A/N: Hey guys. I went on a writing frenzy yesterday and today, so here is chapter 11. There will be no author's note at the end. You guys will know why. Here is my one hundredth reviewer: ffash1. Here's a cookie and a virtual hug (::) Thanks to PandaFellOffTheSlide for beta-ing this so quickly! Remember to vote one my profile and review! The songs used in this chapter are: You Belong to Me by Jason Wade from Lifehouse, and So Close by Jon McLaughlin. I will post the links the songs on my profile.
Oh, and just something to say, one of my bestest buddies, Jayne Mays, and I came up with this new texting abbreviation: Lal (Laugh a lot). Cookies to those who use it.
Disclaimer: I'm not a dude. I'm a girl.
Chapter 11: The Prince
"Lady Aphrodite, the advisor who has cared for and tutored the young ladies for the past six months," the guard says and Aphrodite walks in wearing an elegant red gown with her blonde hair up in a bun. She walks gracefully and swiftly down the stairs, gives me a slight nod, and I bow in response.
"Lady Michelle Skye, the advisor assigned to group one," he says and a young woman with raven black hair pulled into a bun with bright blue eyes walks in wearing a deep blue ball gown. I bow to her and she nods.
"Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Duke Ares," he says and a very tough looking brunette walks in wearing a blood red dress. As she walks down the stairs, I notice that her dark brown eyes seem to have a reddish tint to them and instead of looking happy about meeting me, she looks like she wants to hurt me. She gives me a small curtsy at the end of the stairs and I give her a small bow. She goes to sit in her designated table and wait for the rest of girls to follow.
"Drew Hartley, daughter of advisor Elizabeth Hartley," he says and a very beautiful Asian girl walks in wearing a light pink dress that is a little too revealing for my taste. She has long, dark hair in ringlets and warm brown eyes. When she arrives at the bottom of the stairs, she curtsies oddly and I give her a stiff nod. The introductions seem endless. My neck starts to cramp up after the first 100 girls. When the guard announces what I think is the 225th girl, I look up abruptly. It's her name that catches my attention.
"Calypso Paige, daughter of Duke Atlas," he says and in walks in a girl so beautiful my jaw drops slightly and my eyes widen. She's wearing a white, strapless dress that barely touches the ground and a simple white sash at the waist. Calypso has long, caramel hair put in a side braid with a simple white flower, wide, exotic looking light brown eyes, and tan skin that I can tell is natural. When she walks down the stairs, she looks confident and when she reaches the bottom of the stairs, I give her a wide smile and bow and she curtsies elegantly in response. Her face stays in my mind and I keep sneaking looks to her table in between each girl. Eventually, I hear familiar names.
"Lady Brianna Back, the advisor assigned to group 38," he says and my sister walks in wearing a gorgeous white dress with black designs, her chocolate brown, wavy hair flowing down her shoulders. I bow stiffly, but not intentionally, and I give her a friendly smile while she nods.
"Cassandra Louise Jenson, daughter of Duke Logan Jenson," he says and Cass walks in wearing a Caribbean blue, strapless dress.
"Victoria Sparks, daughter of Duke Matthew Sparks," he says and Vicky walks in wearing a silver mermaid gown.
"Piper McLean, daughter of advisor Aphrodite," he says and Piper walks in wearing a light blue gown with only one strap.
"Juniper Woods, daughter of Lynette Woods," he says and a petite Juniper walks in wearing a green-blue, flowing dress.
"Katie Gardner, daughter of advisor Demeter," he says and Katie walks in wearing a strapless, yellow ball gown.
"Silena Beauregard, daughter of Duke Pierce Beauregard," he says and my eyes widen, she's wearing a pink, strapless, gown and I see why Beckendorf adores her.
"Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus," he says and Thalia walks in wearing a strapless, black and white print ball gown.
"Annabeth Chase, daughter of Frederick Chase," he says and when she walks in, my eyes widen and my jaw actually does drop. Her golden blonde, princess curls are pulled into a side ponytail held with two, thin, midnight blue headbands. Her dress is a midnight blue, strapless ball gown with a diamond design. She looks gorgeous. I quickly close my mouth and give her the nicest bow I could muster and a smile while she smiles back and curtsies with grace.
"That concludes our candidates," the guard says, his voice cracking on the end of his sentence from all of the names he had to read. The music starts up again and people start to dance on the dance floor. I realize that I have to pick a girl to have my first dance with, and fast. I walk over to Drew Hartley and she looks happy that I picked her first.
"May I have this dance?" I ask, extending my hand towards her.
