A/N: Thought I'd flip POVs this chapter and see how it goes. I think it'll be fun going back and forth between them every so often instead of just one Annabeth one Percy. Let me know what you guys think and maybe even any other POVs you'd like to see. Hope you enjoy and review :)

Chapter 2: You Again?

"Can I have two tickets for the whale–uh, whale and dolphin show? One for me and one for my dad," a boy asked shyly, his eyes barely coming up past the admissions kiosk.

Standing on the other side of the wide counter, Percy grinned warmly at the kid now playing with the hem of his graphic t-shirt. The sunglasses-wearing shark printed across it stretched under his bashful fidgeting, and the words underneath the image distorted; you're jaw-some.

A few feet behind the kid, his dad stood arms crossed and held an encouraging smile. Percy tore off two tickets from under his desk, one child and one adult, as he replied to the boy looking up at him.

"Yes, sir. Two adult tickets, right young man?"

"Um–no. I'm six. I get a kid one," the boy replied with an anxious glance back at his father, who just nodded reassuringly before smirking at Percy.

"Really? Six? And you're already smart enough to know that sharks are the best?!" Percy gestured excitedly at his shirt.

The boy's eyes lit up as he nodded, his wide grin displaying two missing incisors. His father walked up behind the boy as Percy marveled him with shark facts, specifically how his fallen baby teeth would grow back bigger and sharper.

"Did you hear that, dad? I'm like a shark!" the boy relayed excitedly.

"I guess you are, bud," his father replied, chuckling as he reached for his wallet.

"There you go; two tickets for the Whale Watch and Dolphin Cruise package," Percy started, "That'll be $108.68."

He made sure to hand the tickets to his new shark-loving friend before grabbing the pair of bills from the boy's father.

"Thank you for that," the man said, "Keep the change," as he handed Percy a $100 and a $20.

"Wow, thank you. Hope you guys have a great time, especially you buddy. The shark exhibit is down that tunnel, then to the right," he said, and the boy waved before eagerly pulling his dad in the pointed direction.

The duo slipped into the thin crowd and Percy shifted his attention from his now-empty ticket window. It was the slowest time of the week, school hours on a Wednesday, so he was the only one working admissions. The other four kiosks, two on either side of him, stood void of both employees and entrants.

That kid should also have been at school, but Percy figured it must've been his birthday or something and his surprise was a trip to the aquarium. Percy slipped the $100 into the register before calculating his share of change from the $20.

"$13, $12, $11. No– $11.50," he thought out loud.

"It's $11.32," an amused voice said.

Percy looked up to find his manager leaned against the back entrance of the broad wing of ticket booths. She smirked at him, and the freckles across her cheekbones shifted to dotted smiles under her eyes. Feigning irritation, Percy rolled his eyes as he counted out a quarter and some looser change.

"No one wants to see a show-off, Red, especially when the other person has dyslexia," he complained.

Percy thought his nickname for Rachel was clever since it included her initials along with the color of her long, curly hair. Rachel first made sure to remind Percy that her twelve year old cousin had come up with the same thing, equating his brilliance to that of a middle schooler, before she continued.

"...and that'd be dyscalculia; it's completely different for numbers, Perce. You won't get out of being a little slow doing math. But anyways, that little interaction was really sweet. You're pretty good with kids," she softened after getting her jabs in.

Percy just smiled and shrugged.

"We're at an aquarium," he said, settling into a spinning office chair in the open employee area, "and kids are kinda the only ones as excited as I am about all of the cool stuff in here."

"It's cute how passionate you are about this place," she started, finding her own rolling chair and pulling herself in front of him, "which is why I've got something for you."

Rachel reached forward, clutching the collar of Percy's polo before dragging him close enough that their noses were almost touching. Percy's first thought was that she smelled sweet like strawberries, and he felt his face heat up as he looked away. A moment later, he heard an almost silent clip before Rachel lightly pushed, rolling him and his chair back. She cleared her throat quickly and Percy didn't notice the tint of her cheeks.

He instead looked down to find a new tag attached to his uniform's blue polo. The rectangular clip-on read "Assistant Manager," latched on his chest directly underneath the embroidered name of his employer; Aquarium of the Pacific.

"You're giving me a promotion?" he asked.

"I am," she affirmed, "Dad told me he's looking to sell the rights to the building because the aquarium isn't 'turning enough of a profit.'"

