Annabeth was sitting in her seat, scrolling through her phone waiting for her chemistry class to start. So far, her day had been typical. Her alarm woke her up in the morning, she got dressed, made her own breakfast as her twin step brothers threw their toys over her head in the kitchen trying to annoy her. She dodge them all at their amusement until her stepmother stopped them, restraining them down to the dinner table. Without another word, Annabeth got in her car and drove herself to school. School went as school always went, which was great but now she was nervous about her potential chemistry partner. She was hoping she wouldn't be stuck with one of her friends. Not because she didn't like her friends, in fact it was the exact opposite, but because they would distract her or wouldn't pull their own weight during the project, feeling that Annabeth's intellect was enough to pull them through a passing grade. She was scared, also, that if it wasn't one of her friends, then that person would be unable to work with her and that this would affect her grade in a negative way. All in all, Annabeth preferred working alone. Nobody could hold you back if that was the case.

Calypso: Cheer practice tonight, don't forget! Game on Friday, so don't be late. Lots to do. xx

Annabeth: Don't worry, you know I never forget.

Calypso: Perf. Good luck in Chem, I got Leo as my partner last period. ;) Hope you're lucky in yours!

Annabeth doesn't reply, continuing her endless scroll on facebook. She hears the chair beside her scraping agains the floor in that annoying noise it always makes. Her eyes glance up and she's surprised to see Percy Jackson taking a seat next to her. She sets her phone down, sitting up straight as her hand goes up to fix her hair a little as she gives him a small smile. She can't tell if he smiled back, half his face being covered by his hood but there is an unmistakable grunt that escapes his lips as he sits down, as if he was in pain. She bite her lip staring at him curiously. How could she not when he is a mystery to everyone around him. Was he going to be a good partner? Would he pull his own weight? Would he be smart enough to keep up with her and contribute to whatever this project would be about? If this was a joint project in musical theory, she has no doubts that all the answers to her questions would be yes. After hearing him play for the first time, she always tried to hear glimpses of his work and his talent when she stayed after school. He was kind of her guilty pleasure. Hearing him play was breathtaking at times and she was sure that others would react similarly if they ever heard him play. No matter, this was not musical theory and for all she knew, he would be the worst chemistry partner she had ever had. She turns her attention to the front of the class when the bell rings, indicating the start of class. The teacher starts handing out papers, two per table, one per student before going back to the front of the class.

"Each team has received 3 optional topics for the end of semester project. This project will be worth 35% of your grade, so it is paramount that you choose your topics wisely. Each team has been presented with different topics as to avoid plagiarism. You will discuss and research the topics you have been given, exemplify the research through an experiment which will be presented in front of the class at the end of term, along with a 15 minute oral presentation on the experiment and research you have done. You must also hand in a written report of the experiment and the presentation. You have, as I said, until the end of the semester, which gives you a month and a half to work on this and you may sign up for lab times at the end of each class to practise the experiment. I will let you have this class to discuss your options and get to know your partners if you don't already know them but next class, we will return to the scheduled course load" He says writing down most of what he was saying in point form on the board before turning back to face them, offering them a smile before letting their attentions drift to their partners, the noise level of the class going up amongst all the chattering. Annabeth stares over at Percy, who had remained quiet and unmoving. She looks down at her paper, writing her name down at the top before looking back up at him. He looks back at her, his face still partially covered before. He sits up straighter, rubbing the back of his neck over the hood of his jacket.

"So, Annabeth right?" He asks just trying to break the ice. Percy curses to himself at how stupid he sounded right about now. Of course she was Annabeth, everybody knew who she was. She was basically a golden child. Straight A student, cheerleader, ambitious and involved member of the student council. He looks back down at his paper as she offers him a strained smile as she nods.

"Percy right?" She retorts with a slight teasing grin at which he can't help but smile back as he nods. She taps her fingers against the table as they stay silent for a couple more moments.

"So I think that we should do a bit of background research on all subjects and see how much wealth of information is available for each before we decided, officially, what our subject matter will be." Her burst of enthusiasm and assertiveness takes him by surprise amidst their silence and he looks down at the paper. That would be a lot more work than he had anticipated but with the unquestioning look in her eyes made him believe that he shouldn't disagree with her. Maybe it would be best if she, of all people, could take precedent over this subject over him. She smiles widely as he nods and starts to ramble on all the different subjects. But Percy isn't really processing what he is saying. All he can think about is how his dyslexia and ADHD would affect this project and how that might affect his future here. If she found out and told all her little friends, they might come back to tease him for it. He taps his foot nervously as he stares at the questions on the page. They were really just letters on a page to him right now, his mind elsewhere. A perfectly manicured hand snaps its fingers in front of his face pulling him back to reality and he follows the hand up the arm to its owner to see a disappointed Annabeth staring down at him.

