I didn't anticipate the amount of time it took to find the perfect shoes. I don't think Annabeth did either, to be honest. Aphrodite was insistent on finding the exact color, style, height, and comfort level for Annabeth's "aura," whatever that means.

So, we ended up spending almost another hour in the small boutique.

"Follow me, dearies," Aphrodite sang, making her way to a side of the store we hadn't visited. "Lots to do, lots to do."

I gave Annabeth a look, and she shrugged. 

"She's the expert," Annabeth mouthed.

Annabeth, Lacy, and I followed the said expert to the shoes, while Drew stayed at the counter. I could sense that Drew didn't have the best relationship with her mother. She seemed to want to impress her, and I don't think she really knew how to make an impact on the ditzy lady.

I chuckled as I watched Lacy skipping through the store, stopping to feel a shimmery dress occasionally. She fit in perfectly with her adorable baby face, pink top, black skirt, and shiny black shoes.

Aphrodite had Annabeth sit on a bench and clapped her hands. Lacy rushed over to kneel and put Annabeth's foot in the foot measuring device.

"Seven and a half, Mom," she called.

Aphrodite trailed down the wall, selecting a few pairs of heels, some flats, and wedges. She set them on the floor beside Annabeth and knelt to put them on. The moment reminded me of a similar scene from Cinderella. The thought made me smile, as did the sight of Aphrodite on the floor in her immaculate dress. It was light pink, fitted at the top, flowed to her ankles, and was sleeveless.

The first shoes Annabeth tried were sky high, silver stilettos. I could tell from the moment she slid her feet in that she would hate them. She stood with a weary expression, took a step, and almost plummeted onto her face.

I rushed forward to hold her straight up, chuckling under my breath. 

She furrowed her eyebrows. "I think these are a no."

A couple pairs of similar height were eliminated without being given a chance from that experience. Annabeth tried a few flat shoes, but none of them seemed to match the vibe the dress gave off.

Surprisingly, we ran out of options. We all set off to scour the selection for an appropriate pair of shoes.

I came across a few good options, but I found this one pair that I knew Annabeth would love. They were black, gladiator-style sandals that went about three inches above the ankle. There was no heel, and there were three buckles to adjust the size.

I brought my findings to Annabeth, and her eyes lit up. Everyone gathered back at the bench and  she tried on a few more pairs of shoes. When she tried on the gladiator sandals, she strode across the boutique confidently.

"These are the ones," she stated.

Aphrodite clapped excitedly. "Yay! Those shoes were a collaboration between my personal line and Steve Madden, actually. I should have known they'd be perfect! Let's go check you out, sweetheart."

We all went back to the counter, and Drew checked us out again.

"Glad you were able to find everything," she told us. "Hope you have fun at the dance."

"This is for the dance?" Aphrodite squealed. "Are you two going together? You are so cute!"

Annabeth and I blushed. "Just as friends," I explained hastily.

Aphrodite shook her head. "Maybe for now," she mumbled.

"Do you two go to Goode?" Drew suddenly asked, taking the awkward silence away.

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah. Do you?"

She nodded. "I'm a freshman, actually. Maybe I'll see you at the dance."

Annabeth smiled. We thanked the three lovely ladies before leaving the store.

"Now," Annabeth said, smirking at me, "it's your turn."

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"I feel like I'm in math class," I groaned. "Why are there so many numbers?"

Annabeth laughed, and I playfully glared. I had refused to get assistance from the creepy old lady at the desk with the sultry smile, so Annabeth and I were wandering around a store for mens' dress clothes, left to our own devices.

"Just ask for help, Seaweed Brain."

I looked around, searching for a worker beside the scary old lady. I spotted a familiar teen neatening a stack of button ups. He had dark, scraggly hair, thin lips permanently etched into a scowl, and a singular cold brown eye. Ethan Nakamura.

I turned to Annabeth, wide eyed. "I'm not working with him," I declared just as she said, "There's a worker."

"What?" she asked. "Why not? Who is it?"

"It's Ethan Nakamura, the guy that was messing with me before my swim meet. He's bad news," I hissed.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, nudging me. "You need to get over it, Perce. I know it was awful at the time, but grudges only lead to bad things."

