*To all of your guesses to who the killer is, I can tell you that no, it is not Gabe or Kronos. But good guessing!*

*Chapter 20: Homecoming*

(Percy)

"No. Absolutely not." I crossed my arms over my chest. Annabeth could beg and plead all she wanted, but there was no way in Hades I was going to wear pink, Homecoming week or not.

"Please?" She flashed those stormy gray eyes at me. Dang it.

"Don't give in!" Nico grabbed my shoulder from behind. "Stay strong, man!"

Thalia smacked his head. "Shut up. You're wearing pink, too."

"Noooo!"

Ok, let me back up. See, next week was Homecoming week, so all week we get to dress up a certain way. Monday was color day, meaning the freshman wore blue, sophomores wore green, juniors wore yellow, and seniors wore red. Tuesday was all pink Tuesday (who came up with that anyway?).

Annabeth held up a pink T-shirt. The four of us were at the mall shopping. Correction, Annabeth and Thalia were shopping, Nico and I kept trying to sneak away, but the girls wanted us to judge the outfits they picked out. All of the women that passed by gave us funny looks, and I didn't blame them. Seeing two boys in the girls' section would make me curious too. Or suspicious.

"How about just a pink wristband, then?" Annabeth asked, holding up a neon pink slap bracelet.

"Fine," I sighed, taking the bracelet. Better than wearing all pink. "Though I can't imagine Thalia wearing pink at all."

Thalia's hand twitched, as if she were thinking of smacking me, too. "I'm wearing pink socks. That's it. I don't own anything pink."

I smiled. "No, you don't say?" This time, she did smack me. Nico and Annabeth cracked up. I was definitely glad we didn't leave for Japan.

Later, Thalia and Annabeth were trying on dresses, and Nico and I were lounging around, bored.

"So ..." Nico cornered me by the jewelry. I had found a sliver charm bracelet of an owl and was thinking of getting it for Annabeth.

"So what?" I asked. Nico was never good at being subtle.

"Are you asking Annabeth to Homecoming?" he asked.

"I figured it was already implied," I pointed out. We were dating, I didn't think I needed to ask. Or did I? "Are you asking Melissa?"

Nico blushed and played with the hem of his shirt, not meeting my eyes. "She's going with someone else," he mumbled. "Adrian asked her since, you know, I was supposed to be leaving."

"Oh." I frowned. Adrian had never mentioned having an interest in Melissa before during our swim practices. I wondered if he'd already planned to ask her to Homecoming before Nico came along.

I put my hand on his shoulder. "There are plenty of other girls to ask," I told him. "Don't sweat it, man. And if all else fails, Thalia and I will dance with you."

Nico snorted and shoved my hand off. "Thanks a lot."

"That's what family is for."

...

(Annabeth)

After I got back to Silena's, I called my mother, since it was Thursday and usually Athena was too busy any other time to talk. It was nice talking to her, even if it was for a couple of minutes.

I was staying with Silena in case Percy's dad decided to make another surprise appearance.

"How are you?" Mom asked. "Making good grades in school, I hope."

"Yes, Mom," I sighed.

"Good." She paused. "Any boyfriends?"

"Mother!" Geez, how embarrassing.

"Well, I'd like to know who my daughter associates with," she said sternly.

"Well I'm not dating anyone you'd like," I told her. Technically, it wasn't a lie. "Why are you asking, anyway?" My mother had never taken an interest in me dating before.

"I was curious because, as it turns out, I will be one of the chaperones at your Homecoming dance."

The phone slipped out of my hand.

My mother would be at the dance ... With me, and my date, who was the child of her worst enemy. Oh, perfect.

"Annabeth? Annabeth?"

With a shaky hand I picked up the phone. "Why? Why would you volunteer?" I asked, horrified.

"I do a lot of things," she said. That was true, she was always busy with some kind of project or social event.

"Well, I'm not going." Not anymore, anyway. "Dances are so overrated." Me and my friends always went together as a group, but this would be the first year I actually had a date, and my mother had just ruined it. For a moment, I hated that Percy was Poseidon's son.

"Oh, that's too bad, I was hoping to see you there." She sounded disappointed, and for a moment I felt bad. My mother and I rarely ever saw each other. I was lucky I even got to speak to her every Thursday. But, as much as I wanted to spend time with her, I couldn't go to the dance. Not if it meant risking losing everything with Percy.

"I'm sorry," I said softly. "Maybe ... maybe we can do something else. Go to that new library or something."

She hesitated. "I'd like that."

"Me too." I blinked away the tears threatening to fall. Hades, I missed her so much.

"I've got to go. I love you."

"I love you, too." We hung up. For a minute, I just stared at the phone in my hand, wondering if I'd ever get at least one day where I had my mother to myself.

Sighing, hating what I had to do, I dialed Percy's number.

