Hello Hawaii
Bing! Sally gently shook Percy by his shoulders when the plane finally reached its destination. Percy stirred and groaned in the process.
"C'mon, sweetie. Wake up, we're here," Sally said in a gentle voice.
It took a while for Percy to finally lift open his eyelids and his vision to fully focus of his surroundings. Everyone was already getting their bags in the compartment above them and exiting the plane. Both Percy and his mom got their belongings as well and walked through the narrow space towards the exit of the plane.
They finally exited the plane and entered the airport building. Percy looked around; it wasn't any different from the one in New York, except it was a bit smaller. Sally was holding a map that helped guide them out of the airport. Percy swore that they were walking in circles because he kept seeing the same thing over and over again.
After passing Starbucks four times, Percy decided to speak up. "Are you sure you know where we are going, Mom?"
Sally sighed and crumpled the map in her hand. "No, no I don't." She replied.
Percy rolled his eyes. He tried looking around for signs that would point them to the exit of the building but there was none. "We're so screwed." Percy mumbled.
"Who's screwed?" Someone asked and Percy realized that it wasn't his mom's voice. Percy turned around to come face to face with a red-haired girl. She looked the same age as Percy and wore a smile upon her face. She had slightly curly, long red hair and tiny bits of freckles on her face. She wore bright green skinny jeans and an orange shirt with flowers all over it. The one thing that caught his eyes was her eyes. They were green and quit pretty. Behind her stood a tall man and a lady who looked a bit younger than Percy's mom. Percy guessed that they were her parents seeing that the mom resembled the girl greatly.
"Hi," Percy's mom greeted the strangers.
The tall man shook her hand and the lady just smiled. "Hello. I'm John Dare and this is my wife, Lori Dare," he said gesturing to the woman beside of him, she smiled and shook Sally's hand. Then he gestured towards the girl standing in front of him, "And this young lady is my daughter – "
"Rachel Elizabeth Dare," the girl finished for him. She smiled sweetly at Sally and the green-eyed boy.
"I'm Sally Jackson and this is my son, Percy Jackson," Sally introduced.
"I'm guessing that you two are lost?" Mr. Dare asked.
Sally smiled sheepishly. "Is it that obvious?"
Both Mr. and Mrs. Dare laughed. "We've been going on vacations here for years. We like to help as much newcomers as we can," said Mrs. Dare.
"Oh thank gods!" The Dares looked at Sally strangely when she said "gods" instead of God. Percy quickly caught their attention before getting suspicious.
"Well, we should get going then," Percy said hurriedly.
The Dares guided the Jacksons to the exit of the building. During the walk, Rachel stayed by Percy's side, making him feel a bit uncomfortable. Behind them were their parents and they were talking about all kinds of stuff.
"So, are you from New York too?" Rachel suddenly asked, ruining the tension between them.
"Yeah. You?" Percy asked awkwardly.
"Yup," she replied. It was weird to Percy because he never seen her before.
"Oh, what school did you attend?"
Rachel's face fell, making Percy regret asking. "I – uh – was home schooled. My parents were too busy with their jobs so they hired an expert tutor to school me, it was less cheap than school."
Percy almost immediately envied Rachel. "Wow, I wish I was homeschooled."
Rachel glanced at Percy, shock on her face. "No, don't ask for that, Percy. I never got the chance to meet anyone, make friends, have someone to talk to, it all sucks."
For the first time, Percy pitied someone. It hasn't been an hour since they met, but he felt like he needed to be there for this her. Percy hesitantly gave her a pat on the back, gesturing that he was there for her. Rachel stiffened for a moment but relaxed to his touch. She smiled gratefully up at him (because he did tower her by several inches.) and he returned a smile.
Their moment was interrupted when they exited the airport building. Sally and Percy's breath was caught when they surveyed their surroundings. It was beautiful. The landscape was full of luscious greenery and rigged mountains. The horizon was also beautiful. The water glistened in the sunlight and the clearness of it was breath-taking. But what got both of their attention was the clean air. Percy and Sally could not stop taking deep breaths of the fresh, clean air that filled their nose. It was complete paradise.
