the winemaker's daughter [ percy jackson & the olympians ]

chapter twenty-one

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙸𝙽𝙴𝙼𝙰𝙺𝙴𝚁'𝚂 𝙳𝙰𝚄𝙶𝙷𝚃𝙴𝚁༉‧₊˚.[𝙿𝙴𝚁𝙲𝚈 𝙹𝙰𝙲𝙺𝚂𝙾𝙽 & 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙾𝙻𝚈𝙼𝙿𝙸𝙰𝙽𝚂]

chapter twenty-one: orientation day ruined by a redhead ( at least according to percy jackson )

__________________________________________

ASHANTI COULD admit it; she'd spent more time than usual on her summertime knotless braids, making sure they looked absolutely amazing. neat parts, consistent braids, the whole thing. after all, she'd be seeing percy in a couple of hours. it'd been only a little over six months since they last said goodbye after the winter holiday, but it felt like six months too many. sure, they iris-messaged once or twice a week, but she was having withdrawals.

though, she could say, living with her twin brothers, castor and pollux, and their mother, diane in northern california was an absolute dream as well. it took some getting used to, like going back to school.  ashanti had graduated the eighth grade with honors despite her dyslexia, and was set to start at the twins' preppy high school in the late summer. in fact, she'd already attended her own orientation, handpicked her classes and extracurriculars, and even had her locker and combination.

she was all set to start a new sport, too. cheerleading! diane talked her into it once she seen the girl stretching before a run, and was amazed at her flexibility. the girl already had a bit of a dance background, and diane pitched it was a good way to make friends. it was safe to say she was sold, and was set to attend practices the second week of school.

not only that, it got even better! the boys lived in napa valley, which was only an hour and a half drive from san francisco, where annabeth was staying. not only had they spent their spring break together, once a month, diane and ashanti met up with annabeth and her step mother in the middle of their two cities to spend the day together. in fact, ashanti would consider annabeth one of her best friends they'd been together so much over the last few months. the blonde girl had got out of school a week or so earlier than ashanti, and caught the first plane down.

anyway, the dionysus kids caught a later flight down from california a couple of days before percy's orientation to high school, where they planned to go together, then catch a quick movie afterwards. was it a date? ashanti had zero idea, and it seemed as if percy was perfectly content not putting a label on their hang out.

and so was ashanti. sort of.

well, she didn't mind that they didn't have a label. it just meant they were taking things a bit slow. like over five months ago, they kissed and avoided talking about it type of slow. like percy seemed to pretend the entire thing hadn't happened slow. that ashanti was starting to think that his crush on her was fleeting, slow. that maybe ashanti shouldn't have went to eighth grade formal alone because she had her heart set on a boy who lived across the country, slow.

to be fair, she tried to act like everything was fine. if percy wasn't going to act like ashanti was a bit more than a friend, then who was she to do the same. she liked him, yes. but was she that desperate to act up over a guy who wouldn't even talk about their kiss? no.

so, she pasted on a smile, and adjusted her hair. sally jackson was at half-blood hill with her son to pick her up.

the two of them sat in the backseat together after a half-hearted wave of greeting. there wasn't even a hug exchanged. ashanti wanted to scream. but there was no way she'd be the one to lose her cool. she continued to smile, and laugh, and nod, and make conversation, hoping that the painfully awkward way percy was practically glued to his side of the backseat would go away. quickly.