12: Beautiful People

Percy POV (in Annabeth's body)

Signing up for the talent show was pretty straightforward. I had to simply put my name, Annabeth Chase, down on the form online.

I also had to write what I'd need during my performance.

I picked a pretty powerful song that I really liked. I assumed that Annabeth also knew and connected with the song as well. During the performance, I'd need the music for the song, and a piano so that Thalia could join me on stage.

I figured it would help to have a friend with me.

And, if Annabeth and I switched back before the talent show in 3 weeks exactly (which was unlikely), then she'd have her best friend by her side.

"I'm so glad that you finally decided to show your voice," Thalia commented.

She was driving us both to the mall because Piper and Hazel wanted to go shopping. Piper was Jason's girlfriend, so I (Percy) knew her fairly well.

I'd have to not be suspicious or spill anything while shopping. At least, now, I'd know why and how girls shopped so much.

"Well, I guess that I just felt inspired. I wanted to do something different, you know."

"Yup, I understand," she said firmly.

It only took a few more minutes for us to reach the mall. There wasn't any traffic on Saturday, and we got lucky.

"Thalia, why are we even shopping?" I asked.

"Piper wants some new clothes for the party today. Obviously, we'd probably be shopping even if there wasn't any occasion, but still," Thalia explained as we walked into Macy's.

Suddenly, I remembered Rachel's party.

Gods, I had totally forgotten, but Annabeth had to take my body to the party. Rachel was my girlfriend, and I was expected to be there by all the jocks and populars.

"Right, Rachel's party. Are we going as well?" I asked.

I wanted to go to the party to make sure that Annabeth (who was me) was there. Plus, I could also walk her through the party.

Something told me that Annabeth didn't go to parties.

She was too mature and intelligent for stupid parties, at least those that involved all of the teenage drama and bad decisions.

"Yeah, Piper, of course, was invited, and she wants us to go too. Annabeth, we thoroughly talked about this a few days ago," Thalia commented.

"I just forgot I guess," I stammered.

Thalia simply gaped at me, but Piper and Hazel, fortunately, saved me. They called us over from the women's wear section.

Yeah, I wasn't a fan of shopping. Piper and Hazel were excited to pick stuff out and try stuff on. However, Thalia and I got desensitized pretty quickly.

Sometime during the shopping session, I texted Annabeth (ie my own phone) and told her that she had to be at the party. She reluctantly accepted.

"Annabeth, you gotta wear this," Piper exclaimed interrupting Annabeth's and my text conversation.

She was holding a simple red dress. It was a sleeveless lace up backless dress. To be honest, as a guy, I would be attracted to a girl wearing that, especially a beautiful girl like Annabeth.

Err, I probably shouldn't be attracted to Annabeth.

Considering I was dating someone, it seemed wrong. However, Annabeth was a very attractive woman. Not to mention, strong and intelligent as well.

"Annabeth, try it on," Piper commanded.

I sighed as I took the dress from her. As I changed into the changing rooms, I realized that the dress was very pretty on Annabeth.

I spent several seconds gazing at her appearance in the mirror.

Piper and Hazel squealed in delight as I came outside. Clearly, they also liked the look and the fit.

"Guys, we're running late," Hazel said suddenly.

It was already 7:30, so the party had started already. Since it was a teen party, it would start at 7 and go till very late.

"It's fine, we'll just go to the party from here," Piper said.

She was wearing a purple skirt and silky white blouse. Hazel was in jeans and a sparkly golden shirt. Thalia was in simple jeans and a black shirt (her normal). Finally, I was wearing my red dress.

I had to admire that Annabeth's friend group, just like mine, had a lot of beautiful people (most of them were beautiful on the inside as well).

We checked out quickly and rushed towards our cars.

"All right, let's go party!" Piper and Hazel cheered simultaneously. Thalia didn't seem to care. I gulped my nerves down. I didn't know what to expect from tonight.

***

Rachel's party was buzzing like always. I was used to teen parties like this. While I wasn't a party animal, I was around parties a lot. It came with the territory of being popular.

I had to find Annabeth (ie myself) to make sure that she knew how to handle all of this.

I still felt bad that I didn't warn her about swimming practice. I had to make sure that she was okay in my body tonight.

I quickly separated from Thalia, Piper, and Hazel and quickly walked through Rachel's home. I had no clue where Annabeth was.

The whole place was so crowded and loud. The place smelled like a combination of sweat, perfume, food, and alcohol. Did I mention that Rachel had a huge house and yard?

It was weird to be looking for my own body.