The Dares just waited for them, clearly used to this reaction from other people they've helped. After a few minutes, the air was filled with gasoline because cars started coming in to pick up people.
"Do you guys have a ride?" Mr. Dare asked.
Sally dug in her bag to take out a bunch of papers. She took out a little pamphlet and scanned it. "Ah, yes! We're supposed to wait for the Aulani shuttle," she said, struggling with the word Aulani.
Rachel looked up at Mrs. Jackson with surprise and excitement. "Aulani? The Disney Resort? You guys are staying there?" Percy was just as surprised as Rachel was because he didn't know they were going to live there.
"Yes, sweetie," Sally replied to Rachel with a smile. "Why? Do you have suggestions of things to do there?"
Rachel was about to answer but Mrs. Dare interrupted her before she could babble off on all the things to do. "Before my daughter could go on and on about the things you could do, we can just tell you when we get there. We stay there now ever since it opened recently. It's a very good resort."
"That's wonderful!" Sally exclaimed. Percy still stood in shock as he heard about where they were going to live for four years. Huh, this won't be a bad life overall, he thought. He started to think about all the wonderful things that were going to be over there or at least what the commercials showed.
After a few minutes, the Dares and Jacksons started to bond with each other. Lori and Sally started to find common interests and so did Percy and Rachel. Rachel and Percy didn't have the same things in common as Percy and Annabeth did, however. But the more Rachel talked about herself; Percy started to forget about his relationship with Annabeth.
Soon, a small van with a very decorative sign on it saying Disney Aulani Resort came through the entrance. The Jacksons threw in their bags and the Dares helped. Before going in the van, Sally said her farewells to the Dares.
"Thank you guys for helping us today!" Sally said gratefully.
"No problem, Sally. See you at the hotel later!" Lori replied while waving to her when Sally entered the van.
Percy looked at Rachel and what she did surprised him. She hugged him. Percy could smell the sweet cherry sent in her hair as she clung on to him. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear and let go.
Percy was too shocked to reply. He was snapped out his trance when his mom called him.
"Let's go, Percy!" Sally yelled from inside the van. Percy took that note and ran into the van, hopping in dramatically. He waved at the Dares and they waved back. Sliding the door to close it, the van was off to their new home.
The van pulled up to the entrance of the resort. It looked clean and crowded. A bunch of tourists were entering and exiting the lobby with amazement shown on their faces. Sally gave the driver a little tip before exiting the van and getting their luggage. They both walked towards the entrance of the building, examining it in awe. The roof was shaped like a downwards V and the texture made it look like it was made of grass. Before their amazement could become any less, they entered the lobby.
"You didn't tell me we were staying here?" Percy almost gasped.
"Well, I wanted it to be a surprise. Disney sponsors the company I work for now and they offered me to stay here while we live here. Totally free except the room service and all and that reminds me, don't be tempted to go overboard with it." Sally said in a warning tone. Percy nodded, clearly not interested in what she was saying because he was too busy admiring the beauty of the lobby. And this was just the lobby.
Sally walked up to the front where the main desk was located with Percy trailing behind her. Once they got to the main desk, they were greeted by a young man with brown hair and eyes. He was muscular and tanned. He smiled like it was his job to do so.
"Aloha. How may I help you today, ma'am?" said the young man.
"Hi. Um, reservation for Sally Jackson," Sally replied.
"Okay, one minute please." He said as he glanced at the computer screen in front of him. After a few clicks and ID checks, he went to the back and grabbed a key and a brochure. He handed the items to Sally and she took it. "You'll be staying at the Oceanic suit located at the far west building. Enjoy your stay here at Aulani, Ms. Jackson," he said, giving that fake smile again.
Sally smiled at the young man and continued her way outside with Percy. As things couldn't get any better, it did. Both of them gaped at the sight before them. There were four buildings surrounding them; two on the right and two on the left. They all looked the same – a triangular top and texture that made them look like it was made of wood and grass. In the front of them were a bunch of plants and a river-like trail that swiveled the ground and lead the beach in front of the resort.
"Enjoy the view?" said a voice behind Percy. It was very familiar.