Rachel sneered through the last phrase and Percy understood the sentiment. He had heard about billionaire William Dare from periodic news segments and the cover of Forbes long before he'd learned that the man's daughter was his boss. Then directly from Rachel, he'd learned much more about the real estate and just-about-everything-else mogul and how callous his approach to business was.

"He'll probably try and sell it to some guy who'll turn the place into a huge parking lot," Rachel started again, "and I really think that we can do something to save it."

Percy half scoffed at the idea, though a spark in him itched to believe her.

"Now that I'm an all-powerful assistant manager, we finally have enough to take on the entire Dare Dynasty," he said, puffing out his chest.

Rachel rolled her eyes.

"I'm serious. I wasn't kidding about admiring your passion for this place and all of the marine life that we keep safe. And don't think for a second that I forgot about your dream," she replied.

Considering who her father was, a man known for his ruthlessness, Percy had no idea how Rachel had turned out so unlike him, so caring. He had told her about his dream once ever, and it was while they had both been drinking and bar-hopping in downtown LA. He couldn't believe she still remembered their conversation; he barely did.

"Fine, you're right. I'd never give up on this place anyways, and a parking lot is beyond out of the question. Now that we're going to cripple your dad's empire," Percy paused to further dramatize the moment, "you couldn't at least make me a real manager?"

Rachel smirked again before shaking her head.

"Mmm, not yet. Managers can do the math to get exact change in their heads," she jeered.

It was Percy's turn to roll his eyes as he raised his hands in surrender. Now that his promotion was settled, Percy spun aimlessly in his office chair. A comfortable silence lay between them for a while until he jumped to attention. A new entrant had made themselves known at the window, and Percy made sure to greet them with a cheery smile.

He slid them their ticket and card receipt, internally grateful that he wouldn't have to embarrass himself guessing change again. Turning back towards Rachel, he noticed her straighten her head and quickly clear her throat again.

"Anyways, enough about aquarium business," Rachel said, "How are your 'fake classes' this week?"

Percy chuckled; he loved calling them that.

"They're pretty good. Obviously, they're all those free elective types again. Today, I went to an Intro to Bird Watching class," he said.

"Ooh, see any pretty birds around?" she teased.

Percy unwittingly blushed for a moment before donning a pompous grin. He knew Rachel meant women, and he didn't want to give away that, for some reason, all he saw in his head was a pair of stormy grey eyes when Rachel said 'pretty.'

"Nah, I wasn't looking for any. I bet they saw me, though," he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Rachel groaned as she rolled her eyes, which she seemed to do often because of him.

"I was almost late to work today, though. I got caught with Grover for too long outside the business school, and had to fly across campus on my skateboard to get to my car on time," he added, shedding the faux-playboy demeanor.

"I don't understand why you do it, Perce," Rachel said, laughing, "What's there to gain from only pretending to go to USC?"

Percy grinned as he shrugged at her question.

"Not sure yet, but I've got a really weird feeling that it's going to pay off in a big way."

Percy confused himself again when the same striking eyes flashed briefly through the forefront of his mind.

(Line Break)

Percy threw his keys onto the near countertop as he softly kicked the door close behind him. The auto-lock clicked into place as he held his phone up to his ear, listening to the voicemail his mom had left him.

"Hi, honey!" her cheerful voice rang out, "Just landed back in New York after the last stop of the book tour, and I thought I'd give you a quick call. I know you're at work and won't hear this 'till your shift is over, but I miss you. So proud of you for juggling your passion with school, but I hope your grades aren't slipping! Oh, we're disembarking. Gotta go honey! Love you, talk soon!"

Percy felt a pang of guilt as his mother's voice faded, and he sprawled across his thrifted couch. What would she think about him using his "tuition money" to rent a studio apartment near downtown LA? He wasn't exactly sure, but he knew the answer wasn't anything to look forward to, assuming she'd eventually find out.

The studio's overhead light didn't do much to defend the room against the encroaching night that seeped in through the windows. Normally, Percy would turn the light off and go to sleep, but he felt an inkling to reflect on exactly what he was getting done. And for someone that didn't enjoy thinking too much, that didn't bode well.

Percy groaned into the armrest of his barely comfortable sofa before he shifted his body and his eyes traveled between the posters encompassing the one-room living space. A handful of the posters were from the aquarium; Rachel had let him siphon the colorful ocean imagery from the gift shop. Those decorated the edges of the homely studio. Above his TV, mounted opposite the couch and immediately next to his bed, was a wide display of the long stretch of Dornsife buildings. Behind him was another of USC's colleges; the Marshall School of Business.

