She Was There

Annabeth's POV

I swear to God, my jaw hit the floor. I could only stare at Bianca with a blank stare. I looked around at the others; they all had the same expression; wide eyes and jaws resting on the floor, a look of disbelief and anxiety spread across their faces.

I figured that I should break the silence. Poor Bianca was dying here with everyone just looking at her. "So," I coughed, "This is new." I know, it's lame and uncalled for but I didn't want Bianca to feel any more uncomfortable. Thalia took a deep breath. "Whoa," she exasperated, "Let's slow down, here. First, did I just hear what I think I heard?"

Bianca nodded and hung her head. "Okay," Thalia continued, "So how did you deal?" Before Bianca could answer, I interrupted, "I think we should take a break from all this truth crap." I blabbered, "Why don't we do something else? Like, er, like a pillow fight? Or how about a guessing game like "I Spy" or "What am I thinking of"?

Bianca let out a breath I didn't know she was holding. The strands of hair that were in her eyes fluttered around and then gently rested back in their previous position. She closed her big brown eyes with relief and relaxed the slightest bit. "I spy," Miranda began, "With my little eye, something…orange." She leaned back on her elbows, with her legs extended out in front of her.

"Is it my hair tie?" Katie guessed, referring to the band around her wrist. Miranda shook her head no. "Is it the tent?" Thalia spoke up. Miranda shook her head again. We all took turns, not including Bianca who had curled up into a ball, guessing what the orange object was.

"My hair?"

"That sleeping bag?"

"The bear?

"Her shorts?"

Eventually, after minutes of naming orange things around the tent, it was finalized on the bag of Cheez Doodles. "Is it the bag of Cheez Doodles?" Katie had yawned, bored with the game. Miranda's eyes lit up and she nodded and let out a whoop.

Miranda yawned and Katie and Thalia fluttered their eyes sleepily. "I think it's time to go to sleep." I yawned while looking at my phone. It was two in the morning. Everyone nodded in agreement. I stood up and shut off the lanterns that hung above us and nestled into my sleeping bag.

The rest of the girls all stretched out under their sleeping bags. "Good night." I moaned while clambering into my sleeping bag. "G' night" Thalia croaked. "Sweet dreams." Katie muttered. Miranda fake-snored for a minute before shutting up and actually trying to fall asleep.

I was actually really tired, my body screamed, "Go to freaking sleep, you dunce!" but I refused to close my eyes. I wanted to think about Bianca and maybe even talk to her. This was all a shock; I would have never guesses Bianca of all people. Thalia, sure, Miranda, why not? But, Bianca? Never in a million years.

I just had to face the facts and accept what had happened. The idea of tattling popped into my mind. I quickly pushed it away but it crept back into the center of my focus. My brain wanted me to make a decision. It needed to know what I wanted to do. I gave up and thought about it.

If I told; I would be even more popular. Everyone would want to talk to me about what happened, and people would want to come to my parties. If I didn't; I would have a good soul. But, I would have to get up every day and lug that secret around with me. Yet, Bianca would be safe and happy. I knew not telling was the right thing to do, and, for maybe the first time in my life, I did the right thing.

Bianca's POV

Light flooded through the tent, blinding me. I was glad that the night was over and that I could finally go home, well to my temporary home, but I really needed to call somewhere home right then. I opened my eyes, expecting to see a bright orange tent and my packed bag, ready for me to take it away.

My eyes fluttered open to a sight I did not expect at all. All I saw was a blinding white light with darkness surrounding it. I put my hand up to my face, trying to protect them from the light. The light shone away and Miranda stood above me. She looked powerful, standing so tall. "Get up." she ordered, "Now."

I didn't know what else to do but slip out of my sleeping bag and stand by her side. "Now, come with me." she instructed. She crouched down by the exit and unzipped half the opening. Annabeth stirred and Miranda froze, she gave me a glare that said you-better-stop-moving-or-I'll-beat-the-crap-out-of-you. I froze.

"Guys," Annabeth squeaked, "What are you doing?" Miranda spoke up before I could stop her. "Oh, it's nothing" she insisted, "We're just going to the bathroom." Annabeth stretched and mumbled, "Oh, that's cool. Have fun." before she rolled over and fell back asleep. I stepped onto the wet grass, annoyed. "You just wanted me to get up so I could come to the bathroom with you?" I whispered, annoyed.

Miranda rolled her eyes and blew a puff of air out of her cheeks. "It's called a little white lie." she stated, "It's nothing personal." She led me to the back corner of Annabeth's yard, where a tree house sat. I followed her, now scared, up the splintery ladder and through the opening of the small wooden house. She plopped down on a blue foldable chair and glared at me.

"What?" I snapped, feeling a sudden boost of confidence. "Sit." she ordered, gesturing to the floor in front of her. My confidence was now gone. I sat down, feeling like a child in front of her teacher, the teacher who was strict and who no one wanted to mess with. "I'm sure you don't know what this is about." she stated.

