Previously in Half Blood High~~

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean? I'm not that bad. Rude! You are so rude today you know that?" Percy mocked hurt and scooted further away from Annabeth.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Annabeth laughed. "Ill see you tomorrow at school Seaweed Brain." She kissed his cheek and got out of the car, smiling all the way to her room.

3 weeks later (;

Annabeth sat at the bleachers, next to her half brother Malcolm and Katie. Malcolm and Katie were hardcore Half Blood High football fanatics. They screamed a lot. Annabeth just sat there with her water bottle and phone. Of course she didn't look at the clock on her phone, waiting for the minutes to pass! That would be just plain rude.

The opposing team, Roman High, was the rival school of HBH. They were the strongest opponents in every sport. The football guys on that team were generally bigger and more brutal. They wore royal purple jerseys while Half Bloods were bright, sunset orange.

Annabeth observed the cheerleading teams. Drew and Silena were among the cheerleaders, clad in orange, blue and white skin tight, long sleeve tops that exposed their flat stomachs. The mini skirts were truly mini, showing off their long lean legs. All of their hair was up in braids or ponytails, decorated with white ribbons.

"Let's go Half-Bloods, Let's go!" Cue the synchronized clapping and back flips.

"Demigods! Offense offense! Go! Go! Go!" Tumbles and lifts were done to rouse the watchers. Several individuals in the audience were even shouting along with the cheers and holding up banners.

Across the field was the Roman High squad. All the girls were golden-yellow from tans and had luscious shining hair. Annabeth recognized one girl as Reyna, whom she had met during Half Blood High's annual comedy show. Lot's of schools came to watch. Half Blood High had an amazing theater department.

Reyna and her team wore similar outfits, but in thicker, purple, gold and black stripes. Their hair braided with gold strings. Their pompoms were gold and purple and extremely shiny… whereas on the Demigod squad, the blue and white poms were matte, with a bit of glitter sprinkled.

Annabeth was too busy thinking about… life, she didn't even see Luke score an amazing touchdown. But when she finally focused back on the game, Percy was ripping across the field with the football tucked under his arms, getting the last touchdown of the game.

Football pants on boys, especially Percy, were like yoga pants on Drew's crew. Hey! That rhymed.

Anyway, Annabeth had to say, she was rather impressed. At Percy's football skills, not the pants.

•

"Annabeth! Hey! You made it."

"Oh! Hey Luke." Annabeth walked over to him, wrapping her arms around him, hugging him. "Nice win."

"Haha! It was Percy who made the win, but I did do a couple impressive touchdowns." Luke said, waving their other friends over. Katie and Travis were with Percy and some random sophomore, laughing. Annabeth felt a pang of something. Was it… gasp… jealousy? Ew. No. Plus Luke was next to her… but…

The last couple weeks were spent getting to know Percy even better. And within those days, Annabeth and Percy had already developed a strong friendship. But Annabeth still felt a little confused about Percy… but she kinda liked it.

Pretty soon, the usual gang (the lunch table) was all gathered in one spot, chatting and congratulating Percy on his first amazing game.

"Hey I'm heading back to get the final stuff set up for the party. It's gunna be epic!" Luke finally said, dangling his helmet on two fingers. "See ya later dudes. Annie come with me!"

Annabeth was talking to Percy though. "Yeah, hold on!" She called to Luke. "You should go shower and change, Perce. Dress nice! We can talk more at Luke's." Before Percy could protest and ask her to stay with him, she was already following Luke.

"Yo dude."

"Oh, sup Beckondorf. Nice game!" They gave each other a high-five.

"You were great. SPQR is our strongest rival and we finally crushed them! Nice to have you on the team." Percy grinned really widely.

"You were amazinggg! All the cheerleaders were freaking out over your last touchdown. " Silena quipped from Beckondorf's side. "Listen Charlie, I'm gunna go and change into something cuter than this slutty getup. See ya later babe! Bye Percy!" They kissed. Again.

"Hold up baby, I'm leaving too! I'll see ya later Percy."

Percy decided to head back and shower and change… just like Annabeth told him to. He used his nice cologne and wore a long-sleeve American Eagle shirt with grey jeans. He tried gelling his hair but he couldn't get it right, so her just let it flop down in small natural waves. Then he called Grover.

"Hey G-man. You going tonight?"

"Ugh. No. Like I said, Luke's parties always go wrong somehow. I hate them so much!" Percy heard chips crunching in Grover's mouth nervously.

"What happened to you at a party?"

"Who said something happened to me?"

"Oh come on man! You're usually so open and friendly… but you hate Luke and his parties. I've known you since before coming to Half Blood High. Just tell me man!"

