I'm trying to find fan art that would work for a cover for this story, but I haven't found what I was looking for yet. I'm trying to find like a sad one with Percy but there really isn't that many. He's just too dang happy. I'll keep looking. I know the FanFiction app has almost all of the cover photos be these weird couches, and my story definitely doesn't focus on a couch. XD

By the way! I got so many reviews on the last chapter thanks so much!

Annabeth POV

"Annabeth your first meet-up with your project partner was yesterday, right?" Helen asked Annabeth as she set a bowl of oatmeal in front of her.

Annabeth nodded and silently dug into the bowl.

"How did it go? Did you get a lot of work done? Do you think you'll be able to get it done on time?" Helen continued.

"Jeez our first meeting was yesterday. It was fine." Annabeth pushed her spoon forcefully back into the oatmeal and stirred it around. She knew where this conversation was going and she was already getting irritated.

"Well I just want to make sure you're being responsible with it. You know that it's a big grade which you'll need if you want to graduate as a valedictorian. It all starts here you know."

Annabeth had to bite her tongue to keep from saying something that she'd regret.

"Yes. I know. We're working again tomorrow and on Saturday."

"Who's your partner?" Helen sat down across from Annabeth.

"Percy Jackson."

"Ooh, is he cute?" Helen asked, leaning her head against her hands on the table.

Annabeth thought about how his beautiful green eyes shines when he took off those horrible sunglasses, and how his black hair drifted softly into his eyes, almost as if they were shielding him. She thought about his strong muscles bulged underneath his black t-shirt.

She remembered her surprise when he showed up 40 minutes late last night, and she was especially shocked at the absence of his sunglasses. He had looked so vulnerable and bare... and different. He acted different as well. He was helpful, and kind, and his smile didn't creep her out the way it usually did. The way he looked at her was different too. She wasn't sure if it was the fact that she could actually see his eyes, or if she was just tired. Either way, something had changed. It was as if he were a totally different person.

Her thoughts shocked her, and she immediately began convincing herself that there was nothing more to Percy Jackson than an arrogant asshole. She figured he'd act normal once they were back in school and he had an audience.

"No. He's an ugly person. Inside and out," Annabeth replied as she stood up and walked towards the door.

She was sitting in class, only a few minutes before the second bell rang when she saw him walk in the room. She watched how his eyes scaned the room before landing on her, and when they made eye contact, he quickly looked away.

She couldn't believe that he still didn't have his sunglasses on. She thought for sure that last night was a strange event that would never happen again. Granted, he was still dressed in all of his black leather, but without the sunglasses... he didn't look like the same stereotypical 'bad boy'.

She was so curious, about the change of look. Was he trying to be a new person? Or were his shades simply broken or lost?

She decided to experiment, so she quickly wrote, 'Hey. I got the video camera ready for us to use on Saturday.' on a piece of paper and tossed it onto Percy's desk when he wasn't looking.

She figured by baiting him like this, he would quickly make a snarky, sexual remark that would crush these thoughts she'd been having.

She watched him raise his eyebrows as he looked at her questionably. She nodded towards the note and he picked it open. She waited for a reaction for awhile until she saw him tighten his lips into a thin line. His brow furrowed and his bangs hung low as he bent his head forward to write. She saw how his back arched as he leaned forward. His left hand held the paper flat as he scribbled with his right.

After a few moments he sat up and looked at Bacchus before making eye contact with her. One corner of his mouth turned up as he flicked the note back onto her desk.

She carefully unfolded the note and saw the crude drawing of a thumbs up. She looked back and saw him giving her a full smile now, along with his own thumbs up.

Annabeth quickly faced forward, her mind calculating. She was so sure he would make a classic Percy comment.

What was he doing? Was he trying to trick her so he could tease her about this later? It certainly seemed like something he would do. At least, it seemed like something he would do before last night.

Who was this person, and what had they done with Percy Jackson?

