Christian picked Marissa up from my house a mere fifteen minutes before Luke and his jock friends happened along. He said that they were on their way to haul Percy out of his closet because he was actually panicing about the whole Homecoming nomination thing. Panicing was never a Percy-like thing to do. Somehow he had managed to keep his cool, or at least a very believable fabrication of his cool, even when his favorite hoodie caught on fire in chem. class. While he was wearing it.

I sent my love along with them in the form of a hastily folded origami Viking hat made out of a Dum-Dum wrapper with Percy's name scribbled across the front in purple sharpie.

I knew that he would get a kick out of it because he already had at least three dozen of them in various sizes and colors and candy wrappers stuffed all over his bedroom.

What can I say? I find a talent and I run with it.

When the completely unnecessarily narcissistic hummer limousine pulled up in front of my house, I checked my reflection in the mirror that hung in the hall and began savagely tugging every pin from my piled-high hair. The last of which hit the rug at the exact moment that Luke rang my doorbell.

"I got it, honey." My mother yelled from the kitchen. Silently I thanked her and swung my head down between my knees, raking my fingers through it to loosen the hairspray. I could hear Luke and my parents talking quietly about school and future plans and all that customary but pointless parent/date drabble. I swung my head back up and looked in the mirror.

It was wild. It was messy. It was utterly unique in a very anxiety inducing way.

I tried to smooth it down a little with some saliva and only succeeded in making my hands smell like spearmint Tic Tacs.

But, still, I liked it better than the up-do.

Which meant only one thing really.

Next time I saw Alex I needed to kick him in the shin for syking me into getting my hair done. Natural me was much less nauseating.

I descended the stairs after one final barely reassuring glance in the mirror to affirm my lazy, random curls that probably cost more than my entire c.d. collection and my tattered high tops put together.

As I reached the landing and caught Luke's eye I started to feel a little less self-conscious and a little more weary of not pocketing that mace I saw next to the register at the mall. Immediately his face lit up with what I can only describe as determined lust, and I felt mine heat up in what was probably misinterpreted as naive flattery.

"Hi there." He said confidently. I shot my parents a look and smiled shyly at Luke.

"Hey, Luke."

He took my hand gently in his and pressed his lips to my knuckles in a very suave parental unit impressing move that I had only ever seen done in crappy teen-love flicks or smoky Film Noire movies from the 1940's.

"You look stunning, Sophia." He said politely against my skin. His lips tickled me and made me smile involuntarily.

"Thank you." I responded softly, and bid goodbye to my parents.

That's right mom and dad, you're allowing your one and only offspring to head out into the dangerous world with this tongue-pierced jock who quite possibly wants to rape her and quite probably has some kind of venereal disease.

At my funeral they'll play greatest hits of Celine Dion or something equally mortifying like that.

I tugged nervously at the fabric between my breasts as we made our way out to the limo, perfectly alert and aware of Luke's hand slipping casually and progressively lower on my back. Just before he opened the door for me, he pressed his mouth against my ear and whispered, "You look so sexy in that dress."

I felt my chest tighten and I briefly debated how attached I was to the money in my savings account. Because if he tried anything, I was going to need every penny to bail myself out of jail after they file those assault and battery charges.

I gave him a tart smile and accepted the chaste kiss he placed on my lips, not taking for granted for a single second that my parents could still be watching from the window.

So he's one of the smart, calculating rapists you hear about on America's Most Wanted, I think I can handle that.

We got into the limo and rode to the school, myself in silence and Luke chatting away loudly with his friends and their dates. I accepted, gratefully, the bottle of spiked Minute Made orange juice that was being passed ceremoniously around the limo.

Luke noticed my fervor in adding alcohol to my blood stream, and acknowledged it with a sleazy smirk and a warm, cologne covered, tuxedo clad arm draped across my shoulders.

Oh look, the nerves and vomit are back.

