ii. Percy

Percy does have a plan. He knows when to step up to a challenge, and surely he won't go down to Annabeth's taunt without fighting. Even though he hardly knows what he's doing, he wants to show her that his flirting skills are very much on par with hers and that he can have a date with Rachel at the end of the school day.

So as soon as he gets home from school, he immediately starts up his computer, all the while imagining the look of rage on Annabeth's face once she sees his skills. He's going to enjoy her misery, and he'll be extra happy with a date, too.

But before he can get too far on his imaginations, he needs to do his research first. As soon as the browser loads up, he types 'how to flirt with a girl' and clicks on the first link.

6 Easy steps on Flirting
· Be confident
· Groom yourself
· Give her a compliment
· Get to know her
· Tell a funny story
· Spruce up on some flirty messages

'This seems easy,' Percy thinks. And before he can doubt himself, he types, 'how to properly groom yourself'.

"What," Grover exclaims as soon as he sees Percy's figure on the hallway. Percy likes to think that his look of bewilderment is a compliment.

Bewilderment, huh? That's a new word.

"What are you wearing?" Grover repeats. His eyes are so wide and his mouth is open like a gaping fish out of the water.

Percy nervously smooths his sweaty hands on his trousers out of habit. He wants to scratch the back of his neck and the itch near the small of his back—he severely underestimated the itchiness of this woolen sweatshirt he pulled over his baby blue button down—but he figures that it will not be the least bit dashing to Rachel, or any girls for that matter.

"Clothes," he mutters at last.

"Yeah, yeah I see that." Grover hobbles over to him, peering at his face warily. "You're not on any substance, are you?"

"No, of course not," Percy says. He fights the urge to run his hands through his hair as that would mess with the wax he put to tame it. "I—I've just been, y'know, grooming."

A sour look passes on Grover's face like he can't comprehend what he's hearing. "Grooving? You mean like the dancing they do on the 80's?"

"I said grooming. That's the thing you do to look presentable."

"I know," Grover mutters. He leans back as far as his crutches allow him to, and squints at Percy, "You look presentable but, weird. It's so weird seeing you like this."

"You're just not used to it," Percy mumbles absently, as he looks around the hallway. "Rachel, doesn't have track practice this morning or does she?"

"You don't look used to it, either. And no, as far as I know, your lady didn't mention any practice today." Grover leans back on the lockers and looks at him. The wild brown curls peeking under his Rasta cap have gotten longer and fizzier, and the goatee he sports is thickening to a bush like that of a goat's, but Grover has never been different to the boy Percy has always called best friend since he was 12. He is the same old Grover who has gotten in trouble with him for the past 4 years yet still remains to be a true friend till now.

"This day's the day?"

Percy leans back on the locker beside his best friend. "Yeah, I mean, I hope so."

"What brought the courage?"

"You'll never believe it but the determination to prove Annabeth wrong gave me courage. And I figured that I really need to start stepping up my game on this dating thing."

"So, that's why the grooming?"

"Yeah. That's why the grooming."

His first attempt to meet Rachel by the lockers turns out to be a failure. She did have a track practice that morning, which she forgot to tell them the day before.

But Percy retreated and regrouped his strategy, and by the time the bell sounded for lunch, Percy is waiting by the door of Rachel's math class.

The hallways thicken with the crowd that are eager to get to the cafeteria, and Percy gets pushed a little towards the door where he bumps with—

Oh dear. Bless his luck.

"Jackson?" Annabeth mutters, incredulously.

He only manages a timid smile on her, because well, he can't be snappy when Rachel is walking just behind the enemy.

"Rachel! Hey, over here!" He waves at her and pointedly ignores the glare Annabeth sends him.

Rachel's green eyes go wide with recognition and surprise as she spots him standing near the door. "Percy!"

When she goes near him, she does a quick double take. "You look... different," Rachel comments.

He nervously pushes his glasses at the top of his nose and tries to look casual. "Well, I just tried something for a change."

