Squeals were coming from Piper as she ran over to Annabeth. Like a tornado, Piper rushed in Calypso on her heels and swept Annabeth away. I looked confusedly at the place Annabeth was and where she was taken. Debating whether I should follow or not.

I shrugged my shoulders; she'll be fine. Just then, Jason and Leo came rushing in. Thankfully they didn't drag me off anywhere; they just stopped in front of me.

"Um, do you know what that was about?" I asked them, and they both gave me incredulous looks.

"Dude, prom is in three days, well, if you don't count Friday," Leo said exasperatedly. Jason just nodded like this statement answered my question. I waved my hand in a go on gesture. Jason sighed.

"They're dragging Annabeth to go prom dress shopping," he clarified. My mouth formed an O as I suddenly understood.

"Yea, Piper, and Calypso are dragging Thalia and Reyna along. Rachel said she would meet them there," Leo explained. I didn't really need to know their plans for today but ok. I shrugged.

"Hey um, so we don't really have any experience with proms, and if I show up in a t-shirt and jeans, I'm sure that Calypso would kill me. Do you have someone who could help us?" Leo asked, putting his hands in a prayer-like gesture towards me. I chuckled. Mom would be all over this. Especially since she had not one but two others coming for a formal dress up.

I groaned, formal dress up. "Um, yea, my mom, she loves torturing me with this stuff."

Jason and Leo's faces lit up, and they fist-bumped. "Awesome, I'll go grab Nico. Will said that he already had everything all ready. But I think he just wants to be surprised when he sees Nico." Leo said quickly, already running off in the direction he came.

"So um, I know it's sudden, but can we come over now? I guess we kind of left that out," Jason said sheepishly. I chuckled at his embarrassment and nodded. "Yea, I think it's ok. I'll text her real fast."

I whipped out my phone and explained the situation to my mom. I got a quick confirmation text back, but I knew she was jumping up and down in excitement. She could never get me to go to any of these events, so I bet she's thanking her lucky stars that Annabeth wants to go to prom.

Leo bounded down the hall towards us, pulling a grumpy Nico. Nico was muttering about pulling him away from his safe haven, and Leo was just grinning.

"Alright, let's go," he shouted.

"Wait, do we have a car?" I asked. Not that I minded walking, but I wasn't sure if we did or not.

"Yea, I have one," Jason answered, shrugging. I nodded and followed him to the truck parked on the side of the driveway. I got shotgun because I was the GPS. I don't think that earned me any brownie points with Leo.

I told the directions to Jason as he drove the speed limit. Nico was cursing Leo under his breath as Leo continued making puns about anything and everything. Eventually, Nico snapped, and they wrestled in the back seat, well as best you could with seat belts on. Thankfully after a few minutes of driving, we arrived at my house.

I got out and walked to the front door. Just as I tried to put my key in the lock, it swung open to show my mom. She looked way too excited about this. She grinned evilly at me, and I gulped. All those years I wouldn't let her put me in anything nicer than a black pair of jeans and a button-up came back to bite me.

The other three boys filed into my house. It seemed a lot less gloomy with the lights on. Since Gabe wasn't here, my mom was free to move things around and decorate with more color. It was almost pleasant walking in as the smell of cookies wafted through the air. Also, since my mom quit her night job, she was home more often.

"Now I know that prom is on Friday, but it's better to be early with your suits," Mom explained as she had us all sit down on the couch as she looked at each of us. Nodding and muttering to herself every so often.

Since she had a lot of different part-time jobs, she was basically a jack of all trades. Meaning she knew what she was talking about when she wanted to put Leo in a black suit with a white button-up and Jason in a Navy blue suit with a grey button up.

The guys soon realized the horror of formal dress up as my mom dragged us out of the house and into her jeep. Nico luckily got shotgun while Jason, Leo, and I were stuck in the backseat, all squished together. My mom quickly drove us to the mall.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to get out of the squished backseat or get out and go through the torture of picking out a suit. Unfortunately, I didn't get to choose.

Mom dragged us through the mall to the suit place and immediately started talking to an associate. They seemed to hit it off as they started talking excitedly. The associate, whose name is Allison, came up to each of us and gave us a once over.

