FINALLY!

I had no idea how I could have been so clueless so as to pulverize the girl protocol (in the words of a certain reader ;) so I have corrected it! I just winced reading my own writing…ugh.

Time for the new chapter, and time for Annabeth to go to the ball in style!

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Chapter 3: Masked Masquerade

*Annabeth POV*

The phone rang as I finished my math homework. "Hello?" I asked, picking it up.

"ANNABETH! WE ARE IN SUCH BIG TROUBLE!"

I winced as I held the phone away from my ear. I should have checked the caller ID.

"Alice, calm down. What is it?" I asked. Alice was my best friend at Goode. We both took art class together, and had become close over a period of time. She was absolutely fashion-crazy, and loved to go shopping. Her ambition was to become a fashion designer.

Unfortunately, her victim on these expeditions was normally me.

I loved her, but at times I felt like strangling her. "Annabeth, look at the calendar."

I looked at it. "Yes, it's May 24th, so what?"

"SO WHAT?" she shrieked in my ear again. "THE BALL!"

Holy Hades. The ball.

It was less than two weeks away. And I still didn't have a dress! How could I have forgotten?

"Oh crap, Alice. What are we going to do?"

I heard her take a deep breath. "We are going to go shopping. This weekend. Okay?"

"Okay." Hopefully, I would be able to find a dress I liked in time.

Somebody. Kill. Me.

Never underestimate Alice. She was like an indestructible little tank that just destroyed every obstacle in her path. She was unstoppable.

This was the twelfth dress I was trying on in half an hour. And I was seriously going to lose it soon.

The theme for the ball was 'Masked Masquerade'. It was a masked ball, which meant that we needed princess dresses, according to Alice, and sequined masks. I had given up about two hours ago, and let her handle everything.

She was extremely pretty with her long dark hair and sparkling blue eyes, but she could be an absolute terror when she wanted to be. I had no idea how her boyfriend Thomas could deal with her.

Just a few hours shopping with her could drive me mad.

"Alice, I really need a break. Why don't you try on dresses for a while?" Alice looked torn. She really wanted to find the perfect dress for herself, but at the same time was too selfless.

"Ali, it's okay. Let me help you. I'm sick and tired of trying on dress after dress anyway."

"Okay, then," she conceded. There were loads of other girls here, and I recognized quite a few from Goode. The shop we were in was famous for its costumes, especially catering to masquerades.

"How does this look?" Alice asked, holding up a floor-length red dress. I looked at it and nodded. "Try it on." Alice was always bright and cheerful; any dress she wore would reflect her personality.

"I don't like it Annabeth!" she called from inside the change room. "Are there any others out there?"

"Let me check!" I yelled back. "Hold on."

Alice's favourite colour was purple (like someone else I know ;), so I searched through the purple dresses, looking for something which was elegant yet chic at the same time.

That was when I found a beautiful purple dress. It had a strap over one shoulder, and stuck to the waist but flowed out beautifully to the floor after that. It would be perfect for Alice.

"Try this, Alice!" I handed her the purple dress and it's adjoining sequined mask before looking for something for myself. Unlike Alice, I liked the darker colours. I preferred something in dark blue, which always seemed classy to me.

I had just rejected another dress when Alice came out of the change room. I turned and smiled. As I had thought, the dress was perfect for her. It accentuated her slim waist, and had ruffles on the skirt. The sequined mask brought out her shining blue eyes.

"It's lovely Alice," I said sincerely. "I love it. Do you?"

"I absolutely do, Annabeth!" she said ecstatically. "Thank you so much! I love this dress!" she cried as she came over and hugged me. I gently hugged her back, taking care not to crease the dress.

Then she smiled wickedly. "Now it's your turn!"

Uh-oh.

"Alice! I told you I didn't want anything strapless!"

I had nothing against strapless dresses, but I didn't particularly like wearing them. They always seemed too uncomfortable to me.

"Okay, okay," I heard her call from outside. "Hold on, I really loved this dress. Maybe you'll like it. Here!"

I took the dress she handed me and locked the door of the changing room to try it on. I put it on carefully, zipping it up with utmost caution. The last thing I wanted was to damage it.

The dress was smooth and silky against my skin. I looked in the full-length mirror-and instantly fell in love.

It was a dark blue halter dress, with sequins along the bodice, just till the waist, where it flared out to the floor, arranged in neat ruffles. I gently pulled on the mask and looked at myself in the mirror.

I actually looked beautiful. I loved it.

I stepped outside to let Alice see. Her eyes widened and she smiled. "That's it! It's the perfect dress."

"It is, isn't it?" I murmured, looking down at the dress again.

Alice's eyes sparkled mischievously. "Don't worry Annabeth, Percy will be absolutely floored."

"So will Thomas," I teased, and we burst into laughter.

- Two Weeks Later –

The doorbell rang at five. I went to open it and was assaulted by a little hurricane.

Namely, Alice.

She was carrying her two bags with her and rushed into my apartment, setting everything down and sighing. "Okay, Annabeth we need to get to work!"

Not even a "Hey, Annabeth." Nope, Alice got straight to business. "Get to work for what, exactly?"