When we got out of the limo and reached the doors to the gymnasium, I began instantly searching the crowd for Percy, unsuccessfully. Luke bent his arm and smiled at me, inviting me to link mine through it and follow his swaggering self into the Disney-esque room of crate paper and balloons. But he stopped before entering, behind another couple that I recognized as a girl nominated for Homecoming Queen and her surgically attached boy-toy.

I glanced around nervously, seeing another nominated person and their date behind us waiting patiently for the same apparent something that we were.

"Wait, what's going on?" I asked Luke frantically. He frowned down at me.

"What are you talking about?"

"Why are we standing here in a line? Why are we cattle?" I asked him, craning my neck to see if I could spot Percy in the line. I thought I glimpsed his black hair behind the nerdy boy nominated simply for the sake of carrying on the schools "we're all people" policy.

Luke laughed, "The Grand March."

My attention snapped back to him, "Sorry, Grand what now?"

"Grand March." He repeated, his tone already slightly exasperated.

I felt my eyes pop animatedly out of my skull, "You never said anything about marching, let alone doing it grandly."

Luke shook his head, "Sophia, its tradition."

"I've always enjoyed going against the grain." I sputtered pleadingly.

He sighed and tugged my arm gently as our little 'lamb-before-slaughter' line began to inch forward, "Come on, the candidates and their dates walk through and start the first dance. It's painless."

"Speak for yourself." I muttered under my breath as I considered offering to give him a good ol' snog in that limo if it meant we could forgo the fashion show in front of the entire student body.

The line moved again and Luke pulled me almost forcefully along, "You're making way too big a deal out of this."

I managed to stall him for a millisecond, "Maybe, but I'm not the one who decided this thing warranted a parade."

I saw him roll his eyes, which infuriated me.

You would think that provoking his dates rage and diminishing his chances of getting laid would be at the bottom of his list of things to do at the dance.

There was a loud starting up of sickening music and the double doors burst open to reveal the gym. I swallowed a huge, humiliated lump that had quickly formed in my throat and took a step forward as Luke pulled at my arm.

"Let's go." He ordered curtly. And despite my overwhelming urge to stomp my feet and pout like a child, I actually obeyed him and relented to becoming a piece of meat for the masses.

When the cheering and clapping and chaperone shushed booing finally ceased and the excruciating first dance finished, I retreated to the refreshment table in search of some member of my limo party who happened to have snuck in the bottle from the ride over. Instead I found Alex. Dressed in a dashing tuxedo with his hair combed and covered with a very spiffy looking fedora.

Of course, because Alex without a hat wouldn't be Alex at all.

"Hey, Alex!" I shouted to him over the roar of the music.

He turned around and grinned at me, "Sup, Soph?"

I approached him and sauntered around him in a slow circle, examining his attire exaggeratedly.

"Wow, Alex you look so. . ." I paused.

"Sexy?" He cut in with an arched eyebrow and a superior smile.

"Yeah." I admitted with an affirmative and awed nod.

Alex rolled his eyes and gazed out over the dance floor, "Try not to sound so shocked."

I chuckled, "Sorry, it's just . . . wow."

"Wow yourself." Alex retorted, giving me the once over. I felt a blush creep up my neck and turned toward the table covered in paper cups.

"Yeah, sure. So where's Summer?"

He sighed and shrugged, "We came separate. She had some last minute dress emergency."

"Like what? She realized she was dating Mr. Dazed and Confused himself and opted for a dress she can pull over her head?"

"Hardy har har." Alex smiled at me sarcastically and snorted at my lame crack about his coordination deficiency, "Where's the baboon?"

I blinked rapidly and picked up a cup of punch, "I didn't come with your mom."

"Oh snap!" Alex slapped his knee, "You're just fuckin full of it tonight, eh?"

I lifted the paper cup to my lips, "What can I say? I'm really feeling the magic of the evening."

"Yeah, crate paper and confetti will do that to a person."