And as an afterthought, he asks, "Do you like it?"

Rachel beams at him and nudges his side playfully. "You look nice as always. But, I liked how you fixed your hair."

"Thanks," Percy says through flushed cheeks. "Uh, I used a brush and some wax."

"Someone finally taught you what a brush is?"

"Yeah, I guess," he answers. Then, in a shy voice, he says, "You look pretty too."

"Thanks, Perce. You've always been such a nice friend," she says. Percy determinedly ignores the sharp pain in his chest when she says the word, 'friend'. To put salt in the wound, he catches Annabeth's eyes across him, who has evidently heard snippets of their conversation.

Rachel glances at him, curiously. "Were you waiting for me outside the class?"

"Uh, yes. I was thinking that since we're both going to the cafeteria, we might as well go together."

She nods, distractedly. "Yeah, that's a great idea."

As they walk through the hallways, Percy mentally crosses out some of the steps for flirting. He'd already done the first four steps so that only left the last two which are: (5) tell a funny story and (6) spruce up on some flirty messages.

Okay, step number 5 here we go.

"Um," Percy clears his throat, and he turns to Rachel, "You know how Chase is in one of my classes?"

"Annabeth? You mean, in your mythology class?"

"Yeah. So we got our test results back yesterday, and I got a 100."

She grins at him. "Really? That's great!"

"Annabeth got second place and she was so mad you could literally see smoke coming out of her ears." Percy laughs when he recalls the annoyance and outrage flashing in her eyes and the way she'd snapped at almost anyone who dare come her way. "She looked like a bull ready to charge towards anyone. It was so funny."

He laughs yet again at the image his mind conjures: Annabeth dressed like a bull, and growling at everyone. In his mind, he's holding a red cloth while waving it frantically at Annabeth, and she continuously chases after him but she can never seem to catch up. He'll have to tell her this sometime.

Percy only stops when he realizes Rachel isn't laughing with him. Looks like step number 5 is another failure.

He thinks it's probably best to not talk about a girl who is your enemy to a girl you're crushing on.

But Percy won't let this spoil his chance of winning a date.

"So..." Percy glances at her shirt, a mix of hands and feet in different colors of paint splashed on white cotton canvas. "I like your shirt. It's very—uh," he trails, forgetting the next line in this pick-up. Was it cottony, or friendly or—"it's made of a very artsy material," he says instead.

Girlfriend, that's it. It's made of girlfriend material, not artsy material.

"Thanks," Rachel says. "I was worried it'll look too shabby or messy in general. Did you know that I just did this design last night?"

"Really? I didn't know."

"Of course, you don't. That's because I didn't tell you until now." Rachel grins and looks up at him quizzically. "Are...you going to say something? 'Cause you definitely look like you're gonna say something."

With the attention now focused on him, Percy shifts and fumbles anxiously with the hem of his itchy woolen sweatshirt. "Uh, well. I was wondering if you'd be up for a movie night—"

"Rachel! Percy! Over here!" comes Piper's high-pitched voice which just shatters Percy's illusion of peace and confidence.

They easily maneuver their way towards their friends, who are now scattered all over the table. Percy greets them all with a grin and a wave, promptly forgetting that he has just nearly asked Rachel out on a date.

"Woah, hey! Is that spit on your hair, Perce?" Leo remarks as Percy takes his seat beside Grover.

"Fuck off Leo," Percy retorts as he meets Jason's astonished look. "What? I just used some brush and a wax, nothing really dangerous."

"You do know that wax is a flammable substance right?" Piper adds, unhelpfully.

"What—oh, no. Don't you dare come near me, Valdez!"

"Shut up, you rowdy boys!" Rachel says, teasingly. She brings her gaze back to Percy. "So, what were you saying Percy about a movie night?"

