"Hey! Stop squirming! We can't work with you if you keep doing this!"

"Why am I here again?" A certain dark-haired teen grumbled and glared at the two daughters love. He was currently only in his boxers, sitting patiently (more or less) as they straightened, extended and tied his hair into pigtails.

"Because we want you to win the contest."

"But why me?" He pouted, earning a sigh from the one he ws currently talking to.

"Don't worry," Lacy, the blonde, answered for him. "We also have Leo, Malcolm, and the Stolls too. We almost had Jason but he lucked out. On the other hand, Piper, Clarrise, Katie, and Ph-"

"It's easier for the girls..." he muttered as something was thrown at him. He raised an eyebrow in question. "What is this?"

"Go get changed." was the reply. He spread the clothing out and his chocolate-brown eyes widened.

"T-this.. I-I can't, what is this?!" He managed to stutter out.

Drew sighed.

"You outfit for tonight., All the other guys are done." Multiple wolf whistles and a crowd cheering seemed to prove her point. "Now get out, the party's starting. You'll be judged by Annabeth, Percy, Mitchell, Krystal, and me. Maybe Chiron, but I doubt he'll want to. We're going now since we're done with you. And don't chicken out."

Lacy and Drew left, leaving him to drown in his own misery. No matter how much this hurt his ego, he couldn't back out. Jason had asked him to meet on the beach, to discuss something very important about Percy Jackson. Of course, Nico couldn't say no. When he got there, he was immediately blindfolded, gagged, and knocked unconscious. He found himself tied to a chair in the Aphrodite cabin with Drew charm-speaking him into swearing on the River Styx that he would participate in the contest. Nico knew one thing: Jason was not going to see what had hit him.

Nico looked into the mirror and sighed. A blue and white cheerleader's outfit- a long-sleeved crop-top with an insanely flaring, short miniskirt that barely came a third down his thighs. His hair was lengthened and straightened, making it come to his waist in pigtails. Fortunately enough, his now-straight bangs covered at least half his face; all he needed was to act like somebody else, and nobody would know it was him. Unfortunately, that was the hard part.

Slipping out of the Aphrodite cabin as quietly as he could, he made his way to the edge of the party/crowd. 'Just make it to the punch bowl,' he thought to himself, 'just make it to the punch bowl without anybody noticing you. Just... Survive. You've faced hell and death and love. You can do this.'

Surprisingly enough, he did without anybody looking at him, or at least, approaching him. When he got to the punch bowl, a tall blonde teen crashed into him.

"Oh sorry!" They exclaimed at the same time. Nico shook him head from his sitting position on the ground, looking up to a surprised son of Jupiter.

"Here. Need a han- Ni-mph?!" The young son of Hades covered the other surprised demigod's mouth with his palm just in time. Tentatively putting his index finger to his lips, Jason nodded, seeing the panic in Nico's eyes.

"What are you doing?" the blonde questioned in a hushed whisper. His eyes skimmed over the dark-haired demigod's appearance. "Not that I'm complaining or anything... But seriously, what are you doing?"

"Competition. For tonight."

"Oh. So this is what Drew was... Oh."

Nico snorted.

"Yes, oh. You're the one who put me here in the first place." Suddenly, a shock filled Jason's eyes which caused the son of Hades to worry. "What?" Jason pulled him closer.

"You know that Percy's one of the judges, right?"

"Yea. I d- wait, what?"

"Keep your voice down. He's one of the 'rewards'."

"What reward?" Nico's frown deepened.

"The camp did a vote: one girl candidate, and one male candidate that weren't competing in the actual competition."

"What vote?"

"On who they would go out with, who they think is hottest, or who they want to kiss."

"Ooookay... So what does this have to do with Percy. "Well, Percy got first picks for guys, and Annabeth, girls. Anyways, Percy and Annabeth are the 'rewards' for the winners of the competition. The competition you're in. Anyways, the person who wins gets to kiss them or whatever. Has to."

"What?!"

"Yup. And you might have to kiss Annabeth."

"But... Great. First I have to do this stupid get-up, and now, kiss Annabeth."

"Hey, at least it's not an Aphrodite kid."

"But still!"

"Hey, I'll see what I can do about it."

"Last time you tried to do something, you got me stuck in this mess." Jason opened his mouth but was cut off by another demigod.

