𝐕𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲.

Mood Swings

They made plans to go to the movies with Annabeth after Percy's orientation for Goode high school.

Lilia had been back at camp for a couple days but she'd left some things at her dorm, so her and Annabeth's got dropped there before they met Percy.

"I think i might come back to camp full time." Lilia said looking through her clothes.

"I thought you wanted to prove yourself to Connor and Travis?" Connor and Travis had it in their heads that the children of Aphrodite knew nothing, despite the fact they were a lot dumber than Lilia was.

She sighed. "I need to keep training, if at some point camp is attacked, I'm not going to be able to defend myself by doing maths questions." As much as that was true, she really did find school hard, she could hardly understand any of it and sitting still for five hours a day is a lot harder than she remembered.

Annabeth nodded, she knew Lilia could never settle for stereotypes, she was ambitious. Annabeth liked that about her, but sometimes she took it too far.

"Which top?" Lilia's asked holding up a pink floral crop top and a Lacey blue tube top.

"That one." She said pointing at the blue one. "Percy will like it." She grinned.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, but listened anyway, pulling the blue top on.

"I mean you guys totally like each other."

"Percy does not like me like that!" She blushed.

"I know you both. Within a week of knowing you Percy was willing to drop everything to comfort you. And you took on the weight on the sky so he wasn't alone." She said with a raised eyebrow.

"Whatever you say Annie." Lilia said pulling some black jeans on. But once she turned away she couldn't help the small smile that appeared on her face.

"Stop smiling lover girl." Annabeth said.

"How could you have possibly known that?" Lilia flung her arms up exasperated.

Once she was dressed the two girls checked themselves in the mirror. Annabeth's hair fell down around her face in ringlets, which was a change from her usual pony tail.

Lilia's hair was pulled back into two messy plaits, loose curls falling around her face.

They walked through the city, using the directions Percy had wrote on a little note for them, trying to find the school.

"I think we're lost." Lilia said.

"No we cant be, according to this it should be right around here."

"Are you forgetting Percy wrote this note?" Lilia said looking around and seeing no sign of a school.

They kept walking a bit further and came out onto a street. Percy came sprinting down the road, running right into Lilia.

She grasped his shoulder trying to keep him upright. "Hey! Watch where you're going bubble-brain!" She said making sure he didn't run into the road.

"You're out early." Annabeth laughed as Percy tried to regain his balance.

Lilia smiled at Percy happy to see him, she looked pretty, Percy thought. Her eyes were twinkling and her hair was glowing golden under the sun.

"I like your top." He smiled.

Before Annabeth got the chance to tease her on that, some girl came running from Percy's direction.

"Percy, wait up!" She shouted. Lilia's smile melted off her face as she stared at the pretty red haired girl before her. She turned towards the school, only just noticing the black smoke coming from the doors.

"What have you done now?" Annabeth's asked.

"And who's she?" Lilia said coldly.

"Oh right, Rachel, Lilia and Annabeth. Lilia and Annabeth, Rachel. Um she's a friend I guess." He muttered.

"Hi." Rachel said barely giving them a second thought, before turning her back to them. "Percy, you are in so much trouble. And you still owe me an explanation!"

Police sirens wailed.

"Percy," Annabeth said. "We should go."

"I want to know more about half-bloods," Rachel insisted. "And monsters. And this stuff about the gods." She grabbed his arm, whipped out a permanent marker, and wrote a phone number on his hand. "You're going to call me and explain, okay? You owe me that. Now get going." Lilia scoffed.

"But-"

"I'll make up some story," Rachel said. "I'll tell them it wasn't your fault. Just go!"

She ran back toward the school, leaving him in the street with Annabeth who was giving him an unimpressed look. Lilia had turned on her heels and began to walk away, no longer in a good mood.

"Hey!" Percy jogged after her. "There were these two empousai," he tried to explain. "They were cheerleaders, see, and they said camp was going to burn, and-"

"You told a mortal girl about half-bloods?" Lilia raised an eyebrow.

"She can see through the Mist. She saw the monsters before I did."

"So you told her the truth?" Annabeth asked.

"She recognized me from Hoover Dam, so-"

"Hold on," Lilia stopped walking and spun around. "you've met her before?" Lilia said accusingly.

"Um, last winter. But seriously, I barely know her."

"She's kind of cute." Lilia shrugged, clearly annoyed.

"I—I never thought about it."

"I'll deal with the school," he promised, anxious to change the subject. "Honest, it'll be fine."

Lilia wouldn't even look at him, Annabeth spared him a few disappointed glances.

"I guess our afternoon is off. We should get you out of here, now that the police will be searching for you." Behind them, smoke billowed up from Goode High School.

"Lilia's right," Annabeth said. "We have to get to Camp Half-Blood. Now."