She wrote some notes on her board and then turned back to Sally. They whispered to each other as we stood there awkwardly. It was already awkward that we were getting our physiques examined by my mom, but now we had another lady doing the same.

Thankfully they stopped staring and whispering and motioned for us to follow. We all complied with Jason going first, then Leo, Nico, and then me. We walked through rows of button-ups, suit jackets, slacks, and ties.

Since Jason was in front, he went first. The rest of us were told to sit in front of the fitting rooms. Leo fiddled with a Rubix cube that came from nowhere, and Nico twisted his skull ring, staring off into space. I just laid there staring at the ceiling going over the popcorn texture patterns in the roof.

After what felt like forever, Jason came out of the fitting room. Now I didn't see him walk in, but that might have been because of my lack of observation.

Anyway, he came out wearing this nice postman blue suit jacket with matching slacks. Under the jacket was a baby blue button-up with sleek black shoes, like those dangerous people wear. I have no idea what they're called. You know what a guy in a suit looks like? You know what they wear on their feet? Yea those shoes, they weren't unique, but they were sleek, and I felt that I would see my reflection if I looked close enough. I don't know when or how, but Allison and mom were there. They must've come over when Jason went in.

They rushed over to him and started muttering to each other. I saw Jason's face heat up as they continued commenting on the suit. I'm sure they mentioned how it looked on him and where it needed adjusting.

Eventually, they stepped away and let Jason go back into the fitting room. He came back out with a washed-out gray button-up and the same suit and shoes on. Think gray, but then dull it down with white so much it's barely noticeable. But if you put it on a white background, you would know it was gray. That is the color his button-up was.

After more muttering and blushing, they let him go, and he came out in his casual wear. Leo was laughing the whole time, clutching his stomach each time Jason stiffened up. Now Jason had an evil smirk on his face as he stood in front of Leo.

"Your turn," he smirked and then motioned for Leo to get up. Leo didn't have time since Allison pushed past Jason and dragged Leo into the sea of formal wear. His cries eventually died out, but I wasn't worried. People in these places tend to torture their customers before killing them.

Jason sat down, happy his turn was over and ready for revenge. I went back to staring at the ceiling when I heard yelps. I snapped my head down to see Leo screeching as he ran with clothes on his arms and Allison following him.

"Wait! Take this one too!" she screeched over Leo's screaming. Allison gave up her chase begrudgingly when he slammed and locked the door behind him. Huffing, she went over to where Sally was looking through suit jackets.

Jason laughed evilly and rubbed his hands together, ready for Leo's humiliation.

After around half a century, Leo came out decked out in a burgundy suit jacket and slacks, brown suit shoes like the ones Jason was wearing, just a dark oak brown. The button-up was a washed-out orange. He already looked extremely uncomfortable before the ladies swarmed him.

My mom and Allison were immediately trying to make sure everything fit nice, but as soon as he saw them approach, he tried to run. Tried.

They were on him in seconds, and he was subjected to their muttering and embarrassing comments. Jason wasn't even trying to hide his amusement, and Leo looked like he wanted to die.

Every time they moved an article of clothing, he would tense up and try to escape; no such opening existed for Leo. They were more formidable than anything he had to deal with before. After a few strokes of the pen on Allison's clipboard, they let him return to the fitting room.

The next thirty minutes consisted of Leo coming out with a white, beige, gold, and black button-up. I didn't know which one they would choose, but in the end, Allison shoved one last button up at him. Leo's face contorted in horror.

"No way am I wearing that," he said stubbornly. Allison just shrugged and quickly pulled Leo's suit jacket off. When he realized what she was doing and that he would fail to prevent it, he snatched the shirt from her and rushed into the changing room.

A few minutes later, he came out in a pale pink button-up and shrugged on his burgundy suit jacket. Then Allison examined it and let him go.

As soon as Leo came out in regular clothes, he pushed Nico off his seat on a chair and sat down. Jason came over to him and relentlessly teased him. The two went back and forth as Nico was led away by Mom.

