p class="p1"The second Percy laid eyes on her on the first day of their freshman year of high school, he knew he was a goner. Annabeth Chase was everything he'd ever imagined when thinking of the word beauty and more. She had blonde hair that glowed like the sun (cheesy, he knows, but oh, Percy was a emsucker/em for blondes), flawless California-style tan skin, and the most mesmerizing grey eyes in the whole universe, probably (ew, gross and mushy, Percy emknows/em. He doesn't care.) And okay, he fell in love with Annabeth because of her looks, but Percy decided that it was worth being called shallow (only by his best friend Grover, everyone else was just as head over heels in love with Annabeth as he was) if he could have those grey eyes stare at him the way Grover stared at Juniper. Throughout the years, Percy's infatuation with the blonde did not fade like he'd expected it to — in fact, he felt as if he was falling deeper in love with her every single passing year./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Both Percy and Annabeth were now in their senior year, and Percy had yet to pluck up to courage to approach his one true love (yikes, please don't tell Annabeth that, it might come off as a bit creepy.) You see, Annabeth was so drop dead gorgeous that Percy lost his ability to speak each time he came into close contact with her. Luckily (or unluckily, depends on how you see it) for him, their first two years of high school were spent without as much as a greeting — Percy spared longing gazes at Annabeth when passing by her and her girl gang in the hallways, and she'd wave at someone behind him without a glance at him (or so he thought… Annabeth noticed the cute, slightly awkward boy staring at her.) They didn't have a single class together until their junior year, but Percy had always known Annabeth's name, mostly through word of mouth. Annabeth Chase, Malcolm Chase's gorgeous younger sister. Annabeth Chase, who became the youngest head cheerleader in the history of Goode High in her sophomore year. Annabeth Chase, the student with the highest average in her whole grade. Annabeth Chase, the prettiest, most admired girl in the whole school… And more recently, Annabeth Chase, Luke Castellan's girlfriend./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"The two were fated to be together, as much as Percy hated to admit it — the quarterback and the head cheerleader, c'mon, how could it not happen? He'd found out about their relationship one day in the AP biology class that they shared in their junior year, the whole class of 11th and 12th graders were discussing the hottest couple. Percy had tuned them out at first, dismissing the news as another stupid rumour, but he couldn't tune out Piper, Annabeth's best friend, asking Annabeth if her and Luke had been "studying each other's biology". Annabeth let out a loud laugh, and oh, Percy wished emhe /emcould make her laugh like that. Piper and Annabeth went on to discuss what emexactly /emhappened between Annabeth and Luke to bring them together (Percy's heart dropped. So they really were dating), and Percy silently cursed them for having no sense of secrecy. Why, you might ask, why wouldn't Percy have wanted to know how emLuke Castellan/em snatched the heart of his dream girl (other than the fact that he was the star football player)? Because, as Annabeth had so openly admitted to Piper, the girl of his dreams had hooked up with Luke at a party. At a high school party, of all places! And when they woke up in the same bed in the morning (Percy cringed, he was emso /emjealous and emso /emsad at the same time), Luke had asked Annabeth to be his girlfriend./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Percy thinks Annabeth must know who he is. She's close friends with his cousins Jason and Thalia, and he hopes that Jason talks about him to her. Jason's supposedly a good wingman (according to Jason himself), and Percy hopes that he's right in trusting his popular cousin to not embarrass him in front of the love of his life. Of course, Percy and Annabeth emhave /emhad conversations… well, sort of. They've had emone/em conversation. But it was a full conversation, and Percy's happy about that. He clearly remembers Monday last week, when Annabeth and Jason were discussing their plans for spring break, and Jason roped him into the conversation. He knew about Percy's crush, because raven-haired boy couldn't keep such a huge secret from Jason, his favourite cousin (oh my god, emdon't /emtell Thalia or Nico, they would emkill/em him. Slowly and torturously)./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""My aunt owns a hair salon," Jason had informed Annabeth enthusiastically, "she also happens to be Percy's mom!" A hard elbow in Percy's ribs. Ow. "Sally's Salon? On Seaford Street, right, Perce?" Percy took a moment to gather his wits. Oh my god, was he going to emspeak /emto Annabeth? For real?