(Piper's POV)
Saturday
I told my parents that I was inviting my friends over for a 'sleepover', which they surprisingly bought. Or maybe they didn't care, that option was more likely. My father was Tristan McLean, the famed Cherokee actor and my mom was the supermodel, Alexis McLean, she had full, pale pink lips that were almost always coated in red lipstick, big light blue eyes that gave her an innocent look and porcelain skin with a delicate nose. I never knew what my mom's true hair color was, but she looked good in every natural hair color. All in all, my parents were the Hollywood 'dream couple'.
I had two half sisters, Drew and Silena. They were fraternal twins, almost identical except Silena had the big blue eyes from my mother and Drew had gotten smaller brown eyes. They were older than me by a two years, but a grade ahead.
My friends came over, each with an overnight bag, holding their party clothes. My parents had left about an hour before so we had the house to ourselves. We were planning to start the party at 10:00 which was a reasonable hour.
"Piper?" Thalia inquired, "What about the neighbors?"
"Well, the one across the street is for sale, one of the one's next to us is always empty, and the other house, they really don't care, they throw parties every other week. The other one's belong to family friends and we told them and one of the other ones belongs to Percy's dad."
She nodded, obviously satisfied, "So let's see the outfits!"
We laid them out on the floor of the guest suite. I put mine down first, it was a black zip up crop top and and turquoise jeans with Jeffrey Campbell heeled boots.
Then Thalia put hers down, a black dress with sequins on the bodice and thick sleeveless straps with black combat boots.
Silena laid hers down with care. She had an American flag zip up crop top, a black, sheer, maxi skirt and white platform heels.
We all waited for Annabeth to put her outfit down, but her face burned with shame, "I couldn't find anything to wear." she admitted.
"Neither could I." said Reyna.
"All the more fun for us!" Thalia shouted gleefully, "We can raid Alexis' closet and Piper's and get you a suitable outfit."
They both shrugged and followed us to Alexis' room. Thalia picked out Reyna's outfit with Silena's help and Hazel and I picked out Annabeth's.
"Hazel, as soon as we're done we'll see your outfit, okay?"
Hazel nodded and went back to picking out an outfit. Thalia came up with an outfit for Reyna first, it was a white cropped tube top, and a light blue skirt and black platform pumps.
We came up with Annabeth's outfit shortly after. It was much more modest and Annabeth's style. It was a floral spaghetti strapped crop top that skimmed the belly button and pink jeans and green platform heels.
We finally saw Hazel's outfit, it was the cutest ever. She was normally very conservative in what she wore but this outfit was a mix of times past and now. She had brought a tan dress that would look beautiful against her dark skin, but it had black and colorful flowers on it with butterflies that were dense at the bottom of the dress, which was at the knee, but became scarcer until the top where there was a single butterfly. She paired it with black flats that had a bow on the end.
"Alright, we should call the guys, right?" that comment came from Thalia.
"We should all call our significant others and Thalia, call Nico and Hazel, could you call Sammy and Leo too?"
Hazel nodded, always obedient but Thalia gave a deep breath but relented eventually. We quickly made our calls, well not all of us. The ever romantic Silena was having a cliche hang up argument. I was surprised that Beckendorf was actually involved but I supposed Silena's habits had gotten to him. Thalia was as bothered as the rest of us, and grabbed the phone from Selena, promptly hanging up.
"There!" she deadpanned, "Now neither of you have to hang up. You're softening Beckendorf up like frozen pizza in the oven and I don't like it."
"Do we have frozen pizza? It's my favorite. Ju-Just saying" Reyna put in.
"No!" Silena nearly shouted, an expression that was a cross between disbelief, anger and confusion crossed her face.
Reyna's eyes widened and she pursed her lips, "Sorry!" she put her hands up in mock surrender.
Silena rolled her eyes, turning to the mirror. She ran her hands through her hair, "What do you think is better, a french braid on the side or a fishtail braid?"
"Fishtail" Annabeth put in, "Simpler is better, but curl the front few strands so they frame your face, that would look really pretty."
"When did you become a fashion expert?" Silena teased.
"Since I started high school, y'know, changed my image a bit. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"
"Lighten up Annie. I was just teasing."
Annabeth shrugged at that, seemingly unaffected, but as one of her closest friends I knew that by the slight widening of her eyes when Silena said Annie she was a bit offended.
"Well," I called out to break the tension, "The boys should be here any minute right?"
We all disassembled, going down one of the two staircases leading to the opposite sides of the house.
When I got to the double doors that opened into the foyer were opened. Silena stood on one side of the door while the boys uncomfortably shifted in the autumn breeze. Jason was stand uncomfortably, his hands in his jean pockets and an electric blue polo shirt that defined his muscles. As much as I appreciated the view I knew that the other girls, once intoxicated, wouldn't acknowledge that he was mine.
