Don't you Dare!

The day Percy runs into her is the day his life takes a dramatic turn for the weird.

That's not to say it was normal before; not at all. But when you're Percy Jackson and you're in high school and you've got Leo Valdez for a friend, you just kind of get used to a modicum of not-normal; until it becomes the new normal. It's quite relaxing; really, in the sense that very little can still catch you off guard or through you for a loop.

But it also means that when something – or someone – even more strange happens, you're just bound to take notice, because that is quite an impressive feat to pull off.

Rachel Elisabeth Dare falls into this category. Which, considering, really is the wrong way to put it: More like she jumped headfirst into it from a twenty storey building; willingly; and took everyone around her right with her in the process. And now that he's met her, that includes Percy Jackson as well.

And yes; because he is Percy, he quite literally runs into her. At full speed and with an armful of books, no less.

"Ooofff!"

It has been a somewhat average day up to this point, perhaps a little worse than usual. Percy's woken up late and had to hurry to make first period in time, and he looks like it, too. Math has passed in a flash, and he still isn't really awake yet. Then the contents of his locker – mainly books – fell out when he tried to open the bloody thing, at which point and after some cursing he remembered that all those books should have been returned by yesterday. And all that was before lunch break even started.

And now he's here. One moment he was on his way to the library, balancing his lent volumes in a precarious tower and not really seeing where he was going, and then he is suddenly on his bottom, with said volumes strewn around him and a dazed girl sitting opposite him, rubbing her forehead and staring at him accusingly. Giggles from the other students erupt around them. More than likely some embarrassing pictures are also being taken.

Meet Percy Jackson; high schooler and profound collector of awkward situations.

"Sorry!" he apologizes in the direction of the girl. Distractedly, he notes that her hair is red as the sunset. His cheeks must be the same colour, but God knows this isn't the first time he's pulled this stunt, so at least the process of picking everything up while sending apologetic glances to the person he ran over is practiced routine at this point.

What isn't routine, however, is said girl crouching down next to him and collecting the books he hasn't gotten to yet. She doesn't yell or call him names. That's not the normal reaction, and Percy is just a little caught off guard by it.

"Thanks." he mutters.

"You're welcome." the girl replies. She has got a nice voice, Percy notes. By now she's also half-hidden behind five of his dozen-something books, and he isn't entirely sure how they are going to transfer those to him without making another mess. But before he even gets a chance to figure it out, the tower of books asks "Were you going to the library?"

"Uhm, yeah." A book on micro-biology is starting to slip and Percy leans sideways to stop it from doing so. "Hold on; if you could balance those on my arm; that should…"

"Awesome." the tower cuts him off, and then the girl behind it turns around and just walks off.

Percy probably stands in the hallway for a good five seconds before he comes to his senses and sprints after her – as far as you can sprint, in his current predicament. "Hey! You can't just take those! Those are from the library; I have to give them back."

"I figured that part." the girl calls over her shoulder, without slowing down. From this angle, Percy can see that on top of her hair being strikingly red it's also wavy like Rapunzel's, cascading all the way down to her waist. Percy would be inclined to stop and stare if she weren't currently holding his not-property hostage. Then she half-turns to look at him. "I am walking in the right direction for the library, right?" she asks. "I can't really see."

"Uh…" Now that she's pointing it out, Percy realizes that she's right. His destination is just down the corridor and to the left. He stares at her in confusion, the wheels turning in his head. "Uhm, yeah. What are you…? Are you helping me?"

"No; I'm planning to run off with these books that I would never read voluntarily."

Okay, so; nice, helpful and sarcastic. That's three traits he usually doesn't get from people he randomly collides with in the hallways, so Percy decides to just shut up and follow her along. The fact that his pile is starting to get really heavy and that he would like to reach the library sooner rather than later helps with the decision.

His unexpected helper manages to hold open the library door for him, balancing her burden precariously on one knee, and it's around at this point that Percy decides she is going to be his new best friend. He also realizes he is kind of in her debt. Not just for being helpful, but also for not making a scene right there in the hallway, as many others he could name would have done. He'll have to make that up to her.

