The Swap

Chapter 1: Girl On Fire

Annabeth POV

"YOU BRAT! Why didn't you finish cleaning the carpet?" Helen roared as she kicked through my bedroom door. 

I whirled away from my homework to face Helen. It was currently 10:30 at night, and I was finishing my AP Calculus work. 

Helen stomped towards me as I nervously stood up. Her face was fuming with anger, which only matched her drunk persona. Her makeup was sweating off, and I could smell the alcohol from her breath as she huffed. 

I gulped the lump in my throat. I knew that she would be angry, but I assumed that she'd be too drunk or too tired to care tonight.  

"Annabel, I thought I made myself very clear," Helen said sternly. 

"Err, my name is Annabeth," I said quietly. 

Helen was my stepmother of 10 years, yet she still messed up my name. Correcting her only made her angrier as she stepped closer to me. 

"Like I care," Helen snapped. 

I jerked back and wiped the spit off of my face. I looked up again as I formulated an honest response. 

"Helen, I had a lot of homework to do," I explained. 

"I gave you my very clear instructions, and you disobeyed. You know that I have to ground you," Helen said with satisfaction. 

She leaned back and crossed her arms. Her eyebrows scrunched as she thought of a suitable punishment. I hadn't even done anything wrong. In fact, I was just gonna wait till tomorrow to clean the carpet before school. 

"Helen, I did all of my other chores, and I promise that I'll clean the carpet tomorrow. Please don't ground me because that would be the third time this month," I said in desperation. 

I've already been grounded for two weeks this month, and I missed spending time with my friends: Thalia and Leo. 

"Then, you should be better at your chores. You'll need to babysit the boys tomorrow after school, so clean the entire carpet and kitchen as well," Helen decided before leaving my room. 

I sighed as I sat back down. 

I stared at my homework as I contemplated my life. This wasn't new at all. I was used to Helen blowing up and making my life hell. 

I didn't even cry about this stuff anymore. I simply accepted my punishment of babysitting Bobby and Matthew. I looked after them every day anyway. I sighed again before getting back to my homework.

However, a phone call interrupted my train of thought. 

"What, Thalia?" I asked in agitation. I hated getting interrupted, especially when I was annoyed and had a lot of work. 

"Woah, Annie, is everything all right?" Thalia asked. 

"The usual," I said. "Thalia, can we talk tomorrow? I still have so much homework to finish."

"This is why I told you to not take so many classes. You already have limited time on your hands because of the step monster," she said. 

"Well, I love learning, Thals. Besides, the more challenging classes I succeed in, the better chances I have at scholarships. We've been over this already." 

I sighed as I finished my calculated explanation. My home life was rough, but I wanted to succeed in my academics. That and singing kept me going. 

Of course, no one knew about my singing except Thalia and Leo. 

"Yeah, yeah, I'll see you tomorrow then," Thalia said before hanging up. 

Before I got back to my homework, my eyes wandering to the picture frame on my desk. It was a photo of me and my mom at a picnic in the park. That felt like a lifetime ago.