Walking through a crowd
The village is aglow
Kaleidoscope of loud
Heartbeats under coats
Everybody here
Wanted something more
Searching for a sound we hadn't
Heard before

Welcome to New York/Taylor Swift

It was New Year's Eve, and someone didn't have a date. Figures. Percy was pretty sure that his lack of a girlfriend was due to his jerk of a boss. All of his friends were taken already, because they didn't work at a clothing shop whose main audience was fourteen-year-old girls. Jason had met a girl in his government lecture, and Grover had gotten married a month ago. Married.

Meanwhile, Percy was sitting in the back room of a retail store that, for some godforsaken reason, was open at night on New Year's Eve. He was twenty-two, living in New York City, and the extent of his relationships had been accidentally holding hands with a woman that he had thought was his mother in the second grade. It was pathetic, really, when you thought about it.

"Johnson." Mr. D, who wouldn't give Percy his full name, burst into the back room. "Get off your butt and restock the shelves."

"It's Jackson," Percy groaned. "And I have to get going. Believe it or not, I have places to be." After seeing Mr. D's suspicious look, he sighed. "A party. I have to be at a party at my friend Silena's house. She used to work here."

"I remember Stephanie," Mr. D nodded. "She was a much better worker than you. Get going, and don't drink too much because you have to be back in here on Monday."

"Yes sir," Percy said sarcastically. "I'll be here on time, ready to work."

Mr. D chuckled. "Ah, I think we both hope you meant that." They also both knew that he didn't.

It was 10:12 when he made his way to his apartment building. His dad, who he hadn't seen in over ten years, had given the spot to him as a gift for his twentieth birthday. The note had come in the mail, but Percy had appreciated it nonetheless. After all, it got a little awkward when you were an adult living with your mom and her new boyfriend (who used to be your English teacher).

He hustled past the security guard, a weird dude named Ares who claimed he had been a professional boxer and threatened to take Percy out whenever he talked to him. Hurriedly, he changed out of his work uniform and ran into the kitchen to grab a housewarming gift he had been meaning to give to Silena and her husband for over three months now.

Percy ran out into the hallway, stuffing his keys in the pocket of his pants and rushing to stuff his arm into a jacket sleeve that he might have outgrown a few years back.

"Oh my gosh!"

He whirled around and almost smacked a redheaded girl in the face. She screamed again, and Percy shushed her hurriedly. The last thing he wanted right now was for people to think he was beating up this girl in front of his apartment.

"What is wrong with you? You almost punched me in the face!"

"I'm sorry," he apologized. Percy finished putting on his jacket and stamped his feet restlessly. He really needed to go, and this girl was stopping him from doing it. Even if her freckles were kind of cute.

She rolled her green eyes and sighed. "Whatever. I usually just like to get through this building without attacks."

Percy laughed. "I told you, I'm sorry about that. I was just kind of in a rush."

"Hm?" she questioned. "What for? If you're trying to murder me, you might as well give me a reasonable explanation."

"A party," he grinned. "I uh, it's kind of important."

"Must be a lot of good food," she mused jokingly. "I'll let you go, then. Bring back a beer for me. I live in 3A."

Percy smiled. "I'll be sure to remember that. Nice almost punching you…"

"Rachel," she supplied. "And I'll be holding you up to that."

"Percy." He sighed, awkwardly turning around to walk out of the building. He could practically see her rolling her eyes at him while she walked to her apartment. 3A, he could remember that.

Maybe she was his New Year's kiss.

"Hey, sorry I'm so late!" Percy hugged Silena and shook hands with her husband Charles Beckendorf, before handing her a messily wrapped package.

"Oh, you didn't have to get anything!" Silena gushed, setting down the present and smiling at him. "You're such a sweetheart, Percy. Sally raised you right."

Percy chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's nothing big. I've been meaning to give it to you for a while now." All it was was this little china set that Silena had been begging her parents for, and his mom insisted that he buy for them.

"You can come meet everyone in the living room." Silena really gave him no choice as she dragged him by the arm through a garden guarded by Grecian looking poles. "Isn't the architecture beautiful? My friend Annabeth did it for me. You should talk to her sometime. She's here tonight." Silena winked at Percy, and he smiled weakly.

She was forever trying to set him up with her friends, because she was really a matchmaker at heart. None of her suggestions had been too successful, the worst of them involving a broken fish tank and a very angry chef. The best one hadn't been much better, honestly. Maybe Percy just wasn't too good with this whole dating thing.

"Maybe I'll give it a shot," he muttered. Beckendorf laughed behind him. He was a huge guy, and Percy had never really talked to him that much. He seemed pretty nice, but mostly intimidating. I mean, the dude could probably step on Percy and squish him.

"You definitely should," Silena encouraged. "I know you have a thing for blondes."

Percy shook his head. "You sound like my mom."

Silena seemed pretty pleased with that fact, and she left Percy alone while she dragged Beckendorf into the crowd. Percy frowned. There were a ton of people that he didn't know, drunken guys (already), and girls with dresses that were a little too short for his liking.

"It's kinda crazy in here, isn't it?"

Percy froze. He knew that voice. "Calypso?"

"Hey, Percy." He had met Calypso when he had first moved into his apartment building two years ago. The first day, when he had been heaving his bed up to the third floor where he lived through the elevator, she had gotten in and it had broken down immediately. They had spent upwards of four hours sitting in the heated elevator until they had finally thought to call someone. He had become really good friends with her, but she had moved out a week later and he hadn't seen her since.