"The ball, of course!"

"But it only starts at 7.30! That's two and a half hours away!"

Alice looked at me like I was crazy. "Only two and a half hours! We're already late! Oh, hi Mrs Chase."

My stepmother had come into the living room to find out what the commotion was about. She smiled. "Alice, how many times have I told you to call me Helen?"

"Sorry, Helen!"

"It's quite all right, dear. I was kidding. I take it you're here to prepare Annabeth for the ball?"

"Yup!" Alice declared proudly. "I have decided she needs my help."

Helen laughed. "Well, you two girls have fun!"

"We will!"

With that, Alice picked up her supplies, took me firmly by the arm and marched me to my room. "Go take a shower," she commanded. "Once you're out, we'll start on your hair and makeup."

"Yes, Hitler," I muttered under my breath as I headed to the bathroom. You just gotta love Alice.

I had finally been deemed "Alice-worthy."

In the time I had taken to bath, she had set out all of her torture devices-a.k.a, makeup supplies.

She had just finished giving me a manicure on my toes and fingers, and was now getting to work on my hair.

"Thank God your hair is naturally wavy. There's no need for the curling iron," she said, holding a lethal-looking instrument in her hands. I shuddered. "I'd much rather you not use anything on my hair."

"I'm not going to, silly. Now relax."

I lay back and let Alice do her thing. In fifteen minutes, she had braided it intricately and tied it up into a stylish half-ponytail.

"Okay, now it's time to put on your dress!" Alice all but squealed with excitement. She was already dressed in the pretty purple gown she had picked out.

I gently slipped on the dress and Alice helped me to zip it up. She turned to look at me. "You're perfect!" she cried. "Just a little touch-ups…"

She brushed some glittery blue eyeshadow on my eyelids, and handed me some lip-gloss, which I applied and then slipped into my dark blue clutch.

We were ready.

*Percy POV*

"I still don't know why you want to tag along," I told Nico as I checked my reflection in the mirror again.

"I have nothing else to do anyway," Nico shrugged. "No one will see me if I shadow travel. And Percy, your reflection isn't going to change even if you look into it another hundred times. You might as well stop it."

I punched him on the shoulder.

The moment I went downstairs, my mom got all teary. "My little boy's going to prom!" she said, hugging me tightly. I patted her on the back as she sobbed happily.

I shot Paul a look begging him to rescue me. Much as I loved my mom, I really wanted to see Annabeth.

"Come on, Sally," he said, leading her away. "Percy definitely doesn't want to be late for his date with Annabeth. He's absolutely dying to meet her right now."

My mom and Paul exchanged smirks.

Trying my best to ignore my fiery cheeks, I waved goodbye to Mom and Paul before walking out to my new car, which Paul had recently got for me. It was a Prius, same as his, but in a metallic blue. I already loved it.

Annabeth, Alice, Thomas and I were going to prom together. Thomas was already waiting at his house when I pulled up. Tom and I had become close friends after Annabeth and Alice were.

He was rather quiet but he suited bubbly Alice perfectly. And he had a really wicked sense of humour. To be honest, I applauded anyone who could manage Alice. She was a little ball of energy.

"Man, I thought you were never going to show up!" Thomas complained before he got in. I rolled my eyes. Tom's dad still refused to get him a car-something he was still disgruntled about-which is why he and Alice were going with us.

He had already apologized a thousand times but I didn't mind.

We chatted about which colleges we were going to apply to before we drew up in front of Annabeth's apartment building. We both fell quiet as we approached her apartment, where the girls would be waiting for us.

I rang the doorbell.

Mrs Chase opened it and smiled at both of us. "Well, thank god you're finally here. Annabeth and Alice have been going absolutely crazy."

We chuckled as we stepped into the apartment. "Girls!" Mrs Chase yelled. "Percy and Thomas are here!"

We waited anxiously.

Tom's eyes widened when Alice walked rather nervously into the room. She was wearing a beautiful purple dress, and her eyes lit up when she saw Thomas. She walked over and hugged him.

"You look beautiful, Alice," I heard him murmur and Alice giggled. I didn't hear her response because that was when Annabeth walked into the room.

I was pretty sure I was staring at her like an idiot.

She looked amazing. Her hair was tied up in a half-ponytail, spilling over her shoulders. The dark blue dress she was wearing swept the floor as she walked. She looked up and saw me, and she smiled-a beautiful, breath-taking smile.

She hugged me tightly and I kissed the top of her head.

"You look…amazing, Annabeth."

She giggled. "You don't look so bad yourself. For once."

I rolled my eyes and kissed her lightly.

I suddenly heard a series of clicks, and turned to find our parents standing behind us, beaming.

"Mom? What are you doing here?" I heard Alice gasp.

Elizabeth, Alice's mother, smiled. "Oh darling, you look absolutely beautiful!" she cried enveloping petite Alice in a hug. "You didn't really think I was going to miss your prom night, did you?"

I should've known.

We all took pictures together; the boys, then the girls. We were shunted aside as all the attention was focused on the girls. Thomas and I were happy to remain in the background as Alice and Annabeth smiled and posed for photos.

