August 2013

"Sold! To Jake Mason for fourteen-hundred dollars!"

Annabeth snorted. "That dresser wasn't even near that value, stupid man. It was worth maybe 700. Maybe."

Piper looked around to the other auctions going on at the moment, searching for anything that might go with the design of the house that she and Annabeth were creating. Annabeth was an aspiring architect, and Piper a learning home designer. Problem was, in the small city of New Rome there wasn't much of a market for new houses. So for now, they were fixing up the old until they had enough money to start from scratch.

The noise of the auction was starting to get to Piper's head, and she just wanted to go home. Looking at the pizza booth situated near another auction site, she realized that she was hungry too. "Annabeth? Can I go get something to eat?"

"Yeah, I'll be over at Auction 4 to see if I can't get that wood floor for a good price. Call either me or Percy if you need us or find something good," Annabeth said, already walking over to the other auction spot.

Piper smiled in victory and pulled out her wallet as she walked to her destination. The smell of the pizza filled the hot summer afternoon air as she got closer and her stomach growled. Auctioneers were calling out in that annoying fast voice of theirs, and Piper absentmindedly wondered if she'd be able to do that if she wanted.

She approached the pizza booth and spoke to the server, who she recognized from school as Will Solace. He had sun-kissed blonde hair and light blue eyes, and was considered one of the best looking guys in school. His family owned one of the biggest pizzerias in New Rome and was especially famous for using solar power as their only energy source, hence the panels on top of the booth. "Hey, can I have a slice of cheese pizza?"

"I don't know, can you?" Will responded back jokingly as he slid a piece onto a white paper plate. "Two dollars will be your total, unless you'd like a piece of this pepperoni pizza for half price…"

Piper smiled apologetically and handed him the money. "Sorry, I'm vegetarian. Sounds good though," she said, picking up her plate.

Will shrugged. "No biggie. See you around?"

"Eww! Are you seriously talking to Dumpster Queen, Will?"

Piper looked over to the hated voice who seemed to make sure to ruin her life. Drew Tanaka, the Queen Bee of the high school. Her family owned a modeling company back in Asia, which was obvious from the expensive name brands she proudly flashed everyday. For some reason that was unknown, Drew was set on making Piper's life hell.

"Hello, Drew," Piper said coolly, trying to keep her aura indifferent.

Drew narrowed her brown eyes. "Wow, what a loser. Hon, why don't you trade those ugly shorts in for something that covers those hideous legs?"

Piper subconsciously looked down at her shorts, which were just normal jean shorts with a few rips here and there. "Come on, Drew. Can't you just leave her alone for a day or so?" Will pleaded.

"It's fine. I don't need you to fight my battles. Besides, Drew's just jealous," Piper snapped, walking away from the booth.

Behind her, she could hear Drew laugh incredulously. "Me, Drew Tanaka, jealous of her? Did you hear that, Will? She just needs to go back to the plantation and do a rain dance or something. Then maybe we'll get out of this drought!"

Piper rolled her eyes and continued walking. Drew wouldn't be talking like that if she knew who her father was. But Piper couldn't, and wouldn't, play that card. She doubted that Tristan McLean even remembered that he had a daughter. Piper had been under Annabeth and Percy's custody so long that she basically called them her real parents.

That didn't stop the kids from school from making fun of her Native American heritage. Piper didn't see it as a big deal. They lived in the Midwest, so they were the foreigners, not her. Her ancestors were here first!

And because no one wanted to get on Drew's bad side and become an outcast, Piper had no friends. Well, no outright let's-go-hang-out-in-public-friends. Lacy and Mitchell were nice to her when Drew's influence wasn't around, and that was about all. Piper had learned to be friends with Annabeth's friends, but they were older. She had no one her age to talk to and hang out with. So that meant no boyfriends or any love romance interests.

Pushing the sour thoughts from her mind, Piper looked up at the auction she had wondered to. Auction 2, which sold complementary antique furniture. Up front was an old oak trunk, refurbished and shining. A group of people were furiously bidding on it.

"150!"

"200!"

"255 and let that be the end of it!"

It went on like this for a few moments and Piper watched in interest until the price was up to six-hundred. "650 and that's the highest I'll go!" the larger woman hollered.

An old man smiled in victory, the other competitors long gone as the price had risen. "Then 700 dollars it is!"