I sipped what I expected to be an absurdly untainted drink and scrunched my face up tightly in shock, "I guess it's more the balloons and spiked Hawaiian punch."

"You're welcome." Alex tipped his hat in my direction.

I shook my head with mock disappointment as I took another drink, "I knew it."

"Have you seen Percy yet?" He asked slyly. I pretended to be fascinated with the contents of my cup, but couldn't hide the fact that at the mention of his name me eyes had first shot out toward the crowd of hormonal zoo escapees disguised as our classmates.

"I haven't been looking." I lied.

"Sure you haven't." Alex chuckled, seeing right through me as always. Then he added, "He looks good in a tux."

I lifted my head to give Alex a look of wide-eyed disbelief, "Wow, do you love him too?"

"Shit yeah." He scoffed, "Have you ever gazed into those big, sea-foam green, puppy-dog eyes of his? Man if he wasn't so into you we'd be hitting it Brokeback up in here."

I suppressed a gagging laugh in favor of shooting his words back at him, "I can't decided which ridiculous comment to address first."

But Alex could not be ruffled, "All true." He stated simply as he took a drink from his own cup.

"The deceased teddy bear comes to mind." I jabbed desperately.

Alex glared sideways at me, "He wasn't dead he just hated me."

Before I could come up with a suitable response I spotted his girlfriend from across the room, "I see Winter."

"What?" Alex asked, his confusion mixing with his slight buzz.

"Oh sorry, wrong season." I pointed across the gym, "Spring?"

Alex squinted and caught sight of her standing near the door, craning her neck to spot him in the dark room.

"You're so stupid." He mumbled.

"So I have been told." I sighed in response.

I heard him sigh as he took in her low backed, silver evening gown and perfectly curled honey-blond hair, "Wow she really looks beautiful, doesn't she?"

I nodded, "That she does." I answered, a little sadly because I was there with a boy who had almost negative love points for me.

Alex set his cup aside and wiped his palms against his pants, "I'm getting a little nervous."

I stifled a laugh at the anxiousness in his voice, "Don't be, Alex, you're amazing."

"I'm sweating."

"She won't even notice." I assured him.

"She won't?" He asked again as she spotted him and gave a long armed swooping wave.

"Naw, " I shook my head and waved back as she began to shuffle her way passed the sticky bodies in our direction. Then I turned to Alex, "Quick put your man face on."

The corners of his mouth twitched upward in an amused smile then he forced his lips into a frown and furrowed his brow, "Man face on."

I slapped him on the butt, "Now go get her, tiger."

Alex glared at me, forgetting his man face as Summer grew nearer, "Don't ever say that again." And then she reached us and he took her arm and escorted her toward the dance floor. Presumably to boogie down.

I sighed again, long and tired, and submitted myself to the inevitable drunkenness that I would need to get through this night in one relative piece. Just as I had brought my second cup to my mouth, I felt warm lips on my cheek.

I spun around, choking on my drink, thinking it was Luke ready to go back to his house and have a go at it.

The burn in my throat and my nostrils from the vodka shooting back up was almost more painful than Grand March had been. Almost.

But when I had managed to get my sputtering and watering eyes under control, I looked up into the big, sea-foam green, puppy-dog eyes of Percy Jackson, dressed in a pinstriped tuxedo and his always present converse.

Alex was right.

He looked amazing.

He patted my back gently and apologized profusely for being the cause of it all in the first place.

The initial pain and shock subsided, as well as the terror at having to fend off another attack of the Overbearing Luke's, and I smiled at Percy as he scanned my body carefully.

He didn't say anything about how I looked, but his eyes definitely lingered in places I had only ever dreamed of him studying.

Then he cleared his throat and turned to face the crowd, "So, Sophia, slumming it tonight I see."

I frowned at him, "What are you talking about?"

"Your date." He answered matter-of-factly, "You guys were two couples ahead of us during that stupid fucking parade thing."

