Good to be back, as always. Hope y'all have had lunch.
Chapter Ten: 2 V 2
"Sup." Percy greeted her as she opened the car door and dropped into the seat.
"Hey." Annabeth replied, pulling her bag into place and leaning in as she closed the car door.
Percy was slouched low in his seat, keying his address into Google Maps. He pushed himself halfway up to slot the phone into the holder mounted on his dashboard, then straightened further to sit all the way up and pull his seatbelt on.
"Are we not heading to the grocery store?" Annabeth asked as they peeled out of the parking lot.
"I already have most of the ingredients at home." The car engine made a sudden revving noise and Percy paused to pull the stick into second gear. "And I bought the chicken yesterday, because there was a discount." The clutch reconnected and the engine purred. The Toyota picked up speed and he shifted into third gear.
"Weren't we supposed to go that way?" Annabeth pointed to the school gate as they went past it.
"One chicken is too big for the two of us to finish, so I invited Jason over as well. Hope you don't mind?"
Annabeth shook her head. "The more the merrier."
"I didn't want to make him walk all the way to the carpark with those crutches," Percy explained. "So we're driving over to pick him up."
They stopped outside the entrance to the spectator stands where Jason was waiting. Jason opened the door and Percy reclined his seat, reached behind him to take Jason's bag and pull it into the back seat. Annabeth got out of the car to help Jason in, holding onto his crutches as he carefully lowered himself into the car. Annabeth handed him the crutches, then closed the door and got back in.
"Apologies for all the trouble," Jason sighed as he pulled on his seatbelt.
"It's all right," Percy replied. "Anyway, you're helping us to finish the chicken."
"All's squared." Annabeth summed up as they drove out of the school.
"Crazy game today," Jason winced as he adjusted his legs. "I've never seen anything like it."
"Sucks that we lost after all that we put in," Percy's hands tightened on the wheel. "I hate losing."
"Union have been reigning champions before we were even born." Annabeth said resignedly. "They're just on a different level."
"We could've taken them if we had been there." Percy disagreed. Distracted, the car wobbled halfway into the next lane. Percy swerved back into his lane in time to turn onto the next street.
"Aww no," Percy muttered as his phone began to ring. He groped at the screen with one hand, trying to answer, but with his eyes on the road his fingers couldn't find the right button.
"I got it." Annabeth reached out and pressed her finger to the touchscreen, then put the phone on speaker.
"Hey Mom, what's up?"
"Hey Honey. My work's going to end late today so I don't think I can join you for dinner. You go ahead, just leave the rest out for me, all right?"
Percy slapped a hand onto his forehead in response. "Got it, Mom. See you tonight."
"See you." Percy's mother ended the call.
"I completely forgot about her." Percy groaned. "One chicken won't be enough for all four of us."
"You could make another dish?" Jason suggested.
"That'd be too much, then." Percy shook his head. "Unless you have anybody else you can invite?"
"If we rope in anyone else from the team, the others would feel left out." Jason realised.
"Who would be able to make it anyway, at such short notice?" Annabeth added.
"Seriously," Percy raised his eyes to the sky in exasperation. "How do we have this problem?"
A few seconds of silence filled the car. The engine groaned and Percy changed gears.
"Actually," Annabeth tilted her head. "I know someone who would love to join us for dinner."
"Is it someone from the team?" Jason asked.
"No."
"That's perfect." Percy declared. "Who is it?"
A small smile crept onto Annabeth's face. "Oh, you've met her before."
(Line break)
The boys' jaws dropped as they caught sight of Piper's gleaming red Audi parked in front of the apartment block, eyes widening as they fixed on its equally-stunning owner leaning against the driver's side door. Somehow, Piper had found time to shower and change, despite having only ten minutes since receiving Annabeth's call to get to Percy's apartment from her place. She'd dressed herself up in a blinding-white lace bustier crop top under a short blue denim jacket and a matching pair of even shorter shorts. Every inch of herself was on display and Jason was practically drooling as Percy's car wobbled into the parking lot next to hers', putting Jason's passenger-side door front and centre with the attractive girl.
