Chapter Twenty Four
"What are you doing for Thanksgiving?" Percy asked Annabeth as they were curled up on Annabeth's couch in her small loft, watching Mary Poppins which she had finally convinced Percy to watch with her through much pleading and arguing.
"I don't know, Thalia has to go to some dinner thing with her dad and Malcolm and Lacey are getting together that night so I guess I'll order Chinese or something and eat it here and watch movies," Annabeth said, shrugging her shoulders.
"You're going to be alone on Thanksgiving?" Percy asked. He couldn't remember a Thanksgiving where he hadn't been with at least a friend. "That's ridiculous."
"It's better than working on Thanksgiving," Annabeth said. "I used to have to work at the coffee shop down in San Francisco when I lived there all Thanksgiving."
"Why the hell would you do that?"
Annabeth shrugged again. "I needed the money and my boss would pay double for holidays because no one wanted to work them. So I worked every holiday so I could get out of there as fast as possible."
"And your parents didn't even care?"
"Why would they care?" Annabeth said. "I was kind of the family's black sheep and dark secret. My stepmother wouldn't introduce me to any of her friends ever because she was so embarrassed that her husband had an affair."
"Technically it wasn't an affair," Percy pointed out as he ran his fingers through her curls. Percy had realized that he really liked doing this. It was a nice feeling when he touched Annabeth's curls, it almost calmed him down when he was angered.
"Sue didn't care, I wasn't her kid and that was enough reason for her to treat me like I was dirt," Annabeth said.
"That's not a good enough reason," Percy said.
"You try explaining that to her," Annabeth snorted. They were silent for a few minutes, sitting there and watching the movie play.
"Well on a happier note, I know what you're doing for Thanksgiving," Percy said cheerfully.
"Do you?" Annabeth asked.
"Yep, you're coming with me to my mom's house for Thanksgiving," he said.
"Percy, I can't just interject like that, I mean your mom doesn't even know who I am," Annabeth said.
"Exactly, she wants to meet you. I think that she already likes you from what she's seen on the TV. And plus you won't be interjecting into our dinner, Nico and some of my friends are coming over anyway. What's one more plate on the table? We usually have a bunch of leftovers anyway. Come on Wise Girl, I know that you want to, I can see it in your face."
It was true, Annabeth did want to go badly. She wanted to experience a family, and feel loved. And she most definitely did not want to spend her Thanksgiving at home alone with a box of take out Chinese food.
"Okay, as long as it's okay with your mom," Annabeth said.
"Great," Percy grinned.
o.O.o
Excerpt from The Letter Writer by WiseGirl36:
Hannah sat on the hospital bed, her legs crossed and her head in her hands as she stared at Birch with her violet eyes as he sat across from her in the hospital chair, staring right back with those dark brown eyes which had made dozens of girls swoon.
"What do you want to do with your life?" Hannah asked. Birch had continually arrived at Hannah's hospital room every day after school.
So far he was the only one.
Her parents came every once and a while but they were too busy and since she wasn't dying, they figured that she would be fine alone.
"I don't know yet. I've always been interested in being a hobo," Birch said with a grin. Hannah shook her head, trying to keep from laughing. "No honestly, I've always wanted to be able to travel around without having to worry about work or any of that stuff."
"Birch, I don't think it's that simple," Hannah said."You have to find money for food because, for some reason, I can't see you digging around in a garbage can for some food."
"Then can I be a rich hobo?" Birch asked hopefully. Hannah laughed.
"I don't think it works that way," she said, laughing until she started coughing badly. She doubled over, her chest feeling on fire as she continued to cough, mucus and blood coming up. It hurt to breathe, it hurt to move. She hunched over, trying to gasp for breaths.
Birch jumped up and rushed to her side, "Hannah, Hannah," he said, shaking her arms. He reached over and pressed the panic button on the side of her bed to alert a nurse. "Hannah, calm down, try calming down," he begged her.
A nurse rushed into the room and once again, as what happened many times a week, Birch was pushed out of the room as they tried to help Hannah breathe easily.
