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When I stepped out of the bathroom in my black suit, Annabeth looked me over critically, like she was thinking about making me change clothes again. She pursed her lips. “Well then, seaweed brain? What are you waiting for?”
I let out an inaudible sigh of relief. I slid my feet into my dress shoes and wished that she would have let me stick a gel insert in them because I knew that my feet were going to ache by the end of the night. I hurried to open the door of the apartment for her.
She walked by in a cloud of perfume that smelled like mountain laurel and roses. Annabeth looked amazing tonight, dressed in a shimmering silver dress that was trimmed with white fur. It flared a bit around the bottom so that the dagger strapped to her thigh wouldn’t be noticed. She wore matching gloves made of the same material and a translucent lavender colored scarf around her shoulders. Her blonde curls had been transformed into huge ringlets that were decorated with diamond pins. Annabeth didn’t wear makeup but she did gloss her lips. The clip-on owl earrings that she’s had since we were teens hung from her earlobes. Her silver high heels clicked smartly as she walked into the hallway.
The winter festival that New Rome was holding was a city-wide event. Those of us who lived within New Rome’s borders but at the edges of the city, were given unicorn-drawn carriages to ride to the city square where the main event was taking place. I’d called ahead of time to make sure that the carriage would be outside our apartment in a timely manner but Annabeth had taken one look at the deep blue velvet suit I’d been wearing and told me to change into something less attractive because only she should get to see me wearing my best clothes. So I changed into a plain black suit that I was pretty sure I got for funerals and now we were late.
We rode in silence for a few minutes. Then Annabeth said, “I hope those fools haven’t broken my ice sculpture.”
I slipped my hand into hers. “I’m sure that they’ve been really careful with it,” I said, trying to appease her. My girlfriend had a reputation here in New Rome as someone you didn’t want to cross. Privately, I felt bad for the poor saps who were in charge of that ice sculpture. If it wasn’t perfect, they would pay the price. I changed the subject. “It will be good to see Hazel and Frank again.”
Annabeth hummed.
“I wonder if Nico will be there,” I said. Nico used to spend his time equally between Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter but now he’s mostly at the former because of his boyfriend. Sometimes I missed the annoying kid. Annabeth’s was the only face that I’ve seen from back East and I missed everyone else.
“I’m sure that Hazel invited him. He’ll probably come dressed as a vampire,” Annabeth commented. She twirled a lock of her hair between her fingers.
I was pretty sure that Nico was more or less over his goth phase but the mental image was funny. Before I could reply, we arrived.
The city square was decorated in thousands of white lights. They lined every roof, wrapped around every tree, hung from every branch. Some of them blinked to look like dripping icicles. There were garlands of pine and bright red holly berries. I even saw some mistletoe hanging from archways and low tree branches. There was an enormous dance floor, headed by a stage where a live band played. Scattered around the edges of the dance floor were tables draped with red cloth and glowing with candlelight. Around the seating tables were long buffet tables filled with foods of all kinds. Set between each one of those tables were large decorative pots that burned with orange fire so that offerings could be made to the gods.
Our carriage stopped and we got out onto a grassy field. Pavers cut through the field and led to the square, lined with lights so that no one tripped in the darkness. Annabeth pinched me. “Give me your arm,” she hissed under her breath.
For the first time, I noticed that other couples were walking arm in arm. I held out mine to her.
Annabeth hooked her arm in mine and yanked me close. She plastered a smile on her face as we got closer to the main activities.
This was a family event so there were children and elders here as well. The children ran around wildly, not a care in the world as they got goodies from the buffet table and chased each other. I thought about what it would be like to have mine and Annabeth’s child among them, and smiled tenderly. The smile faded when I glanced at Annabeth and remembered that she didn’t want kids anytime in the near future. I would have to shelf that dream for now.
“I need to check on my sculpture. Go get a table and wait for me,” Annabeth said. She kissed my cheek and hurried off.
I watched her go, wishing her dress was a little tighter in the back but enjoying her long legs. Then I went to the buffet table for snacks and a drink. Who knew how long Annabeth would be. It was better to stock up just in case.
As I made my plate, a hand clapped me on the back. “Percy! Long time no see,” Frank said, grinning at me. He looked me up and down. “Why do you look like you’re dressed for a funeral?”
My face warmed. There was no way that I was going to tell Frank that these were my funeral clothes. “There are other people wearing black,” I protested. To distract myself, I ate some of the food off my plate.
