SERENDIPITY ~ A. Chase

xv ~ Frenemies Isn't the Worst

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chapter fifteen ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
015. Frenemies Isn't the Worst

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It's an interesting thing, how the mortal mind works. They had twisted the story completely.

Percy wasn't a criminal. He had just been kidnapped along with Cassie, Annabeth, and Grover. Nothing that happened was Percy's fault.

The kidnapper had made Percy explode the bus, and the St. Louis Arch was his fault. Percy was just trying to escape, leaving him at gunpoint with said kidnapper.

People from the diner were also witnesses to this kidnapper. Especially, the waitress and her photo.

At the beach, the police had saved the day, but the kidnapper still got away. He had also shot a gas tank to cause the explosion of the cars.

Like that was a reasonable explanation. Cassie had no clue how people lived, unaware of the gods who created all these weird situations. She wondered just how many there were.

Now, this was when the daughter of Ares' plan came into motion. While the reporters confirmed their story was what happened, the four just nodded.

They acted tired and helpless, as if they were the victims. Percy made up some sob story about wanting to see his stepfather and how Smelly Gabe would give everyone in California, one free appliance.

The police were so pitying that they collected money to buy four tickets for the next plane to New York. 

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The whole flight, Percy would not release the armrests. They had tried to soothe his fears many times, but turbulence scared Percy out of his mind.

When the plane landed, he was the first one out and swarmed by the press.

Annabeth got them away by turning invisible using her Yankees cap as she ran around yelling, "They're over by the frozen yogurt! Come on!"

They made it past baggage claim and outside to a taxi stand. Percy told the three to go back to Camp and fill Chiron in on everything.

He didn't want to let them go after the weeks of journeying together, but he had too. He also wanted them to live if things went wrong with the gods.

No matter how much they protested, Cassie, Grover, and Annabeth begrudgingly took a taxi after Percy had left and went back home. 

Grover slept the whole drive. That left Cassie and Annabeth in awkward silence.

Their taxi had one of the roll up windows, separating the driver from the passengers, so they knew he wasn't listening.

Cassie had her sword in hand, fiddling with it. Her flannel was all gross, dirty, and messed up now.

Annabeth glanced over to the brunette, debating whether or not to say anything.

"So . . . who was the woman in the ATTENDANT ON DUTY line? The one who got dragged away?" The blonde asked.

Cassie hoped she wouldn't have said anything.

"Why do you care?" She replied.

"Can't we just have one civil conversation Carter? We're stuck in a taxi for an hour. What else are we supposed to do?" Annabeth insisted.