Disclaimer: Do I have to repeat this every stinking time? Don't own, never will.
Chapter Seven Dress Shopping=Torture
"You didn't tell me it was a masquerade! Heck you didn't even tell me it was a formal dance! I thought it was just like a party where you and your friends go and get drunk and I'm stuck being the designated driver," Annabeth said, crossing her arms as she stared daggers at Thalia from where she sat angrily in the passenger seat of Thalia's car.
Annabeth had been woken up by insistent pounding on her door. It was no surprise to her when she discovered it was Thalia, being the obnoxious girl she usually was. She then proceeded to drag Annabeth out of her loft and out to go dress shopping.
Which Annabeth despised with a shopping.
Shopping involved too much standing around, pretending to be amazed by different dresses when really you just wanted to die. She usually managed to sneak a book into her bag to read but Thalia knew her too well and had demanded her to leave her book, Jane Eyre, at home.
And when Thalia got scary, Annabeth knew better than to not fight her.
"If I told you it was a formal dance that my dad's throwing would you go? Don't answer that, it's hypothetical Annie," Thalia said as she somehow managed to swerve in and out of traffic without getting the two of them killed, something that Annabeth was very thankful for. How she did it, Annabeth had no idea, it involved a lot of screaming and speeding, two things Thalia loved. "But now that you bring it up, we'll probably need a designated driver knowing how my dad's parties usually turn out. Thanks for volunteering Annie!" Thalia said gleefully.
Annabeth slumped lower into her seat. "I don't get why I have to go dress shopping with you, especially the day before the masquerade." She was mad that Thalia had dragged her out of her loft on her day off when she planned to work on the Letter Writer (which was doing amazing!) and watch a few movies. She had spent the last week working hard at her job and she just wanted to relax, not be out in Times Square doing one of her least favorite things. Dress Shopping.
"Because it will be fun and I'm not letting my best friend look like a homeless person who snuck in," Thalia said factually.
"Thanks," Annabeth quipped back. "Who even has masquerades for fun anymore?" She muttered.
"It's some annual thing my dad does. He invites like everyone and I mean everyone to it, celebrities, politicians, random people he met some day. Oh and of course my cousin," Thalia said slyly, looking at Annabeth.
"Your cousin?" Annabeth said, rolling her eyes. "And do I know this cousin?"
"Oh don't worry Annie, I'll introduce you to him," Thalia promised.
"Where are we even going?" Annabeth sighed.
"You'll see," Thalia winked. Annabeth groaned. When Thalia winked it was a bad sign.
"Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" Percy asked, slamming his glass of water down onto the granite countertops and glaring across the counter at Nico who was sitting at his laptop, reading something.
"Honestly Percy, if I told you a week ago you would have found some way out of it. And try not to break the countertops, I don't think Hestia would appreciate if her penthouse apartment had a massive crack on the counter," Nico said, not even looking up. His dark black hair draped over his forehead, hooding his black eyes.
Percy glared at him again. "Still would have been nice to know that I'm going to my uncle's party, who mind you I haven't seen in like… heck I don't think I've ever seen him! And the party's tomorrow, as in, in less than twenty four hours."
"Honestly Perce, it's not that big of a deal," Nico said finally looking up. "It's nothing to freak out about, your cousin will be there, you can hang out with her. Or you could invite Rachel."
Percy made a face and inwardly shuddered at the thought of that… crazy bat clinging onto his every word and every whim.
Rachel Elizabeth Dare… how to describe her? Percy had three words for her, Annoying, Selfish, and Stupid. He thought it fit her perfect. (The anagram for it was brilliant as well). She was a red haired model (though he was pretty sure her hair was dyed) who the media had stuck with Percy ever since he saved her from a freak boating incident where she conveniently fell off the deck of the cruise ship both she and Percy were on. Percy had jumped into the ocean to save her.
And ever since then he could not shake her.
And the media was eating it up.
