Your Chariot Awaits

Chapter Twelve

In Which the Main Character Faces External Conflict

"I'm gonna say it," Leo said, abruptly turning down "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne.

Frank threw down the wrench he was working with. "No! Absolutely not!"

"Someone has to say it."

"Say what?" Annabeth asked, not bothering to emerge from beneath the Buick Encore she was working on.

"That's none of our business," Frank said.

Annabeth didn't need to see Leo to know he was rolling his eyes. "You're just afraid of confrontation!"

"Am not!" he whined.

"No, Annabeth isn't afraid of confrontation. You are."

Annabeth cleared her throat. "I don't want to be a part of this."

"Too late," said Leo. "You became a part of this the day you picked a fight with Percy!"

Annabeth finally decided to roll the creeper out from under the Encore. "Sorry, what?"

Frank gulped. "Well, Leo and I couldn't help but notice that you and Percy don't get along all that well."

"Took the words right out of my mouth!" Leo said, his voice laced with sarcasm. "Really, Frank, I don't think there was a better way to put that."

Annabeth frowned from the ground. "We get along just fine, thanks."

Leo caught the creeper before she could disappear back underneath the car. "Uh, no. You guys bicker all the time, and it's annoying!"

"We do not!"

"Remember the cookie incident?" Frank asked.

"I was worried about him!" she protested. Percy was eating Girl Scout cookies, ultimately draining his wallet, his dignity, and his energy! She was just stepping in to help!

"Or the other week when he accidentally bought Frank a sub with cheese on it," Leo offered.

"Frank is lactose intolerant!" Annabeth said. "I didn't want to be on the wrong end of that disaster, and besides, Frank's been working here for over a year! Percy should know by now that cheese is a no-go for him."

Leo scoffed. "What about this morning when he asked you to hold a box of... What was it? Pop-Tarts?"

There was no point; Leo and Frank would never see past Percy's charms. Whatever. At least Annabeth had common sense.

She rolled beneath the car and went back to work. She sighed in relief when Leo turned the volume on the music back up. Finally, they would stop grilling her about this. She sort of wished that she'd taken Piper up on dinner just so she'd have something to talk about with the guys. It seemed like every chance they got, they brought up Percy fucking Jackson. He was her boss. They were supposed to complain about him because of that very fact, so Leo and Frank had no right to urge her to do otherwise.

Footsteps and the slamming of a door indicated that Leo was taking his turn to work on the air conditioning in the minivan.

Annabeth grunted. She should have let it go, but she could never not have the last word in an argument. "And for the record," she said, not bothering to see if she had the guys' attention. "Percy is a misogynist and an asshole. I don't get why you guys like him so much. I mean-"

"Annabeth," Frank said.

"No, Frank! I'm tired of giving him the benefit of the doubt! Like, we all have daddy issues, but you don't see me acting all arrogant because of it!"