Annabeth was still lost in thought as she strolled away from the arena. When was the last time she saw Percy and Rachel together? It had been a long time. Maybe they were broken up?

Annabeth was still lost in thought as she strolled away from the arena. When was the last time she saw Percy and Rachel together? It had been a long time. Maybe they were broken up? Or were they ever together in the first place? She'd never seen them kiss or anything. Maybe she was reading too much into it. Still. Years after the fact. Good gods, get over it, she told herself harshly.

She was so deep in thought she didn't notice she was nearing her cabin until its door flew open and Malcolm almost bowled her over.

"Whoa!" He grabbed her by the shoulders to steady both of them. "Sorry, Annabeth." He flashed a quick smile to reveal naturally straight teeth.

She waved him off. "Don't worry about it."

Malcolm relaxed. His curly hair fell into his eyes, and he brushed it back. "Cool. Come on, we're gonna be late." He tried to pull Annabeth with him, but she dug in her heels.

"Late? Late for what?"

Malcolm blinked. "You haven't heard? Our schedule got changed. We have archery in…" He glanced at his watch and cursed. "Three minutes."

Annabeth looked down at her clothes and then back up at Malcolm, wide-eyed. "I'm not dressed for archery!"

"Then hurry up and change!" Malcolm practically shoved her toward the open cabin door, then spun and took off.

Annabeth had never changed so quickly in her life, throwing on athletic clothes and praying the Aphrodite cabin wouldn't decide to check the inside of her drawer when they had inspection later. After slamming the dresser shut and almost knocking everything off the top, she burst out the front door at full speed and slammed directly into someone jogging past.

She went flying, landing hard on the gravel and rolling into the grass.

"Ow," she moaned into the dirt. Apparently, someone up on high didn't want her to make it to class on time. But she refused to let her impressive attendance record be marred by some random person standing outside her door.

She glanced up from her scraped and stinging hands and froze when she saw green eyes staring back at her.

Crap.

Percy was still covered in sweat, but his armor and sword were gone. Apparently, he had just sprinted over from the arena. Up close, she noticed circles under his eyes she hadn't seen before, indicating lack of sleep that was common among demigods. She wondered briefly if a son of Poseidon would have more nightmares than others.

He looked up at her, sprawled on his back with bloody knees. "You just sent me into a full somersault," he said, sounding impressed.

Annabeth scrambled to her feet and forced herself to meet his eyes. "You're welcome, I guess," she said uncertainly. He got to his feet as well, and there was a beat of silence.

Percy blinked, then stuck his hand out. "I'm Percy Jackson," he introduced himself, as if everyone in camp didn't already know his name. Annabeth wasn't sure if she should be annoyed by his naivete or impressed that he could be so thick.

Then again, maybe he was only being polite. She took his hand and tried not to look mortified by the whole situation. "Annabeth Chase," she said, lifting her chin just a little, hoping that she would maybe look a little taller next to him. She was by no means short, but next to Percy, she might as well have been a twelve-year-old girl again.

He cast a look over his shoulder at the cabin she had just come flying out of. "Daughter of Athena?" he asked.

"Yeah. Poseidon, right?"

He nodded, then shuffled his feet awkwardly. Apparently, he had nothing else to make small talk with.

Annabeth didn't have the time to wait for him to figure something out. "Well," she announced loudly. "I'm sorry, but I'm really in a hurry, so…"

Percy huffed a little laugh and brushed dirt off his shorts. "Me too. Archery got moved up, for some reason. I swear, Chiron does this kind of stuff just to mess with me." He pushed a hand through his messy dark hair, plastering it back with sweat. "I only just heard about it."

"Me too!" Annabeth mentally cursed how excited she sounded.

Percy's eyes lit up. "Then what are we waiting for? Run!"

He took off without another word, Annabeth a step behind him. He had long legs that could probably outpace her, but she got the distinct impression he was slowing down enough for her to keep up. Why he would do that, she had no idea, and she was not going to waste valuable brain cells trying to figure it out.

They skidded to a halt in front of the range and took a few seconds to try to calm their breathing before entering. Chiron was still giving his beginning-of-class lecture. They shared a relieved look. They were only barely late.

"—pairing up today," Chiron was saying. "Nothing you haven't done before, so don't worry. And don't think I haven't noticed your tardiness, Percy, Annabeth. You two are lucky that I like you."

The look they shared this time was a bit more appropriately chagrined.

Annabeth's pulse was finally calming down from her sprint, meaning her brain could begin to overanalyze, thinking of how she had sounded like an idiot or wishing she had been able to put more effort into her hair. But it was too late to do anything about it now. Percy was probably going to leave class and start talking to all his jock friends about the weird Athena girl he ran into today. Even now, a cursory glance around showed him nowhere to be found. Nothing she wasn't used to, but after so many years of looking and not touching (not in that way, Annabeth cringed), it would have been nice to make a good first impression.

