Hey guys! I know it's been quite a while I've just been insanely busy but I still try my best to find time for this story! Side note: has anyone finished the ToA series? I was sobbing omg I'm always down to rant about the book. Anyways, this update kind of is more of a filler that leads up to the next chapter (I had to split it up into 2 chapters cause it was becoming too long lol). But I hope you guys enjoy it! Thanks for the reviews and favorites keep them coming!
Disclaimer: Don't own
June 1st, 1989
"The guest room is right down the hall, there's a bed and a pull-out couch in there for the two of you to choose from." Hestia explained nicely as she walked into the kitchen to do who knows what.
"Thank you again. So much." Annabeth managed to say before she was completely out of ear shot. Hestia nodded in response before disappearing.
The two best friends walked straight into a decently sized room. A medium sized painting hung on the beige colored walls and the furniture was grey and white to contrast it. Annabeth observed Thalia as she went about analyzing the room, her eyes moving in every direction. Before she had a chance to say anything Annabeth felt a small sting on her left arm above her elbow.
"Ow! What the hell was that for?" She said, rubbing her arm in the spot that Thalia had just pinched.
Thalia shrugged. "Just needed to see if you were actually dreaming."
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "For the last time Thals we are not inside one of my dreams."
"Yeah well it sure feels like it. Gods what are we doing Annabeth? We don't know this woman. For all we know she could be an axe murderer and we just agreed to live with her." The choppy haired girl disputed.
Annabeth sighed, tugging at one of her blonde curls like she usually did when she was nervous. "I know but what was I supposed to say when she offered?"
"Uh a simple 'no' would have sufficed."
"We have nowhere else to go Thalia. Our homes don't exist yet and we don't know anyone here. Even if we did, I'm sure most people would call the cops if we showed up trying to explain that we were from the future and we travelled back in time." Annabeth finished in a sarcastic tone.
Goosebumps covered the surface of Thalia's arm as the two of them sat down on the mattress. "How are you so calm about all of this? The roles are usually reversed. I'm supposed to be the one with the carefree personality. We're literally…living…in the past. Does that not confuse you? We're not even supposed to be born yet! Oh no what if it's like Back to the Future and we slowly start to disappear? What if-"
"You're rambling again. To answer your question, I guess I'm not freaked out because we know how to get back now. We just have to be patient and wait for the Perseids meteor shower in August. Also, something tells me Hestia would have mentioned if we were going to start disappearing." Annabeth replied.
"I definitely would have if that were true." A voice came from the doorway. The two teenagers looked up, catching the familiar gaze of the woman who had opened up her home to them. She had her arms crossed over her chest and she was smiling at them.
"I know it's a lot to take in. But you shouldn't think of it as a bad thing. Time travel is a gift for anyone lucky enough to be chosen. I invited you to stay here because it comes with the job of being a Time Warden. I'll try my best to answer all your questions. As for the disappearing scenario, no that's not likely to happen. Just…don't get involved if you recognize someone that knows you in the future."
"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked.
"Well I suppose there is a small amount of truth to the Back to the Future movie." The older woman huffed sarcastically, shaking her head at the comparison.
"Travelers can't interfere with any family members. It disrupts the balance and the outcome is unpredictable. Like in the film, Marty disturbed the moment in time when his parents fell in love. Without that moment he would never have been born and that's why he started to disappear. It's a little different for Travelers. If you interfere during a vital moment in your family's history, you won't disappear exactly, but you might never be able to go back to your time."
"So, we'll be stuck here?" Thalia asked in horror.
Hestia nodded in confirmation. "You'll exist as your own person. No significant family. Just another face living out the years until they die."
"That sounds awful." Annabeth said once the words registered in her head.
"This just keeps getting better. You got any other pieces of life altering advice for us Maleficent? I mean we're stranded in 1989 for two and a half months, what are we supposed to do?" Thalia stated sarcastically using the name of the first mystical being that popped into her head.
