It took several moments for his words to sink in.

Percy Jackson—attractive, heartthrob, famous Youtuber—had just asked her—Annabeth Chase, the most awkward, grumpy, bitchy person she knew—to be his girlfriend.

On Valentine's Day.

When the words finally struck, she stared at him incredulously. "Really? I'm being threatened with pepper spray and the wrath of your fanbase, and your perfect solution is to become my boyfriend?"

She set her hanger down and began walking away. "I'm going home. I don't care if I walk in on adult naptime, I'm going home and barricading myself in my room for the rest of my life."

Percy dodged in front of her. "Here me out," he said. When she didn't stop, he started walking backward. "We'll be boyfriend and girlfriend—"

"I'd rather go into exile—"

"We'll be sweet couple for the camera, do cute stuff for the fans, have a fun Valentine's Day together—"

"I'm seriously about to puke—"

"But we'll only be pretending."

This brought Annabeth to a halt. "What?"

Percy smiled with a corner of his mouth. "We won't actually be dating. We'll just fake it for the cameras."

She opened and closed her mouth like a fish. "But...but...how the heck does that help us?"

"I've been on Youtube for years," he said. "I know how to play to the crowd. If you want them to forget something—say, a crazy blonde shouting at a celebrity—then you give them something juicier."

She turned it over in her mind. The concept did make sense.

"And," he continued, "if you want fans to stop obsessing over your love life—whether it's shipping me with other celebrities, or trying to make a move on me—then you give them something else to obsess over. A new girlfriend. A new relationship to gossip about."

Annabeth furrowed her brow. She picked up the hanger and began tapping it against her thigh. "If we do this," she said slowly, "and I'm not agreeing to anything yet, but if we do...people will leave me alone? They won't ruin my life with hate mail and pepper spray?"

Percy leaned back against the wall. "Yeah," he said. "We'll pretend the first video was a set-up. You know, a crazy hook to introduce my girlfriend.

"I mean, sure," he continued. "People will remember you and recognize your face. But they'll see you as the pretty girlfriend who pulled a prank in Percy Jackson's video, not as a...well, a bitch. No offense."

"None taken." She sighed. "I've never had the best temper. Or people skills." She fiddled with her tank top, noticing the coffee stain down the side. "How long would we pretend?"

"Just for Valentine's Day, " Percy said. "Tomorrow, we'll release a video that says we're breaking up. We'll cry, say our goodbyes, and be on our way."

"Just Valentine's Day," she repeated.

Was she really considering this? Being filmed in front of millions? Pretending to be a celebrity's girlfriend in front of millions? What would Luke think?

Luke. Her childhood friend, her high school crush, whom she couldn't let go of no matter how hard she tried.

Luke wasn't even in the picture. She had lost her opportunity when he started dating Thalia over two years ago. And now matter how annoyed Annabeth was with her roommate, she would never try to steal him from her.

It didn't matter. He didn't matter.

Annabeth stopped fiddling with her shirt. She straightened and looked Percy in the eye. "Okay...bae. What's our game plan?"

His eyes widened. "We're doing this?"

She shrugged. "Why not? I have nothing to lose and the rest of the day to regret it."

A slow smile spread over Percy's face. "Well—bae—I think our first move is to come up with more original nicknames." He held out his hand. "You ready, honeypie?"

She shook his hand. "As long as you don't call me that, then yes. I'm ready."

Their first decision as a couple was getting coffee from the Target Starbuck. Well, one of them decided to get coffee. The other complained the entire way about the horrible drink and started an argument about refined taste buds.

It was a good thing they weren't actually dating. If they were, Annabeth would have dumped him the second he called it 'god awful bean juice.'

Percy ordered the drinks, then joined her, sliding her drink across the table. "One almond milk vanilla latte, no whipped cream, no foam, and three added shots," he said, then shook his head disbelievingly. "I can't believe I'm dating a woman who drinks lattes with no whipped cream. That's the only redeeming part!"

"Fake dating," Annabeth corrected. "And just because I'm more sophisticated than your kidde milk—"

"It's called a steamer. And it happens to go perfectly with their chocolate chip cookies." As if to prove his statement, he dunked his cookie in the milk and took a large bite, spraying crumbs as he said, "See?"

"Fascinating," Annabeth said drily. "Do you have a weird obsession with cookies or something?" She gestured to his chocolate chip cookie pajamas.

"You're one to talk, given your snickerdoodle pajamas. Trust me, chocolate chip cookies are so much better. My mom makes them homemade…" A blissful look crossed his face. "Oh, man. They're so good."

"You're drooling." Annabeth took a sip of her latte and brushed the crumbs off the valentine card. Percy had insisted on buying it as a 'first couple gift', which meant she still had three dollars in her pocket. "I need a pencil," she said.

"A what?"

"A pencil. Some people might refer to it as wood covered graphite, or a writing utensil, or simply, you know...a pencil."

"Shockingly, I'm aware of what a pencil is." From his pocket, he withdrew a pen. "Does this work?"

She nodded and held out her hand. When he hesitated, she wiggled her fingers. "Any day now, Jackson."

"You have to be careful with it," he said.