I sighed, somberly walking over and tapping his shoulder.

"How can I help - you," Ethan snarled.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, it's me. I need help."

"You need my help, Mr. Team Captain?"

"What? Why does that have anything to do with this?"

Ethan ran his hands through his black hair. "My coach was so mad at me. He told me to get in your head, so I did my best. When it didn't work, and you came first in the event, he was so mad, Percy. He kicked me from the team, because he's convinced I let you win."

My expression softened with sympathy. "I can't even imagine how that would feel. I'm sorry, Ethan."

He scoffed. "Yeah, yeah. So, you need help?"

I threw him a crooked smile, and just then Annabeth joined us.

"Hey, guys," she called, smiling. "Can you help Percy find some clothes for the dance?"

Ethan nodded. "Yeah. I'm Ethan."

"I'm Annabeth. Nice to meet you."

He smirked at me. "Not your girlfriend, huh?"

I blushed. "We're going to the dance as friends."

"Yeah, friends." Annabeth nodded slowly.

Ethan looked like he was going to say something, but stopped himself. "So, dress clothes? Alright, do you have a color palette?"

I shrugged. "Annabeth's dress and shoes are black, and everything goes with black, so whatever works, I suppose."

"Does the lady have any preferences?"

Annabeth smiled and looked up at me. "Something green would bring out his eyes."

Ethan nodded. "Okay. What about the shirt? Do you want black or white?"

I shrugged. "Annabeth?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "What would you do without me?" she teased. "But, um, I think black. You look good in black tops, like now."

We blushed.

Ethan scoffed and jerked his thumb at me. "Let's go find some clothes for this oblivious turtle."

"Seaweed Brain," Annabeth offered.

He laughed. "That works. Now, come on."

He first brought us to find a shirt so that I could have my base to try on ties. That was the easy part. Then he led us to an entire rack filled from end to end with ties.

"See any that spark your attention?" Ethan asked.

I looked through, choosing a couple ties. I grabbed a plain black one, a solid light green one as well as a darker version, a grey one, and a dark blue one. Annabeth chose three, and each had a pattern, which kind of threw me off. She chose a green tie with matte green stripes, a black tie with thin white lines crossing, and a black tie with blue - wait a second.

I stared at Annabeth with a blank expression. "Really, Annabeth?"

She giggled. "What? You don't wike the wittle fishies?"

I rolled my eyes, gathering all of the ties. Ethan led us to the changing rooms, then left to return to his work. I quickly threw on the top and buttoned it up, before tangling myself in the blue tie.

"Um, Annabeth," I called.

"Yeah?"

"Help?"

I heard her sigh. I opened the changing room door and Annabeth covered her mouth. She stepped inside and shut the door, laughing.

I rolled my eyes.

"You're all crooked," she stated hysterically. She unbuttoned my top and made sure to fasten each one correctly. The she undid the knot I formed and tied the tie properly.

"What do you think?" I asked.

She tilted her head. "It's alright. Let's keep looking."

We tried all of the ties, starting with my plain selections and ending with Annabeth's patterned ones. The final tie we tried was the green on green tie with diagonal stripes.

Annabeth looped the tie around a final time and stepped back. She grinned, gesturing for me to look in the mirror.

I turned and saw it. Annabeth had been right, (When was she not?), the green really brought my eyes out. I smiled.

"Good choice. Do you like it?"

She nodded, scooping the neglected ties into her arms. "Let's go give that old lady some work to do, yeah?"

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Annabeth's shoes~

Percy's tie~

You saw more of Ethan thanks to Eclipse_Assassin I actually wasn't planning on expanding on his character/backstory too much, but I'm glad I did.

Lots of fun stuff happened, don't you think? You got some Percabeth fluff, some Aphrodite shipping, and even a moment with Ethan. I've been trying not to make any negative characters, because in the actual books none of the demigod are that bad. They're just...ignored. so some characters may seem like antagonists from the surface, but they are being pressed by a deeper force (drugs, parents, coaches). Hopefully you like that concept!

Leave a vote of you like it, and comment your favorite chapter I've posted so far! See you soon!