Hestia smiled. "Have fun"
[Song Tribute-Venus by Bananarama]
Annabeth tried not to stare too much she really did but she just couldn't help it. Everywhere she looked people were decked in complete 80's summer fashion. She noted the different types of clothing. There was the stereotypical style consisting of white tank tops with neon shorts, or a skirt and colored ankle socks hidden underneath white sneakers or converse high tops. There were also others in band t-shirts and high waisted shorts. A few adults walked around in business attire probably heading out to their lunch breaks. Some girls had bikini tops on with track shorts seeing as how they were right near the beach. Boys wore boardshorts that were either one solid color or contained some sort of wild pattern. A few people wore jean jackets some oversized and some fitted. Bright colored windbreakers flashed across her eyes similar to the one she was wearing. It was one of those days at the start of summer where the weather wasn't too hot or too cold.
Out of all the people she was not so sneakily staring at, the main thing that stood out to Annabeth was the hair. There was only one word to describe it: big.
Guys had long hair that reached to at least their ears. It was dramatically teased up so that it had more volume. It was wavy and looked incredibly soft. Girls in every direction had curly hair that was either natural or styled beforehand. Some walked by with crimped hair, the zig zags standing out. Clips held some of the hair back but the main accessory amongst them all was scrunchies. The scrunchies held their hair together in either side ponytails or Annabeth's personal favorite, half-up half-down style. She praised herself for having nearly identical hair to them, she fit right in.
She stared down at the outfit she was wearing. The same one from last night. It wasn't too far off from what all the teens around her were wearing but she wasn't about to wear the same outfit for the next two and a half months. Somehow her and Thalia were going to have to come up with a way to get some clothes.
Annabeth eyed Thalia. Her best friend's attire was slightly more inaccurate, but it wasn't too different. Skinny jeans didn't seem too popular amongst the public besides the occasional pair of tight acid washed jeans and Thalia was wearing a black pair. Luckily though, Thalia had on a black jean jacket so from the waist up she was good.
The two girls had found themselves back at the pier once again. Hestia had given them a small amount of cash to spend however they wanted. Without a second's hesitation Thalia had mentioned she was hungry, and Annabeth realized that neither one of them had eaten anything all day and it was nearing 2 o'clock in the afternoon. She figured they should try the pier for a place to eat since the prices had always been cheaper than anywhere else.
As they walked down the boardwalk occasionally someone would catch Annabeth staring and smile back at her. She didn't get a single glare or dirty look. It was surreal. Quite a few times someone of the opposite sex would meet her eye and Annabeth would look away nervously, praying to all the gods that her face wasn't red. Call her crazy but in her mind the guys looked more attractive than ever. She figured it had to do with the fact that now she knew for a fact they listened to the same music and had similar tastes. Just the thought made her giddy.
"You're enjoying this aren't you?" Thalia said teasingly.
Annabeth stared at her like she was a crazy person. "You're not?"
Thalia shrugged. "I'm honestly still trying to figure it all out. I mean why us? Miss Glinda the Good Witch said Travelers are rare. Like one in a million rare so why did the two of us get chosen?"
Annabeth stared at her friend as she concentrated on the ground beneath them, deep in thought about everything that had led up to where they were. The blonde let the question swim around in her mind for a minute before shaking herself out of it.
"I don't know. But I say we make the most of it. We're literally living through the 80's Thals. Just think about how cool that is! And the-…oh my gods the music. It's not classic rock or 80's throwbacks anymore it's now just the everyday music people listen to! Don't even get me started on the outfits-"
"Ok, ok." Thalia laughed as her friend gushed over what was now their life for the next few months. "I guess I can take a break from analyzing everything. But this doesn't mean I'm suddenly over the fact that I wasted my wish on something as stupid as June 1st."
Annabeth cracked a smile at the comment. "Well I'm certainly glad you did because now we have two and a half months to make this the best summer ever."
Thalia shook her head at her best friend's enthusiasm. They walked a little farther down the pier, Annabeth making comments every few seconds and Thalia occasionally seeing someone wearing a t-shirt of one of her favorite older bands. It wasn't until they were right in front of the place that they realized where their strides had taken them.
They stood side by side facing the sign on the front of a café. Echoes of laughter and delight filled their ears from through the glass doors. People walked in and out every few seconds. You could practically feel the happiness and relaxation the place emitted.
"It's Luna's" Annabeth voiced before the girl next to her could.