"Is everything okay?"

Percy agreeing to her ideas took Annabeth into overdrive. To her, him agreeing that they should do the extra research, even though that research would not be in debt enough to finish the project, meant that he was willing to pull his own weight. Without realizing, she started rambling on about the subjects, effectively taking the lead on the matter. Her rambling is soon stopped as Percy's eyes drift down to the paper and glaze over as he stares at the topics. She rolled her eyes. Great. How would she be able to get a good grade if he was going to have his head in the clouds all the time. She snaps her fingers in front of his face to get his attention.

"Everything okay?" She asks, the tapping of her fingers resuming, subconsciously showing her discontent at him. He sighs nodding fixing his hood as he giver her his attention once again. Seeing only half his face gave Annabeth the unsettling feeling that he was hiding something from her. But she wasn't one to pry so she shrugged it off.

"As I was saying, I think we should meet at the library twice a week while we get the research done before signing up for experiment time in the lab. I'll need your phone number so that we can get in contact if anything ever comes up and also to schedule the meetings." She says sliding her phone over to him unlocked on the contacts application. He takes the phone staring at the screen in focus as he inputs the information down on her phone. She frowns at him curiously as he takes some time to do so before handing her the phone back. She looks down at it before texting him so that he could have her number as well. She spent the rest of the class discussing the project with him, but if she's honest, she was doing most of the talking.

Cheerleading practice left her breathless, Calypso really pushing them as much as she possibly good. But just as her best friend, she was a perfectionist so she didn't really mind. While most of the squad and already showered and gone, not wanting to stay at school any more than they would have had to, Annabeth, Piper and Calypso took their time getting dressed.

"I feel like we need another guy on our team. I mean Will is great but there's a lack of symmetry you know." Calypso says as she applies her foundation, not glancing at Annabeth and Piper as she talks. Annabeth rolls her eyes at this statement as she slips on her shirt.

"Most of the guys here are too macho to set their pride aside and become a cheerleader and not all of them would be as flexible and amazing as Will is. And he's always so cheerful, not all guys are like that" Annabeth says Percy coming to mind as she speaks those last words.

"Especially not his boyfriend. I mean I just think it's hilarious how Will can be so bright and peppy while Nico is always so… gloomy. But they are so perfect together its crazy. Though not as perfect as me and Jason." Piper says teasingly making Annabeth and Calypso laugh. It was true. The day those two got together came as shock to everyone but the match was undeniably perfect.

"Speaking of matches, who did you get paired up with for the chem project?" Calypso asks Annabeth as she starts putting her make-up away, walking back to the bench the girls were sitting at, fully dressed and ready to go. Annabeth glances up at her friend shyly before looking down at her hands.

"I got paired with Percy. I'm not sure how its gonna pan out though, he seems king of spacey all the time and he barely said a word to me all class." She explains as she stands, grabbing her bag. Piper raises an eyebrow before glancing over at Calypso with a smirk.

"I think it's going to turn out perfect. I can picture it now, long night at the library hunched over the same book, meeting up at each others houses and reaching for some cookies, your hands gently touching as sparks run up your arms." Piper teases her putting her arms around her friends shoulder, making Calypso giggle but Annabeth glares.

"I ship it." Calypso says in a similar tone, agreeing with her friend. Annabeth shrugs off Pipers arms and rolls her eyes.

"There are more important things in life than boys. Besides, how are we suppose to get together, if he doesn't even talk to me" She says rolling her eyes.

"And that's not to say that I want to get together with him." She adds correcting herself.

"Uh-huh." Piper says smirking

"Sure." Calypso adds before Annabeth teasingly shoves them both. They all start laughing as they make their way to their respective cars. The end of the semester would be interesting.

A/N

Hey guys! So as you can see I've been trying to update the story at a much faster pace than before and hopefully you are enjoying the update. I would love to get some feedback so don't be shy and review!

I'm planning on updating this story at least 3 more times until the end of the year but with finals coming up, who knows what will happen.

Thanks for reading! 3