Chiron finished speaking and everyone began to pair up. Normally, he wanted each camper to pair with someone outside their cabin when activities were conducted with two groups. Today, however, the Athena cabin was apparently with the Poseidon cabin. Or, in other words, they were with Percy. So only one person had to pair outside their cabin.

Maybe "had to" isn't the right phrase. Most camp girls would do horrible things to be paired with Percy, up to and including sabotage and physical assault. He was one of the most eligible bachelors around, not to mention a child of one of the Big Three. (Well, Annabeth assumed he was an eligible bachelor. She still wasn't clear on the whole Rachel thing.) Even now, she could see some of the more infatuated girls in her cabin casting around, looking for him. A few of them were glaring at her wickedly, although she had no idea—

Someone tapped her on the shoulder. "May I have this dance?"

Annabeth recognized Percy's voice immediately, and her heart did an unwelcome little flip in her chest. In the past, he had usually paired with a guy in her cabin, like Malcolm. Before her filter could kick in, she turned and pointed out, "We're not at a dance." Nice one, Annabeth, she immediately scolded herself. Real zinger. Call yourself a daughter of Athena and you can't think of anything better than that?

Percy looked taken aback for a second before his charm took over. "Okay," he said easily. "May I have this gym class?" He put out a steady hand. Annabeth cursed herself for being an idiot one more time before taking it with a raised eyebrow. Two can play at this game.

"You may," she said loftily. Percy flashed his teeth in a smile before leading her onto the dance floor, where all the bows and arrows were stored. She wasn't proud of it, but Annabeth reveled a bit in the venomous looks she was receiving from some of the girls as they passed.

Percy found a blue bow and took some arrows before going to save them a spot in line near the back. Annabeth chose a green one and joined him. They watched the first few pairs shoot in silence.

Awkward silence. She could feel Percy looking over at her every few seconds, twirling his bow in his hands, twanging its string, probably searching for a way out. Annabeth felt like accidentally shooting someone just so they could have something to talk about. She was horrible at carrying conversations. A combination of being a natural introvert and a textbook nerd made her nervous about initiating anything.

So they waited. Annabeth prayed to every god she could think of to send something to end it. A student late for class, an emergency counselor meeting, man-eating starfish, anything.

Finally, mercifully, Percy broke the silence.

"I'm horrible at archery," he confessed.

Annabeth looked at him. "Really?"

"Yeah." He chuckled mirthlessly and brushed some loose strands of dark hair from his eyes. "Once, I got an arrow stuck in Chiron's tail. Took me years to live that one down."

Annabeth laughed. "Huh. I thought you were good at everything." Great, why don't you tell him you worship the ground he walks on, too.

Percy quickly shook his head. "Oh, no, I'm bad at a lot of stuff. Archery tops the list, but I'm nearly as bad at reading and writing and… most schoolwork really. And school in general. I've been kicked out of a zillion of them."

"ADHD and dyslexia?" Annabeth guessed.

"Yeah. And you should see me around plants. It's like they make a conscious decision to die when I'm within ten feet."

And, just like that, they had something to talk about. Granted, it was their respective flaws, but it led to easy conversation about just about everything, from Percy's ability to talk to horses to Annabeth's extensive personal library. They settled into a comfortable rhythm.

"Hey, can I ask you something? As a daughter of Athena?" Percy began to fiddle with the string of his bow, long fingers tracing up and down its length.

They stepped forward in line; it was almost their turn. "Sure," Annabeth answered. "Hit me."

"Okay." Percy's eyebrows were furrowed seriously. Annabeth thought he looked adorable with them scrunched like that. "I've always wondered… well, Athena came out of Zeus's head, right?"

"Uh huh. Fully formed and everything."

"So ignoring the physical logistics of how that would even work, does…" Percy stumbled a bit. The tips of his ears began to burn bright red. "Actually, never mind."

"No, go ahead." Annabeth folded her arms expectantly. She was almost positive she already knew what he was about to ask, but in a burst of good-natured cruelty, she wanted to make him spell it out.

Percy cleared his throat and averted his eyes. "So, uh, when Athena kids are…" He cringed. "...made, and born, is it… does it…"

"Happen the same way?" Annabeth finished for him, taking pity. He nodded quickly. They moved forward so they were next in line.

"I'm going to be honest, I don't completely understand it myself," Annabeth conceded. "It is purely mental, though. Like, my mother falls in love with someone's mind, not the person themself. Kind of. I think."

Percy frowned in confusion. "But if it's only mental, then how…" He trailed off and used vague hand motions to gesture toward Annabeth's entire body.

