The Complete Percabeth Book | ✓

cecilia

Cecilia pushed open the front door to her brand new apartment, which was a small studio tucked in the upper east side of New York. The price had been insane, but she'd dipped into her trust. Some things were worth the splurge. 

She exited her apartment and knocked on the door across from hers, deciding it would be a good idea to introduce herself to her neighbors. A 30 something-year-old woman opened the front door.

Cecilia cleared her throat and robotically repeated the sentences she'd practised in the mirror, "Hello, my name's Cecilia and I just moved here from New Jersey.  I wanted to introduce myself." The woman gave her a warm smile and cleaned her hands on her apron.

"Nice to meet you, Cecilia. I'm Sally." She tucked a piece of dark brown hair behind her ear and looked behind her for a second before asking, "Did you move here alone?"

"Yeah, I got a job offer as a graphic designer." I answered happily. My parents had always pushed me to follow my dreams and it paid off big time in that situation 

"In that case, how about you come over for dinner in, let's say, two hours? My son will be home by then and he's about your age so maybe he can show you around," She offered. I grinned at her, realizing she was trying to set me up with her son. 

"Sounds great! I'll see you then. Oh, and thank you!" I said cheerily. This whole moving to live on my own thing was going better than expected.  

I walked back to my apartment and called my mom to update her that about my settling in, "Hey mom." 

"Hi darling, how's the city?" she asked, her accent lilting the words slightly. 

"Pretty good so far. I chatted with a friendly neighbor and she invited me to dinner with her family." I replied, leaving out the part about Sally trying to set me up with her son. It seemed pointless to bring it up before I was knew if he was even cute.

"That sounds great, honey. Listen, the twins are crying again. I'll call you later bug."

"Bye," I said, but she had already ended the call. I sat down on the only chair I had unpacked and glanced around at all my boxes. I didn't have the energy to unpack them yet so I just opened Instagram and scrolled through it. 

Half an hour before Sally told me to come I started rummaging through my clothing boxes in hopes of finding something appropriate to wear. In the end, I settled on a dark red t-shirt tucked into light wash jeans. I hooked silver hoops into my piercings and dusted some bronzer onto my cheeks before lacing up my boots.

I checked myself in the mirror I put on the floor right next to the exit. My light brown hair was framing my face in soft waves, the edges giving into a blonde ombre. I scrunched my nose, checking to see that everything was sitting just right.

I grabbed my phone off the kitchen counter and knocked on Sally's door. A man in his late 30s opened the door, smiling. "Oh, hello, you must be Cecilia." He shook my hand and walked into his apartment, motioning for me to follow. "Feel free to make yourself at home until Percy and Annabeth arrive," He said, leading me to the living room. Sally then entered as well, holding a baby dressed in purple.

"Hello, Cecilia. This is Paul, my husband," She said, motioning to the man who led me into the house. "And this is our newborn," She added, in the mushy voice adults usually use when talking to babies. "Estelle," I smiled at their daughter and made a shocked face, making her laugh. 

Then Sally sat down on the couch with Estelle in her arms and I sat down beside her. Paul disappeared back into the kitchen after he informed us that he was making dinner that day.