The Shopping Trip

Dun, dun, dun!

I have a little moment in paragraph three in which I go crazy, so just warning you beforehand so you can't say I didn't warn you.

Also, this chapter is OOC. Just letting you know.

Disclaimer: AnnabethChase5450 is to owning PJO and HP as she is to being a year old when she writes this.

Percy's POV

Chiron and Dumbledore were taking the guys shopping, while Chiron had called a goddess to help the girls since Professor McGonagall refused to chaperone them by herself. Guess who volunteered? Aphrodite is the girls' chaperone along with McGonagall. I am so happy that I am not a girl! I was curious to see what the goddess of love and beauty will force Annabeth into, though. No matter what Annabeth picks out, I'm sure she'll look stunning.

Dumbledore's first attempt at normal clothing was hilarious. He was wearing this burnt-orange jacket over a yellow and black polka dotted shirt. His pants were zebra striped bell-bottoms, and he was wearing leather boots (A/N actually, it was dragon hide, but Percy doesn't know that). Everyone gaped at him, and the Aphrodite Cabin covered their eyes so they didn't have to see such a disgrace to fashion. Chiron shook his head sadly and picked out some normal clothes for him. The beard would attract enough attention as it is, along with the long hair down his back.

Dumbledore was now wearing khaki pants and a loose light blue short-sleeved shirt (A/N my grandfather wears stuff like this, so I'm basing the clothes off his). It still looked a little weird, but it was at least more modern. Mr. D was staying here; he refused to go shopping with us, and said that if any of us tried to get him to come, we would be eternally unfortunate. I wouldn't have asked him to come anyway. (Imagines Dionysus shopping….AH THE HORROR! TIGER AND LEOPARD PRINT SHIRTS EVERYWHERE! NO!*shudders*)

Dumbledore and Chiron loaded the guys on one charter bus, while Aphrodite and McGonagall got the girls on another. Aphrodite wanted limos, but that would draw more attention than we need. We can pretend to be a summer camp on a field trip through the city in these buses. I sat next to Grover, and Harry and Ron sat in the seat behind us. Ron was complaining about the trip while Harry was banging his head against the window. Tyson wasn't coming.

Argus, who was driving our bus, finally stopped to let us out. I could no longer see the girls' bus. All the boys trudged to the closest formal clothing store with our chaperones following. We all went inside without even bothering to read the name of the store, partially because most of us couldn't read it without staring at it for a long time trying to decipher it.

Grover, Harry, Ron, and I stayed together. Ron asked, "Where are the dress robes?"

Dress robes? Harry answered, "This is a Muggle store. They don't sell dress robes," then he burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Grover asked. I was confused too.

"When *laugh-gasp for air* when Hogwarts held the Yule Ball Ron *laugh-gasp for air* Ron wore these ridiculous dress robes that looked more like a dress than anything *laugh*," Harry explained, "You had to be there," he added as he noticed we didn't think it as funny as he did.

"Can't we just pick something and go?" I asked.

Chiron wheeled himself up behind us, "If you didn't think about your choice, the girls will be very disappointed."

I frowned and sighed. I looked through the various tuxes. Ron said, "I don't want to keep it, so can't we just rent one?"

"How are you going to get it back to the store?" I pointed out.

"Good point," Ron grumbled.

"I should get these," Harry suddenly said, holding up a plain black tux, a white dress shirt, and a black bow tie.

"Those look like the robes you wore to the Yule Ball!" Ron noted.

"That's kind of the point; those robes were decent," Harry said.

"Try them on," Grover said absentmindedly as he searched the racks for something that wouldn't make his furry legs sweat. Yuck.

We all finally found outfits for the dance. Mine was also a plain black tux with a black bow tie, but I picked out a sea-green dress shirt (of course) instead. Grover looked like he was apart of the earth itself; he had a brown tux (I didn't even know they sold those) and a grass-green dress shirt. He went bow tie-less, or tie-less for that matter. Ron picked out a grey tux, red dress shirt, and grey tie. We weren't very happy about shopping in general, and we were glad it was over.

Now let's just hope the girls like our choices.

Annabeth's POV

Kill me now and send me to Hades. Aphrodite is the worst possible chaperone in the world. It looks as if Professor McGonagall is suffering just as much as I am. Aphrodite asked her repeatedly the whole way over here if she would like a makeover, 'courtesy of the most beautiful', as she put it. I tried to imagine her tight bun down, but it was impossible.

When we were in the shops, I was with Juniper, Hermione, and Ginny the whole time. Ginny was begging Hermione, "You have got to fix your hair the way you did the Yule Ball! You know how much everyone loved it!"

"That took way too much work for that one night. No way," Hermione protested.

"Please?" Ginny begged.

"Why do you care so much?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"Hmm…I don't know. But it is for only one night," Ginny persuaded.

"I'll think about it," Hermione said.

"Let's pick out some dresses!" Juniper exclaimed excitedly. Out of our four, she was definitely the most enthusiastic about shopping.

