Chapter 8!!! Hope you all had a good Easter. I didn't. Just a regular day. Anyway, THE DANCE!!! dunh dunh duuuuuhhhhh!! If any of you know Annabeth's stepmom's name, can you tell me? I did so much research but didn't find anything. So for now, I'm going to call her Trina. And I know it might seem like Percy and Annabeth just met, but if you think about it, not really. They hang out everyday at school, after school, and on the weekends. I would like to say, if you can, listen to the song "Breathe" by Faith Hill while you're reading the dance part. You probably already know why, but if you don't. . . . you'll see.

Friday night

Annabeth's POV

I totally forgot! I was supposed to pick up my mom at the airport tonight. Percy was going to be here at seven for the dance. My stepmom's flight was landing at seven twenty. Maybe I could ask my dad if he could pick her up.

"Hey dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you pick up Trina at the airport?"

"Sorry, honey. But since I couldn't find a babysitter for the boys, I have to stay home. I'm sorry if you miss part of the dance, but it's only a few minutes." I trudged back to my room and called Percy. I know demigods can't really use cell phones but I wasn't going to Iris-message him! That would just be like writing "I'm a demigod! Half-human and half-god. And a daughter of Athena!" on my forehead. That's me. Always thinking. The only reason I call my friends from San Fransisco is because they somehow manage to disconnect the IM before I could say a single sentence. I wasn't going to waste that many Drachmas. Speaking of them, they haven't called or answered my calls for a week. Awww, I just made myself depressed.

"Percy?" Annabeth? "Yeah, it's me. Listen, I just remembered I have to pick up my stepmom from the airport. I don't want you to be late because of me. So why don't you go ahead without me?" Are you sure? "Yeah, but promise me one thing." Anything. "Save a dance for me?" Or more. I laughed. "Promise?" I promise. "I'll see you at the dance." Kay.

I craned my neck over the sea of people to find my stepmom. My stepmom's grown more friendly to me and I liked it. No more straining to impress her. When she didn't like me, I would try to avoid every monster. I mean I still do that but if I run into one now I would fight it. But when Trina didn't like me, I would just run away from the monster so she didn't think I had anything to do with it. I hated that. It made me feel weak, not pulling out my knife and making a plan. I felt so relieved when she started softening up to me. And I started liking her. Now she almost felt like a real mother.

I saw her walk through the door, holding two duffel bags. I jogged up to her and took one of her bags. "Come on. We have to hurry." she smiled.

"Oh yeah, Frederick told me you had a dance tonight. Don't worry. I'm hurrying."

Back at the house, I grabbed both of Trina's bags and dropped them at her room. I ran to my room to get dressed. Tartarus! I'm already thirty minutes late! I quickly changed from my sweats to the beautiful dress I got yesterday. I put on the owl necklace and matching earrings I got from my mom, Athena, on my thirteenth birthday. Also, Silena bought me three inch high strappy bronze heels. Against my will, of course. Reluctantly, I put it on, stood up, and almost fell backwards. I do not like wearing heels. Emphasis on the "not". Well, at least my dress covered it. (A/N: I purposely did not describe the dress yet. But be patient. It's coming.) I brushed my hair and curled it a little bit, until I burned myself with the iron.

Looking in the mirror, I saw I looked different. I didn't look like myself, but at the same time, I looked exactly like myself. Hard to explain. I grabbed my jacket and headed out the door just to come right back in.

I almost forgot my knife. I found my thigh-sheath in one of my drawers. I know thigh-sheaths are weird, but they're really helpful when you wear a dress. I lifted up my dress a little bit to put it on. After I stuck my knife in the sheath, I instantly felt better. I know knives aren't allowed at school, but you can never be too sure. Then I grabbed my jacket and headed to the dance.

Silena's POV

Where was Annabeth? I swear if she ditched the dance . . . . I'm not even going to say it. She was going to be the highlight of the night. I even dressed down to make her stand out. Except, Adrienne. She was wearing a short, one-sleeved, tight red dress, which didn't even compliment her eyes. Some people just don't know fashion. I was wearing a simple midnight blue, knee length dress. Then I saw Annabeth out of the corner of my eye. She was peeking in, hiding her dress. I walked over to her, ready to give a pep talk.

"Come on Annabeth. You look beautiful."

"I'm not going in there. Everyone's going to see me." I scoffed.

"That's the point!" I tried pulling her in, but she wouldn't budge. "Come on." I thought for a little bit. "Percy's waiting." She stared at me for a while, but gave in.

"Fine." I took her jacket from her and went back into the room to put it on the seat next to Thalia. She opened the door reluctantly.

