I'm back! Hehehe. Anyways, I think that this chapter was perhaps longer than what I usually write (you asked for it). I'm still trying to adjust, but I'll try to keep the chapters longer.

And thanks to: squirreldetective, Horse1lover3, Norsk Unicorn, Smiles Burn In The Styx, pipergrace983, June Green and Guest.

Uh, just sharing but something funny happened to me earlier. I was just walking out of the church when someone approached me and handed me a brochure about singles program and the likes. And I was like, 'how do you happen to know I'm single?!'.

I then consider what does this says about my life. Or perhaps, the way I look. :0

A deer caught in the headlights. Well, a doe caught in the headlights.

Nevertheless, Annabeth found herself staring straight at Percy's seagreen eyes: opposing his look of acknowledgement with her dilated silver pupils. She glanced back at Thalia, hoping to share the same panic-stricken face, but her bestfriend betrayed her once again with that funny expression.

That meant she's all by herself at the moment.

"Jason!" Annabeth piped in, faking a glorious glee in her voice. "Yes. Jason Grace! My boyfriend."

Thalia snickered beside her. Percy flashed her a knowing grin.

"Oh. I didn't know. You and Jason, huh? I'm their cousin by the way," Percy said, jerking his thumb to Thalia.

"I've been informed. Uh, if you'll excuse us, I have something to talk to Thalia."

Percy waved his hands in the air. "No worries. I'll be right here when you need me for sparring."

Taking Thalia's wrist, they marched-off on the opposite side of the room, with Annabeth constantly looking back to make sure the jerk-of-a-cousin wasn't following.

Once they were pretty far enough, Annabeth hissed on her bestfriend's ear: "Thalia!"

"What?"

Annabeth glared at her. "Oh please. Thalia, that cousin of yours was the jerk I was talking about! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know. Really." When Annabeth didn't buy her excuse, she raised her right hand. "Promise!"

"Thals, can't you see we're sparring partners? And you want to make it more awkward by pairing me up with him. So, crush your hopes right now, 'coz I'll never. I'd rather date a cow than be with that guy," Annabeth exclaimed.

Okay, that was exaggerating. Annabeth Chase, the young, wise, gorgeous and most renowned architect in the world would date a cow? She might've been too hopeless when that happened.

Thalia made a disgusted look. "And I never took you to be an animal sort of girl, Annabeth. I hope you aren't that desperate to date a cow."

Annabeth frowned at her. "Thals, I didn't mean it that way. The thing is I want you to know that it isn't possible between us. So, please stop trying to be a matchmaker, okay? It doesn't suit you."

"Matchmaker? You only see me as a matchmaker?" Thalia arched an eyebrow. "Why are you so intent on hating Percy, Annabeth? Did he do something to offend you, Your Highness? It's not like he stole your favorite blueprint or something."

Annabeth stared blankly at the punk-like girl. Thalia had a point. Percy never really did something to anger her, leastwise not intentionally. Maybe all those anger vibes she felt radiating off him were just an illusion Annabeth created to mask the conflicting emotions inside her. Her accusation of Percy being a jerk was not at all justified, given that he wasn't anywhere guilty of exasperating Annabeth. This was a dead end, she thought. Annabeth knew that Thalia was right and she was wrong, that she didn't have a viable reason to hate Percy at all. But, she wasn't about to give her bestfriend the satisfaction of a victory against her. Her prideful ego just couldn't accept it, and so she tried to worm her way out with words.

"He's just being. . . like a usual jerk."

"Then, how was he being a usual jerk?" Thalia demanded.

Annabeth racked her brain for some excuse but nothing came up. This wasn't at all part of her plan, and she wasn't used working without it.

There's always a plan, Annabeth believed. But it seemed as that this was one of the rarest moments that she couldn't use either of her born forte: planning and logic. Just the thought of it made Annabeth tremble with fear. Plans and logic were her defense mechanisms, and she wouldn't afford to survive without those. After all, those were the reasons why she was tagged with the word perfection.