Annabeth rolled her eyes as she spotted her friend. Piper only wore that look when she was trying to get somebody's attention. Judging by the boys' reactions, she'd not only gotten their attention, but had probably burned her denim-clad image into their minds like a tattoo.
The three car doors opened. Piper straightened as Percy and Annabeth got out, giving a hi and a little wave to Percy before bumping fists with Annabeth, then frowned in confusion as she saw Jason struggle to rise from his seat, his head popping out from the gap between the car door and the roof.
"Heyy, Jason." Piper beamed at him.
"Hi." Jason half-smiled, then grimaced as he tried to drag his foot out.
Piper's confusion turned to concern as she remembered his injury. She twisted lithely out of the way so he could push the door open wider, then reached in to help him out of the car.
"Thanks," Jason reddened with effort as he slowly levered himself out, arms straining. He reached back in for his crutches.
"Let me." Piper held onto them while Jason extricated himself from the car, handed them back to him once he was ready. Jason crutch-walked himself past her to where Percy was waiting to walk him up the short flight of stairs to the front door. Piper closed the car door for him once he was clear. Annabeth fell into step beside her as they walked out of the parking lot.
"Look at those shoulders," Piper whispered to her as they watched Jason slowly walk himself up the stairs. "And those arms! They're thrice the size of mine!"
"Mm," Annabeth shook her head in disapproval of Piper's blatant ogling, putting up a mental wall between the two of them. I prefer abs better, she thought to herself, trying to block out the image of a particular set of abs that she'd seen just over a week ago.
Once they were all inside, Percy made a beeline for the kitchen, leaving the rest of them to settle in. Jason slowly lowered himself onto the couch, Piper bouncing into the seat next to him. Annabeth gave the two of them a glance, then turned to follow Percy.
Percy had already set the two chickens on the kitchen counter and was pulling little bottles of herbs and spices off the shelf: parsley, basil, salt, black pepper and a large bottle of olive oil. Annabeth blinked at the chickens as she came in and spotted them.
"That's a lot of chicken."
"That's why we needed four people," Percy said. "Five including my Mom."
"Where should I start?" Annabeth asked, eyeing the knife rack and chopping boards in the corner of the kitchen.
"Get onions, garlic and potatoes from the larder." Percy indicated the cupboard with his foot. "Then get the chickens out of the packaging."
Annabeth opened the larder and came face-to-face with a whole assortment of vegetables. She grabbed a handful of garlic cloves and three large onions, dumped them next to the potatoes. The onions started to roll across the counter like footballs and she used the more static garlic cloves to corral them, then turned back to the larder and heaved a large bag of potatoes out of the bottom shelf.
"How many potatoes?" She asked Percy.
Percy glanced over his shoulder, his eyes landing on the two-kilo bag of potatoes.
"Half of that." He told her.
Annabeth put the potatoes into a large tub, filled it with water and started washing.
Percy was pulling more ingredients out of his fridge: carrots, celery, two cobs of corn and a lemon. He dropped the celery and carrots into the tub, then as Annabeth started piling dripping wet potatoes onto the kitchen counter, glided into position next to her and started to peel all the vegetables.
"What's next?" Annabeth asked as she pulled the last carrot out of the water.
"Preheat the oven to two-twenty. Then cut the chickens out of their packaging."
The oven powered up with a whine. Annabeth found a pair of scissors and cut the chicken packaging open from bottom to top. She pulled the packaging apart and a pale chicken head flopped out on its long neck, springing toward her like a jack-in-the-box.
Annabeth yelped in fright, taking a hasty step backward. Percy glanced over to see what had startled her and stifled laughter as his eyes fell on the chicken.
"It's dead, Annabeth. It's completely harmless."
Annabeth eyed the chicken warily. It was the first time she'd ever seen a dead animal and she had not realised that the chicken would come with its head still attached.
"I've never seen a chicken head before." She steeled herself and grabbed a pair of scissors to cut it off.