Percy POV

Percy got to library about thirty minutes early the next night. He wanted to beat Annabeth there, and see her reaction when she saw him there, before her.

Since Tuesday night, he hadn't been able to force himself to touch his sunglasses. They still rested on his bathroom sink, right next to the mirror. He would look at them in the morning. He contemplated on putting them on to face the day in a darker shade, but he thought of Annabeth when he would reach for them.

He wanted to see her in all her bright glory. He couldn't let his sunglasses dull the view anymore. He took care to not look at her too long, constantly reminding himself that he was no longer under the cover of his shades. He was also aware that she was trying to figure him out. He saw how she stared at him like he was a math problem she was trying to solve. He tried to keep his eyes from showing his emotions, so whenever she looked at him, he would begin to read. Reading frustrated him, and that was the emotion that he needed to display. He knew that continuing to wear the aviators would be the safe move, but he couldn't make himself do it.

He watched her blue Prius pull into the parking lot and he steeled himself. She pulled herself out of the car and brought her backpack along with her.

He saw her open the door and move her eyes towards the direction of the back table. She saw Percy there and started towards him. He watched how she kept her head up while she walked, something that he had such a hard time with. She had her backpack over one shoulder and the other arm swung by her side. She glanced around the library, looking at the few people that were mingling about the shelves. Finally, she reached the table and dropped her bag.

"Hello, Wise Girl. Nice drive?" he asked.

She ignored him and said, "Quite a change Seaweed Brain. First you're forty minutes late, now your early."

"Nikola Tesla is very important to me," he replied, watching as she set out her material.

"Great. Then you can start looking in the book for interesting information. I'll search the internet," she said while handing him the book they checked out on Tuesday. She pulled out a laptop with a Delta on the cover.

"Now that doesn't look like an Apple product," Percy pushed the book to the side of the table, ignoring it.

Annabeth gave a small chuckle and replied, "Actually they make apples in the shape of triangles in Japan. The company started up there, so they're changing their logo in honor of their home country."

Percy felt like an idiot at that moment. He wasn't very tech savvy, and he especially did not know that. He felt his ears start to heat up and he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oh," he said as he pulled the book towards him, eager for a way out of this embarrassing conversation.

"I'm just kidding!" she exclaimed as she laughed at his reaction.

Before he knew it, he was laughing as well. He couldn't help how contagious her laugh was.

When they had both stopped laughing she continued, "It was my Uncle Daedalus's."

"That's cool. I like it. Especially the Delta. It's unique," Percy replied.

"Thanks. It's got a lot of projects he was working on on it. It's really interesting to read through all of his inventions. It's fascinating how he created such genius ideas."

Percy laughed at this, which caused Annabeth to raise her eyebrows in an annoyed way.

"And what's so ammusing?" She asked. Percy could tell that she assumed he was dissing her uncle, which, he was definitely not doing.

"You're just so nerdy, Wise Girl. I like it," he said.

He didn't realize what he'd said until he saw a small blush hit her cheeks and she turned towards her laptop. This made his ears burn like a candle, and he had to look away as well. He was so bad at filtering what he said around her.

"We should probably get started," she suggested.

Percy's attention shifted toward the book. Dread filled his body as he realized it would take him years to finish it. He didn't want Annabeth to think he was stupid though, so he picked it up anyway.

The first page was horrible. His eyes played tricks on him and the letters danced across the page like ballet dancers. It took him about ten minutes to get through the first paragraph, and even then the reading was so boring he hardly remembered it.

He assumed he looked incredibly dumb attempting to read, and he figured that was why Annabeth noticed.

"Are you okay?" she asked looking at him with her eyebrows drawn together in that calculating way again.

Percy's head shot up and he quickly responded, "Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

"Okay." It was obviously a cue to begin work again, but instead, she just stared at him. He didn't want to start reading again and have her watch, so he just stared back. For awhile there, Percy wasn't really sure what was going on. Why was she staring at him? When should he look away? Is this as weird for her as it is for me?

