Annabeth's POV:
Thalia Grace,
You are cordially invited
to celebrate the occasion of
Prince Perseus of Atlantis' 18th birthday!
Join us at the Palace of Atlantis
On August 18th at 5:30pm
Please dress in a formal manner
And know you are welcomed to bring one guest
We all turned to Percy and saw that he was just as confused as we were. Thalia cleared her throat as an invitation for him to speak. Percy just shrugged.
'I don't know, my parents probably sent it out!' He said cluelessly. I rolled my eyes and Thalia groaned softly. Nico re-read the letter and sighed.
'So, formal means we have to wear suits? And the girls have to wear dresses, I guess.' He said in a monotonous voice. Piper squealed and grabbed Thalia and I's hands.
'Well, since it's Saturday, I'm taking you girls shopping!' She squealed again and ran upstairs to get dressed. I exchanged a frightened glance with my godsister as we followed our friend upstairs.
An hour later, we were all ready (including the boys) and hopped into a car. Piper, Thalia and I were in Thalia's black Audi, Jason and Percy were in Jason's light blue Mercedes Benz and Nico, Will and Leo (who we had invited to come along as Jason's guest) were in Leo's beat-up, red Toyota ute. We drove to the mall and split up at the doors, agreeing to meet at the food court in two hours.
Piper lead the way, pulling Thalia and I by the wrists towards her favourite store. I went straight towards the clearance rack, because no matter who my parents were, I still didn't have enough money to buy a good quality dress.
Piper eyed me quizzically, but I just shrugged and kept looking through all the dresses. None seemed to catch my eye, and even if I did like them, they all seemed to be ill-fitting. We all sighed in disappointment and left the store.
It was going to be a long day.
After a trip to seven more stores, Thalia and Piper had found their dresses. I looked in every window, in every rack, but there was nothing that I wanted.
As we headed to the food court to meet the boys, I saw it. It was in the window of a formal dress store and it was on display, catching my eye immediately. As soon as Piper saw me staring at it, she pushed me inside the store (much to Thalia's dismay) and forced me to try it on. It was a gorgeous dark blue, strapless dress that hugged my figure. It went down to the floor and had a small slit up the front. Over the top was a transparent blue fabric that wrapped around my waist and my right shoulder. It came with a thin gold belt and Piper immediately grabbed a pair of blue heels that matched perfectly.
For once in my life, I actually felt like a princess.
Jason's POV:
We met the girls at Subway, where Piper and Annabeth were grinning from ear-to-ear. Thalia had a small smile on her face, but looked a lot less excited than the other two. All three of them were holding large shopping bags from different stores, which I assumed contained their dresses.
'So you got your dresses?' Leo asked. He tried to peek his head in Piper's bag, but she hit him in the head with it.
'No peeking! You're not allowed to see until the night!' She said, winking at me. I smirked and poked my tongue out playfully. She rolled her eyes and smiled fondly. Thalia stepped in between us and held her hands out.
'Stop with the disgusting flirting! I'm the sister and best friend, and it's making me sick!' She groaned. Piper and I just laughed as we found a table that would fit all eight of us. Thalia and Nico both headed straight for Dunkin' Donuts, while Will and Percy went back to Subway. Leo and Piper got their food from Chipotle and Annabeth and I went to Wendy's. We all met up about five minutes later with our burritos, subs, hot dogs and donuts, when Leo spat his beans out. All the girls screamed and leant backwards, while the boys groaned.
'Dude! That's gross!' Percy cried, but Leo just furrowed his brow.
'Are we supposed to bring presents to the party?!' He cried. We all froze, even Percy. We had all forgotten that it was a party, not just a fancy ball. I turned to Percy and raised an eyebrow.
'Uh… you guys don't have to, because having you as friends is enough of a present?' He said, making it sound more like a question than a statement.
'Wow, thanks Perce.' Annabeth said dryly, picking up her rubbish and heading towards the bin. Thalia and Piper followed, and all three came back, dusting off their hands.
'Well, let's say we'll meet in an hour and a half, with Percy's presents, at the cars? And maybe stick in our car groups, so that we don't have to wait around for each other.' She suggested, but everyone could tell it was an order.
I stood up and waved goodbye to everyone, motioning for Percy to come with me, but stopped.
