Man it's feels nice knowing it's the weekend. The Hunger Games movie was amazing. They didn't take out any big parts from the book, so that's a good thing. The only thing that irritated me was that Snow looked less intimidating with that beard *herr her*. I was sharing a box of Nerds with my sister, and the candies kept falling out of my hand. I saw a trailer for Snow White and the Huntsman, the queen's laugh at the end sounded like my grandma's 0,0. It was so distinct, I really thought it was her laughing really loud, no joke. Yeah, she took us to the HG, so yeah. I would've preferred just me and my sis' but my grandma offered dinner out, too. Dinner out almost anywhere usually sells well with me. Another thing is that spring break is coming up, so is this big final exam sort of thing. I need that spring break for some down time, away from writing and all that. Also, I need to really step up for this test, because it's a really big deal. In other words, I may not update in another month or so. And also I'm getting ready to wrap up this story. But don't worry, I'm definitely continuing this, I have a lot of ideas swimming in my head.
Chapter Sixteen: A Date?
Hand in hand, Percy and Annabeth strolled through Central Park. It was one of those warm summer days but there was a light breeze that made it comfortable. Walking in silence, they found a park bench together.
"What do you think the gods have in store for us?" Percy asked. He tipped his head back and shut his eyes.
"Who knows," Annabeth sighed, "You never know when it comes to them."
An elderly woman walks in their direction, "Excuse me. Would you like me to take a picture of you two?" Percy doesn't see anything wrong with the lady, so after explaining how to use the camera on his photo, he hands her his cell phone. Percy puts an arm around Annabeth, puts on a smile, and waits. He hears the click of the camera, and tries to take his cell phone. His somewhat forced smile goes away when he realizes something is wrong with the old lady.
"Um, ma'am? Are you alright?" He sees Annabeth notices something is wrong, too. She reaches out to the lady, but she snaps at Annabeth's hand. She pulls it back just in time, and Percy steps forward.
"Hey now-" He says, anger rising. The old lady tries to bite him as well, but his reflexes are too fast. "Come on, Annabeth." He takes her by the arm.
"But Percy-what about your phone?" Annabeth asked, trying to resist the tugging of her arm.
"Hephaestus can do me a favor. Now come on." Percy leads them out of the park and to a Starbuck's. They don't talk until they're sitting down at a table with their drinks.
"Percy, what was that all about; you acted so mad at that old woman I-" She gets cut off by Percy.
"Annabeth, didn't you notice how she acted? She wasn't an old woman, she was a monster of some kind!" Percy shouted, throwing his hands in the air.
"And you would know," Annabeth countered, sipping her coffee.
"Are you even hearing me? She tried biting both of us; do any other people you know do that?" Percy shouted louder this time, and people were starting to look their way. After a few seconds of not getting an answer, he waved her away and looked outside at the summer day. Was she blind? That woman was a monster, no doubt about it.
"I'm going to the art supplies store. Meet me back here in an hour." Annabeth stomped out of the shop, and he watched her walk down the street. Percy, dumbfounded of what to do for that period of time, sat there for a few minutes. He noticed that a few tables over, was a hazel-eyed brunette eyeballing him. Percy began to feel uncomfortable under her gaze, and left Starbuck's before she invited herself over to his table.
He shoved his hands into his pockets, checking for Riptide. Of course it would be there, obviously, but it was an impulsive thing he did when he felt uneasy. The creepy old woman and stalking girl was getting to him. He walked past stores, but backtracked when a flash of colors caught his eye. In front of him was a massive toy store, it had to have at least two or three floors. He stepped into the store, his leather sandals squeaked across the shiny granite floor. When he opened the second pair of doors, chatter from kids flowed through his ears. He felt a little awkward, being in a toy store at his age. He wandered aimlessly about the store, looking for something that would strike his fancy. Percy did when he got to the second floor.
A bouncy house that took up the entire floor filled his vision.
"Oh my gods…" Percy tore his sandals off and dove into the house. The multicolor of the bouncy house was setting his brain on overload, but he continued to climb higher and higher up into the bouncy house. At the very top was a flock of four or five kids, staring at him intently.
"Hey! You're too old for this!" A little girl with pigtails squealed and pointed her chubby toddler finger at his chest.
"No I'm not! Watch this!" Percy said. The kids moved out of his way, and Percy did a nose dive in the direction of a slide they were guarding. He tucked his arms in closer, and could hear the sound of the kids screaming in delight fade. He landed face first on a gym mat, but saw a pair of shoes was in front of his face. He looked up to see the nimble body of the old woman from the park. He let out a shrilly noise, or at least tried to. He crawled away on all fours, but the lady continued to follow him, "Aagh! What do you want from me? Are you a monster or what?"
The old woman seemed taken aback, "Monster? I hope I don't look that old, young man. I was just going to return your phone. I was having a slight-"She paused, attempting to find the right words, "Seizure. When I tried biting you and your girlfriend, it was nothing personal. Here you are!" She gave him back his phone with a weathered, shaky hand." Before he could apologize, or say anything at all, she had already walked off.
Wait until Annabeth hears this Percy thought to himself.
Nothing personal, right. Anyway, this chapter was super fun to write. A toy store seems like something Percy would go to, right? :3
Night!
~iGwyn12