It was funny though. If it had been a few years earlier, Percy would have jumped at the chance to date someone like Rachel, a girl known for her body. But now whenever Percy looked at her, he just felt a sense of disgust. She probably didn't care about words at all.
Not like she did.
Percy shook his head, he needed to focus. He needed to find some way to get out of this stupid party. "I think I'm going to conveniently get Influenza tomorrow around seven o'clock," he muttered.
"Nice try Percy," Nico said, looking at him. "Come on, it'll be fun. Grover will probably be there and Charlie and Selena." Nico just didn't understand. He just didn't. Most people didn't. But once you actually got into the spotlight you understood, you understood that fame wasn't everything.
"Yeah fun, it sure puts the fun…in funeral."
"Really Thalia? I can't even pronounce the name of this place," Annabeth said, squinting at the sign in front of the store which was written in swirly letters. "What language is that, is it French?" She asked, looking to Thalia for help. Thalia shrugged.
"Don't look at me, maybe it's Italian, I don't know okay? I just heard that this is the place to go if you want a dress for a dance like this masquerade."
"Geez Thals, you can't even tell me the name of the store we're at," Annabeth said folding her arms. "I guess that means you did a whole lot of research into what type of a store this is."
Thalia shrugged. "Really Annie who does research before they go dress shopping and don't you dare raise your hand. That's just… not normal. Plus I know the chick who owns this place… Hey watch where you're going!" She yelled at a man who was rushing past her and bumped into her, knocking her off balance. She fell ungracefully to her rear. Annabeth snorted as Thalia scrambled to get up.
"Don't you dare laugh at me Annabeth Chase," Thalia said, pointing an accusing finger at her best friend. She brushed herself off. "Honestly I don't understand why people have to be so rude here."
"Thalia, you call people a bunch of bubbling buffoons, I'm not exactly sure you're the most polite person in the world either," Annabeth snickered. "And plus it's New York City, what would you expect? Everyone acting like Mary Poppins."
"If I was Mary Poppins I'd turn them all into rabbits."
"We are not having this discussion again," Annabeth groaned. "For the last time that was Bed knobs and Broomsticks not Mary Poppins."
"Whatever," Thalia said shrugging and dusting off her black leather jacket. "I'd still turn them into rabbits."
Annabeth slapped her hand to her forehead and then allowed herself to be pulled into the store which they still had not determined the name of.
The instant they entered the store, Annabeth cringed. It was filled with dresses, makeup, pink, pink and more pink. She didn't think that there were that many shades of pink that even existed in the world. She was a girl who had learned to shoot a rifle from her dad and to use a knife from her other childhood best friend. She was a writer. She didn't not belong in this store.
"This must be where supermodels go to die," Thalia whispered to Annabeth as they both stood their awkwardly. The store was jammed packed with ladies and even a few men who looked bored out of their minds as they carried bags for their girlfriends or wives. Note to self. Never make your boyfriend carry your shopping bags, it makes them look highly undignified. Solution= Never go shopping. Annabeth thought as she sympathized for those poor men.
"Maybe we should try a Thrift Store or something," Thalia whispered to Annabeth, keeping her voice down as so not to be heard. Thrift Stores were where Annabeth and Thalia used to have to shop for their dance dresses as they both had to pay for it with pocket money and that wasn't a lot.
"Let's do it," Annabeth agreed. They slowly turned around to exit out of the store when a sharp squeal erupted from somewhere. Annabeth wondered if two ladies were getting into a fight over shoes. If they were they better be careful, some of those heels looked more detrimental to someone than a knife did.
"Thalia!" The voice squealed and Annabeth saw Thalia cringe out of the corner of her eye. Slowly they both turned to see a woman running towards them. How she managed to run in those seven inch heels was a mystery to Annabeth. She would fall and break her ankle and probably her face if it was herself doing it. "I'm so glad you could come!" The woman said grabbing Thalia's hands and squeezing them. Thalia's face was steeled in a mask of no emotion.