/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Um. Uh, yeah." He had said, turning to look Annabeth in the eye, proud of himself for not stuttering or melting into an embarrassing puddle of mush. Jason coughed, masking a little snicker. "We can give you a free haircut if you want, since I know you." And oh. He's not allowed to go around giving out free haircuts but he's sure his mom will be fine with it, she knows how in love her son is with Annabeth./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Annabeth had raised her eyebrow, a curious smile on her pretty face. "Oh? That's so sweet of you, but I would hate to take advantage of your mom's hard work like that." Percy had given her a wide smile, because wow, the girl he has the longest, hugest crush on had called him emsweet/em. "Could I come by sometime next week? I'm in desperate need of a new hairstyle, and Piper and I are leaving for a road trip next Saturday, the day spring break begins."/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Oh, definitely," Percy had nodded eagerly, "I help out on Thursdays." He paused. Jason laughed quietly. "I mean, not that it matters. But yeah. Um. Thursdays after school." Annabeth nodded thoughtfully, not seeming to notice Percy's face tinge pink. Jason laughed again./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Okay, sweet," Annabeth had beamed at him, "I'll be sure to drop by when you're there." Percy tried to make an affirmative sound, but it wouldn't come out. emDamn/em. The bell rang, saving him from responding, and Annabeth had only paused for the slightest moment before saying cheerfully, "Hey, you boys should join us on the trip. Let me know if you're down. You could spend some quality time with Piper, Jason." Percy snorted. emHow unattractive/em, he thought, but wow, seeing Jason's face flame up instead of his own was refreshing, and the fact that Annabeth did that made his heart flutter even more than it usually did around her./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"So now, it's Thursday after school, Percy is at his mom's salon welcoming the steady flow of customers, and Annabeth has yet to walk in./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Minutes pass, then hours, and it feels like an eternity, and Percy is losing hope that Annabeth will actually show up… but then the bell rings, his head snaps up for the millionth time and emoh my god/em, she's really here! But emoh/em. She brought Luke with her. Just to be clear, Percy doesn't have anything against Luke. He's a perfectly nice guy, very likeable… it's just that Percy's envious of everything that he has. Luke is, of course, filthy rich. He doesn't flaunt his money, no, but you'd never, ever catch him in the more rundown section of town, not even for some authentic street food. Luke also has a emhot /embody and wow, Percy wishes he could look so good in a v-neck shirt. Percy has muscles, and they're not hidden, but he feels like sometimes his dorky personality shrouds his nice body. And most of all, Luke has emAnnabeth/em. Not that Annabeth is an object to be possessed, because she is not and Annabeth, her friends, Luke, emand /emPercy would kill whoever thought so, but Luke held her heart. And for that, Percy is overly, maybe unreasonably class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Hey Percy!" Annabeth smiles at him, dragging Luke behind her and swinging their intertwined hands. Luke sends him a friendly smile. "I'm ready for my hot new haircut!" Percy swallows the sudden lump in his throat and grins./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Hey," he replies, lifting his right hand in greeting then gesturing to the open seat in front of the mirror closest to him, "you're right in time. There's an open seat there, make yourself at home. My mom will be right with you."/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Annabeth sends Percy a grateful nod and turns to give Luke a peck on the cheek, and Percy almost cringes. Thankfully, he's mastered the skill of masking his emotions in front of Annabeth. Luke, like the football player that he is, settles right in on the bench near Percy's counter, showing no sign of feeling awkward at all. Percy, once again, is jealous. If he was in Luke's place, he'd probably waddle over slowly, trip over his feet, and laugh nervously. Luke turns to face Percy and the latter accidentally catches his eye. emGreat/em. Conversation was most likely to ensue. emTotally /emPercy's strength./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Percy," The muscular blond starts, genuinely seeming happy to talk to him, "haven't talked to you in a while now, how have you been?" Percy replies with something along the lines of 'A bit stressful, but good. You?', he doesn't really know, because when has he emever /emtalked to Luke? Once in the 10th grade, he remembers, because a volleyball had assaulted him on the head during gym class, and Luke had come over to apologize for the minor injury. He hadn't even known his name then, now he was talking as if they were old friends./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""I feel