I kind of liked this chapter. Hope you guys do too :)

The next day started out sunny. The air was cool and there was a breeze bringing in gusts of air through the windows that caught at my sleeves. The weatherman told us that rain was expected this afternoon, but until twelve, the skies would be okay, just cloudy.

So of course, with the weather being fine and all, I wanted another lesson.

"Please!" I asked Percy for the tenth time. I was already in jeans and a t-shirt, breakfast in my stomach and coffee making it's way down my throat as I sat at the table. Next to me, slumped in the stool in checkered flannel pajama bottoms and a tank top, Percy was eating Honey Nut Cheerios by the pound, trying to ignore me.

"Please," I said again, trying to keep my gaze on his ruffled ebony hair instead of his incredibly toned and tanned arms in full view. I blessed whoever had made guys' workout tanks—they were fabulous.

Stop, stop, stop, I started chanting again, saying those words that now were a regular visitor in my mind.

Percy sighed, but it turned into a yawn. "This was one of the only days I don't have to get up early to do chores. In fact, I don't have to do much all morning, just a few things in the barn."

"All the more reason for a lesson! Then you won't get bored."

"Oh, trust me. I won't get bored."

I raised an eyebrow, one hand on my denim covered hip and the other clutching my coffee mug. My pose was the epitome of obstinacy. "What are you going to do to not get bored?"

"Sleep, woman!" he stated in a voice that implied that this was obvious.

I huffed. "Please, Percy. This will be the last one of the week, I promise. I'll . . ." I paused, searching for something. "I'll get you something. I swear it. Anything within reason."

He narrowed his eyes at me skeptically, not watching where his spoon was going and I saw him dump his Cheerios onto his pants. He cursed as I snickered and rolled my eyes.

"Aren't we supposed to get rain today?" he tried, going over to the sink to grab a washcloth. It lay dejected over the side of the sink, and when he grabbed it, a drip of water flew off of it like a single crystal.

"No," I said. "Well, not until this afternoon. Please?"

He exhaled, staring long and hard at me. "You'll get me something?"

"I swear I will."

Percy was quiet for a moment longer, then he shook his head in defeat. "Whatever. But you owe me."

I squealed in delight, clapping my hands together. A smile grew on his face as he watched me. "Hurry and get dressed, I'll get Porkpie ready!" My voice was excited. He waved a hand, muttering, "Yeah, yeah."

I rushed out of the house, the humidity hitting me like a physical blow. The sky had spat a little last night, but the majority of the storm was today. My feet drummed against the cement and then the grass as I made my way to the stale. Porkpie was in his stall, eating hay peacefully. I was reluctant to take him from his food, but he didn't seem to mind too much.

Quickly I brushed him down and then went into the tack room. Rows of saddles sat still on the wall in ordered lines like soldiers in formation. I grabbed the one I always used, lugging it outside with the bridle hanging off the saddle horn. It smelled like leather in that room, and the scent drifted around towards the office when I passed it.

As I was latching the last strap, I saw Percy come out into the sun, still stretching. He had switched his sweats for jeans and a blue t-shirt that had a slogan, saying in big words "Too Sassy For You."

"Nice shirt," I told him with a smirk, petting Porkpie's neck. "It suits you."

He egoistically flipped his hair in an exaggerated motion. "I know, right," he replied in a fake accented voice. I snorted loudly, and he grinned.

"Well, you got the horse all ready." He gestured to the paddock. "Let's go."

He started off towards the paddock, strutting like he owned the world, but I hesitated. "There? I've never been in there. I've always been in the round pen."

Looking over his shoulder, he smiled, the curves of his mouth slightly derisive. "Having doubts about your lesson today, Chase? Too scared to go in the big pen?"

I scowled at him, turning the leather reins over in my hand. "In your dreams, Jackson. I've just never been somewhere that big."

He sighed turning to face me and dropping the super cool mojo act. "You'll be fine."

"But what if . . . like, the horse gets away from me?"

"Well, I hope you'll be on the horse, so that's not a problem."

"That's not what I meant, Percy," I said in exasperation to his grinning face. "What if I can't control Porkpie? You know I'm not that good of a rider."

He spread his hands out. "And that's why you need to learn. In the paddock. Let's go, slacker." Pivoting in his heel, he started back towards the paddock gate. I took a deep breath, shook my head, then followed him.

"Soon we'll go on trail rides," Percy called from ahead. "No boundaries whatsoever except the lake on the far side of our property. You could take a swim if you wanted."