I gave a 'tsk' sound and crossed my arms over my chest, "Oh shut up, Percy, Luke's nice."

He immediately looked at me, obviously suppressing some kind of outburst, "Luke?" He repeated the name distastefully.

"Yeah." There was a long pause during which Percy 's eyebrows crawled up his forehead and his own arms rose to cross over his chest. I rolled my eyes, "What?"

"Nothing." He reassured me lamely before adding a hesitant, ". . .Luke, really?"

Again the hint of revulsion in his tone was unmistakable, "What?" I insisted.

And again, he managed a very lame sounding cover-up, "No, nothing."

"Percy!" I snapped with a barely audible giggle at his barely inaudible jealousy.

Percy relented hastily, "Well, what the fuck kinda name is Luke?"

"What's wrong with his name?" I argued even though I was secretly relishing in the attention.

Percy's eyebrows rose again and he turned away haughtily, "Well it pretty much speaks for itself, doesn't it?"

"You're a stupid fuckwit, you know that?" I shoved him playfully.

He regained his balance effortlessly and face me, "Oh yeah? Well you're beautiful."

I was stunned into silence. His words reverberated off the walls in my skull, echoing over and over again and still just not registering. Even though it wasn't the first time that he had said those words to me in total seriousness, I still wasn't quite sure whether or not I had hallucinated them.

Luckily for me, Percy still had that nifty talent with breaking extended silences.

His eyes traveled over my entirety once more before he said softly, "You look really amazing, Soph."

This time, I managed a quiet, "Thank you."

Percy smiled and nodded then quickly slapped his breast pocket and gave me a very eager look, "Hey! I got you something."

"Ooo, a present?" I asked excitedly. He began digging around in his pockets mumbling about it being in there somewhere, and I stood silently and watched as if I was calm and curious in a not-nearly-exploding-with-anticipation-and-crazed-butterflies kind of way.

Finally he produced a small white box from his coat and handed it to me, "Here." He said conclusively. I eyed him suspiciously for a moment before slipping the top from the box and peering at the small necklace inside.

It was a silver chain with a tiny diamond "S" dangling from its center.

I actually gasped as I fingered the letter carefully, "Wow, Percy . .it's beautiful." I whispered.

"Yeah, well," He took the necklace from my hands and wrapped it around my throat, moving behind me to fasten it, "I saw it and I thought of you so. . ." It took a couple of minutes, but finally he finished, letting his cool fingers trail their way softly and apprehensively half way down my bare back, sending delightful shivers up my spine and all through my body.

When he pulled away I turned around, tugged him into a tight embrace and whispered softly in his ear, "I love it, Percy, thank you."

He found a way to tighten his arms around my middle and murmured a barely audible "You're welcome" against my shoulder, his lips leaving the tiniest bit of wetness on my bare skin. I closed my eyes and savored the moment, knowing somehow that this was it, our turning point, at long last.

Then Elliott Yamin's "Wait For You" came on and Percy backed away just enough to see my face as he grinned; admitting his guilt in requesting the song because he knew, without me ever even saying it, that it was my favorite song.

"You wanna dance?" He asked me. I thought my face might rip in half I smiled so wide, and nodded a fervent 'God yes'.

Percy led me out to the middle of the dance floor under a purple light and tugged my arms up around his neck. I smiled up at him as his hands found their place on my hips, and everything about it just felt so natural and so right, that I almost thought I was dreaming.

We moved in slow, lazy circles, completely silent for half of the song; Percy gradually pulling me closer until our entire bodies were touching and his arms were wrapped around me in a full-on hug. And still, he would press against my back in an almost earnest attempt to keep me that close.

I laid my forehead against his shoulder, my face to his chest and inhaled his scent of cologne, and I felt his mouth against my hair as he pressed the softest of kisses to the crown of my head.

I sighed against his jacket and said, just loud enough for him to hear, "I love this song."