you," Luke responds, nodding his head in agreement, "senior year has been hectic. I didn't expected it to be a piece of cake, but I sure didn't expect football practice to clash with my course load." Ha. Percy can't relate, the swim season hasn't started yet, and he schedules time at his local gym around the time he uses to complete his school work./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Oh," Percy says, eyes on Annabeth now as his mom fusses over how gorgeous her hair is. Annabeth thanks her happily and asks if she cuts Percy's hair. Percy's heart hammers. She's already talking to his mom about him. Sally Jackson nods enthusiastically, and Annabeth comments that 'Percy's hair always looks great.' Percy's not dreaming. She also tells his mom that she's talented at what she does, and oh, Percy's heart must melt at that, because she is just the sweetest person he has every met. He's so caught up in their interaction that he nearly forgets to answer Luke. "Um, that must suck. Time management is hard." Luke laughs and nods vigorously. The two teenage boys fall into a comfortable silence. Percy doesn't mind. He watches his mom prepare to chop off 4 inches of Annabeth blonde locks, and watches as Annabeth twirls her hair nervously./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Oh!" Luke exclaims suddenly, sitting upright. Percy turns to him, an eyebrow raised. "Sorry to startle you, Percy. I just remembered that Annabeth asked me to follow up with you on that road trip she and Piper are going on." Percy must make a confused face, because Luke continues to speak. "She wants to know if you'll tag along? Jason already agreed, and I guess Annabeth didn't want to be a third wheel." Percy gapes at him openly./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Oh." He manages. "I didn't know she was serious about that offer. We don't know each other well." Luke shrugs, as if to say 'So?'. Percy shrugs at him in return. "I mean. Yeah. Sure. I'll go, my mom's bugging me to find something to do over spring break anyways." emOh boy/em. He didn't need to say that to Luke Castellan, the cool guy who most likely always had something to do, even when there was nothing emto /emdo. But Luke only grinned and laughed as if Percy had made a funny joke. He supposed it emwas /emfunny, although it was true. His mom loved him and he knew it, but she would be going to California to style the hair of the entire Avengers cast this spring break (Percy is so proud. emSo /emproud of her!), and she would probably feel less worried knowing her teenage son was on a road trip than knowing that he was at home, probably eating pizza for all three meals of each day./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Luke stands to give him a clap on the back. Percy blinked. Were they bros now? "Sweet," the slightly taller boy says, "I'll let Annabeth know. She'll be thrilled." Percy nods, a smile making its way onto his face. Luke returns the quiet smile with a grin and sits back down./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Both Percy and Annabeth were now in their senior year, and Percy had yet to pluck up to courage to approach his one true love (yikes, please don't tell Annabeth that, it might come off as a bit creepy.) You see, Annabeth was so drop dead gorgeous that Percy lost his ability to speak each time he came into close contact with her. Luckily (or unluckily, depends on how you see it) for him, their first two years of high school were spent without as much as a greeting — Percy spared longing gazes at Annabeth when passing by her and her girl gang in the hallways, and she'd wave at someone behind him without a glance at him (or so he thought… Annabeth noticed the cute, slightly awkward boy staring at her.) They didn't have a single class together until their junior year, but Percy had always known Annabeth's name, mostly through word of mouth. Annabeth Chase, Malcolm Chase's gorgeous younger sister. Annabeth Chase, who became the youngest head cheerleader in the history of Goode High in her sophomore year. Annabeth Chase, the student with the highest average in her whole grade. Annabeth Chase, the prettiest, most admired girl in the whole school… And more recently, Annabeth Chase, Luke Castellan's girlfriend./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"The two were fated to be together, as much as Percy hated to admit it — the quarterback and the head cheerleader, c'mon, how could it not happen? He'd found out about their relationship one day in the AP biology class that they shared in their junior year, the whole class of 11th and 12th graders were discussing the hottest couple. Percy had tuned them out at first, dismissing the news as another stupid rumour, but he couldn't tune out Piper, Annabeth's best friend, asking Annabeth if her and Luke had been "studying each other's biology". Annabeth let out a loud laugh, and oh, Percy wished emhe /emcould make her laugh like that. Piper and Annabeth went on to discuss what emexactly /emhappened between