The woman was gorgeous. She was easily one of the most beautiful people Annabeth had ever seen in her life. She had deep, dark red hair which made her look pretty and dignified unlike other red heads she had seen (no offense to red heads! I love red heads! I have red in my hair as well!). It was swept up into a graceful bun with a few tendrils of hair falling perfectly into place. When Annabeth tried to do a bun it made her look like a crazy cat lady. Her eyes seemed to change colors depending on the lighting, one minute they seemed more green than blue, the next they were more brown than green. Her makeup was done perfectly and tastefully. Her clothes probably cost double a month's rent for Annabeth's flat.
"And you must be Annie!" The woman squealed, pecking Annabeth on the cheek with her perfect lips. Annabeth stumbled backwards. Did she really just kiss her on the cheek? Was this some new foreign greeting?
"Annabeth," she muttered.
Thalia cleared her throat. "Er yes… um this is Annabeth and Annabeth this is Venus Aphrodite."
Annabeth's eyes popped open. "Wait, hold up a minute, the Venus Aphrodite?" She asked. "As in the model Venus Aphrodite?"
The woman giggled. "Do you know any other Venus Aphrodite?" She asked. "I think I'm the only one."
"Wait, what are you doing running a dress shop in Times Square?" Annabeth asked. No wonder the woman was so perfect, she was only the most famous model in the world. Four time World's Most Beautiful Woman did that to you.
"Oh it's a hobby really, I own a whole chain of Amor Vincit Omnia," Venus Aphrodite said, shrugging.
"Oh so that's what it says," Thalia whispered to Annabeth.
"It's Latin Thalia, it means Love Conquers All," the older woman said, inspecting her perfectly manicured nails. "After all it's true. Love can make the most powerful men crumple to their knees, it makes nations fall. Just look at Troy. It fell because of two people's mad love for each other. So romantic," she sighed, clasping her hands together.
"Romantic?" Annabeth asked. "You call the death of thousands of soldiers, both Greek and Trojan and a ten year war all because of a selfish coward of a prince romantic?"
"I don't look at it that way," the woman said, her eyes seemed to turn an icy blue as she stared at Annabeth. "Love was powerful back then, it was honored, it was supposed to be sacred to the gods. Paris and Helen were only fulfilling what the gods wanted by running away. They were fulfilling their fate to love each other."
"Paris kidnapped Helen!" Annabeth argued.
"That's what you think. But can you know for certain? All I'm saying is that Love is what holds this world together. Without love we would be nothing. Haven't you ever loved anyone before, so much that it hurts," Aphrodite said. Annabeth didn't look up at her. She'd never really felt that way for someone. She "loved" Thalia but not in the sense Aphrodite was talking about. Not in that soul burning, heart aching love she yearned for. Not in a crazy, heated passion. Not in a love that moves the sun and the stars as she once had written in one of her letters. Not in a pure, blissful love. No. She never had been."People do crazy things for love. People die for love. And even though Troy fell, Aeneas went on to found the greatest Empire ever, Rome."
"That's up for debate," Annabeth muttered. But she was silent. She remembered two Words for the Wise she wrote in her letters. One was so similar to what Aphrodite said:
W4W: I think that love is one of the most powerful feelings in the world. Right up there with hatred. And the line between hatred and love is so thin that it's easy to cross. It's easy to dance upon that fine line between love and hate. One minute you stare at someone in disgust and the next you're wishing they would smile at you just once. People do crazy things for love. They sacrifice themselves for love. Love is powerful. Love is beautiful. Love is selfless. Love is fire. It consumes, it breathes. So love more than hate because hatred leaves to darkness but Love leads to light.
"And we didn't come here for a debate Aphrodite, we're here for dresses," Thalia said. "For the masquerade tomorrow."
"Oh yes!" Aphrodite squealed, her demur suddenly changed from serious and storm clouds to happy and giggling like a little school girl. "Oh yes! The masquerade!" She said. "Well then, we'll just have to find something perfect for the both of you."
