Melanie had decided not to drink any more in the near future. At least not until her father finally made sure that her alcohol tolerance increased. So after she had sobered up, she was now sitting in the passenger seat of a taxi that was supposed to take her to Los Angeles as quickly as possible.
The stars sparkled in the sky like pearls in the ocean and the moon fought its way through the grey clouds that wanted to suppress the light of Selene. Its silver light penetrated the narrow, weightless cracks in the galactic sky dome and patched the cracks like a plaster on a bleeding wound.
The sweet taste of ripe grapes spread like a blessing over the girl's tongue as she secretly plucked a handful of them from the vines she had grown on the edge of the window. She glared at Percy as he stole some of the sweet fruit for himself before she turned the vines into dust and acted like nothing had ever happened. Percy looked at her smug before leaning back into the cushions of the seat behind Melanie and eating the grapes, which had the same sea-green color palette as his eyes.
I don't think Melanie had to explain that the whole situation was Annabeth's idea. She loaded them into the back of a Vegas taxi as if they actually had money, and told the driver, "Los Angeles, please."
The cabbie chewed his cigar and sized them up. A cloud of smoke from the cigar rose into Melanie's nose and she wrinkled her nose. She hated the smell of cigarettes. "That's three hundred miles. For that, you gotta pay up front."
"You accept casino debit cards?" Annabeth asked. He shrugged. "Some of 'em. Same as credit cards. I gotta swipe 'em through first."
Annabeth handed him her green LotusCash card. He looked at it skeptically.
"Swipe it," Annabeth invited. Melanie sat unfazed in the front seat and threw a grape into her mouth. She watched as the casino card was swiped through the machine and the driver's eyes widened as if he was driving VIPs through town.
The meter machine started rattling. The lights flashed. Finally an infinity symbol came up next to the dollar sign. "Damn", whistled the daughter of Dionysus. "I'll keep it," and tucked her own green casino card into her pocket. Percy kicked her in the heels. Melanie hissed and gave him a nasty look. "You're not buying alcohol with that," he told her. Melanie rolled her eyes. "Please, I don't need to buy that. Cabin 12 has a whole wine cellar."
The cigar fell out of the driver's mouth. He looked back at them, his eyes wide. "Where to in Los Angeles...uh, Your Highness?" Melanie snorted in amusement.