Annabeth and Luke to bring them together (Percy's heart dropped. So they really were dating), and Percy silently cursed them for having no sense of secrecy. Why, you might ask, why wouldn't Percy have wanted to know how emLuke Castellan/em snatched the heart of his dream girl (other than the fact that he was the star football player)? Because, as Annabeth had so openly admitted to Piper, the girl of his dreams had hooked up with Luke at a party. At a high school party, of all places! And when they woke up in the same bed in the morning (Percy cringed, he was emso /emjealous and emso /emsad at the same time), Luke had asked Annabeth to be his girlfriend./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Percy thinks Annabeth must know who he is. She's close friends with his cousins Jason and Thalia, and he hopes that Jason talks about him to her. Jason's supposedly a good wingman (according to Jason himself), and Percy hopes that he's right in trusting his popular cousin to not embarrass him in front of the love of his life. Of course, Percy and Annabeth emhave /emhad conversations… well, sort of. They've had emone/em conversation. But it was a full conversation, and Percy's happy about that. He clearly remembers Monday last week, when Annabeth and Jason were discussing their plans for spring break, and Jason roped him into the conversation. He knew about Percy's crush, because raven-haired boy couldn't keep such a huge secret from Jason, his favourite cousin (oh my god, emdon't /emtell Thalia or Nico, they would emkill/em him. Slowly and torturously)./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""My aunt owns a hair salon," Jason had informed Annabeth enthusiastically, "she also happens to be Percy's mom!" A hard elbow in Percy's ribs. Ow. "Sally's Salon? On Seaford Street, right, Perce?" Percy took a moment to gather his wits. Oh my god, was he going to emspeak /emto Annabeth? For real?/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Um. Uh, yeah." He had said, turning to look Annabeth in the eye, proud of himself for not stuttering or melting into an embarrassing puddle of mush. Jason coughed, masking a little snicker. "We can give you a free haircut if you want, since I know you." And oh. He's not allowed to go around giving out free haircuts but he's sure his mom will be fine with it, she knows how in love her son is with Annabeth./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Annabeth had raised her eyebrow, a curious smile on her pretty face. "Oh? That's so sweet of you, but I would hate to take advantage of your mom's hard work like that." Percy had given her a wide smile, because wow, the girl he has the longest, hugest crush on had called him emsweet/em. "Could I come by sometime next week? I'm in desperate need of a new hairstyle, and Piper and I are leaving for a road trip next Saturday, the day spring break begins."/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Oh, definitely," Percy had nodded eagerly, "I help out on Thursdays." He paused. Jason laughed quietly. "I mean, not that it matters. But yeah. Um. Thursdays after school." Annabeth nodded thoughtfully, not seeming to notice Percy's face tinge pink. Jason laughed again./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Okay, sweet," Annabeth had beamed at him, "I'll be sure to drop by when you're there." Percy tried to make an affirmative sound, but it wouldn't come out. emDamn/em. The bell rang, saving him from responding, and Annabeth had only paused for the slightest moment before saying cheerfully, "Hey, you boys should join us on the trip. Let me know if you're down. You could spend some quality time with Piper, Jason." Percy snorted. emHow unattractive/em, he thought, but wow, seeing Jason's face flame up instead of his own was refreshing, and the fact that Annabeth did that made his heart flutter even more than it usually did around her./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"So now, it's Thursday after school, Percy is at his mom's salon welcoming the steady flow of customers, and Annabeth has yet to walk in./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Minutes pass, then hours, and it feels like an eternity, and Percy is losing hope that Annabeth will actually show up… but then the bell rings, his head snaps up for the millionth time and emoh my god/em, she's really here! But emoh/em. She brought Luke with her. Just to be clear, Percy doesn't have anything against Luke. He's a perfectly nice guy, very likeable… it's just that Percy's envious of everything that he has. Luke is, of course, filthy rich. He doesn't flaunt his money, no, but you'd never, ever catch him in the more rundown section of town, not even for some authentic street food. Luke also has a emhot /embody and wow, Percy wishes he could look so good in a v-neck shirt. Percy has muscles, and they're not hidden, but he feels like sometimes his dorky personality shrouds his nice body. And most of all, Luke has emAnnabeth/em. Not that Annabeth is an object to be possessed, because she is not and Annabeth, her friends, Luke, emand /emPercy would kill whoever thought so, but Luke held her heart. And for that, Percy is overly, maybe unreasonably class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Hey Percy!" Annabeth smiles at him, dragging Luke behind her and swinging their intertwined hands. Luke sends him a friendly smile. "I'm ready for my hot new haircut!" Percy swallows the sudden lump in his throat and grins./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Hey," he replies, lifting his right hand in greeting then gesturing to the open seat in front of the mirror closest to him, "you're right in time. There's an open seat there, make yourself at home. My mom will be right with you."