Summary: Percy doesn't believe that birthday wishes come true. Annabeth may or may not prove him wrong without meaning to. AU.

A/N: So, as you probably already know, this is for Percy's birthday! And might I also mention that I have the same birthday as him? ;) So... we're meant to be...I'm just kidding, I know that we're not, proven by the fact that I am writing a Percabeth story. But a girl can dream right?

"""

Never in his life had Percy Jackson made a birthday wish.

He thought that he never would. After all, there wasn't a point to it. Wishes—especially ones that you could only make once a year—just didn't come true.

So when his eighteenth birthday rolled around, he figured that it would be the same as all his past birthdays; wake up, spend time with his mom, go to the beach for a few hours, return home, spend more time with his mom, go to sleep. Percy's birthday routine has never changed before, so why should it now?

But, every year, he secretly hoped that it would change.

Of course, he enjoyed the time he spent with his mom and the room he got for his thoughts when he was on the beach, but he wanted something to be different for once.

However, Percy knew that that year would be the same as every other year. Or at least, he thought he knew that.

I woke up to a soft breeze coming from the window, warm sunlight, and... screaming in my ear?

"Percy! Wake up! It's your birthday! Aren't you excited?! Oh, I can't believe that so many years have passed! It seems like just yesterday that you were getting potty trained—"

"Okay," I cracked one eye open, not needing to hear anything else about baby Percy. "Okay, mom, I'm up!"

I heard a chuckle and then my bedroom door being closed.

Rolling over on my bed, I stared up at the ceiling. It was my birthday, and I was happy, sure, but I wasn't excited. It was just another year; nothing really special.

I sat up and looked out my window, which had a perfect view of the beach. My mom and I lived in one of the small beach houses on Montauk Beach. It wasn't anything fancy, but I loved it.

I was watching the waves crash onto the shore, when a flash of blonde caught my attention. It was a girl. Obviously, I knew that there were a lot of girls at Montauk. It was a beach, after all. But this particular girl happened to be Annabeth Chase. Annabeth Chase, the know-it-all of my high school, Goode. Nobody would really expect to see her at a beach.

At first glance, I would think the opposite; she looked like a stereotypical Californian girl, if you managed to overlook her grey eyes. But I'd gotten more than just a first glance, and I knew that she was the kind of girl who would stay in all summer to study rather than go vacationing at the beach. So what was she doing here?

I shook my head. I was definitely thinking too much into it. In fact, I usually didn't think much, or at all, really.

Just then, a muffled "I made pancakes!" came from somewhere outside my room.

I was quick to jump out of bed and get dressed after that.

"""

By the time I was out on the beach, there were already people there, roaming around, talking to their friends, swimming, and even reading... Wait, reading? Nobody read on a beach. But, sure enough, there was a girl sitting under the shade of a tree, with a large book in her hands.

I looked closer and realized that the girl was none other than Annabeth Chase. Of course, it made sense. Only she would read during summer vacation. But still. I thought that that was a little odd. It was summer! She should be spending time with her friends!

Then again, I was alone too...

Annabeth was still reading. I decided that it was the perfect time to look at her carefully. I'd seen her before, but I'd never really looked at her.

With her curly blonde hair, tan skin, and intimidating eyes, she was undeniably attractive, but not in a way that drew a lot of attention; she was beautiful in a quiet way.

Suddenly, as if she knew that I was looking at her, she lifted her eyes to meet mine. They were flickered back down and focused on her book again as abruptly as they were lifted.

Since I was a generally social person, I took that as an invitation, even though Annabeth probably didn't mean it to be interpreted that way.

As I approached her, I wondered what I should say. Just "hey"? Ask her how her summer was going?

I hadn't exactly spoken to her before, even though we'd been going to the same high school for three years. You couldn't blame me, really. We were polar opposites. She made amazing grades, and was the teacher's favourite in every class, while I had to struggle to obtain C's and was found in after-school detention far more often than not.

I realized that I'd made it to the tree that Annabeth was sitting under, and awkwardly sat down beside her.