"See? Judging again, Annabeth? You can't even prove that he's a jerk yet you despise him as if he brought the greatest plague in history! Whatever your first impressions are, they won't last, Annabeth. Nothing ever are!"

"I know," Annabeth said simply.

Thalia put her head in her hands. "All right. I'll stop being a matchmaker. Just, try to be nice to him and stop that prejudice. That could be your fatal flaw aside from hubris."

Thalia had started to leave but Annabeth called her back. "Thals, wait!"

The black-haired girl scowled at her. "What?"

Annabeth's lips curled into a smile. "Thanks. For keeping me grounded. And I'll try to be nice as much as I can."

Thalia didn't say anything, but she smirked at her before proceeding to walk away.

Smug and pompous Thalia could be, Annabeth loved having her as a bestfriend anyway.

"Hey."

Percy looked over to his shoulder, his face drenched in sweat, but otherwise, he still appeared to be insanely handsome. "Oh hey, Annabeth."

"Percy," Annabeth greeted. "So, what do you say, we start warm-up first before Chiron comes?"

A full-on grin slipped on his face. "Cool. I just began awhile ago. You could join me with push-ups."

Annabeth got down and stretched her body parallel to the floor, with her two arms supporting her weight. She lowered herself, her elbows hitting a perfect 90-degree angle; then up again, repeating the process over.

At her side, Percy was doing the same, albeit just a little faster.

"My real name's Perseus," he began. "Perseus Jackson. But everyone calls me Percy."

"Uh. . ." Annabeth wondered if she should share a personal info as well. "Chase. My last name's Chase."

Percy scrunched his eyebrows. "Chase? Like 'run and I'll chase you? Cat chasing a mouse? Dog chasing a cat?"

"Yup. That's it. Pretty much everything you said."

"Annabeth Chase. Chase, Annabeth. It seems as though you're running away from everyone," he commented.

She smiled. "Gee. I think it's the other way around. They're running after me. Like media and companies do."

"Famous, huh? By the way, my favorite color is blue. Yours?"

She thought about it for a moment. "Gray."

Percy stared at her. "Like your eyes? Though they appear to be silver at the moment. I like your eyes by the way."

Annabeth's cheeks reddened. "Thanks. Your eyes are cool too. They remind me of the ocean."

"Fitting. My dad owns a shipping company and I super freaking love water!"

"Your dad owns a shipping company?" She asked, amused.

"Yeah. My dad's Poseidon. Like the greek god of the sea," he replied.

When she heard this, Annabeth collapsed on the floor. Okay, she's trying her best to be nice to this guy and then she found out that he's a son of her mom's rival. That was not really a reason to freak out. So, maybe she has explanation now to despise this guy.

'Sorry, Thals. But, I need to do this.'

"Your dad's Poseidon? Like the sea-spawn womanizer?" Annabeth sputtered.

Percy rose from his previous position. "Hey! My dad's not a sea-spawn. Who are you to judge him like that?"

Annabeth stood up also, facing him. "For your information, I'm Athena's daughter, your dad's rival for the head position in Athens!"

"So, you're the daughter of that conceited smart brat, Athena? Typically explains the inherited brattiness," Percy snapped.

Anger flashed dangerously in Annabeth's eyes. "We're not brats, you son of a sea-spawn! And my mother's not conceited. I wonder how many siblings you got with that womanizer father!"

He moved closer to her. "That's crossing the line! Do not insult my family. What did my dad even do to you?"

"He just humiliated my mom's precious building with one of his women in tow!" Annabeth snarled.

"What are you-?"

"Stop."

Both heads turned, only to find Chiron standing as stiff as ever, with a stern-look on his face

"Chiron-"

"Quiet!" His voice rang loudly across the training room, silencing all of the other students.

"Miss Chase, Mister Jackson. I do so believe you just clearly violated a rule in the house. Both of you give me 200 push-ups and leave the room as soon as you finished!"

"Yes, Chiron."

