chasing an illusion - pipabeth

7- hungover

the next few days after we met in the library were a haze of hot summer sun. we sat on the curb of the sidewalk eating popsicles.

i had a blue one. she had a red one. the evening was hot and the sky was the color of pastel pink. you could even see the moon, a pale white smudge in the cloudless sky.

earlier, she tried to teach me how to skate on her longboard. terrified, i gripped onto her arm, muttering, "it's just physics," over and over again.

"it's a nice evening." she says, breaking the quiet.

"it is," i reply.

"i don't want this summer to end,"

"me neither,"

and right then, it felt like it wouldn't. it felt as though the summer was infinite and that we were infinite. but the world doesn't care about what we want. the world doesn't listen to the pleads of mortals. all summers end. all people drift away.

my eyes open.

why am i in the living room?

oh wait.

oh yeah.

i get up and get washed and ready in the bathroom. i'm usually fond of night showers, but i get in the shower this morning anyway. the hot water caused the mirror to fog up and i can't see my reflection. i'm halfway glad.

i hear a groan coming from my bedroom. i dry my face with a towel and go to make sure piper hadn't somehow hurt herself.

"uggghhh," says the lump of blankets in my bed. bright, white sunlight brightens the room. "annie, i tried to stand and got real fuckin dizzy...but... i think... i'm good now." she pushes herself up into an upright position. "real bright in here, huh?"

her short hair is frizzy and a mess. she had slept with mascara and now there are dark smudges around her eyes. i avert my gaze. looking at her only reminds me of the night she left. it's as if i'm reliving it again and again each time i see her.

"okay, we can get you a glass of water and some painkillers." i tell her. "bathrooms over there. you slept with makeup, you should wash your face."

"smart. you're the best, annabeth,"

i go into the kitchen and pour her glass of water. i leave the glass out on the counter with the advil. should i make breakfast? it's almost noon... my phone ran out of batteries through the night and my morning alarm didn't go off. we stayed up pretty late last night.

ugh.

i rub my temple.

my body does not agree with these sudden changes in my sleep schedule.

plus, percy is coming over soon because i had agreed to eat pizza and play a wii game with him... oh god.

i hear the door click open. "hello, annabeth~" comes the sing song voice once again. this time, with the smell of pizza. "it's bro day again! the best day of the week."

a while ago, i gave percy a spare key to my apartment for, you know, emergency purposes. but now he just uses it to let himself in whenever.

"oh, you look like you just woke up. what gives? i thought you woke up at the asscrack of dawn every day," percy teases.

"i usually do." i stifle a yawn. "and five a.m. is a perfectly reasonable time to wake up."

"yeah, okay, miss eyebags." percy sets the pizza on the kitchen counter. "what's the water and advil for?" he gasps. "oh my god, did annabeth chase get shitfaced last night?"

"they're for me. i'm the idiot who got shitfaced last night." comes a voice behind me. piper pops the pill in her mouth and swallows it dry. "who's this?"

"my name is jared and i'm annabeth's boyfriend." percy says stiffly. "and who are you?"

"uhh, neither of those things are true. he is percy and he is my friend." i shoot a glare at percy.

"you never let me do anything fun!" he whines. i roll my eyes.

"i'm piper mclean." she says coolly.

"cool, cool, cool. piper mclean..." percy says, nodding. "wait, mclean as in... tristan..." percy cocks his head, seeing the similarities.

"yeah, tristan mclean. i'm that son of a bitch's daughter." piper confirms, as if she had gone through that conversation a dozen times before.

"piper, drink your water." i order her.

she shrugs and chugs the whole glass. after, she places the glass down and slings her purse over her shoulder. "okay, i have to go, uh, right now. don't wanna ruin bro day. annabeth, thank you so much. i had the best time last night. at least, i presume so. hardly remember it."

she doesn't remember anything.

"is there anything else you need?" i ask her.

"if you're offering, i'd love to borrow some sunglasses and a slice of that pizza. i'm so hungover. the outside is very bright."

i give her some heart-shaped sunglasses that someone had gifted me as a joke. "you can keep them," i tell her as she puts them on.

"damn, these are stylish," she says. she takes a huge bite of the pizza. "thank you soooo much. i owe you big time for taking care of me. nice meeting you, percy! peace!"

she disappeared behind the door.

there are a few beats of awkward silence.

"soooo, uhhhh... what the fuck, annabeth?" percy asks, raising an eyebrow. "did you do all that research on tristan mclean as your elaborate scheme to fuck his daughter?"

"what? no!" i answered, baffled. "we just went out for drinks! i knew her back in highschool. we had a complicated-type relationship,"

"good try, annabeth, we went to highschool together. i would have remembered if the daughter of a super star actor was there." percy says accusingly. "what are you hiding from me? complicated relationship?"

"it was the summer! ugh, i should have told you about it." i explain.

percy looks at me weird. i sigh defeatedly.

"okay. let's just eat and i'll tell you the whole story."