After the disheartening loss that the Sharks had experienced to the Titans, the mood in the student section and the rest of the crowd was dismal, to say the least.

Piper insisted upon dragging both Annabeth and Hazel along to talk to Jason before he headed off to change. As soon as the quarterback was in sight, the brunette was off in a flash to go meet him, causing her friends to simply laugh and hang back to wait.

When the two finished talking and Piper walked back over to join her friends, she had the biggest, most lovestruck smile either of them had ever seen on her face.

"He wants us all to come over to his place!" she said excitedly, holding back a squeal of excitement. "We have to go!" Hazel and Annabeth exchanged a look before shrugging.

What's the worst that could happen? The blonde thought to herself as they all walked out to the parking lot together.

They all got into Piper's car, which might've been the nicest thing Annabeth had ever been in. Her dad was one of the most famous actors in Hollywood and her mom was one of the most well-known models in the fashion industry, but you'd never really know it looking at Piper. She usually wore minimal makeup and typical clothes usually including jeans, sweaters, hoodies, and her favorite old ski jacket. She still always looked gorgeous, which Annabeth simply assumed was due to genetics.

Probably, anyway.

As for her own parents, her dad was a professor of military history at a university, and her mom was an architect. She never saw much of her mother, though, but that's a story for another time.

Neither Annabeth nor Piper knew much about Hazel's parents, since she didn't talk much about them. The only thing they could piece together was that her dad left her and her mom when she was very young.

Enough of that tangent, though.

The trio all climbed into Piper's car, and Annabeth was about to ask for directions to Jason's house when the brunette cut her off with a grin. "I know the place. I've already been there a couple times."

Annabeth scratched her head in confusion and winced. "Ah...a couple times? You two just started talking a week ago." Piper snickered to herself as she pulled out of the parking lot.

"I know."

When Piper pulled up into what she claimed to be Jason's driveway, her friends were taken aback. The place was huge. Like, close to mansion-sized.

In front of the car stood a three-story, white house with big columns out and elegantly trimmed bushes and flower gardens scattered meticulously around the front of the house. Vines crept up the walls of the house and a few could even be seen curling around the massive columns.

Piper had previously mentioned that Jason's mother was an actress and his father was a big business tycoon, but she didn't think that this was what the product would look like.

"Wow..." Hazel breathed, snapping Annabeth back into reality as she parked in front of the massive garage off to the side. She could only imagine what kinds of cars his parents drove. As they all climbed out and made their way towards the front door, Piper was walking a bit faster than the rest of them, eager to see Jason.

Annabeth and Hazel walked along together behind their crushing brunette friend, making comments to one another about how gorgeous the house was. They got to the door and Piper knocked, clasping her hands together in front of her. They heard some voices from the other side, mainly one yelling that they were coming to the door.

When it swung open, it was the blonde quarterback himself, a bright smile on his face as he saw them. "Hey, guys," he said before he held open the door and beckoned then inside, his eyes lingering on Piper as he grinned. Annabeth had to chuckle as she walked past him. Those two getting together was long overdue.

As she stepped through the doorway and looked around, she was even more amazed by the inside of the house than she was the outside. The inside of the house was warm and inviting, and exquisitely decorated with plush leather couches and armchairs. She could see a large, modern-looking kitchen through a doorway on the left and some other hallways leading further back into the house.

In the living room, she could see a handful of people already there.

Of course Leo Valdez and Percy Jackson were there, since they were all best friends. Frank Zhang, another football player, was also there, seated on the couch with the rest of the guys, restlessly tapping his finger on the top of a can of soda. She could vaguely see Drew and Silena in the kitchen, talking and laughing as they stood closely together.

As she continued to look around, Annabeth got tunnel vision when she saw a head full of sandy blonde hair and the brightest blue eyes she'd ever seen.

Luke.

She ran over, the biggest smile on her face, and threw her arms around him. She was greeted with his signature bright grin and a laugh as he threw his arms around her, lifting her up into the air as they hugged. "Hey there, Beth," he mumbled in a soft voice as she buried her face into his shoulder, that stupid, stupid smile still covering her face.

When they finally did separate, her hands stayed resting against his chest and his on her waist. "I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow!" she said breathlessly, trying not to feel flustered as her fingers pressed up against the toned muscles of his chest that she could feel even over top of his shirt.

He cracked that charming smile that she'd fallen for the first time she had ever seen it, and shrugged his shoulders. "I wanted to surprise you."

It took Annabeth several moments to realize that the conversations around them had dimmed and that everyone's eyes were on her, glimmering with either amusement or something that resembled discomfort. She slowly backed away from him, hesitating before she took his hand and pulled him over to sit with her on the couch.

This night had gotten infinitely more enjoyable.

It was a Friday night, a night typically home to lots of alcohol, sex, and regret, though Percy was spending it sitting on the floor with Frank and Leo weighing the merits of their favorite NFL players and drinking ungodly amounts of soda.

