Chapter 17
ANNABETH'S P.O.V.
It was Wednesday and It has been days since I caught Percy with that- excuse my choice of language- tramp. Also a few days since I actually had a civil conversation with Percy. It’s not that I don’t believe and/or trust him, but it’s just- WAIT! Let me tell you what happened
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When we got to Jessica’s house, I couldn’t help but stare at it with awe. I mean, could you blame me? It’s freakin’ fantastic! It’s even better that Macy and Erica’s.
It was Egg white. (The color, I mean.) and at both of its sides, it made a circular shape with few vines circling it. Expensive plants were near the door, which was made of carved glass. The whole mansion had lots of windows and terrace, which was now crowded with strangers in tight clothing. Just by one glance at the house- ehem- mansion, you would know whoever owned this is really rich.
“Wow…” I sighed, still staring at the house with a smile on my face. I turned around to ask Percy if Jessica is rich or if we’re in the right place, but he wasn’t there. I swear, he was there a second ago. Now, all I see is people I don’t even know.
I tip-toed to look for any sign of Percy but I didn’t find any. I sighed and turned around, again to ask Nico if he knows where Percy has gone.
“Hey, Nic- ” I stopped when I was met with strangers dancing and no sign of Nico. “o….”
I looked around and sighed, again.
Well, let the search begin. Damn huge mansion!
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I searched around the mansion for a while until I got to a place that I’m guessing is the kitchen.
I looked around the kitchen trying to find Percy, Nico or someone I know. None. All there was were kids from school that I don’t know and some people from different schools.
I was going to exit the kitchen and go look somewhere else, when someone stopped me by grabbing my arm. Good thing I looked at the person before I kick him/her in the ass.
“Oh hey, Kyle.” I said, smiling at him. I looked at what he’s wearing and smiled even more. He was wearing a red checkered long sleeves shirt, normal blue jeans and sneakers. He looked good. And no. that’s not what made me smile. What made me smile was the fact that he didn’t dress up like the other guys. He dressed up like him. Most of the other guys were like completely different people.
Some were showing too much and some weren’t showing anything at all. I saw one guy who was wearing a polo, a vest, a hoodie and a jacket. And I’m pretty sure he was wearing a shirt inside. I mean, come on! It’s not yet Christmas! I also saw a guy who wasn’t wearing a shirt and only had shorts. At first, I thought he was going to the pool, but when I noticed he was dancing with some girls and from what I’ve heard the pool was outside in the backyard. Far from the main room, where he was. I decided that he wasn’t.
I mean, seriously. Nerds and loners (sorry, but it’s true) were acting cool and wearing cool clothes. Not. I swear, I even saw a guy wearing a tux. A tux!
“Hey, Annabeth. You checkin’ me out?” he said. I looked at him in surprise.
“What! No!” I defended. He chuckled and poked me at my sides. “Stop!”
“Just admit it. You were staring, Annie..” he teased. I put on my serious face and looked at him.
“I admit…. That I wasn’t checkin’ you out.” I said, firmly. He rolled his eyes. “ No, really. I have never and will never check out somebody who is not my boyfriend. A.K.A. Percy.” I said, then crossed my arms. He frowned at the mention of Percy, but he quickly recovered and raised an eyebrow.
“So what you zoned out and I just happened to be standing at the space you were zoning out at?” he said. I smiled.
“Exactly.” I said. He rolled his eyes, again, but this time, playfully.
“C’mon. Let’s go.” He said, smiling, then dragged me out of the kitchen.
“Where are we going?!” I shouted, so he could hear me. We were in the main room, which is filled with people dancing to the very loud music.
“To the guys! Where else?!” he replied as he pulled me to a hallway.
“They’re here?!” I asked/shouted. He turned his head to look at, smiling.
“Why wouldn’t they be?” he said then stopped. He smiled at me one more time, before opening the door beside us. There, revealed ‘the guys’. As if, rehearsed, they looked up at the same time and shouted.
“ANNABETH!” in unison. I smiled at them.
“Hey, guys!” I said as I walked in and looked at the room. It seemed to be a guess room, since it only had a small bed with a drawer next to it, complete with a lamp, one dim light, one window, a chaise, and the fact that everything was white, except for the mattress, which is velvet. Macy and Zed were sitting on the floor next to the bed, facing each other, Jamie lying on the bed, painting her nails, and Jay was leaning on the wall, looking out the window.
I sat on the chaise and pulled my legs up. Kyle closed the door and sat on the arm of my chair.