And every time it scared him a little more.
o.O.o
"How you doing?" Birch asked as he opened the door to Hannah's hospital room the next day, holding a notebook and a book in his hand. Hannah was laying in her bed, looking pale and tired, dark circles ran under her eyes as she stared at him and tried to smile weakly.
"Like hell," she said, shrugging. "Or shit. Depends on my mood."
"I stopped by your house and picked up the books you wanted," Birch said, setting them on the table next to her bed and then drawing up a chair next to her. He shrugged off his black leather jacket and hung it over his chair, revealing his tattoo covered arms.
"Thanks," Hannah said, as she picked up the book on Architecture she had been reading before she had been sent to the hospital.
"So what happened yesterday?" He asked.
Hannah shrugged. "Nasty junk got stuck in my lungs, the cancer's spread to my lungs which cause the mucus and the blood and the hard time breathing. They're setting me up on a machine for when I go to bed at night. They drained all the fluid from my lungs yesterday."
"That's good that they were able to fix it, right?" Birch asked.
"Sure," Hannah said. "I just woke up about ten minutes ago actually, I was pretty much conked out for all of today. What's going on at school?"
Birch shrugged. "Same old, same old. Behind the dumpster is getting way too crowded. I can't believe I even smoked," Birch said, shaking his head.
"Some people just have to see reality to actually understand," Hannah said. "And now you have."
They sat there in silence, looking at each other. When Birch looked at Hannah he felt his heart ache. How could a girl who seemed so alive be dying? It was unfair. 9 out of ten kids survived Thyroid cancer, the kids that were treated had a 99% success rate. And here she was, her cancer had spread all over and now she was a part of the 9/10 people that did not recover from this type.
A cancer which should have been healed turned into terminal.
It was unfair.
"Stop staring at me like that," Hannah said.
"Like what?" Birch asked.
"Like I'm going to die and it's unfair. It doesn't help my mood," Hannah said crossing her arms. "Rule number one of being here with me, you can't make that face."
Birch smiled. "Okay, okay I won't make the face." He looked outside the window and saw something which surprised him. "Is that a play ground on the roof of a hospital?" He asked.
"Huh?" Hannah asked, she sat up in her bed and craned her head to look out the window. "Oh yeah, the nurse told me about it a few days. No one really goes up there at all."
Birch stood up. "Come on we're going," he said, pulling on his jacket.
"What?" Hannah asked, confused.
"We're going onto the play ground," he said, grinning.
"Why? We're seniors in highschool, we're not going to go and play on a playground," Hannah said.
"Of course we are. Live a little Aspen," he said, calling Hannah by her last name which she somehow found endearing. "I'll go ask one of the nurses if we can. Hell I haven't been on a swing set in eons!" Birch said, throwing his hands up into the air.
Hannah giggled a little. "You're crazy," she said, rolling her eyes.
"All the best people are darling," he said in his smooth drawl. "I'll be right back." He disappeared out of the room.
Hannah hugged her arms to her chest and sat there, a giddy smile on her face. Who would have thought that she would become friends with her school's number one "bad" boy? Her Hannah Aspen, the perfect, model student with her life set in place, friends with Birch Waters, the boy who shagged a new girl every week.
And maybe it was becoming more than just a friendship.
Whenever he came into the room, whenever he smiled at her, she couldn't help but smile back. There was something about his energy, about his eyes that lit up all the time that made Hannah smile. She was usually quite an angry person in life, but Birch made her feel free.
"Why are you smiling?" He asked when he came back into the room with a wheelchair, grinning proudly to himself.
"No reason," Hannah said, pulling the covers off, glad that she had managed to pull on a pair of sweats and sweater early when she had woken up.
"Uh huh," Birch said. "Sure. The nurse said we could go but I've got to wheel you there," he said, moving to help her out of the bed. He placed his arm around her waist to give her support as her frail form leaned up against his muscular one.
Hannah leaned into Birch, smelling his distinct scent that made her smile. It was sharp and spicy but she loved it. He looked down at her and grinned as he helped her into the wheelchair, blowing his long dark hair from his eyes.
"I hate wheelchairs," Hannah said as Birch handed her the oxygen tank which she held in her arms.
"Why they're so much fun," Birch said as he steered her out of the room.