Then we each had to take a picture with our respective date. I walked forward and gently pulled Annabeth to my side. I placed my hand on her waist and she leaned her head on my shoulder.

"Try another pose!" Mom said after clicking a couple of pictures. I could hear Alice and Thomas being subjected to something similar on the other side of the living room.

"Mom, if we don't leave now we're going to be late."

"Just one more picture?" my mom and Mrs Chase asked together. Annabeth stepped closer to me, and hugged me tightly, the top of her head just brushing my jaw.

I leaned my head on top of hers and wrapped my arms tightly around her. We stayed like that as our parents got all the pictures they wanted.

I never wanted to let her go.

"Thank god that's over," Alice sighed from the backseat. "I was beginning to think they were never going to let us leave."

Annabeth laughed. "I know!"

Tom pulled Alice to his side and kissed her head. "At least you have plenty of pictures to remember this night now, don't you?"

Alice's eyes brightened at that. "Yes! And I can stick them in my scrapbook!"

We all laughed at how excited Alice sounded.

I was driving, but I reached over and took Annabeth's hand, intertwining our fingers. She didn't complain but leaned forward and changed the radio station.

"SUPER BASS!" Alice screeched. "I love this song!"

Alice started to sing(very off-key might I add) and Annabeth joined in right on cue.

Thomas laughed and rolled his eyes at me. I sighed dramatically.

Oh, the sacrifices we make.

*Annabeth POV*

The ballroom looked amazing.

We snapped on our sequined masks and turned to Percy and Thomas, who looked like the Musketeers with the mask on them. Everyone was there, and the DJ was playing a lively dance tune as we stepped in.

I was about to get a drink when I noticed a dark figure at the corner of the room. He looked very familiar. Dark T-shirt, dark jeans, dark messy hair…

Of course. Nico.

"Why's Nico here?" I whispered to Percy as we sipped our drinks. "He's bored," Percy shrugged. "I figured it was better he come here than spend his time in the Underworld. That's all he ever does anyway."

I felt sorry for Nico. It must be depressing just hanging around dead people all the time.

At that moment, the song changed to a slow romantic number. I recognized the tune; it was from Titanic, one of my all-time favourite movies. After I watched it the first time, I drew up a sketch of how I would have designed the ship, without all the flaws that the actual architect made.

That's when Percy gently took my hand and led me onto the dance floor, where Alice and Thomas were already dancing. I smiled and placed my hand in his as he pulled me close to him and wrapped his arm around my waist.

At that moment, I remembered the last time we had danced together and I laughed.

"What's so funny?" Percy asked me. "Westover Hall," I said, smiling. "Don't you remember?" I asked him. "It was the first time we ever danced together."

"Of course. It was so awkward, especially because you were slightly taller than me," he replied. "Slightly?" I asked, raising my eyebrow quizzically. "Okay, maybe quite a bit taller than me," Percy admitted.

I smirked. "That's girl power."

Percy rolled his eyes. "I still remember Thalia dancing with Grover. That was quite probably the funniest thing I'd seen in my life."

"Yeah!" I joined in. "I thought she was going to kill him every time he stepped on her feet."

"It wasn't so funny when you were taken," Percy said, growing serious. "It was quite possibly one of the worst nights of my life."

If I didn't stop him, I knew Percy would go on another guilt trip about how he could have saved me, but didn't.

"Percy," I said, my voice soft. "If I had never been taken, we would all have died. I don't regret saving you and Thalia."

"But just-" he began, looking tortured.

"Percy," I said, my voice firm, "we can sit here and argue about this all night, or we can enjoy the evening. What do you want?"

He grinned at me. "Enjoy the evening with a beautiful lady such as yourself, of course."

"You should have been the god of flattery," I teased as he spun me around. "You're way too good at it."

"It's just natural talent," Percy smiled smugly. I was about to retort, when my eyes locked on something near the drinks table. "Percy," I said in disbelief, pointing to the refreshment corner, "please tell me you see that too?"

Percy looked in the direction I was pointing. "No freaking way!" he exclaimed. "Is that Nico? With a girl?" he asked in disbelief. "It is!" I said, half-shocked, half-amazed. Nico liked a girl?

From what I could see, she was pretty, with long brown hair that fell to mid-chest. They were both deeply engaged in conversation.

"Well, Annabeth," said Percy. "It looks like you're right. This is way different from the last time we were at a dance together. And thankfully, there's no monster this time."

At that moment, there was a series of screams from the girl's toilets, right at the end of the hall.

That couldn't be good.

"Um, Percy?" I said turning around to see couple of girls run out of the bathroom, screaming hysterically. "Maybe you shouldn't have said that."

So…was it good? Or better, at least?

And yes, Alice is based off Alice Cullen from Twilight. And to the very rude guest reviewer, this story is NOT a rip-off of Twilight. It is based on it, but the plot is most definitely mine, apart from Rick Riordan, of course.

Please know the facts before you write anything, thank you very much. And if you hated the story that much, why did you even keep reading it?

To everyone else out there, please review! It makes my day!

Till next time!