Chapter 1

A vanilla café latte please.

Annabeth Chase wasn't particularly fond of coffee. They did kill brain cells and cause cancer after all. So if anyone had told her that her dream to obtain an architecture degree like her mother would have resulted in her moving miles away from sunny Cali to crowded New York and working as a barista in a dingy coffee house with miserable wages, she might have dropped the idea altogether and attend medical school like her father and her stuck up step mom had told her to.

"One pumpkin latte!"

"Annie, a pumpkin latte please."

"On it, Miranda!" Annabeth forced out through clenched teeth as she grabbed another disposable cup from the column and started to brew the damn drink. The bell jingled again as another set of customers wrapped up in their scarves entered the already crowded coffee shop. Annabeth wiped out her sharpie and looked around at the masses of people in the dim light. "Linton?" a few seconds passed.

No one answered. The people around were glaring at her already for the wasted time. She huffed and went back to brewing the next set of order.

Gods she hated this job.

Working in a coffee shop may not seem like the most difficult job on the planet. After all pouring cups of coffee or cleaning tables weren't jobs that demanded a whole lot of energy or time. And it wasn't. But the other part, the very hard part, was dealing with the bunch of ill-mannered idiots who seemed to have made it their life's goal to drink five cups of coffee every morning and make her life miserable.

And she had a very important test to take tomorrow. She was positive she was going to flunk it and was desperate for her shift to end so she could get back to the flat she shared with her best friend Thalia Grace and drown in her architecture texts all the while moaning of how pathetic her grade would be (she had a weird feeling Thalia would empty the milk carton onto her head if she did though, like the last time, so she made a mental note to minimize the voicing of her depressing thoughts.)

And on top of the mess was the fact that the job didn't pay that well. Sure she was able to pay her share of the rent and purchase everyday essentials but by the end she was left with nothing but a few bucks. She was slowly but painfully realizing her attempt at being independent wasn't turning out the way she had planned. Storming out on her dad and refusing to take the money he regularly put in her account now seemed a tad bit foolish. Perhaps she could take a few dollars…..no. Her pride would never allow it.

The afternoon sky faded as Annabeth continued to huff and puff with the various levers and switches on the coffee machine. It was supposed to make the work easier but Annabeth always got confused and usually ended up taking twice the amount of time than required. And she wasn't particularly proud of the fact.

As the last person exited the shop she checked her watch. Yes! Five minutes and her shift ended. Katie was on the night shift today. She could now complete her revision and do a small extra research just to be on the safe side. As her watched beeped six, Annabeth grinned and started to take off her despicable floral apron when-

"A vanilla café latte please."

Her head shot up to the man standing at the counter. His grey hoodie had come down to reveal a mop of messy dark hair. A set of sea green eyes stared at her coolly from under nonchalant eyebrows. His features were handsome, very handsome, almost like a timeless Greek sculpture of a young god. He had taken off his jacket to reveal broad shoulders and a long lean body. Perhaps an athlete or a swimmer?

"Actually, my shifts just ended." Annabeth muttered helplessly, half torn to get back home and the other half to help the interesting looking guy. She looked around for Katie and came face to face with her slightly lunatic manager.

"Now, now Annabeth" sang Mr. Johnson through a wide smile that looked a tad bit on the crazy side.

"Please do get the polite young gentleman his drink."

'The polite young gentleman' was currently smirking at her leaning on the counter. Her face set its usual scowl as all thoughts of helping this guy on her own free will flew away. She blew the few strands of blond hair that had come out from her stupid green cap out of her face and grabbed the last cup from her side and started to brew the idiot's drink.

He tapped his fingers on the counter as he waited for his drink and Annabeth's eyes unconsciously followed the pattern of tattoos that ran from his knuckles and disappeared into his sleeve. He coughed at her wandering eyes and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her guilty gaze at which she snorted, turned around to the brewer and ceased to look at the obnoxious guy standing behind her.

"Name?" she asked with an air of boredom. She was exhausted after several hours of work and positively filthy with different coffee stains adorning her green floral apron. Seriously why the hell did they have such a crapy uniform? Surely, someone would have suggested a better solu-

"Kelp head"

"Sorry, what?" she stared up at him, convinced she had heard wrong. The work time along with her classes were certainly eating up her senses. A few more days and she might just end up in the loony bin.

