"Let's split up, and see who makes the best one!" Percy exclaimed. He and Annabeth were currently in Build-A-Bear as a fun activity, but when Annabeth mentioned in passing that her bear would be better, Percy made it a challenge.
"You're on!" With that they ran to opposite sides of the store to find a bear to stuff. Percy was thinking something clever – if he made the bear look like Annabeth, there was no way she would say hers was better! He rushed and found a cute, small, blonde bear and quickly went to get it stuffed. While the employee was stuffing it, she made Percy do the ridiculous tricks: Spin three times, make a wish, kiss the heart, and then put it in. He jogged to the cleaning station, grabbing a "vacuum" and sucking the dust off of the bear, and grabbed a brush to brush out the fur. Where was Annabeth? He'd never seen a Build-a-Bear this big before.
Meanwhile, Annabeth had a genius idea. She would make the bear look like Percy, so there was no way he wouldn't like it! Grinning in satisfaction, she surveyed the bears. A cute, fluffy brown bear with long hair reminded her of his shaggy hair, and she picked it immediately. Next, she went to get the bear stuffed. Why does she have to do this if she's not a toddler? But she jumped three times, stomped her feet twice, and rubbed the silk heart on her stomach so her bear "never gets hungry". She quickly grabbed the shaggy stuffed animal and found a cleaning station nearby. She grabbed the vacuum and ran it all around the bear, but soon found a problem with the brush. This bear had such long hair it was impossible to brush through. Great. Another five minutes later, Annabeth was on her way to the closet accessory wall.
He walked over to the accessories – what to choose? A purple hat, green glasses, black shoes, a yellow purse; none of it was Annabeth. Wait! Grey tennis shoes, check. Orange t-shirt, check. Black shorts, check. Now there was just… wigs! Brown hair? Red hair? It shouldn't be this hard to find blond curls, Percy thought in frustration. He looked behind him and finally spotted Annabeth looking at another accessory wall. Turning back to the wigs, he saw a glimpse of blond. Aha! There it is. Right… now, how to get the curls that were a good five feet above him? "Ah, excuse me, this is, uh, embarrassing, but uh, would you mind grabbing that wig for me if I lifted you up? I'm trying to make this for my girlfriend." Percy asked a nearby teenager. Since when is Build-a-Bear a hotspot for teenagers?
"Sure!" She giggled, letting herself be hoisted up by Percy and expertly grabbing the blond curls.
"Your girlfriend must be super pretty!" She said when she handed the curls to him, and walked off. She is, he thought fondly. Placing the wig on the bear, he turned to see if Annabeth was done yet. But he saw her getting lifted up by a handsome boy to reach the black wig that rested at the top of the wall. Eh, he thought, I did the same, I guess. He walked over to Annabeth with the bear behind his back, to see her doing the same. But she looked furious.
"What were you doing with that girl, Percy? I saw you." She asked angrily.
"Wise Girl, what about you being man handled by the guy over there?" He replied, gesturing towards where the boy had wandered off.
"At least I have an explanation. I had to get a wig to make this!" She said, and thrust out the bear towards Percy. It had green contacts in, a black mob of hair, black shorts, and an orange t-shirt. Annabeth was expecting lots of reactions, but she wasn't expecting the one she was receiving. Laughter.
"Annabeth, my explanation is that I had to get a wig to make this!" And handed her the Annabeth-lookalike. Soon they was clutching their sides in laughter, holding on to their new gifts for dear life. As the paid at the counter for the animals, Annabeth remembered it was a contest.
"So, who won?"
"Wise Girl, between you and me, I think it's a tie."
"Are you kidding? You didn't even include color contacts like I did!"
"And you didn't even include shoes like I did!"
"Please, you know mine was totally better than yours…"
But despite their arguments that the other's bear was not nearly as perfect as theirs was, they both slept with the Build-a-Bear in their bed every night.