Now; it's not like he keeps a tally of give help and be given (actually, he likes to think he is a rather helpful person, all in all), but when someone is nice to him he always feels like he should repay them somehow. He blames it on his gentlemanly upbringing (Thanks, mom.)

Given that he has never before met this redhead who is currently shouldering half his burden, he has no idea what form that repayment could take yet. But he'll figure something out. He's good at that kind of stuff.

By then, they have reached the library desk. The junior librarian looks up, recognizes him and rolls her eyes when they set the two piles down in front of her. She's seen Percy enter in similar circumstances more than once, and he likes to think her eye-roll is more endeared than annoyed at this point. Is he a hopeless optimist? Yes, probably.

While she gets to work cataloguing the books, Percy focuses on his helper. He clears his throat. "Thanks. For helping me, I mean."

The redhead turns around, and for the first time Percy can look at her properly. She looks younger than he first thought; perhaps one or two grades below him if he'd have to guess. Her face is all elegant and soft, except around her eyes, where a few crinkles show. Percy isn't sure if they're from laughing or frowning. He supposes she's quite pretty; with her long hair, abundance of freckles and thin lips. He notices she's not wearing any lip gloss. Then those lips quirk in a smile. "You're welcome. A good deed a day, and all that stuff. I've never seen someone in more desperate need of help."

He doesn't feel like denying that statement would be very believable. "Yeah, you caught me at a bad time."

"More like you caught me. That was quite a brisk walk for someone who can't see in front of him." She gives him a quick once over. "You're this Jackson guy, right?"

Oh? "Guilty as charged." he confirms. Then he offers her his hand to shake, because that's the least curtesy for somebody who just spared you a lot of embarrassment. "Jackson. Percy Jackson." he amends, the Bond attitude sneaking its way in without him planning to. He looks her over once again, trying to place her. There's something familiar about her. "Have we met?"

"Rachel." she says, returning the handshake. "And not really. I've seen you at the States' Swimming Championship last year."

Percy nods in understanding, a grin stealing onto his face. The Championship. It's the one thing he is famous for here at Goode's, besides routinely making a fool out of himself. He doesn't recall seeing a mop of red hair as striking as hers among the audience of that tournament, but then again he had finished in first place and he doesn't remember much of anything besides his friends crushing him; lots of screaming; and his cheeks hurting from all the smiling.

"Nice to meet you, Percy Jackson." the redhead adds, noticing his reminiscent grin. Her lips twitch upwards. Okay; the crinkles around her eyes are probably not from frowning. They are really pretty – her eyes, that is. They are bright green, in sharp contrast to her hair. Right now they are open and inviting, but there's a sarcastic sparkle underneath that suggest she might spring a joke on him at any second. It's the look that Percy often sees when he looks in the mirror, and the one that makes teachers immediately identify him as a troublemaker. He is starting to think he might have found a kindred spirit.

"Likewise, Rachel - do you have a last name, too?"

"I do."

"And – would you tell me?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I don't want to."

"Oh. Cool."

"Cool."

Percy isn't entirely sure what they've just agreed on. Rachel Whatever-her-name is looking rather amused by their not-conversation, and he has no clue what to make of that. The name thing aside, she is surprisingly nonchalant about all this, as if she gets run over by a Percy Jackson every day. "You're don't seem to be mad at me for running into you." he ventures carefully.

She gives an uncaring shrug, tossing her hair about in the process. "I'm used to it. People tend to overlook me."

How on earth is that possible? is what's on the tip of Percy's tongue, before he swallows it back down. He does a double-take of the girl in front of him; but the red hair, bright eyes and sarcastic spark are all still there. It's like overlooking a rising sun shining in your face; how would anyone manage that? He is becoming aware that he's staring a little bit and tries to get back on topic. "In my defence; I didn't overlook you. Actually; I couldn't physically see you."

"Which is why I helped you and didn't give you a smack on the gob."

Okay; it's a rather violent rising sun, Percy amends. But he can't help the smile that is tugging at his mouth. She's reminding him of his friend Thalia a little bit, with the directly-to-the point attitude. Except that Thalia would have already found a way to insult him at least three times during the course of this conversation and Rachel has yet to so much as give a frown.