“So…. What do you guys wanna do?” Macy said, turning around to face me. I shrugged.
“How about Truth or Dare?” Zed asked with a killer smile on his face.
“NO!” we shouted in unison. Zed frowned and mumbled something about us being so un-fun and kill joys.
“Hey, how about we….. do ‘would you rather’ or ‘spin the botlle’ ooh or or ‘7 minutes in heaven’?! ?” Jamie said. Jay quickly looked up.
“No! Look, sis, if you haven’t noticed, there are also guys here. So, don’t you go and say ‘OMG! Let’s play all the girly games that all the girly girls do, cuz we’re girls and we’re so girly!’. Just don’t!” Jay said. Jamie rolled her eyes and continued to paint her nails.
“Well, I think I’m up for ‘7 minutes in heaven’.” Zed said, wiggling his eyebrows at Jamie. Jamie replied by wearing a disgusted look on her face and throwing a pillow at him, causing us to laugh.
“Hey, guys. May I ask why are we here and how in the world is this place not crowded?! Considering almost everywhere I go is filled with people.” I asked them.
“Well, If you haven’t noticed, this is the smallest and the most un-glamorous place here.” Jamie said.
“Yes, actually I have noticed.” I said. Then Kyle said.
“Well, we always go here because it’s the smallest and the most un-glamorous place here, even the bathroom and the stair case is bigger and ‘classier’. So, we’re sick of seeing people dancing and/or making out so-“
“So, you go here since it’s the place where people least go to ‘cause there are lots of places better than this so why would they choose this.” I finished. Kyle smiled at me and the rest nodded. “That’s wise.” I said, smiling.
“Yeah…” Kyle said, smiling.
“Oh, hey, Annabeth. Not that you’re weird or a loner or something, but why are you here?” Jamie asked. I furrowed my eyebrows at the question. “I mean, why aren’t you with…you know..Percy?” she finished, hesitantly.
“Ummm…well, actually, that’s a funny story. Hehe. You see, I.. um… he.. I got lost..” I said, looking down, embarrassed.
“Oh…” Macy and Jamie said. There was a silence that covered the room, before Jamie got a super ‘fun’ idea. Note the sarcasm.
“Oooh! I know what we’re gonna do!!” she exclaimed. Everyone looked at her, questioningly, but she was only looking at me and Macy. Not good. “Zed, Kyle, Jay. Would you please come over here?” she said with extra sweetness in her voice. Macy looked at me wide-eyed, while I just shrugged.
When Jamie was done whispering in their ears, they all had mischievous smiles on their faces.
“What is it?!” Macy and I said/shouted. Then Suddenly Jamie dragged the boys out of the room and locked the door, when they were out. She then looked at us like she was a predator and we were her prey.
“So, how would you like a make-over.” She asked. My eyes-widened and I looked at Macy, seeing she was doing the same. Uh oh…
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Hours past and Macy and I were cleaning in the bathroom. And by cleaning, I meant cleaning our caked-with-makeup-faces.
“I can’t believe Jamie actually did that.” I said as I tried to take the really dark mascara off. Emphasis on tried.
“That’s Jamie for you.” Macy grumbled, when she washed her mouth to make the red lip-stick go away. I sighed, finally finished.
“I didn’t know that it’s that hard to get make-up off.” I said, leaning against the counter, looking at Macy, who is trying to get 5 bobby pins out of her hair.
“Yeah..” she sighed. I nodded, absentmindedly. Then my eyes widened.
“Hey, do you know what time it is?” I asked her, getting off the counter. She looked at me, then looked at her wrist watch.
“Umm..it’s 8:20 no- it’s 8:21. Yeah, exactly 8:21. Why?” she asked.
“It’s 8?!!” I exclaimed. A brunette, who just walked out of a stall, looked at me like I was crazy, but I just ignored her.
“Yeah, I know. Time flies when you’re having fun, huh?” she said. “Anyway, you still haven’t answered me. Why?”
“Well, I still don’t know where Percy is.” I said. “I need to find him. Or at least he needs to find me.” she nodded.
“Okay, go. I’ll tell the others.” She said, smiling. I smiled back.
“Thanks! See yah!” I said as I walked out of the bathroom.
I searched for a while ‘till I got to the backyard with a pool. I was thirsty so I walked towards a large table that I thought to be the snack bar or food table. I took a glass of punch and moaned at the sweet taste.