"The name" the guy repeated, pointing to the cup as if she were an imbecile "Kelp head. It's spelled K-E-L-"

"I know how it's spelled!" she snapped irritated. She knew her shift had ended and Thalia would be probably waiting for. She knew it was time for her to get back and start her studies. She knew the most practical thing to do was write down the silly name for mister Kelp Head and rush back home. She knew it and yet-

"You're name is Kelp head?" she shot out unbelievingly. She knew a lot about bad parents. Her own friend Thalia had been ditched in a pine forest by her alcoholic mother. Nico's dad made him sleep in their basement when he was five to 'build character'. Whatever, that guy was a nut. But naming your own son after a marine plant species was beyond appalling.

"It's a nickname." He said and smirked at her coloring cheeks. He continued to gaze at her through those intense green eyes. She got a whiff of salty fragrance as if Kelp Head had brought the entire ocean along with him. It was…. refreshing.

Somehow the idea of a nickname had never entered her fuzzy brain. She was a valedictorian and skipped two grades and this guy made her look like a fool with a few words. She mentally thought of various instruments with which she could torture the loser in front of her and picked up her sharpie when he interrupted her again.

"So Wise girl, what did you say your name was again?" he asked too nonchalant, while inspecting his finger nails (which she noticed were long and elegant).

"I never did tell you my name" she straightened up and stared at him through narrowed eyes.

"And what do you mean by 'Wisegirl'?"

He shrugged and gave her a genuine smile that brightened up his whole face and nearly took the breath out of her with its utter adorability. She quickly shook of her wayward thoughts and muttered darkly "You deserve a worse nickname."

He stared at her amused "Well then, why don't you give me one, Wisegirl?"

She knew she was already late. It was half past six, she had already memorized the chapter for the exam and another five minutes less in revision wouldn't affect her grade that much. And Thalia must have already dosed off. So there was really no rush to get back now and since Katie seemed to be lying dead somewhere under a rock Annabeth decided it wouldn't be bad to amuse herself with this utter dick. Maybe, just maybe, she thought, she could draw out another one of those breathtaking smiles from him.

"Hmmm….let me think" she mused and taped the pen on her chin "you're eyes reminds of the sea and it's obvious you don't possess a brain under that unruly mop of hair of yours…so..how about seaweed brain!"

And in her excitement at having found the perfect name with the right amount of insult and pen in one hand she scribbled down "seaweed brain' on his order without actually processing what she was doing. When she did realize what she had done she looked up at the guy who was now staring at her, his face completely expressionless. She could feel her cheeks getting hot and it seemed to be spreading to her neck and ears.

"Sorry" she stuttered "I can change it or…or make you a new one. It'll only take a few minutes!"

She stared at him miserably when he burst out laughing. It was a nice sound, almost musical. The cringles around his eyes deepened and his sea green orbs reminded her of the ocean on a calm day with green waves rocking and splashing and the salty air on the beach and-

"It's fine, Wisegirl" he smiled at her brightly, almost bashfully "it will be our little thing"

He winked at her and took the cup from her frozen hand. He checked his watch and gave her a small wave before heading towards the door where he bumped into a heavily wrapped up Katie Gardener as she rushed through to a slightly dazed looking Annabeth who was staring dreamily at the jingling bell and the closing door.

"I am not late, am I?" the girl inquired as she took off her scarf and slipped into her own green apron. "Only I had a family emergency."

Yeah right, messing around with Travis Stoll is definitely a family emergency.

But Annabeth couldn't bring herself to be annoyed at her colleague. Any other day and she would have chewed off Katie's pretty head and kicked Travis Stoll in the ass for making her work late but today…well today seemed to be an exemption. Right now her heart felt light and her mind dazed as a whirlwind of feelings and electricity passed through her body. Her hand still tingled where Seaweed brain took his drink.

"No Katie" she breathed out heavily "you have the absolute perfect timing"

As she tugged on her coat and fixed her scarf she realized she didn't know his real name. The thought made her sad and then angry. This was just some random guy who liked coffee! He wasn't supposed to have such an effect upon her. He definitely was not supposed to make her lose track of time and delay her studies for tomorrow's test. Because, after all, no one came between Annabeth Chase and her studies. No matter how cute they were or how gorgeous their eyes looked or how good they smelled or-

RIGHT. No one

As she trudged through the snow her mind was unusually buzzing with questions. Seemingly irrelevant questions. She spotted a trail of footsteps heading to the park and wondered if it was his. And then she decided she had gone mad because countless number of people had walked through this area and the possibility of it being his was just as much it wasn't.

Seaweed brain

She wondered if he would come back again for another vanilla café latte or perhaps this would be the last time she ever saw the green eyed stranger and he would disappear from her thoughts like the endless amount of instructions on that stupid ancient coffee machine.

She wasn't that sure of the last part though.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

And that's it folks! This was some random idea I had in my mind and I still have no idea where it's going. Hope you guys liked it.