Frank was dressed in a red silk suit with gold embroidery decorating it. It was cut to a perfect fit for him and the button was gold. He looked amazing.
Frank gave me a pitying look. “Yeah, I did see Nico wearing black but we expect that from him.” Then he shook his head and smiled. “It’s good to see you, Percy. We miss you, you know. You should see Hazel. She looks like imperial gold.” Frank’s expression turned dreamy as he thought of his girlfriend.
I popped a shrimp into my mouth and looked around. “Where is she?”
Frank was taller than me by five inches and so he had no problem spotting Hazel across the courtyard. “There!” He pointed.
I turned to look. I saw brown skin and a glittery gold dress. “Damn, you weren’t kidding. I think I’ll go say hello.” I shoved my food into my mouth and grabbed two glasses of champagne. By the time I reached Hazel, I was no longer chewing. “Hi, Hazel.”
Hazel gave me a wide, happy smile. “Percy!” She threw her arms around me in a warm hug.
A trickle of unease ran down my spine. I patted her back, only to find that her shoulder blades were bare. “It’s good to see you,” I said, stepping away from her. “I got this for you.”
Hazel accepted the champagne glass. She took a sip.
While she drank, I took a moment to admire her. Hazel moved with far more confidence than I’d ever seen before; which made sense because she was a leader now and had been for a few years. She wore a glittery ankle-length golden dress with a slit in the side that went up to her mid-thigh. A necklace of gold decorated her neck and drew the eye to the low neck line of her dress. Her dark brown hair was decorated with matching golden flower pins. Her eyeshadow was gold glitter and red, eyes lined with kohl, and lips a lovely red. Frank was right; Hazel looked like a million golden drachmas.
Annabeth came up at that moment, sliding her arm through mine and almost spilling my drink. She saw me looking at Hazel, and her expression hardened. She didn’t slap me, but she looked like she wanted to. “There you are, Percy. I thought you were getting us a table.”
“I ran into Frank and he said I should come say hi to Hazel,” I said. Annabeth was only a few inches shorter than me so I could tilt my head and lean my cheek against her hair. One of her diamond pins poked me and I straightened.
Hazel was diplomatic as her rank demanded. “Good evening, Annabeth.”
“Hello, Hazel,” Annabeth said. She looked at the glasses in our hands. “Didn’t you get one for me, Percy?”
I panicked and handed her mine. It was still mostly full. “Of course.”
Annabeth took my glass but didn’t drink.
The three of us stood there in a silence that grew more awkward the longer it went on. I was trying to think of something to break the silence with when Hazel said, “Your ice sculpture looks good, Annabeth. We were pleased when you agreed to take on the project.”
That did it. Annabeth filled the silence for us, launching into an account on how she came up with the design for the sculpture and how she’d mastered advanced techniques to build it. Hazel occasionally interjected with a question or comment that started Annabeth on a whole new line of conversation.
I zoned out, listening only enough to make sure that they didn’t need me to interact. This was my life for the past several years and I never got to hear the end of it. What I wanted to do was talk about Hazel’s life and Frank’s life and Nico’s life and any life that didn’t involve me struggling through college or Annabeth and architecture.
“It’s been so hard for me, you know, because I’m blonde. All my life I’ve had to work twice as hard as everyone else just to get a little respect,” Annabeth said.
I snapped back into the conversation as though Annabeth had slapped me. Shit.
Hazel’s eyebrow arched up and she gave me a look that said I needed to stop my lily white girlfriend from speaking immediately.
“Annabeth, I think that I heard someone say something about the structural integrity of the ice sculpture -” I didn’t get any farther than that because Annabeth shoved my glass back at me and took off to make sure her creation was still in one piece. When she was across the courtyard and out of earshot, I turned to Hazel, “I am so sorry. Annabeth is just…”
“Stupid? Entitled? Spoiled? Racist?” Hazel finished for me. She took a sip of her champagne, eyeing me as she did.
I hated to admit it, but Hazel was right. Annabeth had zero perspective. “I’m sorry,” I repeated.
Hazel shook her head. “What do you see in her?”
Instead of answering, I took a sip of champagne. My face burned with humiliation and guilt. What could I say that excused Annabeth? ‘Oh sorry, she didn’t grow up in the real world, she’s been here playing fantasy so she thinks that she has real problems and everyone else is beneath her.’ That would go over terribly. Plus, looking at Hazel’s face, I didn’t need to say it.
