｡𖦹°‧ 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐧' 𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐫𝐥 ⭑°‧꩜ .ᐟ

( 42. 'got that role' )

IT WAS ONE OF THOSE AFTERNOONS where the house was filled with the sound of talking, laughter, and music. the whole group was gathered at ariella's place, sprawled out in the living room like a big, mismatched family. leah, dior, and blake were all sitting on the floor playing mario kart, each one competing for first place. leena, aryan and walker were on the couch, the two of them talking quietly about the next big event coming up for his show. And then there was ariella, who was curled up in the armchair, scrolling through her phone absentmindedly.

her eyes flickered over her messages before landing on the calendar notification reminding her of her upcoming auditions for percy jackson. she smiled to herself. It felt like forever ago that she'd auditioned for the role of thalia, and although she hadn't heard anything since, she couldn't help but wonder what was going on behind the scenes. what if she didn't get it? or worse, what if they just hadn't decided yet?

she sighed, pushing the thoughts to the back of her mind. "ari, you good?" Blake called from the floor, throwing a playful glance over at her. "you look like you're deep in thought, girl."

ariella shook her head and smiled. "yeah, just thinking about stuff."

blake raised an eyebrow. "thinking about walkerrrr?"

ariella shot her a look, smirking. "no," she teased, "i was actually thinking about... how bad I'm going to beat you guys in the next round of mario kart."

leah turned around dramatically, "in your dreams boo."

the banter continued for a few more moments when suddenly, ariella's phone buzzed in her hand. she looked down, expecting a text, but when she saw the name, her heart skipped a beat.

rick riordan.

her breath caught in her throat, and her hands trembled just slightly as she clicked to open the message. it was a zoom invite. the kind of zoom invitation that only came for important things.

"guys... i think i'm gonna throw up," ariella said, her voice barely above a whisper as she looked up from her phone.

walker, leah, dior, and blake immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her, concern on their faces.

"ariella, what is it? are you okay?" blake asked, sitting up straighter.

ariella, still staring at her phone, felt a rush of emotions—excitement, nerves, disbelief. She took a deep breath before reading the message aloud.

"it says, 'hi ms. madison, this is rick riordan. we'd love to have you join us on a zoom call today to discuss the next steps for the role of thalia grace in percy jackson.'"

the room went silent for a moment, the gravity of the words sinking in. then, like a switch had been flipped, everyone erupted into cheers.

"oh my god!" leah yelled, jumping to her feet. "ariella, that's it! this is it!"

"wait, wait," blake said, pulling at her hair in disbelief. "are you serious? like... is this a joke?"

"i don't think so," ariella said, her voice a little breathless. she looked at Walker, who had now stood up from the couch, his gaze focused intently on her.

"are you okay?" he asked, his voice soft but with an undercurrent of concern. His hand instinctively found hers, giving it a gentle squeeze.

ariella nodded, her heart racing. "i think i'm gonna be sick," she muttered, trying to fight back the mix of excitement and nerves that had hit her all at once.

leena, who had been quiet up until now, leaned forward from her spot on the couch. "ariella, are you gonna get on the call?" she asked, her voice filled with awe. "this is huge. you've worked so hard for this."

ariella took a deep breath. "yeah... i'm doing it," she said, trying to steady her nerves. she clicked on the zoom link, and after a few seconds, the screen flickered to life.

rick riordan's face appeared on the screen, smiling warmly as he adjusted his glasses.

"well, hello there, ariella," he said, his voice familiar and comforting. "i'm glad you could join us today. i see you have walker and everyone with you." he laughed looking at walker peaking his head onto the computer.

"hi uncle rickk!" the members of the pjo all shouted at the top of their lungs. 

ariella froze for a moment, staring at him. her idol. the creator of the world she loved, the stories she'd grown up with. he was there, talking to her.

"hi, mr. riordan," she said, her voice shaking slightly. "thank you so much for... for reaching out. i'm... i'm really excited."

rick's smile widened. "call me rick. i wanted to personally thank you for your audition. we've been watching it closely, and we were all really impressed with what you brought to the character of thalia grace."

ariella's breath caught in her throat. impressed. 

"thank you so much," she said, her voice thick with emotion. rick nodded, his eyes twinkling. "well, i'm happy to say that we've made a decision. after a lot of careful thought, we'd love to offer you the part of thalia grace in percy jackson."

ariella's world tilted. she blinked, trying to make sense of what she'd just heard.

"wait... what?" she whispered, barely able to process it.

rick laughed gently, as though trying to ground her. "you've got the role, ariella. we're all very excited to bring you on board."

ariella's heart felt like it was beating in double time. she glanced over at walker, who had been silently watching her this entire time. his eyes were wide with excitement and pride.

"oh my god," ariella breathed, her hand flying to her mouth. "are you... are you serious?"

"i'm absolutely serious," rick confirmed, nodding. "we're so thrilled to have you as part of the family. welcome aboard."

ariella felt like she was floating. she barely registered the excitement in the room as her friends burst into cheers, but then she was aware of walker, who had rushed to her side, wrapping his arms around her. his hug grounded her as the reality of it all began to sink in.

"you did it," walker whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "you're going to be thalia grace."

ariella finally let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "i can't believe this is happening," she whispered back, her voice shaky but filled with happiness.

"i'm so proud of you," walker said, pressing a kiss to her temple.

the room erupted with cheers as blake, leah, dior, and even leena gathered around to hug her. there was laughter and excitement, and ariella felt like her heart might burst from the joy of it all.

as the call ended, ariella's phone began to light up with messages from everyone—her family, her fans, her agent, and of course, her friends. everyone was excited for the girl. ariella had so much excitement that she crashed 30 mins later and fell asleep on the couch.