Chapter 12: Perfect…Might Not Be For Me
The correct answer to last time question is : In the first book, before they started the quest, (precisely on page 147 at the bottom) where she said "I've been waiting a long time for a quest, seaweed brain."
So virtual cookie for: PJOHPHGlove, anon, TooLazyToLogIn, C-Nuggets N.L, CaroineEirasSa, leblover, J'aime lire, GREAT JOB EVERYONE!
Disclaimer: Okay… for the last time…. I do not own Percy Jackson… now give me back my brain….
Annabeth's POV:
"So who's this brother of yours? If I'm correct his name was Perseus Jackson right?" Luke asked.
I looked up at his face in the evening light, but it was unreadable, "Yeah, I… umm… yeah," I stuttered. "He's actually my half-brother," I lied a bit more smoothly.
"Half-brother?" Luke asked clearly curious.
"Just found out about him last week," I admitted.
"Same dad? Or same mom?" Luke asked.
I stared at him, wondering why would he want to know this information, "Excuse me… what?"
Luke looked away before I could read his face, "Ahh… sorry, I'm just… you know curious, especially about people that I'm interested in."
It took me a moment to define what he just said, "Interested in?" I asked before I could stop myself.
"Yeah," He said without a blush, almost as if he's talking to some stranger, "I'd like to get to know you better."
"Then why would you want to know about my brother…err… half-brother?" I asked, remembering the fact the Percy said Luke looked familiar.
Luke shrugged, "I don't know, just like I said before, curious."
"Curious kills the cat," I stated as I looked at his smirking expression.
"Well, it's not always a bad thing," Luke defended himself.
I shrugged, "So I heard from my friend that you just transferred here three years ago…" I trailed off.
"True that," Luke laughed a bit uneasily, "Someone decided to sponsor me to learn here after they heard of some of my achievement," Luke said his hands were twitching but for some reason I had a feeling he was telling the truth… just maybe not the whole truth.
"So what'd you do that caught their attention?" I asked my face unable to mask my curiosity.
"Didn't you say curiosity is a bad thing?" He said obviously dodging the question.
I decided not to press him for the answer, "You said it was a good thing," I argued back.
"Technically I said it was not always a bad thing," He corrected me.
I grumbled, hating that I was being corrected, "So are you here on a full sponsorship or…?"
"Full sponsorship, I've just recently joined this company, so in exchange for my services I get to study and also help pay for-" He stopped abruptly as if afraid of what I might hear.
"Pay for?" I urged him on.
"Debts from my parents and such, I'm just helping them pay it off," He said easily.
I studied him a bit, not sure what to believe, 'Seriously… is everyone in New York so mysterious… then again… I have no right to talk.'
"Hey are you free tomorrow?" He asked. "We could go somewhere with my friends."
"I've already got plans tomorrow," I quickly said.
"A boyfriend?" He asked curiously.
"No," I said a bit too eagerly, "My brother actually,"
"You seem to hang out with your brother more than most people," He noticed.
"Well… I want to get to know him… I guess…" I said smoothly.
"Well, I want to get to know you," He said taking a step closer to me.
"What are you doing?" I asked taking a step back. Not that I don't find him interesting, but a relationship is the last thing I need at the moment. I'm still trying to get my studies on track and keep this brother-sister thing a secret.
He looked at me a bit alarmed and took a step back, "Sorry, I… just thought-"
"It's nothing," I said looking away. We walked under the light post right in front of where my dorm is, "Well looks like I'm here," I smiled gratefully. A bit glad that I don't have to talk to Luke anymore, since we were getting a bit too serious to my liking. Sure I like the guy, and who am I kidding, everyone would like a guy that is bold enough to make the first move… but when the real thing comes I'm just wishing I was inside a hole. "I mean I just know you for only a while…" I trailed off.
Luke lingered behind, probably thinking about his actions, "I didn't mean to scare you or anything, it's just…" Luke stopped himself before he could say more. "We should do this again sometime, I had fun," Luke shot a charming smile back.