I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything. I settled for just sitting, not noticing that I had been unconsciously tapping my fingers on the sandy ground until Annabeth finally spoke.

"Could you please stop that?"

I was confused. "What?"

"That," she said, gesturing at my fingers.

"Oh," I stopped tapping the ground. "Um, sorry."

She didn't respond, just turned back to her reading.

"So..." I started, trying to make conversation. She didn't look up, so I continued. "So, why are you here alone?"

"I could ask the same of you," she replied, not taking her eyes off of her book. Honestly, what was so interesting about words on a page anyway?

"It's my birthday," I blurted out. Afterwards, I realized how conceited that sounded, and was about to apologize, but not before Annabeth—finally—put the book down.

She raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't that further elaborate why you shouldn't be by yourself rather than the opposite?"

I didn't have a response for that, besides a whole lot of stuttering.

Annabeth cracked a smile at my inability to form a proper sentence. I smiled, too, because after seeing it once, I decided that I liked her smile. A lot. It was nice... pretty.

She looked at me weirdly, like I was sitting there staring at her and grinning like an idiot (I was). Then, she promptly pushed herself off of the ground and started walking away, book in hand.

"Hey," I called after her. "Wait! Where are you going?"

"Home," she answered without looking back. "Look up." I couldn't be sure, but I was pretty sure she was smirking when she said that.

When I followed her instruction, I was surprised to see a dark sky and a single, bright star. It must have been around 9 o'clock.

"Oh, when did it get so dark? Crap, mom is going to kill me!"

Annabeth turned and raised an eyebrow, yet again. "I highly doubt that she's actually going to kill—"

"I wasn't kidding, Annabeth," I said, so gravely that she had to know that I was most definitely kidding.

I resolved that I very much enjoyed joking with her. It felt like I was joking around with a friend. And when Annabeth let another smile slip, I decided that talking to her—even though my day was mostly spent watching her read—was almost worth missing my mom's chocolate chip cookies, which she made every Monday evening. They were sure to be gone by now.

Despite that, I smiled back at Annabeth, who turned so that her back was facing me again.

"Goodnight, Percy," were the words she left me with before stalking back to one of the cabins surrounding the beach.

"Goodnight, Annabeth," I replied, still smiling, because she knew my name. Annabeth Chase knew my name. I probably shouldn't have been that happy about it, seeing as we went to the same school, but I couldn't really help it. Even if it was pretty obvious that she'd know it, I did not expect her to have remembered.

I shook my head and stood up, brushing sand off of myself. I didn't know why I was so intrigued by Annabeth. That day was the first I'd ever talked to her, yet I wanted to see her and joke with her and make her smile everyday from then on.

I sighed, deciding not to think about it too much. Annabeth was truly a confusing person. I would never be able to figure her out.

I was so stuck in my thoughts that I almost crashed into the door of the cabin I shared with my mom. I reached for the doorknob, but stopped halfway. It felt like there was something I was missing, although that surely couldn't be the case. I hadn't brought anything out to the beach.

I looked up at the sky on sudden impulse, and noticed that the shining star that I'd seen earlier was still there, in the night sky.

I didn't usually make wishes. They would never come true. So why waste the time?

But it was my eighteenth birthday, and there was nothing to lose.

I looked at the star.

I thought about Annabeth.

And I made a split-second decision and a wish—well... maybe two wishes... (the second was my mom's chocolate chip cookies)—at the same time.

"""

It turns out, my mom got a little bit mad that I was home late, but guess what? There was a plate of chocolate chip cookies sitting on our dining table, still fresh from the oven.

"""

A/N: This is about 30 minutes late (it's around 12:30 AM here)... But that means that it's the nineteenth now! HAPPY PERCY JACKSON'S GREEK GODS RELEASE DATE! I can't buy it though, at least not today :/. Are you guys going to buy it?

I know that birthday wishes are usually made on candles, and Percy wished on a star... but a birthday wish is still a birthday wish, whether it's on a candle or a star...right?

This is going to have more than one chapter, probably two or three. Probably.