'Uh, bro, what are you going to do? I can't exactly leave you out, but I don't want you to see what I'm getting you.' I said slowly, trying to come up with something Percy could do. Luckily, Nico had a solution.
'I've already got his present. I got it ages ago, actually. So Will, Leo and Jase can go together, and Perce and I will hang out.' He compromised. I nodded and Percy bounded over to Nico, giving him a big hug and pulling him towards the nearest music store. Nico looked back at us with a face of regret, but we just laughed and headed off.
It was time for present shopping.
Piper's POV
'What do I get him?' Thalia asked for the fifth time. I sighed. My best friend was frustrating.
'I don't know, he's your cousin!' I said for the fifth time. We walked into a store and looked around lazily. I already knew what I was getting Percy, so I was only here for Thalia and Annabeth.
Thalia looked around and sighed. We were about to leave when she stopped. She slowly turned to her write and drew in a sharp breath. Thalia squealed and ran over to a chair that had a cushion sitting on it. She grabbed the cushion and stared at it for a few seconds before running to the counter to buy it immediately.
Annabeth and I eyed her curiously as she joined us at the front of the store. Thalia stared back at us, just as confused. Then she realised what we wanted.
'Oh!' She exclaimed. She pulled a cushion out of her bag. It was turquoise and in big capital letters, in a white chalky font, read the word 'DAM!'. 'It's an inside joke. You wouldn't get it.' Annabeth and I stared at her, before heading to the shop Annie wanted to go to.
'Okay, so I need just a strip of black leather. Long enough to tie around his neck.' She instructed. Thalia and I nodded, and headed to the leather section, while Annabeth went to the wooden charms.
After ten minutes of searching, we found her chain, and she seemed to have found what she wanted. We brought her supplies to the front desk and the lady made a necklace. I leaned over the desk and saw the leather we had found attached to a wooden trident. I smiled at Annabeth. She had found the perfect present.
We still had an hour left, but I knew my present would take a while to get. I lead the girls to the other side of the mall, trying not to give away my gift for Percy.
'You'll see!' I said as they urged me to tell. We turned right and I saw my destination clearly.
'Pipes, what are we doing at 'Kasey's Pet Store'?' Thalia asked slowly, her excitement changing to confusion. I just smiled.
'Because I'm getting Percy a guinea pig!' I announced as we walked through the door. The man behind the counter looked up at us and perked up into a fake excitement.
'Welcome to Kasey's Pet Store! How can I help you?' He asked with abnormal enthusiasm. I paused, forgetting what I was going to say, when Annabeth intervened.
'We're looking for a guinea pig. It's a gift for a friend.' She explained. The man nodded and lead us through a door. We turned a corner and saw a sign on a door that said 'Rodent Room'. The man turned to us and widened his eyes.
'Brace yourselves. It gets pretty noisy in here.' He whispered, as if saying it any louder would offend the tiny creatures. Thalia rolled her eyes at his false enthusiasm, while Annabeth smiled at his efforts, though he didn't seem very happy to be there.
The man opened the door, and the sound of hundreds of high-pitched screeching voices filled the air. We blocked our ears and the store clerk winced, apparently still not used to the sound. He pointed over to a bunch of cages and motioned for us to follow. We nodded and headed to the corner.
Once the volume of the screeches had lowered, the man continued, but this time in a monotonous voice.
'This is our selection of guinea pigs. They are very popular, so that is why we don't have many.' He drawled, suddenly losing interest in the topic. We studied all the guinea pigs, and immediately picked our favourites.
Thalia loved the white one with a single black dot on it's nose. Annabeth started playing with the gold one that had a white streak down it's back. I immediately noticed the white one with orange and brown spots all over it's body. We squealed about their adorableness for a while, before discussing which one would be perfect for Percy.
'I think this one's the best.' Thalia argued, pointing to her favourite.
'No, but look at this one. It just wants to be chosen.' Annabeth shot back, holding her choice. I was about to fight back, but regained my composure.
'Guys, wait. As much as I love these little things, this is what Percy wants, not us.' I interrupted. They both froze and nodded. We searched through the cages until I spied a copper coloured guinea pig staring at me from the front of its cage. I approached it slowly and its nose twitched and sniffed my finger as it squeaked slightly.
'This one.' I whispered. The girls came over and agreed almost immediately. This would be Percy's choice.
