33. Not Like This
It took them about thirty minutes to get there; her mother complaining about how bad her feet hurt in the heels halfway.
"Then why did you wear them?" Thalia asked irritably.
"They looked nice!" her mother retorted.
"Bet they don't feel nice now," Thalia mumbled. Her mother grunted in frustration. She kept stumbling, her heel getting caught in the crevices of the sidewalks. She could use heels, but she always stuck to platforms. The ones she was wearing we stilettos.
"Care –" She was a little late and her mother tripped over one of the cracks. "ful…" Thalia finished quietly as she tried to stifle a laugh.
"Are we there yet?" her mother asked for the millionth time. Thalia sighed.
"Just around the corner," she answered as they stopped at an intersection. Thalia pressed the button of the crosswalk several times (because once is just never enough) and waited. Her eyes wandered around, searching for the place the meetings were held at.
It was across the street and down the right. It wasn't big and it had a yellow and white stripped awning. On one side of the door it said "MARY'S" in white letters and on the other side, also in white letters it said "SESSION". Well, they were in the right place. The light changed into a little white person and she jogged across the street, not for a second trusting the taxi cab drivers, and waited for her mother on the other side.
"You can walk a little faster, you know!" Thalia yelled through cupped hands at her mother. Her mother just made a face and took her time. Without planning on waiting, Thalia walked towards Mary's Session and walked inside. A little bell went off, making Thalia look up in surprise at the rainbow colored bell.
"Welcome, what may I help you with?" a blonde woman with green eyes said from behind a big brown desk. Thalia walked over and leaned on her elbows over the counter.
"I made a call a few days ago to meet here today; Lilah Grace?" Thalia said. Following the name, a loud trill rang out announcing the arrival of her mother. The woman typed away on her computer as she stared intently at it.
"Hm… oh-kay, here she is," the woman said. She grabbed a card, wrote her mother's name on it, stamped it and handed it to Thalia. "Today and the next Tuesday are completely on the house, after that, every hour is $25. After the second stamp, you pay for the next visit," the woman smiled.
"Thank you," Thalia said as she grabbed the card.
"Your mother goes in alone. You're welcome to wait for her out here," the woman said as she stood up to open up the little brown door that led down a hallway. "The meeting starts in about five minutes." Thalia looked at her mother and nodded. She seemed annoyed, but with a quick pat down of her dress she walked down the hallway, the click-clack of her shoes slowly fading. "Third door on the right!" the blonde woman called after her. Thalia smiled at the woman and sat down on one of the chairs in the waiting room. The only other person was a man who was probably about 5'7 with cropped, messy brown hair. He sat cross-legged as he read a sports magazine. Thalia sighed. This would be a long hour, so she did the normal thing. She pulled a few chairs together, lay across them and took a nap.
"Yo, wake up," someone said as Thali+a felt something poke her thigh. She opened her eyes to see her mother prodding her with her foot. Thalia sat up and rubbed her eyes. Once she got her bearings, she stood up and followed her mother out the door.
"So, how was the meeting?" Thalia asked after an uncomfortable silence. Her mother shrugged.
"Boring and dramatic," she commented as she yawned. "Woman kept trying to get me talk, which was pointless because I'm not a drunk." Thalia scoffed. Her mother glanced at her, but stayed quiet. The rest of the way home was awkwardly quiet and uneventful, until. They were walking through the doors, her mother pushing passed her, when there was a loud pop! With a startled yelp, Thalia flung herself sideways and hid behind the wall next to the doors at the entrance of the building. She just about punched herself. It was just a car.
Her mother was long gone and she sighed into her shaking hands, ashamed. She was walking up the stairs when she saw an old man sitting next to a door who had seen it all. Bring on more embarrassment. He looked at her curiously, as if he knew what was going on, but she didn't stay to find out. She ran up the stairs, hiding her face and walked into her apartment. Her heart was beating faster than normal, but she tried to shake it off. Unsuccessfully. She took a long, hot shower to relax herself and went to bed. And to her great relief, with no nightmares.
Wednesday came quick. She went to school and dealt with every day school things. She stayed a few minutes after school to get the extra credit. Luckily, it was short, so she could hand it in the next day. She walked out of her school, but she didn't have to wait long until she had to go to Percy's apartment, so she made her way to the arcade. She only had about $2 in her pocket, so she would have to use her coins wisely. After she spent about an hour playing and half an hour working on the extra credit and homework, she headed out.
She shouldered her backpack and made her way to Percy's apartment. She wondered what would happen when she got there, what Percy would want to say to her after their eventful night. She shuddered. She really didn't want to talk about it, but she didn't want to be mean either. She wished something would happen to get her out of it.
She was walking towards the steps of his building when Nico came bursting out the doors.
"Hey Nico –" she stopped abruptly when Nico stormed passed her, bumping into her shoulder, but barely noticing she was there. She jumped forward to catch the door before it closed as she looked back at Nico, who was stomping down the sidewalk. What in the world? Unsure, she walked into the building, up the stairs and down the hall to their apartment. She softly knocked on their door. It creaked open until she could see Percy's face and only the left side of his body.
"Is everything all right? I just saw Nico –"
"I know," Percy said sullenly. In the distance, she could hear the faint sound of someone crying and she had a pretty good idea of who it was. Percy shifted, resting his shoulder against the doorframe.
"It's probably best if you didn't stay," he said softly, looking down. Before, she would've said "awesome, see ya!", but this time she actually felt worried. She could tell something was wrong. She didn't like the look in his eyes.
"Are you okay?" she found herself asking. It didn't even sound like her. Percy sighed and quickly cast a glance behind him.
"I'm fine. Maybe I can see you Saturday?" he asked quietly. Thalia nodded.
"Yeah, sure," she said. Percy tried for a smile, but didn't quite get it.
"Cool," he whispered before he closed the door. Thalia walked back to her apartment with her hands shoved into her pockets. She had wanted something to save her from babysitting, but she didn't want something like this… whatever it was.
Thanks for the reviews guys! And I hope you enjoyed this chappie. And also, I would appreciate if people stop reading my mind :D hahaha, seriously, it gets scary. Anyways, let me know what you think! :)