"I'm thinking something pink for Thalia," Annabeth said. Thalia snorted and looked at her, annoyed.
"No, no pink, I draw the line at pink," Thalia said crossing her arms. Annabeth smirked, looking at Thalia as she dressed was dressed in her favorite black t-shirt which read "Death to Barbie" and her black leather jacket.
"Oh I don't know Thalia, pink seems like your color," Annabeth said.
"No, more like a black, I like you in black Thalia," Aphrodite said. She turned and studied Annabeth, her eyes roving over her form, taking it all in. She tapped a finger against her chin, pondering.
"And for you… well I have no idea what I'm going to do with you."
Well that sounded promising.
"Night Thalia," Annabeth said as waved goodbye to Thalia as Thalia drove away. Annabeth hurried inside her apartment building, knowing the dangers of being outside in New York City at night. Strange things lurked in the dark, she learned that from reading.
Annabeth hurried into the apartment building, her feet sore from standing for so long. Aphrodite had insisted that Annabeth try on what felt like every gown in the whole store. Needless to say, she didn't not like it one bit. But she had found a dress for tomorrow and Aphrodite was sending it to her early tomorrow morning (free of charge for the delivery of course).
Upstairs Annabeth pulled out her key and entered into her flat, making sure to relock the door behind her. She let out a yawn and then changed into her sweats and made herself a mug of tea. Grabbing her laptop, she sat down on her couch, folded her legs and turned it on. She quickly logged onto Writer's Corner.
There were at least a dozen new reviews from the last time she checked (which was only thirty minutes ago, she had gotten an app on her phone which allowed her to look, something which came in handy when she was bored).
She grinned as she read some of them. It made her feel good to know that there were people out there, somewhere in the world which seemed so big that where reading her story. Reading her words. And loving them.
Annabeth began an update for before her next chapter she was writing.
WiseGirl36: Hello everyone out there in Computer Land. So today I went dress shopping for a party I'm going to tomorrow (yes, yes, very last minute I know) and now my feet hurt so much I feel like they're going to fall off, but apparently that's physically impossible. So I guess I'll have to settle for just saying that they really, really hurt. Here's my new chapter. I admit I cried during this chapter. So enjoy!
Satisfied for the short note, she uploaded her next chapter and then sat back, pleased that she was changing at least one person. One person had to actually understand her words, had to feel them and feel drawn to them.
Right?
On the other side of New York City, Percy Jackson sat at his computer. He had just finished his lengthy email to his mother which was a daily occurrence.
Percy Jackson wasn't ashamed of his mother. In fact Sally Jackson was one of the bravest women he knew. She had suffered through falling in love with a man who left her alone and with child. She had suffered through an abusive marriage with a man whom Percy would refer to as Smelly Gabe when he was younger (though smelly didn't really cover it, it was more like repulsive and puke worthy). Yet never had she given up.
She reminded Percy of her. Of his mystery letter writer.
Their strength and resolve were so similar. Sometimes Percy found himself thinking that if his mystery girl and his mother were to meet they'd get along amazingly.
Percy had been happy that his mother had found her happy ending in Paul. Everyone deserved a happy ending, even if it's not the ending you thought would be the "happy ending." Life is like that, it likes to mess with your mind, trick you into believing you want one thing when really your heart wants another.
Percy sighed and looked at the digital clock on his laptop. He rubbed his temples with his fingers and sighed. He thought he was happy. But was he?
No, he was tired.
Tired of everything.
He thought that this was supposed to make him happy, the fame, the money. Isn't this what she meant by living for her? Percy shook his head, deep down he knew that it wasn't. He wasn't living, he was dying. This wasn't worth anything. The lights, the fame, the girls, everything, it got to you. It suffocated you. Fame wasn't everything.
But he couldn't stop, not when he was so far in. No, he'd have to keep going, no matter how hard it was, no matter how much it killed him.
And it was sure killing him.