I caught my boyfriend's eye and smiled at him, he smiled back.
"Silena, Let them in. Can't you see it's cold outside?"
She quickly let them in and they filtered into the room.
(Annabeth POV)
Saturday
The foyer was extremely beautiful, a light rose color for the walls and an eggshell white for the trim. The floor was wooden, polished to a shine.
Leo looked in awe of the immaculate room, there was a high ceiling which gave away to a chandelier, lighting both the second and first floors. There was an elegant twisting staircase leading to the next balcony-like floor.
"Alright guys!" Piper interrupted, "This door will be locked, as will the doors leading to the foyer. A bunch of the rooms upstairs will be locked and the door leading here from the second floor, so lets get to work!"
We split up, making sure all the appropriate doors were locked. This back part of the house was extremely elegant but the front was modern and the basement was built for parties like these.
After that Leo Sammy, and Beckendorf went into the basement to work on the sound and lighting, with Silena showing them where to go. I assumed Leo would be doing most of the work though.
Percy and Thalia were on drink and food duty, everything was already in the kitchen and they were just setting it up. Frank and Jason were helping Nico and Hazel with decorations until the party actually started, which actually meant, 'moving all the breakable objects into securely locked rooms'.
Once everyone was doing what they needed to do I went into the kitchen to help Thalia and Percy. Or stop them from eating all the food.
The kitchen was made up of entirely black surfaces with silver accents. Black marble countertops, black fridge, a black microwave hung over the black hood which in turn hung over the black stovetop, perched on the counter.
The double ovens were stacked on top of each other, encased in black stone. The cabinets were entirely black with silver handles. All in all it was stunning and whoever designed the place was a genius.
"Thalia, Percy?" I called. I heard Percy curse.
"What have I said about cursing?"
"Not to do it and all that shi-stuff"
"Uh-huh that's what I thought."
I entered the small room off the side of the kitchen which was used to house alcoholic drinks. Percy and Thalia had the bags of snacks completely open and both were frozen with a cheese curl halfway to their mouth.
"Seriously guys? Those are for the party!"
"Uhh..."
"Thalia, is that how you're gonna defend yourself? Really? Just get to work guys."
I made them put different foods into assorted multi-colored plastic bowls. With them, it took forever and I ended up doing most of the work. I was able to bribe Percy but Thalia, well she wasn't my boyfriend.
"Percy, since we're finished can you put out the snacks?"
"Can't we do that later?"
"Yes, but why do it then when you could do it now?"
"So we can rest now. We already did this much work."
"How did you ever become the captain of the swimming and football teams? You are so lazy."
"Sports are different. This is actually work."
"Percy, this is easier than- Thalia, stop eating out the snacks! This is easier than playing sports."
"Anna, y'know, I'm really tired, I think we should do this later."
"So Thalia, would you like me to drive you home? I mean since you're so tired you won't recover in time for the party. And Percy, remember what I said last week?"
That got them to work and they scampered off, afraid of my wrath. I smug smile crossed my face and I sighed. I grabbed the light green bowl filled with pretzels and the light blue bowl filled with Spicy Nacho Doritos.
By that time it was dark out so Piper had turned on the lights to a low setting. The place looked excellent, the bold red, black and white paint on the walls with the couches covered in matching throw pillows. Everything and anything even remotely breakable was out of the room, safely put away.
At that time is was about 9:00 P.M. so we girls decided to get dressed in our outfits and stun our significant others.
"We'll be right back. Don't mess anything up." Silena threatened. When she wanted to be, that girl was scary.
I got into my patterned crop top and pink skinny jeans. I squeezed my feet into my green heels.
"Leo'll love that outfit Rey. And Piper, Jason will totally appreciate your thoughtfulness." I teased, "And Silena, I know we all think you're stunning all the time but that outfit looks amazing on you. Hazel and Thalia, first of all, Hazel, you look amazing in that dress and Thalia, you're certainly keeping up your image."
We started to do our makeup, applying the perfect shades to our individual skin tones.
"Every woman for herself, except for hair, that's Silena's job." I coughed loudly, "And Piper's." shouted Thalia.
We all did our makeup, and I curled some people's hair while Silena's job was to straighten their hair.
I went downstairs, Percy was waiting and I saw his eyes widen for a second, I smirked. Pleased that I had the upper hand for the rest of the night. I knew that Reyna, Silena and Piper were probably experiencing the same type of experience while Hazel was the one who seemed nervous.
Hazel was two years younger than us but was let into our inner circle to replace her sister, Bianca. Bianca had graduated and her brother, Nico, was a year ahead, a senior. Frank was a junior also but Hazel was only a freshman. They were adorable together, Hazel- as a confused freshman- and Frank, as a socially awkward junior.
I thought Piper's outfit was the best by far, Reyna's a close second with mine right behind.