I stood there for a while, looking at my surroundings. Crazy teens were in the pool, splashing water everywhere. Some people were making out at a dark corner. Some were talking and laughing, loudly. I saw a familiar girl wearing a red tight dress. I believe her name was Sandy? Wait, no, Sandra. Yup, that’s it. Percy said she was a major stalker back then, but she hasn’t done anything in this year, yet. Anyway, she was arguing with a pretty girl with light brown hair tied in a normal French braid, and was wearing a black dress.
The girl’s brown eyes caught my gaze, for a second. She had a questioning look in her eyes. But then again, who wouldn’t be questionable if they saw someone they don’t know, staring at them. I looked away and decided to continue looking for Percy. I threw the plastic cup away and walked back in the main room.
It was really crowded. People were dancing and was not giving any room for me to move. I managed to squeeze in and get to the other side of the room in record time. I sighed in relief and turned around just to be collided with a body.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t looking and-.” “No it’s my fault, I wasn’t looking. I’m really clumsy. It’s-.” We both apologized, immediately. Only stopping when we finally looked at each other.
The body I bumped into was actually a girl’s. She was tall. I think she has the same height as me. She was a beauty with dark blonde hair that was in a side braid with a glittery headband, she had baby blue eyes that looked at me in awe, she was tanned and she was wearing a red leather jacket over a striped shirt, blue skinny jeans, and black heels.
“You- your- you’re.. You’re Annabeth Chase!” she exclaimed pointing a finger at me with wide eyes. I looked at her, shocked.
“Umm.. yeah. And you’re…..” I trailed off, asking for her name.
“Um, my name’s Cossette. My friends call me Cose. You could call me anything you want.” She added, quickly. I smiled at her.
“Sure, thanks, Cossette. Umm.. could you help me with something?” I asked her, remembering Percy. She nodded, vigorously. I smiled. “Could you tell me or if you have seen where Percy Jackson is?”
“Yes! I do!” she said. I looked at her, shocked. I didn’t actually expect her to know where Percy is, but… “He’s in that room.” She said pointing to a room upstairs.
“Thank you. Really, thanks.” I said, smiling at her. She just nodded, still looking at me in shocked. I smiled one last time, before going upstairs, leaving her staring at me. She seems nice. A bit weird, but nice. I looked back at her to see that some girl was angry with her, and her looking scared. I frowned. I’ll deal with it later. I thought. Right now, I’m going to find Percy.
When I got up the stairs, I immediately walked towards the door that Cossette pointed.
I opened it slowly.
“Percy?....” I asked as I opened the door, fully.
There he was sitting on a bed with Sandra, dangerously close to him. Both heads shot up and looked at me in shock.
“Annabeth?” Percy asked in disbelief.
“The one and only. Goodbye…” I said, then closed the door and quickly ran down stairs.
“Annabeth. Wait!” I heard Percy called, but I was already down stairs.
I ran to the group of people that were dancing and looked around for my ride. I finally found him. He was in a dark corner (typical) and he was drinking punch. (at least I thought it was punch.)
I walked to him and grabbed his arm, dragging him towards the door.
“Whoa! Annabeth! What the hell?! Where’s Percy? I’ve been looking for you guys for hours!! What happened?!” he said. Before I got the chance to answer or to shut him up, someone cut me off.
“Annabeth! Hey, I’m sorry for the make-over. I hope you’re not mad at me and- Who’s that?” Jamie said then asked gesturing to Nico.
“It’s okay. I gotta go. See yah! Monday!! And this is Nico!!!” I shouted as I continued to go to the door, not stopping.
“Annabeth!” I heard Seaweed Brain shout.
“What’s wrong Annabeth?” Nico asked.
“Not now, NIco. “ I said as I opened the door and walked out, dragging Nico with me. I turned to look at him. “Right now, all I need is for you to shadow travel me.” I commanded. He looked unsure, but eventually just shrugged and did what I told him to do.
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So yeah, that’s pretty much what happened at the party.
Now, before you go and judge me about what happened and be all like ‘Oh My Gosh! You’re so stupid! He wouldn’t do that to you! He gave up being a god for you! He remembered you when he was in the River Styx! Why in the world would he cheat on you?! Dumbass!!!’. Let me tell you my side.
I know that Percy would never cheat on me. I know if there’s anyone to blame, it would be Sandra. And, putting my pride aside for now, I’m going to admit that I also didn’t know why in the world I did that and not stay and listen to Percy explain. I guess I just needed to get away from him, for a while. You know, to think. About what? I don’t know. I just felt like it. Yeah, I know, I’m such a bad girlfriend. URRGGHH!!! I’ll apologize and hopefully he will accept it. When? I don’t know.
