CHAPTER SUMMARY
More trouble arises during Bianca's first week of school.
BEGINNING NOTES
Word Count: 2660
Content Warning: None
I'm posting today because I'm spending tomorrow with my boyfriend and I don't think I'll have time to post.
And, welcome back Oli as a beta! Super excited to have her back now that her school's over.
So, I forgot to post last week. I actually do have a good reason why, though. I've been incredibly busy setting this up...
Some of you have kept saying I should be a writer. Well, you're getting your wish! Coming June 30th: A Deadly Game of Chess, a new musical written and composed by me and produced by Rose and Matik Productions, my new production company! If you live in or around Fairfield, CT, you should totally come to the show. It's also a charity fundraiser for Circle of Friends, who works with special needs kids and adults to give them social interaction, jobs, and a support system they don't often get. Tickets are $15, $10 for kids/students under 21. DVDs are $15.
Our website is www.adeadlygameofchess.com, and you can buy tickets at this link (https://fairfieldtheatre.org/shows/stageone/deadly-game-chess). We're also on FaceBook, Instagram, and Twitter as @adeadlygameofchess. And if you can't come but you want a DVD of the show, please contact me at director@roseandmatik.com.
Here's the synopsis:
London, 1938.
The 19-year-old Anton Lehrer has found a home after years on the run. But, when his best friend Robyn returns from an extended stay in New York, she discovers just how fake his perfect life is. What starts as a offer of help quickly spirals out of control as these two master manipulators turn their friends to chess pieces and truth itself into a weapon. Everyone has a dark secret to hide. You can't outrun who you are... especially when the one you love has a knife to their throat. (for ages 12 and up)
Please come if you can, and get a DVD if you can't! The more people I can share this with, the more likely I'll be able to put it on again, and the more likely I'll be able to pursue this career professionally.
And all the characters are owned by Rick Riordan.
I'm going to take over now, Nico.
Go ahead.
So the beginning of phase two didn't go according to plan. When Nico ran into the house, Will made a move to go after him, but Percy held him back. "You need to give him time to cool off," he explained.
Persephone looked hurt, but, to her credit, she didn't say anything more than, "Hades warned me he'd be tough. Why don't you three go inside; I'll make sure the movers stay out of your way."
So, we did. Will gawked at everything he saw. I knew he didn't have a lot of money; this was probably the first time he'd ever been inside a mansion. We made our way into the kitchen, where Hazel was munching on some cheese and crackers. Her eyes were glued to the laptop in front of her, and there were headphones in her ears.
I waved at her to get her attention. Her eyes lit up when she saw me. She pulled the earbuds out and ran to give me a hug. "Bianca! It's been so long!"
I laughed. "It's good to see you, Hazel. Still making your way through The Hunger Games?"
"Yup!" she said gleefully. "I'm on the last few chapters of Mockingjay--I'll let you know when I'm done, I'm so excited to talk about it with you! Peeta's character arc is--" she cut herself off. She looked at Percy and Will with guilt. "I'm so sorry, I'm excluding you from the conversation. I'm Hazel."
Percy and Will introduced themselves. Then Sally walked in, made some pleasant conversation, and sent the three of us away to do our homework. We set up camp on the living room floor and took turns reading from Adams vs. Jefferson: the Election of 1800. It was the most boring book I'd ever read; I swear it scarred me for life. It was just like Mrs. Dodds to give us a book report in the first week of term. After an hour, Sally called us in for dinner. I went to grab Nico.
To my surprise, his bedroom door was half open. I stepped inside, and a half-empty bottle of vodka confirmed my suspicions--he'd been drinking. Concerned, I rushed to the bathroom where I found my brother kneeling in front of the toilet, throwing up. I pushed the hair from his face and said words of encouragement. It didn't take long from him to finish. While he washed out his mouth, I shot a quick text to Percy explaining the situation and saying neither of us was going to make it to dinner.