The two sets of chicken neck, feet and wing tips went into a bubbling pot of water. Percy chopped the corn cobs into half and added them into the pot.
"Are we making a soup as well?" Annabeth asked, surprised.
"These chicken offcuts are great flavour for soup." Percy explained. "I thought I'd show you how to reuse the chicken parts that can't be eaten. Since there are so many of us, I figure you can learn how to create an extra dish at the same time."
They cut the carrots and potatoes into pieces and poured them into the soup, then Percy turned back to the table and held up a stalk of celery.
"Celery has a lot of fibre. You could peel them away with a vegetable peeler, or you could snap them in half like this." He broke the celery stalk in half, snapping it from the inside so that all the fibre strands remained intact, dangling between the two halves. He slowly pulled one half of the stalk down the side of the other. The fibrous strands came away from the stalk with small ripping sounds. Percy put the peeled half down, closed his fingers around the dangling strands and slowly pulled them down the other half of the stalk. He tossed the fistful of strands into the waste bin.
"You won't get all the fibre out in one try, so I usually snap the halves again." He repeated the process with the two halves, tossed another fistful of strands into the bin. "Here, you try. I'll go cut the onions."
Annabeth moved into position and started peeling the celery strands away, surprised at how resilient they were. They felt like lengths of twine in her hands, digging into her skin as she wound her fingers around them for better purchase. They made wet ripping sounds as they came away from the stalks, accompanied by the steady clack of Percy's knife as he cut each onion into eighths next to her.
Annabeth had just finished peeling the last of the celery when her eyes began to water. She blinked, surprised, as tears rolled down her face. Beside her, Percy made an annoyed sound as he put down his knife.
"Oh I hate this part." He said, backing away from the onions.
The realisation hit her. She stared at the onions in amazement through eyes blurry with tears, then she too backed away as a new wave of tears spilled over her eyelids.
"This thing is real?" She said incredulously. "I thought crying and onions was just an expression!"
"It is very real." Percy cuffed at his eyes with his sleeves. "And very annoying."
The two of them retreated to the doorway, blinking furiously. Annabeth's fingers were wet from wiping her tears.
"How do you make it stop?"
"It'll go away after a while." Percy told her.
"Is the kitchen on fire?" Piper called from the couch, seeing both of them abruptly appear in the doorway.
"No, it isn't." Annabeth called over her shoulder.
"Why are you crying?" Piper sprang to her feet. "Percy, what did you do?"
"It's— see for yourself." Percy managed to choke out, gesturing toward the kitchen. Annabeth suppressed a laugh as he gave her a wink.
"You're both crying? What on earth is going on?" Piper stormed into the kitchen. "I don't see anything." She stopped at the small island counter, running her eyes over the vegetables, chickens, bubbling pot and large oven.
"What's—" She stopped abruptly as her own eyes began to prickle. "What's happening?" She turned toward the doorway to see both Percy and Annabeth unsuccessfully holding back laughter.
"Aww, don't be sad." Percy said.
"Don't worry." Annabeth said seriously, taking Piper's hands in her own. "Everything's going to be all right." She said, completely straight-faced.
"What?" Piper pulled her hands out of Annabeth's. "No, everything is not all right. I'm crying for no reason. Just what is going on?" She looked around, bewildered, and finally understood as her eyes fell on the onions for a second time.
"Are you kidding me?" She pushed past the two of them, rushing out into the living room. "I can't believe I didn't notice that earlier."
Percy and Annabeth busted out laughing, causing new tears to form in their eyes.
"Why are you crying?" Jason asked Piper as she returned to her seat next to him.
"Those two idiots tricked me into going in the kitchen." Piper growled, wiping her eyes furiously.
Jason, no closer to understanding, raised his hands in surrender. "Better if I don't know, then." He shrugged his muscular shoulders.
"My makeup is ruined," Piper clenched her jaw in annoyance, inspecting her reflection in her phone. "Ugh, I can't believe this is happening."
