"You're seriously about to get into a stranger car?" Percy asked playfully, opening the passenger side door for the mystery girl who had somehow avoided his questioning of her name.

She laughed lowly and stepped into the car. "You're not stranger Jackson." She replied coolly. Percy titled his head to the left.

"Well, you are to me. I could be kidnapping you." He reasoned. She rolled her eyes at him but flashed a small smile.

"Sure." She said in a false agreeing tone.

"No really. This could be dangerous." Percy warned her with a sing-song tone.

"I'll take my chances." She said, pulling out her phone and tapping away at it. Percy shrugged and shut the door, walked to the other side and slipped in. He turned the key, the familiar growl of the engine turning on. He backed out of the driveway and went on his way to...somewhere.

"Where are you taking me?" The girl asked after a few minutes of silent driving.

Percy smirked at her. "Oh so now you care about where you're being taken?" He said snarkily. She sent him a hard look.

"Don't get cocky with me." She snapped. Percy chuckled.

"How ironic." He commented, getting another hardened look. He ignored it and kept the oblivious and arrogant smile on his face.

"No clue honestly. I'm just driving and whatever we find is whatever we find." Percy lamented after a minute or so.

The girl nodded. "It's 12:47 PM on a Friday night. I'm sure we can find a deserted lit up park." Percy hummed his agreement.

There was a slightly awkward but not uncomfortable silence in the car. Neither of them had decided to turn on the radio or start a conversation. Percy kept his eyes on the road but occasionally flickering them to the girl next to him, who was mostly looking at her phone texting, someone. She paid him no real attention, which was mildly disheartening for him.

"You never answered my question," Percy said out of the blue. The blond stopped moving her fingers and she looked up at him in confusion. "What were you doing at the party? And yes I know you came with friends, I didn't know you knew Thalia honestly. But like I said before it doesn't seem quite like your crowd." He explained.

The girl gave a small laugh. "Appearances are deceiving." She said, eyeing him in his leather jacket.

"Much like yours. Who would have guessed the swimming prodigy traded out the speedo for spikes and leather." She said in a playful pointed tone.

Percy gave a dramatic scoff. "Do not speak of the speedo. I don't competitively swim anymore. But still, I do love the beach." He defended himself.

The girl looked at him with a sly smile. "Of course." She said. "Whatever do you do now? Listen to angsty rock music alone in your darkened bedroom because no one understands you?" She teased. Percy sent her a glare, to which she cheekily smiled at him.

"No. My room is blue." He corrected her.

"Ah." She said with a slight laugh. "My condolences. Do you listen to angsty rock music alone in your blue bedroom because no one understands you?" She tried again, a smirk playing on her lips.

Percy shook his head with a laugh. "Still no. I play drums in my spare time. And just swim on my own." He said. The girl nodded slowly before they both settled into silence.

It took a couple of minutes for the realization to hit Percy and when it did it hit him hard. "Hey!" He cried out.

The blonde girl by his side almost jumped. "What?" She said in a rushed and worried voice. "You never answered my question! You deflected it. Again!" Percy accused. The girl took a second to process what he said and when she did, she sat back in her seat and glared at him.

"I thought something was actually wrong." She said snarkily.

Percy shook his head. He was falling for this again. For the like third time this night. "No beating around the bush this time. Why were you there? And stop redirecting the conversion. I get that you're smart and all but it's really dragging things out." He said tiredly.

The girl sighed. "I just wanted to go to a party. Is that such a crime?" She said plainly.

Percy crinkled his eyebrows together in confusion. "Wait, it was your idea to go?" He asked and she nodded in confirmation. "Huh. I did not expect that." Percy said, pulling into the light maze.

"Don't be so quick to judge." The girl told him. "I fit in with a lot of different groups of people. My clothing means nothing. I could have shown up with a black worn leather skirt, band tee and fishnets and you wouldn't have batted an eye. Or even met me, I'm sure the blue and white caught your attention." She said pointedly. Percy hummed. She got him there. If she wasn't' wearing such outlandish clothing at a punk, goth, rock party he would not even have spared her a glance.

"In that case, I'm rather glad you're wearing that," Percy said, motioning to her attire.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Boys." She said distastefully under her breath.

Percy's eyes went wide and he shook his head side to side real quick. "Wait no I didn't mean like that." He defended himself, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. "I mean if you didn't look so out of place, I would never have met you and I'm really glad I did." She looked suspiciously at him like she didn't believe his words. Percy looked at her with only honesty in his eyes and parked the car smoothly.

"Well." The blonde said turning away and opening the car door. "Isn't that… wonderful."

Percy chuckled and locked the car with a click. "Are you ever going to tell me your name?" Percy asked, looking down towards the girl as they walked through the wrapped lights on the entrance.

She brushed a hand through her blonde tresses. "What's the rush? I can be a stranger for a night can't I?" She spoke like she was amused by the constant questioning of the name that read on her birth certificate.