Thalia stared in awe at the small café. Somehow by force of habit they'd ended up at one of their favorite places to eat. It was hard to believe that just a few days prior the two of them had eaten at the same place they were looking at. Only now the small café didn't look quite as run down and old.
"What do you say? You up for some fries and a smoothie?" Annabeth questioned, the same memory coming to mind of what they had eaten at the place a few days prior.
"Is that even a question?" Thalia replied.
The beachside café was packed when they entered. People, mostly teenagers around their age, were chatting aimlessly amongst themselves. Some of them appeared to have just come from the beach because they wore bathing suits and had towel bags with sunglasses on their heads. Annabeth noted that the walls didn't have as many pictures on them and that was most likely because the pictures hadn't been taken yet. She got goosebumps just thinking about how crazy that was. Much to their disappointment, there wasn't a single table open to sit at.
"Seems like this is a lot of other people's favorite café too." Annabeth stated. Thalia nodded in agreement. That was an understatement.
As soon as they were about to leave to find somewhere else to go eat Thalia heard a faint voice from somewhere to their left. She could have sworn she heard them say one of their names but how would that have been possible?
"Annabeth!" The person repeated a little louder the second time.
The grey-eyed girl turned to the side, having heard the voice the second time. Thalia followed her gaze and what she saw was a girl around their age with black hair wearing a white jean jacket and a pink skirt. She was looking straight at the two of them, a Cheshire smile on her face as she slowly got up from the table she was sitting at with some guy.
"Silena?" Annabeth said once she realized who had called her. It only took Thalia a second to register the name in her head associated with the person who had found Annabeth and loaned her a place to sleep for the night.
"Hey! Funny seeing you again. Glad you found your friend." Silena remarked warmly once she had approached them.
"Oh, uh yeah. This is Thalia." Annabeth introduced them after a minute. Thalia waved unsurely but Silena didn't seem to notice.
"Nice to meet you Thalia."
"Yeah you too. Well seeing as how it's way too crowded and we probably won't find anywhere to sit for a while I say we find somewhere-"
Thalia was cut off by the girl now in front of them. "Oh, don't be silly, you can sit with us! There's plenty of space in the booth." Silena offered.
"Really? I mean, you don't mind? We barely know each other, and I wouldn't want to intrude." Annabeth asked uncertainly whilst taking another look at the table where Silena had been. The guy sitting there seemed to notice them for the first time. He smiled at her and gave her a small wave that she returned.
"It's no problem. Besides, I figured since I've already seen you hungover that puts us more on the friends track than strangers." Silena teased.
Thalia furrowed her eyebrows in confusion before realizing what it must have looked like to find Annabeth passed out on the ground late at night to waking up the next morning. She had to force herself not to laugh.
Annabeth smiled nervously, tugging on one of her blonde ringlets before following the girl with the pink eye shadow over to the booth. Thalia followed closely behind.
"So…hangover huh?" Her best friend teased when she was sure Silena couldn't hear her.
Annabeth punched her weakly. "She assumed. I couldn't exactly tell her the real reason, now could I?" She whisper-shouted back. Thalia snickered.
Once they got to the table the male who had been sitting on one side got up to introduce himself to them. He was a tall broad-shouldered guy with brown hair and brown eyes. His skin was tan and even though he seemed like the type of guy who could beat anyone up to a pulp, he also seemed like a friendly dependable person. Annabeth got all that just from looking at him.
"Hey, I'm Beckendorf. Beck for short." He introduced, sticking out his hand formerly.
They took turns introducing themselves in return and Annabeth took a minute to access his outfit. He was wearing a dark pair of loose jeans and a casual jean button up. His feet were clad in what looked like hiking boots but that was probably part of the fashion trend. He was attractive that was for sure but not Annabeth's type.
The four of them took a seat at the table. Annabeth and Thalia on one side of the booth and Silena and Beck on the other.
"Well I'm glad you're feeling better Annabeth. Silena told me everything. It's a good thing you found your friend too. So, do you two live around here or are you just visiting for the summer?" Beckendorf asked once they were comfortable.
Thalia wasn't sure how to answer the question. Technically they did live there just not during the decade they were currently trapped in. They would only be in this version of their town for the summer.
