I know y'all probably hate me by now. I'd like to apologize for being the worst updater EVER!This fic fell of my radar-and then I checked fanfiction and found almost twenty reviews begging for an update! You guys rock! So here is the much anticipated Great Skeleton Dance Party of Freshman Year.
It wasn't everyone's freshman year. It would've been Hazel's first year of high school, had she not been in the legion, but it was Percy and Annabeth's freshman year of college-a weird reminder of the forgettable age differences between the friends. Annabeth spent the summer in a busy state of near-panic, travelling between San Francisco, New York, New Rome and Boston over the summer. She had to pack up stuff from San Francisco and from camp and ship it to New Rome, visit Magnus, and still find time to enjoy her last full summer at camp. Needless to say, she was busy. For the most part, Percy travelled with her, but this particular weekend he needed to stay at camp and pack.
It was late August, near the end of the summer session, when Piper found herself staring at the soaked remains of Nico di Angelo's cabin.
"I'm so so sorry," Percy was saying for the umpteenth time.
"You flooded my cabin," Nico growled.
"I know," Percy mumbled sheepishly.
"Again."
"I know! I'm sorry!"
The "again" part was the problem. Earlier in the summer, Percy had broken the fountain in the back of his cabin. The water flowed in a constant stream from the decapitated spout, and Percy kept the water suspended in an increasingly gigantic bubble while he went to find Leo to fix it. The problem was, the uncharacteristically strong wind carried the enormous sphere of water right into Nico's cabin, where it exploded in a torrent of white water. It completely trashed the Hades cabin. Thankfully, neither Nico or Hazel was there-they were in New Rome. The Hades cabin still had to be rebuilt, but it was admittedly an excellent opportunity to redesign it.
Unfortunately it was Hades Cabin 2.0 that Percy flooded a second time.
"You really do have the worst luck," Jason said in amazement. Leo was laughing to the point of tears. Hazel was shooting Percy daggers with her eyes, and Frank seemed astonished by the wreckage. Piper was just shaking her head. "Annabeth's gonna love this one," she mumbled, laughing a little herself.
"I really am sorry," Percy said sheepishly.
"How did this even happen?" Nico exclaimed, gesturing wildly at the wreckage.
"Wave," Percy said vaguely, distraught. "Wind. Tree. Harpy."
"Never mind," Nico said, exasperated. "Just-leave me alone and try not to break anything."
Percy was miserable all the way until campfire, which he spent apologizing so profusely that Nico finally snapped, "Give yourself a break, Jackson, and forget about it." Still, Percy went to sleep uneasy with guilt and surprised that Nico-who held a grudge like no one else-had forgiven him so quickly.
He awoke to what sounded like the end of the world.
His entire cabin was vibrating like it was strapped to a purring cat. A sound so loud and so unidentifiable it drove him nuts pounded through the air at an octave usually reserved for calling dogs. Percy howled, clapping his hands over his ears and falling out of bed and face-first onto the floor with a crash. Something pounded at his roof. He scrambled, trailing blankets, to the door and literally tumbled down the steps of his cabin. All over the clearing lights flicked on in the cabins. Campers streamed onto the green, shouting into the night. Percy had never been so bewildered-and that was saying something. Disoriented, he turned back to face his cabin, and his mouth dropped open.
Seventeen buck-naked skeletons were twerking on his roof to the loudest, screechiest, heavy-metal-est dusbstep he had ever heard. Pink glitter danced through the air as the skeletons whipped and nae-naed for all the moon, stars and camp to see. Nico di Angelo sat in the green in front of Percy's cabin, shrieking and rolling around with laughter so intense he was crying. Percy stared uncomprehendingly at his roof while all around him campers broke into laughter not only at his cabin but at Nico-and Percy's Power Ranger pajama pants, which were the only thing he had on.
Percy stared at his cabin, then at Nico, then back at his cabin.
Then he laughed so hard he ached for a week.