After a few moments, Annabeth's glance retreated back to the laptop and he felt himself release a breath he didn't know he had been holding. He returned to reading, and every once in awhile he would feel her gaze on him. He would look up and she would glance away.

It was about thirty more minutes before they talked again. At which point, Percy was on page two.

"Percy, do you have a reading disorder?" Annabeth asked, pushing away her laptop completely.

The question startled him. He figured people just thought he was dull when they saw he couldn't read at 17 years old.

"I'm, uh... dyxlexic," he answered quietly. He noticed that he suddenly couldn't meet her eyes, so he kept them on the glowing Delta on the cover of her laptop. He felt like such an idiot that she noticed. Was it really that noticeable? He thought he could hide it better than that.

He bit his tongue as he felt her staring at him. What was she thinking right now? How unlucky she was to get a partner with the reading ability of a five year old?

He cleared his throat and brought his eyes back to the book, hoping to just forget that ever happened.

"Me too," she said quietly. His head snaped up as he stared at her in wonder. She must be lying to him to make him feel better. She always volunteers to read out loud in class, and she always has her nose stuck in a book.

"Seriously? But you read all the time," Percy said, perplexed.

She gave a small laugh and replied, "I know. I love to read. I'm not going to let a learning disorder take that away from me."

Percy thought about how difficult it must be reading all the time. He couldn't even imagine reading through an entire book, especially just for fun. He liked that they had something in common, even if it was a dumb reading disorder.

"Plus," she continued, "It's great practice." She smiled at him and kept trying to look into his eyes.

"I think it's really cool you don't let it consume you," Percy said, watching her soft gray eyes stare back into his.

He saw her cheeks turn a light shade of pink and she glanced away for a moment before looking back at him.

"Thanks. I've had to work at it, but it's been worth it... I can, um... help you, if you want." Annabeth turned her head away from him and began to pick at her fingernails.

Percy couldn't help but let his smile grow on his face. He looked at her, and he could've sworn she was glowing. Strands of her golden hair hung low around her face, with the rest pulled into a low bun. Her face was still tinged pink, and her gray eyes looked like the sky on a lightly cloudy day.

"I would really like that... thank you Annabeth," Percy responded as her eyes slowly met hers.

She smiled softly at him and replied, "Of course."

Percy nodded and found that he couldn't tear his eyes from the gaze of hers. They stayed like that for a moment, eyes staring into each other, trying to answer the question that was the other.

Finally, Annabeth shifted her gaze to the book in his hand. She reached towards it and pulled it towards her, while pushing her laptop towards him.

"Here, we can switch."

Percy nodded and began to reach for her laptop. She pulled back a bit when he was about to touch it and said, "Now, I don't let anyone use this because it's very precious to me. So that means you must be oh so very careful with it."

"I will," he said, laughing at her worries.

"I mean it. No lifting it off the table," she stared at him menacingly until he agreed.

He put his hands in the air and raised his eyebrows. "Okay! I won't!"

She continued to stare at him with one eyebrow raised. He felt himself lean towards her in a way that he usually would do when he would pretend to hit on girls, especially her. He didn't stop until his face was only about half a foot away from hers. His face wore a sincere expression, and he slowly put his hand on top of hers where it lay on the computer. He watched as her eyes got larger in surprise, and she stared into his eyes, almost as if in a trance.

He thought about how easily he could move closer and closer, until their lips touched gently. His lips tingled at the thought of it, and he had to remind himself over and over why he should not do that under any circumstances.

He lowered his voice and whispered, "I promise no harm will come to your laptop, Wise Girl."

Instead of the normal pink shade, her cheeks turned a bright red, and he felt her hand loosen on the laptop. He pulled it towards him and returned to himself, flashing a full-tooth smile at her in a triumphant way.

He opened the lid of the computer and began to work. Eventually, he heard the book open, and the pages starting to turn.