"Okay, so." Percy squared up to his chicken on the kitchen counter. Beside him, Annabeth faced off with the other one, a big bottle of olive oil standing tall between the two platters. On Percy's side of the counter was a lineup of little shaker bottles containing various herbs and spices. Annabeth's side had a bottle of red wine vinaigrette. The setup reminded Annabeth vaguely of the 2V2 drill that Percy and Jason often practiced in training.
"Salt and pepper, as always." Percy grabbed the salt shaker and started sprinkling granules all over his chicken. Annabeth did the same using the black pepper grinder. They switched shakers and repeated the motion.
"Yours is simpler, so I'm gonna let you do it yourself." Percy told her. "Cover the the chicken in olive oil and a few drops of red wine vinaigrette, then we can put it in the oven."
"Just like that?" Annabeth asked, surprised.
"There's more to be done later. But yes, it really is that simple."
Annabeth poured olive oil onto the chicken and spread it around with her hands. Percy realised she wouldn't be able to handle the vinaigrette bottle and went over to help, shaking drops out onto the chicken, now covered in olive oil. Annabeth spread the red liquid over the chicken, watching it break apart into tiny little bubbles, mixing with the olive oil.
"Right. Now for mine." Percy started raining herbs onto his chicken; basil, parsley and marjoram. He turned the chicken onto its side and used his big chef's knife to cut three deep gashes into the chicken leg.
"All the way to the bone," he told her. "Legs cook more slowly in a roast, and you want the whole chicken to cook evenly, so this will help the legs catch up, plus allow the flavour from the oil and the herbs to soak in." He turned the chicken onto its other side and offered the handle of the knife to Annabeth.
"Here, your turn."
Annabeth stared at the gleaming blade doubtfully. "Yours is too long for me. I'll work with a smaller one."
Percy shook his head. "A small knife won't be able to cut cleanly. You'll mutilate the chicken."
Annabeth hesitated a moment, then closed her hand around the handle of the chef's knife.
"Single strokes," Percy told her. "Don't saw at it."
The big knife felt unbalanced and awkward in Annabeth's grip. She set the blade against the chicken and tried to pull it across, but couldn't maintain the right angle and her wrist bent upwards instead, the tip of the blade making a small and shallow cut on the chicken drumstick. She tried again but achieved a similar result, the knife wobbling in her grip.
"Here." Percy's hand suddenly closed around her own, firm and strong. His other hand materialised on her left, bracing the chicken against the platter. Annabeth suddenly realised that he was standing right behind her, looking over her shoulder, and her breath hitched involuntarily as she felt the warmth of his chest against her back.
"Tilt the chicken a little more forward to give you a better angle." He adjusted the knife, pushing her wrist down gently. "You're cutting with your wrist. That won't work if its something this big. Keep your wrist straight and don't bend it. Pull your arm backwards instead." He raised her hand upwards to demonstrate, cutting empty strokes through the air, then lowered it back down to the chicken. He pulled the knife across slowly, using firm pressure from his arm to cut the blade downward through the chicken.
"Give it a try." He repositioned the blade for a second stroke.
Annabeth couldn't get the hang of it. Percy guided her through the two remaining strokes, then moved her hand to the side so she could put the knife down.
"It comes with practice," he told her. "You'll get there one day."
Percy pulled the chicken toward him, manoeuvred it so it was breast-side up with the drumsticks pointing toward him. He grabbed a spoon.
"Cut me four slices of butter," he told Annabeth.
Annabeth brought the butter out of the refrigerator and used a butter knife to cut the slices, grimacing with effort because the cold butter was so hard. She delivered the slices to Percy on a small plate.
"This is the important part." Percy covered the slices in dried parsley, basil, marjoram and black pepper. He pushed his spoon into the gap between the chicken skin and the breast to create a space, then crammed the butter slices into the spaces.
"Perfect," he smiled in satisfaction. "This'll make the chicken skin nice and crispy. It'll also keep the breast moist, so it doesn't dry out. And the butter will flavour the rest of the chicken."