Well, Leo was anyway. The kid already had ADHD, and now he was hyped up off of four cans of Mountain Dew as well as the adrenaline from the game. He'd ranked the entire Giant's defensive line from best to worst before Percy and Frank had even brought up the team.

Well, in Percy's own personal ranking of Friday night adventures, this one wasn't so bad. It sure as hell beat doing homework, or even getting completely trashed at a normal party anyone on their team or the cheerleading squad would have thrown. Not that Percy drank anyway.

Yep, he was content just sitting there debating quarterbacks with his teammates. As Frank and Leo argued about what New York team would do the worst this upcoming season, Percy's gaze shifted around the spacious living room to the other people that were there.

Of course, Jason and Piper were seated side-by-side on the love seat, trying to make it seem as if their thighs and shoulders weren't touching and they weren't looking at one another. Yeah, both of those were obviously wrong.

On the other side of the living room there was a large wraparound couch. On one side sat Hazel, Silena, and Drew discussing makeup. Well, it was more of the latter two discussing it all while Hazel looked rather confused and tried to understand the majority of the terms.

On the other side sat Luke, with Annabeth perched almost on his lap. Mostly on his lap. Percy couldn't help but get a gross feeling inside as he glanced over the two, trying not to have that sour of an expression on his face.

Luke had been somewhat of a golden boy at Goode before he'd graduated. Captain of the football and baseball teams, homecoming king, all of that stereotypical stuff you'd expect from any high school's own personal Prince Charming. Obviously, he and Percy had played football together. He was nice and all, to be honest. Percy liked him, but not an overly large amount.

Annabeth, on the other hand, was the kind of popular girl everyone loved. Not only was she incredible at volleyball, but she was wicked smart. She wasn't cocky about any of it, either. He must've been staring for too long, because he noticed both halves of the couple looking in his direction, Luke with more of a poker face while Annabeth just had kind of a confused smile.

Percy's cheeks burned in embarrassment as he offered a sheepish smile before standing. "Leo, do you need more Mountain Dew?" he asked as he brushed off his clothes. The curly-haired boy simply waved a hand in dismissal as Percy walked off to the empty kitchen.

As he did, he was kicking himself. He felt a lot more flustered than he should have at getting caught staring. Why did he care anyway?

He walked to the refrigerator and swung the door open, hunching over to rifle around for some soda. He had just spotted some neon green cans behind the milk jug when he heard light footsteps enter the kitchen.

"Hey, mind grabbing me one of those too?" It was none other than Annabeth herself, giving him a bit of a smile as she showed him an empty soda can in her fingers before setting it down on the counter.

Her eyes were the best shade of grey the runningback had ever seen. It always made her seem as if her mind was running a thousand miles an hour. "Hey, Percy."

He managed a bit of a smile as he nodded at her request before he hunched over again to dig the cans out. "Hey, Annabeth." There was an uncomfortable moment of silence between the two before the dark-haired runningback resurfaced from the fridge with two sodas held in his free hand. He closed the door before offering her one of them, giving her a sheepish smile.

She uttered a quiet thanks and took the can from him before tucking some hair behind her ear. "It's not your fault, you know," she said with a shrug before popping the top of the can and taking a sip.

He gave her a kind of confused look as he restlessly tapped the top of his Mountain Dew. "The game," she clarified with a small smile. "I mean...you played amazing tonight. You can't blame yourself for one bad call, you know?" He nodded absentmindedly at her words but he knew that they'd never make him feel any better. "Yeah, I guess so. I'll be fine."

This was a lie, of course, not that he'd admit that to himself. She seemed to know that, though. "We're a lot alike, honestly," she said with a smile. "We take losses personally. Like...you remember states for volleyball last year."

He sure as hell did remember. He went to watch Jason's sister Thalia play. She'd graduated last year, so it was her senior season. She insisted that her "favorite cousin named Percy" needed to attend her final game, so he did. The championship game ended in the fourth set when one of Annabeth's hits went slightly outside of the boundary lines.

The second the line judge at the corner gave her a solemn look and signified the ball was out, she fell to her knees. She was crushed.

It took two of her teammates lifting her to her feet for her to even go shake hands with the victorious team. The only thing Percy did remember very clearly about that game was when the winners were getting pictures taken with the trophy, and Annabeth was seated alone on her team's bench.

He had gone over to sit beside her and gave her one of those small travel packs of tissues.

It was one of those ones for kids that had little pictures of fish and sharks and seaweed and stuff on them. She'd teased him about it through her tears, but he'd simply shrugged it off and sat beside her while she cried into his shoulder.

The pair had never been close beyond going to summer camp together as kids, but they both had a common feeling of pressure with their positions on their respective teams.

It made them feel connected in some weird way.

He nodded in agreement with her statement, sighing a little as he popped the top of his soda before taking a sip. "We really are the same," he said with a soft laugh. "Really though, I hope you still don't tell the story about my fish tissues."

