I've noticed lots of these types of one-shots have the the cheerleaders portrayed as sluts. So in this one-shot, I'm changing that.

Maria Sanders P.O.V

My name is Maria Sanders. I'm fifteen years old, blond, and I have a great body. I've got average grades, and I'm the head of the Falcons, my school's cheerleading squad. I am the image of perfection. So many guys want to go out with me, but I've said no to all of them. I have my sights set on Percy Jackson: captain of the swim team, and the hottest guy I have ever seen.

This morning, I'm really nervous. I'm planning on asking Percy out. I've seen other girls try, and he's said no to all of them, because, apparently, he has a girlfriend.

So, as I was walking down the halls, I spotted Percy by his locker. I took a deep breath. Here goes, I thought. I walked right up to him.

"Hi, Percy." I nervously said. He turned towards me. My breath caught in my throat. No matter how many times I see his eyes, they never cease to amaze me. The perfect combination of sea-green and ocean-blue make his eyes literally look like swirling oceans.

"Hi, Maria. What's up?"

"I was wondering if, maybe, you'd like to go see a movie or something tonight?" I stuttered. God, I was nervous.

"So, like a date?"

Sometimes Percy could be really dumb. "Yeah. A date, I guess." I was actually hoping Percy would say yes. How stupid of me.

He shook his head. "I'm really sorry, Maria. But I have a girlfriend. You're a nice girl and all, but she would kill me if I went out with someone else."

I swear I heard him mutter 'literally' at the end of his sentence, although I might have been imagining it. I tried to give Percy a smile. "Oh. Okay. That's fine. I'll see you around?"

"Sure. Bye, Maria."

I waved goodbye to him as he walked away. I tried not to cry as I turned away. I knew there was little to no chance he would ever go out with me. But I've never admired someone as much as I do Percy. Never loved someone as much as Percy.

As I mentally calmed myself down from my heartbreak, I held on to the hope that, maybe, just maybe, Percy would leave his girlfriend and come to me.

The next day, as I was sitting in Math class with Percy in the row just in front of me, I heard a commotion outside the classroom. The teacher, Mrs. Cory, seemed to hear it as well, stood up, and walked out the door.

The whole class fell silent. When she returned, a girl, about seventeen or eighteen, followed her in. I studied her. She had long blonde princess curls, tan skin, a lean body, and cold, grey eyes. I also noticed that she had a faded grey streak in her hair, similar to the one I once asked Percy about in his hair.

Speaking of Percy, when he saw her, he perked up immediately and grinned like a maniac. Blondie caught sight of him too, and pulled up a chair next to him.

I watched as he pulled her and gently kissed her on the lips. My heart broke all over again. This must be his girlfriend, I thought. Now I have no chance of getting him.

When they struck up a conversation, I couldn't resist eavesdropping.

"It's so good to see you, Wise Girl." This puzzled me. Was she super smart or something?

"You too, Seaweed Brain." Now I was even more confused. I knew Percy liked seaweed, but calling him a Seaweed Brain? That's kinda mean.

"Why are you here? I thought you were working." My brow furrowed in confusion. Blondie is much to young to be working, right?

"I thought I might drop by, see how you're doing in school." I stopped trying to make sense of things, so I just listened in instead.

"It's going well."

"Really?" Blondie raised her eyebrow.

"Yeah." Blondie gave him a look. "Well, as good as school can go in this life."

What are they talking about? This was just too confusing. As I clutched my head in frustration, I heard the teacher call out to me.

"Maria, are you alright?"

Percy and Blondie turned around in unison, one arm draped over the back of the chair. I looked at one, then the other. I quickly shook my head in reply to Mrs. Cory, but tuned out after that.

As I gathered my books in my arms, I glanced across the room to find Blondie and Percy laughing together. I sighed. Blondie's head snapped in my direction, as if she had heard me. I quickly turned away and walked to my locker.

