𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐄𝐍‚ percy jackson

chapter two

12.14.2007

CHAPTER TWO: Deck The Halls With Spikes And Acid

Fa la la la la la la la la.

Dr Thorn did some festive redecorating...

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DIANA WAS FEELING EXTREMELY AWKWARD. Thalia had given the group simple instructions: dance. The girl then paired off with Grover, and Annabeth and Percy had immediately began their own private conversation, and Diana was just... there.

She began to walk around the gymnasium, so she would at least look like she was doing something. She kicked a black balloon with her foot, and it bounced along the sweaty floor, colliding with the tight strapped shoes suffocating the feet of multiple girls. Crepe-paper streamers hung from the walls, though many had been torn down and were being used as makeshift weapons by the boys (who had terrible form in the execution of their playful attacks, Diana noted).

All the while, she subtly kept an eye on the two demigods Grover had pointed out.

Bianca and Nico di Angelo sat together on the bleachers. The latter was talking animatedly, waving the cards in his hands about, while his sister kept her green cap pulled as far down as possible, as if she were trying not to be noticed. No students paid them any mind, and Diana tried to keep her glances as indistinct as possible.

Dr Thorn was stalking throughout the room, eyeing both Thalia and the di Angelos with suspicion. Grover hadn't specified the kind of monster Thorn was, but Diana had no doubt he was a dangerous one.

Thalia was dancing with Grover, both keeping their eyes placed firmly on each other. Grover looked like he wished he could be anywhere else. He kept stepping on Thalia's feet, an act Thalia seemed to be ignoring, as she showed no indication she was in any discomfort.

A gaggle of girls crossed Diana's path, circling a boy not even three feet away from her. She dodged out of the way, barely escaping the wild, giggling group. Stepping backward, she watched as the flurry of arms dispersed, leaving the boy with streamers in his dark hair and different shapes painted on his cheeks in bright red and pink lipstick.

The boy blinked a few times, bewildered. He seemed to feel her watching him, and his eyes met hers.

Diana raised her eyebrows and gave him a playful smirk. "I'm loving the look. The red really brings out your eyes."

The boy shook his head slightly, still startled from the whole ordeal. Diana looked over his shoulder to the bleachers, and her stomach dropped. The di Angelos were gone.

"Shit," she murmured to herself.

"Huh?"

She looked back to the boy, who was watching her, perplexed.

"Uh, nothing." She turned around. "Bye."

Real smooth, Diana.

She shook off the thoughts. Now was not the time for making friends. She quickly scanned the gymnasium for any sign of the siblings. They weren't by the punch table. They weren't sitting at the tables. They certainly weren't dancing.

She caught a flash of green, and her head snapped towards it. Bianca di Angelo's cap tumbled to the ground, as she and her brother were dragged out of the gymnasium by Thorn, who was gripping them by their collars.

Shit.

She had to think fast. Her eyes darted over the crowd, frantically searching for Thalia's familiar black hair, or Annabeth's long blonde braids, or Grover's telltale odd fake legs. Even Jackson would be useful right now. It didn't matter who, she just needed someone.