He let Annabeth marinade the chicken with olive oil, then arranged onion wedges and smashed garlic cloves in the baking dish. The chicken went into the dish just as the little toaster in the corner of the kitchen went ding.
"I almost forgot!" Percy dashed over to the toaster. Wearing oven mitts, he carefully pulled the small tray out and brought it over. Annabeth raised her eyebrows when she saw a single lemon rolling precariously around on it.
"Why did you toast a lemon?"
"You'll see." Percy picked up the knife and started to stab the lemon, swearing as it rolled about and evaded his blade. The smell of citrus filled the kitchen as hot lemon juice leaked out of the stab wounds.
"I'm putting this inside the chicken." He worked as he spoke, pushing the whole lemon into the chicken's cavity. "A cold lemon won't give any flavour and might delay the chicken cooking, that's why I toasted it."
Annabeth shook her head in amazement at the amount of ingredients involved in a single roast chicken. Percy put the second chicken into the oven, turned and gave her a bow.
"Now that we're done, do you have any—" He straightened suddenly, a horrified expression on his face.
"What've you forgotten?" Annabeth guessed the reason immediately.
Percy spun around and pulled on his oven mitts to pull the second chicken out of the oven. He brought the platter back to the kitchen counter, then darted over to the bubbling pot of soup and started fishing out potato pieces.
"Are there gonna be potatoes in the chicken, too?" Annabeth asked, feeling a little incredulous.
"Yes." Percy brought the potatoes over. "The chicken will release a lot of liquid during cooking. I'm using that to cook the potatoes and give them flavour."
He got Annabeth to lift the chicken up while he lined the bottom of the baking dish with potato pieces. Annabeth put the chicken down onto the potatoes and Percy once again put the chicken into the oven.
"That was close." He muttered.
Finished with preparation, Annabeth whipped out her notebook to record everything down. Percy alternated stirring the soup and squinting at the chickens through the oven door to check on their progress. Annabeth stared as he pulled a vacuum pack of streaky bacon from the refrigerator. He placed the bacon in a deep tray of water to bring it to room temperature.
"There's more?!" She asked incredulously.
"Yep. I told you that we weren't done with the first chicken, didn't I?"
Annabeth closed her mouth and stared down at her notebook, wondering how on earth a single recipe could be this long. She'd written three whole pages already, yet Percy showed no sign of stopping.
They went back to the couch to join Jason and Piper while waiting for the chickens to roast. The four of them hung out for about an hour, then Percy got up and went back into the kitchen. Annabeth followed him in and watched as he carefully slid the first chicken, the one she'd prepared, out of the oven and onto the kitchen countertop.
"See, the skin has started to turn brown," he pointed out. "This chicken will become dry if it continues to cook like this, so," he paused to pull the plate of streaky bacon over. "We place bacon onto the chicken breast, like this." He carefully layered bacon strips onto the chicken, doing his best to avoid touching the steaming surface.
"The fat will melt under the heat and render, basting the chicken and keeping it moist. This will also flavour the chicken meat," he explained. He washed his hands and put the chicken back into the oven.
"Another fifteen minutes should do it." He pronounced, satisfied. "Meanwhile we'll start laying the table."
"Oh that looks so good!" Piper stared wide-eyed at the steaming roast chicken in the centre of the table. "I've got to take a picture of this." She whipped out her phone and started snapping.
Jason had sat himself down at the far end of the table, choosing the chair that was the closest to his previous position on the couch that thus required the least amount of hobbling to reach. He stood up on one leg when Percy brought in the large pot of soup, picking up a ladle to fill everyone's bowls.
Both their eyes swivelled to fix on Annabeth as she emerged from the kitchen doorway carrying the second chicken, sporting shrivelled strips of bacon stuck to the top of the breast.
"There's two chickens?" Jason looked elated.
"Why's there bacon on it?" Piper asked. "I've never seen that before."
"Me neither," Annabeth shrugged. "It's Percy's recipe."
"Actually, it's Jamie Oliver's." Percy clarified, coming from the kitchen to take his seat next to Annabeth.
