Famous Fate

6

The door of the bathroom opened and Annabeth walked out wearing the leggings and sweatshirt.

She looked completely unrecognizable. Her hair had been pulled down and was fairly messy. She walked with less confidence and looked even approachable.

Annabeth uncomfortably pulled and tugged at her sweatshirt. "Can we go now?"

I grinned as I walked over to her and looked her up and down. "You look good. Like one of us peasants."

"Ha ha, let's just get going," she said as she slipped her hand into mine. I felt my face grow red as I stared straight ahead embarrassingly. "What? My manager said we had to hold hands on this date."

Her hand was warm and I, surprisingly, enjoyed holding it as we walked out of my apartment and onto the streets of New York.

Her private car drove us to the pizza place after much questioning. When we arrived the place seemed deserted.

"Did you rent this place out?" she asked as I helped her out of the car snd led her into the restaurant.

The pizza place was a small restaurant that was tucked away amongst the other more prominent buildings. It looked as if it had never left the eighties.

The employees were nice enough and I knew the owner, Sal, since I was a teenager. This place had actually been the sight of my first gig. Only two people had watched, and one of them was Sal.

I rolled my eyes. "Nah, I'm not sure Sal's even does that. It's just always this empty."

Annabeth peered down at the frayed seat and reluctantly sat down and winced as she placed a hand down on the sticky table. "You sure this place is number one?"

"Welcome to Sal's Pizzeria, today our specials include gummy bear pizza, meat lover's, and—holy crap, you're Annabeth Chase!" the waitress proclaimed as she looked up from her pen and notepad.

Annabeth blushed softly as she peered up at the waitress. "Uh, yeah. Is your, uh, gummy bear pizza any good?"

Her eyes widened. "I can't believe you're eating here. You're—you're famous! My name's Tina, let me go get Sal, he gets totally starstruck when celebrities stop by!"

She rushed into the kitchen, dropping her pencil and notepad on the ground as she ran away.

"Does that happen every time you come here?" Annabeth asked me with a subtle grin.

I shook my head. "No way. Sal, he's known me since I was an idiot teenager, so no way does he actually consider me famous. But you, you're actually famous, Annabeth. I bet you get stopped all the time, huh?"

Annabeth shrugged as she tapped her fingers on the table. "Yeah, you could say that. It's not like it gets easier every time it happens."

Tina rushed out with Sal, who insisted on taking a picture with her. Annabeth stood up and posed as if she already had the routine nailed before sitting back down.

We ordered, but the whole time Tina couldn't stop giggling or just staring at Annabeth in awe. I was pretty sure she was close to proposing or promising Annabeth her firstborn.

"So...is their gummy bear pizza good here?" Annabeth asked with a laugh, a grin appearing on her face.

I shrugged as I readjusted the menus. "Don't judge me, it's amazing! That's why I ordered it. Also, what were you saying earlier? About these encounters never getting easier?"

Her smiled dropped and she peered down at the stained eighties carpeting. "I don't know. It's just—I've been getting stopped like that since I was seven. And I've never really learned how to deal with it. It's just....they make me feel so uncomfortable."

"Why? People adoring you isn't ideal?" I asked.

"No, it's not like that!" she protested. She threw her hands up in the air. "Percy, I love my fans, but I never get to be normal. You see, this stuff happens all the time! I haven't gone out in public and not be recognized since I was ten."

Annabeth started getting more famous by the time she was ten. I knew that as I had watched some famous movie she was in at the time. Ever since then, she's been an instant star.

"Your pizza," Tina said as she placed a couple slices of pizza down on the table, a grin plastered on her face. "If there's anything else you need, don't even hesitate to ask. Just call my name, okay? And that's Tina!"

She scurried off to the kitchen, peering at Annabeth as she left. She bumped into the counter and turned bright red as she darted straight into the kitchen while cursing.

"I think someone wants an autograph. Did you happen to catch her name?" I teased as I pulled the plate with my gummy bear pizza closer to me. "You sure you don't want some of this? It's really good, I swear."

Annabeth sighed as she picked at her own pizza. "Nah, I'm good. I kinda lost my appetite..."

We ate our pizza in silent. The only interruption was Tina occasionally rushing over to us asking us if we needed anything, which we never did.

"I don't know if I can do this," Annabeth whispered, shoving her pizza across the table.

I smiled and pushed it back over towards her. "Oh, sure you can. I know it looks bad, but—"

"Not that!" she whispered harshly. Her voice was near breaking. "I mean this! The fake relationship and everything. Being here."

Annabeth placed her hands over her face. This was it, my chance to escape this awful deal. Why wasn't I jumping on it?"

I placed a hand on Annabeth's back and ordered Tina to bring us a few boxes. I loaded up the food all while Annabeth stared at the ground.

"Shh, come on," I whispered as I helped her up and pulled the hood over her face. "Now no one will recognize you. Just follow me out..."

She grabbed my hand forcefully and allowed me to guide her out of the restaurant. I placed a hundred dollar bill on the table, ignoring the fact that that was way too much money.

"I'm so sorry," Annabeth whispered as she wiped her tears off of her face. "Just let me call us a car, then we'll just pretend this whole thing didn't happen..."

I shook my head as I grabbed Annabeth's hands in mine. She stopped reaching for her phone and stared at me, her eyes all red and blotchy.

And in that moment, she looked more beautiful than I'd ever seen her. Even over her photo shoots and the pictures of her on magazine covers. She looked real, and that made her stunning.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing. It's just...I don't want this deal to be over," I replied. "I'm sorry I took you out of your comfort zone and brought you here. I'm such a jerk. Next date...you can pick."

Annabeth smiled hesitantly as she dropped my hand to wipe a tear from her face. "You mean they'll be a next date?"

"Of course. Now, let me walk you home?" I asked as I offered her my hand again.

She took it but shook her head. "Let's go to your apartment. It's quicker, and I still have pizza to finish. And I doubt the press have even seen us yet."

I grinned as we held hands and walked down the streets of New York, several people stopping and gawking at us. I shoved them off and led Annabeth towards my apartment.

When we arrived she instantly dug into the pizza, not even bothering to protest the gummy bears.

"Why is this actually good?" she asked with a laugh as she devoured a piece of the gummy bear pizza.

"I told you!" I said while grinning and pulling up a chair next to her. "I hope you feel better now."

Annabeth nodded as she took another bite. "I do. Thanks, Percy. And I think some people got some pictures of us."

"Well, I hope they got my good side."