Chapter Text
The drive was about two hours long, not that Jason needed a GPS to find his way back. He had completed the drive more times than he could count, and it filled him with ease. Whenever he was set out to make the drive, his brain went on autopilot, the music blaring from his speakers drowning out the world around him. Even traffic didn’t bug him so much anymore. Today he was especially unbothered, and he knew once he hit the Friday rush hour that he would still be in a relatively good mood.
His Jeep was overly crowded, the suitcases and boxes piled in the trunk and the backseat. It would’ve had more room, but Annabeth’s things were also there, so it took a little bit of effort to close the doors.
“Looking good, Grace.” His best friend’s voice came from behind him, and then the blonde stood shoulder to shoulder with him. She handed him a smoothie, specialty of their school’s cafeteria. With a beaming smile, she nudged his arm. “Ready for the best summer ever?”
He laughed, gazing down at her through his sunglasses. “Thought you’d never ask.” He got into the driver’s seat, Annabeth getting into the passenger seat. He revved the engine, leaving the array of brick buildings behind them. As he got onto the freeway, Annabeth rolled down her window. The salty sea breeze always rejuvenated Jason, and as his Jeep gained speed, his speakers began blasting Queen. The two of them began singing along, preparing to be home for the summer.
Their boarding school was located just outside Santa Barbara, a little under two hours away from LA. Jason and Annabeth, although knowing each other since they were in diapers, had attended the school since they were eleven and twelve respectively. This marked the end of an era, for Annabeth had graduated the previous night in a small ceremony in UCSB’s auditorium. Now she was off to Stanford in the fall to major in architecture and Jason would have to fend for himself senior year.
The first half of their trip was quiet except for the music. There was no traffic, so Jason drove just above the speed limit. The windows remained down, the road winding along the ocean. Annabeth’s curls were like a flurry around her face from the wind, and she was so still Jason wondered if she was asleep. She certainly looked comfortable, her feet propped up on the dash (he always bugged her about that, but she never listened so he stopped reminding her) and her face angled towards the sunshine. It wasn’t until they hit traffic a few miles past Ventura that she spoke.
“We should go to Disneyland sometime this weekend,” she murmured, rolling up her window since they couldn’t see the ocean anymore. “Or Universal. Or maybe San Diego.”
Jason laughed. “Why the rush? We have all summer.”
She lowered her sunglasses, and if he hadn’t known her well, he would’ve been intimidated by the natural glint in her grey eyes. “Your mom and my mom have work starting Monday morning. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to swing by for an hour or so.”
He sensed the hint in her voice. “Annabeth, of course I’ll stop by for a little bit.” The words sounded a little bitter even to him.
She gave an unconvinced hmph, turning her head to look out the window as the Jeep crawled along at an ungodly slow speed. He tried to ignore her attitude, instead focusing on seeing his sister that evening and sleeping in his own room for the first time in months.
His thoughts were interrupted by Annabeth reading something, her voice monotone and serious: “‘Production begins on Monday for the movie adaption of New York Times’ Bestseller Sent From Heaven. It is a highly anticipated film, as it stars Oscar winning actor Tristan McLean and Beryl Grace, who is attempting a come—’”
“Annabeth, I know about the movie,” Jason reminded her. He didn’t glance over at her, but he heard the click of her phone locking. “I don’t understand why you’re still bugging me about it.”
“It’s a big deal to her, Jason.” Her voice was gentle. “It should be a big deal for you, too. Not to mention that my mom is over the moon, which she rarely is, but this can be huge for our families. We might actually be okay for once.”
He still didn’t look over at her. Her hand reached over and grabbed his, squeezing it. He finally looked over at her and she smiled at him.
“I wasn’t lying when I said it’d be the best summer ever,” she said softly. “But if you continue to act this way, it won’t be. You have to accept this part of the summer, too. You have to support your mom, Jason.”
He sighed. She was right, as always. “Okay, fine,” he said. “I am happy for her, I really am. It’s just hard, you know? It’s been a long time.”
Annabeth was no longer smiling. She gave him a sad look, squeezing his fingers again. “I know. Trust me, I know.”
The rest of the ride home was silent except for the background hum of the car stereo.
Thalia picked him up later that night from home. She took him to a burger place in Santa Monica, and from their table Jason could see the pier. The sun was reflecting over the water, the fresh summer air comforting and put him at peace.
If people didn’t know the Graces, they would’ve been fooled into thinking they weren’t siblings. While Jason had blond hair and dressed like an average boarding school student, Thalia’s black hair hung in a choppy mess, piercings lined her ears, and she wore all black. She’d always been the rebellious child, but after becoming frontman for her band Struck By Lightning, her punk look was taken to the next level. Jason’s hair color was from their mother, and Thalia’s dark hair was from their father. Both of their parents had blue eyes, and so did the two of them— one of the very few things they had physically in common.
“I don’t understand how you got such a high GPA,” Thalia deadpanned, taking a bite of her burger. After she swallowed, she shook her head. “Is a 4.5 even possible?”
“Uh, yeah, with AP classes,” Jason explained. He took a drink of his chocolate milkshake, swirling the straw around the glass to mix the shake in with the whipped cream. “I’m trying to get into good schools for next fall, Thalia. You have to have a good GPA.”