"So, you, uh" a brunette demigod raked his eyes over the son of Hades' body and suddenly, Nico felt very, very subconscious. "You new here?"

"I, umm, guess? I-I mean, I, like... Y-yea, I'm n-new."

"What're you doing here, Simon?" Jason spat the name out in disgust.

"Just checking out the new chick in camp. What heritage you from?"

"Oh, uh, unclaimed." Now that the lies were piling up, Nico felt that it was getting easier by the second. Now, only to sneak awa-

"You have any, ah, plans, tonight?" The 'Simon' was pressing up against Nico's side, an arm draped across his bare back and hand resting at his waist. 'Ummm, okay?' He thought. Suddenly, Nico felt himself against a human wall.

"Get lost Simon. She's mine." Jason growled menacingly. The only thing Nico could do was press tightly against the blonde's side and blush against his chest. Simon raised his arms in surrender.

"Calm your tits, Jason. Just greeting a fellow camper. And by the looks of her, it seems like you haven't made your move any more than I have. Well, see you in the arena tomorrow." Jason growled again and the brunette stalked away.

"Uh, anytime you want to let go is fine." Nico mumbled as well as he could against someone's chest.

"Sorry. I guess I just..." The blonde let go and sheepishly scratched the back of his head, turning a slight pink.

"Calm your tits," the son of Hades grinned at the glare he was receiving. "Don't worry, I won't tell Valdez anything. I owe you one. And before making a move, make sure Valdez is in front of you. I heard he was in the competition as well. I wonder what he'll be wearing." Nico scratched his chin thoughtfully, laughing at the scarlet son of Zeus, well, Jupiter.

"What are you- What'd you mean he's in the- I am NOT making a move on him!"

"See you later." and for the second time, the demigod stalked away from a flustered Jason.
A couple minutes later, Nico found himself cornered against the Hermes' cabin with another curly-haired girl with a very loose tank-top and very tight jean shorts. Two twins had cornered them.

"So, you two have any plans tonight?"

"Um, no, and I kinda plan on keeping it that way..." the curly-haired latino girl chuckled nervously next to the son of Hades.
The other twin spoke up, leaning towards Nico's left ear.

"Why not? It's going to be... electrifying." The pale-skinned teen met the other demigod's eyes. Both seem to know where this was going, and they didn't like it.

"Actually, I think-" the latino girl smiled.

"It's time we-" Nico grinned.

"RUNNN!" the two sprinted for their purity, running to the table filled with food. Both were catching their breath and laughing with giddy joy as they fist-bumped before noticing their mistake.

"That.. was hilarious." Nico huffed out, taking a close look at the other demigod, and she was doing the same to him.

"Valdez, right?" "Di Angelo, right?" At the same time, they looked away, with a bright hue to their cheeks.

"So, Drew drag you into this?" Nico asked quietly. Leo shook his head.

"Nope. I got dared for twenty bucks. I want to buy a new engine and I've been saving up. I'm almost there and since I'm doing it, I'll get the new prototype that only came out a week ago! The batteries can be comparable to approximately 70 horsepower, with a magnitude of something that even my dad might not know! Besides, I always wanted to build a car from the bottom up, and I got all the other materials. Now, after today, all I need is Chiron's permission to go out and b-"

"Sorry, you kinda lost me a minute ago."

" 'S fine. I do that to everyone around me. You should've seen Percy's face when I started to talk about the designs of the car! His eyes were like swirling around and it only got worse when Annabeth joined in on the conversation."
A sudden thought came into the demigod's mind.

"Have you met Jason today?" Likewise, as Jason had done, the son of Hephaestus blushed and turned a shade in between pink and red.

"What, are you crazy? Why would I? I'd rather die!" He grabbed Nico's shoulders and only but hissed into the other demigod's ear.

"I'm not sure Jason doesn't want to see y- oh, hey, speak of the devil." Right after a confused expression, Leo spun around quickly, only to be staring straight into the eyes of the so-called 'devil'.

"Oh. Hi," he said meekly.

"Oh, I guess you've met someone, Jason," a familiar voice called behind the roman demigod. "My name's Percy. New campers?" Nico, at this point, almost started to hyperventilate. Unconsciously, he moved behind the son of Hephaestus for coverage. "Hey, don't worry, I don't bite." Nico felt ready to drown in those sea-green eyes pointed towards him. No pun intended.