Annabeth POV

"So did you think he was going to kiss you?" Piper asked as she lay on her back on the floor in Annabeth's room.

"I honestly had no idea," Annabeth answered, also laying on her back on the floor. Their feet were resting against the other's in the air.

"What would you have done if he had?" asked Hazel from where she sat on the bed.

"Oh. I definitely would have pushed him away."

"Suuuure," Thalia said, spinning herself in Annabeth's desk chair.

"I definitely would not let him kiss me. Are you kidding? It's Percy Jackson!" Annabeth exclaimed, putting her feet down and staring at the ceiling.

She would've, wouldn't she? She thought about if he had closed the distance between them in that moment. She thought about his soft lips caressing hers, and his soft, black bangs brushing against her forehead as her hand reached out to touch his strong jaw, and his hand gently rested on her cheek, and...

She immediately dispeled those thoughts once she realized she was having them. No. She would have definitely push Percy away. Probably smacked him too.

"Well he is attractive, you have to give him that," Hazel said.

Piper pointed her finger in the air and added, "I give him that!"

Thalia gave a half nod, half shrug and they all turned to look at Annabeth.

"No way. Eww." She was fully aware she was lying, but she would never admit to anyone how attractive she really thought he was. With those sea-green eyes and chalkboard black hair how could she not?

"Do you like girls or something? There is no way you could think Percy Jackson is ugly," Piper exclaimed as she sat herself up.

"I mean, I think we can agree he is a horrible person, but I'll bet you a hundred bucks he's got some abs under those black clothes," Hazel said, moving so she was laying on her stomach on the bed.

The other girls laughed and agreed with her, but Annabeth wasn't sure how she felt about that. Not about that abs part, she would've bet money he had them, but she couldn't quite convince herself that he was as nasty as he seemed. When he was with her, he was funny, playful, and even kind. Ever since Tuesday, he hasn't been as gross and arrogant as he usually was. In fact, now that she thought about it, Annabeth couldn't remember one time since Tuesday that he had made an offensive comment to her. It was almost as if he was a totally different person.

"Let's just change the subject," Annabeth stated as she laid back down.

"Annie do you still like Luke?" Thalia asked, throwing a food wrapper at her.

"Definitely not," she said. "I thought he was attractive the first few days, but after the way he treated Grover? Never in any lifetime."

"Yeah he's a bad egg," Hazel agreed.

"No. He's an asshole," Piper said.

"You guys weren't going to actually let me fall for him, right?" Annabeth asked.

She could think of nothing worse than having feelings for an oaf like him.

"Oh definitely not. We were just going to let you figure out he was a lumbering jerk who gets off on other's misery," Thalia said, causing the others to laugh.

"At least Percy isn't Luke," Piper pointed out to Annabeth.

Annabeth agreed whole heartedly with that. Luke was a cold person who felt that power was more important than decency. Percy, on the other hand, seemed only to pretend to not care about anything or anyone. If someone had asked her what she thought about Percy Jackson on Monday, she would've told them the extent to which she hated him. She would've mentioned his disgusting remarks to everyone, especially her, and his stupid sunglasses, and his weird bruises and scars that he probably did to himself for his 'image'.

But Tuesday changed everything for Annabeth. She couldn't say that she hated Percy Jackson anymore, not even in her head. Instead, she felt like she was getting to know a new Percy. This new person she had met on Tuesday night had to be the polar opposite of the Percy she met on the first day of school. The new Percy made her laugh and said kind things to her instead of things that made her want to vomit. She felt a connection with him as well. Not only the fact that they both were suffering from dyslexia. Annabeth felt like she had an obligation to get to know the real him.

She decided that she didn't mind this new Percy; in fact, she was glad she got to see this new side of him. The question was, though, if would he be here to stay.

By the way, the sleepover at the end is on Friday night. I know that this chapter had a pretty fast pace, but I had to keep the story rolling!

I'll keep writing if you keep reviewing! Every single review just brightens my day. Please review! :D