scales and arpeggios

chapter four: percy

I walk out of the detention classroom and make my way to my locker, rounding the corner to see Annabeth with her back facing me, her phone held up to her ear.

"Dad, you said you could pick me up," she says into her phone. "No, I told you this morning that I had volleyball until 4:30, and that I would need a ride home." She pauses to listen to her dad. "Can't Helen pick me up? No, Piper can't, she had something to do." She turns around and sees me, and her eyebrows furrow.

"Do you need a ride? I can drive you," I mouth to her.

"Yes! Thank you," she mouths back, and I nod. "Hey, Dad, I got a ride. I'll see you this weekend." She hangs up the phone and sighs. "Thank you, Percy."

"No problem. Let me just grab something from my locker. You have all your stuff?" She nods and follows me to my locker, then outside to my truck. I open the passenger door for her, mockingly waving my hand. She rolls her eyes and throws her backpack, clarinet case, and her volleyball bag before stepping into the car. I walk over to my side and jump in, starting the engine.

"Why did you need a ride again?" I ask her, and she sighs.

"My dad's working on some new airplane, so he's out of town for a few days, and my stepmom's really busy with my little brothers. Usually, I would drive myself, but Ted's in the shop." I nod in understanding and put the car in drive, hesitating before I pulled out of the parking spot.

"Which way is your new house?" I ask her, remembering she had moved over the summer.

"It's down in that fancy neighborhood. 1824 Harmony Drive. It's a few minutes from Piper's house, so just head there." I nod and head in that direction, which also happens to be where my house is. A few years earlier when my mom married Paul and finished writing her novel, we had moved out of our small apartment and a little further from the city, where you got way more bang for your buck. She stops me outside of a big Victorian-style house, only about five minutes from my house, probably three from Piper's. She grabs her bags and jumps out of the car, and I follow her up to the porch.

"Thanks for the ride. I might have to hit you up on that again; I don't know when my car is getting out of the shop. Do you want a snack or something?" she asks me, but as she opens the front door and glances back at me, I notice how the sun hits her face, lighting up one of her eyes as it flashes a bright gray, the other one dark and stormy, as if it's hiding a huge secret. I nod and she gestures for me to follow her inside.

The house isn't exactly decorated. Paintings and pictures sit against the walls, but nothing is actually hung up. Half-emptied boxes litter the floors, and the kitchen seems to be the only room that's fully unpacked. Annabeth yells at Helen that she's home, and instantly she's tackled by two small boys who I can only assume are her brothers.

"Annie!" they yell, and she laughs before leading them to the fridge, picking up one in each arm.

"Juice?" she asks them before grabbing four Capri-Suns and sliding one to me. The boys gratefully accept and run back into the living room.

"Okay," she says, leaning her elbows on the island, "Since you drove me home, I have to repay you somehow."

"Really?" I ask, copying her stance. "What have you got to offer?"

"See, I actually need your help with something else, then we can arrange something. I'm not tall enough to hang up these pictures in my room, and my dad's been too busy to help and I was wondering if you could do it," she asks, and I laugh.

"Obviously I'll help," I say, grabbing my bag and following her up the stairs. She leads me down a hallway before stopping in front of the final door.