"Percy Jackson!"

I almost jumped out of my seat when my name was called, but an excited noise next to me and a slapping on my arm assured me that, yes, my name had been called.

"Shit, what'd I miss?" I asked my close friend Piper next to me.

She rolled her eyes. "You got the lead Percy."

My eyes widened. "You said you signed me up for a background character!" I said, my voice raising slightly. A couple people turned in their seats to look at us, but my annoyed glare turned them away.

"I lied," my friend shrugged, and then blew and popped a bubble of gum. "Why would they ask you to sing for your audition if you were going to a background character?"

I slumped in my seat in the auditorium, where the auditions for the musical were held yesterday. Today, they were actually announcing.

I, for one, hadn't expected to get chosen. I had only signed up because all my friends were in theater and I had to show some kind of effort to my teachers for extracurriculars.

"Pipes, I know nothing about theater!" I said, frustrated. She rolled her eyes, even though it was true. "That's why I made you sign up for me!"

"Hey, don't blame me!" Piper defended under her breath. Mr. Brunner, who was in charge of the musical this year, was still calling out the names for the boys. The girls had been announced earlier, and Piper had been announced as one of the supporting characters of the lead, which she was happy about. "I only signed you up for the lead because I thought you wouldn't try," she explained, and I scoffed. She grinned. "Go big or go home, right? Besides, if you weren't good at it, you wouldn't have gotten it!" Piper pointed out. I ran a hand through my hair. "Jason and Frank said you did well! Besides, this can get you that community participation thing you need."

I scowled. I didn't have any counter arguments (Piper was very persuasive), but the thought of committing to the show and having everyone rely on me was terrifying. I had never acted or sung as a performer in my life. Why would I start now?

"I'm just going to have to tell them I can't do it," I decided.

Piper opened her mouth to protest, but then our friend Leo popped his head up out of nowhere with a huge grin. "Dude, I can't believe you're the lead! You must have good pipes!" He winked. I only rolled my eyes.

"If that's a pun on my name, I suggest you stick to building sets," Piper said dryly. Leo was working on the musical as stage crew and background, since he was surprisingly good with building. I thought he could be a good actor, if his ADHD wasn't annoying everyone all the goddamn time.

"I'm surprised you're not the lead," Leo changed the subject, looking at Piper. "Miss 'my father is Tristan McLean'."

Piper smacked Leo's arm. "Keep it down!" she hissed. A lot of people had already recognized her as the daughter of Tristan McLean, famous movie star, but Piper preferred to stay under the radar. Why this included trying out for the school musical, I don't know. I guess her love for theater was inherited from her father.

"Wait…" Leo paused, ignoring Piper. He looked to me, and I glared back at him. I was still contemplating what the hell I was gonna do about being the lead. Secretly, I really liked singing and acting and performing came naturally to me (at least with friends), but I was scared. What was it worth if I could somehow mess it all up anyway?

"You know who the female lead is, right?" Leo said, a grin stretching onto his face.

I shook my head. "It's not Drew Tanaka, is it?" I complained.

"She's too busy cheerleading to have time for rehearsals," Piper snorted. "No, you definitely know her…" My friend started to sound slightly uncomfortable, and I narrowed my eyes.

Leo was still grinning like a madman. "It's Annabeth Chase!" He said excitedly.

My eyes widened. "Shit," I muttered, and Piper laughed.

"No kidding," she said. "It's like it was meant to be!" She exclaimed teasingly.

"Oh, yeah, you have a thing for Annabeth," Leo wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

I scowled and Piper cackled. "More like head over heels in love with her!" She swooned.

"I'm not in love with her!" I protested, my ears already feeling hot at the mention of friend of Piper's, who, yeah, maybe I found attractive and smart and nice, but we were in totally different levels of school. I scowled again. "I didn't know she would be working on the play with us."

"Musical," Piper corrected.

"Whatever."

