If you ask him he won't admit it but from the moment he first saw the crown of petals tangled in blond curls he was taken.

It first happened one day during first period. He was half-asleep, as usual, when he happened to glance at the door through half-lidded eyes. For a split second Percy was sure he had just died in chem class because that was definitely an angel that just walked in.

An angel that bore a strong resemblance to his lab partner.

He must have been staring (what does it matter, though? he's dead.) because when she sat beside him, her cheeks flushed and her hand went up to the crown of flowers on her head.

"Oh no," Percy manages to squeak out. "It's...I'm not...it's really nice."

"Thanks." She smiles and the sun shines through the window behind her giving the air around her this soft glow and wow; she had to be an angel.

Percy may be half-asleep ninety percent of the time during chemistry but even semi-conscious he knows he was blessed with an attractive lab partner. And if he didn't, Jason was always at his locker before second period to remind him.

He would always say the same thing in various different ways: "I can't believe your lab partner is Annabeth freaking Chase. She's hot and smart! I deserve a smart, hot lab partner! I would appreciate it!"

Percy does appreciate it, though.

He appreciates when she comes in smelling faintly of lemons and coffee; a combination that sounds like it wouldn't work but for her, it does.

He appreciates how she's patient with him when they work together. He's complete shit at chemistry but she doesn't even sigh once. She just smiles at him a lot and helps him when he gets confused.

He especially appreciates how she doesn't pretend he doesn't exist outside of the classroom. She waves at him whenever she sees him at lunch or in the hallways. Her friends will whisper and ask why she's waving at the boy with the lip piercing and the grey streak in his hair. She'll just wave again and chastise them for being stuck up.

So yeah, Percy definitely appreciates Annabeth freaking Chase.

The fact that she just so happens to be hot is just an added bonus.

But the ethereal look the crown of flowers she's wearing in her hair gives her is a bonus on top of the previous bonus and Percy can barely think straight.

So if he spends the entire period sneaking an obscene amount of glances at her, that's totally his prerogative.

::

It's a while before she wears it again and it just so happens to be the day his car fucks up and he makes it to school midway through second period. He has to go into the attendance office and get a slip to enter class and as luck would have it, Annabeth's sitting in one of the two chairs in the tiny office when he walks in.

She smiles at him and his stomach feels weird. (Probably because he skipped breakfast. It's not butterflies or anything. He doesn't get butterflies.) "Morning, Percy."

"Hey Annabeth." He gives the tiniest, dorkiest wave ever and he wants to walk out of the office and into traffic but he needs his slip. "Is she here?"

"She went to go get her morning cup of coffee about fifteen minutes ago. I have no idea where she is now. It shouldn't be taking this long."

He nods and hums in response. There's about two minutes of silence before she stands up and walks behind the attendance clerk's desk.

"I'm an attendance aide. I could probably just write a pass for you." She pulls a slip out of a drawer and starts scribbling on it. "What class are you going to?"

She looks up at him through her incredibly long eyelashes and Percy's decided now's a good time to take a minute to appreciate her eyes. They're a lovely shade of grey and he thinks if they were the only pair of eyes he could see for the rest of his life, he'd be okay with that.

"Percy?"

Right, she's talking to him. "Oh, um, English." She nods and starts writing when he realizes he gave her the wrong class. "No, wait. Shit. Sorry. I meant math. I'm going to math. Pre-Cal, to be specific. Mr. Warner. Yeah. That's where I'm going."

She laughs softly before taking out another slip to start from scratch. "I'm sorry you have Warner for pre-cal. I had him when I took it during the summer and I barely passed."

"Oh god if you barely passed that means I'm definitely gonna fail."

"Well," She tears the slip from the pad and hands it to him. "If you ever need a tutor I'm always available."

"I will remember that." He says taking the slip from her. "Oh and Annabeth? I like that…" He gestures toward the crown on her head and she smiles (god, she has a great smile).

"Thank you, Percy."

::

Later during the week Percy decides pre-cal is kicking his ass and he needs a pretty blond flower crown-wearing tutor.

::

Percy's not sure what it is about the soft pink petals creating a halo around her head that has him totally distracted but he's totally distracted. Annabeth's talking but he's not really hearing what she's saying. He's too busy noticing how the color of her lips is just a shade or two darker than the pink petals.

"Percy stop staring at my lips."

His eyes fly up to meet hers and he swears to god he's absolutely not blushing. She bites her lip to keep from smiling too big and he'd probably give his left pinky toe to just kiss her once.

"You said if we studied at your house instead of at the library you'd focus more." She reminds him with a tap of her pencil on his head.

"I am focused!" He replies snatching the pencil from her hand.

"I mean focused on math, not me."

He sighs and stares at the open textbook in front of him for all of two seconds before turning back to her.

"Percy," She begins and he just smiles.

"I like when you wear flowers in your hair. It makes you look like a nymph or something." He sounds sappy but he doesn't even care. Somehow he's become so fond of Annabeth freaking Chase it's ridiculous.

She rolls her eyes and closes the textbook. He's expecting her to scold his lack of concentration and is happily taken by surprise when she grabs his face in her hands and presses her lips against his. It takes him a moment to register just what she's doing but when he feels her tongue run over the ring in his lower lip he's instantly brought back to reality. He's kissing her back and, god; he can't even believe he's kissing her.

She pulls away with a smirk and runs a thumb over his lip ring.

"I like when you wear that lip ring. It makes you look like a boy I probably shouldn't be hanging out with," He knows she's mocking him but he can't even bring himself to care. "Or something."

"Are you saying you only like me for my piercing?"

She leans over and kisses him again. It's short and sweet and, yeah, he's turning into such a sap.

"You have a pre-cal test in three days. Study first and then we can discuss all the reasons I like you."

And once they're done studying, Percy totally makes her hold up her end of the bargain.

::

She wears a crown on the day of his pre-cal test for good luck. He ends up making a B+ and when he tells her, she kisses him right in the middle of the hallway.

And for the rest of the day people are whispering about how the boy with the piercing and the girl with the flower crown made out in the hallway.

(Mrs. Scottson chewed them out for breaking the school's 'public display of affection' rule but in the grand scheme of things, Percy thinks it was worth it.)