The woman said nothing and instead walked away to find another auction. The auctioneer yelled out the final price and the next item was brought to the floor as the old man went to go pay for his prize.

Upon seeing it, Piper fell in love. It was a weathered, dirty, old, mahogany peeled writing desk. It was curved and carved in careful places, but it would take a real designer to see its beauty. Nobody would want something that destroyed and ruined. It would take a lot of work to get it back to useable, but Piper was willing to do it.

She rushed to the front of the crowd, dumping her leftover pizza in a nearby garbage and pulling out her wallet. "50! I'll give 50!"

The auctioneer looked at her in surprise, like he never expected someone to bid so quickly. In truth, Piper didn't know why she wanted this desk so bad. She just felt a pull or connection to it that she couldn't explain. "Alright, any more than 50?"

"75!" a person in the crowd called.

"100!" Piper fought back. She couldn't let anyone out bid her.

Drew Tanaka emerged from the crowd, a sneer on her face. "Hon, how about 200? Nobody wants welfare money, Dumpster Queen."

Piper felt a bitter anger rise in her chest. Why did Drew think that she could take everything away from her? "300!" she told the auctioneer.

"Easy, 500." Drew said loudly.

Now she was panicking. Piper had to have this desk and she couldn't let Drew of all people keep her from it. "700, let's not get ridiculous, Drew."

"Okay then. 900!"

Piper nervously counted the money she had. Annabeth was going to kill her if she spent it all, but she felt like she didn't really have a choice. "One thousand dollars!" she yelled, feeling like a total fool.

Drew smiled, and Piper realized that she had played right into Drew's trap. "I suppose you'll just have to wait until the next government check comes out, because now you have a very overly paid desk in your possession. Oh look, it appears to look like it came from the dumpster too, just like you!" Drew said cheerfully, walking away like a model.

"Sold, for 1,000 dollars!" the auctioneer called out with a hint of pity in his voice.

Piper numbly walked over to pay for the desk, her hands shaking as she handed over the money and told them where to load it. After she had finished speaking with them, Piper just sat on the bench and blankly stared at the people passing by, thinking of how much trouble she was going to get into with Annabeth and Percy.

See, getting in trouble with Annabeth was scary. Sometimes, she had a kitchen knife in her hand, and Piper had seen that in action one time when Percy had accidentally wrecked her car into the garage. But most of the time, she gave a lecture. And it wasn't the everyday scream and yell lecture, no, it was worse. It was just the plain disappointment in her voice that made Piper feel even more guilty after she did something wrong.

Piper's phone started to vibrate in her pocket, and Piper hesitantly answered it. "Yeah?"

"We're heading out to the pickup. Are you ready?" Percy asked through the phone.

"I'm coming. Be there in a moment, I'm just outside the parking lot," Piper said, feeling the anxiety start to build as she realized that she would have to explain in less than a minute.

Not knowing whether to walk slow or fast, she forced herself to find the pickup. If she walked too slow, Annabeth would be even more upset about the wait. Piper might as well as get it over. She turned down row four and looked ahead to Percy's blue pickup, her writing desk sitting proudly in the back.

Piper almost laughed remembering when they had decided to buy that pickup. There had been two, similar in price, miles, and quality, but different in color. One had been grey, the other blue. Annabeth had wanted the grey one, but Percy wanted the blue one (Piper swore he had an obsession with the color blue). After about a week of pointless arguing, Annabeth had given up and let Percy get the blue one. Not like Annabeth would admit that she actually lost or anything though.

Piper thought about attempting to slide by and get inside the truck, but Annabeth was waiting by the back, tapping her fingers on the tailgate while Percy gave her the sympathetic You're-going-to-get-it look.

"I can explain," Piper tried, almost feeling the sweat drip from her forehead.

Annabeth crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "I'm waiting," she said dangerously.

Piper shifted nervously. "After I got pizza I stopped and watched the auction for a few minutes until that particular one ended. But then they brought this out and…Well, Annabeth, can't you see the beauty in it? I couldn't resist. It's an antique and I can feel like it has a history, its own story. I don't know why, I just had to have it. Like a connection or something."

"How much?" Annabeth asked, narrowing her grey eyes.

"What?"

Annabeth returned her hand to the tailgate. "Piper, how much did you buy it for?"