He hadn't chosen any of the posters with any rhyme or reason besides "a feeling." The same feeling that had hauled him across the country under the guise of attending USC. It had driven him to believe that his dream was here in this city, too. Or a part of it was, at least. That feeling was what kept him going back to the college for whatever reason it felt right, and Percy had to believe that that feeling was guiding him towards his goal.

His dream was a closely guarded secret for him. He knew it would sound silly to most people when declared aloud, but it didn't to him and that was good enough. And it didn't to Rachel, either, even if he hadn't meant to speak it out loud. He decided that was enough thinking for today.

Percy sighed as he stripped to his boxers and climbed into bed. As Percy drifted to sleep, he wondered when Opportunity would present herself and whether or not he'd see her coming in time. He hoped he would.

(Line Break)

Monday was Percy's favorite day because that meant a new weekly batch of 'fake classes,' which, in his head, renewed the chance to stumble upon some kind of opportunity. With that silent hope visible in his step, Percy strode down the sidewalk waiting for an unassuming building to catch his eye.

But first, he sidestepped a gaggle of pledges in their "rushing" attire, all navy suits with white shirts and red ties, and he could feel embarrassment rolling off of a few of them while the most stereotypical "frat bro" Percy had ever seen finished berating them.

"Yes, sir," they heaved in unison to their 'pledge master,' as the frat boy's role was fittingly anointed.

Percy choked on their collective stench of alcohol, and he knew that these poor pledges had had a brutal weekend rushing whatever fraternity chapter they hoped to join. He shared a pitiful glance with one of them before he shook his head and turned the corner at the end of the street.

This sidewalk was empty of hungover freshmen heat-baking in suits, so Percy dropped his skateboard from under his arm. He glided along as the late morning sun enveloped campus in its shine. On some of the buildings, it did too good of a job and Percy had to shield his eyes from a beam reflected through a high window. He rolled to a stop, waiting for the spots to finish dancing in his eyes.

Once his vision cleared, Percy realized he'd never been in the building in front of him before.

Might as well, he thought to himself.

He tucked his skateboard back into his hand and climbed the sleek steps leading up to the modern building. As he pushed through the front doors, he decided he wasn't a big fan of the design; too many of the walls were almost entirely windows, separated only by a horizontal bar through the middle.

It's all one window pane; why decorate it to make it look like two? he asked internally, before brushing off the idea as he walked deeper into the building.

Percy stepped out into what seemed like a massive pavilion, except indoors, and he was shocked at the number of students crammed into the huge space. Percy slithered between them as his eyes darted from doorway to bottlenecked doorway. Nearly all of the openings led to huge lecture halls, seating probably two hundred students each, so they were off of his list; there was no fun in blending in completely.

Percy exited the square pavilion, figuring that that's where the big introductory classes were housed for whatever major building he had entered. He eventually found himself in a quieter, thinner hallway where he didn't feel packed like a sardine. There was only one doorway in this hall, and Percy felt a pull towards it, almost a magnetic feeling. Immediately following, he noticed that nobody was entering or exiting the open room even though it was a transition time between classes.

Before he could step towards it, a hand grasped his shoulder. Percy turned around too quickly, startled out of whatever strange sensation he had felt.

"Yo! Easy!" a voice exclaimed, laughing and drawing a couple passing looks.

Percy relaxed immediately, registering the close-cropped blond hair and familiar voice.

"Oh, sorry Jason," Percy said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Man, you spun like I was holding a knife to you," Jason laughed, "Anyways, what's up, Perce? What are you doing in the architecture building?"

All of the building's qualities clicked into place for Percy: the functional design, the strangely flowing stairs, floor-to-ceiling windows, and "absolutely no character." He knew next to nothing about architecture, but he did know those things from his mom's complaints about the modern house her realtor had pitched to her.

"Building my 'fake schedule' for this week," Percy answered, "Guess I'm trying my hand at architecture. What about you? I didn't think this was your major."

Jason smirked.

"I hate architecture," he acknowledged, "I just have a history class downstairs in this building."

"History? In the architecture building?"

"I know right? But it's a class on the Roman empire, and they did contribute a lot to architecture, so I guess it makes sense."

"I guess, yeah. Still kinda weird."

Jason shrugged in reply.

