Waiting on You: Book Two of The Demigod Selection

Chapter Eight

~Playlist: "If Only" by Dove Cameron~

"I can't decide what's wrong what's right, which way should I go?"

Piper's POV

The weight of what happened hits me the next morning like an avalanche. I wake up before the sun rises, clutching the puffy comforter.

"Oh my God," I groan, falling back onto the annoyingly fluffy pillows. I grip my hair in my hands, and twist it. "Oh my God, what have we done?"

Kaleidoscope images race through my mind. Memories of what happened to Silena and Beckendorf mix together, but now it's Jason with bleeding marks-

I release a loud curse word, and lift a pillow from behind me, pressing it against my face. Oh my God. I release a long moan against the white fabric.

I have to tell somebody.

I throw the pillow down, and yank the covers back. Struggling to tug my hair behind my ear, I stumble to the door. Throwing it open, I go out into the hallway.

As I walk alone through the hall, a half-formed observation creeps in: if I tell someone, then they'll tell someone, and we'll meet the same fate as Silena and Beckendorf.

But that doesn't make me stop walking. If anything, the thought motivates my legs to continue. They bring me down the hall, to the left, and right outside of a white door.

I fall onto it, knocking loudly. Surprisingly, there's no guard standing outside of it. I ignore this fact, and continue to bang on the door.

Finally, it swings open, revealing a groggy looking Annabeth. Her hair is in knots, and her eyes are barely open.

"What?" she asks snappily.

"Can...can I come inside?" I ask her breathlessly.

Her pale eyebrow quirks upwards, but she nods her head nonetheless.

Gratefully, I stumble into her room, and, without permission, collapse onto her bed.

"That's fine, I wasn't planning on sleeping on it," Annabeth says with a smile.

I don't return it.

She frowns, sits down in a white chair, and asks, "What's wrong?"

I slowly drag myself into a sitting position. Looking down at the ground, I wring my fingers together.

"I made a really big mistake," I whisper.

"What?"

"I made a really big mistake," I repeat louder. I sigh, I place my chin on my hand. "Like, really big."

"Okay..." Annabeth trails off, her head tilting slightly in thought. "Did you kill a man?"

I shake my head rapidly. "No, not like that. I was in the garden yesterday, all by myself. At least, I was."

"Who came?"

I bite my lip, twisting it with my teeth. "A guard," I mumble.

Annabeth stares at me, her gray eyes frozen wide in understanding. "Oh no. Oh no, Piper, you didn't."

I can only nod.

Her mouth is opened, and she just looks at me. I stare at the ground, refusing to meet her gaze that is surely filled with disgust.

"Who was it?" she finally whispers.

"Jason-" I start to say, but my voice is thick. I clear it, and continue. "Jason Grace." My words came out rushed together before Annabeth could comment. "I was near the gazebo and he came over, and we were talking for a while. I was thinking of bird code names to use, and then he just kissed me."

Annabeth's holds her arms out. "Woah, wait. Bird code names?"

I open my mouth to tell her about helping Jason find out who tried to kill Reyna, but then realize that maybe he doesn't want anyone else to know. "Er, inside joke. But then we kissed again, and he said we shouldn't but we did it anyways, and ugh!"

I collapse back onto her bed. Annabeth makes a noise that could be an attempt at sympathy, though it's a futile try.

"You just kissed a boy, you don't have to sound so miserable. Unless he was an awful kisser," she points out lightly. "Then I don't blame you."

Stunned, I sit up just so she can see my mouth opened in shock. "Did you not hear what I just said? This is much bigger than if he was a good kisser or not!" Though my tone is angry, the memory of Jason softly kissing me leaks defiantly back into my mind. I shove it out, and continue. "I'm in the Selection, and I kissed a boy that wasn't the Prince. This is why Silena got eliminated and almost whipped to death! The same could happen to me!"

Annabeth makes an impatient tutting noise. "But did anyone see you? No, or else you would know by now. Piper, just calm down. Take in a few breaths, and just breathe."

I do as she says, slowly inhaling and exhaling. After a few times, I nod. "Okay, I'm fine. I'm good now."

She eyes me suspiciously, but doesn't press it. "Is that everything? Did I fix all your problems?"

I smile, and shake my head. "You couldn't fix all my problems if you had 100 years to do it. But thanks, Annabeth. You're right, I was losing my head. As long as no one saw me, I'm fine."

Annabeth nods, but there's a distracted look in her eyes, like she's far away. Frowning, I poke her.

She starts in surprise. "Do you like Percy?"

I stare at her. "Did I press a button on you? Where did that come from?"

Her cheeks flush, but she repeats the question. I tuck my legs beneath me before responding.

"I mean, he's nice and all. But do I like him romantically? No. We went on a few dates, and they were fine, we just didn't really connect. I think he's keeping me here because of the whole Willow thing that happened." The serene quiet is calming, but the lack of Annabeth's explanation of asking the question fills me with nerves all the same. "Why?"

"Well, I was just thinking...since you don't like him, and don't intend on marrying him...would it really be all that bad if you see Jason?"

For what seems to be the hundredth time since I passed over her threshold, I stare at the other girl with a dropped jaw.

"You do realize that's breaking the biggest law there is, right?"

Annabeth waves her hand as if she's waving away my question. "Percy would never hurt you, and if you tell him you like Jason Grace, well, I expect he'll let you leave the Selection peacefully."

I gaze around the room wistfully. "But I don't want to leave the Selection. I don't want to leave you, or Reyna, or Hazel, or Leo."

Her nose wrinkles. "Leo? Who's Leo?"

"Another guard. He's Jason's friend." And mine, but I don't tell her that.

Annabeth perks up. "Jason has friends?"

"Um, yeah? Did you expect him to be a loner?"

"No, no, but that makes things so much easier! Now, he has someone to cover for him," she explains.

But I don't feel enlightened. "Cover him? For what?"

Annabeth sighs while fiddling with the hem of her night gown. "For when he's seeing you, dummy!"

Feeling very stupid, I ask, "what?"

She stands up suddenly, and gets in my face. Alarmed, I freeze in place.

"Do you like this idiot or not?" Annabeth inquires loudly. I can only nod my head. "Okay, then we're going to have to not act rashly. We're going to have to plan this out."

"Can I have a straight answer for once, or is that too much to ask?"

She stares at me with her stormy eyes. "If you don't want to leave the Selection, then you'll just have to see Jason while you're still in it."