The store clerk nodded and lifted the creature's cage carefully, carrying it to the front desk with caution. He grabbed a bag of food, two toys and a pillow for the guinea pig before placing it on the counter.
'This one's a baby boy, only four weeks old.' He explained. 'You'll have to be very careful with him, because he's still getting used to his surroundings.' I nodded, making a mental note to tell Percy all of this when he opened his gift.
I opened my wallet and got out the enough money to pay for the guinea pig. I searched my bag for that $50 note I had for the toys, cage and food, when Annabeth and Thalia slammed $25 each on the counter. I immediately started to shake my head, but they stared me down and I gave in.
The man stared at us, but rung up our payment. He slowly slid the cage and accessories over the counter and sighed. Thalia and Annabeth were already at the door, but I remained at the desk.
'Sir, if you don't mind me asking, are you okay?' I asked gently. The man looked at me in shock. After a few moments, he frowned.
'No, I'm afraid not.' He admitted. 'My boss decided to give me an eight hour shift instead of a five hour, and then instead of my girlfriend being my co-worker, it turned out to be a rude girl who ditched at two hours!' I nodded sympathetically and patted the man on the back.
'What's your name?' I asked. He seemed surprised that I cared about him, but went on.
'I'm Frank.' He said miserably. I paused for a minute when an idea formed in my head.
'So, Frank, do you have a nice suit?' I asked, trying to be nonchalant, but probably not succeeding. My new-found friend just nodded mutely. 'And does your girlfriend have a formal dress?'
'Yeah, Hazel has heaps of fancy dresses.' He admitted, though he looked slightly guilty. I ignored the familiarity of his girlfriend's name and went on.
'Well, I'm inviting you and your girlfriend to a party at the Castle of Atlantis in two days time for Prince Percy's birthday.' I explained. Frank's eyes widened.
'B-but I-'
'You will fit right in! You can be my guest and your girlfriend can be my friend Thalia's.' I insisted, motioning towards Thalia, who nodded in agreement. 'Meet me with Hazel at 24 Sycamore Drive at 5:00pm. See you then!' With that, I waved and walked out of the store with my two best friends in tow.
We talked, got fruit smoothies and laughed. As we walked to Thalia's car, Annabeth turned to me and quirked an eyebrow.
'Hey, Pipes, what made you decide to get Percy a guinea pig?' She asked. I grinned at her and sighed happily.
'Because he's deathly afraid of them.'
Leo's POV
The next day flew by, and soon it was Monday again. We all walked into school together and there was silence in the hall. Whenever someone saw us, they would tell their chatty friend to shut up and just stare at us. It was almost as if we were royalty.
Oh, wait. Right.
I walked into the cafeteria that day and stood in line, dreading the 'pasta' they were going to serve me. I approached the counter and grinned at the lunch lady.
'Heeeeey Janice!' I said, trying to be as smooth as possible. She only scowled at me.
'Don't even try. That one over there already did. You see what happened to her.' Janice motioned to a girl standing over the bin, cleaning 'pasta' sauce off her skirt. I sighed as a pile of goop was dumped on my plate and I was shoved out of line.
I may be like royalty with my friends, but I was still a loser when I was alone.
I headed over to the bin and dumped my entire lunch (tray and all) into it. The girl who had been a victim of Janice turned to me with an amused smirk on her face.
'I assume you tried what I did?' She said expectantly. I just stopped and stared at her.
Her caramel brown hair was out and in luscious curls that almost reached her waist, held back by a lacy white headband. She wore a sleeveless burgundy blouse paired with a knee-length pleated white skirt. Black lace shoes were on her feet, as well as a silver anklet with an island charm on it. A smirk still graced her beautiful face.
'You do know you are very obviously checking me out, right?' She asked, her eyebrows raised. I grinned at her and winked cheekily.
'I sure do!' I answered. She seemed surprised, but the look on her face was telling me that she knew she should have expected it.
I'm just full of surprises.
'Calypso Atlas-Ogygia.' The beautiful girl said, holding out her hand. She laughed as I just stared at it, before realising what I had to do.
'Oh, right, I'm Leo Valdez!' I exclaimed, shaking her hand vigorously. Calypso rolled her eyes and turned around. Just before she walked out the door, she looked over her shoulder.
'Oh, I know.'