"Great. I'm trembling in anticipation."

I heard Percy chuckle up ahead as we reached the paddock. The hard-packed dirt in the entryway sent up muffled thumps. It was a good thing it hadn't rained too much, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to ride. Once we were inside, I put my foot in the stirrup, grabbing the saddle horn and reins in one hand and pulling myself onto the horse. I felt a burst of triumph go through me. I always loved doing that, it just made me feel like a real cowgirl—even though the gods know that my mother would never let that happen.

Percy turned around, then pointed to a post at the far end of the paddock. "Bring him over there, stop him, do two tight circles to the left then repeat that going to the right, then trot back here." I nodded, following his precise instructions. Porkpie's head bobbed as we walked to the other side. A few horses were farther down next to the woods, and some looked up skeptically; then they put their heads back down, wanting to eat. I felt tall on Porkpie, the way someone might feel when they've gone up on a ferris wheel. Like you ruled the world from up there. On Porkpie, it was just a subdued version of that, but it still made me feel elated.

We reached the post Percy had chosen, and I brought my hand out in an arc, making Porkpie turn in a small circle. His back feet mostly stayed planted in the dirt as his front hooves criss-crossed over each other. I did the same thing after two turns, to the right this time, before straightening him out and facing Percy again. I took a deep breath, then tapped my booted-heels into Porkpie's sides. I held on for the little hop the horse always did before taking off in a bouncy and brisk trot. My head bounced, and I felt as if I were in a car that was going over a thousand potholes in the rode. I had no idea how some people looked like they were completely comfortable up on a trotting horse. I mean, when Percy trotted on Blackjack, or even cantered or galloped, he looked like he was born to do it. It really wasn't fair.

Percy was trying and failing to conceal an amused smile as he watched me trot with a grimace that was going up and down with the horse.

"Oh, shut up," I grumbled when I got close enough to him.

He smirked. "Just relax. You'll do better."

I sighed angrily. "I'm trying. I just can't do it. How do you relax while you're horse is jumping around like an energetic three-year-old?"

"I don't know," he said, shrugging. "I just do."

Narrowing my eyes, I replied sarcastically, "Oh, that's a great answer. Does anybody other than you know how to trot properly?" My voice was half-mocking.

"Rachel does fine," he said.

Oh, that was not what I wanted to hear. I chewed the interior of my lip to make sure I didn't retort with what I wanted to say, which would not be very kid-friendly. With a long exhalation of irritation, I whipped Porkpie back around, going back to the post.

"She was just so happy to do this lesson," I heard Percy mutter to himself. "Someone had a mood swing."

Yeah, because that's going to help.

As I rode as smoothly as I possibly could, I grumbled to myself. "Stupid trotting. Stupid Rachel being able to ride. Stupid Percy laughing at me."

When I made it back around to where Percy was waiting, I felt a drop of water hit my arm. I glanced up at the cloudy and gloomy sky. It wasn't supposed to rain until this afternoon.

"Okay, go to the group of horses and make it back. Porkpie probably won't want to leave the herd, so it will exercise your control."

I didn't acknowledge him, but steered Porkpie in that direction. It was true—Porkpie wasn't very fond of the idea of leaving the horses once he was in their midst. He nickered and attempted to turn around, but I forced him forward.

I was halfway to Percy, feeling pretty good, when a light blinked on and off above me, like the camera of the sky letting out a flash. There was a slight pause, then thunder crashed right above us with bone-jarring force.

Porkpie—who was already skittish—half-reared and bolted, heading back towards the gate and after that—home. I let out a shriek, panic rising in me as I abandoned the reins and grabbed the saddle horn with all the strength I had, struggling to stay on. I faintly heard Percy shout my name, and out of the corner of my eye, he took off running. He was close enough to the gate that he made it before Porkpie, holding his hands up in a big motion and blocking Porkpie from running into him. The horse skidded to a stop, sides heaving with fearful breaths. I could see the whites of his eyes. He pranced around, me still holding on tightly.

Percy leapt forward and grabbed the dangling reins, brushing a hand over Porkpie's neck.

"Shh," he said soothingly, and slowly Porkpie calmed, letting me dismount off of him. I stumbled down from the horse, panting heavily. My knees almost collapsed under me, but I forced them upright, and Percy put a steadying hand to help me. My heart pounded in my throat, sounding like a drummer setting out a beat on the fastest tempo available.

"You okay?" Percy asked desperately.

My head jerked over to him. I felt my cheeks heat up. Gods, that was embarrassing—I just looked like a totally inexperienced rider.