Fifteen minutes later, during lunch, I watched as Percy walked into the cafeteria. Almost immediately, a gang of guys led by Bruno Lee surrounded him.

"Hey, Jackson!" Bruno spoke loud enough for the whole cafeteria to hear. Everyone diverted their gaze to the inevitable brawl that would ensue.

Percy sighed in exhaustion. "Hey, Bruno." I don't understand how Percy can be so casual. Bruno was the beefiest guy at school. He had taken down people twice his size at football matches. Percy was tiny compared to him.

"Gimme your lunch money." Bruno demanded.

Percy just leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. A smirk appeared on his face. "A'int gonna happen, Bruno." He shrugged.

Bruno face turned as red as a tomato. "I make the demands, and you follow them!" He roared.

Percy quirked and eyebrow. "And why's that?"

People all over the cafeteria gasped. No one contradicted Bruno Lee and got away with it. Meanwhile, Bruno was spluttering in rage. "Because...just because. I said so!" The captain of the football team had had enough. He pounded his fists together and cracked his knuckles. "Come on, Jackson! Let's go for it!"

Percy stopped leaning against the wall and said doubtfully, "You really sure you want to go up against me?" Bruno just growled. "Alright then."

Bruno charged Percy. Percy simply sidestepped, which resulted in Bruno colliding face-first into the wall. He whirled around with a bloody nose. "That's it!" He charged Percy again, intent on ramming him. But Percy moved to the side once more, and stuck his foot out. Bruno tripped, and fell to the ground.

Percy shook his head in mock amazement. "Wow, Big Boy. I didn't think you'd fall for the same trick twice."

I was surprised Percy hadn't been clobbered yet. Normal guys would never have lasted this long. They wouldn't have even agreed to a fight in the first place.

After several more rounds of Bruno attacking and Percy dodging, I realized lunch was almost over. Just then, that same blonde walked in through the doors, and, upon seeing the spectacle in front of her, yelled, "Perseus Jackson!"

Everyone gasped as they stopped what they were doing and turned to the raging blonde. No one called Percy by his real name! Most people didn't even know it. "What in the name of Hades do you think you're doing!?"

Percy put up his hands in surrender and said, "Sorry, Annie!"

Her face portrayed an irritated expression and said, "You know not to call me that. Now, why were you toying around with Bruno?"

Percy shrugged as he replied, "He wanted to pick a fight with me. I didn't want to hurt him."

I wondered what Percy meant by that. I'd never actually seen him fight, plus everyone said he was a wimp. The few times someone would try to attack him, he'd just walk away.

But now, Percy clearly knew how to anticipate Bruno, and seemed to simply be toying with him. In my opinion, that meant Percy knew how to fight. He just must not be letting on how well.

And what did Blondie-sorry, Annabeth-mean when she said 'what in the name of Hades'? Wasn't that some gloomy Greek god who never enjoys life?

Annabeth just huffed in response to Percy and said, "Come on, Percy. We've got Social Studies next."

Just then, the bell rang, and the students filed out of the cafeteria. I followed, casting a swift glance at Bruno and his gang as I go by. Bruno's sporting a bloody nose, and a twisted ankle, and cradled his right arm, probably a broken or sprained wrist.

One of the gang's members, Anton I think, tells him, "You should get that checked out."

Bruno grudgingly nods in acknowledgement, and shuffles away to the Nurse's Office, glaring at Percy as he goes by.

When the bell rang signalling the end of the day, I trudged out the front doors. The day had not gone well. Even after the brawl in the cafeteria, and everything before that, I still followed Percy around. And his girlfriend seemed to know it, too. Yet every time they had a conversation that I eavesdropped, they were saying the most confusing things.

