"This is bad." Percy gasped as we ducked down on a bench.
"Your power of observation astounds me yet again Seaweed Brain." I answered rolling my eyes; just as out of breath as he was.
The day had started out simple enough. We had been on a pleasant date. It was March, Spring was coming in full and Percy had wanted to go see a movie instead of studying. He'd already been studying for a week straight, so I decided a break would do him good. Of course we had to meet a couple of savage harpies on our way out of the theater. They hadn't been much of a problem. Sure now I had a aching leg that would turn into a large bruised thigh later, but we mostly made it out fine.
But of course you can't kill a monster in New York without someone seeing. But instead of the normal nonsense mortals see, they freaked out, and a few had called the cops. Percy and I had been taking off when the police started showing up. We probably should have stayed and tried to lie on about how we were approached by two women and threatened with guns or something. But no, we had to run and have three police cars make us their number one priority.
We ended up running into a crowded park, now sitting on a bench trying to look inconspicuous. We had to leave soon otherwise they would find us.
"See one." Percy said looking over my shoulder.
I didn't dare turn around. I tried to come up with a plan. They surely would have some people covering obvious escape routes. And if they suspected us as murderers, they would call for back as soon as possible. The rest of my train of thought was disrupted by a female voice.
"Percy? Annabeth?"
I glanced up to see a girl that looked about our age. She had pastel pink hair with an all black outfit and heart shaped sunglasses. She might have been darker, but her color scheme made her pale as a sheet. Only after I took a detailed look at her facial features I realized who she was.
"Gillian?"
The daughter of Iris laughed. "I'm surprised you recognized me. What do you think of the look?" She gestured to her appearance.
"It's great." Percy said hurriedly. "But we kinda need to move before we get arrested."
"Arrested?" She look around at the police in the area. "Ah so that's why they're here."
"It was nice seeing you Gillian but Percy's right we need to go."
"Hold on a minute. You can't go running off like that. They'll catch you instantly." She tutted her tongue. "What you need is a little disguising."
"Disguising?" Percy looked at her dumbfounded.
I was curious. "What did you have in mind?"
"Well first things first." She placed her hand on my head. I shivered as the heat from the rest of my body seemed to go to the top of my head.
"Perfect." She grinned and moved to Percy.
I watched in fascination as she touched Percy's hair. Slowly the tips of his hair changed from his typical black to firetruck red.
"Matching couples are the rage you know." Gillian smirked.
Matching? I glanced down at my own hair and forced back a gasp. I held out my hair, it was an hombre from my natural blonde to the same red as Percy's.
"Of course it's not quite enough." She touched Percy's shirt. He was wearing his purple shirt from Camp Jupiter today. But within seconds the color went from purple to black. He stared at it in disbelief.
"Now you girl." Before I could protest, Gillian took hold of the sleeve of my white blouse and made it hot pink.
"Gillian, I know you're trying to help. But these don't exactly help us blend in and disappear." Percy commented. I nodded in agreement.
"That's not the point. You aren't going to blend in, you're going to be avoided all together." She chuckled.
"What do you mean?" I narrowed my eyes.
"No one is going to want to look at an obnoxious couple who are all over each other." She took both our hands and pulled us off the bench. Part of me was nervous that she would make our skin green or something.
"But we aren't-" Percy started.
Gillian shoved me into his arms. I grabbed his shoulders trying to keep from falling over. He had me by the waist with the same idea. And my face was planted into his neck.
Gillian laughed "Perfect! See you knew what to do all along. Just keep like that until you're clear. I'll see you around. And I promise I'll change you stuff back to normal." She began to walk away but turned around to add "Eventually."
I sighed. I guess we would have to do it her way.
Percy chuckled, "Well we were supposed to be on a date anyway right Wise Girl?" I felt the vibration of his voice through his chest. It was calming. We could pull off being a normal couple without a care of what anyone thinks of them right? At least for ten minutes.