PIPER hated the crowds.
They were just groups of insolent, idiotic, pampered-no-good-lazy Upper Zeuopolis brats. If only she were allowed to, Piper would probably spout insults at them all day. When they came to the shop and sneered at the clothes that had took Piper many sleepless nights to complete. When they made fun of her father, who would put on shows for them and sing until his voice cracked and he went hoarse for days. When they DARED to throw tomatoes and such at him.
Once, when Piper was fourteen, she'd punched a snobby elite Athena gentleman for throwing a rotten cabbage. The man had whapped her around the head with his umbrella until his wife suppressed him.
In general, Piper hated all residents of Zeuopolis, which leaded to her deep hatred of crowds. Unfortunately, there was a huge one around their house today.
"PIPES!" Piper's dad bellowed from downstairs. "I NEED YOU DOWN HERE!"
Piper pretended not to hear him. She lay on her creaking bed and sighed, staring at the ceiling. The peach-colored paint had already started peeling drastically, despite it having been spread up there only three weeks previously. Piper blamed it on the strong weather that frequently wracked Lower Zeuopolis.
Other than the color on the ceiling, Piper's room was barren and faded. A cracked dresser, a falling-apart closet, her own bed. There wasn't much to see.
Oh, apart from the window.
That was where Piper headed now. She heaved herself off the bed and leaned onto the windowsill, cut right into the grey stone wall. There were no curtains and no glass to protect Piper from falling to her death, which had been a serious problem when she was little and could still fit through the window.
Piper peered out onto the narrow streets. Zeuopolis was like a quilt, built of many different styles. Lower Zeuopolis was formed of thin roads, packed with people and any sort of store or stand. Though it was a dump, Piper's neighborhood was colorful and attracted many tourists and rich folks.
Piper and her dad's house was carved out of grey stone. It was the kind of place that should have been viewed as very special, but most people thought it was a horrible choice of housing. Piper kind of agreed; the stone was freezing cold in the winter, and her window couldn't support glass or hinges. It couldn't ever close. Even so, Piper's dad adored the old place.
"Nobody has a house quite like ours!" he'd say, his voice full of pride.
Piper's favorite spot was her window. It was so high up, she could see as far as the neat-kept Athena Area- and even the Great Castle itself, where King Zeus and bratty Prince Jason dwelled. Piper detested them both.
Piper now looked straight down. A crowd (the kind she hated) had formed around the entrance to her shop. There must be something crazy going on.
"PIPER MCLEAN, I DISTINCTLY REMEMBER CALLING YOU DOWN HERE FIVE MINUTES AGO!"
Piper sighed, but admitted to herself that a group like this could make serious money.
"COMING!" she yelled back to her father, and stalked out of her room.
She skidded down the dark hallway in her threadbare socks and rushed down the old stairs, taking care not to put on too pressure lest they break. She emerged behind the counter and immediately regretted not changing out of her tatty clothes.
The shop was filled with customers, all dressed in finery. Nobody gave her any attention as they browsed the dresses and accessories. Piper ducked behind the table, glad of the summer she'd boarded up the sides. Now she was invisible to the shoppers' eyes.
"Piper?" her dad stepped out of the storage room, a crate of hats in his arms. He was devilishly handsome, and Piper hated that. Girls at school swooned over him, which was really awkward. The women who shopped at the store always seemed interested in a romantic relationship with him, even though he was her DAD. And Piper looked like a girl from a different planet compared to him. They shared the same skin color (they were Cherokee Indians), but that was all.
"I'm here." Piper whispered, raising her hand ever so slightly.
Her father laughed quietly. "Pull that dress over you, Pipes, and come on out. The show is starting."
He gestured towards a Tiffany Blue dress that lay draped across a chair beside Piper. Groaning, she slipped it on.
Piper was tying the sash when she registered her father's words.
"DAD!" Piper said, scrambling after him into the storage room.
"What?"
"You're putting on a show?!"
Piper's dad sighed sadly and leaned against the other crates. He gazed at his daughter, his eyes full of regret, caressing her cheek.
"Pipes, you know I do these things for you. I want you to have a better life than I could ever have."
Piper swatted his hand away, fury burning in her chest.
"No, dad. STOP THIS. I don't CARE if it's for my future! You don't know what it's like to be down there and see them laugh, or… or throw thing, or hear half the things they say…" Her eyes were stinging with angry tears now, but she pushed them back. "You can't keep doing these things. It's AWFUL. MY FUTURE IS LOST ANYWAY, DAD! THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO! YOU PROMISED YOU WOULDN'T!"
"Piper-"
"NO!"
The tears flew freely now, and Piper stormed out into the shop. She didn't care if the customers saw her cry. She didn't care about anything.
In fact, she didn't care so much that she didn't CARE where she was going and knocked right into a man.
"Well!" he said, latching his cold fingers onto Piper's shoulders. She struggled against the sudden attack, but couldn't wriggle away from him.
"What have we here?"