Princes and Peasants

Chapter 13

~PERCY~
It was the day of the ball. And I was scared.  Asking Annabeth to the ball, that was kinda easy. Taking her, well, I didn't know if I could do it. I was nervous about messing up an looking like an idiot.

The clock rang 6 times. "It's 6 pm. The ball's starting in 30 min!" My brain screamed.

I scrambled out of my chair and into my closet. 4 minutes later and I was dressed and ready.

I ran down to the maid's quarters, and knocked on the door. Thalia opened.

"What do you want?" She asked flatly.

"I'm taking Annabeth to the ball." I replied cooly.

She turned around and hollered, "Annabeth! The prince is here to escort you to the ball!"

I heard shuffling before Annabeth appeared next to Thalia.

My jaw dropped and hit the floor. She was wearing a silvery gray dress and some sort of a jacket-shawl that matched her stormy gray eyes. Her shoes were sparkly little slippers, like the ones you would see Cinderella wearing. Her makeup was light, and her hair was up in an elegant bun, leaving some of the curls down to frame her lovely face.

"Quit staring." she said with a smirk.

I gingerly held out my arm for her to take. Compared to what she was wearing, I felt underdressed. I just had a fancy pair of breaches with a army-style jacket and shirt. My hair was ever so messy, I couldn't tame it if I tried.

She took my arm and we walked quietly to the ball room, where some people were all ready gathering.

We made a bit of small talk, before Thalia and Nico joined us. Nico was wore an outfit similar to mine, and Thalia was in a black elegant dress that had small green ruffles attached to it.

As our conversation grew, so did our sense of humor. Nico had cracked a joke ever 5 minutes and all we pretty much did was laugh. We got so loud that we started getting scowls from the older couples talking around us.

Then, all of a sudden, two horns and their owners had appeared at the door to the ball room.

The blew their horns, signalingthe arrival of the king. Once both my parents had entered, everyone bowed down, even me. Well, technically the girls curtsied, but whatever.

The music started and my parents sat high on their thrones as everyone danced.

"Would you care to dance, my fair maiden?" I asked Annabeth.

"Of course, my dear sir." she said taking my hand as we quietly laughed.

We danced 'till I almost fainted. It was time for the banquet.

Food was put out in great, big saucers. We ate until we were full.

The wine and beer was being brought out, meaning one thing: people were going to become drunk.

"Annabeth...uh, lets go out to the gardens before the drinking begins." I suggested.

"Good idea." she said dragging me out. The only reason she hated drinking was because her mother spent most of their money on alcohol.

The garden was cool and pleasant. We sat down on a bench in awkward silence.

"So uh...how's the palace life going?" I said, trying to make small talk.

"Good." She responded. "How about your studies?"

"They suck." I paused before leaning in and whispering, "I'm dyslexic and ADHD."

"Me too." She whispered back.

I couldn't believe it. The great and wise Annabeth Chase... dyslexic and ADHD?

"Wow..." I replied. "I never thought you could be dyslexic."

"Well I am." she said looking down.

"So...tell me more about your mother." I said changing the subject.

"She...she never really cared for me...she was pretty smart, though. The thing that ruined our little family was the alcohol."

I nodded.

"How 'bout your mom?" She asked.

"She's the most amazing person I've met. She's always making cookies in the kitchens in her spare time, blue cookies. She knows how hard it is to be dyslexic and ADHD at the same time, so she always comforts me during my hardest of times."

"I wish my mother was like that...It's not fair." she said all of a sudden.

"It's not fair that my life is miserable while your's is perfect." She said, tears welling at her eyes.

"My life isn't perfect!" I said angrily.

"At least it's better than mine!" She half-yelled back.

"Why does everyone think my life is all perfect and awesome when it's as hard as yours!" I yelled back at her.

By now her face was an inch away from mine. I took it as the perfect opportunity to do what I've always wanted to do. I leaned in.

Surprisingly, she didn't do anything to stop me. When our lips met, it felt as if the whole artillery room had blown up in fireworks.

I kissed her with passion, moving my lips against hers. Also surprisingly, she kissed back just as passionately.

We stopped after 5 minutes of what was practically a make-out session at this point.

Annabeth looked at me with deluded pupils and puffy, reddish lips. Her face was also red.

"We should do that more often." I teased, smirking before walking back into the castle.