"Can you walk?" I asked. Nico shrugged, his eyes half closed. "I'm going to take that as a no." I closed the bathroom door. "Take off those clothes, Nico, I promise I won't look. I'll get the water running for a bath. We'll clean you off and get you to bed." I grabbed a plastic cup from the closet and filled it with water. "Drink, and when you're done, fill it back up. I don't want you to get a hangover tomorrow."
He didn't argue. I washed his hair for him, helped him brush his teeth, and got him into his pajamas. It was slow work; Nico was really drunk and helpless. I decided he'd sleep in my room tonight--I had a second bed for when my friends spent the night. He passed out by 8:30. Will and Percy were gone by then, and Hazel and Persephone were already in their rooms. Papà, as usual, was nowhere to be seen. I took my food and backpack to my room to eat and finish my homework while keeping an eye on Nico. He threw up again around two a.m.. It goes without saying that I didn't get much sleep that night.
"Nico?" I called. He responded with a grunt. "I'll help you, mio fratello , but you have to go to school today."
It took us longer than usual to get up and get out the door. Jules-Albert got us to school right when the warning bell went off. I walked Nico to class, told him to be good, and headed to bio.
"How is he?" Will asked when I got to my desk.
"Hungover again, but all right," I said. "Sorry about that. That was... a lot, even for him."
Mr. D started class. I made my way through the day with a splitting headache. I thought about taking a nap during lunch, but my phone kept going off.
WISE GIRL
Crisis in the caf. Get here asap.
All I wanted to do was sleep. I needed to sleep. But my friends also needed me...
I'm on my way.
When I got to our usual table, I found Annabeth and Percy in a heated debate. All I caught was Annabeth saying, "Because you can't do that , Percy, that's why!"
"Yes I can!" Percy protested.
"Can't do what?" I asked.
Percy shushed me. "Not so loud! I don't want the queen bee to hear us."
"Queen bee?" I asked, confused.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Piper. He's insisting on codenames."
Of course, I thought. I turned to Percy. "And beauty queen doesn't work because...?"
"She already knows that name!" Percy hissed.
I sighed. "You still haven't answered my question. What can't you do?"
Annabeth crossed her arms. She gave Percy a sideways glance and said, "He wants to throw a party at Jason's house so Jason can ask out Piper."
"Why does it have to be a party?" I asked. "You're not planning to get him drunk, are you?"
"No!" Percy protested. "And it has to be a party because if we plan a party, we have time to come up with a plan to get them alone. We can control all the variables. You can't do that at school."
I raised my eyebrows. "Umm... 'control all the variables?' "
"He's been watching a lot of cop shows," Annabeth explained. "Point is, you can't force this. Jason has to do it on his own. He's not a guinea pig."
"I don't think it's such a bad idea," I said. "Well... not the 'control all the variables' part, but the party. He'll be more relaxed when he's not at school. It might work. One condition, though." Percy gestured for me to go on. "I want to do it at my place, not Jason's. That's the only way Nico will come, and I want him to socialize a bit. And I want to bring Will too."
"Done," Percy said.
Annabeth wasn't convinced, not by a longshot, but she agreed anyway.
The next event in the neverending drama that is my life came at archery practice. I was on the late side--again, super tired--so when I got there, Zoë, Phoebe, Naomi, and Celyn were already chatting. I threw my backpack on the grass and joined them.
Zoë was going on about something some stupid boy said in her African Studies class. She was on an 'all men are idiots' phase. The spring before she'd started dating this guy, Heracles, even had sex with him (it was her first time), but he broke up with her less than a month later. We found out he'd been using Zoe to cheat on his girlfriend Meg, and Zoë was crushed. Ever since, in her eyes, all men were slime, and nothing anyone said would convince her otherwise.
Coach Artemis came onto the field, "All right girls, let's get started!" she called.
"Hold on!" Celyn said. "Where's Thalia?"
