Chapter Twenty

Annabeth

I rub the sleep out of my eyes as I wander down the stairs in the morning. Bobby and Mathew are already up, shoving pancakes into their mouth with wild abandon. Stretching my arms above my head, I hop on a stool and start filling my plate, opting for blueberry over the twins chocolate decision. My father sits with my brothers at the opposite end of the long counter, and my step mother takes her seat beside me. I can feel her disdain radiating off her in waves as she takes a bran muffin and a banana. Digging my fingernails into my palm, I slowly start to nibble at my pancakes, the syrupy drenched goodness, not seeming so appetizing anymore.

"You're going to have so much fun on your trip, Annabeth." My fathers' eyes light up like a little kid first figuring out how to ride a bike. I force the corners of my mouth to lift just a little and nod in agreement. "Take plenty of pictures; I can't wait to see them." I stare down at my plate, feeling my step-mothers anger seeping into the atmosphere like a virus. She didn't agree with my father's decision to send me on the trip, her opinion that it was way too pricey (even though she wasn't paying) and too much of a risk for a privilege I didn't do enough to earn. They couldn't trust me to baby sit the boys, let alone send me off to a foreign country. She's always hated me, and always will. I take an uneasy sip of my orange juice, before going up stairs and changing into a pair of comfy jeans and a white t-shirt. I glance at my duffel bag, placed carefully by my door, and tie my hair up into a sloppy pony tail. When I emerge from my room, and head down the stairs, my dad is waiting and the rest of our happy little family has cleared out.

"I know you said that you didn't need spending money, but I think you should have some anyways," He smiles, holding a wad of cash out for me. I try desperately to take the money and ignore the sharp pang of guilt I'm getting for lying to him. It's a joke; he's never done anything to deserve my honesty: even my birth was just an unfortunate time-consuming obligation in his opinion. The only reason he even cares about Greece is because he's thrilled I'm living in his shoes. He went on a similar trip when he was completing his masters in History, that's where he met my mom aswell.

"I'm really fine, I have some savings anyways." I push it back at him, but he just shakes his head, and lets the money rest in his hands without actually taking hold of it: like I've handed him an ugly baby he's not quite sure he wants to hold. It was probably the same regretful expression he had on his face when he saw me for the first time.

"I mean it Annabeth, I know you paid for the trip all on your own, I want to-" He tries again, but I shake my head at him. Even before I decided to ditch the trip, this was my thing, not something my dad needed to hold my hand with. The Greece trip meant way too much to me to just let my dad's job pay for everything. Unfortunately, he still believes I'm going to Greece, and there's no way I could take his money without totally unnecessary and irrational guilt on my part. He doesn't deserve for me to be freaking out about lying to him. I shake my head, and something in my expression must tell him I'm not about to swayed. He shrugs, apparently satisfied with his attempt at pretending that he's a supportive father and tucks the money back into his wallet. I shrug and adjust the strap on my backpack uncomfortably.

"Well... see you when I get back." I mutter under my breath and my dad nods in agreement, before Bobby and Mathew peek their head in around the corner.

"By Annie!" They chorus, just in time for their mother to peek in and smile a little before waving at me, probably glad to have me out of her hair. I flash my best fake smile at all of them before waving goodbye. I shift my duffel bag in my hand and start heading outside, out the door, where Grover seems to think leaning on the horn will get me out of the house faster. I roll my eyes, before slipping into the backseat, ignoring Percy's grin at getting shotgun. Grover slowly pulls out of my driveway and heads in the direction of the school. As if my parents would waste their precious energy watching me leave. My father wouldn't even go into work an hour late so he could drive me to school and see me off before I leave for another country, at least, as far as he's concerned. So what if the Greece part is a charade, an actual father would see their child off when they're supposed to be leaving on an international school trip. Like I said, it's not like I matter to him. At least in this case his total disconnect with me helps keep him in the dark about where I'm really going.

Grover must recognize the expression on my face because he doesn't comment, unfortunately, Percy's not as smart, and he doesn't know me well enough to keep his trap shut. He starts jabbering on as he runs his fingers through his hair, messing it up even more than usual. I try to keep the accompanying thoughts that would follow that action out of my head. Not that I would ever start fantasizing about completely different situations where Percy's hair could become severely rumpled.

"Did you parents fuss over you as much as my mom did?" He wonders, a tiny blush on his cheeks, but a silly grin on his face too. Grover shakes his head and starts to tell our resident Seaweed Brain to keep a lid on it. I just shake my head and let out a bitter laugh.

"The wicked step mother pretended I was invisible as usual, and my father tried to buy my affections with spending money for when I'm in Greece. Does that answer your question?" My tone is sharper than I know it should be. Grover flinches but determinedly stares straight ahead at the road.

"Did you take the money?" Percy blurts out, and I can just imagine Grover shaking his head and sighing, but I don't watch. Instead, I close my eyes and slip my head phones, letting the world fade away for a while. I can feel the car rumbling beneath me, as my head rests against the window.

…

Percy

I should've kept my mouth shut. It really wouldn't have been all that difficult to keep quiet, but I had to make an attempt at polite small talk. I thought she'd find it funny, maybe even tease me a little about it, and get the cute little smirk on her face she gets when we're joking around. I didn't expect her to blurt all that stuff about her family and then totally shut down. She hasn't taken her head phones out since, and the cars been filled with unfortunately uncomfortable silence. Thinking back on it now, bringing up family in the middle of three teenagers with broken families wasn't the smartest idea I ever had. Not to mention, the follow up question probably wasn't the smartest option either. I swear to god, I'm not an idiot, I just never seem to say the right thing lately.

I glance anxiously at the first address on our list, now the destination on Grover's GPS, a few people kept the name Percy but about eight changed it, the closest is, now, Paul Wiesn and in approximately three hours, he will get a very interesting visit. If I don't have a panic attack before then, that is.