"Don't worry, uh, Nicole here is just really shy."

"Okay... Hey, Jason, have you seen Nico? I heard he was at the party but... I couldn't find him." The said-demigod met the blonde demigod's eyes, and Jason gulped.

"Well, he's probably at the, you know, his cabin. The lights might've given him a headache. You know. The usual." Jason gave 'Nicole' and breathtaking smile, and being in his direction, this time Leo felt like he was going to melt. The son of Hades cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of both of them and managed to talk in a high-pitched voice.

"I think, uh, Leona wants to spend time with you, Jay. Here." He all but pushed the latino into the arms of the blonde.

"Great, and Percy, you can keep an eye out on Nicole. You don't know what the Graysons would do. Anyways, see you later." Jason smirked and pulled Valdez after him. 'Great, revenge.' Nico thought grimly.

"So, you remind me of someone." Nico's heart stopped. "Piper. You kinda remind me of her."

"O-oh? How so?"
Percy's face turned into something of confusion.

"Ah well, it looks like you're trying to hide something, like Piper tries to hide her beauty. And you can't help but continue running, right?"
Nico was surprised at how much Percy seemed to know.

"That was deep man," Nico grinned, forgetting that he was in a specific get-up. Thankfully, Percy didn't seem to notice anything.

"Do I look that stupid?" The question caught the son of Hades by surprise.

"Huh? Why would I think that?"

"People call me seaweed brain... I really don't know why, I mean, I know I'm ADHD and dyslexic, but cut me some slack. I'm a demigod!" The half-Italian couldn't contain his laughter in. It started as small giggles and chuckles, but it wasn't soon long before he was doubling over in laughter. Percy looked worried. "D-did I say anything wrong?" He frowned.

"N-no," Nico accepted the outstretched hand and stood straight up, barely coming up to Percy's chin. "It's just that... You don't know. I'm sorry, I can't tell you." As 'Nicole' bit her lip, it flushed an angry red, like a ripe apple, and contrasted with her pale, pale face. Percy noticed a hint of make-up and something like lip gloss. He admits that she is pretty, but there was someone else that he... He shook his head.

"So... Why can't you tell me?" Nico started to panic. There was almost no way around this. "Ummm..." Fortunately enough, a loud voice hung over the crowd, turning heads and attention to the stage that the Hermes cabin had set up the day before.

"Ladies and gents, I welcome everyone to the Camp Half-Blood Post-Gaea-War Party thingy. Yea, yea. Thanks for coming," Annabeth gave a quick smile. "And please don't go near the punch bowl for now. I am fully aware of your attempts to spike the punch bowl, Stolls. Anyways. The competition that so many of you were well informed of is in action, right this moment. So, judges, if you would come to the stage and discuss the contestants..." Percy slowly made his way up to the stage, and all the audience could see were the backs of the judges heads move slightly as they discussed the possible outcomes of the competition. Many of the demigods were whispering to each other, wondering and guessing who was part of the competition and, ultimately, who the winner is going to be.

A suddenly thought occurred to Nico: if he does win, as the Aphrodite cabin wanted to, then his name would be called up, and others would know that it was him... Multiple shadows inflicted on his face. He had to get out of here, and fast. He would cause a commotion if other see him shadow-traveling, and that would give away his disguise. No, he couldn't shadow-travel away or use any of his Hades-inherited powers unless he wanted to give himself away. He spotted two tall girls chatting with a group of guys, and it hit him a moment later that they were the Stolls. 'Not bad,' he thought, 'but I don't really care. All I need to do is get out of here before the results come o-'

"Demigods of all cultures, I will soon announce the winners of the Gender-Swap Competition." The son of Hades swore creatively in Italian and Greek, startling some campers around him. He closed his eyes, crossed his fingers, and prayed to every deity he could name in a moment's notice. 'Please, oh Aphrodite, curse me in some stupid way, Hades, don't let this happen to your kin, Zeus, strike me down with your lightning bolt please, for the love of Aphrodite, the only thing I won't do for this is go into Tartarus, so you can give me a mission, anything, to keep me from here. I'll even be shot by an arrow, please, please, or let me shadow travel without anybody noticing, oh my gods, oh my gods, I don't care, somebody hear me!'
Thoughts were whirling inside of Nico's mind, but he was forced out of his trance as he felt a hand on his arm. Jumping up as if shocked, he whipped around to see a brunette staring at him in surprise.