"We live a few hours away from here. Just visiting my Aunt for the summer and I dragged my best friend along with me. We've spent a few summers here, so we know the area pretty well." Annabeth lied swiftly. Thalia stared at her in shock. How she had managed to come up with a story in less than a second was incredible.
Beck nodded in understanding. "I figured. Silena and I probably would have bumped into you in school at some point if you were locals."
"Where do you go to school?" Thalia asked, surprising even herself for having initiating conversation.
"Coastline High. We just graduated actually." Silena answered, moving closer to Beck before he put his arm around her.
Annabeth smiled inwardly when she heard her say the name of the high school she'd recently graduated from too. She got the impression that the two of them were probably super popular in high school, a power couple most likely. It wasn't the type of popularity you got from being intimidating and bullying others though. It was because they made an effort to know everyone. They gave off such a welcoming aura it was practically impossible to hate them.
"We just graduated too" Annabeth said.
The four of them conversed like they were old friends, having clicked instantly. They ordered food as Silena went on and on about some new clothes she'd purchased. Thalia was more surprised than anyone that her and Annabeth had made acquaintances so fast. Never in a million years did she think she would be talking to a girl who wore bright pink make up and jewelry. Her and Silena were polar opposites.
Annabeth noticed Beck keeping his eyes on Silena the whole time, listening intently to whatever she had to say. Any random person walking by could tell he loved the girl. It warmed her heart. That was the kind of thing she wanted in a relationship. Someone to see her and only her for what she was. Someone who was loyal, kind, funny, and passionate about whatever she was interested in. All Annabeth had ever gotten was hurt when it came to that department. It was hard to believe relationships like Silena and Beck's still existed. She even picked up on the fact that Silena called him Charlie instead of Beck. It must have been his first name that only she was allowed to call him. Again, she smiled at the two of them.
Thalia and Annabeth had practically devoured their food when it came out, having not eaten since the night before. Beckendorf laughed at them but gave them a thumbs up in approval.
"So listen, the two of us are going to Olympus tonight. You guys should totally come." Silena said once they had all finished eating.
"What's Olympus?" Thalia asked.
Silena stared at them in shock. "Are you kidding me? It's only the best underage night club slash music venue in California! I thought you said you guys have spent summers here in the past. How have you not heard of it?" She asked astonished. It looked like she was genuinely having trouble processing the thought.
Beck laughed at his girlfriend, gripping her hand in his much bigger one. "Well it is a secret club remember Sil? I'm sure they don't know about it because no one's told them."
Silena turned back to the two of them after having processed the idea. "Well now you have to come! We go all the time in the summer to meet up with some friends. Charlie manages the band that some of them are in. Oh, please say you'll come!" She begged.
"I-…I don't know. I mean we don't even have anything to wear." Annabeth replied hesitantly as she stared into the other girl's pleading eyes. Her and Thalia had never really been fond of the party scene much less the night club scene since it was always just the two of them.
"Come over to my place later this afternoon. I'm sure we can find something for the both of you. My closet's huge." Silena offered immediately after the words left Annabeth's mouth.
Thalia thought it over. "Eh why the hell not?" She decided after a second. Silena gasped in excitement whilst Annabeth turned to her best friend completely stunned.
"What? You're the one completely obsessed with music. Besides, it could be fun." Thalia voiced; her words directed toward the blonde. Annabeth noticed the look in her eyes, one that said something along the lines of 'best summer ever remember?'
"Obsessed with music huh? That sounds just like-"
"I was thinking the same thing." Silena said knowingly, cutting off her boyfriend before he could finish. Annabeth stared curiously between them, wondering who they were talking about.
"So, what do you say Blondie?" Beckendorf asked. All eyes turned to Annabeth as she thought it over. There wouldn't be any harm in going. If they hated it, they wouldn't be obligated to go back.
"What time should we come over?"
And that's a wrap on chapter 6! What did you think? Wonder who Silena and Beck were talking about ;) Let me know I love hearing from you guys! A handful of you have been messaging me on Pinterest and I love it! I'm always down to chat with you guys! Review and let me know your thoughts, love you all!
REVIEW, REVIEW AND REVIEW!
-M
Pinterest: fiction4life101
PS: for those of you wondering about the epilogue of The Rink I'm working on it but I can't give a definite time for when I'll have it updated thanks for being so excited about it though!