Well; she did say she'd have hit him under different circumstances, but so long as that part remains theoretical he's fine with it. "Is that what you usually do to people you collide with?" he inquires.

"Only the assholes." Rachel corrects.

That's when the memory surfaces, vibrant as day. Percy inclines his head in thought. "Wait a second. I think I remember you. Sixth grade; beginning of the semester. Were you that girl who beat up that big dude twice her size?"

Percy can't be certain, but he thinks there's a little blush creeping up her cheek. She almost looks embarrassed. "Uh, yeah. You remember that?"

"You stabbed him in the eye with a paintbrush!" Percy recalls, impressed. It was one of his more distinct memories from Goode High School; reminiscent of David vs Goliath: All of a sudden; there just was this little girl, jumping on the back of a guy who looked three sizes too big to be in fifth grade and hitting him with a bright blue paintbrush. That was the kind of event one tended to remember.

She gives a tiny little shrug. "I didn't have anything else."

"Okay then. What on earth did that guy do to get on your bad side, and how can I avoid going there?"

That teases a small smile from her lips. "Tried to bully a friend. You're not going to do that, are you?"

Percy shakes his head. "Do I look like I would do that?"

"No. But I've been wrong before."

It's an admission so nonchalant that it almost disguises the seriousness of it. He grimaces involuntarily, and their eyes meet. The exchange happens without words. Percy knows perfectly well what she is talking about, and she knows that he knows. Rachel's features soften. "I don't think I'm wrong now, though." she states, eyes still locked on his. "Besides, helping out somebody in need creates a bond, right? I've read that in Psychology."

"Then it must be true." Percy manages. Damn, her eyes are green. And deep. You could get lost in those if you stared too long, which he is definitely not doing, of course. What he does want to do is keep talking to her though, because – he's not really sure, to be honest. Maybe because it's so easy to do; or because she for some reason seems to care about his opinion. Or because of the cute way she's inclining her head, looking at him as if she's waiting for something. "Hey; do you want to be my friend?" he blurts out suddenly.

"Yes."

"Oh." Percy falters for a second. "That was easy."

"Don't get used to it." Rachel smirks. "My friends tell me I'm a pain in the ass."

"Funny. I've heard something similar from mine. Don't know where they get that from."

"I'm sure there's a reason." she states without any inflection at all. Then the sarcasm jumps back in and she smiles. "Looks like we fit together, friend."

"Awesome."

"Yep."

The librarian is giving them a weird look; probably because they've been standing there for a rather long time without conforming to the silence rule in the slightest. They've probably strained her patience enough for today, so Percy gestures for his new friend to continue the conversation outside. There's a little shuffle as they both try to exit the door first at the same time, and Rachel sends an annoyed huff his way once they've finally figured it out. He replies in kind and sticks his tongue out for good measure. Because, you know; grown up high schoolers.

"Rachel Dare."

It comes out so quietly that Percy almost misses it. Almost. He turns back to her, recognizing the name. The warmth the conversation had a moment ago seems to evaporate. "Like, Dare-Enterprises Dare?"

"Yes. Like that one." There's an apprehensive note to her voice.

Percy's face hardens. Oh, he knows that name; and he hates it. Dare is well known in New York; it stands for rich and successful. The flyers advertising their projects are literally everywhere, even here in the school. But the name also stands for destroyed nature parks, pollution and people bullied out of their homes, which is a detail that a surprising amount of people just seem to overlook.

Percy isn't one of those people. Mr. Dare – Rachel's father, he realizes – is the kind of businessman who doesn't seem to care about anything other than his own money. Percy and his friend Grover protested against his projects on several occasions, but it somehow never seemed to matter. The guy always comes through with whatever place he is ruining next, and it makes Percy so mad he's inclined to chew on said flyers and throw them into the streets as confetti.

He turns to glower at the girl in front of him. All that and more is on the tip of his tongue, and he very nearly blurts it out. Then he notices the vulnerable look that is suddenly on Rachel's face. Her eyes are wide, at least before she casts them down at her shoes. Even in the brief time that he's known her, that is so unlike Rachel that it makes him stop in his tracks. She looks like – well, like she knows exactly what he is thinking of, and now she's just waiting for him to turn away in disgust.