Annabeth didn't feel like driving, for her arms were clearly near to the point of dropping-off. Her muscles were badly sore, as if every motion could rip the remaining tendon that connected her flesh. She considered leaving her car here and just hail a cab back to her apartment, but that would require a flailing movement which was definitely out of the options.

Wobbly, she dragged herself towards her car, thankful for the nearly empty presence of the dimly lighted parking lot.

"This wouldn't have happened if not for that jerk of a sea-spawn," Annabeth muttered bitterly.

"This wouldn't have happened if not for that smart brat," Percy repeated, standing behind Annabeth.

She spun around quickly. "What are you doing here, jerk?"

"My car's parked here smart brat," he replied smugly.

She ignored his presence once again, proceeding to unlock her car door when she caught sight of her detested eight-legged creature standing proudly on her seat.

"Ahhh!" she screamed, backing up to the nearest lamppost. Her body shook with fear, each nerve on her body standing at attention. Percy rushed out to her. Their previous fight was forgotten, as he was obviously concerned of what was happening to Annabeth.

"Annabeth. Hey, what's the problem?" Percy asked. He was holding her face, feeling her rapid pulse at his fingertips. He would have probably blushed at their close proximity if this was only a normal encounter. Apparently, it was not.

She pointed her forefinger shakily at her car's window. "S-spider. Th-there."

Percy moved over there and as expected, the little black creature was now sitting daintily on her seat.

He looked back to her. "You're scared of spiders?"

"Oh yes I am! Just kill it, Percy!" she growled at him.

He shrugged and opened the door carefully, sliding the spider on the scratch paper on his hand. He crumpled it and threw the paper away in the nearest trash can.

Percy jogged back to her, giving her a thumbs up. He grinned. "All cleared."

"Thank you," Annabeth mumbled, purposely avoiding his gaze.

She started her way back to her car when Percy pulled her hand back. "Annabeth."

"What do you want now? I've already said my thanks and if you're just going to make fun of my fear, just be gone Percy," Annabeth snapped.

"I'm not gonna say anything about your fear. I just want to apologize about my behavior earlier, for you know, being a bad guy. But, if we're going to be partners for the competition, I think it's best to settle this rivalry between us, once for all," Percy muttered. His voice oozed with sincerity and even his sea-green eyes seemed apologetic. He reminded Annabeth of the baby seal she once saw in a public aquarium. It's hard to say no with his baby seal look.

Annabeth nodded at him. "Yeah. You're right. Let's just do that."

"So. . .what do you say, no rivalry, no Poseidon, no Athena, just Percy and Annabeth kicking the crap out of people's butts?" he asked, as he tried to feign a kick here and there.

The way he said was so funny that Annabeth couldn't help but be amused. She smiled. "I'm in. No rivalry, no Poseidon, no Athena, just Percy and Annabeth kicking the crap out of people's butts."

"Yes!" He pumped his fists in the air. "So, Best Duo Ever?"

Percy raised his forefinger to Annabeth.

"What are you doing, Percy?" She gestured to his finger. Percy smirked at her.

"This is the sign of Percy and Annabeth truce. All promises are to be made with this sign. You'd just have to wrap yours with mine."

Annabeth flashed him a disbelieving look. "Are you always this sappy, Percy? I can't believe we're trying to do an adult pinky promise."

He smiled at her. "Childhood promises are the most sincere, Annabeth. Believe me. They mean deeper than they look."

"All right."

"Ready to be the Best Duo Ever?" he asked, waggling his finger in the air.

Annabeth beamed up at him. "I was born ready, Percy.

She locked her finger with his, tightening her hold. A truce. The sign of Percy and Annabeth promise. Percy winked. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Best Duo Ever?"

"Definitely. We are the Best Duo Ever."

When she was about to enter her car, Annabeth called once more: "I'm sorry about your dad Poseidon. You know, womanizer and all."

"Sorry too about Athena's crappy attitude."

"I thought we agreed with the truce, Water Boy."

"You started it, Owl Head."

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain."

"Later, Wise Girl."

"You're so dumb."

"Thank you."

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