She was right, Thalia was nowhere to be seen. That was really weird, because as captain of the archery team, she made a point to always be on time and ready to go. She hadn't missed a practice in forever.
"Was she at school today?" Coach Artemis asked.
"Yeah, I sat with her at lunch," I said. "She looked fine, too, definitely not sick. Let me shoot her a text, hold on." I ran to my backpack and pulled out my phone. We waited for a response for almost ten minutes. Nothing.
Coach Artemis decided we'd start without her. But no matter how many drills we ran or arrows we shot, our game was off. We were all worried about Thalia; this wasn't like her at all. Coach Artemis gave us a stern talk about not losing focus, then let us out at 5:30. I made my way to Nico and Percy. I didn't talk in the limo, I just stared at my phone, waiting for the little "delivered" to turn to "read." I shot her another text, but still nothing. I called her, but I got voicemail.
Nico asked me if everything was all right, and so I explained about Thalia. Percy was good friends with her too, so he was as worried as I was. "Do you think it's Luke?" he asked.
"I don't know," I said. "If it is... I wish she'd dump the bastard. I don't know why she's staying with him with all the trouble he gets into. Like, how much money has she spent on bail? It's insane."
"She's in love," Nico said. "Love makes you stupid. Look at Percy."
"Hey!" Percy protested. He playfully punched Nico in the arm. Nico jumped a little.
I didn't sleep easy that night. My dreams were full of Thalia and Luke with a bit of Nico and Persephone mixed in there. It had only been three days since Papà told us about Persephone. How could so much go wrong in three days?
At least Wednesday morning I could go back to my normal routine. No waking up in Papà's bed, no hungover Nico that I had to take care of. I showered, got dressed, brushed my teeth, dragged Nico out of bed, and made my way downstairs to help Sally with breakfast.
"You look exhausted," Sally said.
I laughed. "Good morning to you too." Sally was almost finished with the fruit salad, so I started on Papà's coffee. "Life's been crazy," I told her. "What with the whole Persephone thing. And Nico's been acting out, running into Will, there's some drama with Jason and Piper, and now something's wrong with Thalia but I don't know what." I ground the coffee beans a bit harder than I should've. Sally gently pushed me away.
"Sit down, and try to relax," she said. "Things will work themselves out. And I'd rather you not break the French press."
I made it to the dining room in time for Hazel to join me. If it was possible, she actually looked worse than I did. "Hey, is everything okay?" I asked her.
She nodded. "I'm fine, just tired. I didn't think high school would be this hard," she said. Her phone went off. She checked it, and her face lit up. It wasn't hard to guess why.
Hazel typed her response while she walked to the table. When she sat, I nudged her and said, "Okay, who's the boy?"
She put her phone on the table. "His name's Frank Zhang. He's a friend of Reyna's, they were in Latin together last year, and now he's in my gym class, and..." she couldn't finish her sentence, she was smiling so hard.
"Bring him over sometime," I said. "I want to make sure he's right for my little sister before you do anything... drastic."
Hazel giggled. "Little sister?"
"Our parents are getting married, which means you're my sister now."
Her smile faltered and her eyes fell to the table. "Nico doesn't think so."
I squeezed her hand. "Listen, Hazel, he's taking all this pretty hard. It's not you. He'll warm up to you, I promise. Think positive; you're good at that. And--" I leaned in and grinned mischievously. "--we're having a party on Friday. Bring Reyna and Frank. I get to meet them, you get to spend time with Frank, and Nico will be there, so you can get to know him too. He'll be less, um, angry at the party." Her phone went off again. I let her answer it, then asked, "Is Persephone around?"
Hazel shook her head. "She's still got the gardening business, we have early-morning clients. She'll be back for dinner."
"Okay," I said. "Speaking of, how are you guys settling in?"