Hazel shook her head again. “I’ll see you around Percy.” Her expression said or not. Then she left, disappearing into the crowd and greeting the other attendees.
Annabeth was only gone for a few minutes. She returned, looking pleased that I stood alone where she’d left me. “Well, we should socialize, shouldn’t we?” Annabeth stated. She took my arm and we walked around the dance floor, greeting people that we knew from class or that I knew from my time as a praetor. We didn’t chat with any one person for too long, always shuffling off before anyone could ask anything too personal like why we rarely attended social events.
“Oh my gods, is that Nico? He looks hideous,” Annabeth said. “I can’t believe Will let him out looking like that. And Nico is supposed to be rich.”
I craned my neck to see Nico standing alone near the buffet. “We should go say hi,” I said.
Annabeth sighed but she guided me that way.
Nico saw us coming and watched us approach. He wore a black suit but it was embroidered with skulls in black thread. It looked fancy and expensive. His long black hair was tied back in a messy ponytail.
“Hey, Nico,” I said with a smile.
“So you’ve decided to rejoin society,” Nico said dryly. “I guess I owe Frank money. I thought you wouldn’t show.”
“We’re busy, Nico. Some of us have an education to think of,” Annabeth said primly. The older we got, the more the animosity between Nico and Annabeth grew. I didn’t really understand it but Annabeth made sure that I knew it was somehow my fault.
If the barb about his lack of formal education bothered Nico, he didn’t show it. While it was true that he hadn’t stepped foot in a school since we busted him from the military academy at age ten, Nico had gotten an even better education from the spirits in the Underworld. As a result, he was a history buff who could quote classic literature in multiple languages and had quite a few skills that were no longer in fashion outside of demigod culture. Nico gave me an up and down glance. “Didn’t you wear that to Jason’s funeral?”
“Yes,” I said because I didn’t see the point in lying. Now I wished that I’d put my foot down and worn the blue velvet outfit I wanted to. “Annabeth didn’t want the girls to mob me.”
“Or boys,” Annabeth added icily. Every time I said something, she scowled at me, as if I’d just poked her between the eyes. Her grip on my arm tightened, nails digging into the blazer.
Warmth bloomed beneath my skin. I couldn’t meet Nico’s eye, found myself looking to his left instead of making eye contact.
“Ah, I see. You think it’s the clothes that make Percy an attractive man,” Nico drawled. He caught my eye and in his black ones, I saw that Nico appreciated how I looked even if I was dressed in cheap funeral garb.
A different kind of warmth spread through me. I looked away before Annabeth became more angry.
Annabeth’s face turned red like an apple. “Where is your husband? Shouldn’t he be here with you?” She snapped.
My breath caught when Annabeth’s nails popped through my jacket and punctured my skin. I ignored the instinct to shake her off and stood perfectly still, face neutral.
Nico hummed. He didn’t need to look around to know exactly where Will was. There were some people that Nico kept tabs on by the location of their souls at any given time. “Playing doctor. What else? One of the legacies twisted her ankle playing in the grass.”
“Well, we’d better go say hello to everyone else.” Annabeth dragged me away from Nico. Every step was an angry stomp, causing the heels of her shoes to rap loudly.
My arm really hurt. I turned to look at Nico and waved goodbye to him.
Nico watched us with narrowed eyes.
Once we were on the other end of the long buffet, Annabeth released me. She wiped her nails on a napkin and tossed it into one of the fires. Great. Now some god was smelling my blood. I wondered which one it was. “He’s never grown out of being annoying,” Annabeth said. Her blush was gone, face pale and perfect once again. She picked up a plate and began putting food onto it. When her plate was full, she picked up a fork and butter knife.
I picked a few morsels myself but they all went directly to my mouth. For the most part it was finger food; tiny cakes and sandwiches. “What’s with you and Nico?” I asked.
Annabeth glared at me and I started to wish I hadn’t asked her about this while she was holding a knife. “You are such an idiot sometimes.”
That didn’t answer my question but I didn’t think she would give me a straight answer. She never has before. The bathrooms were nearby so I said, “I’m going to use the bathroom real quick.” I escaped to the bathroom to wash the blood off my arm before it seeped into the suit material. There was no one else there so I was free to roll up my sleeve and look at the red crescent moons Annabeth’s nails had made. I turned on the sink and washed them away. A little water was all it took to heal me and I frequently found myself thankful for that.
“You shouldn’t settle.” Nico’s voice came from behind me.