It was also hard to avoid him at school. He was also at my house, so I had to tell Helen to tell him that I’m out with Macy. But I guess, he knew it was a lie, considering that he didn’t go away and stayed there for hours.
I felt so bad, but I won’t tell him that. I think.
Stupid pride.
I do miss him, badly.
So yeah, I am currently avoiding Percy for no reason. It’s hard to, though. Not when he won’t stop talking to me. At least trying to talk to me.
Anyway, I was on my way to the cafeteria, since it was lunch, but I stopped by my locker first.
“Hey, Annabeth!” someone said from beside me. I looked up to see who it was just to see the face of Jessica Kirstin.
“Uh.. hey.” I said as I put my architecture notebook in my locker. Jessica usually comes to me, saying that her friend, Sandra, didn’t mean anything and I just misunderstood the whole situation.
“Annabeth..” she started. Here it goes. “Sandra really said sorry. She didn’t mean to do that. She said that it was just a whole misunderstanding. Really. She said that you were just at the wrong place in the wrong time. She hopes that you can forgive her. And Percy..” at this I looked at her, waiting for her to continue, but when she didn’t I decided to ask her about Percy.
“What about Percy?” I said as I closed my locker and leaned against it.
“Annabeth, he really misses you. Gosh, you should have seen him! He looks so miserable, Annabeth. He didn’t do anything bad. You should know that he’s too much of a sweetheart! Annabeth, think about it, okay?” she said, smiling sadly at me. I only nodded slightly in response. Then she walked away with me looking at her. I sighed, knowing that I should go to the cafeteria.
Gosh, you should have seen him! Jessica’s words still ringing in my head. He looks so miserable, Annabeth.
It hurt me. Adding the fact that Jessica didn’t use past tense. I really didn’t mean to do that to him. I’m so sorry Percy.
I was going to start walking to the cafeteria, when another person stopped me.
“Umm.. hey, Annabeth!!” a girl’s voice said. I looked beside me and saw the girl who was arguing with Sandra at the party.
“Umm.. hi?” I said, cautiously. I was still wondering why in the world she of all the people would talk to me. Probably going to say that Sandra said sorry. I sighed. She looked a bit nervous.
“Uh, well, I’m just going to say that I hope you can forgive Sandra.” She said. I looked at her.
“That’s it?” I asked. She nodded. “So, you’re not going to tell me that she said sorry and/or it was only a misunderstanding?”
“…Yep! That’s it.” She said. I nodded, slowly.
“I don’t believe that I’ve met you before.” I said as I started walking, knowing that she’ll follow.
“Uh, yeah. We’ve never actually met before. “ she said, when she caught up to me. “My name’s Danielle, by the way. Not Dan or Danny. Just Danielle.” I smiled at her.
“Okay then, Danielle. My name’s Annabeth. Not Anne or Annie. Just Annabeth.” I said. She smiled.
“So, where’s your table?” I asked, when we reached the cafeteria. She looked down and played with her fingers.
“Well, um- I don’t actually have a table, anymore.” She said.
“What do you mean? Well, you could come with me. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind.” I told her. She smiled, gratefully at me.
“Really? If you’re sure, okay then.” She said.
“I’m sure. Come on!” I said as I dragged her to our table. “Hey, guys! Do you mind if Danielle sits with us?” I asked them, when we got to our table. They looked up and nodded. I sat down and gestured Danielle to sit next to me.
“Hey Kyle.” Danielle said, shyly. “Guys.”
“Hi Danielle.” They said back. I looked at them.
“You know each other?” I asked them. They nodded. “Well, how?” they exchange looks of reminiscing.
“Let’s just say it’s a long story. Okay?” Kyle said a bit rudely. I looked at him with wide eyes. He was never one to be rude.
“Okay..” I said, knowing that they didn’t want to talk about it. “So, why aren’t you sitting with your friends?” I said trying to change the topic to avoid awkwardness.
“They were my friends. They’re not, anymore. I guess Cossete’s still my friend. Sandra and Alice? Not anymore.” She said, glaring at the table. I was going to ask why, but she cut me off. “and no. you can’t ask why. Maybe some other time I’ll tell you, but not now.” She said looking at me. I blushed as the others laughed.
“What! I’m just curious!” I defended, but they kept laughing, so I just laughed with them.
Hey, if you can’t beat the others, join them.