"Of course, Prince Percy," she says and takes my hand. I learn from dancing with her that her favorite color is pink, she thinks every girl here is beneath her, and that she is a complete snob. After the dance, I quickly move on to another girl. The dances make my feet ache quickly. I can tell it's already been a few hours and I sit down at the table designated for the royal family to take a break. I see a boy and girl walk up to me and I recognize them as Travis's brother Connor, who isn't his twin, but could be, and Nico's older sister Bianca.
"Hey Percy. It's good to see you again," Connor says and I shake his hand and then give Bianca a hug.
"Good to see you too. How's working at your dad's company?" I ask him. Connor chose to work at his dad's company instead of coming to the palace with his brother.
"It's great. But the messages every day can get a little overwhelming," he says.
"Well, that's what happens when your dad is the messenger for the whole kingdom," I say.
"So, Bianca, how's college?" I ask her and she smiles at me with her eyes, which match Nico's.
"It's great. The work can get tough sometimes, but it's really fun," she says.
"That's good. It was nice to see you guys again, but I have to ask more girls to dance," I say.
"Okay. See you later," Bianca says.
"Bye Perce, have fun," Connor says and winks at me. I give them a small wave and decide to ask Calypso Paige to dance. I walk over to her table and I see her chatting with some other girls, but they all look at me as I approach.
"May I have this dance?" I say, extending my hand towards and she smiles warmly at me.
"Yes you may, Prince Percy," she says and takes my hand. A song starts up and when we dance the singer starts singing, his voice is not what I was expecting, but I still like the song.
See the pyramids around the Nile
Watch the sun rise
From the tropic isle
Just remember darling
All the while
You belong to me
I start to ask her questions and I learn that she loves to garden, read, and is one of the most perfect girls I have ever met. She's extremely sweet and very humble, but I can tell that she would stand up for herself when she needs to. Her voice is soothing and like a melody at the same time, and her laugh, oh, her laugh. It's amazing. You sound like a lovesick puppy…
Oh I'll be so alone without you
Maybe you'll be lonesome too
We keep dancing and talking for another song until I realize that I have about 50 other girls to dance with.
"It was a pleasure dancing with you Calypso," I say.
"Please, call me Callie, Prince Percy," she says, giving me a smile.
"Alright then. I loved dancing with you, Callie. And, call me Percy," I say and I give her a kiss on the cheek. With every girl I danced with so far, I usually kissed their hand. But Callie was different.
"Goodnight," she says then curtsies to me, a pink tint on her cheeks. She walks away and as soon as she's gone, the girls swarm her asking her questions and she looks overwhelmed.
"Percy!" a deep and slightly childish voice says and I turn around to see my half-brother Tyson running towards me. He's very, very tall and strong for his age so when he gives me a hug, he almost cracks my ribs.
"Cracking… ribs," I say and he quickly lets go.
"Sorry big brother," he says and gives me a wide, toothy grin while I try to catch my breath.
"It's okay. How's working in dad's armory shop?" I ask him. When Tyson was 13, our dad offered him to work in his armory shop as an internship and ever since then, he's always worked there.
"It's fun! I make a lot of weapons and shields for Daddy's army," he says.
"That's great Tyson. So how's-" I'm cut off by a little squeal.
"Tyson! You're here!" Kailey squeals and Tyson picks her up and gives her a hug.
"Hey smalls! You look pretty," he says.
"Tanks bigs," she says and giggles. Ever since Kailey learned to talk, she called Tyson bigs since he was so large to her and he called her smalls since she was so tiny to him. I thought it suited them both well.
"I have to go dance with some more girls, so I will see both of you later," I say and Kailey turns her attention to me.
"Pewcy? When will you dance with me?" she asks.
"Very soon. I promise," I say and she looks satisfied with my answer. Some boys are dancing with some of the candidates, since they already danced with me. There are about 30 girls left sitting at their table, waiting for me to ask them to dance. Annabeth is one of them. I already asked every girl at her table to dance and they all were nice, but I knew that they were my friends' girlfriends. I dance with 20 girls and then I decide to ask Annabeth to dance. I walk over to her and she smiles at me as I stand in front of her.
"Hi. Would you like to-" I start to ask, but I am cut off by a tugging on my pants leg.
"Now will you dance with me Pewcy?" Kailey asks me with a cute, angelic pout on her face.
"Now who's this little cutie?" Annabeth and she bends over to Kailey's level.
"I'm Kailey Wose Andewson. You'we pwetty. Who awe you?," she says and leaps onto Annabeth's lap.