"Ughhhhhhhh! So last year, I caught Luke trying to get it on with Juniper."

"Oh. I see… territorial much Underwood?" Percy teased with a smirk.

"No. And I can feel you smirking. Stop it. He actually tried to go down on her and she didn't like it! She didn't like Luke. She was in tears. Luckily, I found her and I took her home though. Otherwise, that mother*bleep*er would've seen my hairy knuckles, up close and personal."

"Dude!" Percy sighed. "He's an azz."

"Plus he's always trying for Annabeth." That made Percy stop breathing.

"Well. Um. It's not like I'm dating her… they can do whatever they want." Percy swallowed the lump in his throat.

"I don't know man… but if you're still going, watch out for her okay?" Grover said heavily. "Call me if you need me."

"Yeah… okay. Thanks man." Percy sighed and hung up. He grabbed his keys and headed out the door.

•

Percy arrived at the party and immediately found himself surrounded by girls in short dresses. He got queasy and uncomfortable within a minute and went to find Annabeth. Maybe Beckondorf or the twins… he didn't need Annabeth all the time! Pisht!

Whatever.

Percy found her on the couch playing chess with herself, eyebrows furrowed in what looked like intense concentration. Smiling, he crept up behind her.

"Hey Wise Girl." He whispered into her ear

"OMG. Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth dropped the queen and whacked Percy on the head. "Dammit. I lost my place…Thanks."

"Well, you were playing with yourself anyway." Percy chuckled at Annabeth's reddened cheeks. "I'll play with you!" He sat across from her and set up a new board.

Annabeth watched Percy suspiciously.

"What?" Percy asked, looking up at her with a soft smile.

"You're so different… most people wouldn't give me the time of the day at a party… especially when I'm playing chess. At a raving party. Alone." Annabeth met Percy's sea green eyes but looked away quickly. "They'd even take pictures or just call me a loser in my face."

Percy stared at her, his smile faltering. His blinking became more rapid. The strong, confident girl whom he had met almost a month ago looked so sad and weak. Her eyes weren't bright with happiness but rather dulled.

"Annabeth." But she didn't look up. She bit her lip and stared at her hands. "Listen. It doesn't matter what they say or what they call you, okay? You're amazing. You're smart, and funny, and friendly. And you were the first person who talked to me at this school." He wanted to tell her that she was gorgeous too, but he decided against it.

"No… Grover was."

"That doesn't count. I've met him before!" Percy saw her smile a bit. "Annabeth, what happened before I came here."

"Nothing important…" She let her words trail off. Her stormy grey eyes met with Percy's clear green ones. Annabeth sighed. "It's just that Drew and her slutty bunch of whores!" She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms, hiding her hands inside the sleeves of her grey knit sweater. Her pink lips were in a slight pout. Percy stared at Annabeth in awe. She looked like a goddess in simple white jeans, black converse and an owl necklace. Her golden curls tumbled down her back in a messy yet cute fashion.

Percy looked over at Drew who was in a really tight pink dress. He almost gagged. Why did some girls wear so much makeup. Like, hello? Are you trying to bake a cake on your face? Sheesh.

"I feel like such a freak sometimes." Annabeth groaned.

"You are not a freak!"

"I'm a nerd. A geek. A loser."

"So? You're just smarter than those retards over there." Percy knelt in front of Annabeth, tucking a hair behind her ears. He felt himself blush. "Come on. Let's go talk to people." He led Annabeth into the crowd, holding her small hands.

Annabeth felt her confidence slowly coming back. Maybe it was from the nice warmness transferring from Percy's hand to hers. She could get used to this.

They found Silena and Beckondorf dancing in the middle of the crowd, Katie and Connor bickering while Travis sipped from a red cup casually, with his arm around Katie, and they saw Drew again. Gossiping with her cronies and jutting her chest out.

Percy met some new people like Arianna and Matthew. He talked to Malcolm, who kept staring him up and down… he also talked to some people from Cadillac, a school a couple miles down South.

Pretty soon, he and Annabeth got a little tired and went to the snack bar to get a bite. Annabeth was downing a soda and Percy stood besides her, munching on brownies. He surveyed the room, he heard noises from another room… which he suspected was the noise Grover was talking about… and he also saw a drunk couples… basically eating each others faces off.

All of a sudden, someone in the crowd called his name. "Perseus Jackson?"

Percy turned around and his eyes widened.

So. Who do you think called his name?

I wrote that on my plane ride but didn't get to post it until now...sorry ): Anyway I still have a college credit essay to write about on the ancient Silk Road… but I don't wanna do ittttt! I like writing for you guys more xoxo~ Reviews on my latest would be greatly appreciated!