As he walked away, I heard him mutter, "You just gotta let them do what they want; they just take longer if you resist, idiot." With that, he disappeared into the store. No screams, no yelling. It was peaceful, and honestly, I was terrified. The silence is much scarier than the screams.

Nico came back extremely fast compared to the previous two, holding a few button-ups and suit essentials.

He slipped into the changing room and quickly came out. You could tell he wanted this over with as soon as possible.

His suit jacket and pants were pitch black, his shoes matching, and his button-up was a pristine white. He looked like one of those stereotypical suit wearer people. Except he wasn't 6 foot 7, ripped and modeled for magazines.

My mom looked around at Nico, who shifted nervously, he wasn't flushed, and he didn't really complain, so that Leo couldn't get any dirt on him. Allison came over after a few minutes and spoke with my mom. That was when Nico started getting flustered. However, his session was short, and he didn't need his collar fixed like Leo did.

He came back out quickly with a pale yellow dress shirt. I saw Leo grin as he typed away on his phone. Then with a mischievous smirk, he stood and whispered something into Allison's ear. A smile erupted on her face, and she quickly ushered Nico into the dressing room. Telling him to change back into his casual clothes.

"What'd you say?" I whispered to Leo.

"Oh, I just showed her the picture of Will's suit," he said, smiling. When I asked to see, he shook his head, stating that it was confidential. I shrugged, and I'd see it on Friday anyway.

Then Nico came out, and that was when my world stopped. Shit, it was my turn.

They say to leave the best for last, but I think that's incorrect. People are bored, evil, and done when they get to the end. Of course, in my case, both women were warmed up and ready for the next victim. So no, it wasn't best for last. I groaned and stood up, letting Nico take my chair.

I was dragged through numerous aisles. Every aisle, there was the clinking of hangers as my mom or Allison held it against my chest or waist to see how it would look. I decided to take Nico's approach and comply with everything. However, I still had to carry all the items they threw at me. After probably the hundredth aisle, my mom placed a pair of shoes on my stack I was holding, and Allison led me to the changing rooms.

Getting dressed in my stormy gray slacks, I threw on my turquoise button up. Sliding on my matching gray jacket, I kicked off my sneakers. I put on my black suit wearer shoes or whatever they're called and walked out.

My mom was in front of me in seconds and quickly adjusted my collar and buttoned up my collared shirt to my neck. Then Allison came over and circled me. At some point, I was poked in the side, and my shirt was lifted a bit to see how my pants fit around my waist. There were mutterings of "it's too tight here" or "Might need to make an adjustment" I'll spare the gory details.

After scowling at Leo and Jason for around fifteen minutes, I retreated to the changing room. I slipped on a whitewashed neon green button-up, walked out, and repeated the process.

After a black, white, orange, and purple button-up, I was allowed to change into my casual clothing. I felt freedom as I walked out of the changing room. Happy to get out of this hellhole.

"Alright, boys, we have decided on the button-ups. Obviously, the suit jackets, slacks, and shoes were fine. Without further adieu, here are the final results," Allison spoke as she turned a small IPad towards us. She swiped over to show the first image, labeled Jason. It was his postman blue suit with a baby blue button-up, there was a section for the tie on the photo, but it was labeled undecided.

She swiped to the next one; Leo's burgundy suit was paired with a gold collared shirt with an undecided tie. Nico's was simply his pitch-black suit with the white button-up; however, his tie was decided a yellow tie was placed against the white collared shirt in his photo.

"Not to worry, since you have your tie, we'll get it all sized up after," Allison assured him. Though I don't think he was too worried about it.

My suit was the last one, the stormy gray set with a black button-up. I nodded, trusting their judgment much more than my own. My mom and Allison looked giddily at each other and then dragged Nico to the tie section.

Jason, Leo, and I decided to wait around by the front door. I twiddled my thumbs as Leo solved his Rubix cube over and over again. Jason was texting when his face paled. He muttered a few curses, and Leo immediately bounded over to him to see what the issue was. Grinning, Leo raised his hands to cup around his mouth.

After realizing what he was doing, Jason jumped up to stop him when Leo shouted, "Jason knows what color Piper's dress is!"

