CHAPTER SUMMARY

The party, part one.

BEGINNING NOTES

Word Count: 2860
Content Warning: None

And all the characters are owned by Rick Riordan.

Credits at the end.

Right, so, the party.

I met Percy and Nico at the usual spot when practice ended. I was running a little late, so Jules-Albert was already waiting for us. Percy was getting into the limo. I yelled at them to wait as I sprinted to the car.

"You didn't have to run," Nico said, "it's not like we're going to leave without you. It's just fucking hot, and you were taking forever."

"It's not me I'm worried about," I said. "We're waiting on one more."

Can I butt in?

You've never asked before. ... Yes, Nico, that means yes.

I knew she meant Will. My heart sank-that was the second time in a week she'd brought the guy over. Sure, Bianca brought friends back to our place, but not this often, at least not during the week. "School's important," blah blah blah. If it was Will, they were closer than I realized on Monday. They were already on their way to being a couple. And that hurt. At least I didn't have to watch Percy and Annabeth get together in front of my face... and at least I could think about them breaking up without feeling so guilty... but this was my sister. If anyone deserved to be happy, she did. Any time Will crossed my mind-and, even with my expert denial skills, that had happened a lot that week-I felt awful. This was Bianca's happy ending. I knew I'd never get one of those.

And Will and I didn't make the situation better.

You didn't know.

I know I didn't know, but that doesn't mean I can't feel bad about it.

So, I told Nico we were waiting on one more. I didn't realize how crushing that was to him. He was good at hiding his emotions. He stiffened slightly, enough that I noticed, but no one else on the planet would've been able to tell. I didn't say anything, though. Stupid me assumed he was nervous about the party.

I didn't know about the party yet, smart one.

Yeah... not my best moment.

"Will, right?" Nico asked. I nodded.

And my heart broke so bad I decided I was never going to talk to him again. It was the only way to keep this from becoming another Percy situation.

Will flew down the hill, breathless. My mom instincts kicked in, and just in time, too. He was going down the stairs way too fast, so, of course, he tripped, and would've smacked his head on the concrete if I wasn't there to catch him. "Easy," I said, "we're not going to leave without you."

Will was panting hard. "Thanks... sorry... I..." he took a second to catch his breath. "I have this thing about being late. It's rude."

Okay, we're back online.

What happened?

Logic Pro crashed. It gets touchy when you go over the two-hour mark.

What were we at?

122 minutes. I opened a new file; I'll edit them together later. Um... let me playback, see where we were. I'm gonna turn the mic off, one sec-

Will showed up.

Kay, we didn't lose much, then. So, um... yeah. Will showed up, and we got into the limo. It wasn't until then that Percy and I finally broke and told Nico about the party. I wanted to do it in front of Percy because, well, Percy had a bit of a calming effect on Nico. He usually didn't act out as much when he was around. I didn't realize it was because he had a crush. I assumed Nico just looked up to him, you know? Idolized him a bit? They'd known each other since Nico was ten. I figured it was the same kind of situation Hazel and I had-this older person who you've known most of your life and want to impress.

Nico, like I hoped, didn't start grumbling or yelling about the party. He nodded, said, "Ok, fine, whatever," and threw some headphones in his ears. That was pretty much the best I could've hoped for.

Yeah, but, inside, I was freaking out. Watch my sister get together with my new crush while the straight guy I was in love with got drunk and made out with his girlfriend? That's exactly what I needed!

Would you stop being sarcastic?

I'm a sarcastic little shit and proud. Lay off.

Nico ran into his room the moment his feet touched the ground. I told Percy and Will to throw their stuff down. I did the barebones of my usual Friday activities. The rest I could save for tomorrow.

I came into the kitchen just in time to catch Sally. "Be good," she was telling Percy. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Mom," he complained.

"It's only because I love you," she said. She kissed him on the cheek, told me to have a good weekend, and headed out the door.

I sent Percy and Will to get ready for the party in Percy's usual guest room, then I went to check on Hazel. She was still in her school clothes. She'd laid five different outfits on her new bed, but I guess none of them looked right. "Busy night?" I asked.

Hazel nodded. Then, a Puerto Rican girl popped her head out of the closet and said, "Who are you?"

I screamed. The two of them burst out laughing. "She didn't mean to scare you!" Hazel cried. She ran over and hugged me. "Hi, Bianca! How was school?"

"Good," I said, still a little breathless. I turned to Hazel's friend. "I'm guessing you're Reyna?"

Reyna came all the way out of the closet.

*Nico snickers.* Get it? 'Cause she's gay?

I wasn't making a- she literally- Nico, stop laughing!

I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Continue.

Reyna's... intimidating, even for a freshman. She has these sharp eyes that look like they could, like, reap your soul. She has this proud way of doing things, this self-confidence that makes everyone jump out of her way. And if you didn't, well, let's just say she's a black belt and has no time for the people who piss her off.