I jumped, shoulders raising. “Hades’ tits!” I cursed, spinning around to face Nico.
The shadows behind Nico were still dissolving. In the harsh fluorescent lighting, the sharp lines of Nico’s face looked more skull-like than ever. “Nope. You’ll have to settle for my tits.” He smirked.
“I thought you said I shouldn’t settle,” I countered. I turned my back on him and tugged on my tie; it was too tight. I felt I was suffocating and that made my skin prickle like pins and needles.
The smirk dropped off Nico’s face, replaced by a seriousness that made him look like his father. “You shouldn’t settle for being treated like that.” Nico pointed into the sink where a drop of blood stained the white porcelain. “No one would blame you for leaving her.”
I hurriedly washed it away.
The look Nico gave me was one of pity and frustration. This wasn’t the first time we’d had this fight and it wasn’t the first time Nico had caught me healing wounds before anyone saw them. “Why do you insist on staying with her?”
I pretended not to see his expression. “It’s complicated,” I said, rolling my sleeve back into place.
Nico leaned against the sink, arms crossed, glaring at me. Finally, he took a small cigarette tin from his pocket. There were no cigarettes within, though they looked similar enough. Instead of tobacco, the cylinders contained dried lotus petals. With a skeletal hand, Nico plucked one out and snapped the case closed. He put it between his teeth and used a match to light it. Nico took a hit, then offered it to me.
The effects on demigods were a buzz and thoughts tended to slip away. Both were short-lived enough that most demigods didn’t bother with it except the ones with an oral fixation; like Nico.
I took it and glared at him. If they had smelled like tobacco or weed then I would have left the second I saw the case, but these just smelled sweet so I didn’t mind indulging once in a while.
We passed the lotus cigarette between us until we’d smoked it down to a stub. Nico’s shoulders dropped as he forgot why he was angry and relaxed.
I forgot why my suit had four puncture marks in it and wondered if I’d been bitten by a dog at some point. Annabeth would mend it though. She was good at that. I looked at Nico again and said, “You look especially handsome tonight.”
Nico laughed and rolled his eyes. He leaned over and planted a lingering kiss on the corner of my mouth.
Before I could respond, someone pounded on the door. “Percy! Hurry up! What are you doing in there?!” Annabeth.
My eyes went wide.
Nico pressed a mint into my palm and in a voice heavy with disgust said, “You’d better go, Percy. Your master is calling.” The shadows closed in on him and suddenly I was alone in the bathroom.
I popped the mint into my mouth and rubbed my skin where Nico kissed me. Then I unlocked the bathroom door and stepped out to meet Annabeth. “Sorry,” I said with a sheepish smile.
Annabeth’s steel gray eyes looked behind me to see if I was alone. She grabbed my hand and dragged me toward the dance floor. “We’re dancing,” she said curtly.
I put one hand on Annabeth’s hip and she clasped my other hand like she was about to judo throw me. The fabric of her dress was soft. Unlike our first dance, we weren’t shuffling around unsure of what we were doing. Annabeth made me take a class with her and now we could dance pretty well. Even though we were surrounded by other couples on the dance floor, Annabeth seemed to relax a little now that she had my full attention and no one was asking us questions.
We danced through two songs, paused for a glass of champagne each, and then went back onto the dance floor. I felt good now, still buzzed from the lotus cigarette and now working on a champagne buzz too. Annabeth and I weren’t trying to strangle each other and no one was setting her off.
Frank and Hazel danced by us. They looked really good together; the gold embroidery thread of Frank’s suit matching Hazel’s dress. They were both handsome praetors, a handsome couple all around even if they weren’t the leaders of Camp Jupiter. It made me wish that Annabeth and I matched like that.
Over Annabeth’s shoulder I mouthed ‘switch partners?’
Frank made a face then he nodded agreement. He spoke to Hazel and they stopped dancing. Then Frank asked, “Annabeth, may I have this dance?” He held out a hand to her, looking earnest and sincere in his offer.
Annabeth hesitated. We all watched her silently calculate how rude it would be to deny the praetor a dance, then she nodded. “Just one,” she warned.
Frank swept Annabeth away.
I turned to Hazel and smiled. “You look dazzling. I am dazzled by your beauty.” I offered her my hand. After the disaster with Annabeth earlier, I wasn’t sure that Hazel would afford me a dance.