Percy turned around and there was Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She smiled and scanned the area as well.
"Yeah, as many times I've been here, I could never get used to this," she admitted.
"It's beautiful," Percy complimented, still looking at her. He didn't know if that was for Rachel or the sight of the resort. Either way, it was true. Rachel didn't notice him looking at her when he said that and he silently thanked gods for that. Her parents were already guiding Sally to her suit when she told them where they were staying.
"So, where are you staying?" Rachel asked while walking with Percy to their suit.
"Um, I think it's called the Oceanic suit. It's in that building," Percy said, pointing to the building located on the far end on the right side of the resort.
Rachel's eyes lit up in excitement. "We're in that same building! Oh thank God!"
Percy was amazed that he they were in the same hotel for the summer. It was nice; he made a new friend already. "Thank gods," Percy mumbled.
Rachel noticed. "Gods?" she asked. She found it strange that he and his mom said "gods" instead of God.
Percy laughed nervously. He didn't want to bring out the greekiness in him. Annabeth and Percy would say "gods" because they were into the Greek culture and they had more than one god so they started saying it plural instead of singular. The thought of Annabeth made Percy's heart ache as he thought about what happened yesterday. Rachel saw the sadness showing on Percy's face and felt bad.
"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked him, placing her hand on his shoulder. That touch brought Percy back to when he was packing and Annabeth placed her hand on his shoulder. They both gave that gesture of telling him that they were there for him. Except, Annabeth probably didn't mean it and Rachel did.
Percy couldn't let the same thing happen to him again. Fall for a girl that he doesn't have a chance with. He gently shrugged off Rachel's hand off his shoulder. Rachel felt hurt by his actions and Percy noticed.
"Sorry, it's just . . . hard for me to be moving like this," Percy said, hiding the rest of the truth. Rachel could tell he was hiding way more than that but nodded, understanding the hardship he was going through. Still yet, she was going to find out what was really going on.
"I understand," Rachel said in a soft tone.
All of them finally reached their destination.
"Sally, there's this spa that I think we should go to. It's ranked number four in the top ten best spas in the world. I couldn't go the last time because my husband decided that sitting a hard rock, waiting to catch fish was better than getting a nice massage," she said while nudging her husband in the rib, causing him to groan.
"Hey! At least I caught something!" He protested. Percy and Rachel laughed.
"Hun, a plastic bag does not count," She argued back. He waved his hand in the air in annoyance and walked into the hotel to get their room information. Lori turned back to Sally. "So what do you say?"
"That sounds fun," Sally smiled.
"All right. I already have an appointment scheduled at 5, see you there!" Lori Dare reminded. Sally jotted that information in her little flip phone.
Sally gave Lori one last wave before entering their building towards their hotel suit. Percy already left Rachel to follow his mom. Their luggage was already delivered to their rooms located on the 20th floor. Sally and his son took the elevator up, Percy accidently pressed 4, 9, 11, and 15 before his mom finally pressed the 20. The whole ride, including pit stops, Sally explained how their lives are going to be in Hawaii. Percy started to believe the greatness of his new life here.
Finally, a bing signaled the stop on the 20th floor. Percy and Sally exited the elevator and walked down the hallway.
"532, 533, 534, 535," Sally counted the numbers on each door in the hallway. ". . . 538! Here we are!" Sally said excitedly and pulled out a small, plastic card. She inserted the card into a thin slot located next to the doorknob, and the light turned green. Sally placed her hand on the doorknob, suspense creeping both of them.
Before turning, she sighed. Then she looked down to her 12 year-old son, gesturing her to open the door to their new home. Percy hesitated a little before taking the doorknob into his hand and turning it. Percy and Sally gaped at their new home – almost dropping their luggage.
The living room was painted with a light blue, making the room look bright. The furniture was organized beautifully. Next to the living room was an open kitchen, which had upgraded furniture and an island in the middle. There were two doors on the opposite side of the room that lead to the two bedrooms. A blue-stained glass window was located on the wall. As the light shone through, it made the room glisten like the ocean water. What stood out the most was the porch outside that had a breath-taking view of the horizon and Diamond Head Mountain. It was plain beautiful.