"No, they're embarrassing," Hannah said. "It basically says, 'Hey! I'm a sick girl and I'm stuck in a wheelchair because I can't even walk!' That is embarrassing Birch, not fun."
"Obviously you haven't had wheelchair races down the hallway," he said as they rolled down the long white hospital hallways. Birch was a master at dodging nurses and doctors as he rolled her to the elevator.
"And you have," Hannah scoffed.
"Of course I have! I broke my leg in eighth grade when I fell off my motorcycle," Birch said proudly, as if breaking your leg was a badge of honor.
"You had a motorcycle in eighth grade! Is that even legal?" Hannah asked as he pushed her into the elevator and hit the button which the nurse he had instructed him to hit.
"Nope, but when you're Dad is one of the richest men in the US, you get to do a lot of things that aren't legal," Birch said as the elevator dinged. A lady entered, dressed in a business suit and holding a briefcase. She gave Hannah a pitiful look as if to say, 'So sorry you're in a wheelchair. You poor thing, you're probably not going to live much longer.' Hannah scowled back at her.
Birch got her out of the elevator as quick as he could before she blew up.
"Honestly that's what I'm sick of! I can't even leave my room without getting the pity looks!" Hannah cried in frustration.
"Calm down Aspen, you're going to blow a fuse," Birch said as he rolled her out of two double doors and into the fresh air. Hannah snorted.
Outside, high above the city of New York, on top of the hospital, Hannah felt powerful. She grinned. For once she was looking down on everyone, instead of being stuck in a hospital bed. The playground was empty and there was a lonely swing set which Birch rolled the wheelchair to. He helped Hannah out and as he held her small form he felt powerful. He felt strong and brave holding Hannah Aspen, the girl who wasn't going to give up.
"Want me to push you?" Birch asked.
"Sure," Hannah said as she settled down onto the swing, wrapping her arms around the chains that held the swing and then clutching her oxygen tank. Birch moved behind her and began to gently pushed her forward.
"I wish that I wasn't sick," Hannah said.
"I wish you weren't sick too," Birch agreed. "And I think the sky agrees with you." He nodded towards the grey clouds which had hung over New York for weeks now.
"Glad to know I have the Universe on my side," Hannah snorted again.
"It's always good to have the Universe on your side," Birch agreed.
"Yep," Hannah said, popping her 'p'. "Jake texted me today. He wants to come and visit me finally," Hannah said rolling her eyes.
Birch felt his stomach drop. He had forgotten that she had a boyfriend. Damn it! How could he forget that little detail? He was so screwed. He was falling in love with a girl who already was in a serious relationship and who also was dying.
He sure knew how to pick them.
"I'm not sure I want to see him though," Hannah said, voicing her thoughts. Birch suddenly looked up. She didn't want to see her boyfriend?
"And why don't you want to see Mr. 'I'm so perfect and hot and everyone should want to drool over me?'" Birch asked sarcastically.
"For those very reasons. I'm so damn sick and tired of him. He has had how many weeks to contact me and he decides to do it now? Some boyfriend," Hannah said glumly.
Birch knew he shouldn't be excited… but hell he was always a rebel. He was ecstatic. Finally someone else understood just how frickin annoying Jake was. "And plus there's another reason," Hannah said softly.
"Oh and what is that?" He asked.
Hannah stood up, her legs shaking. She turned to face Birch from through the swing, a soft smile playing on her lips. "Because I think I'm falling in love with someone else."
Birch walked around the swing and then looked at her, his eyebrows raising ever so slightly. "And who is that?" He asked, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning in closer to her.
"Take a guess," Hannah breathed.
And then she stood on her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer to her and kissing him.
End Except from The Letter Writer by WiseGirl36.
o.O.o
Annabeth stood in front of the address Percy had texted her, bouncing on the balls of her feet awkwardly as she stood in front of the door, debating whether to knock or not. Ever since she was a little girl she always had a problem knocking on the doors of someone's house that she didn't know. What if it wasn't their house? What if it was someone else's?
That would be so embarrassing.
Biting her lip, she knocked on the door.