Hazel laughed, which I knew meant that I was forgiven for Annabeth’s rudeness. She took my hand and then we were off. We made sure to dance in the opposite direction Frank and Annabeth went in. It was nice to dance with Hazel. She had a good sense of timing and knew what she was doing. “Have you seen Nico?” Hazel asked, sounding a little too innocent.
I should have known. They always tried to tag team me when they thought Annabeth wouldn’t notice. But I wasn’t upset; I knew they only did it because they cared about me and I was feeling too good to be upset. “He cornered me in the bathroom.”
“Did he talk sense into you?” Hazel asked mildly.
Keeping my voice low so that only Hazel heard me, I said, “He kissed me.”
The look on Hazel’s lovely face was pained but not surprised. “I can only assume that kissing you did not sway your decision to stay in your present company.”
“She’s my girlfriend,” I replied, trying not to think about Nico kissing me. It wasn’t the first time that he’d done that either. The fact that he had a husband was of no consequence. Will already gave me his blessing to marry Nico if that’s what it took to change my mind about Annabeth. They were all trying very hard to get me to leave her but I was loyal. I’d once been told that personal loyalty was my fatal flaw. Some days more than others it felt like it. But Annabeth had been through so much, I couldn’t just dump her.
“We miss you, Percy,” Hazel said, changing tactics.
I was weak to this kind of persuasion. The kind where my friends wanted to see me. I was running out of excuses to avoid them. That was why we were here; Annabeth couldn’t think of an excuse to say no. I wondered how long it took them to find a way to ask that she couldn't refuse. Hastily, I looked around for something to distract Hazel with. “Hey, let’s get our picture taken together.”
There was a small grove of poinsettia trees that were decorated with lights. A couple was currently being photographed.
I led Hazel over to it and we waited in line. There was only the couple getting their photograph taken ahead of us so we were next. As we stepped up to take the couples’ place among the grove of red flowered trees, I looked anxiously for Annabeth. If she saw me here with Hazel, she would kill me.
The photographer told me to smile.
I smiled on cue. It was going to be a good picture even if I looked like shit next to Hazel’s glamourous self.
“Is this an elaborate joke?” Annabeth’s voice cut through the night to us.
We all turned to see Annabeth standing a little ways away, hands on her hips.
Behind her was Frank, rushing up with a worried look on his face. He met my eye and I could see the apology in his eyes. He let her get away from him.
It was alright. Annabeth was my girlfriend. I was responsible for her. I stepped between Annabeth and Hazel; shielding Hazel from Annabeth’s wrath. “It’s just a photo, Annabeth. What’s the harm?”
Annabeth’s gray eyes turned extra thunderstorm dark, which I could interpret just fine: You’re going to get it when we get home. “It’s time for us to go,” Annabeth said with a smile that was all teeth and no warmth.
Hazel and Frank didn’t even have time to protest.
Annabeth grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside the ring of lights. We were in the shadows. In a bad imitation of my voice she said: “It’s just a photo, Annabeth. What’s the harm?” She punched me in the gut. “Are you kidding?”
The air went out of my lungs. I rubbed my stomach where she’d hit me. There would be a bruise there. “I don’t see what the big deal is. Hazel is my friend,” I said, voice cracking.
“Shut up, seaweed brain,” she ordered. Annabeth called a carriage to come pick us up. We waited in an icy silence, Annabeth’s foot tapping impatiently. When the carriage came, Annabeth climbed into it without waiting for me to open the door for her.
I got in next to her and then we were off.
Annabeth wouldn’t even look at me. Annabeth ignored me while we sat in the carriage. For the whole ride back to our apartment, she didn’t say one word to me.
I felt awful. I’d ruined this whole night. It was all my fault. This was why we couldn’t go out. I wished she would just look at me. If only she would look at me, then I would know that everything was okay.
We were let out and climbed the stairs in silence. What could I say to make things right? I wasn’t entirely sure what I’d done wrong but I knew that I messed up. Annabeth held the only key to our apartment. She unlocked the door and went inside. In the entryway, she unbuckled her heels and took them off. She lost about four inches of height. “I’ve got to take a shower,” Annabeth said flatly. “Just go to bed and stay there, seaweed brain.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, because that seemed like the best thing to say in this scenario.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” And she stormed out of the room. The bathroom door slammed shut so hard that the pictures on the walls shook.
I knew better than to argue. I went to our bedroom and took the suit off. Then I crawled into bed and waited in the dark for Annabeth to come back and forgive me.