Okay, I was a totally inexperienced rider, but it was still humiliating. If you hadn't guessed so far, my pride has always been one of my downfalls.

"I told you I shouldn't have gone in the paddock!" I said, my voice coming out more cruelly than I meant. "I'm not ready yet!"

Percy released his hold on me. "I'm sorry. I thought you would like a challenge."

"Well, I'd prefer a challenge that couldn't kill me, thank you very much," I spat back. Then I bit my lip, knowing I was overreacting, but not able to help it.

I could tell Percy was about to retaliate with his own answer, but he stopped himself, his fist clenching. Still breathing hard, my hand shot out and I yanked Porkpie's reins from Percy's grasp, turning the horse to the gate. A fat drop of water landed on my nose, and I wiped it impatiently away. I shoved the gate open, leading Porkpie through. Percy came behind us, still quiet. An ounce of regret started weighing on my chest, but I pushed forward into the stable, not looking at the green-eyed boy. Rain was starting to fall more frequently, and soon it was pouring. Porkpie snorted, and I rushed us both into the dry stable.

The rain made a steady beat on the roof, like pebbles dropping onto the concrete. I chucked my helmet off my head, running a hand through my messy hair before tying Porkpie and undoing the straps around his stomach. In my peripheral vision, I saw Percy make his way into the tack room, emerging with the bucket of brushes I use. He dropped it next to me with a plop, and I muttered a reluctant, "Thank you." He nodded shortly, then started walking to the door. I watched as he disappeared outside for a moment, then returned quickly with a wheelbarrow and a pitchfork. He started at one of the stalls as I finished rubbing Porkpie down.

I left Porkpie there for a moment as I went up to the hay loft. I climbed the steep stairs up, facing the countless bales of hay. They were pretty heavy, but I managed to toss a few down the hole onto the ground below. Percy was still scooping in an empty stall as I went back down, and he barely even looked at me as I started dividing the hay into even piles, bringing them to the stalls that had horses.

As I put hay in Porkpie's stall, I realized that it, too, needed to be cleaned. I sighed, patting the horse's neck before cautiously approaching Percy. He was done with the stall, and he brought the wheelbarrow out to dump it. I waited for him to reappear, the smell of manure and horses surrounding me. When he came back and saw that I was waiting, he raised an eyebrow.

"Porkpie's stall needs to be cleaned," I said. "I can do it, if you want a break." My words were tense, seeing as I still wasn't exactly easy around him at the moment.

He nodded, handing me the wheelbarrow. I took it, feeling the rough wood beneath my hands as I wheeled it over to Porkpie's stall. I entered, Porkpie watching me through the bars as I took a pitchfork and started shoveling the piles of excretion into the wheelbarrow. The rain still beat down, pouring in heavy amounts. Every once in a while thunder sounded overhead, the flashes preceding that lighting up the day. It was a pretty bad storm. Or, at least, it seemed that way to me. It never stormed that much in San Francisco, so I was unused to the violent thunder and pelting drops of water.

I worked in silence, not looking at where Percy might be. My hair was coming out of my ponytail in frizzy curls, the humidity not helping me much. I had let Porkpie wait next to his trough, so he was chomping steadily, patiently letting me finish.

When I was halfway done, I felt a presence behind me. I whipped around, but calmed down once I found Percy watching me. Turning back around, I started working once more. I treated him like a lot of people treated problems in their lives: ignore it, maybe it will go away. In this case, the "it" was Percy.

But my problem didn't go away.

After a little while, I exhaled harshly, spinning to face him. "Yes? Can I help you?" My words were sarcastic and still not very nice. I struggled to bring my tone down. Percy's sea-green eyes just looked at me in that unnerving way he had.

"You're mad at me."

I gave him a little glare, saying incredulously with a snarky tone, "Really? What makes you think that?"

"Why're you mad?" He sounded sincere, as if he really cared.

"I don't know, maybe the fact that you almost killed me makes me a little angry."

"Well, sorry, I didn't know there was going to be a lightning bolt then."

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?" he asked. He was better at hiding any annoyance in his tone, which I bet he was feeling.

I took a deep breath. "Never mind." I went back to my task, throwing a shovelful of manure into the wheelbarrow. Then I paused, flipping around to face him once more.

"You-"

He cut me off with an eyebrow raised in amusement. "I thought you just said 'never mind'?"

I opened my mouth, closed it, then narrowed my eyes at him. He looked close to smiling, and I growled, once again going back to my work.

