Annabeth
"We'll have to go down eventually," Percy says softly, rubbing circles into my shoulders. "You can't hide here forever."
I lift my face from the pillows. "Who said I was hiding?" Annabeth Chase doesn't hide from anything. She sucks it up and faces the day. I was just... Procrastinating. Yeah, procrastinating.
Percy raises an eyebrow and sighs. "Annabeth, I know how much you hate her. But if you stay in your room, she'll win."
I scowl. He's right, though I'd never tell him that. It might go to his head. There are a lot of things I'll never tell Percy. He thinks that I'm nervous for the wedding, and that's why I've been so jumpy and stressed out. I can never explain to him that it's not that, but rather that I'm planning to leave his life forever.
I'm not sure if Thalia knows of Carol's arrival, yet. A part of me hopes she doesn't, because that's another second that Thalia isn't involved in the mess, too. Each second she remains in the dark is another second she remains in the Summer Life. We've both formed identities this summer, and now we have to find the ones we left behind and put them back into use.
"Get out." I say, getting off of my bed.
Percy looks baffled. "What?"
Whoops, that sounded harsh. "Go change. Carol hates sweatpants. Put on something... Formal and stiff. The more uncomfortable the better." I form my hands into fists, dig my nails int my palms. "If we're going to survive this, we'll need to play the part."
I shove him towards the exit and plant a kiss in his confused lips before shutting the door in his face.
Percy
After she shuts the door in my face, I stand in the hallway for a few seconds in shock. Shaking my head rapidly, I walk to my room and go back to what Annabth said. "'Formal and stiff' she says. Well," I say, throwing open the door of my closet, "I'm sure I can find something." Fifteen minutes later, I'm dressed in a blue monkey suit and am struggling with the tie. I don't like the suit, and I think I've worn it once, to Frank's grandmother's eightieth birthday party two years ago. It still fits, so I can't complain about that.
I walk to Annabeth's room and knock in the door. A shout tells me to enter. I step inside to a world of madness.
Dresses litter every surface available, loud music plays in the bathroom, and Thalia sits on Annabeth's bed, offering advice.
"Don't wear that one! It's too casual! No, change the shoes! Not badass enough. Oh, hey Prissy." I nod in greeting, unable to take my eyes off the mess. Annabeth's more stressed than she'll admit, but she's not doing a good job of hiding it. Her room is typically spotless. Annabeth says something from the bathroom, and Thalia shouts again. "No, try the red ones! Carol will hate them!" The music stops abruptly.
"Okay! I'm decent," Annabeth calls, bounding out of the bathroom. My jaw nearly drops. She's always beautiful, but now... I don't have words to describe how hot she looks. The red tights accentuate the length of her legs, and the black dress is the same one she wore on our date to the Empire State Building. She's put back biker boots on her feet.
Annabeth looks strong. Annabeth looks stable. Annabeth looks ready to face the world.
She hits me upside the head. "Stop staring. My face is up here." Sheepishly, I nod. "Sorry." I'm acting like Leo, and there's a reason girls don't want to date Leo. Offering her my arm, I give a slight bow. "Ready for company, my lady?"
Annabeth bites her lip and steels her face. "Let's go, before I lose my nerve."
Arms linked, we stroll down the stairs like we're going to tea with the Queen. Maybe we are, if this was Alice in Wonderland and Carol was the Queen of Hearts.
Thalia
The Bitch Queen has arrived early. "And I haven't even had time to press my uniform." I muse. "What a shame."
I was so proud of Annabeth. She's finally decided to take charge of her own life and do what she wants, not necessarily what she's told. Her first step is standing up to Carol, which won't go over well. The next is the wonderful prank involving her brothers. After that? Well, we have a week to find out.
Percy takes Annabeth's arm and leads her down the stairs, while I follow behind. The entrance hall comes into view as we descend the stairs, and it's empty of any unwanted visitors. I lean forward slightly and whisper to Annabeth. "Where do you think they went?" Annabeth opens her mouth to answe back when a cackle is heard in a room off to the side. In my investigative tour of the house, I discovered the little-used parlor. When I asked Luke about it, he said it was only used when Old Lady Zhang came for social visits, which, as she grew older, were less frequent.
I slide past Percy and Annabeth on the stairs and lead the way to the parlor of horrors.
Annabeth
Thalia leads us into a formal living room, where Carol sits on a sofa, chatting with Poseidon over, who sits on a chair opposite her. He stands when we enter,setting his teacup on the end table.
"Percy, Annabeth, Thalia. We wondered when you'd arrive. Annabeth and Thalia, you already know our guest. Percy, this is Annabeth's stepmother, Carol."
Carol flashes a big, fake smile, and reaches out her hand for Percy to shake. "So this is the boy who'll be marrying our Annabeth." Percy's neck flushes. "Has she been any trouble?" I'm standing right here. No need to talk about me when you can talk to me.
Poseidon smiles back at her, just as fake. "Of course not. Annabeth's a lovely girl."
"Where are Bobby and Matthew?" Thalia asks, and for a good reason. They're little heathens, but Thals is capable of convincing them to put their heathen-like ways to good use. If ever we wanted to piss of Carol, they would be perfect helpers.
Carol sips her tea before answering. "I believe a girl named Silenna took them outside. They were too rambunctious after the flight, and couldn't bear to sit any longer." Thalia turns to leave, but Carol continues. "I think you ought to leave them alone, Thalia. They don't need your influence..." Realizing what she's said, Carol backtracks. "To, err, rile them up any further."
"I'd like to meet them," Percy says. "Do they show interest in music?" I nearly lose it then and there. He's so... formal. It's weird, but Percy wears it like a second skin. And it's kind of hot.
"They prefer to construct things and invent ideas." So... No.
I turn to Percy and grin. "I bet they'd like to meet Leo."
Thalia
"I bet they'd like to meet Leo." I'd bet they would. I bet that all three of them in the same room would release toxic waste and cause an explosion.
Carol gives a nervous laugh. "Perhaps." She's probably buzzed. The woman always did have a liking for champagne, and with a free supply on the plane... Plus, she could never hold her liquor.
Grover, the butler, enters the room and announces that supper is ready. Annabeth meets my eyes, then shares a look with Percy. He gives a slight nod in confirmation. Shit is about to go down.
A/N: hello! Finals are going rather well, though I have my math one tomorrow (eek!). More good news: I've been writing a lot. Chapters 35, 36, 37 are all written and just need tweaking. Also, I passed all my OGTs first time! (Not sure if you remember back in March, but I was stressed out over those.) passed them all with flying colors, so now I am allowed to graduate. (Excuse you, state of Ohio, I have not wasted thirteen years of my life in your cruddy school system to be told I'm not ALLOWED to graduate.)
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-Winter'sFangirl