A/N: The last chapter was the first one, so I didn't really make it all... um, romantic-y. (Romantic-y?) But this one represents it's genre a bit

more. Story high still going, by the way ;D .

Disclaimer: I did not create Percy Jackson, and I didn't write the Percy Jackson books. Rick Riordan did, not me. So just remember that Percy Jackson is not my character, and that the books are not mine. Hooray.

After what had occurred earlier this morning, I didn't think I could go anywhere at camp without receiving a smirk or sneer of some sort. And unfortunately, for once, I was right.

Everywhere I went, three always seemed to be some kid who felt the need to make a face, or wink, or even whistle. Mostly though, it was the guys who acted immaturely. The girls just arched their eyebrows and kept their distances when I walked by, as if I was going to stumble over something and end up on them next.

However, a select few girls did tease me- if anything, they jeered at me the most. Now, who would do something like that, who would pick on Percy for entertainment? Yeah. You're right. The Ares girls.

I could always count on Clarisse and her idiot half-sisters to be there with Annabeth and me, wherever we went. Those jerks would spend most of their time embarrassing me in one way or the other, like hanging some Misltetoe over our heads with a fishing rod, (even though it was only the beginning of August,) or reminding me to tie my shoes.

Luckily, it was time for lunch, and Ares' daughters had to stop their prank midway. They grumbled and trudged away, swearing menacingly that they would be back. I watched them lumber towards the Pavillion and mumbled, "Good bye, and good riddance." Annabeth seemed to be thinking the same thought.

I turned to face her, and I realized that I couldn't. I couldn't meet her eyes; if I did, I would melt. I would be caught in a reverie, lost in my thoughts. Time would freeze. Through the corner of my eye, I could see her staring at me. Her head was slightly cocked to one side, as if she was trying to read my mind. I blushed. Oh Gods, Percy. Seriously, you can't avoid her gaze forever. And be a dude; stop blushing.

I swallowed hard. "So..."

"So..." Complete awkwardness.

"We better get going," I managed. "Um, we're going to be late for lunch." I muttered as I hastily began to hurry away.

"Percy, wait." Annabeth called. I gulped.

"Uh, yeah?" I asked, partly anxious, and partly confused.

She lowered her eyes. "Remember this morning," she started. Annabeth tucked her hair behind her ears hurriedly, like she did when she was nervous. "When I said, 'Don't even think about it'?"

"Yeah..." Where was she going with this?

"And you said that you weren't planning on doing it? Were you just saying that or, were you really about to... you know..."

Oh, no. Now I knew exactly what she was talking about. She wanted to know whether I was going to kiss her or not, this morning.

I had absolutely no idea what to say. If I said yes, she would beat me up, and our friendship would be ruined. If I said no, then she might not be so happy. Man, this was hard... What about the truth? a little voice asked in my head. Honestly, I didn't know. The thought had crossed my mind, I just wasn't sure if I was going to or not. But I couldn't tell her that...

So I decided to play it safe. If I said no, she wouldn't beat me up, and we could still be friends. I was pretty sure of that.

"No, I wasn't," I fibbed.

She was silent for a few moments. "Then how did you know what I was talking about when I asked you this morning? When I said, 'Don't even think about it.' I never explicitly explained what I meant when I spoke to you. The thought of... you know... must've crossed your mind... at least once?"

Darn. I hadn't thought about that. How did I know what she meant before? Because I had been thinking about it too. But I couldn't say that, either.

"Look, I don't know about all that, Annabeth. All I know is that I wasn't going to. End of story." Er... that might've come out harsher than I wanted it to.

She looked at the ground. Again with the silence! It was killing me, not knowing what she was thinking. I peered at her face. Was that... a flicker of disappointment, in her eyes? No, it couldn't be. She glanced back up at me.

"Phew. I was hoping you were going to say that. Good. Well, let's get going to lunch." Annabeth's enthusiasm sounded fake, and strained. However, I wasn't about to bring that up. It would just lead to more trouble...

"Yeah, I would never want to kiss you," I said, chuckling nervously. Wait. Wait a second, that's not what I meant.

Her fake enthusiasm seemed to evaporate. She glared at me with those gray eyes.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know it was such a horrible idea!"

She was brisk walking, and she was way ahead of me now.

"No, that's not what I meant! It's just that it doesn't sound so appealing. You know, me and you," No, that wasn't right, either.

"Excuse me? So- hypothetically speaking, of course- you wouldn't kiss me because you think you're too good for me?"

"NO! No, I never said that," I protested.

"But you meant it," she growled.

We were right in front of the Pavillion, where everyone could see us arguing.

"Well-"

All of a sudden, Annabeth brought her hand across my face. Whiplash. Everyone was staring at us now, and not one person spoke. Without a single word, Annabeth stormed to the Athena lunch table. The eyes of all the other campers followed her, and then focused on me. I stood there, my face reddening; partly because of anger, partly because of everyone watching me, and partly because the my face stung from the slap.

Crap. What just happened?

A/N: Yeah, Percy just pretty much blew it. He's kinda slow sometimes.

So anyway, if you want to read the next chapter, REVIEW! When I get 10 reviews, I'll update.