It was like they were speaking another language. During Social Studies class, they literally were speaking another language. The unit we're working on is Ancient Civilization. First term, we explore Ancient Greek culture. When Mr. Mendoza, the history teacher, asked if we knew anything about Ancient Greece, Percy and Annabeth had giggled, as if they knew something we didn't. Mr. Mendoza had called on them, saying, "Ms. Chase, Mr. Jackson. Is there something you'd like to share with the rest of the class?"

The couple had shared a look with each other, and shrugged in response. Mr. Mendoza let it slip, but kept an eye on them. When he began telling us about the Greek Gods, Percy literally fell asleep. Annabeth wasn't much better. After Mr. Mendoza caught them and woke them up, he ordered them to name all of the Olympians.

Much of the class had snickered, but Percy and Annabeth turned to each other and began a conversation. In another freaking language.

"So, do you want to tell him, or should I?"

"I don't know. They're all quite baffled already, considering we are speaking another language."

"Man, I'm so glad I let Chiron teach us to speak Greek. It sure came in handy."

"Oh, shut it Percy."

He had grinned in response. The whole class had been dumbfounded. No one could understand what they had been saying. Annabeth had turned to Mr. Mendoza after her and Percy's 'chitchat', and said, "What was that, Mr. Mendoza? I seem to be having trouble hearing."

Mr. Mendoza's jaw had hung wide open. He had not known what to say, so he had awkwardly switched subjects and had begun explaining the Titan War. Percy and Annabeth had both fallen asleep. No one bothered to wake them up.

So here I was, shuffling along with my book in my arms, quietly staring up into space and listing off reasons as to why I should be with Percy. I felt so dejected. Of all the boys I had to fall for, it had to be the one with a girlfriend, beautiful eyes, captain of the swim team, fighting skills, and is bilingual.

I was so lost in thought that I didn't notice the rock in my path until after I tripped over it. I fell forwards and landed in the comforting arms of Percy...wait, what? I looked up at his face, his eyes full of worry. I sighed in content.

I heard someone clear their throat, and I turned to see Annabeth standing next to Percy, arms crossed over her chest. I quickly stumbled back onto my own feet, and hastily apologized to Percy for falling into him.

"It's fine, Maria."

"Maria, I don't mean to put you on the spot or anything, but I noticed you took great interest in our conversations." Annabeth questioned.

"Well, as a matter of fact-," I was about to argue with her and say that, no, I hadn't been eavesdropping, but after the steely glare she sent my way, I decided against it. "Yes, yes I did."

"And why is that?"

I flicked my eyes towards Percy, who would not look at me. I resettled my gaze on the blonde, and replied with, "I like Percy."

A moment of silence. Then she burst out laughing. Her reaction was so unexpected, that I actually took a few steps back. After calming herself down and a couple worried looks from Percy, she finally managed to say,"Lots of girls feel that way. So don't feel bad if you want to break us up. Just understand that that will never happen."

I nodded mutely in response. "I sorry. I just really admire Percy, and there are so many things I want to learn about him."

"I get that. Lots of people want to know things about me, but I don't enjoy sharing my personal life." He put an arm around Annabeth. "I will say that I've been through Hell for Annabeth. I love her, and no one else. Not the romantic way, anyway."

I nodded in response, with tears forming in my eyes. I guess I'd known, deep down, that Percy and I were not meant to be. "I understand. You two love each other with all your hearts. I guess I've just always craved for something like that."

Annabeth took me into a hug. I stood there, surprised for a moment, but then embraced her as well. "Maybe someday you will. I'm sure there's someone out there for you."

"Thank you, Annabeth." I paused a moment before asking my final question. "By the way, I've been wondering something. Where did you guys get the grey hair?"

Percy and Annabeth looked at each other in surprise and giggled. "Let's just say we've had a lot of weight on our shoulders."

That was my first ever one-shot! I'm go to try to do more of these, but expect updates to be very slow. I've had to put two of my stories on hiatus, because I can't keep up with all three of them. I expect to post another one-shot every four months or so. Follow, fav, review!

- Fiercest-Dreamer