/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Annabeth sends Percy a grateful nod and turns to give Luke a peck on the cheek, and Percy almost cringes. Thankfully, he's mastered the skill of masking his emotions in front of Annabeth. Luke, like the football player that he is, settles right in on the bench near Percy's counter, showing no sign of feeling awkward at all. Percy, once again, is jealous. If he was in Luke's place, he'd probably waddle over slowly, trip over his feet, and laugh nervously. Luke turns to face Percy and the latter accidentally catches his eye. emGreat/em. Conversation was most likely to ensue. emTotally /emPercy's strength./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Percy," The muscular blond starts, genuinely seeming happy to talk to him, "haven't talked to you in a while now, how have you been?" Percy replies with something along the lines of 'A bit stressful, but good. You?', he doesn't really know, because when has he emever /emtalked to Luke? Once in the 10th grade, he remembers, because a volleyball had assaulted him on the head during gym class, and Luke had come over to apologize for the minor injury. He hadn't even known his name then, now he was talking as if they were old friends./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""I feel you," Luke responds, nodding his head in agreement, "senior year has been hectic. I didn't expected it to be a piece of cake, but I sure didn't expect football practice to clash with my course load." Ha. Percy can't relate, the swim season hasn't started yet, and he schedules time at his local gym around the time he uses to complete his school work./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Oh," Percy says, eyes on Annabeth now as his mom fusses over how gorgeous her hair is. Annabeth thanks her happily and asks if she cuts Percy's hair. Percy's heart hammers. She's already talking to his mom about him. Sally Jackson nods enthusiastically, and Annabeth comments that 'Percy's hair always looks great.' Percy's not dreaming. She also tells his mom that she's talented at what she does, and oh, Percy's heart must melt at that, because she is just the sweetest person he has every met. He's so caught up in their interaction that he nearly forgets to answer Luke. "Um, that must suck. Time management is hard." Luke laughs and nods vigorously. The two teenage boys fall into a comfortable silence. Percy doesn't mind. He watches his mom prepare to chop off 4 inches of Annabeth blonde locks, and watches as Annabeth twirls her hair nervously./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Oh!" Luke exclaims suddenly, sitting upright. Percy turns to him, an eyebrow raised. "Sorry to startle you, Percy. I just remembered that Annabeth asked me to follow up with you on that road trip she and Piper are going on." Percy must make a confused face, because Luke continues to speak. "She wants to know if you'll tag along? Jason already agreed, and I guess Annabeth didn't want to be a third wheel." Percy gapes at him openly./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Oh." He manages. "I didn't know she was serious about that offer. We don't know each other well." Luke shrugs, as if to say 'So?'. Percy shrugs at him in return. "I mean. Yeah. Sure. I'll go, my mom's bugging me to find something to do over spring break anyways." emOh boy/em. He didn't need to say that to Luke Castellan, the cool guy who most likely always had something to do, even when there was nothing emto /emdo. But Luke only grinned and laughed as if Percy had made a funny joke. He supposed it emwas /emfunny, although it was true. His mom loved him and he knew it, but she would be going to California to style the hair of the entire Avengers cast this spring break (Percy is so proud. emSo /emproud of her!), and she would probably feel less worried knowing her teenage son was on a road trip than knowing that he was at home, probably eating pizza for all three meals of each day./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Luke stands to give him a clap on the back. Percy blinked. Were they bros now? "Sweet," the slightly taller boy says, "I'll let Annabeth know. She'll be thrilled." Percy nods, a smile making its way onto his face. Luke returns the quiet smile with a grin and sits back down./p