Going Viral

Chapter 7

May 31st

Awoken by Piper's shower singalong, Annabeth gets up out of bed and stretches to wake herself up. Last night flashes in her mind and she smiles to herself.

There's a text from Percy when she checks her phone.

percyjackson18 morning :) dont wanna spam incase ur still asleep bc wakin u up would be mean but just wanted u to know that im thinkin of u and cant wait to see u again. maybe im bein creepy lol sorry. youve turned me into a sap, chase, this is ur fault

Her face splits into a grin and she opens her camera to send him a video of her blushing and hiding behind her morning hair, not her best look admittedly, but for barely 8am, she doesn't look too bad. While she gets herself and Luna ready for a run, her smile remains plastered to her face.

"Thinking about your boy?" A bite of her croissant is stolen. 

"He's not-" Piper raises her eyebrows. "Yeah."

The morning passes slowly and Annabeth slugs through her to-do list. She updates her video ideas but finds herself returning to the same kind of theme.

- teaching myself to play guitar
- perfect pitch test
- explaining musicals in a minute
- 1 hour songwriting challenge

Usually, she'd try to steer clear from posting to much music on her channel so most of her videos are book reviews, general challenges and games. Her music taste is a little obsessive and Annabeth is keen not to scare off her followers by nerding out about the recurring musical motifs of Wicked or the symbolic importance of ponytails in Hamilton.

Maybe she could post one and see if it does as well as her puppy videos...

~~~

June 3rd

Estelle tugs at his arm and pulls him through the aisles of clothes towards the Disney section.

Percy, ever the best big brother, was donning one of the many Disney products Estelle had picked out for him for his birthday last year, including his 'Finding Dory' socks and 'Monsters Inc' cap. The cap - along with his sunglasses - did a relatively good job at keeping his face hidden from anyone who might recognise him. To get ambushed by fans was one thing, being famous was his choice after all, but for it to happen with his kid sister around was not on his wish list.

His sister was one of Percy's favorite people, probably tying with his mom (sorry Grover). She was the sweetest little human and Percy was determined she would have the best childhood imaginable. He hadn't had the greatest upbringing due to his horror of a stepfather, but Estelle would be different.

Stella was the most excitable 3 - nearly 4 - year old and was always bouncing around belting Disney songs and being all round awesome. Her tea parties were iconic affairs in the Jackson-Blofis household and would feature all of the guests in tutus and tiaras sipping apple juice from plastic teacups and snacking on blue cookies. They often doubled as Estelle's council meetings and there would be heavy political discussions masked as fairytale affairs for her to learn about. The next 'council meeting' was coming up and this time Grover was coming per Stella's royal request. Which means a new tiara would be required.

"Grover likes trees and fairies, so it has to be pretty..." Estelle bounded over to the costumes were. For a few minutes, she tried on several plastic tiaras and posed in the mirror. Despite Percy's enthusiasm for each, she was convinced none of them were right.

Finally, she discovered a flower crown. The flowers were pastel purple and pink and intended to match the 'Tangled' dress it was paired with but neither of the siblings cared. Percy was just glad they were done shopping and could go get some lunch.

"Who's that?" Estelle asked as they sat beside each other in the food court. At Percy's frown, she added "On your phone. Who's that?"

Indeed, there was a face on his phone. Annabeth had sent a photo of herself pulling a goofy face a few days ago and he'd joked about making it his home screen - something he actually did when she replied "You wouldn't dare". If the press got a look at it, it would be everywhere instantly, but Percy had thought nothing of letting Estelle borrow his phone to play games - perhaps an oversight on his part as she was now glaring at the photo with all of her 3 year old scariness.

"I thought you said only 'portant people were on your phone screen. Do I go on your screen?"

"All the time, Stell."

This answer apparently didn't satisfy her and she narrowed her eyes.

"Do you have a girlfriend? Is that why she's more 'portant than me?"

Sighing, Percy worded the following sentences carefully.

"That's Annabeth, she's my friend. She's not more important than you but I really like her. I put her on my lock screen to make her smile. Is that okay?"

Satisfied, the little girl nodded and cuddled into her brothers side. His arm snaked around her protectively and he let her wriggle until she was comfortable enough to speak again.

"I'll share with Abeth." Estelle concluded, blinking her eyes sleepily. "But she has to come to my tea party. Then you can get a photo of us together so its always both of us on your phone."

"Sounds like a plan." He smiled to himself as his sister dozed off in his lap. It would give him an excuse to see Annabeth again after all.