"Oh, s-sorry. I didn't know you didn't liked to be touched..." The brunette blushed slightly, and Nico could see several snickering guys behind the stranger. Was this some kind of dare? Meanwhile, he heard Annabeth explain what they were looking for in the female contestant. That bought him some time.

"So, can I help you?"

"Uh," if the brunette figured out that he was Nico di Angelo, famed 'death' of camp, he didn't show it. "I was wondering if we, I mean you, or I, well.. If we could go somewhere else..." The pale demigod raised an eyebrow. "Somewhere else then here, like t-to spend the night?"

"Was this a dare?" The son of Hades' thoughts were whirling once again. If he could get away, then he won't be seen, and even if he was called onto stage; it was perfect! "On the other hand, why not?" The boy visibly brightened.

"So, now?" He was drowned out by the catcalls, yells, and clapping that the people around them did, as Percy called out the name, "Piper Mclean."

"Yes, n-now would be a great time. So where are we going?" Nico stood close to the brunette, only about half a foot away. He looked up and met hazel orbs with his own.

"Hey, have I met you be-"

"Ummmm, I'm new at camp? So can we go, like, now?"

"What's the rush?"

"I kinda can't be here right now..." Drew's captivating and velvet-like voice swept over the crowd. "Now, the things that we, as in the judges, were looking for in the male contestant were, obviously, feminine charm, acting abilities, outfit choice, make-up, and covertness. See, if you try to spike the punch bowl," the audience laughed, "then most people will know who you are. But if you've kept a low profile, but managed to attract several people, you have a high chance of winning." Nico visibly sighed with relief. He didn't 'attract' anybody, right? Outfit was pretty easy to distinguish, and that left us with only a few contestants left. Feminine charm, related to picking people up, allowed us to rule out all but two." A murmur rushed over the crowd. "And those two have tied. So the two demigods a-" a son of Aphrodite leaned over and whispered something into her ear. The pretty Asian smiled at the waiting crowd. "There seems to have been a change of 'rewards'. To make it interesting, instead of the female contestant receiving a kiss from Percy and the male contestant receiving a kiss from Annabeth, it will go according to the gender the competitor has dressed up as. Chase and Jackson proved that they had no problem with this."

More than one catcalls rang through the crowd. Nico groaned and put his head in his hands. So if he was called up, he would have to be humiliated twice? By the guy he never got over?! "Aw, shit."

"What?" the brunette peered into Nico's eyes a little too close for comfort, and that was saying a lot, compared to the space they had in between them before. "Nothing, it's just that.."

"Dude, you gonna pick her up or not?" One of his snickering friends walked up to the brunette and clasped him on the back. " 'Cause if you don't do it soon, I will."

"Um, actually-"

"I was just asking, and she said yes, so hands off, buddy."

"Can you guys lis-"

"She looks like she's protesting. C'mon, let me get a shot. I never get any chicks compared to you," he laughed and looked over at Nico.

"Hello? I'm no-"

"She said okay, so back off."

"I'm not a freakin' she!" The two fighting demigods stared at the son of Hades. Nico half-yelled, half-huffed indignantly before realizing his mistake. Too late, he thought. "I'm in the competition, so if you would please move so I can leave before I am publicly hu-"
Drew's voice rang out again. "The two contestants that have tied are-"

"Shitty bull, Ω, να με βοηθήσει, παρακαλώ, mother of Aphrodite, santa madre, scopare questa stronzata, for the love of Hades!"

"Leo Valdez-" Nico cracked one eye open. "-and Nico di Angelo." The campers started taking all at once.

"Leo? I thought he locked himself in his cabin working on an invention-"

"Angelo? Hades' kid?" "Whoa, cabin leader!"

"-scary, who'd thought that they of all people-"

"-never expected it-"

"Who are they?"

"-where, why is only one person up on stage?" 'Leona' had, against his will, been pushed up onto stage. Drew microphone picked up strings of Spanish, Greek, and even English curse words.

"Man, you can't push a guy up here. Men don't like it up here."

"So, you were a man by entering in this competition?"

Leo squared his unfortunately narrow shoulders. "A true man never backs out from a dare." he looked at all the people on the stage. "Where's the cute death kid? I was with him earlier..."