A lady with wavy brown hair and a few streaks of grey running through it answered and looked at Annabeth. "Oh you must be Annabeth!" She said, smiling.
Annabeth let out an inward sigh of relief. Thank God this was the right house!
"Come on it, come on in, Percy's told me so much about you," she said, stepping aside for Annabeth. "Here let me hold that for you so you can take your coat off." Annabeth handed Mrs. Jackson the pie she had made Thalia's house earlier that day while they were watching the parade from Thalia's windows. She shrugged her coat off and hung it on one of the hooks which Mrs. Jackson had pointed to.
"This smells lovely Annabeth, what is it?" Mrs. Jackson asked as she looked at the container.
"It's an apple pie," Annabeth said, smiling.
"Lovely! I made a pumpkin so we'll be all set! And Piper will probably bring a pecan as she usually does. That's more than enough but sometimes I wonder when we have all these men in the house," Mrs. Jackson winked at Annabeth. "Follow me to the kitchen."
The townhouse was very nice and quaint, meticulously clean. It made Annabeth's heart ache for a moment as she realized she had never lived in a house like this. Her father's house had always been so precise and… white. This house was warm and friendly.
"Percy!" Mrs. Jackson yelled. "Your friends have started coming!"
Annabeth almost laughed at the fact that Mrs. Jackson was yelling at Percy like he was still a little boy. "Thank you Mrs. Jackson," she said politely.
"Oh gods Annabeth, call me Sally. Mrs. Jackson sounds like my mother," she said.
"Alright… Sally," Annabeth said.
Percy came tumbling down the stairs, his hair a mess as he grinned at Annabeth. "Hey Wise Girl," he said, enfolding her in a hug and kissing her forehead. "Glad you could make it."
"Glad I could make it too," Annabeth said.
"I see you've already met my mom, she hasn't scared you too much has she," Percy said as he hugged his mom.
"Not at all," Annabeth said. "She's a lot nicer than you are."
"Of course, most people are," Percy said distractedly as he tried to peer at the container in Sally's hands. "What is this? Is that apple pie? Oh gods Wise Girl you are the best!" Percy said as he tried to take the pie from Sally's hands.
"Oh no you don't," Sally scolded. "Knowing you it'd be gone in less than five minutes."
"You wound me mother," Percy said, pressing a hand to his heart. "You underestimate my ability to speed eat, I could have it done in less than three."
"Yes you probably could Percy, now why don't you go and help Paul with the TV, he's been trying to get the football game on and he's having trouble."
"Yes ma'am," Percy said in mock salute and then ran out of the room. Sally shook her head.
"Honestly I wonder how that boy even managed to get where he was. He acts like such a little boy at times," Sally said as Annabeth followed her into their kitchen which smelled heavenly.
Sally set the pie down on the granitite counter and then turned and leaned against the counter, looking at her. "So how did you and Percy meet?"
Annabeth shifted nervously in her shoes. "Actually we sort of kinda met online? I wrote a story and Percy read it and well… I might not have ended it like he wanted me to and so he came and tried to find me."
Sally laughed. "That sounds like Percy, when something doesn't happen how he likes it, he complains and throws a fit," Sally said.
"I helped him finish his last album and then we found out that we actually sort of knew each other from Goode High school," Annabeth explained. "When I was a sophomore I wrote letters and placed them in library books and Percy found them."
Sally tapped her jaw. "I remember back then, that was when Percy stopped hanging out in his gang and drinking and smoking," she said. And then she looked at Annabeth, her eyes lighting up. "Was it because of the letters? Oh I bet it was!" She said.
Annabeth gave a weak smile. "That's what he told me."
"Oh my gods, you wonderful, wonderful girl," Sally said and then she wrapped Annabeth up in a large hug. "You are amazing for helping my son. I was so worried about him and then something just changed…"
Annabeth gave Sally a smile. "I didn't even know I was doing it. I just wrote."
"Sometimes it's when we least know it that we change people the most," Sally said, smiling. The doorbell rang.
"I'll get it!" Annabeth heard Percy yell.
"Well here they are," Sally smiled. "Thank you Annabeth, you have no idea how much you've changed my son. There are no words I can use to describe it."