I'm pretty sure I fell in love.
Annabeth's POV
We got home at 4:00 that afternoon and everything at Thalia's house was hectic. Our whole group had come over (except for Percy, who had to be at the castle) to get ready and I was shaking with excitement.
'This is going to be so much fun!' Piper squealed as she put her make-up on. I was curling the strands of my hair that had fallen out of my bun and Thalia was slipping her headband in. By 4:45, we heard that Hazel and Frank had arrived. I saw a timid face poke her head through the door and walk in silently.
'Hi, you must be Hazel.' I said gently. She nodded as Thalia and Piper turned to her. They both gasped in unison and hugged her.
'Haze, I haven't seen you in ages!' Piper squealed. I stared at the three of them, waiting for one of them to explain.
'Oh, right, sorry Annie!' Piper started. I glared at her for using my nickname. 'This is Hazel, Nico's half-sister. When Frank was telling us about her, I thought her name was familiar, and now it turns out she's right here!' She explained. I nodded and smiled warmly at Hazel.
'Well, we're just about to get changed into our dresses, so do you need any help with hair and makeup?' I asked. Hazel nodded and explained her hairstyle to Piper (who was our honorary hairdresser) while Thalia and I put some light makeup on her face.
Finally, it was time to get dressed.
I put my dress and shoes on and stared at myself in the mirror. I looked like a different person. I looked like a princess.
I stepped out of the bathroom and saw all the others were ready, and they all looked absolutely gorgeous.
Thalia's dress was simple, yet elegant. It was all black, floor-length and had spaghetti straps. It fit her figure modestly and (according to Thalia) was very comfortable. She paired it with simple silver heels and a silver headband in her short hair.
Piper was wearing a deep purple, long dress. The skirt was flowy and went down to the floor. The top of the dress was covered in a sparkling silver diamond netting, giving the dress a halter neck look. Piper wore a pair of silver gladiator sandals and a pair of long, diamond earrings. Her hair was braid across her head, like a crown, while the loose ends were slightly curled.
Hazel's dress was a dark emerald green colour that reached the floor and pooled at her feet. It wasn't too tight, but wasn't too loose, and showed off her figure well. The sleeves were off the shoulder and had a leaf design that seemed to cover the whole dress. Her hair had been parted to the side and sat on her left shoulder, and it had been slightly curled. She wore black heels and a black bracelet was on her wrist.
I knew that this night was going to be as amazing as we looked.
Percy's POV
I hopped from one foot to the other as the hand on my clock ticked to 5:30. Hundreds of people I didn't know walked into the castle, all of them having to hand their invitations to one of our many guards to show that they had been invited.
The first familiar face I spotted in the crowd was my good family friend, Calypso. She waved excitedly and sprinted towards me (though I don't get how she did it in heels). She wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a peck on the cheek.
'Percy!' She cried. 'You don't seem old enough to be an adult!' I laughed as she untangled her arms from my neck.
'I've missed you too, Cali!' I said. We both chatted for awhile until Calypso looked into the crowd and froze.
'What's he doing here?' She whispered, a noticeable blush dusting her cheeks. I smirked and looked into the direction she was pointing.
'Guys! You're late!' I exclaimed as they all ran up to me, drawing quite a bit of attention on us.
'Sorry, bro. Girls take hours to get dre-' Leo started to say until he saw Calypso.
'What are you doing here?' They asked at the same time. I laughed as they stared at each other in bewilderment.
'Everyone this is Calypso, she's a family friend. And a princess.' I explained, directed the last sentence at Leo. 'Callie, this is Annabeth, Piper, Jason, Nico, Will, Thalia, Hazel, Frank and Leo, but I assume you've already met him.' I pointed at each person as I said their name and gave my friend a knowing look when I reached Leo.
'Hi everyone, nice to meet you!' Calypso said brightly. 'Yes, I have met Leo, which is quite unfortunate for me, but whatever. Also, I'm not dating Percy because he's got a huge crush on this girl called Annabeth and he never stops talking about her.' She said with a sassy smile. My knowing look was replaced with a red blush and a surprised expression. All of my friends snickered, except for Annabeth, who just smirked cockily.
'Okay, I'm leaving!' I announced, turning around. Everyone groaned and pulled me back towards them, wrapping me in a group hug.