Isn't there that whole rule about never fighting unless you need to?

Again, it's just a saying! Wait... you're stalling again.

I can neither confirm nor deny this. Although I want to go on record saying that this was one of the worst nights of my life and I should get fucking credit for helping you do this.

I already thanked him a bunch of times, guys. Told him he didn't have to do this either, but he's the one who said yes. Which means it's totally unfair for you to hold this over my head.

Now who's the one stalling?

I'm rolling my eyes.

Reyna explained that Hazel was freaking out a bit because she wanted to look nice for Frank. Reyna's not exactly a tomboy, but she isn't into the makeover kind of thing. She's like... I don't know, Xena: Warrior Princess. So, I told Reyna to get herself ready, then I pulled Hazel into my room. It was time for us to have a bit of sister bonding time.

"None of your clothes are going to fit me," Hazel pointed out.

Instead of answering her, I pulled a plastic zip bag from the shelf above my closet. "Clothes from when I was a freshman," I said. "I keep meaning to run this to Goodwill, but there's never any time. Look through it. See what you like. General rule: whites, golds, and dark purples work best with dark skin tones."

We went through them together, laughing at the bands I used to listen to and that one collared-shirt phase I had in eighth grade. We even came across this floppy green hat I'd bought a few weeks before the plane crash.

Gee, what a thing to say. Do you think it's, I dunno, foreshadowing?

Shhh. I'm trying to find that picture of Hazel on my phone. ... Here it is.

We found a gorgeous off-the-shoulder top, dark purple, but so dark it looked almost black. It had a scoop neck, with an attached collar that looped around like a necklace and buttoned in the front. The button was a silver pendant with a diamond set in the middle. We paired it with a set of light faded jeans and flats.

I told her she looked beautiful. She was smiling too much to say anything back.

It took me about an hour to get my clothes on and hair and makeup done. The music was already blaring when I was ready to go. My hair was braided and pushed to one shoulder, then I put a diamond clip in my hair, crescent shape, and matching diamond crescent earrings. I wore a white shirt, silver jacket, silvery camo pants, and black combat boots. It was my favorite outfit. That's how I got my nickname, 'the Huntress.' My friends always said I looked like a markswoman in it. And that's why I loved it-it gave me confidence.

We should talk about that. Our friends all have stupid nicknames-

No stalling, Nico. We're on a time limit, remember? I'll get to the nicknames if they become relevant. A lot of them have a long story behind them, and we don't have time.

At that point, Percy had already got the party well on its way. Will, Hazel, and Reyna were already downstairs too, from what I could tell. Papà had taken Persephone out to dinner. He'd warned Percy and I that he'd be back by two a.m. and if the party was still going, if the house was destroyed, or he smelled alcohol, I'd be grounded for life and Percy would be permanently banned from our house. Point is, I knew where everyone else was, except Nico.

I knocked on his door. He opened it. He looked exactly like he had at school. I sighed and elbowed my way into his room. I grabbed him a clean shirt, the aviator jacket I'd bought him for Christmas, and the only pair of black skinny jeans he owned that didn't have holes in them. "On," I said. "And brush your hair. And teeth, this place smells like weed. You can keep the sneakers, I like them. Up. Now." He groaned at me. "You are going to have fun, even if I make you," I pressed. "I'm going downstairs. If I don't see you in ten minutes, I'll drag you down myself."

Another incoherent groan.

As soon as I got to the stairs, I ran into Will. "Just the guy I wanted to see," I said. "Having fun?"

We chatted a bit; as usual, I smiled all the way through it. I was glad to have a friend like him and even more glad that Nico would. He was smart, funny, dorky, and had the biggest heart I'd ever seen. My own confidence grew whenever I spoke to him-I'd never become such good friends with a stranger before; normally, it took weeks to get past my defenses. He'd done it in seconds.

"Nico should be down any minute," I told Will. "Look for the aviator jacket." I discreetly slipped him a fifty. I didn't need any rumors spreading; I knew what Half-Blood high could come up with. "Enjoy yourself, but make sure Nico has fun too," I told him. "And, if possible, try to get him to talk to Hazel. Just for an hour, then you're free to do whatever."

"Got it, no problem," Will said as he slipped the money in his pocket.

I kissed him on the cheek, and said, "Thank you. You're going to be a huge help, I know it." And, no, still not in a romantic way. It's an Italian thing, so lay off.

It took me a little longer to find Percy. We had an open invitation, so a lot of kids were currently at my place. I was keeping my eyes out for alcohol, but, luckily, I didn't find any. I don't think I had it in me to kick anyone out, but that was where Nico came in. Most of the school was afraid of him, and he can be mean when he wants to be.

My phone buzzed.

THE ORACLE

PERCY'S DOING THE THING SEND HELP PLEASE
I CAN'T REACH ANNABETH OR GROVER

I'm on it. Where is he?