"Same here," I replied back, really meaning it, "Well I'll see you around,"
"I'm counting on it," Luke smiled as I turned my back and walked back up without looking back at him. I opened the door to my dorm to see the light still on and a figure hunching over her desk drawing something.
"Hey Piper," I greeted her.
She didn't answer me.
"Piper?" I called again.
"Busy…" She managed as she intently drew over a sketch. "Hey are you doing anything tomorrow? Jason's not visiting me this week so we could go shopping or something?" Piper offered as she hastily sketched over her paper.
I sighed, "Can't, Percy is picking me up tomorrow, so don't wait up for me." I told her.
"Why's he picking you up for?" Piper asked putting her pencil down and looking at me with a serious look on her face.
"Work?" I said as if it's the most obvious thing in the world, "Why else would he pick me up for?" Piper gave a knowing look. "What?"
"Never mind, so where were you today?" Piper quickly changed the subject.
"Went to the mall with this guy." I answered easily.
"Who's the guy? Your boyfriend?" Piper teased.
"Luke Castellan," I answered. "Apparently a fencing star, and currently also at our school, we went to a mall reeked with perfumes," Piper made a face as I said that. "Then took a nice evening stroll near the school."
"That's not so bad…" Piper said.
"I guess…" I mumbled remembering how Luke was about to make a move on me.
"You don't seem very happy about it," Piper noticed.
"He's a nice guy, but…" I trailed off.
"But…?" Piper urged me to go on.
"Seriously which kind of guy tries to kiss a girl on a first date… having seeing the guy three times?" I asked her.
"A hormone crazy perverted criminal?" Piper offered with a slight smile.
"Real funny." I mumbled sarcastically.
"I do what I can," Piper smiled and went on back to her sketching. "But seriously what's this about him kissing you on a first date? I thought you like guys that are bold."
"Yeah, I mean Luke is perfect, I'm mean he's charming, funny, nice-" I began to blabbed.
"Then what's the problem?" Piper asked.
"How should I know? I'm sounding like your sister…" I noticed.
"For a second I thought you were Drew." Piper added in.
"Not helping here…" I glared in her direction.
"Hey, take a look at this and tell me what you think," She called me over.
I sighed and walked over to her dim lit light to see the most amazing drawing ever, "Wow," I breathe. "This is- When did you learn to sketch like that?"
"My mom's a crazy Fashionita remember?" Piper wrinkled her nose.
"How can I ever forget…" I mumbled remembering Piper's mom, Aphrodite, the famous super model, and pretty much the queen in fashion and modern trend. "But this is…this is amazing," I look at her sketch. The detail was incredible, even though I might not be a fan of such dresses, this was beyond amazing.
"You think?" Piper asked.
"Definitely, no lie." I said honestly. "So what's this for?"
"Just simple sketches, I'm going to try to send them in to get them made into a new trend." Piper said with a gleam in her eyes.
"Your mom's company?" I asked a bit surprised because I knew Piper doesn't like to use her parents power card, considering her dad was the famous Tristan McLean and her mom was the Fashionita Aphrodite.
She gave me a look of disbelief, "Course not… I can't stand it if my mom even tries to dress me up as a doll one more time…" Piper groaned.
I raised an eyebrow, "Then who?"
"Okay… it's my mom… but I'm not sending it in as myself… I can't stand it if she just put my propriety first because I'm her daughter," Piper admitted.
"You sure that's a good idea?" I asked her a bit disbelieving.
"And this is coming from the girl who's pretending to be the sister of a leading business guy to go to school in Columbia." Piper pointed out.
"Fine…" I groaned and laid back down on my bed, "Night then," I replied.
"Oh yeah, Thalia called you while you were out," Piper told me just as I was about to drift off to sleep.
I sat awake in my bed, "She called? What did she say?"
"I'm pretty sure she's still awake," Piper added.
