89Deepest, deepest apologies. But I won't grovel now, I'll do that after the chapter.
Annabeth
"No, not too much. Yes, just right. Hold on, hold on-I'll just do it."
Chad stepped back, handing me the lid to the laundry detergent I'd just bought, and put his hands up in a sign of surrender. I sighed.
"I'm sorry, I'm just a bit…"
"Controlling?" he offered. He smiled, though, so I could tell he was joking.
I smiled back tentatively. "Yeah. I'd just rather do things myself than let other people do them wrong. Or have to take time teaching them."
Chad nodded. "Well, you obviously do everything right, so why bother with everyone else?"
I rolled my eyes. Chad and I were at the point in our…well, friendship, I suppose, where we could joke and be sarcastic with eachother. It was actually kind of nice to have another sarcastic person around, and a good-humored one at that.
We were down in the dorm building's laundry room. Percy was at a lecture, and I'd noticed how completely faded and wrinkled all the boys' clothes were, and I found out they were basically throwing all of their clothes into a machine(when they washed them, which wasn't often) with a box of Tide and washing with whatever settings the previous resident had left on the washer. It was, frankly, despicable. So I was showing Chad how to properly wash clothing.
"You can't put too much soap in," I told him as I poured in the detergent and put the cap back on. "And you have to make sure you have it all set up right."
I turned the right knobs and Chad nodded in kind of a passive way. I sighed. This was probably going in one ear and out the other, which meant that whoever he married would befall to the stereotypical domestic duties of a woman. Unless she was a tough girl and managed to kick some sense into him. I, however, was not in the mood.
"…and you press Start." I finished, and he nodded.
He picked up the laundry basket and shoved it on a shelf. I set the detergent in it and we began to make our way up the dusty, carpeted stairs. We didn't say anything on our way back to the dorm, but it wasn't an awkward silence. I was kind of warming up to Chad. He wasn't the obnoxious frat boy I'd assumed he was when I saw his blonde hair and broad shoulders. Then again, I didn't have much faith in teenage boys in general.
We walked back into the dorm, which was noticeably cleaner than it had been when I first arrived. I'd been there for about a week, which was unfortunate. I was in constant communication with my professors, emailing them all of my assignments. It was a nice break from drama(by which I mean Watson) and I got time with Percy, so it was allover nice.
"Well," Chad said to me, picking his jacket up off of his dresser. "I've got a study group to go to. I'll seeya later."
"Bye," I replied as he picked up his laptop case and left. The rather thin wall shook when Chad closed the door a bit harshly. I stood there, nearly in the center of the room, just a bit to Percy's side. I looked around, and then sat down on Percy's bed. I lied down, sighing, and breathed in the scent of his pillow. It was old and the part that peeked out of the pillowcase was rather threadbare. It smelled just like him, though. I smiled, and after a moment I got up to work on an essay that was due by the end of the week. I didn't forget the scent though, subtle and salty, like the ocean.
Aleka
Aleka stood on top of a ridge near the end of the campsite. It served as a stage, a platform for her to address her followers on, to see all of her warriors at once. And this is what she did as she swept her eyes over all of the halfbloods accumulated in front of her. The crowd jostled around, fluctuating as everyone talked and assembled themselves. Every one of them had some sort of weapon, some of Greek origin, some simply run-of-the-mill human weapons. About half of them were supplied with helmets, and some even carried shields. They were all lean and fit, their muscles and reflexes heightened not only from their superior genetics but also from their time in the forest, taking care of themselves and of eachother. Aleka just observed them, and through the maelstrom of stress and constant calculations that flew through her mind, a feeling of pride surfaced. In front of her were over seventy children of the gods. They had gathered from all over the eastern United States, some traveling from the Midwest or the very northern reaches of America to join her cause, her petition for the recognition they deserved.
She had been planning this since the day her mother had sat her down at the kitchen table in their pristine townhouse and explained that Aleka(or Ally, as she was called at the time) was a demigod. Aleka's mother had expected her daughter to be shocked or angry or sad. Very carefully, she had explained the origin of the Greek gods, how they were real, but secret. She told Aleka the story of her father-that he had been a very brave, if not slightly rash man. How she had met him at a bar in her more wild days, and been immediately smitten with him. He was muscular and handsome, powerful and wild. They'd been together, sporadically, for a year. And then, he was gone, moving on. Aleka's mother was left alone, pregnant. Aleka had sat there, listening carefully. She knew that her mother was speaking slowly and gently because she expected Aleka to feel hurt, or betrayed. But Aleka felt none of these things. Her eyes had lit up. Finally, she had thought, she knew. She knew that she wasn't just another broken-up marriage or mistake or forgotten love child. She was special. She had magic within her. She was going to do something with this genetic power, and she knew it even then. She had begun plotting then how she would show the world that she was special, and as she learned more of Greek lore and of the world, she knew that she would have brothers and sisters to help her.
Now that moment had come.
"Attention!" She cried, and then accompanied it with a sharp, two-fingered whistle. The crowd quieted and stopped moving, everyone looking at her. She took a deep breath.