How did all her kids get here, she translated for him. She considered trying to go into all the nitty-gritty details of which she was not entirely certain, but decided against it. "Like I said, I don't really know. I just showed up on my dad's doorstep one day. I think the wind had something to do with it."

Percy was staring at her, as if seeing her in a whole new light, and Annabeth wasn't sure she liked it. She could practically see the wheels turning slowly in his mind. "Weird," he whispered.

"I know," she whispered back.

"So can she have kids with women, too?" he asked, fascinated. Annabeth opened her mouth to answer, then closed it. Huh.

There was another break in conversation, although this one was more comfortable. Percy restlessly flipped his bow in his hands, then stopped to lift a finger toward Annabeth's face. He began to brush her cheek, his calloused fingers trailing goosebumps on her skin. "Hey, you've got—"

Annabeth reflexively slapped his hand away, and Percy froze. "Uh, sorry, I wasn't thinking, I didn't mean to—" His hand dropped and he stuffed it into his pocket. He stammered under his breath, "There's something on your cheek, and I was thinking I could get it off for you."

Annabeth stared at him, then felt her cheek herself. Her fingertips came away bright blue. Silena. "Oh."

Percy didn't meet her eyes, hanging his head so the fringes of his long hair fell over his eyes. "Sorry, I should have said something."

"Maybe. I almost judo flipped you."

A little snort found its way out of him before he could hold it back. "Please. I have, like, fifteen inches on you."

"No, you do not, and I could totally take you either way," Annabeth retorted with a huff.

"Percy, Annabeth! You're up next!" Chiron called.

They stepped up. Before getting started, Percy put a hand on her arm. Her skin burned traitorously where he touched it. (She could feel the stares of the other girls drilling into the back of her head. If looks could kill.) "Seriously, Annabeth," he warned her. "I'm really bad at this. You'd think five years of training would help, but I'm barely any better than I was when I was twelve."

It made sense. Archery required patience and concentration, both of which could be severely inhibited if someone had ADHD and dyslexia. Fortunately, Annabeth had figured out how to make it work, like she had with reading and studying. It seemed Percy was still struggling.

She smiled at him. "Don't worry, it can't be that bad."

The look he gave her in response shook her confidence a little.

Annabeth nocked an arrow and lifted it to eye level. Percy watched her every movement intently so he could imitate them when it was his turn. She ignored that sensation on the back of her neck and focused on the pressure of the bow in her left hand, the rubber grip digging into the pads of her fingers. She pulled it back until she could feel her thumb brush the corner of her mouth. Her eyes rested on the target in front of her and she mentally pictured the arrow striking the small center.

Then in one smooth movement, she breathed out and loosed the arrow. It flew straight and true, sticking into the painted straw with a satisfying thud.

Percy let out an excited yell. "Nice one!"

Annabeth blushed furiously. "Uh, thanks. It's really not that hard."

He shook his head. "Just wait until you see me try. I've been told it's actually impressive how bad I am."

Annabeth rolled her eyes and let him take her place in front of the target. His face morphed from lighthearted to set in concentration. His lips pressed together as he raised his bow, trying to remain entirely focused. Muscles shifted under tanned skin that begged for attention, which Annabeth stubbornly refused to give.

He easily drew back the arrow nocked on the string and had begun to take in a deep breath when a commotion disrupted the room. Percy jerked in surprise and the arrow sailed over the target to land harmlessly in a tree's branches. He cursed in frustration and turned. Annabeth was already scanning the room.

A satyr had loped through the door, red-faced and chest heaving. He had sharp horns curling out from underneath curly brown hair and wore a green t-shirt reminding everyone to recycle.

"Grover?" Percy asked. "What's going on?"

The satyr—Grover, apparently—raised a finger while he gasped for air. "Chiron," he managed between puffs. "Situation. At Big House. Need you."

There were a few seconds of stunned silence. Chiron looked torn between asking more questions and taking off immediately. After a brief inner debate, he opted for the second choice. "You're all dismissed!" he shouted, then he galloped out of the archery range. Grover moaned pitifully and scampered back after him.

Percy's wide eyes met Annabeth's. "So should we follow them or…?"

In response, every child of Athena surged forward as one to squeeze through the door. Annabeth shouted over the noise, "I guess so!" She finally fought out into the harsh sunlight and began to run to the Big House, a few doubts shadowing the edges of her mind. If there was a problem so big that Chiron was needed to deal with it, maybe it wasn't something the rest of the camp should stand around watching. To prevent mass hysteria, or something like that.

But in what world would they pass up something like this?

Annabeth tried to ignore the fact that Percy was keeping pace with her again. And the way his eyebrows were furrowed over his eyes. Gods, his eyes…

Maybe this was going to be more difficult to ignore than she had anticipated.