"You know you can't hide, Nico. It's best to come out to the stage when you're called, you know right?" Not able to resist, Nico found himself suddenly on the stage, standing a couple paces next to the son of Hephaestus. "Holy, mother! Don't scare me like that," Leo punched Nico gently in the arm. Drew turned around and smiled at him. Nico mouthed 'fuck you' at her. She grinned evily. 'Gladly.'
'Eww, no,' Nico made a face. "So, can I go know?"

"You have to wait for your reward," Drew explained.

"Can't Valdez get it?" Nico rolled his eyes. Leo shouted. "No way, dude. Percy probably has fish breath." They laughed. Annabeth approached Piper and pecked her on the cheek. The crowd whistled. Piper grinned, looked back, and pecked her quickly on the lips. The crowd roared. "I guess it's my time to leave," and before Nico could curse Valdez off, the cabin leader jumped off the stage and ran off to cabin number one...
He was about to shadow-travel away but he felt sharp things pierce into his arm. Drew contracted her hand harshly around his forearm, and her eyes glinted evilly. "Your turn."

"B-b-but..."

"Uh, hi?" Percy waved dumbly and focused his eyes on the girl that he chatted with earlier. "Nico?"

"Kiss him already, seaweed brain." Annbeth pushed her ex forward and as the ebony-haired teen turned his head at the commotion, their lips met. Not knowing what else to do, the son of Hades shadow-traveled away, into the Poseidon cabin. He mentally screamed at himself. 'You idiot, you can't kiss him! Why did you fall for Drew's charmspeak? Why did you walk onto stage, and why did you not leave immediately? Why are such an idiot?'

"Um, Nico?" Nico opened his eyes. Percy, in all his oblivious glory, looking at him with a worried gaze. "You, ummm, y-you okay?"

"Hmm, yea..."

"Didn't expect you to turn, haha," Percy chuckled nervously. The two of them stayed in that position that they landed in for a long time. "So, do you mind getting off?" When Nico shadow-traveled to the Poseidon cabin, he ended up straddling the older demigod; his face flushed and he tried to get up but ended up losing his balance and falling right on top of Percy's chest. Their breaths mingled together as Percy, not knowing where to put his hands, accidentally put them on Nico's thighs.

"This is awkward," Nico flushed and laughed. He tried to get off but the son of Poseidon seemed to be in a haze, and his sea-green eyes were murky and unfocused.

"Don't leave." He leaned forward until his mouth ws directly next to Nico's ear. "I like it like this. Besides, you're awfully cute in that get-up." They stayed like that for a moment longer, basking in each other's warmth. The music outside replayed as people started to dance again and socialize like the teens they were at heart.

Nico's heart thumped against his ribcage, and he could slightly feel the steady pulse of Percy's, growing faster by the minute. Their gazes locked, and without any hesitated, the son of Hades pulled his mouth on top of Percy's, tilting his head for better access. Moaning while their tongues clashed, Percy flipped their position so that he was on top. Running out of air, the two demigods split to catch their breath. "So, how's you get into this mess?" Percy raised his eyes at Nico's outfit. His tan fingers trailed lightly up his taunt stomach to his jutting ribs.

"J-Jason lured me into the Aphrodite cabin, and they charmed me into promising that I'd do it..."

"Promised?"

"River Styx."

"Oh." Silence answered him. "Well, I guess I'll have to thank Jason for this. But when'd you start calling him by his first name?"

"I don't know, just happened."

"Hm," and the green-eyed demigod leaned in for another kiss, but this time, slid the crop top off of the pale frame just before. Their tongues clashed together and, due to the sudden pressure, Nico made a move that told the son of Poseidon he wanted to dash. He tightly gripped the pale, thin arm and switched their positions, so that he was on top.

Nico was overwhelmed by the senses: the temperature seemed to spike up, warming his usually cold body, and certain anatomy were stirring. When they separated for breath, they both looked disheveled, clothes rumpled and hair messy, but both just saw beauty and love in the other one.

It seemed to be a perfect night.

/
hey guys, thanks for reading! ^u^ (Idk why, but I just love making that face) Okay, so I promise to add another chapter full of lemon, lime, zest, whatever you wanna call it BUT if I get five reviews ^*^ yea... so, I'll try to update more before I actually go on my school trip. Thanks~

~E.B. out~