ꜱᴘɪᴅᴇʀ ʙɪᴛᴇꜱ: ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇʀᴄᴀʙᴇᴛʜ/ꜱᴏʟᴀɴɢᴇʟᴏ ᴘʀᴏᴊᴇᴄᴛ

xɪx ᴀɴɴᴀʙᴇᴛʜ | ᴀɴɴᴀʙᴇᴛʜ ᴘʀᴇ-ɢᴀᴍᴇꜱ ɪɴ ꜱᴛʏʟᴇ

Annabeth takes a deep breath and runs through her fake answers to the questions she's been dreading. They're inevitable questions though. Someone's going to ask.

She can answer the questions about her appearance easy peasy.

The piercings? Yeah, they're spider bites.

Do you mean this little tattoo? I just needed a change, that's all.

The questions about her career might be a little harder.

Oh, my architecture? I'm between projects right now.

And of course, there is the massive elephant in the room that everyone will want to hear about.

Percy who?

Annabeth doesn't even have to knock on Piper's door.

"You made it! I thought I was going to have to drag you away from Will!" Piper exclaims. "Have a seat!"

Annabeth sits down on a footstool next to the bride-to-be. Piper's room is bigger than her and Will's, and she doesn't even have to share it with anyone. That must be some sort of maid of honor perk.

"Hi, Annabeth!" says Hazel. "I'm so happy you could make it."

"Happy to be here," says Annabeth, even though she really isn't. Then she notices that everyone except for Hazel has a drink in hand. "Not pregaming?"

"I'm not much of a drinker," Hazel explains.

This will not do! "You wanna split a drink? What's Piper making, anyway?"

"I'm putting Jolly Ranchers in Sprite and vodka!" Piper shouts.

Now Annabeth understands why Hazel isn't drinking. That sounds awful. Her bartender instincts are taking over.

She opens Piper's mini-fridge.

"Whatcha looking for?" Piper asks.

Annabeth retrieves some apple juice and Fireball. Who in their right mind refrigerates Fireball? Some people like their whiskey chilled, but those people don't have good taste.

She pours the Fireball to the proper line in a red Solo cup.

"Woah, you know how to use those lines?" Piper asks.

"Yup."

"Nice to see you too, Annabeth," Reyna says from Piper's bed. She's playing cards with Rachel. Annabeth waves and gets back to work.

She likes her bartending job. The kids that come into Hooters with no idea what they want for their twenty-first birthday drinks are her favorites. She's great at recommending something they'll like that won't have them absolutely shit-faced in an hour.

Annabeth adds some Sprite into the apple juice and Fireball, mixes it using another Solo cup, and hands it to Hazel.

Hazel gives the drink a hesitant sniff and asks, "What is it?"

Annabeth shrugs nonchalantly. "It tastes like carbonated cinnamon and apple, but not quite like cider. Go on. Try it."

Everyone leans in with anticipation as Hazel tries the drink. "Okay, Rachel, you're fired. Annabeth's my drinking buddy now."

Annabeth can't help but feel proud of herself. Sure, she learned mixology from working at Hooters of all places, and she'll die of embarrassment if these girls ever find out she gave up her architecture dreams to become a Hooters girl, but she loves making drinks. It's kind of becoming a passion.

"Wow, wouldn't Athena be proud of her little girl?" Reyna teases.

"Oh my gods! Our reservation at The Olive Garden is in fifteen!" Piper shouts. "Hazel, take that drink in the car!"

"New Rome has an Olive Garden?" Rachel asks.

"No, we're going outside the borders," says Hazel. "Does everyone have weapons on them?"

Rachel flashes a teal can of pepper spray. "I know it can't kill monsters, but it can hit creeps! And I always keep a hairbrush in my purse!"

Reyna's iconic spear is attached to the belt of her pantsuit. Piper has her dagger, Katoptris. Hazel's Spatha is also secured to a belt.

Everyone looks towards Annabeth expectantly.

"Bold of you to assume I'm messing up my hair just so you can see my chopsticks."

***

Annabeth wonders if Hazel actually likes Olive Garden food, or if she's just letting Piper have a win because Hazel's barely touched her bottomless salad. Meanwhile, Piper goes to town on the garlic breadsticks, which are also bottomless, as it turns out.

Annabeth was looking forward to different food when she was trying to find a silver lining to going to this wedding, but right now she just wants bar food.

Reyna's sitting close. Really close. She leans in and says to Annabeth, "What I wouldn't do for some wings right now, am I right?"

Annabeth agrees. "I know, right? Hooters has these really awesome garlic parm wings that I would literally kill a man for."

"Hooters? You go there often?" Reyna raises an eyebrow.

Oh no. Annabeth should not have said that.

"Hey, Annabeth?" says Rachel. Fuck, not more attention. "Have you talked to Percy yet? He seemed a little weird when I saw him earlier and I was, uh..."

"You were wondering if it has anything to do with me," Annabeth finishes. "I saw him, but we didn't talk much. His mom hugged me though."

Reyna leans in towards Annabeth and laughs. Why is Reyna being like this? As far as anyone at this table knows, Annabeth is straight as a line. Shit, she didn't even think about how she'd keep that facade up. It isn't necessarily that she thinks her old friends will be unaccepting. Her sexuality's just another reason for people to speculate about the Percy situation, and she's not allowing anyone to go down that rabbit hole.

"Oh, so Percy saw your, uh..." Rachel points to the corner of her lip, and Annabeth understands.

Saved by the waiter. "Can I get anything else for you ladies today?" he asks.

"I'll have another sangria," says Piper.

Annabeth silently judges her. The sangria here sucks. Shit. She has a tub full of sangria in the fridge at home. It's going to go bad.

The waiter walks away and Reyna whispers in Annabeth's ear. "I think the piercings look very sexy."

Is Reyna drunk already?

"Okay, Reyna, maybe let's not do that, hun," Piper says, pulling her back by the belt on her purple pantsuit.

"So, Annabeth, are you seeing anyone?" Rachel winks. What a godsend. Now Annabeth can really lay it on thick that she is seeing someone. A man, to be specific.

Reyna slurs, "Nah, Annabeth gets around. I know all about Marty McFly..."

Heat rises to Annabeth's face. How did she know about that? That was so long ago, she almost forgot about it herself.

Hazel looks scandalized. "Uh, maybe, we don't have to talk about this?"

"Wait, now I want to know about Marty McFly," Piper says as the waiter drops off her sangria.

Screw it. Annabeth takes Piper's drink and downs half of it in one gulp.

"I'm going to get some air."