Just as I was trying to escape, the big double doors rattled, as if someone was trying kick them open. They wouldn't be able to, because they were very strong and-
My thoughts were interrupted by the doors crashing to the floor. My friends and I backed away slowly until I saw who was standing in the doorway.
'Luke!' I called, my voice echoing through the large room. 'Leave this castle now!' Rage filled me up. No-one was crashing my party.
'Aw, but I didn't even get an invitation!' He whined, an evil smile on his face. I rolled my eyes.
'For a good reason.' I muttered, but everyone in the room could hear me. The crowd's heads went back and forth between Luke and I, like a tennis match.
'Fight me.' Was all the boy said.
I lunged forward and did exactly that.
The guards suddenly sprung into action, evacuating all the guests and getting my parents (and all other royalty) to safety.
Luke flicked his hand upwards and a whole army surged into the castle. My group of friends all ran towards them, using their assassin skills for good use. Annabeth, Will and Calypso stood to the side, shouting encouraging words. They were the only ones who weren't professionally trained and knew they wouldn't stand a chance against Luke's minions.
'Come on, Percy! Kick him in the stomach so he loses strength for a minute and you can get the upper-hand!' Annabeth shouted.
'Annie, I think I know what I'm doing!' I screamed back, punching Luke in the shoulder and sending him backwards.
'Oh shut up!' She called out. I rolled my eyes and cracked my knuckles.
It was time to beat up my hopefully future girlfriend's ex-boyfriend.
Will's POV
'Nico, be careful, I don't need to witness your death!' I hollered at my boyfriend as he kneed a guy in the stomach. 'Also, go easy on your head, I'm pretty sure you still have concussion!'
'Will, I'm trying to concentrate!' Nico cried as he judo-flipped a man over his shoulder.
'Then stop shouting back!' I shrieked. I saw him roll his eyes, but he kept on going.
To be honest, he looked hot fighting.
I shook all thoughts out of my head and glanced around the room to see how my other friends were going.
I saw Leo smash a guy's head into the wall and narrowly miss being punched in the face.
'Leo, as much as I hate you, please don't die!' I heard the new girl, Calypso, scream at him. Leo grinned and kicked the man in the face.
'Oh what a ray of sunshine you are, Sunshine!' He called back. Calypso froze, and then narrowed her eyes.
'You know what, I changed my mind! You can die!' She yelled. I eyed the corner where Jason and Piper were fighting together.
'How many you got, Pipes?' Jason asked.
'Seventeen.' She answered smugly as she kicked a guy in the face. 'No, wait, eighteen.'
'Oh, looks like we're tying.'
'Whoever gets the most gets to do what the other says for a week?' Piper suggested. Jason grunted as he elbowed a man in the shoulder.
'Deal.' He murmured. I laughed at their competitive nature and turned to see a man standing behind Nico as he kicked another person in the stomach.
'Nico, look out!' I bellowed, and just in time as well. My boyfriend ducked, rolled on the floor, and kicked the man behind his legs, making him lose his balance.
A scream echoed throughout the empty room and everyone stopped. Percy had shoved Luke with all his strength and sent him flying across the room. Luke banged into the wall and slid slowly to the floor.
'Retreat!' He called, sprinting out the door. The few conscious soldiers he had left followed him. We all cheered as I ran up to Nico and squeezed him in a tight hug.
'Thank the gods you're alive.' I whispered. He chuckled as we followed Percy out the door, the others behind us.
Thalia's POV
'And then she dumped it all over my skirt!' Calypso exclaimed, describing her adventures with the cafeteria lady at lunch today. The whole table erupted with laughter as she pouted.
The sounds of people's voices filled my ears as our food arrived. We were at the diner just down the road from the castle, and tonight was karaoke night. I dug into my burger and stuffed my fries in my mouth, the exhaustion of the fight before kicking in. I needed energy.
As I sipped my lemonade, the spotlight shone on two people at the table. I grinned as Percy and Annabeth groaned and headed up to the stage. They talked to the girl on music and decided on a song.
The intro of a song started playing and they sang. It was an interesting choice and, as crazy as the day was, it sure described it.
'Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh! This is gonna be the best day of my life! My li-i-i-i-ife!'
(A/N: Thanks so much for over 10,000 views! and Merry Christmas everyone or Happy Holidays!)
:D