"Percy honey, can you do me a favor?" Percy nodded intently, "Could you fix my strap? It's a bit twisted and I can't reach it." I actually could reach it just fine, my arms were long. I just wanted to play with my boyfriend a bit. There's no harm in that right?
He quickly fixed the strap, though his hands were shaking the whole time. Once he was finished I leaned up a bit and gave him a quick peck, his cheeks changing color. I smirked at him and walked away, placing my hands on my swaying hips.
(Grace POV)
Saturday
The party was starting at 10 which meant the socially acceptable time to come is between 10:30 and 11:30. I linked arms with my best friend, Lexi. We were going to get ready for the party together which meant racing back and forth from each other's dorms to get the perfect outfit and make-up.
Lexi's roommate was a Hazel, a polite yet distant African-American girl. Hazel went to prepare that party at about 4:30 which meant we had the place to ourselves for the night, since Piper was gone too.
I helped Lexi get ready first, her outfit was the most essential part. Her boyfriend was a known player within the Halfways community so she had to keep his eye on her at all times.
She wore a tight white crop top that stopped right above the belly button and had a sequined peace sign on it with a navy blue blazer that was just barely longer than the shirt with ruched sleeves. Her jean shorts were ripped and high waisted with sequins on the left side. Just to complete the outfit she wore sling-back wedges, open toe and matching with her blazer, she couldn't walk in any other heels though.
I bit my lip when she finished putting on the outfit, "This looks great!" I squealed. Lexi turned towards the mirror, I could see that she loved it as much as I did.
"Now sit, it's time to do your makeup and hair." I ordered.
Her curly auburn hair was left in it's natural curls, layered. She put mascara on herself but I gave her the dark blue eyeshadow and black eyeliner with wings.
Her dark blue eyes popped and the bright red lipstick made her lips look plumper than usual, "You're gonna want to put flavored lip gloss on, lipstick tastes disgusting."
She did as I advised and slipped the stick of gloss into her purse, "Now it's time to get your outfit ready!"
Lexi rifled through my closet, picking out pieces that she thought were acceptable.
"What happened to your closet? You used to have edgy, good clothes. Emphasis on good. These are clothes trying to be edgy hipster. So explain to me what happened. We need to have a long talk."
"Piper happened." I explained, plopping myself on my bed.
"I know she's a pretty but that pretty much explains nothing." Lexi followed suit, hugging the pillow she gave me for my birthday.
"So apparently I was on Annabeth's 'radar' for being too 'edgy' so I needed to tone down my style. So Piper went through my closet and picked out clothes that wouldn't attract Annabeth's attention, so long story short, we argued a lot and my best clothes went out the window. Or to a clothing donation place, same thing. But Piper's actually really nice."
"Ahh, I understand. Hazel's nice too, just a bit distant, she does not fit in with the other Pretties, let me tell you that."
"Hmm... only Annabeth and Percy really seem to fit in."
"Well, there's probably more to them than a pretty face, y'know?"
"I guess, but it just seems like there's gotta be a reason why there are these groups y'know?"
"Yeah, I get you. But we only have junior and senior year to struggle through, we've completed half of high school! We don't have to worry about this soon, we'll be off to college soon!"
"Speaking of which, have you thought of any?"
"Sure, but what school would be willing to take a girl with my grades?"
"You're smart, you just have to apply yourself. Just bring your grades up and start caring."
"You sound like a teacher. And it's easy for you to say Miss AP-Classes-and-amazing-style."
"You'd be surprised, there is too much drama at this school."
"Y'got that right, but for college I was thinking Virginia Tech, University of Virginia, University of Charleston, John Hopkins University, Goucher College, Radford University, and Davidson College. It's a lot but I need options, and as you know, I wanna go into liberal arts."
"Cool, I have mine, I just can't remember, sciences all the way! I just ho-" The glowing red lines of the clock caught my eye, "Oh God, it's already 8:45! How the heck did that happen? We started at 6:45 and- oh that makes sense."
"Yep!" Lexi used her legs to hop off my bed and held out her hand to help me up. I groaned and reluctantly grabbed her hand, not at all supporting my own body weight.
"Grace, help me out here!"
"Excuse me, have you felt how comfy this bed is?"
"Yes, yes I have. It's just as comfortable as my bed. Y'know what? I think it's as comfortable as everyone elses!"
"Sarcasm is not becoming in young ladies, it is quite unattractive." I pushed myself into a standing position.
"And yet we both have boyfriends."
"Fair enough." I relented, "Now, what about that outfit."
She rifled through my closet again, hurriedly looking for a moderately acceptable outfit. She soon gave up on the racks of clothes and headed to the floor where the 'good' were. Lexi worked on separating that pile, humming softly to herself.
"Are you going to keep on separating piles like that?"