“And that is where we differ, baby brother.” She smiled at him fondly. “For me, I was okay getting Cs. Look at me now.” She posed, and the light sparkled against the stud in her nose. He laughed, which caused her to laugh. When their laughter stopped, she sighed. “How’s Annabeth?” While it had been Jason and Annabeth who had been best friends, Thalia had always regarded Annabeth as a little sister. Thalia may have been five years older, but the girls also had a strong relationship.
“The usual. Smart. Graduated now.”
His sister gave him a sad smile. “You’ll be okay. Knowing you two, you’ll still see each other all the time.”
He shook his head. “She’s going to Stanford. If she would’ve picked USC, it would be different because that’s only two hours compared to, like, halfway across the state.”
“She can fly to you,” Thalia pointed out. “There’s Amtrak.”
“True.” Jason stared at his milkshake, still swirling the straw around, watching as the liquid spun around inside the glass.
“Why don’t you apply to Stanford?” Thalia suggested. “You’re smart.”
Jason couldn’t help it. He scoffed, and she raised her eyebrows in confusion. “It’s a five percent acceptance rate. Annabeth is freaky smart. I’m... average smart.”
“Oh, shut up.” Thalia tossed a French fry, and he caught it. (Playing multiple sports throughout his life helped him with his reflexes.) “Doesn’t mean you can’t apply. Annabeth and you are practically connected at the hip. Just because she graduated doesn’t mean that has to end.”
He shrugged. He didn’t like to think about Annabeth leaving him to go to an amazing school hundreds of miles away. She was by no means abandoning him, either; while Jason’s life had been thoroughly shitty, so had hers. Yet she had been his safe place to escape to when things were especially bad at home.
“Stanford is a really amazing school,” Thalia reminded him, her voice soft. She reached across the table to squeeze his hand. “I believe in you, baby brother. And even if you don’t get into there, there are a bunch of schools around that area that are still really good.”
“Yeah.” He took another sip of his milkshake before looking at her. “Have you seen Mom lately?”
“Not really. Haven’t really stopped by.” Thalia got a stormy look in her eyes. “We talk on the phone maybe once a week. She seems to be doing better. She’s really excited for you to come home.”
“I was home.” Jason felt his jaw tense, and he hated himself for being angry, but there was the bitterness that he was sure would never go away. “I was home for, like, an hour before you picked me up.”
Thalia squeezed his finger again, almost as if telling him to stay calm. “She’s always with Athena on weeknights because she has a ton of meetings. And naturally Dad always works late, figures.” She looked just as bitter as Jason felt. “There’s a reason I moved out. The only reason I still talk to them is because they have custody over you and I don’t.”
“Hey, it’s okay. If things get bad again, I’ll move in with you.” He tried to give her a reassuring smile. “Knowing them, by July I’ll—”
Click.
There it was. The obnoxious and inevitable noise of the camera shutter. To Jason’s left, a flash went off. When he looked over, he saw a man in sunglasses and dressed in all black attempting to hide his camera.
“Fucking hell.” Thalia gave the man a dirty look, slamming two crumpled bills down on the table. She shoved a final handful of fries into her mouth, standing up. “Come on, Jason. I’ll drive you home.”
Jason stood up, keeping his head down as he followed Thalia through the crowded restaurant. People were looking at them, as they always did whenever they went into public. Well, people usually didn’t stare at Jason, but Thalia was another story. She took a deep breath, whispering for him to come closer as they exited the building.
There wasn’t too many photographers, only four of them. Jason was used to more. He kept his eyes straight down as the cameras flashed nonstop around them. Thalia tensed up beside him, pointedly keeping her eyes straight ahead to ignore them. As they made their way towards Thalia’s Range Rover, questions were being shouted towards the siblings.
“Thalia! Any new music coming soon?”
“Thalia! Is it true that you’re kicking Zach out of the band?”
“Jason! Jason! Are you really graduating early so you can leave your parents behind?”
“Is your mom really sober or is this just a publicity stunt?”
They made it to Thalia’s car. They immediately jumped inside, Thalia locking the car and blasting Green Day. She pulled out of the parking spot she was in, raising a middle finger to the glass at the photographers as she sped away from them.
“Fucking vultures,” Thalia muttered, turning the music down as she pulled out onto the street. “I’m sorry. I’m sure you haven’t seen those guys in a while.”
“Yeah,” Jason admitted. “It’s been probably four years since they’ve gotten a decent shot of me.” His hands were slightly shaking, and he inhaled. Relax. You’re used to this. It was only paparazzi.
The silence was painstaking. Thalia was pissed, her knuckles stark white on the steering wheel. She finally breathed in, looking at her brother with knit eyebrows. “Hey. It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.” His voice was short, and he stared out the windshield. He couldn’t look at her. “This is going to happen all summer because of Mom.”
Thalia sighed. “Probably. I’m sorry.”
Jason didn’t talk after that. He hated how angry he was, hated that this was his life. This was the part of his life that he got to escape for a little while whenever he was at the boarding school. The past few years had been eerily calm, but that was only because his mom was too drunk to get any attention.
Thanks to his mom’s new movie deal with Tristan McLean, Jason was back in the spotlight. And he wasn’t even famous.