I made sure to get to the coffee shop early so Annabeth wouldn't have to wait. She seemed like a person who'd appreciate that. It involved waking up at five-thirty in the morning, but it was well worth it to leave a good impression on Annabeth.

Back at the party, I noticed something about myself. When I thought things over, I got nervous and screwed things up. But when I got into the 'screw it' mentality and went with my instincts, everything worked out fine. It was like that in football, too-when I spent hours in the film room and on the sideline studying plays, I choked during the game. But when I spent no more than fifteen minutes running through a few videos and plays, I threw for six touchdowns and crushed the other team more or less single-handedly.

If only Annabeth was as easy to decode as a football game. I wasn't even sure why I was so attracted to her-sure, she was beautiful but I'd dated plenty of beautiful girls before. Maybe it was that she looked smart and down-to-earth. It wasn't just the glasses; the way she carefully formed her words gave me the impression she was sophisticated. Opposites attract, right?

I looked down the street, and sure enough Annabeth was walking towards the café with a book in her hand and a purse slung over her shoulder. She looked just as beautiful as she did yesterday even though she was wearing nothing more than a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt.

"Annabeth!" I called, waving. Her eyes went wild for a second before she regained her composure. She smiled back at me and jogged to meet me.

"Hey, Percy. Have you been waiting long?" she asked me.

I waved my hand. "Nah, just a couple minutes. Wanna come on inside?"

"Sure," she said, shrugging.

We joined the seemingly endless line to the most popular Starbucks on the street. After what felt like forever but was probably more like thirty minutes, Annabeth and I reached the front of the line.

"I'll take a vanilla latte," I told the cashier. "Grande." He scribbled my order on a cup before turning to Annabeth.

"Cappuccino, tall," she said, reaching into her purse for her wallet. I was a step ahead of her, though. I dropped a twenty on the counter before Annabeth even looked up.

When the cashier handed me our receipt, Annabeth stared at me, holding her wallet. "Did you just pay for me?"

"Yeah," I said, sitting down at a booth. Annabeth sat across from me.

"Let me pay you back," she insisted, fishing a few dollar bills out of her wallet. I gently grabbed her wrist to stop her, but she took the money out anyways.

"It's on me, Annabeth. Don't worry about it," I assured her.

She rolled her eyes. "You've gotta be crazy if you think I'll let you pay," she said, tossing five bucks on the table.

I looked at it, debating whether to hand it back or just take it. "Do you go to college here?" I asked.

Annabeth looked surprised, but she straightened her glasses and answered. "Yeah, I'm getting a degree in business."

I pushed the money back across the table. "Save your money, then," I told her. "I'm already in the show biz." That wasn't a lie. Football was technically part of the entertainment industry.

"How old are you? You don't look older than twenty-three," Annabeth said, taking the money back. She seemed resigned to the fact that I wouldn't accept any money.

"Twenty-one. What about you?"

"I'm twenty. First-term junior at Manhattan. Why aren't you in school? Everyone goes to college nowadays," Annabeth remarked.

"I'm not a school person," I told her, as the waitress set our drinks on the table. "I barely survived high school." I slid Annabeth's towards her and took a sip of mine.

Annabeth laughed. "I'm a major school person. I love to read."

"Didn't you say you liked watching football?" I asked her, feeling stupid. Did I forget something?

She took a sip of coffee and nodded. "I got into it as a way to spend time with my dad. We watched mostly college football since I like Percy Jackson." Was this a crazy coincidence or what? I nearly laughed but remembered I couldn't let anyone know.

But what if this 'thing' I had for Annabeth grew into something more serious? How long could I lie to her face like this?

"He's pretty good," I acknowledged. "I started watching his games once I discovered he had the same name as me."

Annabeth laughed. "Not because he was the top-rated player in all of college football in passing yardage, quarterback rating, and completion percentage?" Was I really? I didn't keep track of my stats much. I didn't even know what quarterback rating was. Beautiful and smart.

Most importantly, I was liking Annabeth more and more. She was easy to talk to, first off. Her laugh was really nice also. It reminded me of a rose; it was sweet but had a dangerous edge to it.

"Well, that too," I replied. "I can't believe he's playing in New York this year."

Annabeth's beautiful grey eyes lit up. "I know, right? I wish I had season tickets." I wanted so badly to tell her who I was, since I could get her season tickets easily. Heck, the team gave me four front-row seats for all of our home games for family and friends.

She looked at her watch. "Shoot," she said. "I need to get to class."

"Nice talking to you, Annabeth," I told her, standing up. "Before you go, do you mind entering your number on my phone?" I asked, holding out my phone.

Annabeth nodded and took my phone. She handed it back a few seconds later and gave me her phone, and I did the same.

"See you soon, Percy," Annabeth said, disappearing through the doors.

I processed what she just said. Did that mean she wanted me to ask her out again?

I grinned. Maybe there was more to life than football and parties.

I spent the day in my apartment, relaxing. It wasn't a big apartment, but seeing as I lived alone I didn't need one.

Since I was bored and the team wasn't flying down to Atlanta to play the Falcons until tomorrow, I went through a bunch of scouting reports on myself for fun. I was projected to be a top-five quarterback this year even though I was a rookie. Connor and Travis, who were drafted after me, were in the top-ten list of rookie wide receivers, which would help me find targets a lot.

Even though the Rebels finished 1-15 last year, good for worst in the league, many people thought we could make the playoffs this year. I, for sure, did. We had a great group of guys on the team, one of the best coaches in the league, and a fan base that hadn't been more excited in years.

I was the reason for that, but I tried not to let it get to my head. All I could do was put my head down, work hard, grind out wins, and hope for the best.

Chiron probably wouldn't approve of me getting a girlfriend, since he was already fed up with me and my mediocre work ethic. I'm just lazy, okay? But if things between Annabeth and I escalated, it was my relationship, not Chiron's. He couldn't stop me. After all, wasn't love the most powerful force on Earth?

Question of the Chapter: What do you think of Annabeth with glasses? Love it? Hate it?

I personally love it. It's so her.

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