But I hadn't done much before Percy made his way around, standing in my vision.

"I said I was sorry," he said.

I ignored him.

"Sorry?"

Still ignoring.

"You're impossible."

At that I did look up with a sharp look. Upon seeing this, he paled and whimpered in a timid voice, "Please don't kill me. I'm too sassy to die."

Despite everything, that pulled a tiny smile out of me. I tried to turn away, not let him see it.

Didn't work.

"I got you to smile!" he gasped.

Making my mouth straight, I said to him, "No, you didn't."

"I saw it."

"It was a trick of the light."

He paused for a second. "You smiled."

Huffing, I replied, "No, I did not." But even as I said that, I felt my mood lighten up. I didn't know why, but as fast as Percy could make me irritated beyond belief, he could make me smile again just as quickly.

"There! You smiled again!"

Oops. "Did not."

"Did too."

"No."

"Yes."

"I did not smile!"

"Oh, you've got a frowny face." He pushed his lower lip out.

"Yes, I have a frowny face. I didn't smile."

"Um, yeah. You did."

This was so pointless. "No, I didn't."

"Yes, you-"

I cut him off by reaching my hand into the wheelbarrow, taking a clump of poop, and chucking it at him. It sailed true, landing right on his chest, falling to the floor. Percy stared for a moment at the brown spot on his Mr. Sassy shirt, then he looked back up at me.

My mouth formed an "O", and I slowly backed away once I saw the evil glint in his eyes.

"Percy, don't do it."

He ignored me, moving faster than I did to grab not just one, but a handful, of freshly scooped turds. He chucked them at me, and I held up an arm, feeling them splatter against my body.

"Oh, no you didn't."

He pursed his lips, saying sassily, "Oh, yes I did, girl." He brought his hand down in a ridiculous "Z" formation. A second later, another handful of poop had been flung by me, this one hitting his face. I doubled over, guffawing at his expression. But that was soon over as I saw him advance once more. I took off, streaking out the stall door and away from Percy, who was trailing me with more manure. Porkpie watched us run, probably thinking how stupid humans were.

I glanced over my shoulder to see Percy bring his arm back and then forward again. Dodging, I watched the manure go by harmlessly. But Percy was still coming after me. Yelping, I went the only place I could go: outside.

Rain fell down on me instantly, like the gods had dumped a bucket of water on my head. I almost slipped on the mud, but I kept running. We had gone out the opposite way of the house, so you couldn't see anything around us except for the forest. Everything was on the other side of the stable.

Thunder boomed overhead as I stooped to grab a handful of the slushy mud. Barely looking back, I threw it behind me. I heard a muffled shout as my mud hit it's mark. Letting out a laugh, I ran behind an old car sitting out there, obviously unused. Weeds had climbed over it, claiming it as one of their own. Rust turned darker in the rain, and as I watched it, a chunk of gooey mud slammed into it, a few inches from my head, flecks of it hitting my face.

I jerked back, looking to see Percy coming forward with a smirk and two hands dripping with chunks of mud. My hand found a clump of mud, and as Percy threw one of his, I ducked, then returned the throw, my water-soaked arm flinging raindrops as it went.

My ball of mud flew past him as he flipped at the last minute. However, before I could try again, a mud ball hit me right below my throat with enough force to drive me back a step. But it didn't hurt—I was too busy laughing my head off.

Percy followed the mud he had just thrown, sprinting toward me intimidatingly. I threw some more mud I had just picked up, watching as he ducked his head and let it hit his mess of hair, turning it from black to brown. He didn't slow down, but crashed into me. I lost my footing, and we both fell.

I hit the ground, but Percy put his arms out so he didn't fall on top of me. His elbows framed my face as he stared down at me with a grin. The pair of green eyes above mine eyes twinkled with mirth as he watched me shriek with laughter and giggles, my arms pinned at my sides.

"There's that smile," he said quietly. He didn't have to speak loud at all, anyways, for me to hear. I realized how close we were, his hot breath warming the tip of my nose. We were pushed together on the wet ground, his legs tangled with mine. It was just us behind the barn, nobody could see us, but it wasn't like we were focusing on our surroundings anyways.

My laughter subsided, but my breath was labored as I was finding it hard to draw and release oxygen. I didn't know if it was from the running or the lack of space between us both.

A raindrop slid down his nose, landing on the space between my nostrils and slightly parted lips. We both just sat there for a moment, his sea-green eyes unreadable.