"We are all," she began in a loud voice, "children of the gods. Golden ichor runs through our veins. Whether we were born to Ares," a large cheer went up, "Athena," more cheers, "Hermes," once again, shouts arose, "or any other god, we are esteemed. We are powerful. We are blessed with abilities more advanced than any regular human. And yet, we hide away! We avoid our destinies as heroes by ignoring our heritage. We all know that this is wrong; that's why we're here. And we have worked for weeks and weeks, my friends, but now we are ready. It's time. We have gathered ourselves, and our supplies, and our arms, and it is now time that we take action. It's time that we march on Camp Half-Blood and show them what real demigods are. It's time that we show them that we are the ones with the power, that we will not hide anymore, that we will take hold of our fate and show the world what we are and the power we posses. It will not be a secret! It will be a celebrated power! Are you ready, brothers and sisters?"
At this, the whole crowd erupted into shouts, applause, and screaming. Aleka laughed, more with satisfaction than humor. Because they were ready. They were all ready, and so was she.
Taking one final breath, she called over the cheering. "We leave at dawn!"
Chad
By six, all three of us were back at the dorm. Annabeth was sitting at Percy's desk. All of Percy's stuff had been pushed to one side so that she could lay out a big piece of paper that she was carefully examining, occasionally making marks or lines on it. Percy was playing a videogame he'd rented, something involving zombies and skateboarding. I was composing an email to my parents, trying to reply to the three that I'd received from my mom in the past two weeks.
Eventually, Percy broke the silence, setting down his controller. "Are we ordering in tonight, or what?"
"Whatever," Annabeth replied in a voice that implied that she hadn't really been listening.
"Dunno," I said, looking up from my computer screen. "But I heard about a party tonight, if you guys want to go."
Percy raised his eyebrows. "Whose party?"
"Guy in my Psych class," I replied as Annabeth sighed and took a large eraser to part of the paper. "I heard about it in my study group thing today."
"He's got his own place?"
"Yep. About three blocks down. I'll probably see Jenna wants to come. You guys can join us."
Annabeth finally looked up from the desk, as if she was finally realizing what we were talking about. "A party?"
Percy and I nodded. Annabeth bit her lip. "I don't know…"
"We don't have to go," Percy said, picking up the Xbox controller again. "I'm chill with staying in."
Annabeth glanced at him, then me, then the Xbox. "Nah, let's go."
I stifled a laugh. "We should leave by eight-thirty, eight forty-five. Unless we want to get dinner before."
"Let's just order pizza," Percy suggested, and no one argued. He picked up my phone, which I'd given him permanent permission to use, and dialed the pizza parlor's number, which we knew by heart.
I typed a couple more words, hit Send, and then slid my laptop off of me. "I'll go ask Jenna. Be right back." I told them, leaving the room.
We didn't leave the dorms 'til past nine, because of Annabeth. It wasn't the stereotypical taking-forever-to-get-ready reason, however. She didn't take twenty minutes to do her hair or makeup or choose an outfit. It was because she was doing homework.
"She's wound a little tight," Jenna whispered to me as she and I waited in the hallway. We could hear Annabeth's quick and ceaseless typing, occasionally punctuated by Percy's voice, quiet with underlying impatience.
"You could say that," I replied. "I guess she's just really…driven."
Jenna raised her eyebrows. "I used to be driven. School-obsessed. Then I got to junior year and realized that being driven really, really sucked."
I laughed. "Amen to that."
Finally, Percy and Annabeth came out. We started walking to the apartment complex where the party-thrower, a guy named Greg, lived. We got there within twenty minutes. We were buzzed up, and as we made our way up the stairs to the third floor, I was a bit dubious. The place was old and calm, made of brick and plaster. I had the feeling that a wild party was not going to end well.
We opened the door to 3F, and the room was already crowded, the air smelling slightly of smoke.
"Chad! Hey!" I turned to see Greg himself standing there. "Glad you could make it," he said, walking over to us, dodging other people. The music playing was rhythmic with only gibberish for words as far as I could tell. It wasn't very loud. Yet.
We all made introductions. Greg smiled, and I noticed that his eyes were a bit more dilated than normal. "C'mon," he told us. "Make yourself at home. Come get a beer or something."
Jenna linked her hand in mine, and we followed him. If I'd turned around, I probably would have seen Annabeth with a disapproving look and Percy glancing around the room, his face passive. But I didn't really care to see either of those things. Instead I squeezed Jenna's hand, and we headed farther into the apartment, farther into the party, not thinking about anything else.
So.
I know, it's been a while. School has been crazy, life has been busier, my mind has been a bit clogged. Those are excuses, though, which isn't what you deserve. You deserve a story! So that's what I'll give you. A little review from xaera reminded me how much I love you guys and how much I love this story. So it will continue, hopefully more regularly. I just haven't been writing lately, and I'm going to fix that.
Please forgive me and review. I already love you but I will, in fact, love you more.
"I'm going to get you a goldfish for your birthday. I'll put it in a tupperware."
"Or a plastic baggie."
"What? That's horrible! How could you do that?"
"...a bag with water in it."