TCPT

TCPT is short for "the conveniently placed tree." That's a really long story. TL;DR, it's a pine tree outside my house. Thalia was mad at Percy (that happens a lot), so I told her to hide so she wouldn't start something. Where to hide in the middle of a lawn? The conveniently placed tree. The rest is history... and how she got her nickname.

There, you see Nico? We got into the backstory of two, mine and Thalia's. I'll even give you two more: Percy's an idiot sometimes and on the swim team, and Annabeth is basically Einstein if he was a girl.

I made my way outside. Percy, Jason, Rachel, and Piper were talking by the tree. By the looks of it, Jason was about to start hyperventilating again, and Piper was getting annoyed. I cursed under my breath. If she got angry and left, it was all over.

"Percy! There you are!" I shouted. The four of them stopped talking, thank god. "Hey, Jason, Leo's looking for you."

"Nah," Percy said, "He's with Cally."

Cally, full name Calypso, was his on-again-off-again girlfriend. Well, less girlfriend, more fuckbuddy, but they argued so much that half the time they weren't even that. I had to guess the sex was, like, the best thing ever, because, otherwise, I had no idea why he stayed with that girl.

"They had another fight," I said. "He's looking for you, Jason, why don't you go find him?"

"I- I'd better do that," Jason stammered.

"And, Piper, maybe you could help, too? Talk some sense into him? You're good with relationship stuff," I prompted.

"Sure," she said. She gave Percy one more annoyed look. Jason mouthed 'thank you' to me, and the two were on their way.

I shot Leo a quick text explaining the situation, prayed that he'd see it before Jason and Piper found him, and turned back to Percy. "What. Did. You. Do?" I demanded.

"All I said was that Jason should climb the tree!" Percy protested.

"What? Why?" I asked.

"He's all athletic, so when Piper's impressed he'll have the balls to ask her out," Percy said.

I rubbed my temples. That week was too much.

"How did you even come up with that?" Rachel asked. "Percy, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Just get them alone together, and keep getting them alone until Jason gets more comfortable."

"So, what Bianca did..." Percy realized. "Oh."

"I don't have time for this," I said. "Percy, I love you, but I need to do some sleuthing of my own-Thalia and Luke are around here somewhere. Rachel... make sure he doesn't fuck this up, okay?"

"Let's dance, seaweed brain," Rachel said.

"You sound like Annabeth," Percy joked. "But, I guess I like you. Sure, let's go."

Now alone, I texted Zoë, Phoebe, Naiomi, and Celyn, asking them to help me find Thalia and Luke. After a bit of searching, Naiomi overheard Octavian mention that they'd gone upstairs. We met at the top of the back stairs and split up searching. A few minutes later, Zoë texted us saying she'd found them in one of the guest rooms and something big was going down.

She wasn't wrong. I decided to audio record their conversation because we clearly needed to have an intervention about Luke with her. We figured if she heard the way he was talking to her in a different setting, she'd realize how worthless he was. And when she heard how she tried to justify everything... well, she wouldn't be able to justify it anymore. Nico?

Note to self: cut out audio in three, two-

LUKE: I have to, you know I have to.

THALIA: No, you don't, Luke. And, more to the point, you shouldn't.

LUKE: Do you want to live in the projects forever? Or do you want our lives to fucking mean something?

THALIA: I want you to stay out of prison! How do I- how do I know you're not robbing banks?

LUKE: So you don't trust me.

THALIA: I trust you, but I don't trust this side of you, no. You're better than this, I know you are.

...

LUKE: You're right. You're always right... I'll be better for you, Thalia, I promise.

THALIA: I love you, okay? We'll get through this together.

LUKE: And we'll be better than our shitty parents.

THALIA: Now you're talking. Come here.

Aaaand we're back, folks!

The four of us ran into my room. A) we didn't want to hear Thalia and Luke have sex, and B) we had a lot to discuss.

We all knew that there was only one thing Luke could've meant by "We'll be better than our shitty parents." The only thing big enough to make Thalia skip practice.

She was pregnant.

END NOTES

Would this chapter be half the size without all the filler? Yes but it gives it personality so shut up.

Also, why did Logic crash on them for no reason? Logic broke while I was composing a film score and I was like I WILL MAKE THIS GOOD SOMEHOW ALSO FUCK YOU LOGIC

This week's beta commentary:
STORY: We had an open invitation [to the party].
JOJO: see, nico? she could have assumed you found out about the party at school. (poor kid lmao last to know about the party in his own damn house)
MELODY: That's so typical Nico though

Credits:
Author: Melody Rose (Tumblr melody0rose)
Beta Readers: Jojo (Archive of Our Own bannedfrompencils), Luna Rain (Tumblr peppermintlove1), Oli (Tumblr paradoxicalpsychic)

Please comment so I know what you think! See you next week!

COMMENTS

Fenikkusu94

Oh oh oh, this is gonna be fun. I cant wait to see what is in store for our favorite cast of characters.

Lots of drama, that's for sure.