I squirmed in my spot on the floor. The wooden planks made my butt itch and my feet were wet and cold, with bits of grass sticking to them. "You're right." I answered, "I don't know what this is about. Can you inform me?" She flipped her hair to one side and began a side braid.

"When I first saw you, I didn't want to believe it was you." she breathed, "You looked oddly familiar and I got a weird sense of déjà vu when I first passed you in the hall. I tried to brush it off, convince myself I was crazy and it was nothing. But, I was right, it was something." I was really confused, I had no idea what she was referring to.

"Do you see what I'm getting at?" she asked. I shook my head and looked at the tan floor. "Of course not." she huffed, "I guess I'll have to simplify it for you. Several months ago, me, my boyfriend, and my family went on a cruise to visit my grandparents in Germany. Following?" I nodded and looked at her tan face.

She continued, "You see, we took a little pit stop in Spain. My siblings wanted to go to a nearby carnival so me and my boyfriend, Jack, stayed behind. We went to a local bar instead. Now, this is where it gets really interesting. We were chatting and having a few drinks when this depressed girl walks in. She has, God knows how many drinks, and just sits there. Twenty something minutes later, my phone rings, a nyan cat ringtone, to be precise."

Suddenly, a memory popped into my head, a low, taunting, repetitive, musical cat sound. It was all coming back to me, now.

"I tell Jack I'll be a minute and I walk into the bathroom. It's my mom, calling from across the street." Miranda continued as I snapped back to reality, "She says that my sister, Jean, wants to go on a tea cup ride but she needs someone to go with her. My mom, you see, gets incredibly dizzy and she can't go on spin rides. Same with my dad. Jean had been a great sister that trip, so I kissed Jack a quick goodbye and told him that I would be right back.

I remember the ride, around and around, I saw the same scene spin for two minutes until I staggered off the ride. I had to sit down for a minute, because I felt wickedly nauseas. Before I knew it, it was an hour later by the time I got back to the bar. And guess what Jack was long gone. When he came back on the cruise that night, he told me what happened. He told me what he and the depressed girl did. I hope you know what I'm talking about by now."

Sadly, I did. Unwanted memories flooded back to me, memories that I hoped would be locked up forever. I remember walking into the stingy bar, it smelled of stale beer and vodka. I wasn't in any mood to think, so I had a few beers that turned into whiskey that turned into vodka.

The whole world looked as if everything was moving in slow motion, and I still had a hard time processing what was going on. I vaguely remember a loving couple out of the corner of my eye. They were pointing and whispering, it seemed like the whole bar was pointing and whispering.

So, I downed another shot. That was when the music started, it started of quiet and grew louder and louder. Mew, mew, mew, mewmew, mew, mew, mewmew. It sounded like a virtual cat singing. The girl looked at her phone and ran into the bathroom. She came back a little while later after the boy winked at me. She gave him a kiss and ran out the door. He moved closer to me and flirted with me. I downed one last shot and the world was black.

The only thing I remembered was walking up in a ratty hotel bed with a man next to me, and running back to my current home. I put the pieces together in my head. Miranda was the girl, Jack was the boy, and they were dating. Oh, shit.

"So," Miranda interrupted my thoughts, "I know that you know what I want you to know. I hope you understand why I want revenge. You have to do everything I say or I tell everyone your secret. I'll make sure the whole state knows, if that what it takes. I'll start out in the school, move to your family, and maybe I'll drive around in a car around California screaming it into a megaphone."

My stomach dropped and my head reeled. "Why?" I squealed, "Are you really that mad?" She shook her head and muttered, "You have no idea how mad I am." she stated, "Me and Jack were the perfect couple before you destroyed our love." I had enough, I had to argue back, "Just so you know," I informed, "Jack flirted with me. As soon as you walked out the door he sat next to me and flirted with me."

"I think you were too wasted to remember anything." she argued back. "Well, I recognized what you were explaining in your story. I remember that!" I lowered my voice back down to a whisper, "You are just pissed that Jack flirted with me as soon as you were gone. You won't admit that he liked me better than you in the first hour of our meeting." Something creaked outside and we both froze. Footsteps sounded from outside the tree house. Annabeth stood in the door frame. "What the hell are you guys doing in here?" she questioned, "I thought you had to go to the bathroom."

"We did," Miranda lied, "We just wanted to chat without waking anyone so we came in here." Annabeth looked unbelieving but she shrugged and muttered, "Alright, then. Enjoy the rest of your chat." I spoke up, "Oh, we were just finishing up, isn't that right, Miranda?" Miranda had no choice but to nod and go back into the tent with us.

After we were all settled in our sleeping bags, Miranda began to real-snore. Annabeth quickly turned over to face me. She leaned close and whispered, "Don't worry; I got your whole conversation on tape." She shook her phone and smirked. I smirked too because I knew Miranda was going to get busted.

A/N/: I am so so so so so so so sorry that I didn't update sooner! School is a lot of work now, with the new school year. This chapter is in honor of The Mark of Athena, which came out today. Please follow, favorite, rate, and review! I hope I get the next chapter in faster! :D