"One-thousand," Piper said quietly with shame in her voice.

Annabeth sighed, walked to the passenger side, got in, and shut the door. Piper decided to try Percy. "Percy, I had to prove myself. Drew led me right into her stupid trap and I was dumb not to realize it. I'm just tired of her putting me down all the time!"

Percy walked over with Piper to the driver side. "That's who you were bidding against? I was wondering what idiot drove you up so high. It's still ridiculous that you took the bait though. I'm not going to punish you, I've done plenty of stupider things before. It's Annabeth you'll have to deal with," he said, then opened the door for Piper to slide in.

Piper would've rather walked home than sit right next to Annabeth in the front of the pickup, but she didn't think that she had much of a choice. Percy closed the door and started backing out of the parking lot and driving home. After a few minutes of agonizing silence, Annabeth spoke.

"You'll get that money back. It was supposed to go towards your college fund, not wasted on an old desk. You will get a job before September, you hear?" Annabeth said, not looking away from the window.

Piper nodded. "Yes, Annabeth," she said respectfully, glad that Annabeth wasn't looking at her for once.

"How are you going to fix up that desk?" Percy asked, probably to break the tension and redirect the conversation.

"I want to return it to its original color and everything. Just like it was when it was brand-new," Piper answered with surprising enthusiasm. She almost sounded like Annabeth when she talked about becoming an actual architect.

They pulled into their driveway in a small house on the edge of town. It was a white, one story, cottage-like house that had been one of the first that Annabeth had ever fixed up. The yard was well kept and a trail of little yard lanterns lit the way up the sidewalk. It wasn't much, but it was home to Piper. Besides, Annabeth and Percy couldn't afford to have much more, with Percy's job as the high school swimming coach the only reliable source of income. Annabeth could only get a job when she was needed, and there wasn't always a constant demand for an architect.

Annabeth was the first to jump out, and soon Piper and Percy followed. "Just put this flooring in the garden shed and I'll bring it over to the house I'm working on tomorrow morning. Piper, where do you want your desk?"

"My room," Piper responded immediately. "It should fit beside my bed in front of the window. I'll help load it into there," she offered.

Annabeth waved her off. "No, Percy and I can get it. Just go get the spot ready for it," she dismissed.

Piper nodded, put a few pieces of the flooring into the shed, and walked into the house. Piper reached around the corner and flipped the lights on, realizing that Percy had forgotten to turn off the T.V. The living room was clean, save for a soda can and a few candy wrappers. Annabeth had spent a lot of time fixing up this house, which was evident from the carefully crafted trim and paint.

Piper walked down the short hall and stopped at the door to the right. She opened it to reveal her small, dark red room. Her unmade bed sat in the corner against the wall, and her dresser on the opposite wall. A few scattered clothes littered the floor, as well as some homework and spare pencils, and Piper made sure to clean those up before Percy and Annabeth came in with her desk.

Upon hearing noise at the front door, Piper rushed over to help get her precious desk down the hall. After several minutes of rearranging, flipping, and knocking a few things down, the desk was beautifully sitting in front of Piper's window.

"Thanks," Piper said gratefully as Annabeth closed the bedroom door, leaving Piper alone in her room.

Piper jumped to it, examining every beautiful detail about the desk. In some places, the wood was cracked and the stain long peeled away. But Piper could tell the original color was a grand mahogany. Piper pulled out every drawer and looked around at the problems in there. There was no metal pieces, the drawers slid in and slid out like normal without any help. Piper reached inside the first one to feel any warped wood, and there wasn't. She did that on the second too, and then reached into the third.

At the far back in the corner, Piper's fingers brushed against something thin, like paper. Intrigued, Piper used her phone as light to see inside. Just a corner of a piece of parchment was sticking out, so small it was hardly noticeable just by looking. Piper once again reached in their and began to pry it out.

After a few broken nails and a bunch of slivers, Piper was victorious. She pulled the worn paper out an examined it in excitement.

On the front, in beautiful, curved writing, was this: To My Loving Equal, August 1939.

So here is my brand new story, which I couldn't wait to publish! I am really excited for this story, I have so much planned and I hope you guys will love it as much as I do. It's not evident now, but this story will have a little different format.

Well, thank you for future reviews, follows, and favorites! I wouldn't be here without you!