Percy
I can't help but feel a sense of unease as I look at the sky the next morning. It's a misty gray, which is okay, but the dark churning clouds covering most of it? Not so much. I've always hated storms, and it looks like we're in for one today. I hope it holds off until later; Annabeth and I have to drive to Jason's, and I refuse to get in any moving vehicle when it rains.
After showering and getting dressed, I find my way to the dining room. Carol is absent, and Silenna sits with the two stepbrothers (Marrick and Barney? What were their names?), who are making syrup rivers in their pancakes.
Glancing at the clock on the wall, I wonder where Annabeth is. We're supposed to leave in fifteen minutes, and I thought she'd already be here.
Annabeth
I wake later than planned. Honestly, I would have slept longer if it weren't for Thalia's incessant knocking, and then her shouts. "Get up! Get up! Annabeth!"
I'd rolled over with a groan, thrown a pillow over my head. "Five more minutes," I'd mumbled.
She'd ripped the pillow from my hands and stolen my blankets. "Get up. Carol's going to nag."
Bleary-eyed and disoriented, I shot out of bed. Glancing at the clock on the night table, I curse. "The alarm didn't go off! I was supposed to be up an hour ago!" Tripping over the discarded blankets on the floor, I curse again. "Gods damn it!" I don't have time for this. If I want to escape the stepmother's company for the day, I need to leave ten minutes ago. Running to the bathroom and grabbing my hairbrush, I begin to panic. Ripping the brush through my tendrils of bedhead, I begin questioning Thalia. "Is Carol up?"
So much for my hair. I hurriedly brush my teeth and rinse my face.
"No. She had a lot of wine, so I'd give it another twenty minutes before World War III." Thalia tosses a pair of capris and a plaid headband on my bed while I dig through the closet.
I need a shirt. Where are my shirts? Whipping my head around, I stare at Thalia. "What's the weather?" I've located three; now I need to decide between them.
She answers promptly. "Hot. Looks like it'll storm this afternoon. Kinda muggy."
Grabbing the sleeveless brown top, I start to get dressed in the closet.
"Need anything else?" Thalia asks, lingering at the door.
One thought immediately comes to mind. "Stall Carol."
Percy
I'm sitting in the uncomfortable stares of Annabeth's brothers when she comes bounding down the stairs, frenzied and out of breath.
"Ready to go?" She asks, gulping down a glass of juice and snagging a piece of toast.
There's a story behind her appearance, but it isn't one we have time for. "Yeah. Garage is that way."
Annabeth
I regret the orange juice immediately after swallowing it. Mint toothpaste and juice of the orange are not a combination I recommend, unless you're looking to vomit.
Percy flings the truck doors open, we scramble in, and he starts driving.