𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 - 𝐀𝐧 𝐀𝐔

Percy

After me and Annabeth parted ways,  I headed in the opposite direction, to see my friend, Rachel at her art studio. 

Rachel's dad is the owner of Dare enterprises, but she didn't go by that title. He disowned her when she said she didn't want to be a part of the enterprise, and she chose to make her own life. 

Rachel was a wonderful painter. A few of her artworks were sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a handful of money. She and Calypso Nightshade, another friend of mine, live together. She found a job at Mellow Handicrafts, and in her free time, she painted at her art studio, which she was doing now.

I opened the door and entered. I looked around and spotted a familiar mop of red frizzy curls behind an easel. "Rachel!" I called out.

She peeked around the easel. She was wearing a light blue sweatshirt and black ripped jeans, which were splattered with paint. She had a paintbrush tucked on her ear, and another one sticking out of her jeans pocket. 

Rachel had a huge mop of frizzy red curls, and meadow-green eyes, which I was told were softer than mine. She had a light splash of freckles on her nose, and was grinning widely.

"Hey, Percy." She said. "Give me a sec." She put all her paintbrushes in a stand, and put all the paint bottles in a box, and closing it. "Up on that shelf, peasant." She said, indicating the shelf. 

I rolled my eyes and put them up, and Rachel tied her hair up in a very frizzy ponytail. 

"You will never guess who's here", she said, going into the back. I followed, puzzled.

Before I could say anything, I noticed a familiar girl, dressed in punk black clothes. She had short choppy black hair, intense blue eyes, and a troublemaker grin.

"Thalia?" I exclaimed, not expecting to see my cousin.

"Percy!" She said, grinning and diving upon me for a hug. I hugged back, ecstatic that she was here. 

"When did you get here?"

"Few hours ago." She spoke, muffled in my hoodie. "I wanted to surprise Rachel first."

"And somehow, Jason never occurred to you." I mean, they were brother and sister.

"Who cares about that little-"

"Language." Rachel interjected, grinning. Thalia rolled her eyes, and I laughed.

"Where were you this time?" I enquired. Thalia loved to travel around, using the money from her dad's account. She had permission, don't worry.

She grinned. "Naples, it was pretty great."

Rachel sighed. "I'm so fucking jealous of you. You're really getting out there, seeing the world."

"Look who's cursing now." Thalia pointed out, earning a weak glare from Rachel. "Besides, your time will come, sweetheart."

"Oh, well", Rachel shrugged. Her phone rang, and she pulled it out and checked it. She bit her lip. 

"What is it?" I asked.

"Dad's calling." That was all she had to say for us to understand. Thalia gave her a sympathetic look, while I pat her shoulder. 

"Well, I got to go deal with whatever this is. It's great seeing you, Thals. I'll hang out with you guys later." 

We watched her leave, and then Thalia turned to me. "So, you wanna go give Jason a brand-new heart attack?" 

"Oh, like I'm going to miss that opportunity." I cackled, and Thalia joined in.

She and I made our way outside, then started towards to Jupiter Cafe once more.