Going Viral

Chapter 47

March 8th

Crowded onto the stage of the theatre was the entire cast, crew and creative team to Waitress. Annabeth felt more than a little self conscious as she tiptoed out of the wings, the noise of her footsteps making everyone's head turn towards her.

"Now that everyone's here, let me make the announcement." Apollo knocked over the prop salt shaker as he climbed up onto the counter top. Watching him hoist himself to his feet would've been funny if not for the atmosphere in the room. Everyone seemed to be watching anxiously, tapping their feet and biting their lips. She spotted Katie watching her with a raised brow, probably worried that Annabeth was going to want to go on as Jenna tonight now that she was back.

"I have some sad news." Now stood on the counter and using a tray trolley for balance (which really wasn't that sensible seeing as those things were on wheels), Apollo was adressing his small audience dramatically. It was a wonder he was on the creative team and not among the cast. "We were aware the theatre was struggling to fund the show, and we're thankful for the boost in tickets that the cast changes brought about, but this has been inevitable for some time. I'm afraid we now have a date."

There was a low murmur amongst the crowd, but Apollo pressed on.

"Our final performances will be March 27th."

Annabeth sighed to herself, her eyes flickering to watch everyone's reaction. The news was devastating for her, but she couldn't kid herself. It wasn't her main source of income, it wasn't even half of it. Careers in creative arts were known to be somewhat unreliable and were definitely not the best in terms of finances, but all of these people needed to find an entirely new job in order to get an income. And they had less than three weeks to do it. She watched Kayla discretely wipe at her cheeks, her face stony. Butch and Katrina were whispering together quietly, Archie had thrown an arm around Katie. Nyssa, Jake and Harley were glancing at each other nervously. Even Luke seemed upset by the news as he smiled sadly at little Ella and Sadie who were pouting besides their chaperones.

"Devastating news, amigos, I know. But I just wanted to give you the heads up before the announcement is made public on Friday. If you have family that want to watch before closing then be sure to sort their tickets with myself or Nyssa before the ticket holders get greedy and book up every seat for the next few weeks."

For a moment, Annabeth hesitates. Did she have family that would want to watch before the show closed? Her father certainly wouldn't care. Undoubtedly, she would tell Piper and Percy, probably Hazel, Frank and Leo too in case they were passing through New York any time soon. She considered telling Sally too because she knew it was her favorite show. Should she tell Athena? It would be a pretty abrupt start to their relationship, 'hey, I know you abandoned me as a kid but seeing as you want to get in touch, you have two weeks to see me perform on Broadway'. Then again, did Athena even deserve the free ticket? The answer was a resounding no.

"Hey, sweet." Katrina offered a sad smile when she nudged her shoulder. "How was your trip with your boyfriend?"

Oh, she had nearly forgotten about that. "It was good, thank you."

"Shame it was ruined by sad news." Annabeth hummed in agreement just as Katrina closes her eyes and mutters under her breath. "'Just when I think I have learned to way to live, life changes', Hugh Prather." An author, presumably, though Annabeth is unfamiliar with his works.

The theatre seems colder with everyone moping so Archie starts blasting music to cheer everyone up. Ella and Sadie sang karaoke for everyone - what kind of character's heart wouldn't grow warm at two young girls belting the soundtrack of Frozen II? - and eventually everyone's spirits lifted. As call time approached, Annabeth made the decision to head back to her apartment so that she wasn't in the way. She had some calls to make after all.

~~~

"Piper?" She questioned, noting the extra set of keys that rested in the bowl on the counter and the TV still glowing in the darkness of the room. "You here?"

A timid voice replies and Annabeth follows the sound down the hall and to the bathroom. She raps her fingers on the door. "Is something wrong?"

The tap runs and there's a rustle of packaging. Maybe she shouldn't interrupt... From the other side of the door, Piper lets out a whimper.

Annabeth had only seen Piper cry twice. The first had been back in high school, they were both pretty hormonal and Jason was as dense to Piper's feelings as any boy could be and so the pair of them had curled up on the plush love seat at Tristan McLean's luxury suite with a tub of Ben and Jerry's, a soft blanket and The Fault In Our Stars on DVD. By the end of the night, they both had wet cheeks and red rimmed eyes. The second time was when Piper's dad had forgotten her eighteenth birthday. Understandably, Piper was upset, but her tears were hot with anger that dripped from her chin leaving circles on her t-shirt. When the bathroom door swings open, Annabeth feels confronted by how different these tears are from what she'd seen before.

It looked like Piper was going to throw up. From a quick glance around the room, she guesses that's probably what happened. There's a bottle of water open on the floor and the bath mat has been pushed next to the toilet. Piper was stood at the sink, hands gripping the edge so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.

Before Annabeth can ask if she's okay, Piper drops to her knees and dry heaves into the toilet bowl. Immediately, she reaches to pull her dark hair out of her face and puts the back of her hand to Piper's forehead.

"You're not burning up. Did you eat something bad?"

When she's stopped coughing, Piper sips at her water and put her back to the wall. She shakes her head and reaches into a bag that Annabeth had failed to notice. There's a box in her hands that reminds Annabeth of the scene in Waitress where Becky and Dawn convince Jenna to take a test. It clicks.

"Piper, are you-?"

"I don't know yet. Will you wait with me while I find out?"