Rating: K+ or T (PG/PG-13) for mentions of alcohol and kissing.

・CORA JACKSON・

"Here you go," I gave a red plastic cup filled with punch, to yet, another person who I have never seen before. Seriously, since when did Percy have this many friends?

Today was my older brother Percy's 23rd birthday (who was 11 years older than me) and I was in charge of setting up the entire party for the guests. Percy calls the guests "friends," but I thought differently when I saw a strong-looking, stringy-haired brunette woman who was looking for Percy and yelling, "Where's the punk?" earlier this evening.

I poured myself a cup of Dr. Pepper and sighed, bored. I really wanted to spend some time with my brother right now, but he was probably taken by that she-devil.

The she-devil's name is Drew Tanaka. Drew is Percy's girlfriend and I hate her. By hate, I mean loathe.

When she's with Percy she always acts loving and kind, but it's all an act. I once heard her talking to one of her friends on the phone about how bratty and annoying I was, I "accidentally" pushed her and broke one of her favorite glass decorations. At first her face was priceless, but two seconds later, she screamed and tried to chase me down in her too-high-stilettos. It was so goddamn hilarious I cackled all day.

But of course, all good things have to come to an end after Percy was enraged when he found out what I did to his precious jewel.

That was one of the reasons why I hate her, but the main reason was that she practically steals Percy away from me. All I want is brother-sister bonding time, but every time Percy and I were going to spend some quality time, Drew just barges in and takes him away. When I was younger, Percy and I would spend a lot of time together. Watching The Little Mermaid eating blue candy, going to the aquarium together, and getting blue cotton candy at the carnival (yes, we're obsessed with blue food). Now, all of that is gone because of Drew.

Drew was tearing Percy and me apart.

"Cora, don't I get a drink?"

I quickly snapped out of my thoughts and saw my brother's lifelong best friend, 23-year-old Luke Castellan, standing in front of me.

"Oh hey, Luke," I poured a cup of beer for Luke and smirked. "Where's your girlfriend? I made sure I invited her. By the way, how long have you been dating Thalia?" Since I was in charge of sending out the invitations, I triple-checked to make sure that the awesome Pinecone Face was invited (inside joke). Of course, I "accidentally" threw Drew's party invitation away. Oops.

"Thalia's coming later since she has last-minute work or something." He looked me right in the eyes. "And we have been dating for 2 weeks and 1 day."

I raised an eyebrow. "New record, huh?"

Thalia was Luke's 2 weeks and 1 day long girlfriend, which was the longest relationship Luke has ever been in during his pathetic life. Yes, Luke is a player, but his peak was in high school. He has calmed way down now.

"Anyways, where's Drew?" he asked nonchalantly. I glared at him and slapped his arm. A few of the party guests looked our way weirdly. "OW," he rubbed his arm, "And Cora, that hatred you have towards Drew is just getting pathetic."

I glared at him then smirked. "Don't bring up Drew and I won't slap you. And Drew won't be coming anyways."

Luke sighed, exasperated. "Let me guess. You threw her invitation away in the trash and when Percy comes over you're just going to say you don't know what happened to it."

I scowled. "Okay, well, maybe I did, but Percy can do so much better! Drew is the equivalent of the evilest witch to ever walk on the planet."

"What?" Luke looked at me unbelievingly. "She's like the sweetest being to walk on this world!"

"It's probably an act," I grumbled. "And besides, I'm doing this whole party a favor by not inviting her."

"Don't you think that's just a tad too selfish?" A voice asked behind me. I recognized the voice as Grover, another one of Percy's friends.

Grover had curly brown hair and a wispy beard. "Come on Cora," he put his hands on my shoulder, gazing at me with an I'm-about-to-give-you-advice-that-you-better-listen-to look. "You know that Percy loves Drew deeply, and just because you don't approve of their relationship, it doesn't mean that you have the right to make your own brother miserable at his own birthday party."

"Oh my gods, Grover," I scoffed and pointed at my brother with our cousin, Nico di Angelo, and his co-worker, Jason Grace, and was laughing hard at a joke Nico made. "Yeah, Grover. He looks very miserable."

