"If you only live once, stay in the clouds. Never come down, trust me." -Forever the Sickest Kids, 'Nikki'
Annabeth
Thalia's being overdramatic again. We've already run through the house, which was disruptive enough. Then she has to go grabbing utensils off the dining room table, threatening people, and crashing into rooms.
There's a group of boys in this particular room. All three of them stand still, wide-eyed and confused. A tall blond one with intense blue eyes, a shorter Hispanic one with elf ears, and a tall, buff Asian boy with a kind smile.
Percy introduces us. Turns out that they're his bandmates. I recognize them from the pictures I saw on the plane three days ago; it feels like a lifetime. Jason, Leo ("but you can call me stud muffin"), and Frank.
"Nice to meet you. You'll please have to excuse us, Thalia and I need to locate the dining room and return the utensils." I back out of the room slowly, grabbing Thalia's wrist and pulling her along.
"I can show you-" Percy offers, but I cut him off.
"No, I think we've got it. Thanks, though."
The second we're through the doors, Thalia starts giggling like a madman. "What?" I ask. What had gotten into her today? The normally serious Thalia had abandoned her wall of steel for... Childhood memories? Do they put something in the water here?
"You like him." Not accusatory, just stating a fact.
Of course I protest. "I most certainly do not! He's..." Funny. Handsome. Awkward. Adorable. "An idiot! He can't even manage to have a three-minute conversation, and I hardly know him."
There's that look again. The one Thalia has perfected over the past years. The one that calls out your crap. It's a sort of raised eyebrow, and her lips pinch together, and her eyes narrow slightly. "Uh-huh," she says sarcastically. Then her eyes light up with an idea. I get the feeling that I won't enjoy this idea. "Then maybe you should get to know him. Go on a date."
"A date. With..." Percy?! I can't do that! If I go on a date with him, I might start feeling something for him! "Are you insane? I have absolutely no desire to get to..."
There's a voice behind us. "Hey. You guys need help finding the kitchen?"
Excuse my French, but holy shit.
Thalia
Annabeth freezes and her face pales when Percy calls from down the hall. She was in the middle of making up explanations as to why she was not attracted to a certain someone. I glance at her face and have to keep myself from laughing. She looks constipated. I'm not even sure she's capable of speaking. She's got it bad. "Oh, I wasn't going to the kitchen. Annabeth was going to drop the forks off and then go to the gardens, isn't that right Annabeth?" I was really expecting a response to that, but there no reaction. Maybe I broke her? Only one way to tell... "She was wondering if you could show her how together there."
Percy, being a gentleman, accepts. He starts to lead Annabeth back to the other door at the end of the hall, and only then does she begin to show any sort if emotion- her brow furrows and she blinks furiously. But it's too late, she's been roped into this and is so docile that she won't refuse.
The second they dispense around the corner, I let free the laughter that had been building. When will she realize what she wants?
Percy
I lead Annabeth out to the garden. The sun is beginning to set, just barely. We walk along the path and admire the plants; after a while we sit down on a bench in front of some yellow roses.
"So..."
"So..."
We're at a standstill again. This can't keep happening. We're never gong to make any progress if we can't say more than a few words to each other. I make the decision right then and there to start over. I hold out my hand. "Hi. My name is Percy Jackson. What's your name?"
Annabeth looks at me like I'm crazy. "Just play along." I stage whisper. The setting sun illuminates Annabeth's features in a new kind of light; her skin takes on a peachy glow.
"Okay?" She laughs, then places her hand in mine. She has a firm grip.
"I'm Annabeth Chase. Pleasure to meet you." A small smile.
"So, Annabeth Chase, what was that game you were playing earlier? It appeared to entertain Thalia." To be honest, it looked fun. After my mom died when I was five, I had stopped acting like a kid; stopped playing and took to just sitting and staring out the window. My dad became wrapped up in work, throwing his devastation of losing my mother into his work. I'll never forget the time I had bad dreams and no one came to soothe me. I'd woken crying and was too scared to go back to sleep, so I had wandered to his room. He'd moved into a guest room for the time being. I'd peeked from outside the door, he was crying. It scared me because daddies didn't cry.