He wonders how often that has happened to her already.

God, Percy, don't be an asshole, chides a voice in his head that sounds half like his mother and half like Thalia. Is she responsible for the shit her father is doing? No. Percy swallows his comments back down. "Okay." he says.
Her eyes snap up again, staring at him. She blinks once, twice. "Okay? Just like that?"

"I don't much like your father." he clarifies. "Well; mine is a marine biologist, if you want to know."

Rachel huffs forcefully, but it she intended it to convey annoyance instead of relief, it does a poor job. To her credit, she doesn't take the easy way out that he's offering her. "Trust me; I don't like him either." she states. When she notices his raised eyebrow, her eyes widen again and she hurries to correct herself: "My father, that is; not yours! Why would I dislike your father; I've never even met him, like, that would be stupid..."

"Good to know." Percy grins, cutting off her stream of words. He's a little endeared, especially since it's usually him doing the rambling. "So, unless you advertise your father's ideas in my presence, we're okay."

She shakes her head vehemently, and it looks heartfelt. "I wouldn't dare doing that. It's not like I agree with what he's doing; I…"

Percy can't stifle a laugh. "Wait a second. You wouldn't dare?"

Her eyes narrow. "Oh my God. No. Stop."

"What? I don't know what you're talking about."

"If you start going down that road, I promise you I will hurt you."

He gives her a smirk. "Really? I Dare you to do that."

As promised, his hand hurts rather a lot a second later. "If I had a dollar for every time I've laughed at that joke, I'd be bankrupt." Rachel says blankly.

In Percy's honest opinion, she really has no right to complain; her name basically screams 'Pun me!' The look in Rachel's eyes begs to differ, though, so he swallows the next pun. "I promise I'll think of a better one next time."

"Don't you da…argh!" Rachel growls, realizing her mistake. She glares at him, daring him (sorry) to say anything, but Percy is wise enough not to. His lips may be twitching a little. Other than that, he's innocence personified.

It doesn't seem to do anything to placate the girl in front of him; rather the opposite. "I hate you." Rachel states, shooting off another death-glare, and if Percy didn't know her a little he would 100% believe that statement. "Don't you have somewhere to be or something?"

"Well…" Percy takes a look at his watch and realizes that they've spent almost their entire lunch break talking. He can't really bring himself to feel bad about that. "I was just going to grab a very quick lunch, I guess."

"Awesome. I'm starving."

Percy raises an amused eyebrow at her self-invitation. "First you're helping the guy who ran you over – thanks again, by the way – then you refuse to tell me your name and now you're already ready to have lunch with me? Are you sure you're from this school and not secretly an alien?"

"Because I'm too weird for this world?" she questions, and he can't for the life of him read her expression.

"I was thinking of too cool for this world, but yeah; it's also a little bit weird." he confirms. Then, on a whim and because that probably came out slightly wrong, he adds "I'll pay for your lunch. Like, as thanks. If you want."

Rachel cocks her head at that. She considers for a long moment. "I've never had a handsome guy invite me for lunch before. Sure; why not." And then she brushes past him, without a care in the world for his lack of response. Or his floored expression.

This time, it takes about ten seconds before Percy is able to follow after her, by which point she is almost out of sight. He falls into a jog to catch up. He is definitely not blushing. Okay, so she called him handsome, which is a first, and she did it in the same off-handed way that Thalia usually calls him an idiot. Whatever. Stranger things have happened.

"By the way; do you always channel James Bond when you introduce yourself to a girl?" her voice calls back to him.

Scratch the stranger things part. Apparently she did notice that. Percy fumbles for his words, managing an eloquent "Uhm?" His new friend grins at him, very unapologetically.

"It's just; you're a bit small for 007. But I've got nothing against playing the Bond Girl."

Alright then. Percy takes a moment to shake his head properly and re-organize the jumbled pieces swirling around in there. He makes a mental note never to make assumptions about what is about to come out of Rachel Dare's mouth again.

Not that he wants to. He finds he kind of likes surprises.

I don't think I ever had as much fun writing as I do with Percy Jackosn stuff. Hopefully it's fun for you guys, too.