Jason cursed Leo as Allison appeared beside him. "Oh, is that so? Let me see! Let me see!". Jason reluctantly let her see his phone as she looked over the photo. I stayed seated, the color remaining unknown to me.

Just then, Leo's phone pinged. Now it was Jason's turn to grin evilly, and Leo's to pale. Allison's head whipped around and blinked at Leo, like an owl. He shakily took his phone out of his pocket and opened up his messages. Sighing in defeat, he showed his phone to Allison.

Grinning like a maniac, she linked her arms with Jason's and Leo's and skipped towards the tie section. Pulling them along. I sighed, praying for their safe return and thanking the gods I didn't get a text.

I spoke too soon.

My phone pinged, and I swear the guy walking out of the Jimmy Johns heard it across the mall. Scaring me, shitless Allison popped up next to me. I took out my phone and looked at the message, opening it up. Annabeth had sent me a photo of a color. Whether it was her actual dress or just a picture of a color, I had no idea. It was a pretty royal blue, and I wondered what kind of dress Annabeth got.

I was shaken out of my thoughts when Allison pulled me to my feet and dragged me through the aisles to the tie section where my mom was suffocating Leo with a black tie.

Ok, that was a little dramatic, but with the way Leo was struggling, you would assume she was trying to kill him. Jason was sitting off to the side with at least seven ties with the same shade of hot pink around him. He looked as if the soul was taken from his body, and I shivered.

I spotted Nico in the corner with a yellow tie in his hand. He looked as if he was lost in thought. Well, at least he didn't look more dead.

Allison dragged me in front of the blue tie selection and put me to the task of looking for any ties that I liked that were the same shade as the color Annaebth sent me. Then she scurried off to Jason's soulless body.

I looked over the blue ties that ranged from grayish-blue to neon turquoise to navy, almost black. I finally found the section of royal blue ties and scanned over them. There weren't any patterns in the photo that Annabeth sent me, so I decided to go solid. Also, I don't even know how much of a scolding I would get if I chose the tie with starfish on it. Though I was tempted to choose it.

I decided on two solid blue ties; one was a tad bit darker than the other, a spotted tie with navy blue tiny dots, and a turquoise striped tie. I had to add some variety, or else this whole tie selection thing would be boring.

I debated for three whole minutes, and when my mom finally decided with Leo on a tie and called for me, I added the starfish tie to my tie pile.

When my mom saw it, she scowled playfully at me and placed it to the side. Then she started with the striped tie. She muttered something about how we should change back into our suits but continued. I was glad she didn't make us change back into them. After the tying and untying of the four ties, mom was torn between the two solids.

"Mom, they're just ties. They aren't even that different of a shade!" I said, trying to relieve whatever had her mind at war with itself. She looked at me and then demanded to see the photo Annabeth sent. I pulled it up, and she decided on the brighter one.

Finally, we all stood up and went to the cash register. Jason, Leo, Nico, and I tried paying. Tried. Mom wouldn't take our money or allow us to give it to Allison. Instead, she handed over her credit card and paid. Saying something about a friend discount. Which I highly doubted existed.

The suits were going to be tailored a bit, so they were staying in the shop. We left our ties and shoes as well because why not keep the set together. It was around 7 pm when we exited the store.

Leo ran out of the building whooping with joy when he escaped from the shopping. I texted Annabeth that we just finished and were heading to dinner.

"Hey guys, Annabeth wants to know where we're going for dinner. They wanna meet up," I explained to the guys. They all put on thoughtful expressions and then said at the same time.

"Del Taco"

"McDonalds"

"Krispy Kreme"

I looked at my mom for help, but she was too busy chuckling to herself. I groaned; we weren't going to get anywhere. I texted Annabeth, and she replied with Pizza Hut. I shrugged.

"Hey, guys, they decided on Pizza Hut."

Leo groaned, but Jason quickly shut him up with, "Happy girlfriend, happy life."

"That didn't make any fucking sense," Leo nitpicked.

"You understood what I meant, so yes, it did make sense," Jason shot back.

"Let me text Will," Nico said, averting their attention from petty bickering. Nico asked for the address, and I showed him the place Annabeth sent me.