"You thought they wouldn't pick the star from the musical last year?" Leo scoffed. "She's pretty and smart, and can sing and act!" I agreed, but I still scowled.

Leo asked dramatically, "What can't Annabeth Chase do?"

"Someone say my name?"

"Speak of the devil," Leo muttered with an evil grin in my direction, and I punched him as Annabeth, in all her theater nerd glory, walked up to us.

Of course Annabeth had overheard. Of fucking course. I cursed in my head and shut my mouth awkwardly and prayed Leo wouldn't be a total asshole and tell Annabeth what we were talking about.

"Hey, Beth," Leo greeted, to which Annabeth rolled her eyes at him. She hitched her bag higher on her shoulder.

I found myself admiring her for a minute. Her hair was pulled back in a low bun that was already falling apart, but that was okay. I liked her messy curly blonde hair and bright grey eyes that matched her soft cardigan. I also liked how she was constantly humming under her breath and thought she wasn't a good singer even though she had been the lead last year and it had been one of the best musicals our high school had ever performed.

I blinked and avoided my gaze. Luckily, she hadn't caught me staring.

And even more luckily, no one was able to hear my thoughts.

"They just finished announcing everyone's parts," Annabeth was saying as she ignored Leo and turned to Piper. "I'm thinking the cast is gonna be pretty good this year, hopefully."

"Oh, I know it will be!" Leo winked and glanced at me, and I restrained myself from tackling him to the ground just to get him to shut up.

"Why were you talking about me?" Annabeth narrowed her eyes at Leo.

"We were just talking about how Percy's new this year and was already assigned the lead with you!" Piper broken in hurriedly. She and Annabeth were pretty close friends. I suppose they bonded over the fact that they were both pretty but preferred to not sleep around like some people in our school.

Annabeth's gaze traveled to me, and I hoped my face wasn't as red as it felt like. She smiled a small smile. "I'm sure you'll be great," my crush said. I swallowed.

"If you need help, I can always run over lines with you," Annabeth offered. I just stared at her blankly, and luckily she continued. "I'm sure we'll be spending a lot of time together now," she smiled again.

I grinned back, not able to help myself. "Right."

"Okay, well, see you guys later! First practice tomorrow!" With another small smile, Annabeth gave a little wave and headed to the auditorium doors.

I slumped in my chair, and as soon as she was out of earshot, Piper and Leo began cackling like crazy.

"I'm not in love with her," Piper mimicked me in a high pitched voice.

Leo wiped fake tears from his eyes and smirked at me. "You're screwed," he noted. "This is like a cliche fanfiction, dude," he realized. "Getting picked as the lead with your crush?" He shook his head.

Piper beamed. "When you guys have your onstage kiss, you're gonna realize how you should get together."

I sputtered. "Kiss?! What kiss?"

Piper sighed. "It's a love story, Perce!"

I continued to make incoherent noises.

"At least you won't have to act very hard that you're in love with her," Leo teased, and I shot him a dirty look.

I scowled and then shut my eyes, letting out a groan as I put my head in my hands. "How am I supposed to be the lead in the school musical with Annabeth Chase?" I questioned.

"Annabeth likes you too," Piper assured. "Well, maybe not now… But she can definitely grow to!" She said. "Just be yourself."

"That's what everyone says," I complained.

"If it's any consolation, Annabeth likes practice," Piper said with a sly smile. "She makes sure every movement, every line, every action is perfect and reviewed before you go on stage. You'll spend a lot of time with her."

I sighed, knowing that was both a good and bad thing.

"And who knows," Leo said. "If you're a good enough kisser, maybe you can do that part just for fun!"

"Leo!"

Prompt: "I auditioned for the musical and ended up playing one of the leads with my crush."

AHH, sorry for the long wait! It's been, what, a month and a half? I like this story, so it's definitely not abandoned (after only 2 chapters lol), but the updating schedule will be ... off. Thank you for all the suggestions! I'm gonna start working on your requests, so be sure to review what situation you'd like to see Percy and Annabeth in! ;)