Oh, alright. I admit that I might be having fun dress shopping. Juniper's excitement was contagious, and soon all four of us were giggling as we tried on dresses. I never giggle; it is so not me. But I'm always trying to be the tough girl, so I never really have a day off from training to just be a girl.

Juniper went first. She took in the dressing room about ten dresses and Hermione, Ginny, and I sat in chairs outside of it. She put on a little fashion show with an assortment of colors and styles. The first was a light pink, knee-length strappy dress that was tight around the waist, but flowed out from there. There was a hot pink ribbon around the waist of it. I thought it was gorgeous, but she wasn't done yet.

When she reached the seventh one, all three of us gasped when she revealed the dress, "It's perfect," Ginny declared.

"You think?" Juniper asked, spinning around once.

"She knows," Hermione assured her.

"That's the one. Grover will not even have one thought about enchiladas or tin cans when he's looking at you. All he'll be thinking is: beautiful nymph, beautiful nymph, beautiful nymph all night long," I added. Juniper beamed at me.

The dress was a floor length yellow gown with jewels all around the torso. The bottom half of the dress had two tiers, and it was made of chiffon. Underneath was completely made of silk. It was tight around the waist, but it didn't look uncomfortable. It looked very stretchy. It was perfect on Juniper. (A/N if you are more visual, the link is on the bottom of my profile. Make sure you read carefully, because I have a bunch more links for other stories too)

Ginny was next. She did the same as Juniper, taking ten dresses in the dressing room. There was a prickling sensation on the back of my neck, that feeling I get when someone's watching me. I turned around and saw Aphrodite watching us, beaming. She winked at me and turned to help some of her daughters.

I heard Juniper squeal and Hermione gasp, so I turned my attention back to Ginny. I smiled as I saw the dress she was wearing. Juniper encouraged, clutching her choice close, "You should so totally get that!"

It was a strapless, baby pink knee-length dress that had sparkles everywhere. There was a satin metallic pinkish-purple ribbon right under the chest that tied as a bow in the front. The dress was made of a soft linen fabric. By the smile on Ginny's face, we all knew she loved it. (A/N again, visual people, it's on my profile)

Hermione was next. She tried on dress after dress, and the three of us complimented each one. I have to say, we have similar taste. But Hermione wasn't satisfied with any of them…that is until she tried on the tenth and final dress.

"This is it," she declared.

"Wonderful choice," I added.

"Stunning," Juniper beamed.

"Eh," Ginny commented, getting up from her seat. She circled a nervous Hermione, "It could be better."

"How?" asked Juniper, crossing her arms. I raised an eyebrow; I had a pretty good idea of the reason.

"Maybe if you did something to your appearance….um, maybe…your hair?" suggested Ginny. I knew it.

"I said I'll think about it," Hermione said, annoyed.

She picked out a dress that stopped just below her knees in the front, but was a little longer in the back. It was aquamarine, and it was a unique halter dress, you could say. It was bare-backed, all except for the tiny X-shape that crossed to attach the strings around the neck to the dress. Where the fabric came together it overlapped, forming a little ruffle. I rectangular-shaped jewel was placed in the center of the chest, around which were many sparkles. The first layer was soft chiffon, and the second, the bottom, was silk. (A/N on profile)

I was last. I tried on many dresses. As I tried on the second dress, and I'm sure I didn't put it in my group of choices, all three girls gaped at me, "What?" I asked.

"Annabeth is there something you'd like to tell us?" asked Hermione.

I glanced down at myself and realized what they were ogling about. The dress (that I didn't pick out) looked like a wedding gown. I rolled my eyes, "I did not pick this out," I declared. I girls laughed at my annoyance, and I knew that they would tease me about that forever. Oh well.

On the ninth, Juniper demanded that I stopped and that I needed to buy the dress I was wearing. It was turquoise, floor length, and strappy. There were designs at the torso part of the dress. The midriff was see-though, but that was it. There was a glittery X across the midriff as well. It was made of soft linen, like Ginny's. I absolutely loved it. Turquoise was definitely my color. (A/N profile)

"We did well, didn't we?" I commented as we walked to the cash register. In my peripheral vision, I saw Aphrodite scurry in our direction, beaming more than ever.

"Yeah, I actually had fun," Hermione said.

"Girls, that was fabulous! I loved the fashion show by the way. You chose beautiful dresses, and I am very proud," Aphrodite squealed. The mortal cashier was looking at Aphrodite with a raised eyebrow and an amused expression.

Juniper and I both noticed, "You have to know her," I started.

"To understand her," Juniper finished. The cashier smirked. She rung up the stuff, and as I went to pay, Aphrodite stepped in front of me and handed the cashier her credit card, Aphrodite paid for our dresses and we went back to the charter bus, enjoying the air conditioner and chatting while we waited for the other girls to finish.

Once everyone was on the bus, we returned to Camp Half-Blood.

OMG THE LAST OLYMPIAN COMES OUT TODAY! I AM WAY TOO EXCITED! I HAVE BEEN WRITING THAT ON MY SCHOOLWORK ALL DAY! EEP! IT IS MAY 5, 2009 AS OF 40 MINUTES AGO (in my time zone).