Percy's POV

I was just laying back in my chair at the table where all the guys from the swim team were sitting, talking to Jason, when Nolan, another teammate, nudged me and pointed to the door. There was Annabeth, in a white, strapless, floor-length dress with a pale gold ribbon above her stomach, tied in the back. Her golden hair was cascading down her shoulders and back. She was wearing owl earrings and a matching necklace. Also, it didn't look like she was wearing any makeup, which made it all the more better. It looked like she was taking in everything, while everyone stared. Silena called Annabeth over to their table across the room, and as she walked, her dress flowed behind her. I turned around to see my teammates looking at me expectantly. Nolan nudged me again, but it was a sort of encouraging nudge. I realized they were telling me to ask her to dance. Wow, I'm stupid! She did ask me to save a dance for her. I can be really dumb sometimes.

Annabeth's POV

Entering the dance was a nightmare. Everyone stared, especially Adrienne. She was boiling mad. Her face was almost as red as her dress. Anyway, I just looked around the room, successfully avoiding everyone's stares. Silena called me over to her table, where there was Thalia and most of the girls Thalia introduced me to on my first day. Sitting next to Thalia, I felt better. A slow song started. It was "Breathe" by Faith Hill. I loved this song. Then out of the corner of my right eye was a hand. Looking up, I saw Percy smiling.

"I always keep my promises." I knew he was reffering to our phonecall earlier. Rolling my eyes at his sort-of cheesy line, I took his hand and stepped onto the dance floor. I caught Silena, dancing with Charles, smiling at me.

I placed my arms around his neck, as he wrapped his around me. It was awkward at first, because I'm pretty sure we both kept on stepping on each other's feet. But by the time Faith Hill started singing the chorus, it felt natural. Plus we were pretty much just swaying to the music, so not much feet movement. I layed my head against his chest, just like this morning by my locker and last Friday at Central Park. I could feel the bottom of his chin on the top of my head.

My table came into view, and I saw Thalia holding up a green camera at us that had a "Save the Earth" sticker on it. I raised one eyebrow in confusion. She just smiled and waved as if to tell me to ignore her. I listened.

As the song started to slow down, indicating that it was close to the end, I looked up at Percy again. We didn't say anything the whole time we were dancing, but something clicked. We leaned in and kissed.

It was gentle, and it was nice, until he pulled away roughly. I opened my eyes and saw Adrienne holding Percy by the forearm. By the look of things, Adrienne pulled Percy away from my hold. Percy turned to look at her. Thankfully, the music changed to a loud fast song, draining out Adrienne's rants.

"What are you doing with her anyway? She's not like us. She's a geek. With dyslexia and ADHD. You don't need to hang out with her." she looked at me disdainfully. I started to tear up. She was right. This was the same thing that happened at my old school, and that didn't end well.

"Last time I checked, I had dyslexia and ADHD, too. And even though I don't need to hang out with Annabeth, I want to." Percy countered. And with that, he took my hand and led me out the back door, leaving Adrienne's mouth hanging.

Thalia's POV

Aww! Percy asked Annabeth to dance. But what the heck was that "Promise" junk he was saying. Ehh, never mind. Probably an inside joke. Anyway, I bet with Juniper that Percy would get a girlfriend before summer. She said no way. Hehehe. I win. And now she has to be my servant for a week. She said she would need proof (and maybe something to hold against Percy-devious, huh?), so she gave me her camera to take pictures. Plus, we all have been waiting for Percy to get a girlfriend, so she could help take his mind off that terrifying prophecy. He's never shown any love interest in any girl. He would just train and train and train, to be as ready as he could ever be when Kronos' army invades New York. No matter what Chiron said, to relax and have a little fun, he would try but wouldn't succeed.

Back on topic-I win! Annabeth put her head on Percy's chest. That would be a good picture. Click. Crap, Annabeth saw me.

Smile, wave and hope she looks away. She turned back to Percy. Yes. I looked away for a second to show the picture to Katie Gardner and I turn back. Oh. My. Gods. They kissed! Click. Yes! I got it on a picture. Oh wait, Holy crap! Adrienne did not just do that. She interrupted their kiss! Oh no she didn't! Wait, ha ha! Burn! She just got served! Go Percy!

Annabeth's POV

In the back of the school, it was sort of like a mini Central Park with a look alike fountain. "You just seem to be attracted to water, huh?" I said, trying to break the awkward silence.

"Uhh, yeah. Sort of."

"Soooo. . . .Did you actually mean those things?" He turned around, took both my hands, and pulled me close.

"Yes, I did." We were about to have an uninterrupted kiss, when something roared.

Haha! Cliffy! sort of. Anyway, this chapter was sort of short. But the next chapter will make up for it. And sorry for the long wait. I have my reasons but I'm not going to bore you with them. Plz review!