She cracked a smile as she gave him a nonchalant shrug, sipping her Mountain Dew with a sparkle lighting up her stormy grey eyes. "As a matter of fact, that's what we were just talking about back in the living room when you walked off," she teased with a big smile before her gaze became a bit more serious and she gently touched her hand to his forearm.

She still had a kind smile on her face, and he tried to focus on that instead of how her touch on his arm made his skin light up like he'd been struck with lightning. "Don't worry about that game, though. It'll all turn out fine. You have the rest of the season to focus on.

He didn't want to feel better about his shitty performance, but somehow her words made him feel a bit better. Well, they did for a moment at least. Until Luke walked into the kitchen and gave Percy somewhat of a confused, reserved look as he saw them standing so close together with Annabeth's hand resting against his arm.

His furrowed brow disappeared as the blonde girl turned and saw him approaching, both of them breaking out into immediate bright smiles. "Hey, babe. Ready to get going?" Luke asked as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her towards him, away from Percy. "You're still coming over, right?" Her expression immediately brightened as she tucked herself up against his chest, leaning up to press a kiss to his jaw. "Yeah, of course!"

As they both leaned in to kiss one another, Percy realized he'd never felt more uncomfortable. He cleared his throat a little and would've debated walking out to rejoin his friends in the living room if the couple hadn't been standing directly in front of the doorway.

As they separated, Annabeth grinned happily. "Just let me go say goodbye to Piper and Hazel and we can head out." As she moved out of his arms, she turned to Percy and gave him a quick hug. "Take it easy tonight, fish-face. You'll have other games to kick ass in," she said to him through a soft laugh.

He was so surprised he couldn't even hug her back or come up with a witty comeback before she had pulled away and went out to say goodbye to everyone.

Percy wanted to say he'd never had a real problem with Luke, but being in a room alone with him after he'd just hugged and a private conversation with his girlfriend definitely wasn't something he didn't want to do. He went to excuse himself and walk out of the kitchen, but was stopped with a hand gently coming to grip his shoulder. "Not so fast there, Percy," the blonde said through a soft laugh. "We haven't gotten to talk yet!"

As the runningback turned to look at Luke, he felt nervous. He wouldn't try to do anything here, would he? Was he mad that Percy had hugged his girlfriend or that they'd been alone together in the kitchen? He definitely didn't look as annoyed as he could've...he just looked kind of conflicted. As if even he didn't know how he should feel about what had just happened.

"How's football been going, Perce? I wanted to come to the game tonight, but I had a late class." His brow furrowed and he shrugged, though he broke into a smile immediately after. "I miss all the guys. It's really nice seeing the gang all here, y'know?"

Percy responded with a simple nod, giving the blonde a sheepish smile. "Yeah, I gotcha," he laughed before taking a long sip from his can of Mountain Dew. Why wasn't this awkward? If their positions were reversed, Percy would feel so awkward.

But Luke seemed perfectly fine and dandy. Well...not that that's a bad thing, anyway.

"Well, tonight was our first game, against the Titans. We lost though." Percy's brow furrowed as he recalled the game, and gave a soft sigh. Luke hadn't even been there, but he gained a sour expression as well. He knew as well as anyone about the rivalry between the Sharks and the Titans.

Percy told him the story, about how they ran their final play and Percy had gotten brought down before he could even touch the ball, and how the refs had turned a blind eye. The blonde seemed rather invested in his story, and when he finished, he had the biggest scowl on his face. "God, that's some shit," Luke muttered before he rolled his eyes as he patted his shoulder. "Well, just get them next time. That's all you can do."

Percy knew Luke understood. The two of them weren't that different after all, with their team captain positions and the pressure to do well. "You're right. Thanks man." The two exchanged smiles before Annabeth walked back into the kitchen again. Luke turned to her and his expression brightened completely. "Hey, babe. Let's get out of here."

Before they turned to leave, they both looked at Percy and smiled. "See you around, Perce," Luke said with a grin before he led his girlfriend out of the kitchen and towards the front door. As he heard the chorus of goodbyes from everyone in the living room, Percy found himself letting out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding in.

As much as he wanted to dislike Luke, he couldn't bring himself to. He was a great guy. And honestly? He might have been a little jealous of him. Everything always came so easily to him. Football, school, his social life, and even his girlfriend...

It's not like he was into her or anything. But it didn't hurt that she was kind of cute and athletic and smart and that her smile or her laugh made Percy feel like he was trying to breathe underwater and that he could just lose himself in those grey eyes of hers and...oh.

The realization hit him as he stood there alone in Jason's kitchen, his fingers wrapped around the slightly cool can of Mountain Dew. "No way I'm into her," he muttered to himself. "I can't be."

Even though he wanted to believe himself, he knew that it was just one of many lies he had told himself that night.