By now, all person in the table has gone quiet while anticipating his answer. It isn't really a secret that everyone in their friendship circle knows about Percy's crush on Rachel. They'd seen him mope around in one way or another (although not as often as he mopes with Jason and Grover), and have constantly encouraged him to take a leap of faith. However, they could have been more helpful in his case by not making him more nervous than he is.

"Um, I was just asking if you want to have a movie night this Saturday...," he pauses, and everyone has their mouth hanging in anticipation as he tries to gather courage but, "...together with our friends?"

Everyone almost visibly deflates like a helium balloon, except for Rachel, who still keeps beaming. "Sure. Saturday night it is."

A heavy silence falls upon the group. Rachel glances around the table, perplexed. "Guys? Is there anything here you aren't telling me?"

Finally, Piper, who understands the situation, stands up with so much enthusiasm she nearly falls off her chair.

"Oh look, they actually have my favorite pudding," Piper exclaims as she latches onto Rachel's arm. "Come join me, Rach." Then she drags her friend towards the cafeteria counter.

As soon as both girls disappear from hearing range, Jason turns to Percy. "So, that was your plan?"

"You mean—"Leo gestures to Percy's overall being, from his hair down to his shoes, "this was his plan?"

With his head in his hands, Percy grumbles out, "Don't make me look bad. I feel bad enough as it is."

Leo, at least, looks apologetic. "Sorry, man. I mean, you brushed your hair. That's a great step."

"He called it grooming," Grover pipes in. "That's a different thing. C'mon, look at his clothes."

Jason's eyebrows scrunch together as he eyes Percy's itchy woolen sweatshirt. "That's a nasty looking sweater. Looks itchy."

"Yes, well it is very itchy."

"Why don't you get rid of it then?"

Percy vaguely wonders why he didn't get rid of it in the first place. Then he remembered step number two. "I thought I looked good in it," he admits.

Grover sighs and pats Percy's back. "C'mon, Percy. You were nearly there. Cut yourself some slack."

"Yeah, dude. Fixing your hair, trying to dress nicely—that's already a lot."

"You were so close to it already. Give it a few more tries," Jason says.

Percy, despite the failed plan, smiles. "Thanks guys for cheering me up."

"You could have chosen a cheerleader if you want someone to cheer you up," Jason retorts. Percy answers him with an eye roll.

"Oh hey, look! There's Chase breaking another heart," Leo comments, and their heads turn towards a commotion in the corner.

A boy with a box of chocolates and letters in hand is talking to Annabeth, almost pleading, judging by the way he looks at her. She's trying to create distance between the unlucky boy and herself, all the while talking about how she's not ready for a relationship and whatnot. The boy looks visibly disheartened, much like Percy feels at the moment, but Annabeth is calm and almost stone cold with her emotions.

"She's such a heartbreaker," Leo remarks as Annabeth now exits the cafeteria, leaving the poor guy standing alone in the corner.

"Well, boys certainly do come flocking to her," Grover says.

"Darn," Jason mutters and looks at Percy, "Perce. If you only have half the charm Annabeth has, you won't even need to worry about having a girlfriend. Girls will come flocking to you."

Leo puffs out his chest dramatically. "Much like me, you mean?"

"The only thing that flocks to you is trouble, Leo," Grover adds.

"Eat your enchilada, Goat Boy."

Percy's only half-listening, thinking of the new idea that now brews in his mind.

Flocking and charm, huh? Little did Jason know that he just gave Percy the best idea for a new plan.

A/N: So you get a dash of one-sided Perachel, which surprisingly was easy enough to write. But Percabeth fans, don't fret, all will come in good time. Anyway, now that Percy's plan have failed, he gets yet another idea from Jason. And you'll see what that is on the next update.

So, I'm planning to find a consistent update schedule, but I still really don't know about the frequency. I'll just try to write as much as possible during this brief term break, and see where it gets.

I also hope that you're getting excited with the story as I am, because I am excited. I've briefly created a plot outline, and I'm still trying to add more. Please do review and tell me what you think!