"Wow," Percy gasped, examining the suit.
"Exactly," Sally confirmed her son's choice of vocabulary.
"And so we're living here?" Percy asked, still amazed by his surroundings. The thought of him staying here for four years – just wow. Well, that's what Percy thinks anyways.
Sally grasped his shoulder and gave a short chuckle of amusement. "Yes, Percy."
It took a while for Percy to adjust to his new surroundings. But after a few short weeks, he managed to get used to the fact that he's staying in Hawaii for the next four years. He and Rachel have been spending a lot of time together. Percy's feelings towards Rachel were mutual and vice versa. Although, Percy never really told Rachel about Annabeth. One being because he doesn't want his thoughts to trail back to Annabeth and feel guilty, and the other reason being that whenever he's around Rachel, he seems to get Annabeth out of his mind. That was strange for him because he usually always thought about her.
The fun all ended when Rachel had to go back to New York for the school year. Percy was bummed that she was leaving but felt better when she said she's going to come back next summer. Before leaving Percy looking down, she went up to hug him.
Percy felt paralyzed for half a second but got a grasp of reality right after and wrapped his arms around Rachel too. He could feel her smile against his shoulder.
"I'm going to miss you, Percy." Rachel's voice muffled out.
"I-I'm going to m-miss you too, Rach," Percy replied a little hesitant.
Rachel let go, peering at her friend's face. "Bye."
"Bye," Percy simply fare welled as Mr. and Mrs. Dare started walking towards the gate to their plane. Before Rachel step foot in the line, a knot formed in Percy's stomach. He didn't know what it was, but the next thing he knew, he called out to Rachel.
Rachel turned around, looking at Percy with confusion clouding her face. Percy tried gathering his words but it came out like a mumble.
"Excuse me, Perce?" Rachel asked, looking around awkwardly.
He took in a deep breath. "I just wanted to say that . . . Thank you." Rachel still wore a confused-awkward face. "Well you know what I mean. Helping me out here and being my friend and all. I appreciate it." It all came out so fast before Percy could actually catch what he was saying. "A-and you know, it's just th-that I-I – um – "
"You're welcome, Percy," Rachel smiled, knowing where he was going with this conversation. Percy ran his hand through his hair casually, trying to ease the awkward situation he was in. Rachel told the lady standing in front of the gate to hold on. She responded by impatiently grunting but shooing her hand in the air for Rachel to continue. Then Rachel ran up to Percy with her backpack in her hand.
Percy looked at her confusingly. "What are you – "
He was cut off when Rachel took something out of her bag. She held out her hand and opened it up, exposing a necklace. It was woven by dry coconut husks as the necklace part, and in the middle was a whale tooth carved as a Hawaiian hook. It was white and really nicely sanded. Percy almost gaped at the unique item in front of him.
"Well, are you just going to stand there and stare at it or are you going to take it?" Rachel asked a bit hurriedly as she saw that the lady at the gate was waiting impatiently.
"This is for me?" Percy asked, taking the necklace.
"No, this is for your mother," Rachel stated sarcastically. "Yes, Percy, it's for you. I made it last week at the craft store. Figured I would give it to you before I leave so that when I'm gone – "
"I still have something to remind me of you." Percy finished for her, feeling another knot in the bottom of his stomach.
"Yeah," Rachel sighed. "Well, hope you like it."
"I love it."
"Good. I got to go," she said as she saw the lady waving at her. "See you next summer, Percy!"
Percy waved at Rachel as she disappeared into the exit of the building into the plane back to his old home. "Bye, Rachel," Percy mumbled.
Little did he know, his mom watched the whole scene, almost tearing up at the sight of her son and his new friend. She almost tore his cheeks off when she went to go pinch them.
"Mom, what are you doing? Let go, please!" Percy groaned and rubbed his sore cheeks.
"You guys are so cute!" Sally exclaimed, clapping her hands together.
"Wait, what? No, Mom, we're just friends," Percy defended.