"Thank you Kailey. But I can't compete with your adorable dress. My name is Annabeth," she says and Kailey giggles in response.
"Percy's told me a lot about you," Annabeth says.
"What did he say?" she asks, her green eyes wide.
"Well, he says that you love to laugh, you are sweet to everyone you meet, you are very pretty, which you are, and that he loves you very much," she says.
"Tanks, Annabeth," she says and turns to me.
"I like her. Is she the girl you will mawy?" she asks and Annabeth blushes.
"I-I, um," I stutter, but I'm saved by Kailey's mom.
"There you are Kailey! I have been looking for you everywhere," Brianna says.
"Hi mommy. I was hewe with Pewcy and his pwetty fwiend Annabeth," she says and jumps off Annabeth's lap into her mom's arms.
"It's time to go back with daddy and me. It's past your bedtime," Brianna says.
"But mommy, Pewcy needs to dance with me," she says.
"Alright Kailey," Brianna says.
"Yay!" Kailey squeals.
"Is it okay if I go dance with Kailey first?" I ask Annabeth.
"Of course. I don't mind," she says and smiles.
"Thanks. Come on Kailey. A song is coming on," I say and Brianna puts her down. I take her small hand and we walk onto the dance floor. Kailey steps onto my feet and we dance. Every time I would spin her or lift her into the air, she would giggle or squeal. I think it's adorable and so does every other person in the ballroom. They all smile at her or say, 'Awww.' When the song ends, she yawns, so I pick her up and she lays her head on my shoulder as I walk over to my sister and Cole.
"Tanks Pewcy," she says sleepily.
"No problem for my favorite girl," I say.
"I want you to pick Annabeth ow the othew pwetty giwl," she says.
"Who's the other pretty girl?" I ask her.
"She helped me get a dwink and cookies. She's nice. Hew name is Cawypso," she says and I smile.
"Okay sweetie," I say.
"I wove you Pewcy," she says and I know she's already asleep.
"I love you too, Kailey," I say and we reach Brianna and Cole.
"Asleep already?" he asks and I nod.
"Thanks Percy. I can tell she had a fun time tonight," Brianna says and takes Kailey form my arms.
"No problem. I had fun with her. Before the night ends, I have to dance with 10 more girls," I say.
"Remember Percy, make the right choice," Brianna says.
"Don't worry. I will," I say. I dance with the other 9 girls, and then I walk over to where Annabeth is sitting and I notice all of her friends chatting with her. They all smile at me as I walk up to them.
"Annabeth, may I have this dance?" I ask her and extend my hand.
"No," she says and I'm surprised. I frown and look around, embarrassed.
"I'm kidding. I would love to dance with you," she laughs and takes my hand. We walk out onto the dance floor just as a piano starts playing. As the singer starts to sing, we start to waltz slowly.
You're in my arms
And all the world is calm
The music playing on for only two
So close together
And when I'm with you
So close to feeling alive
I look into her spell-binding grey eyes and everything around me disappears. The music plays for us, and only us. We need no words for this dance.
A life goes by
Romantic dreams will stop
So I bid mine goodbye and never knew
So close was waiting, waiting here with you
And now forever I know
All that I wanted to hold you
So close
We start to dance a little faster at this verse. Ever since I've gotten to known Annabeth, I've wanted to hold her in my arms and never let her go. We were always so close.
So close to reaching that famous happy end
Almost believing this was not pretend
And now you're beside me and look how far we've come
So far we are so close
I sing/whisper that last two lines into her ear. We were always close to... something. I don't know what. The song represents us. We've come so far in the past six months and I'm happy to have her beside me now. The verse ends and we start to dance faster and faster at the music pause. I spin her around and I lift her into the air a couple of times. We slow down slightly at the next verse.
How could I face the faceless days
If I should lose you now?
We're so close
To reaching that famous happy end
And almost believing this was not pretend
Let's go on dreaming for we know we are
So close
So close
And still so far
I know that I don't want to spend the rest of my days without her, but I'm still confused. So close, so close, so close. That was our relationship, so close. Would we ever get there? But where is there?...
As the song ends, we look into each other's eyes and I give her a lingering kiss on the cheek. The guests clap and we turn our heads only to notice that we were the only ones on the dance floor.
"It is now time for Prince Percy to make his decision," my step-dad says and I give Annabeth a smile before walking up to the top of the stairs where everyone entered.
"This decision is very difficult to make," I say. I'm still debating in my mind between two girls, Callie and Annabeth, "I choose…" Unfortunately, my mouth has a mind of its own.
"Calypso Paige"