beauty and the beast ⋮ percabeth au

24.

"Is this really necessary?" I asked Piper, who was driving to the mall.

"Absolutely," she answered while turning into the parking lot. "Jason's already asked me to prom, Percy's asked you, and Frank is bound to ask Hazel in the next week. So, in order to go to prom, we need dresses."

I groaned, sinking down into the backseat. Dress shopping was one of my least favorite things in the universe, besides excessive homework and Drew Tanaka. "Come on, Annabeth. It'll be fun!" Hazel exclaimed.

"Nope, absolutely not," I protested as Piper pulled into a parking space. "Where are we even going to find dresses?"

"Macy's, Nordstrom, Aphrodite's," Piper listed off. "It'll be great."

"No, it won't," I groaned, pulling off my cardigan off as I walked through the parking lot. It had initially been cold in the morning but as the day went on, it had become extremely warm. "I barely even like to wear dresses as it is."

"You didn't seem to mind the Belle dress," Hazel noted. She tugged her cinnamon hair into a ponytail and straightened out her purple skirt. "Now, it's time to get ourselves dresses."

Piper and Hazel dragged me across the parking lot and into the first store, entitled 'Aphrodite's.' I knew Piper's mom owned the store, so hopefully she wouldn't go completely crazy on us. Aphrodite was an...interesting woman to say the least.

"Girls!" She squealed excitedly when Piper opened the door. "Are you girls here for prom dress shopping?"

Aphrodite's was a quaint little shop that was immensely popular among the residential New Yorkers. Normally, it sold normal clothes for teenage girls, but now that it was prom season it was stocked with dresses galore.

Piper nodded and went over to hug her mom. "Absolutely. You're going to need to help me convince Annabeth to try on some dresses."

Aphrodite turned to me, taking in my petite frame and bookish looks. "What are you looking for, Annabeth?"

"Just stick me in any random dress and I'm good," I grumbled, shifting through the dress racks.

"Oh no no no no no," Aphrodite steered me away from the dress racks and into a fitting room. "I am determined to find you the perfect dress. Hazel and Piper, you girls can start looking in the racks for your own dresses."

I plopped myself down on a cushioned seat in the fitting room. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I sent Percy a quick text.

Save me now please

Percy: And that's because....?

Hazel and Piper have forced me to go dress shopping

Percy: Don't you hate shopping?

Exactly

Percy: Is this for prom?

Yep

Percy: Then I'll leave you to it

NO NO NO NO NO DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE WITH THEM

Percy never replied back and I groaned in annoyance, sliding my phone back into my pocket. While this made me sound like a complete tomboy, I despised dress shopping. There was just something about it that made me gag at even the thought of it.

"We've got dresses!" Piper sang, closing one of the fitting room doors behind her. "Mom's still looking for some dresses for you, but Hazel and I found some for ourselves."

"Well, try them on you two!" I laughed, waiting for Piper and Hazel to try on some of their dresses. "Thank God Aphrodite hasn't found any for me yet," I muttered.