I pushed the door open and walked in. He looked up and saw me. I hadn't seen him much the past few weeks. He was always busy, leaving the house before I got up and returning after I went to bed. Even when he was home, he wouldn't look at me. Really look at me. I was merely an object in his vision, like a lamp in your living room that blends into the background.
He saw me then. I was noticed, even if it was just barely. "Percy, why are you out of bed?"
"Daddy, I can't sleep. I had a bad dream." His face softened a bit; later, I'd learn that he had nightmares as well.
"What about, bud?"
"The accident." It had been only a month before, and at first I had been fine. But now the memories kept resurfacing. Tears came to my eyes. "I miss Mommy."
Dad had started crying too, and we'd sat on his bed and grieved together. "I know it hurts, Percy. I miss her too."
"Can I sleep with you?" I asked him. That one night, he obliged.
Things became different after that. He started coming home more often, making a point to at least talk to me for thirty minutes a day, minimum. Sometimes he'd read me a story, sometimes we'd take a weekend for a special trip to a park and dig for dinosaur bones.
"It's called Adventurers. Thalia and I used to play it in California when we were younger. Basically, we'd pretend we were a team of heroes off to rescue whoever needed saving and battling dangerous obstacles along the way."
"So, orphans and a lava pit?"
She laughs; a light, musical sound. "Yeah. Exactly like orphans and a lava pit, though the most common one was the princess and the perilous mountain." We've moved closer towards each other with each sentence, leaning into the words. Our knees touch. "We called ourselves Annabeth the Wise and Thalia the Brave."
Annabeth the Wise... So fitting. I'm unprepared for the question she asks next. "What games did you play as a kid?"
"I never really..."
"Never? No make believe, tag, hide-and-seek?" I shake my head. "Not even hide-and-seek? Percy, you haven't lived! Are your friends still inside?"
I realize that I've left Jason, Frank, and Leo inside by themselves. Whoops. "Yeah, I think so."
"Go get them, we're going to play tag. I'll get Thalia."
Ten minutes later, I find myself dashing around the yard, trying to avoid Leo. So this is what tag is like. After that, we play hide-and-seek in the garden. I find myself sharing a hiding spot with Annabeth, up in the branches of a tree. Thalia's clear on the other side of the path, by the fountain. She's managed to find Leo so far.
"So, how's childhood?" Annabeth whispers from a few branches above me. She's ditched her shoes, the bottoms of her feet are tinged green from sliding in the grass.
"It's awesome!" And it is. I haven't had this much fun since I don't know when. "Shouldn't we be quiet? Won't Thalia find us?"
"Hmm? Oh, nah, not Thals. She's all the way over there." Annabeth points. It happens so fast. In her quest to see Thalia's location through the branches, she's leaned back a tad too far and unseated herself. I hear her body hit the ground. And she doesn't get up.
"Annabeth!" I jump from the tree. She was a few feet higher than I was. Did she hit her head on a branch? Is she knocked out? Annabeth lets out a groan. Okay, she's not knocked out. That's good, right? "Annabeth! Are you okay?" Of course not, you idiot. She just fell from a tree! Jason, Leo, and Thalia come running. Frank's trying to get off the top of the gazebo.
She mumbles something.
"What?" Should I try to pick her off the ground? Should I wait to see if she's hurt her back or neck?
"I said I'm fine. My back hurts, though I don't think I've broken anything." That's good, isn't it? I help her sit up, and the motion makes her clutch her head. "Dizzy. Headache. Ow."
"Okay, I think playtime is over for today. Let's get you in the house." So we can call a doctor. Could she have a concussion? Argh, why didn't I pay more attention in health class during that unit on injuries? I help Annabeth up, and she leans on my shoulder as we had towards the back door.