"I don't know where to start," Piper looked from one chicken to the next, fork and knife in hand.
"I do," Jason declared, picking up the carving knife. He plunged it into the gap between the bacon-cooked chicken's leg and breast, slicing the drumstick and thigh free, and all their eyes widened as a rush of steaming liquid came running out from the split in the chicken's crispy skin.
"How on earth?" Annabeth was amazed at the sight.
"Basting," Percy said proudly.
"Who wants this one?" Jason asked, holding up the chicken leg speared onto the tip of the carving knife.
Percy raised his hand. "I'll have it, thanks."
The second leg went to Piper, who was so intrigued by the idea of chicken and bacon that she couldn't resist trying it. Jason carved the legs off the second chicken too, the one that they had put butter into, serving one to Annabeth and taking the other for himself. The conversations stopped then; all of them were ravenously hungry and for a long time the only sounds in the apartment were the clinking of knives, forks and spoons against plates and bowls.
Annabeth was awestruck by the sheer amount of flavour that was flooding her mouth with each bite. It was a hundred times better than her mother's roast chicken, unlike any she had ever eaten. Salt and pepper and spices had infused the juicy, tender meat, combining to produce a flavour bomb of nuclear proportions, beyond anything she could have ever imagined.
"Oh, man." Jason was wide-eyed as he carved slices off the butter-seasoned chicken's breast, seeing rivulets of liquid run down the layers of meat. "That is absolutely unbelievable."
"So good." Annabeth shook her head in wonder, her mouth full from the slice Jason had just served her.
"With how cold the weather has been, soup like this is just perfect," Percy sighed as he drained his bowl and reached for the ladle to scoop himself some more."
"Plus, its really simple once you get the hang of it," Jason noted. "You just put all the vegetables into the pot and let them cook."
"Are you planning on becoming a chef, Percy?" Piper asked.
"I don't know," Percy's voice was muffled by a large chunk of potato that he'd just stuffed into his mouth. "I'm not sure what I want to pursue at this stage. I'm hoping that a football club will scout me, but beyond that I haven't made my mind up."
"You want to become a professional footballer?" Annabeth asked.
"Yeah," Percy nodded. "A few of us on the team are thinking about it. Jason, too."
"Yep." The tall striker leaned back in his seat, stretching out his legs under the table. "Football's all I know. If I don't get signed by a club, I'll probably have to take an apprenticeship somewhere and learn a trade."
"You could join the military," Piper suggested. "I think you'd look good in a uniform."
"Or be a fireman," Percy joked.
"Or a plumber?" Annabeth had caught on.
"A construction worker?" Jason said with a grin.
"No way," Piper objected. "Work sites are dangerous. And those hard hats and high visibility vests are ugly."
"A delivery guy, since you're getting a bike license." Annabeth said, reaching for her glass of water.
"You know, my Dad is in the film industry," Piper said, and Annabeth almost choked. "He knows a lot of big brands. If none of those works out, I'll ask him to set you up with an audition to be one of their models. You've got the look for it."
"See, you've got so many options," Percy said. "You don't need to worry about anything."
"The world's your oyster." Annabeth declared.
Jason appeared to think it over. He nodded slowly.
"I guess if all that still doesn't work out, I can always become a stripper," he finally said, and all of them roared with laughter.
Annabeth left Percy's apartment a little later than usual, taking time to enjoy the amazing meal and the company of the others. It was nine-thirty by the time they headed out the door, Jason gingerly making his way down the short flight of stairs flanked by Piper and Annabeth on either side.
"You're sure its not too far for you?" Jason asked Piper. "I don't live very near to your place."
"No biggie," Piper said brightly. "I'm familiar with the route. I've sent Thalia back loads of times."
"But then you're sending Annabeth back as well," Jason pointed out. "And her place is in the opposite direction."
"Wait, you're gonna drive them both back?" Percy realised. "Absolutely not. I'm driving too. I'll send Annabeth back."
"It's all right, you don't have to," Annabeth said. "I'm fine with taking Piper's car."
