Rhythm of The Night -2- (Percy Jackson FanFic)

-_Chapter Twelve_-

"Mama told me not to waste my life,

She said spread your wings my littler butterfly!"

My friends and I had matching grins when the song "Wings" by Little Mix starting blaring through the gymnasium.  They may be wrapped up in their dates, but this had been our jam since it hit the radio stations.  I had been jamming out around with random groups, taking full advantage of my "stag" status- and gotten plenty of glares from girls whose boyfriends spent too much time looking at me.  What could I say?  The demigod part of me was begging for attention, to be seen as well as heard.  

I located each of my friends, sharing equal looks of pleasure with them.  Despite Morgan's massive amounts of protests, I had long since taken my hair out and now took the opportunity to run my fingers through the curls.  I rolled my hips, a playful smirk on my face, and gestured to the girls to come join me.

Boys forgotten, and perhaps a little disgruntled, I laughed as my friends rushed over.  Rose and Evie could dance, but Morgan and I knew how to make our bodies move.  The two of us danced around, on, and against each other, and several times I heard a wolf-whistles from somewhere around the gym.  For Morgan and I, however, it was fun of the purest kind.

Dances always reminded me of the few Camp Bashes us demigods had been allowed to have.  It wasn't until after I had been forced into those that I started going to school dances.  And once I had made friends with Morgan, Evie, and Rose, the events became much more manageable.  As the daughter of Apollo, who parts his time as god of music, it's hard not to be drawn to this kind atmosphere.

"Andrea!" Casey's voice shouted at me.

I spun around, a large grin on my face.  "Sister dearest!" I yelled back, dancing over to her.

She pulled away from Mike just long enough to grab my arm.  "You have to perform!  Dance off!"  She said excited.

I laughed, shaking my head.  "We don't do that here, hun!"

A Cheshire cat-worthy smile from her had my eyes spreading wide.  "Better late than never than to start a new tradition!" Casey replied.  "You've already got a crowd!"

I turned, looking around.  My heart dropped into my stomach.  She wasn't kidding- practically half of those in attendance were watching me.  I swallowed.  And then my sister was pushing past me to Morgan, shouting something to her, and then going around to everyone else.  A laugh escaped me as they started forming a circle, and my body carried me to the middle of it.  This whole situation oozed Apollo's charm, coming from both Casey and I.

The song switched, and my blood seemed to come alive in my veins.  There was nothing like Justin Timberlake to make my body lose control, and the DJ had picked one with just enough beat and variation to make dancing to it interesting.  "TKO" filled the gym, and I let my brain adjust to the rhythm, surveying the crowd surrounding me.

I made eye contact with Casey, and she seemed to read my mind.  Maybe it was an Apollo thing, or just because she knew me so well, she joined me in the circle.

"Follow my lead!" I said to her, holding my fists up.  She grinned, matching my stance.  Timbaland was starting the count, rapping something along the lines of ah, she kill me with the coo, coochie-coochie-coo.  I didn't pretend to understand rappers, but it sounded awesome with the beat of the song.

Casey and I started mock-boxing with the pattern of the song, our ears naturally picking up on things those who don't have music running through their genes wouldn't normally hear.  But at the same time, we were still dancing, making a show.  I was seriously hoping, somewhere in the back of my mind, that someone was filming this.  The section didn't last long, and just as Timbaland finished with, "Ah, lights out, TKO, Boo!", Casey let me finish with a faux, uppercut knockout punch, and she proceeded to fade back into the circle around me.