He picked up on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me."

"Hey, me," he joked.

That's what I loved about Percy. No matter what, he could always get me to smile. "I have some bad news."

"Um, I have to wear all pink after all?" He guessed.

I laughed. "No, Seaweed Brain. Much worse. My mother will be chaperoning the dance."

The other end was silent for a few moments. "So, we aren't going then, huh?"

"No," I said miserably. "This sucks. But if you still want to go-"

"It's okay," he said quickly. "I'm not a fan of dances anyway. We can do something else, if you want."

I sighed, feeling less weighed down. I couldn't have asked for better. Percy was everything to me.

"So, you don't mind?"

"Nah, dances are overrated anyway."

"That's exactly what I told my mom!" I grinned.

He laughed. "So it's settled then." He paused, as if deep in thought. He was silent for so long I thought he'd hung up until he said, "I know what we can do. But it's a surprise."

I groaned. "I hate surprises."

"You'll love this one." I swore I could hear the grin in his voice. "Promise."

"Oh boy." Now I was a little afraid. Who knew what Percy had thought up.

"Bye," he said cheerfully.

...

(Annabeth)

Percy called me Friday, the day before the dance (but will be just another date for us) and told me to come over around eight, and to wear my Homecoming dress.

"What are you up to?" I asked suspiciously.

"You'll see." Percy was genially excited about this, so I knew it couldn't be too bad.

On Saturday, I decided that since Percy wanted me to wear my dress I might as well dress up. I straightened my curly hair and added mascara and some lip gloss.

Silena came in wearing a strapless pink gown, her black hair pulled up into a neat bun with little curls hanging down the sides.

"Oh my gosh, you look adorable!" She gushed, squeezing me so tightly I thought I was going to pop out of my dress.

"Yeah, don't get used to it," I grumbled. I wasn't a dress person. I preferred jeans and T-shirts. Silena was the one who wore dresses and skirts.

"So you're going to the dance?" She asked excitedly.

Silena found out about Percy and me, and knew my mother was chaperoning.

"Nope. Percy and I are doing something else, but he asked me to wear this." I grabbed my clutch purse in one hand and gathered my dress in the other so I could walk. "I'll see you later."

I climbed into Silena's bug. Since Beckendorf was driving Silena, she let me borrow her car for the night.

I walked up Percy's front porch to find a note on the door.

'Come to the backyard, Wise Girl.'

Shaking my head at Percy's antics, I crossed the yard and opened the gate to the backyard only to stop in my tracks. My mouth fell open. "Oh," I breathed.

Percy had totally transformed the place. Twinkling lights hung everywhere, and the table and chairs on the patio had been moved to the side, the table filled with pretzels, chips, chocolate, candy, and a big bowl of fruit punch. Percy stood there wearing a tuxedo. Music softly played in the background.

"What is this?" I asked in awe.

Percy blinked, staring at me. It took a few moments for him to answer. "Um, it's uh, Homecoming. Since we couldn't go to the dance, I figured I'd bring the dance to you."

"That is either the most cheesy ..." I smiled. "Or the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me."

Percy popped a chocolate into his mouth. "Thanks."

Laughing, still in awed shock, I walked up the steps.

Percy glanced down at my shoes and smirked. "No heels, huh?"

I'd decided to wear converse instead of heels, since they were more comfortable. "Too weird?"

Percy took my face in his hands and kissed me. "I wouldn't have expected anything else."

"Us either." I turned. Thalia, Nico, Jason, Piper and all of my friends were standing there, all dressed up.

"What are you guys doing here?" Percy asked, surprised. "Why aren't you at the dance?"

"We are!" Thalia said. "We decided this dance would be a whole lot cooler anyway, with just us."

"You guys didn't have to do that," I told them, grateful for each and every one of them. I didn't know what I would do without them.

"We wanted to," Silena said, stepping forward. "And by the way, all of us already knew about you two. You guys are terrible at hiding it."

I blushed, and Percy laughed. "Thanks a lot."

"So you guys are back together?" Percy asked Nico, who I was surprised to see was holding hands with Melissa.

"Yeah." Nico grinned.

"I'd rather be with Nico than Adrian." Melissa kissed his cheek, and his face turned red.

"Well, what're we just standing here for? Lets dance!" Katie grabbed Travis's hand and pulled him into the patio.

Nico turned up the music, and pretty soon everyone was on the patio, dancing and laughing, having more fun than we ever would at a stupid dance.

A slow song started. Percy cleared his throat and bravely held out his hand. Smiling, I took it. We danced, and pretty soon everyone else was forgotten. The song playing was beautiful. I felt like I was I was in a dream, since I was so light on my feet. If this was what pure happiness and love felt like, I never wanted it to end.

*The song I'd chosen for the dance was "Ashes Like Snow" by Lily Kershaw.*