"No, no, no." Percy was already reaching into his pocket for his keys. "You're coming with me. No buts."
"If you're sure," Annabeth said hesitantly, although she didn't feel at all hesitant at the thought of getting to spend more time with Percy.
The four of them said their goodbyes and piled into their cars. Piper's Audi made a powerful growl as she zoomed off into the night, drowning out the much softer sound of Percy's Toyota as he eased the clutch in and slowly pulled out of the parking lot.
"This way, Piper and Jason have the entire drive back to themselves." Percy said to Annabeth as they rolled down the street.
"Oh." It took Annabeth a few seconds to understand what Percy meant. "Ohhhhh, right. Yes, that makes perfect sense." She gave him a sideways glance. "You're a good wingman. In more ways than one."
Percy laughed. "I'm glad my new coach thinks so highly of me. Hopefully Jason doesn't do himself in. His one-on-one skills might be good on the pitch, but he's not the brightest in these kinds of situations. There's only so much I can do."
"Creating chances for him off the pitch too," Annabeth nodded to herself. "Honestly, if Jason hasn't gotten the hint by this point, I'm going to send him for an eyesight test."
"Oh, man." Percy shook his head. "The way she was dressed today, she could've taught Jason how to be a stripper right there and then."
"Unbelievable," Annabeth agreed. "Sometimes that girl doesn't know her limit."
"I thought that kind of fashion style only existed in Park Lane." Percy muttered.
Annabeth snorted at the mention of the city's red-light district. "Piper doesn't know the kind of signal she's sending when she dresses that way. I've told her before but she won't believe me. She likes it when guys give her that kind of attention."
"Maybe she should become a stripper," Percy joked.
"Oh, no." Annabeth shook her head. "That would upend the whole industry. She'd be too famous. But if you think Jason still needs a prod, why not send him a text now? They should still be on the road."
"I think that's a great idea." Percy fumbled for his phone but couldn't figure out where it was without taking his eyes off the road. Annabeth handed it to him.
"What should I say?" He wondered out loud. "Hmm, how about…" he started to text and the car wobbled toward the side of the road.
"I think its safer if I do the typing," Annabeth took the phone from him gently. "What did you want to type?"
"I didn't have anything in mind," Percy shrugged. "You have any ideas?"
"How about 'kiss her, you fool'?"
"That doesn't sound like something I would say," A smile tugged at the corners of Percy's mouth. "Something simpler, maybe…"
"'Get her number'?" Annabeth suggested.
"Yeah, something like that." Percy agreed.
Annabeth typed the message out and pressed send. Both of them let out a half-giggle as Percy's phone let out a chime to indicate that the message had been successfully sent.
"And now we wait," Percy grinned.
(Line break)
"Oh, yeah," Annabeth smiled as well. "This'll be good."
The Audi's silver rims sparkled like flashbulbs as the car rolled up to the sidewalk, stopping right in front of Annabeth's feet. Piper had a habit of halting the car precisely where she wanted it to and Annabeth half-smiled at the thought, then blinked in surprise as she looked through the windows and saw Jason seated in the front passenger seat.
"I'm giving Jason a lift since he's still on crutches," Piper explained, looking very pleased with herself.
"I see," Annabeth fought back a laugh as she opened the rear door and got in. "That's very generous of you. And it's nice to see you again Jason, of course."
"It's merely convenient, that's what it is." Another voice came from the other side of the car, making Annabeth jump.
The middle seat of the back row had been piled with a mountain of bags, football gear and Jason's crutches, which was why Annabeth hadn't noticed that there was a fourth person in the car besides Jason and the two girls.
"There's not an ounce of generosity involved in this at all." Annabeth's eyes widened further as she peered round the pile of bags to see Thalia seated on the other side, arms folded and scowling at the back of Jason's headrest.
"Not one bit," she added.
"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked, her curiosity piqued.
"Oh, no." Jason groaned, covering his face with his hands.