Sally shook her head. "Percy, Percy, Percy. 'Just friends' doesn't mean anything in this world anymore." Then she jumped into her car. Percy followed, except he sat in the passenger seat. "You guys remind me a lot of – "
"Mom, stop!" Percy yelled, knowing that she was going to say that they remind her of Annabeth and himself.
Sally's face dropped. "Sorry, sweetheart. I mean, things between you two are not that bad. You can still talk to – "
"It's been two months, Mom. She hasn't called, mailed, or even bothered to communicate with me in any way. I know how to take hints, okay? She doesn't want to talk and maybe I don't want to either. We're over," Percy said through gritted teeth, urging the tear to not fall. The way he said that last two words, it felt like someone hit a shovel at his heart. He made it sound like they were actually going out.
"Don't say that, Percy. She is your best friend," Sally said in a soothing tone.
"Was my best friend. Not anymore," Percy corrected, laying his head on the car window.
Sally sighed and tried defending her son's friendship with Annabeth, but before she could say anything, Percy held the necklace that Rachel gave him. Sally saw Percy examine it closely.
He sighed. "Besides, I have another best friend." Then he tied the necklace around his neck, letting the whale-bone carving dangle by his collar bone. It hurt his throat as he said that line, feeling a pang of hurt and coldness in his heart.
Sally could almost feel her son's feeling of hurt but continued to drive off. After the long silenced ride back to "home", Percy remember almost running to the building and into the elevator, seeing Sally a million yards behind. When they got to their floor, Percy ran to their room, scanned the card into the slot, ran to his room, and plopped into his bed. Then he shredded his tears. Funny, a thirteen year-old crying all alone? Yeah, asides the fact that he was living thousands of miles away from his other life in New York, leaving his best friends behind and that he just declared that him and Annabeth are officially not friends, he's totally fine.
After a few minutes, Percy found himself staring at his iPhone located across the other side of the bed. He took a hold of it, and let his fingers to the tapping. He scrolled passed all the useless apps that were on his screen but stopped when he came across one. The icon was a golden-coin-like thing and had a rainbow over. Something clicked in his brain of seaweed. This is the app that Annabeth made for just them too.
He had an internal battle with his mind about whether or not he should call her. Then the yes side won. Before he could stop himself, he thumb clicked the app icon and up popped an image of a fountain.
"O, Iris, show me Annabeth Chase," Percy's words slipped out. The heard the phone make a shimmering sound and the image of the phone started to blur into something else. Percy's heart skipped a beat as he heard that familiar click sound.
At first, all he saw was blackness on his screen and a hint of light showed through. It was obvious that someone was holding the phone and their hand was in the lens way. Instead of calling out for Annabeth, Percy just watched his iPhone screen. Then he heard a voice.
"Hey, so school's starting in a few weeks. And I was wondering if maybe we could . . . you know . . ." a voice said nervously. Percy knew that voice. It's the same voice that made him afraid at school.
Then another voice replied. This time it was a female and it was the voice that made butterflies filled Percy's stomach.
"I know what?" she asked.
"I was wondering if you well, want to go out?" What the hell? Who was this guy and who did he think he was asking out Percy's best friend.
There was silence between the two and then something showed up on his screen. On his screen, there were two people – Annabeth and Luke. They looked like they were at a park and the camera angle was facing up so he saw chins. This was normal to see, but never in his life would he see his best friend and the man he hated kiss.
All characters belong to Rick Riordan
Summer school stress. High school stress. Freshman now. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Lol. So sorry it took me a while to update this chapter. Lately, my nose has been stuck in a sketchbook than in my laptop. Sorry about that. And I just made the last part of this chapter up. Probably going to change the story A LOT now. Oh well, I'm just trying to update faster for ya'll. Was that expected? Idk, oh well. Hope you guys love it, REVIEW. I need like ideas because I'm going off plot. But HEY, I'll just surprise myself. LOL. Ok. Might not take your ideas but just review them anyways. How about I make Rachel and Percy, huh? They cute. Yes. Yes. That sounds awesome. Want me to do it? Because I will without your reviews. *EVIL LAUGH* Lol, school tomorrow, good night. I'm tired, love you all. Favorite, subscribe, review, or whatever tickles your pickle.
- Breana
