Hi! So, review, maybe?
I looked at my reflection in the mirror quickly. I was about to go to Sally's apartment for dinner. My black hair was put into a messy but nice-looking fishtail, and my green eyes looked a bit blue in the light. I loved my eye color: it was the only thing about myself that I liked. They changed color from bright sea green to a murky-aqua color. They reminded me of the ocean. I had my favorite mermaid at 3 tank top and a pair of AE jean shorts I got from the clearance section. After all, it was one of those days that were a bajillion degrees even with air conditioning. I grabbed my ancient leather bucket bag and, putting my old converse on, left the apartment.
About fifteen minutes later, I found myself outside of Sally's door. I rang the doorbell once. I twirled my fishtail nervously. The door came open. I gasped at the figure.
The boy was about my age. And he was basically the male version of me. He had the same skin tone, hair color, even eye color. He stared at me, equally freaked out. I cleared my throat.
"Ummm…" I said awkwardly. Then I stuck out my hand. "I'm Arielle." He stuttered.
"Wh-wh-wha?" He was clearly a bit slow. I smirked a tiny bit. Then a tan, blonde girl came up to him and punched his shoulder.
"Don't be rude seaweed brain," she said teasingly to him. She turned her stormy gray eyes to me and took my hand and shook it. "Hi, I'm Annabeth, and the guy gaping like a fish is Percy. Come on in." Despite her lighthearted tone, I could almost see the gears whirring in her head, trying to put the pieces together. I knew she was not someone I wanted to mess with. I walked in, smiling slightly at them. So this was Percy. Sally was right: we did look alike. As I walked in, I heard Percy talking.
"Annabeth, do you think…" He spoke in a hushed tone, but I still heard him.
"I don't know. But she seems nice, despite you being a total idiot and just standing there in the doorway!" I saw a flash of dark hair out of the corner of my eye.
"Arielle, you came!" I heard Sally say from the kitchen. I smiled at her as she took something out of the oven.
"Hi Miss Sally," I said. "Do you need any help?"
"No thank you, sweetie. Just take a seat in the living room over there." I walked into the room and sat on the couch, which Percy and Annabeth were already crashed out on. I sat on the edge with my feet curled up underneath me. My fingers drummed anxiously against my thighs: whenever I was stressed out or thinking hard about something, the ADHD that normally never showed up was visible. None of us were talking.
"So…" I said, trying to diffuse the tension. "Um, New York's cool."
"It is," Percy agreed. I was waiting for him to elaborate, but he never did.
"Please excuse Percy, he's just a bit slow," Annabeth said.
"Hey!" he protested. "Am not!" I started laughing. "Do you have ADHD or Dyslexia?" He blurted. Annabeth's smile wiped off her face.
"Seaweed brain, you can't just ask someone if they-"
"I had severe dyslexia and ADHD as a kid," I interrupted. "But now my dyslexia is gone and my ADHD isn't a problem."
"How did you get over your dyslexia?" Annabeth asked, curious. "I've been trying and trying to get rid of mine but I can't." I shrugged.
"I made myself read and read until the letters just stopped swirling around." Silence fell over us again. I was about to ask the question I've been dying to ask since I arrived when I was saved from awkwardness by the doorbell.
"I'll go get that," Percy said, almost leaping up from the couch and running to the door.
"So, where are you from?" I asked Annabeth.
"San Francisco," she said.
"Oh wow, that must've been awesome," I replied. "I've always wanted to go there and visit the Golden Gate Bridge."
"I know, right? The architectural structure," she said, her eyes blazing with excitement. She began talking about the supports, and all of the little details of the bridge itself. I actually was able to understand most of what she was saying: most of our tech-ed class in middle school was architecture. While she was talking about why the cables were able to support such weights, Percy walked in with another guy. He had bright blue eyes with a ring of warm topaz around the pupil. He was laughing, and chatting with Percy as if they were best friends.
"Ari?" He said, gasping.
"Conor!" I said, slightly relieved to see him. He gave me a huge smile and plopped down on the couch, giving me a hug.
"Hey! I thought you were busy today!"
"Yeah, with this," I replied. "Are you stalking me or something?"
"Definitely," he replied cheekily. He turned to Annabeth and Percy. "How do you know Ari?" He asked curiously, a weird look coming into his eyes.
"We just met today," Percy replied.
"Oh," he replied. "She's cool, I promise." I elbowed him. "What? That was a compliment!" He complained.
"I can talk for myself, Con." I chastised him. Annabeth laughed, and I joined. The atmosphere immediately lightened and we got more comfortable with each other.
Dinner went without a hitch. We all became pretty chatty and I found myself warming up to Annabeth and Percy. They were really nice people.
When we were saying goodbye, Conor invited Annabeth and Percy to Times Square with us. I was happy: I wanted to get to know them more. For all I knew, Percy could be some relative of mine. I never really knew about my father and who he was. And Annabeth was cool.
Conor insisted on walking me home, which was sweet. Lately, I wish he would make a move. Sometimes, his fingers would brush mine, and we'd sometimes bump shoulders, but nothing else.
"So I'll see you tomorrow?" Conor said as we arrived at my apartment. I nodded. "Okay then, bye." He said, kissing me on the cheek and quickly walking away.
"Hey!" I protested. He just laughed. With a goofy grin on my face, I went to bed. And that night, I had no nightmare.
Thanks for reading? Review, please?