Percy's POV

"So, food." Piper inquired. "What is for dinner?"

"We could go out." Annabeth offered. "I mean, Percy needs to get used to his social skills and what's a better place to do it than a restaurant?"

"Sounds good, let's go out! Well, after we get Percy some clothes, because... You know." Piper gestured at my outfit and I looked down. White t-shirt, white baggy pants and white boxers under that. They couldn't see that, but still.

"Yeah." I agreed. "Probably. I don't think wearing all white is the new trend."

"Nope." Piper "I think you could probably fit into Jason's clothes for now, just to get you to a store."

"Maybe Frank's. I think Frank's a little bit taller than Jason." Annabeth said, looking between Jason and Frank.

"Yeah, Frank's like an inch or two taller than me." Jason admitted.

"Cool. Frank, mind going to get Percy some clothes?" Annabeth asked.

"Sure." Frank stood and ran into a room off to the side. He came out with a grey t-shirt and some blue jeans.

I took the t-shirt and read the front. "Local Hug Dealer? Does this mean I will have to deal with random people hugging me?" I asked, wrinkling my nose.

They all exchanged weird looks. "No, you won't. There's a bathroom through that door, you can change in there." Annabeth offered.

"Um, thank you..." I walked over over the bathroom and entered, shutting the door behind me. I changed as quickly as I could, but the clothes were a lot smaller than I thought they would be. The shirt was too shirt, almost going up to my belly button. Both of the items of clothing were baggy on my skinny, lean frame.

I stepped out of the bathroom and rubbed the back up my neck. "To small and baggy." I muttered.

"Obviously. We'll go to a store and get you some clothes before we eat. C'mon." Annabeth said, reaching for my hand. I flinched away.

"Um... Sorry..." I murmured.

"Don't be, I wouldn't want to touch anyone if I were in your situation either." Annabeth smiled kindly at me. "Alright, let's go to... Who's style of clothing do you like best? We'll choose a store based off that."

I looked around at all of them. "What kind of store has all of these?" I asked. "Or do they not have that?"

"Guys," Piper looked around at everyone with a serious face. Uh-oh. "We're going to the mall."

"What's a mall?" I asked.

"It has everything! Like, Hot Topic for Nico, the Children's Place for itsy bitsy Hazel, and Macy's or Kole's for pretty much everyone else."

"Sounds about right." Hazel nodded and everyone else laughed.

"I guess Macy's or Koles?" I asked.

"You got it. To the van that- Will no longer hold all of us." Piper's smile dropped. "We need to take two vehicles. Who's gonna ride separate?"

My hand shot in the air like a bullet. No one looked surprised. "Alright, who's gonna drive Percy?" Annabeth asked.

"JASON!" Piper screamed. "I mean, erm," She cleared her throat. "I volunteer Jason."

"Wait what?" Jason asked, looking shocked, "You can't just- Ugh. Alright, I'll drive Percy."

"Yay! Let's go to the mall!" Piper ran out of the apartment, skipping.

Nico's POV

Percy tilted his head to the side slightly. "So... You guys are taking a van and Jason and I are riding in a separate vehicle?"

"I'll go with you guys. I'd rather not be stuck next to Leo again." I spoke up.

"Sounds good to me. Let's go." Annabeth said.

We all stood, grabbing our stuff, and headed to the door. We walked in silence until Percy spoke. "So... Where are we going, exactly?"

"The mall," Piper replied as we all half-ran down the stairs.

"Okay... But what is a mall?" Percy asked. Piper stopped and stared at him.

"You don't know what a mall is," Piper asked, though it sounded more accusing than anything. The almost seven foot tall man shifted nervously.

"Um... I've kinda been chained to a wall for the past twelve years of my life," Percy reminded her.

"But- They had malls when he was out of the lab!" Piper exclaimed.

"He was six," Annabeth added, "he probably doesn't remember much."

Piper frowned. "Please tell me he knows what McDonalds is."

Everyone looked at Percy, who's face went red when he shook his head no. "I don't really remember anything but a single beach trip with my mom from before I was sent to the lab, then being sent away. I honestly don't even know what she looks like."

Everyone was silent for a little while. "Well, we have to show you what everything is then!" Piper exclaimed, "c'mon! We can't do it in one night, but we can try! Starting with a mall and McDonalds!"

So we did. We went to McDonalds first, which was an interesting experience. Percy looked 100% confused at the food once we got it, and the ordering process. People stared at him as we walked through the fast food place, but I glared at them and they looked away. One little kid pointed at him and yelled "it's a giant mommy! Look!" while the mother frantically apologized to the overwhelmed Percy.

Once we finally got a table, away from everyone, and sat down, Percy said "this sucks."

"What does? People staring at you?" Piper asked.

"Well duh," Annabeth said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh shush Annabae, any who, you'll get used to it eventually."

"I'm not even used to people, but okay," Percy muttered.

"It'll be alright Percy," Annabeth assured her, "and Piper, never call me that again."

"What? Annabae?" Piper teased. Percy looked confused but didn't question it.

"You gonna eat? You're skinnier than Nico, and that's not good, you have to eat."

"Um..." Percy bit his bottom lip nervously, looking down at his meal. "It smells like a plastic factory and salt."

Piper laughed. "That's the point," she said, inhaling like ten fries at once. Percy wrinkled his nose and hesitantly ate a single fry. 

"Salty."

"What about Nico?" Will asked, looking up from his salad.

I smacked the back of his head, causing him to laugh. Percy stilled looked very confused but picked apart his burger, eating the vegetables off of it before putting it back together. "I knew Will should have ordered for Percy," Annabeth muttered, sending a glare in Pipers direction.

"What? I figured he'd like it," Piper pouted.

"No no, it's fine! This is much better than the flavorless mush they fed. I'm pretty sure it was poisoned in some way," Percy said thoughtfully.

"That's not good," Piper said, breaking the slightly awkward silence that had followed. "Now are we going to go to the mall or what?"

Author's Note

1123 words! Yay!