She stared at him, then at the cheap, ballpoint pen that probably cost a nickel. "Jackson, it's a pen."

He reluctantly handed it over. "Just be gentle," he said. "Riptide and I have been through a lot together." He watched as she uncapped it and began writing on the card. "What are you doing?"

"Besides wondering why you named your ballpoint pen Riptide? I'm writing a contract."

"A contract? For what?"

"For us."

"For us?"

Annabeth tapped the pen against the table. "We need to make terms. Agreements. And consequences if one of us—" she gave him a pointed look— "breaks them."

Percy stared at her. Several cookie crumbs littered his white shirt. "You're serious?"

"Of course. How else can we be sure that we'll keep our ends of the bargain?"

"Oh, don't know. How about—here's a radical idea—trust?"

"We barely know each other," Annabeth pointed out. "A contract is failsafe. So, first rule: don't tell anybody we're faking our relationship."

"Wow," Percy said. "Without this contract, I never would have thought of that." He picked up her latte and examined it. "How do you like this stuff?"

"Second rule," she continued, ignoring his question. "We can go anywhere in New York City except our apartments. Neither of us want to walk in on people making love."

Percy cautiously sniffed her drink. "I gotta tell you Anna, most people call it sex." He wagged his finger at her. "And you say I'm the childish one."

"Third rule: no calling me Anna. Or Annie or Beth or blondie. It's Annabeth."

"You take the fun out of everything." He took a tiny sip of her latte.

"Fourth rule: there will be no kissing."

Percy spat out the latte. Coffee splattered across the table. "What?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes and shoved the napkin container toward him. "You're disgusting."

"And you're crazy," he said. "How are we going to convince people we're dating if we can't kiss each other?"

"This was your idea," Annabeth said. "Think of something." An image of Luke popped up in her head, unbidden, and her heart began thumping a little faster. "But I can't kiss you."

He narrowed his eyes. "I thought you said you didn't have a boyfriend."

"I don't. But I'm still not going to kiss you. It just...won't work."

He frowned. "You're not lesbian, are you? Or Aro? Or...wait." Understanding dawned in his eyes. "There's someone else you want to be kissing."

"No."

"There totally is! Look, your face is getting all red!"

Annabeth tried to look at her face, realized the complications of doing such a thing, and then flushed even harder. In an attempt to regain some dignity, she snatched her latte back. "It's not like that. He's...he's not even an option. I just don't want him—"

"—to see you kissing me," Percy finished. He leaned back, a calculating look in his eyes. "You know, there is a subtle art to persuasion. Who knows? Maybe if he saw us kissing it would stir up buried feelings."

She buried her face in her hands. "Please stop talking. He probably won't even see the video—he'll be too busy with my roommate—but I just...I just need it to be casual."

"A casual relationship, huh? There's a term for that called—"

"Don't finish that sentence," she warned him.

Percy laced his hands behind his head and grinned. "All right, Annabeth. No kissing. Do I get to make any rules?"

"No."

"That not fair," he pointed out. "That's a dictatorship."

Annabeth smiled smugly. "Yes. Yes, it is. But since I have the paper and pen—"

Before she could stop him, Percy plucked the pen from her hand and slid the card to his side of the table. "Hey!" she protested.

"Rule number five," he said, scribbling on the card. "You can't call me Jackson. I'm pretty sure my fans will notice something's off if you only refer to me with a snide surname."

"It's not snide. I'm just saying your name!"

"You mentioned consequences, right?" he continued. "All right. If either of us violates the contract, then…" He tapped the pen against the table. "Hmm…" His eyes lit up. "Got it." He scribbled something down and then slid the card back to her.

She squinted at his sloppy handwriting. "If the contract is violated, then the accused must…" She looked up at him. "Seriously? Dunk their head in ice water?"

"So judgemental," Percy said. He reached over and scrawled his name at the bottom of the card. "Done," he said, and offered the pen to her. "All yours, love."

Annabeth paused. She was really doing this. She was signing a contract to have a fake boyfriend for the day. But what about—

No. Luke didn't matter. She had to stop pretending she had a chance with him.

It was one day. Less, actually. Seventeen hours. Seventeen hours to convince the world she was in love with Percy Jackson.

"Annabeth?" Percy dangled the pen from his fingertips. "See, the main purpose of a pen is to write with it. Or haven't you heard?" His sea green eyes glinted with mirth.

Annabeth paused for only a moment longer before taking the pen. "Okay," she said. She signed her name next to Percy's. "Okay," she said again, and handed the pen back to him. "Okay," she exhaled. "I have a fake boyfriend. I have a freaking fake boyfriend."

Percy smiled. "Don't worry, honeycookie. You'll get over the shock."

"If you call me honeycookie again, I will break your heart into a million pieces."

Percy cursed. "Damn it. I'll keep trying." He picked up his steamer, stood up, and offered his hand. "Shall we?"

She hesitated, then cautiously took it. "Target really has a way of bringing people together, doesn't it?" he said casually, pulling her up easily.

Annabeth shook her head. "Sure, Percy," she said. "Whatever you want to say."

With a safe gap between their bodies, they left Target hand in hand.