I checked the time, it was around midnight, "Piper, it's already nighttime, I'm pretty sure anyone in their sane mind wouldn't be at their phone at midnight," I mumbled.
Piper raised an eyebrow, "You know this is Thalia we're talking about right?"
I thought about it for a minute and took out my cell phone to call Thalia, "Hello?" Thalia's voice blared through my phone. "Give me a minute," Thalia told me before the background noise faded into the background. "So who's this?"
"Annabeth," I answered her still able to hear some kind of talking in the background. "Piper said you called me,"
"Oh yeah! You never told me Piper was your dorm buddy!" Thalia exclaimed.
"Busy?" I offered making sure to hold the phone at least a couple inches away in case Thalia decides to yell into it again.
"No excuse madam," Thalia said in her business like voice. "Anyways, if you're free tomorrow, drop by my house, I got nothing tomorrow anyways."
"Okay, I'll try, but no promises though,"
Sure I'll probably be home the whole day, make sure to call me at least 15 minutes before you come though," Thalia warned me.
"Why? Got something to hide Thals?" I taunted her.
"You could say I got a little secret to hide," Thalia said uneasily, "Plus, my house is pretty messy if you think about it," Thalia reminded me.
I remembered back to a while ago when I was living with her. Her house was pretty much a living mess, and I was suffocating in here. Even though I really love the place, it was a pigsty. I sighed, "Fifteen minutes before, I got it, I don't want to come into a trashed house,"
"Glad we're on the same page Annie," Thalia teased me.
"Don't call me Annie," I warned her.
"Who's going to stop me?" Thalia said as I imagined her smirking on the other line. "Anyways, I'm hanging up now, I got another call coming in," Thalia told me.
"Okay, I'll catch you later," I quickly said as I laid back down on my bed.
Percy's POV:
I hesitantly walked towards Annabeth's dorm. 'Where was it again?' I asked myself a bit frustrated. I checked my watch, it was pretty early in the morning and I seriously doubt she would still be awake. I tried to drill my head for information. 'Room 271…. No… wait… 273?' I thought as I rounded around the corner. I walked up to the door with a label that clearly wrote 273, and politely knocked.
No answer.
I was about to knock again when the door suddenly flung open and there stood my blond-haired sister, all dressed up and ready to go. "Wow… you got dressed up nicely." I remarked as I look at one of those business shirt with those ties that girls wear. Her hair was tied up in the back and she held onto a bag on her right hand. In other words… my half-sister was hot… I made a mental note to keep Connor away from my sister.
"Well… considering it's my first day of work, I thought I should at least dress up a bit." She answered.
"Glad you actually thought of that… or I was going to have to go shopping with you…" I groaned. "So you're ready to go?" I asked her.
"I've been ready half an hour ago." She answered and walked out of her dorm to lock the door.
"Don't blame me, I was here at least an hour ago, blame the school annoying corridor." I mumbled.
"You know… there's this amazing invention called the cell phone where you call the other person through radio waves so you could ask them where they are." Annabeth said sarcastically.
I mentally hit myself in the head, 'Why didn't I think of that!' I glared at her, but wasn't going to admit defeat that easily, "I was going to call you… it's just my phone ran out of battery." I lied smoothly. Just at that time my phone decided to ring, I mentally cursed under my breath while Annabeth raised an eyebrow while trying not to laugh.
"Sure does seem like it ran out of battery," She laughed.
I glared at her and picked up my phone, "Hello?" I said in a rather angry tone as Annabeth tried to keep her laughter down a tone.
"Percy, don't come to work right now, go to Ms. Collin's land." Michelle's voice blared through my phone.
"Wait what?" I asked obviously confused.
"She just read through the proposal and she wants to sign the contract." Michelle said the joy was evident in her voice.
I smiled as Annabeth looked at me weirdly, "Okay, give me the time," I told my secretary.
"11 o'clock sharp Percy, don't be late." Michelle warned me.