"You already said we're no strangers." Percy pointed out. The blonde hummed, clearly not willing to admit that he was right.

"Has anyone ever told you that you ask far too many questions?" She said with a smirk.

Percy shrugged. "Normally I'm told I don't ask enough. Though I think those people are my teachers. Might be wrong, I don't bother to know." He responded with a joke.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You're pretty dominating aren't you?" Percy commented before she could get a word out. She pursed her lips to a side. "Well, I guess there's a working brain inside of that head of yours isn't there?" She teased him playfully. Percy nodded with a smile. "Sometimes."

Normally he'd be a little annoyed and perhaps offended by such a comment. Yeah Percy wasn't the top student in the class and it was a touchy subject for him and his mother, but the way she had said it, not in a condescending way more like, a good surprise and slight encouragement to keep using his brain for more than just street smarts. "Are you ever going to tell me your name?" Percy pressed on. She sighed and brushed through her hair a slight bit.

"You never know when to stop do you?"

"You're redirecting the conversion, for the like eighth time this night."

"Oh wow, you catch on fast."

"I probably have to. When I'm talking to you."

Her silver bell laughter rang through the air, making Percy feel all warm and basically melt despite the cold air around him.

"Prove it." She said out of the blue, a mischievous smile on her face like she was planning something that Percy was unsure if he'd enjoy.

"What?"

The blonde laughed again and began to gather her hair up and twisted a hairband around it to tie it up. "You wanna say you're fast? Prove it." Percy looked at her and the moment he processed what she was insinuating, his eyes lit up at the prospect of a race through a light maze.

With a grin, the girl sprinted away, which was not the first time she had done so in the night, leaving Percy in the dust for a second before starting off after her. Somehow, she was out of his line of vision, even in the heels her feet adorned. Twisting and turning, hitting dead ends and backing out of them Percy followed the fruity laughter that rang through, his own chuckles following. Her shoes didn't make much of a sound but they sure made an imprint, small holes were pressed into the ground and Percy followed them like a treasure map.

"Found you!" He cried when he spotted the golden hair flying around a corner. Bright breathless giggles flew through and Percy was able to corner the girl in a dead end.

She smiled brightly and tried to catch her breath. "How did a girl in high heels of all things lead you on a chase?" She said, after a minute of silent and deep breathing.

"Did I say I was fast on land. When did I say that?" Percy said, making a callback to a sentence she told him earlier in the night. She smiled and rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh shut it." She told him.

"That was fun though. Who knew a person could sprint in, what are those 3-inch heels?" He said. The blonde straightened up, clearly, it was a boost to her ego.

"It takes more training and devotion than most others have." She said with a proud smile.

Percy took a step forward. "For the record I caught you. I won. I should get a prize." The girl rolled her eyes.

"When did I say it was a competition? Did I say it was a race?" Percy barked a laugh. "You didn't have to say. I want to know your name. You owe it as my prize."

She looked to be slightly confused. "Huh, was not expecting that." She said under her breath, so softly Percy barely caught it. "Tsk tsk tsk. Percy." She prolonged his name. "Why can't you leave a mystery as an unknown adventure?" She said shaking her head like a mother that gave up and started just expecting the madness in her life.

"Hmm, too curious. It's no fun to leave it alone." Percy responded with a smirk.

"You know prying and meddling in affairs that aren't your own can became a dangerous habit indeed." The girl said, resting her head on her fist.

"You don't know me." Percy said mischievously.

"Au contraire." She said with a sneaky smile on her face.

Percy tilted his head to the side in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, earning a laugh from the girl. She coolly strode by him, beckoning him to follow without an obvious motion.

"I know you. I know you have been swimming since you were 4 years old. I know your father threw you into your backyard pool with nothing more than a floatie on and you began to swim within a second. I know you're normally put on as butterfly in medley relays but your best is backstroke. I know you have a scar on your lower back from the time you somehow slipped by the blocks and slammed against one of the new ones. You went to the hospital for that, stitches too. I know you." She spoke with a knowing voice and surprisingly, was spot on.

Percy's jaw drop. "How do you know that?" He gasped, unbelievingly.

She turned around, a ways in front of him as he stopped in his tracks and gave him a small smile. "You wanna know my name?" She asked in a soft voice. Percy nodded, his throat was too dry for words anyways. "I'll spell it out for you." She began to talk towards him slowly. One foot in front of another, one at a time.

"A-N-N-A-B-E-T-H." She recited slowly.

Percy's mind raced to put the letter's together and when he did, he stumbled back in shock. She took two more steps till they were up close, possibly only a foot apart. She smiled shyly at him, looking up high. Her eyes were shining, her hair had fallen out of the ponytail and was flowy around her in a messy yet somehow elegant way. Percy opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. In the same way she had captured his attention from the moment he saw her, she took all of his speaking capabilities.

"Percy Jackson. You know who I am."