Then he rolled to the side, and suddenly I found I could breath again. I took a gulp of air, letting it seep into my body and around my pounding heart. The rain was once blocked by Percy's body, but I could feel the little circles of coldness hitting me once more. It was getting chilly, I noticed as I dragged myself into a sitting position. Percy reached out a hand, and I took it. He pulled me up with enough strength to make me almost crash into him, but he stopped me, putting his hand on my other arm.

He looked at my face, then smiled, a hand coming up to wipe some mud away from my cheek. The rain was rapidly cleaning us, but we were still really dirty. I glared at him, then did the same to him, but shoved the clump off of his hair instead. He chuckled, letting go of me, turning back to the stables. I glanced back, seeing the indent on the grass where we just were.

My first thought was, Woah, what just happened. Then the following trio which had been going through my mind a lot lately sounded. Stop, stop, stop.

My gaze found Percy, his broad form walking back to the building, out of the rain. I started following him when he glanced back to see where I was, my feet doddering along on the mushy ground. Lightning lit up the sky, webbing across the clouds faster than the arc of a sword being slashed down. I winced, not expecting it, and quickened my pace.

It was getting colder, now that my adrenaline was down again. Once I reached the safety of the stables, however, I regretted going back in. The rain was seemingly warm on me now, and as my skin met dry air, it got colder.

I felt goosebumps rising as I walked over to Porkpie, untying the patient horse and leading him into his newly cleaned stall. Or, three-quarters cleaned. Good enough.

Grabbing the wheelbarrow, I brought it out into the passageway. Horses whinnied, and one of them kicked the stall walls when another lightning bolt crashed overhead.

Percy was somewhere around here, but I couldn't see him at the moment. Abandoning the wheelbarrow by the door, hands shaking from the cold, I was about to turn around when I felt a pressure on my shoulders. My neck craned, and I saw Percy standing there putting a zip-up jacket around me.

"Thanks, Percy," I managed to say through my chattering teeth. He nodded, smiling. He had a jacket on too, a faded Old Navy. Mine was grey, my favorite color, though I doubt he knew that. "And . . ." I trailed off, chewing my lip. "I'm sorry. For getting so mad at you. I didn't mean it, I was just overreacting."

He shrugged. "It's fine. Besides, I got you back good with that mud." He and I had changed direction, and now we were heading back outside into the house.

I rolled my eyes. "No, I clearly won that fight."

"Ha, right. Something like that."

My face turned to him in a glower, but I could feel a smile prickling at the edges of my mouth. He grinned at me.

"I still have to get you something for doing the lesson with me," I reminded him. He waved a hand out.

"Nah," he said. Then he elaborated at my incredulous look. "It wasn't too bad, I had fun. Well, except for the part where you almost died."

"Yeah, thanks to the lightning bolt."

"No, I was thinking more of like my throw that hit next to your throat. My strength is so vast, it's a wonder it didn't kill you."

I face-palmed, shaking my head while Percy snickered. Hiding my smile, I turned back to him. His shirt was so dirty under the coat, and I knew mine was the same. I sniggered when I saw the first "s" on the word Sassy was covered up.

He poked my arm. "Race you back, on three?" When I nodded, he started counting. "One—"

I took off, my feet digging into the ground as I ran as fast as I could for the big white house.

Percy shouted indignantly behind me, but I just laughed and kept running, planning on beating him and shoving it in his face.

Percy was laughing as well, I could hear it coming up to my ears, and I could picture his eyes sparkling with his laughter. My mind shot back to us having the mud fight, then him crashing into me. His eyes staring right down into mine, which weren't very far away. If I had just leaned up a bit, I could've kissed him. But that was a ridiculous thought—why would I do that? I wouldn't want to do that.

Right?

Well, this whole ignoring-Percy-until-the-uncalled-feelings-go-away thing wasn't going to be easy.

Thanks for reading! Also, I've had a reader ask me to do a Percy POV, but I'm sorry, I'm just going to stick with Annabeth. That's what I planned, and I've got the whole story planned out so far, so I'd have to change A LOT. Sorry!

Q&A and the talks

rocketgod123: I like Rachel, but she's just being jealous. I mean, who wouldn't be? It's pretty obvious Percy and Annabeth belong together. :)

INeedAUsername8: Aww, thanks again! :)

LucyTheCrazyUnicorn: Don't worry, I'm evil too. I want the same thing. ;)

Thanks and please review! Feel free to ask questions or leave suggestions, I'll probably answer them in the next chapter! :)