Finally, I saw myself through the living room window. Percy was standing with Jason and Frank in the backyard near the far side of the pool.

I stepped outside, and loud music engulfed me.

The entire backyard was filled with people.

As I pushed my way through the mass of people, I felt a hand grope my butt. It was the weirdest sensation, and I immediately whirled around.

The bastard caught my wrist before I could punch him.

I came face to face with Octavian Lee. Gods, not him again. He had a ridiculous smirk on his face as his grip tightened around my arm.

"Let me go, you asshole," I exclaimed.

I tried squirming out of his grip, but he was surprisingly strong. Plus, it wasn't a fair fight in terms of physical strength since I was in Annabeth's body.

While Annabeth was strong, Octavian was taller, older, and bulkier.

"You looking mighty fine, girl," he whispered into my ear as he pulled me closer. I practically threw up at his comment. Plus, his breath reeked of alcohol.

Suddenly, I did something that I knew would make him let go.

I kicked him in the balls.

Octavian groaned and cursed as his grip loosened. I quickly pulled away as he tried coming at me again. I was ready to fight.

However, this time, someone else caught Octavian's hand before he could touch me. My own body stood there with an, yet determined, expression.

Annabeth had clearly seen what was going on, and she brought my body over to help. 'Percy' shoved Octavian, causing the jerk to fall over.

"Hey, you okay?" Annabeth asked me softly from my body.

I wasn't okay. I was so freaking mad that Octavian would try something on Annabeth. Technically, he was advancing on me, but he was doing it to Annabeth. I was furious that he'd try hurting Annabeth. I wanted to freaking kick him again.

I was fuming still as I stared at Octavian.

"Percy," Annabeth whispered. I looked at my own face. Percy looked around before turning back to me. "Annabeth," she corrected herself.

"Annabeth, it's okay. Just come with me," she said.

'Percy' took my (ie Annabeth's) hand in his and walked me towards the house. I reveled at the warmth between us. Our hands were still connected as she led me upstairs.

It was quieter upstairs, and we found an empty bedroom.

"UGH," I shouted.

I instinctually punched the wall near the door. My knuckles reddened as my hand stung and vibrated from the impact.

"Seaweed Brain, what the hell?" Annabeth exclaimed.

'He' came over and grabbed my now injured hand. She quickly pulled me towards the bed. Since Annabeth was in my (Percy's) body, pulling me wasn't that difficult.

I sat down and took a deep breath.

"Percy, why would you do that? You're hurting my body here," she exclaimed. Since the expressions on my face, I could tell that Annabeth was more concerned than anything.

"He freaking attacked you," I shouted.

"Yeah, technically, I should be the angry one. Why are you fuming?"

"Because he attacked you, Annabeth. He attacked YOU." Honestly, I didn't even understand why I was so angry. Usually, I knew how to handle these types of situations.

But, I was so emotional over the fact that someone tried to assault Annabeth.

"You care that much about me," she expressed. Her (my) voice quietened as she made my body sit next to hers. We sat fairly close to each other as we breathed it out.

It was a comfortable and supportive silence.

"Yeah. I know that we didn't get along, but now, things are just different okay. I care a lot about you, Annabeth," I said firmly.

She turned to me as well. It was still weird that I was looking at myself. However, I could see Annabeth's personality in my eyes.

"I appreciate how much you care, Percy," she said.

Suddenly, 'Percy' came forward and wrapped his arms around me. The embrace was pure and passionate. I took in all of the warmth and comfort.

"I care a lot about you too, Seaweed Brain."

We sat for a few more minutes as we both calmed ourselves. This was so strange being in each other's bodies. We were both dealing with the other gender's problems.

And, the differences were quite astonishing. I didn't expect it.

We talked for a few moments. Annabeth really liked the dress that I got thanks to Piper. To be honest, I liked it on Annabeth's body as well.

Then, we decided to get back outside.

Our friends were probably looking for us.

We straightened ourselves a little bit, but I wish that we took more time. I hadn't noticed the red smudge on my (ie Percy's) neck.

Finally, we stepped out of the room together.

We both froze as Rachel stood in front of us with an angry expression. She was right outside of the doorway. Her arms were crossed, and she looked pissed.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU TWO DOING IN THERE ALONE?" Rachel shouted.

Then, her eyes narrowed on her boyfriend, Percy (who was actually Annabeth right now). Suddenly, I saw what she was looking at as well.

Gods, this really didn't look good.

"AND, WHAT IS THAT ON YOUR NECK PERCY?" she fumed.