"Anyways, have you chosen a class to pretend to be a part of?" he asked.

Percy thought it was hilarious how quickly all of the friends he had met at USC had matter-of-factly accepted his situation as if it were normal.

"That one," Percy said, pointing to the open room that still nobody had entered or exited.

"An honors-select class?" Jason asked, surprised, "Those have like twenty five kids enrolled in them, so the professor will definitely know you're not a part of the class."

Percy heard his warning and just as quickly disregarded it. He had a good feeling.

"Makes it more fun," he replied impishly.

Jason had no choice but to agree.

"I guess it does. Alright, I gotta get to class but let's get a late lunch today. Good luck and don't get caught."

Percy nodded and fist bumped him before the pair went their separate ways. As he approached the classroom door, he glanced at the paper taped to it.

A design class? Easy, I've been drawing buildings since I was like seven.

Of course, Percy meant buildings in pen and colored pencils as the backdrop for Godzilla attack doodles on the back of school worksheets. But he didn't need to worry about the work itself just yet. He entered the room and, surely enough, there were just about 25 students and only a handful of open desks left. There was still 10 minutes left between transition periods, and Percy was amazed to see basically the entire class already here.

Man, these honors nerds don't waste any time, he thought to himself as he walked across the row of seat-desks at the front of the room.

Naturally, he gravitated towards the empty one in the back right corner of the room, and walking across the front desks was the quickest way to get there. Percy felt multiple pairs of eyes on him, surely from them not recognizing him as ever being in the class before, and he quickened his pace

In his discomfort, he maneuvered around the last desk in the row too quickly, and the edge of his skateboard met the side of a water bottle. The metal cylinder launched off of the desk, hitting the ground with a clang, and brought its owner's nose out of the book it was buried in.

Percy immediately opened his mouth to apologize as he looked down, only to be stunned. In the chair, Annabeth mirrored his gaping expression after already ready to load her instinctual irritated expression. Instead, neither said or did what they planned to say or do.

"You again?" they pointed in unison.

A/N: Man I wonder what Percy's dream is. And what a funny little coincidence that he ended up in Annabeth's Design class. But I don't think Percy accounted for the difficulty of even pretending to be in it; he might just get screwed next chapter on day 1. We'll just have to wait and see I guess. Hope you liked it and leave a review!

Rosie: You should continue this one. I love these cute love percabeth stories set in mortal au.

I've only read one before and thought it was so wholesome that I had to try it out myself. I think I'll stick to it and see how it goes :)

Carcoin1: Hey There! I just started and finished your Divergent story the last few days. I absolutely loved it! I love this idea so far and I hope you decide to stick with it! Already love the two characters and how you are already playing to their strengths. Can't wait to see how you write the other characters. Good luck with your stories! No matter which one you decide to write you can guarantee that I'll be along for the ride!

I'm so glad that you enjoyed Divergent Path and thank you so much for the review. I hope you enjoyed the little bit more of characterization for Percy as well as Rachel this chapter. I'm going to do my best, especially with Percy and Annabeth, to not deviate much from their original characters and just make them more of who they are.

Wings Ranger: I'm writing this with 10 minutes until I arrive at school so forgive me if it's rushed. Its wonderful to have you back so soon and although I've never been a huge fan of mortal AU stories something about this one and it's writing style has had me laughing already which has got several weird glances from the people on my bus but oh well they can deal. Personally the story that I would like to see would be the primordial story as you have shown that you can handle them be involved in a story very well and it dosen't take away from the rest of the characters. That is not to say I'd like to see this story not finished it seems as if it is going to be a lot of fun. As a side note it seems your writing has already improved from the end of Divergent not that it was bad it has just gotten better which is awesome or maybe it's me coming back in after a bit away from reading your stories as I have not reread Divergent since it ended it is probably something I'll do in March once I have a bit more time. Whatever story you end up doing I'm going to be here for a long time reading and most likely reviewing.

Always glad to see someone who's been consistently reviewing my last story. I'm really happy you enjoyed the first chapter and that the writing seems to be improving. I reread a few of the earlier chapters of Divergent Path and think I might actually go back and do a grammar/syntax sweep through the whole story because I definitely could made it flow much better. I also really want to write the primordial story I have in mind, and that's absolutely going to be next. I don't expect this story to be SUPER long, nowhere near as long as my last, but I want to ensure it doesn't seem rushed so we'll see how it goes. Anyways, nice to see you still reviewing :)