"So Piper ended up staying the night after dropping Jason off last night," Thalia said. "I caught the two of them stumbling out of Jason's room this morning, grinning like idiots. Piper decides there's no time to head home, so she'll drive to school straight from our place. Since that's the case, the most convenient thing is for all of us to take her car, isn't it?"
Annabeth's jaw dropped open. "You're kidding me. You spent the night at Jason's place? You haven't even gone on your first date!"
"What's the problem?" Piper asked, grinning widely. "We already know each other. It's not like we're complete strangers."
"You're going to end up having a shotgun wedding," Thalia told her.
"That's not going to happen," Jason groaned. "We didn't even do—ack!"
Jason's voice was abruptly cut off as Thalia leaned forward and reached around the seat to grab him in a choke hold.
"I do not want to hear one word about your unmarried exploits with my friend, do you understand me?"
"Mm!" Jason could not reply because Piper had also covered his mouth with her hand before he could blurt out anything sensitive. "MMMM!"
"Good." Thalia released him and leaned back. Jason took a long, gasping breath.
"You're dramatic," Piper told him.
"How is that dramatic?" Jason protested. "I was being choked!"
"You're so dramatic. Last night when—" Piper trailed off, swallowing hard.
"When what?" Annabeth asked.
"I just said—" Thalia grabbed hold of Jason's backrest and hauled herself forward, hands reaching for Piper's throat. Annabeth batted Thalia's hands down.
"You can't touch her, she's driving—"
"I'm sorry!" Piper squeaked. "You know I've liked Jason for a long time—"
"You cradle snatcher!" Thalia snarled as Annabeth struggled to hold her back. "I'll kill you for screwing around with my little brother."
"You're overreacting," Annabeth said. "He's seventeen!"
"We did not—" Piper started to say.
"Red light!" Jason yelped. "Brake!"
Piper put her foot down on the brake pedal hard, causing all of them to jerk forward. The sudden stop jolted the argument before it could escalate further. All of them slowly leaned back in their seats. Piper let out a slow breath and pulled up the handbrake.
"Come on, sis," Jason said. "I'm not a kid anymore."
"Jason's a good person," Annabeth reasoned. "I'm sure he'll treat Piper well."
"It's not her that I'm concerned about." Thalia grumbled, seeming to calm down a little.
"What, you think she's gonna eat me?" Jason asked, then blushed. "Okay, that came out wrong."
"She might," Thalia muttered. "If she hasn't already."
"Stop it," Piper swallowed. "I'm gonna crash the car."
"We can't afford to die in an accident," Annabeth agreed. "Let's give the driver some peace to drive."
"Green light," Jason pointed out.
Piper stepped on the accelerator, but the car did not move. A revving sound came from the engine.
"Your hand brake." Annabeth told her.
"Right." Piper reached for it without looking, but was still flustered and fumbled her hand into Jason's crotch instead, making him jump.
"I got it." Having no need to keep his eyes on the road, he spotted the long handle beside him and quickly released it, pushing it down firmly.
"Thanks," Piper mumbled as the two of them turned a deeper shade of red.
"Are you trying to make me commit murder?" Thalia grated.
"It. Was. An. Accident." Piper promised.
They had reached Goode High by then, and the car was silent for the rest of the drive through the gates and into the carpark. Piper switched off the engine and all of them started unbuckling their seat belts. Thalia and Annabeth got out of the car and went over to help Jason out.
"If you dump him and break his heart, I will steal this car and run you over with it." Thalia threatened Piper through Jason's passenger-side window before opening it.
"If you leave my centre-forward heartbroken and unable to play, I won't pass the ball to you for the rest of the season," Annabeth added jokingly.
"All right, I get it, okay?" Piper lifted her hands from the steering wheel. "I gotta change into my uniform now. I'll see you all inside."
Annabeth nodded. "We'll wait for you at the foyer."
"Can I wait for you in here?" Jason asked.
"No, you can't." Thalia grabbed his collar and forcibly hauled him out of the car. "Get your raging hormones under control or I'll force-feed you hormone suppressants."
Thank you again to all who have reviewed. The football returns in the next chapter. Cheers!
Josh SB