Haunted || Leo Valdez

38 - Anne Likes Parties

"Rebecca, come on." Piper slumped on Rebecca's bed, exasperated. "You have to come with us. It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance!"

"Piper, you can go to Times Square on New Years' Eve any other year," Rebecca said.

"We might die between this year and next year," Leo said. He was leaning against the door, seeming a bit nervous to come all the way inside after the kiss. It had been almost a week since it had happened. Rebecca had been waiting for him to say something, mainly because she was too nervous to say anything herself, but things had gone on as usual. Rebecca hadn't dared to tell Piper or Anne, as that would only have proved them right.

"Thank you, Captain Optimism," Anne said. "I will go, as long as this Google isn't there."

"For the last time," Rebecca said, "Google is not a person. It's a search engine."

"It must be a person if it knows all of the answers," Anne said.

"Google won't be there," Piper promised. "Rebecca?"

"Please." Leo cleared his throat and looked awkward. "I mean, it'll be bad enough third-wheeling Piper and Jason, but if Queen Anti-Google is coming along, too, I think I'm going to go crazy."

Piper smirked at Rebecca. She obviously thought that if Leo asked, Rebecca wouldn't be able to say no. Rebecca was about to prove Piper wrong and say no anyway, but she wondered what else she'd do. "Oh, fine. Let me change into something warmer."

It was obvious to Leo that Rebecca was not used to the weather being this cold.

It hadn't snowed at Camp Half-Blood, it had been sunny and warm. But still, they'd gone on a quest, and half the time it was freezing cold, snowing, and windy. Maybe she'd gotten used to warmer weather during their two months at Camp Half-Blood.

"I wouldn't have come if I'd known it was going to be this cold," Rebecca said, pulling her thick jacket tighter around her.

Leo wasn't sure whether she'd let him wrap an arm around her, to try to warm her up. Things between them had been a little awkward since their kiss. Leo could tell she was expecting him to be the first to break the silence, but he had no idea how to do that.

"Oh, please." Anne scoffed and rolled her eyes. "This isn't even that bad. Besides, all of these packed bodies should warm us up."

Leo still wasn't sure what to think of Anne, and it had been two months since he first met her. She claimed she was the Queen of England, but she definitely didn't act like it.

"You should never say 'packed bodies' again, but you're right," Jason said.

"Look, we're on the Jumbotron!" Leo waved at the camera enthusiastically. He'd never been to New York City before, especially not on New Years' eve, so this was a big deal. He watched the words on the Jumbotron moving and had an awesome idea. The gears in his head started turning, and he glanced around the place, wondering if it was really possible to pull it off. "Hey, guys, I'll be right back."

"Take someone with you," Piper said. "Buddy system. In case you get lost."

Leo grabbed Rebecca's hand as she was the closest person to him.

"What are you up to?" Rebecca hissed, allowing herself to be led away from their group. Leo shouldn't have been surprised that she knew he was up to something, but when he compared it to how she was when they were at Wilderness, it was a big difference.

"Just my best idea yet," Leo said vaguely. Rebecca looked very suspicious, but she didn't say anything else.

They slipped right past security and ducked behind the Jumbotron. Leo summoned some tools from his toolbelt and popped open the control panel. Then, with a crazy grin at Rebecca, he got to work.