The Player's Proposal

5: The Proposal

Annabeth POV

Silena and Piper were half-sisters with the same mom but different dads. Their mom, Aphrodite, was a famous model, so it made sense that their home was a mansion. However, I didn't come here very often since Piper lived with her dad more.

Piper's dad was a wealthy actor as well so that house wasn't too bad either.

The party was bustling with people. Silena must've invited the entire 11th and 12th-grade classes.

I immediately moved to the side before getting trampled by a group of jocks. They were shouting as they walked towards the backdoor. I was standing in the kitchen, skeptically analyzing the drink bowls.

After taking a whiff, I decided against a drink.

I was fairly confident that the Stoll twins spiked the punch. Those pranksters did this at every party that they attended.

"Hey, Annabeth, what's taking so long?" Thalia asked.

"Sorry, Thals, but we are not drinking these. They're spiked," I replied. Thalia took a step towards the punch bowl and smelled the liquid.

"That's what makes it good," she expressed with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes as Thalia quickly filled a glass for herself. No one can change Thalia and her carefree attitude. When she wanted to, no one can stop her from having fun.

I laughed as Thalia gulped the alcoholic fruit punch. Her face was constricted by the bitter taste before she relaxed. Yup, this is my best friend for you all.

"You two geeks are blocking the drinks," a voice snapped behind us.

We turned around to come face-to-face with the queen bee of our school. Drew Tanaka was the head cheerleader and top of the social hierarchy.

"Why do nerds come to parties anyway? There isn't any algebra to do here," Drew said. The girls behind her laughed like pampered barbie dolls.

"Wow, Drew. Nice one," I replied sarcastically.

"Yeah, that was smooth. However, you should know that Annabeth finished Algebra in seventh grade while you were still learning to count to ten," Thalia counted.

Drew's smile faded as her posse stepped closer to us. However, Thalia and I didn't back down. Those girls had nothing on us. Furthermore, we could happily and easily kick their butts.

My gray eyes locked onto Drew's dark ones. She was shorter than me, but her high heels put us at the same height.

I dared her to back down, and she did.

"I have better things to do," she spat. She waved her hand, which directed her girl group to turn right and head outside.

I shook my head while laughing. This was too easy. A lot of people were scared of Drew because she could hinder a person's popularity at our school. However, for someone who didn't care about that, I appreciated my ability to stand up to the Queen Bee.

"Drew is all talk and no power," Thalia chuckled.

Thalia grabbed another drink before we walked to the backyard. The entire place was crowded with students, and music was blaring.

It was difficult to hear Thalia, and she was right next to me.

We maneuvered through a crowd of tipsy jocks who were dancing to the music. ABCDEFU by Gayle was blasting through the speaker system.

I had to shove my way through the students. Hazel and Rachel were sitting near the far end of the pool near the back of the backyard.

As I approached them, I realized that Hazel was talking to Frank Zhang. Frank was a big guy on the football team, but he treated people like a teddy bear. He was a complete softy on the inside, and that's what Hazel liked about him.