Percy ran a hand up my back, tracing the tiny bumps of my spine with his fingertips, "It's always reminded me of you."

I lifted my head and gave him a disbelieving look, "Liar."

He shook his head, "No really." And then he dipped his head down to put his mouth against my ear, and began to sing along with Elliott "Baby I will wait for you, If you think I'm fine it just aint true, I really need you in my life, No matter what I have to do..." Here he pressed another soft kiss to my earlobe, "I'll wait for you."

I listened intently with my eyes shut tightly, shivering as his hot breath left my ear and ghosted passed my cheek and onto my face. I opened my eyes and Percy was staring down at me, the strangest look in his eyes.

But I had seen it before, every time we came so close but never quite reached that real turning point. The place where friendship was breeched by something else. Something just a little more intense. And we were finally going to do it.

Percy's mouth opened and closed, like he was unsure if anything needed to be said before it happened.

I didn't let him decide. I pulled his head down to meet mine, locking our mouths together in the long awaited kiss of a lifetime. Our lips melded with each other perfectly, as if they were simply meant to fit like this. They danced carefully for a few minutes, testing the water, Percy pushed further forward, deepening it, and holding me so close I felt like we might just dissolve into each other.

The kiss ended just before the song did. Percy swallowed loudly and stared down at me as the music disappeared around us. There was a single beat before he opened his mouth and stammered, "Sophia, I-"

He wasn't given a chance to finish because the brief second of silence between that song and the next was just enough for a loud screech of shock, disgust and hatred to resonate out into the echoing gymnasium.

Percy and I jerked apart almost violently and faced, with horrible devastation, the seething, beat-red form of Annabeth Chase.

"You son of a bitch!" She screamed at Percy. He didn't even try to say anything as she stared him down, so angry she was almost visibly steaming.

Then she turned to me, "And you." She growled, her high pitched voice so wretched it could be heard even above the song now blasting in an attempt to cover up our little drama, "You are a fucking little whore!"

I opened my mouth to slam her down but Percy stopped me.

"Don't, " He said menacingly at Annabeth, "Ever call her that."

My knight in shining high tops!

Annabeth's face scrunched up even further, "Oh so now you want this little-"

"Outside." Percy cut her off. She huffed, looking ready to fight him and make an even bigger scene, but the look on his face must have been enough to convince her to shut up. Then he grabbed Annabeth roughly by the arm and pulled her out of the gym.

I sighed and glanced around me at the millions of eyes pretending they weren't staring, acting like they hadn't seen or heard everything. I pressed a hand to my forehead and began shoving my way toward the back, toward the punch bowl.

"What the hell was that all about?" Another, slightly more controlled, but still obviously angry voice said from behind me. I turned around to face Luke.

"What the hell was what all about?" I asked him. He narrowed his eyes at me and seized my upper arm tightly.

"Don't fucking play dumb with me, I saw you kissing that douchebag." He growled down at me. I could smell the vodka and orange juice on his breath.

I jerked my arm away from him and turned toward the tables, "So what, Luke?"

"So what?" He repeated furiously, "So you came here with me, goddamnit, and I don't fucking like being humiliated in front of the entire fucking school by a stupid slut, that's what." He spat, spinning me back around to face him.

I glared right back at him, but was cut off as our Principal tapped the microphone and began her schpiel about a fair race and how every candidate was equally special and now we're going to announce this year's Homecoming King and Queen. . .

I ignored her and jabbed a finger into Luke's expansive chest, "If you think that you can bully me, you are sorely mistaken."

And the envelope please. . .

Luke glanced up at the stage and then back to me, "Shut up she's announcing it now so just fucking smile and look happy about it."

And drum roll please. . .

I shoved him away from me, "Fuck you, Luke." I spat and turned to storm out of the gym.

Just as I passed through the big double doors, I distinctly heard the Principal call out Percy's name.

I couldn't help but smile and think Well, Percy, my vote wouldn't have mattered after all.