasn't like some of the other guys she'd dated that felt such an urge to impress her they couldn't stop chattering about things. In fact, when Annabeth started talking about architecture, Percy didn't even try to pretend he knew what she was talking about, which was a nice change from going on about arches and moldings when her date just nodded along with glazed eyes. Percy's eyes were still glazed, yes, but at least he didn't say something stupid like, "oh, yeah, they're, like, great."
Instead, Percy kept on driving with his eyes on the road, and turned on the radio.
...to that damned country music Annabeth had stormed up the other day to yell at him for, only to find he wasn't home. She wondered if he was doing that on purpose. After all, she couldn't leave now, she was stuck in his car driving to Lakeview.
The perfect revenge, a small voice said in Annabeth's mind. Trapping you in his car and then playing the dreaded music you can't stand...
Annabeth had to doubt that this was the case, though, even if it was a feasible plan. Why else would he ask her on a date but to play annoying country music she hated?
It struck Annabeth then, that anyone driving along this road would probably think they were dating. That was ridiculous though, they weren't dating. They were on a date, yes, but this was the first one. Annabeth wasn't sure she liked the idea of dating Percy Jackson, though she decided she liked it better than dating her soulmate.
They stopped in Lakeview about twenty minutes after they started driving, and since neither of them had any idea where they were going, they had to ask a couple- Hazel and Frank, apparently- where the nearest pizza place was. Or any sort of restaurant, for that matter, because driving worked up an appetite.
And by the time they found it, Annabeth was a little giggly from being pulled quickly down the street and Percy's hair was ruffled and messy, but it was worth it.
Percy ordered a pepperoni pizza with olives and extra cheese for them to share and they sat down at one of the booths, with a candle in the middle of the table, and Annabeth thought that for such a 'Seaweed Brain', he could be rather romantic.
"So... Annabeth," Percy said, relishing her name. Annabeth thought that was a little weird. "You're an architect, I take it?"
"I guess," Annabeth said, "I've wanted to be an architect for years. Ever since I was like eleven or twelve. I wanted to build something...permanent, I guess. I realized midway through graduate school that after everything I'd done to make that dream, all the hard work and the studying...that I didn't want it so much anymore. Like I'd done everything I could possibly have done to make that dream come true, because I told myself that was what I wanted, and then I realized it wasn't what I wanted anymore." She paused. "I don't know why I told you that." Percy laughed.
"It's nice to hear. What do you want to do now?"
Usually, those that heard this told Annabeth this dream would ruin her. "Well...I like writing. I always did, but I didn't think I could make a living off of it for a while. I didn't think I wanted to, either...I guess I do now." Annabeth shook her head. "But what about you?"
"Teacher," Percy said easily. "Of the kindergarten. I was hoping to get science, but they already had science teachers employed when I moved here." Annabeth nodded.
"That's a good job. Giving back," Annabeth commented.
"Yeah," Percy said.
They lapsed into silence, but a comfortable one. Annabeth liked the silence.
And then Annabeth's phone started to play the most annoying tune she could find in ringtones. She cursed and fumbled with it, not even checking the caller ID. Sorry, she mouthed to Percy. He shrugged good-naturedly.
"This is Annabeth Chase," she answered smoothly. Static crackled over the line.
"Beth?" Annabeth almost dropped the phone.
"Dad?" her father was silent. "How did you get my number? Why are you calling me?" the hostility in her bristly voice showed through. Annabeth avoided Percy's gaze.
"Annabeth, I-"
"What is it? I'm in the middle of something-"
Her father's next words could have killed her. Annabeth didn't remember saying goodbye to Percy, or if she said anything to Percy. She barely remembered rushing out the door.
"Your mother's back."
Heh, heh, heh...I hope none of you thought Percabeth was going to happen, because, uh, I think we all know that's not what happened here. Hehehehe…I'm not actually that sorry, but yeah. Anyways, let's see what happens in like…five days. O_O Okay, probably closer to three or four. But thanks for reading! Your song for this chapter is…uhmm…which Moody Blues songs have I used XD…aha! Haunted by the Moody Blues.