"I got it, don't worry there's still more than two hours before then." I told her. "I'll come to work at around noon." I told her and with that said I hung up. After putting my phone into my pocket I turned towards Annabeth, "So… did you eat breakfast?"
"What is it with you and food?" Annabeth asked me. "I've just seen you for about 5 minutes and you're already talking about food."
"I'm a growing boy!" I defended myself.
"You're already past the growing boy age…" Annabeth shot back.
"Whatever… fine… I guess breakfast is out of the picture… "I mumbled.
"I never said I didn't want breakfast," Annabeth retorted back.
"Would you make up your mind already?" I said as my stomach grumbled.
"Your stomach just gave us the answer." Annabeth laughed, "So you want to go to the school's university or somewhere else?"
"I'm feeling like a rebel… so onward to In-N-Out!" I grinned like a fool.
"Technically… it's not being a rebel… since we are allowed out of school campus…" Annabeth informed me.
"You just had to ruin my fun didn't you?" I mumbled sarcastically, even though inside I was actually pretty happy. Actually considering that the week had been pretty much workload, one after the other, a day hanging out with my sister, half-sister even was a break.
A few minutes later we sat on the counter inside the fast-food store munching on our burgers. "Don't we have to get to work soon?" Annabeth asked me as she finished halfway through her burger.
"In about thirty minutes," I answered taking a slurp out of my drink.
"I thought-"
"It's a special occasion, and plus, I think I'll need you to help talk through with Ms. Collin." I told her with a slight smile.
"So the point of my work is to follow you around?" Annabeth asked raising an eyebrow.
I shrugged, "Well, our old man prefers that I show you around the place… so yeah, you can say it's like that. So yeah, I kind of need you to talk to the lady, she would never agree to anything I say,"
"Well with the way you talk it would help to add a little human emotion to it…" She mumbled.
"What do you mean?" I asked obviously confused.
"I already told you before, with the way you talk, it seems as if money is all that matters, that's probably why Ms. Collin didn't accept the contract in the first place. Even though I can tell you have good intentions, with your showcase of talking about profit and such, those things only work on the rich greedy folks." She lectured me.
"I never said it's all about money," I tried to defend myself.
"I never said that you said it's all about money," She shot back as I gave her a confused look, "What I meant is, it wouldn't hurt to show a bit of humanity when you're talking to clients." She stated.
I thought about what she said, sure she's correct, but I've mostly been dealing with greedy rich millionaires, and… there haven't been much of those humanity stuff she keeps on mentioning in the business world. I sighed, knowing that whatever I say was just going to more contradicting then it already is, I stayed silent waiting for her to continue. Instead she kept quiet while eating her burger, her face was solemn as if she was thinking about something. Being the insensitive brother I am I simply just asked, "What are you thinking about?"
"What?" Her surprised face turned towards me.
"You just had that thinking face on," I pointed it out.
"Nothing," She said nervously. "Hey, you mind taking me to my friend's house before we head over to meet Ms. Collin?" She asked me.
I checked the time, "Sure, we got plenty of time, so are you okay? You look a bit pale."
"Yeah, I'm fine," She said aimlessly as her hand messed around with the necklace around her neck.
Okay…sooo… I don't like this chapter as much as the other chapter, because seriously… I had major writers block… and… this is the first time I actually couldn't agree with anything that I put down… usually I just get minor ones so this is a big new...I'm just like typing down something then erasing whole paragraph… my mind won't agree on anything… any ideas how to get rid of this? Anyways Read and Review! I can assure you the next one will be better! (probably?)
I'm sorry I can't answer the reviews now, I have to read To Kill A Mockingbird and do some projects… and I haven't even started, but I'll answer any questions or suggestion you guys have on the next update :D
Song: Fall For You by Second Serenade (such a sad and sweet song though it probably has nothing to do with this chapter, but I just love it so much :D)
Agent Astro Zombie