Grover rolled his eyes. "He'd be happier if Drew was here and we all," He pointed at Luke, himself, and me, "know that."

I sighed. I did know that. I knew that deep down, Percy was in love with Drew and Drew was in love with Percy. But I also knew not too deep down that Drew loved being an absolute witch toward me just as much as she loved Percy.

"So," Percy called out suddenly. All of the guests paused their conversations and looked toward him. "I just wanted to thank everyone who has come tonight. I've never had this many people attend my birthday parties."

"THAT'S 'CUZ YOU'VE NEVER HAD THIS MANY FRIENDS!" Luke shouted. The crowd chuckled, and even I had to crack a smile.

"Aww, thanks Luke," my brother drawled sarcastically. Luke gave him an obnoxious wink and a thumbs up while Percy just rolled his eyes, though a bright smile still graced his lips.

"Anyways, back to what I was saying," Percy continued. "I just wanted to thank someone personally. Without them here, this birthday party could never be better. This person," Percy sighed, "She makes me so happy. I love spending time with her."

I smiled, I had a feeling this was about me. "I love it when we cook pizza together." I silently chuckled. Percy and I haven't done that in a while. "I love it when we go to the community pool together," I remembered that the last time I went to the pool with Percy was before Drew came. I smiled at the memory. "Without her, my house would never be as exciting."

"It's definitely me," I whispered, my eyes shining as I smirked at Luke and Grover.

"Without this girl, my life wouldn't be the same. So I personally wanted to thank..." I grinned.

"...Drew!"

My smile faded as soon as I saw a familiar flash of pitch black hair. The next thing I knew, I saw my brother kissing the she-devil in the middle of the small gathered crowd.

A couple of millennia passed until Grover finally cleared his throat. "Well, this is certainly not awkward at all."

I groaned. "I think I'm going to vomit," I muttered. Then I snapped. "Okay! That's enough! You guys can tongue each other later in private!" I heard Luke snicker next to me along with some others.

Percy pulled away from Drew with a flushed face and looked at me in annoyance and disappointment. Drew just gave me one of her famous death glares. I knew that look. I saw that look nearly every day. It was Drew's classic when-Percy-is-gone-I'm-going-to-rip-your-head-off look. Percy looked at Drew apologetically, and Drew's expression softened immediately. She smiled meekly like she was the victim.

"Anyway," Percy said, wrapping an arm around Drew's slim waist, "I just wanted to say that I love Drew so much. My life wouldn't be the same without her. She's my other half and my soulmate."

Drew giggled. "Oh, Percy," she said, and she kissed him again. As soon as people started saying, "Awww," I shielded my eyes away from the couple and cringed. Eventually, when Drew started talking again, I turned my attention back to the front.

"I'm not sure what happened to my party invitation," Drew sent me a scornful look that Percy SOMEHOW missed. My brother is just so dense sometimes. "But I would never miss any of Percy's birthdays." Drew lightly grazed her lips across my brother's cheek.

"I'm glad that she came," Percy said, smiling, "Because it wouldn't be the same announcing this without Drew." My eyes widened. What was Percy talking about? I looked over at Luke and Grover, who were both just as confused as I was. "Drew, would you like to tell them?"

Drew giggled. "They're your friends, and it's your birthday, Percy."

"Okay, then," Percy beamed. "Alright guys, I have really important news and amazing news. Drew and I..." He looked at Drew, who nodded in encouragement and fake excitement.

My face must have looked horrified because Grover glanced at me and asked if I was okay. I wasn't. Deep down, I knew where this was going. It was one of my greatest fears...

"We're getting married!"

Almost everyone at the party started cheering and whooping... except for me. My ears started ringing like I was suddenly underwater, and I felt like someone punched me in the stomach.

"What..." I started, hyperventilating.

"Cora," Luke immediately came to my side. "Deep breaths. Calm down."

"Oh my gods," was the last thing I said before everything went black.

Author's Note: Wow, that was great! If you have any possible ideas for future chapters, be sure to comment below. I may or may not use them. I am a new author, so constructive criticism is appreciated, though please try to make your comments not too harsh. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and stay tuned for the next one!