Just when I thought my life couldn’t suck anymore, I was on a train going at hyper speed to the one place in the world that I was totally unwanted. The train ride only took only like half the time it should and we were there in four hours. Just as Nyx had said, the sun was just going down beyond the flat horizon when we unloaded at an abandoned station. I shouldered my bag and stared off into the chilly night.
“Okay, so where to?” Annabeth asked. “Grover, can you smell where the Muses might be?”
“There’s no need for that,” I said before he could respond. “They’ll be at the fairgrounds. That’s only about two miles away from here and it’s the only place that would be having any concert or anything.”
Annabeth’s grey eyes were probing. “Naida, how do you know that?”
Oh yeah, I’d only told Nico my sad sob story. I didn’t want to see anyone’s faces so I started walking leading them toward the center of the city. I tried to keep my tone flat and not give away how much being here bothered me. “I was born here. Last summer my mom’s mother was sick so we had to come spend a month here. I spent a lot of the time wondering the city. Noble’s not a very big place so it’s not hard to remember where things are.”
Annabeth seemed satisfied with my answer but I saw Percy frowning at me from the corner of my eye. I did my best to ignore him and suggested that we grab a bite of food which Grover and Tyson were extremely happy about. We stopped at a diner and Annabeth immediately pulled out her laptop.
“What did Nyx mean by impressing the Muses?” she asked.
“Someone will probably have to sing or dance or say some poetry or something. That’s their whole thing, isn’t it?” I said, surprising myself with having an answer.
“That means you, Grover,” Percy teased.
The satyr just about choked on the napkin he was eating. “M-me? Dance or something to country music? That is not happening. I hate country.”
I frowned. “How are we friends? It’s a hoedown so there’s gonna be square dancing. I know how to do that but I’ll need a partner.”
“I’ll do it,” Nico volunteered pretty quickly. “Just tell me what I have to do.”
I smiled and I felt my face grow a little hot. “Thanks. It’s actually not that hard. When we’re done eating I’ll show you some steps.”
His smile was so stunning that I melted but the moment was ruined by the arrival of the waitress. “Welcome to Busters. Can I interest you kids in the Hale Special?”
“Hale?” Percy said before I could wrap my brain around the fact that they had a special named after my family.
“Oh yes,” the older woman gushed. “The Hales are practically royalty around here. John and Georgette own the aquaplex. They had a daughter who was going to be a famous swimmer but the poor dear had an accident before she could show the world her talent. John and Georgette come in all the time but poor Amara moved away years ago.” She studied me for a moment. “You know, you look a bit like her.”
My toes tingled and I had the nasty urge to pull out my sword. “Wonder why,” I snapped. I pushed out my seat way harder than necessary. “I’m not really hungry, guys. You all eat and I’ll meet up with you in a bit. I just need some air.”
I stormed out of the restaurant and walked aimlessly through the night for a minute. I hated that my eyes were watery and my breath was coming in short gasps. I hated that when I was pissed the waterworks started.
“Hey, Naida, are you okay?” Nico asked.
I quickly wiped my eyes. “You followed me? Is everyone coming to see me fall apart?”
“No, the others are still at the diner. I told them to give you a minute and that I’d check on you. So are you okay?”
I started to nod but thought better of it. I’d already told Nico more about my life than I’d ever told anyone and he’d already seen me cry. “That lady was talking about my mom. That accident she mentioned was me.”
He put his arm around my shoulder. “Naida, you’re not an accident. Now why don’t you start showing me some of those dance moves you were talking about?”
I surprised myself by smiling. “I’d love to,” I started. Before I could even show him a do sa do, someone was calling my name. I spun around and found myself face-to-face with a tall sixteen-year-old boy with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a perfect smile. “Dallas?” I gasped.
“Hey, babe. Why didn’t you tell me you were in town?” He scooped me up and kissed me hard. From the corner of my eye I could see Nico’s face looking on in shock. I quickly pushed the boy away and made a show of wiping off my mouth with my sleeve.
“Don’t do that again or I’ll have to kill you.”
“Aww, don’t be like that Naida. I’ve missed you. That Taylor Swift song Mine reminds me of you. I never even listened to her music before you and now I’m hooked.”
I glared at him. “You know, some of her songs remind me of you, too. Let’s see: Picture to Burn, Should’ve Said No, We Are Never Getting Back Together… We only dated a few weeks while I was here and you dumped me. You couldn’t even handle being with me for a month. Now walk away before I do something that you’ll regret, Dallas.”
“Naida-“
“She said leave,” Nico insisted. I shot him a grateful smile. Dallas shot Nico a look but backed away. I guess that Nico could be a bit scary, you know being a son of Hades and all. I let out a sigh when he was gone.
“Ex-boyfriend?”
“Sorta. I think I’d rather take on a monster right now. And I kind of wish celestial bronze could do damage on stupid exes.”
Nico gave me a half smile. “Well, I’m sure you’ll find a monster sooner or later. Now let’s get back to the others before someone else pisses you off. It won’t help out quest at all if you end up locked up or something.”
I giggled. So being in Noble sucked. But being with Nico made it at least bearable.

Notes

um not much to say today except thank you to all my readers, especially tmcar1 and Evil espresso drinks