"I'm getting there, but it's a shock," Hazel admitted. "I'm used to a house with five rooms and a tiny yard and a single car. We didn't even have a living room because Grandma needed her own bedroom when she moved in." She gestured to the table. "And our table was in the kitchen 'cause we didn't have a dining room. All this, it's pretty overwhelming."
"I remember when we moved from Italy to the U.S.," I said. "Obviously it was a different kind of culture shock, but I do remember how hard it was to adjust. Give it time, and you'll start to think of this place as home. I know it's big, but it won't feel so big after a little while. We'll fill it up with love."
I heard a phone beep. I looked at Hazel, but she told me it was mine. I glanced at the phone. Thank god, it was Thalia.
DAT PINE TREE DOH
Hey, sorry I've been silent. I had some stuff going on yesterday and had to leave right after school. I'll be at practice today promise.
What kind of stuff?
Long story, I'll tell you later.
Was it Luke?
No. Other stuff. Don't worry about it, it's not BAD it's just stuff.
K I trust you.
BTW, we're having a party this Friday at my place. You wanna come?
(...)
(...)
Luke?
I thought for a moment. I didn't want to see the douchebag, but I had the feeling she wouldn't go without him, and the party would be the best time to talk to her.
Sure, you can bring him. Don't want his friends though. Papà will kill me if the house gets wrecked, and you know Ethan and Chris.
Done. See you later.
See you :)
Sally brought me Papà's lunch. Back to my usual morning. I dropped by the office, kissed him hello, packed his work bag for him, and reminded him of his 3 o'clock meeting with Charon. When he was out the door, I grabbed Nico, gave him his breakfast, and dragged his ass into the limo. Jules-Albert drove the two of us and Hazel to school. She went off to Frank and Reyna, and Nico and I went into the caf to join our friends at the usual table. We (as in my friends and I) chatted (thankfully) about the party, pure fluff, until the bell went off. Nico spent the entire time on his phone, earbuds firmly planted in his ears. When the bell rang, I made my way to bio and invited Will to the party.
"You'll be my date," I joked.
He laughed. "Sure, I'll pick you up at eight."
I rolled my eyes. "It's my house, jackass."
He gave a cheeky grin. "I know. I'll come home with you after school--I need more limo in my life."
The rest of the day flew by without anything dramatic happening. Papà signed off on the party--Percy practically jumped for joy--Nico actually ate dinner, and we finished our homework without much trouble. I actually got to bed early-ish.
Thursday went the same way. Then Friday. By the time practice was wrapping up, I actually let myself hope that the party would go smoothly. Maybe Nico would actually talk to Hazel. Maybe Jason would finally ask Piper out.
But I should've realized my luck wouldn't last.
Wonderful, Bianca. More twist. Much suspense. Shyamalan called, he's suing you for copyright infringement.
*Bianca laughs*
Tune in next week for the continuing adventures of Bianca di Angelo! And by next week I mean literally a few seconds! Because this is an audio recording, not a T.V. show!
Even if it feels like one.
END NOTES
For the record, I'm not going to justify them all having Greek names. It's just a world where lots of people have Greek names.
(I know I made that joke about Hades' name in chapter one but beyond that I'm probably not going to justify anymore. I just thought that joke was funny.)
Remember, if you want to come to my show or get a DVD, the info is above!
This week's beta commentary:
STORY: "Let me shoot her a text, hold on." I ran to my backpack and pulled out my phone. We waited for a response for almost ten minutes.
JOJO: do kids these days really go to such lengths to not make a phone call
MELODY: I don't but some people do.
OLI: people definitely text at least 10 times before finally trying to call XD
Credits:
Author: Melody Rose (https://melody0rose.tumblr.com)
Beta Readers:
Jojo (archiveofourown.org/users/bannedfrompencils/pseuds/bannedfrompencils), Luna Rain (peppermintlove1.tumblr.com), Oli (paradoxicalpsychic.tumblr.com)
Please comment so I know what you think! See you next week!