She stopped humming and looked up at me from her position on the floor, "Yeah, until I find the perfect outfit."
So she kept sorting clothes, it took her a long time so I exited my closet and got my iPhone. I stuck my earphones into my ears and played my new obsession, Burning Gold by Christina Perri. I went back into the closet and sat down against the wall, closing my eyes. I let the music flow into me.
I let other songs by Christina Perri play, getting lost in her music. Suddenly my earbuds were ripped from my ears.
"What the heck was that for?" I cried in outrage.
"I have your outfit ready!" I couldn't help but let my anger dissipate at the gleeful look on my best friend's face.
I saw my outfit assembled on the carpeted floor of the closet. It was my white sleeveless button up crop top with black shorts that stopped at mid thigh and a light pink infinity scarf, a matching pink fedora was also put out.
"Really? A fedora? I didn't even know I owned this!"
"Yeah, it didn't really seem to fit your style. Plus, I just wanted to see if you'd go along with it."
"Well I'm not, so. . . out, out out out!" I pushed my friend out the door, effectively shutting her out. I locked the door and quickly changed into my outfit. I consulted myself in the mirror and after a few seconds, deemed myself appropriate.
"Makeup time!" I sang, throwing the door open. In doing so I accidently hit Lexi in the head with the door.
I winced, "Sorry!" Lexi glared at me, holding the side of her head. I held my hands up in mock surrender, a guilty look on my face.
"What about my outfit?" I tried
Lexi attitude changed instantaneously, "I love it, now all you need are your shoes and makeup."
I pulled out a pair of strappy, open toe, light pink, faux suede heels. I wobbled around in them at first, unused to the new height. I was thankful Anthony was so much taller than me, I could wear whatever sized heels I wanted without worrying if I was too tall.
I sat down at the small desk and pulled out the third drawer from the top on the right side, the one full of makeup. I layered on my basic foundation and concealer, making my skin look perfect.
Light pink blush was blended into my cheeks, giving me a natural rosy glow. I applied colored lip balm, it smelled like strawberries. Lexi lined my eyes with white eyeliner, followed by pink eyeshadow that faded into a color that matched my skin tone. I had black mascara on.
"You look great Lex."
"Thanks, you too."
"Let's go, it's already 10, it's takes about 45 minutes to get there."
"Okay lemme just grab my phone and stuff."
"Sure. I'll meet you by the main entrance in 5?"
"Make it 10."
"Got it."
We went our separate ways. I didn't grab my usual bag, the one with all the crazy stuff, but I brought a medium sized faux snakeskin bag that had a loose black crop top with a smiley face on it and a pair of dark blue jeans, just in case I packed a pair of black sandals. Crazy things happened at these parties, mostly over consumption of alcohol but you never know.
I grabbed my stuff and dashed down the steps, ready to meet my best friend. I ended up waiting 20 minutes for her, but that was expected. She had never been on time before, it was an annoying habit of hers.
She finally showed up, wearing a different shirt and shorts, her blazer and shoes the same.
"Um.. what happened to the outfit I picked out for you?" I asked suspiciously.
"See, I was redoing my make- oh- don't worry I have a great explanation." She noticed my look of outrage, "I had been washing my hands, and then my eye itched, so I scratched it, messing up my makeup, but then I wiped my hands on my shirt and shorts, getting eyeliner and eyeshadow on them, so, yeah."
"Well, at least your outfit still looks nice. I love the dark purple shorts and the gray winking face. It's gives the message you want to give."
"Thanks, I was worried you'd be even with my explanation."
"Whatever, right now, I just wanna go to that party and have fun!"
We walked towards Lexi's Blue Infiniti Q60 Convertible, laughing and sharing gossip about the previous days' events.
Thank you all for reading this.
If you want to incorporate any ideas, I'm open to them.
Please, can I get 5 reviews from my 15 followers? Also if you're following my other story, I'm not going to update for The Abused Duo until I get at least 20 reviews for my story which was 114 followers.
Thank you all for following, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Important information:
1. Nico will not be showing up in the story. There isn't much depth to his character so far so I don't know how to write him, of course, he could be OOC but then he wouldn't be Nico. Do you understand? I feel Nico is only defined by his broodiness, Percy is defined by his obliviousness and funniness.
2. However, there will be the parents, not Hades though. It's going be like the Winter Solstice Council. Pretty much that's it.
3. I also got a tumblr and I have an instagram and a Polyvore. My instagram is personal and really has no mention of Percabeth, but my Polyvore has the outfits of the characters of this story only. So outfits for later chapters are out there. My username for my instagram is kpretty_2001. My username for polyvore is kaypielarre. My tumblr is one of those inspirational accounts and I got it yesterday so I'm not sure if I'm gonna post Percabeth, but I most likely will. It's 365inspirationnation.
4-25-14