He laughed and gave her a hug. She looked good, like good. She was wearing a long, Grecian-style dress, and her caramel-colored hair was darker than he remembered. "You look great!" he exclaimed.

"So do you," she laughed. "What's been going on lately?"

"Nothing much," he admitted. "I'm still living in the same apartment, although that's probably no surprise."

She smiled. "Yeah. No surprise. Got a job?" Her eyes twinkled mischievously. "Got a girlfriend?"

Percy's throat went dry, because all he could think was: Calypso wants to be my girlfriend? He never thought this day would come. She was like a goddess, and he was a worker at Mr. D's. Like, no girl would ever agree to date that.

"I work at a retail store," he said, trying not to panic. He better not screw this up for himself. "Uh, not tied down yet. Do you-what about you?" Stupid.

"Respectable," she teased. "I work at this flower shop a couple blocks away from here. It's not permanent, but it pays well."

"That's good," Percy mused, but it wasn't, because he wanted to know if she had a boyfriend, not if she was working at a floral shop. "I mean, are you da-"

"Hola chica."

Percy scowled as Leo Valdez snuck up behind Calypso, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. The two boys had gone to high school together, where Percy was captain of the swim team and Leo was president of ruining things. He was always someone Percy wasn't particularly fond of, and he hadn't made himself better when he had almost lit the entire swim team on fire with a machine that he and the rest of yearbook, dubbed "Cabin Nine", had created.

"What is it, Leo?" Percy asked irritably.

"Cool down, hermano," Leo said. "Just checking up on my girl here."

Percy was about to respond with a smart comment, like back off or I'll punch your face in, but Calypso laughed and kissed him. Percy rolled his eyes. Even Leo "I can eat twenty burritos in five minutes" Valdez had managed to get a girlfriend?

"I forgot to tell you, this is my new boyfriend," Calypso smiled. "I met him on a broken elevator, just like you, Percy."

"Great," he said sarcastically, but neither of them really noticed. They were too busy making out, and it was only 10:51.

"This is stupid." Percy had stationed himself at the snack table, where he was sure that he had robbed Silena and Beckendorf of their whole supply of chips and gummy bears. "Stupid New Year's Eve."

"That's what I was thinking."

Percy was going to bash his head into the table, because another girl? He looked up to see a woman that looked around his age. She was wearing a purple cape thing and a gold headband. She looked really intimidating with her shaped eyebrows and muscular stature, but she was pretty nonetheless.

No, Percy. Don't do it.

"Ah, I'm Percy."

Why?

"Reyna," she greeted herself. "You doing okay? I heard a little schizophrenia over here when you were talking to yourself.

"Sorry about that." Percy ran a hand through his hair and automatically cursed in his head. That was the one thing his mom told him not to do. "I just…I thought no one was listening," he admitted.

"It's okay." Reyna picked up an empty bowl. "Hungry, I assume?"

This girl was finding out everything about him and they had met less than five minutes ago, no big deal.

Percy chuckled. "Yeah. So…you know Silena?"

"Charles," Reyna corrected, referring to Beckendorf's first name. "We were in the army together."

"Oh, wow," Percy said admiringly. "That's pretty cool. Are you, are you with anyone tonight?"

"Flying solo." Reyna tugged on a strand of straight, dark hair.

"Cool!" Percy spoke a little too soon. So sue him. He was a little more than enthusiastic at this point. "Would you like to-"

"For life," she added.

"W-what?"

She winced, and Percy felt a little bad. "It's this kind of pact thing I made with my friend after a really bad breakup. We're not going to date. Like, ever. Sorry."

Percy assured her that it was fine, and quickly ran off. What luck.

He had resorted to hanging around a little fort of couches and people in the corner of the house, by the DJ. Percy hadn't mentioned it before, but Silena's mom was crazy rich and had her supplied for life. Of course, there was also the fact that Silena was a world-famous designer and Beckendorf was the CEO of a construction company.

"-And just a week ago, we went on twelve consecutive hikes in Colorado," Juniper, Grover's wife finished, smiling brightly. Honestly, sometimes that woman gave him a headache with how happy she was. Not that that was a bad thing; Percy could actually learn something from her.

"That's great, Juniper," Piper encouraged. She was holding onto Jason's hand, but he looked nervous. "I'm so glad you two are happily married, too!" She sent a brief but pointed glance at Jason, who smiled weakly.

The two of them had been dating for over five years, and Piper was forever dropping hints for Jason to propose. He had talked to Percy about it, and as far as Percy could tell, he was just a chicken.

"Uh, Percy!" Jason changed the subject hurriedly. "What's going on with you?"

Percy glared at Jason. "I'm gonna go get a drink."

He wriggled past a couple kissing, and strolled away from the other four, where Piper was scolding Jason for intruding, and Grover was feasting on an enchilada he had microwaved in Silena's kitchen.

Percy was glancing back when he felt something bump into him, and something dribbled all over his chest.

"What the-" He looked down and immediately backed away. There was another girl standing in front of him, and she was carrying a half-filled cup of coke. Oh yeah, and one more little thing: she was only gorgeous.

She was wearing a sparkling silver sweater and leggings and heels, and she was still shorter than him. Her gray eyes were just a little too big for her face, but he thought that it worked for her. Her honey blonde curls were pinned back, and Percy wanted to just run his hand through them, because they looked perfect.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed, even though the look she gave him implied that he was kind of in the way. "Uh, that washes out, so we're good, right?"

"Yeah," he breathed. "We're good. Um, I'm Percy."

She smiled. He wanted to melt. "I'm Annabeth."

They had their New Year's kiss at 2:37, but who's counting?