Okay, first of all...HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND HAPPY NEW YEARS!

Secondly, I'm sorry for not updating sooner. School was hectic and life got busier as I was managing school and being a technician for a color guard team for their marching season, so most of you guys know that it means no more weekends. BUT on the bright side, I got straight A's for my first quarter (along with a lot of tears and all nighters because of finals) and my band got High Auxiliary, High Percussion, and High Visual at Championship! Whoohoo! BUT you know the most fucked up part is? We still ended up getting 4th place and not qualifying for Grand Champs. BUT whatever! We still got plaques to prove it. So suck it!

Thirdly, I meant to update a week ago, but its been crazy because of the holidays, and the winter season coming soon. Sorry!

drummergirl1112: Thank you! That really means a lot!

Guest (staff changes): That must suck, I'm sorry about that. Having a new director every two years doesn't build any stability, and every band needs that for it to grow successfully.

AlyssPotter: Bluuuue! The Award Ceremony was crazy huh? Anyway how was your season? Any crazy band moments? And I love the song too, its a great way to get the crowd hyped up!

Musicaddict135: That sounds like fun, my band was sadly way too lazy to do that. p.s. I didn't steal your idea, I have every chapter outlined with events since the beginning so it was purely coincidental. But hey, great minds think alike right?

Guest (Sep. 14) Dude, that's dark, but what a really good idea!

Forever-Fangirl-PJO-HP: Soon, my friend...soon...

all times pass: Thank gods I guessed it right! How did your season turn out?

Disclaimer: Do not own

Enjoy!

Third Person' POV

Usually Homecoming Games were important, the time when the nominees for the Homecoming King and Queen would be announced, so it was expected that the entire stadium would be packed. But the game also gave some boys extra time to do a very late Homecoming proposal.

There was an hour left until the game started and the drumline were getting dressed into their uniforms.

"Hey, Travis, want to make a bet? If the team actually wins today, you have to ask Katie out to Homecoming," Connor smiled. The guys in the line laughed.

Travis's face turned red. "Dude, are you deaf? We can't even go to the dance." He smacked his brother's head with his hand.

"Is that a deal then?"

"You're on." They shook hands, both wearing the mischievous smirk that everybody was familiar with.

"I would love to see Katie kick his ass for asking her out," Percy laughed.

"Hey, I could handle her, alright?" Travis defended himself even though he knew that he couldn't. He went on to say how he was tough enough to handle Katie, but Percy couldn't listen to a word he was saying. All he thought of was the game tonight, and Annabeth, but mostly the performance tonight.

"Hurry up guys, we have less than an hour until we perform. You boys dress slower than the girls!" Thalia marched inside the room screaming her lungs out. She could be pretty scary when she wanted to be.

"Whoa, drum major, the game hasn't even started yet," Travis looked as confused as the rest of the drumline.

"Ugh, to think that I expected the old members in the section would remember the tradition for every Homecoming game," Thalia scowled and put her hands on her hips.

Some of the were still confused until…

"Oh, shoot!" Connor ran out with his jacket unzipped and grabbed his instrument.

"Connor what is it?" Travis asked, for everybody was still confused.

"We perform before the game for Homecoming, you idiots!"

The entire line haphazardly rushed to grab their equipment, some even forgetting to grab their shakos and zip up their jacket.

Thalia felt better knowing that her band was up to par with the game tonight. She grabbed Percy's jacket that fell on the floor and ran to catch up with him.

"Come on, we need to hurry." She handed him the jacket, noticing that all he had was his uniform and his instrument. "Is that what you're wearing for tonight?"

Percy looked over what he was wearing. "What do you mean…?"

The stadium was right in front of them. It was more crowded and decorated than usual because of the event tonight.

"You really are a Seaweed Brain like Annabeth says," Thalia scoffed and rolled her eyes, "You're nominated for king, which means that you have to escort one of the nominated queens during the halftime performances."

Percy dropped his sticks. "What? When did I sign up for that crap?"

"When you got nominated," she grunted and dragged Percy's arm to the stadium. They were already late and Thalia refused to be any later.

Along the way to where the band was warming up, Percy complained the entire time. Tonight was supposed to be a smooth and easy night for him. He hadn't had one of those nights since Annabeth showed up.

Already, the game was off to a good start. The band finished another run of the show with minor mistakes. Well, minor that the audience couldn't see them, but Mr. D saw that the visuals for the 4th song was messy, and that the backdrops kept falling because of the windy night. On the bright side at least the backdrops were each falling every measure.

By the end of the first quarter, Percy was deliberately thinking of an escape from his upcoming doom during halftime.

He knew for sure that he was going to get ridiculed by the drumline and the band. And more importantly, what if Annabeth makes fun of him? Laughed at him?

Percy thought about it. He could fake a heart attack, go hide in the band room, or fake a vomit in the restroom (even though Mr. D would kill him for staining his uniform). He had to think quick and fast before it was too late. Unfortunately, the schools closed the gates once the game started in case of any strangers or taggers, so hiding in the band room wasn't an option.

Percy had to admit, Annabeth looked nice tonight. She always looked nice in her dress with her hair done and make up, kind of like what she would wear to a dance.

Oh god, he need to think of an escape plan quick before he lost his train of thought because of Wise Girl.

The other team just scored another touchdown, dampening the mood yet again on the eventful night. Only five minutes left of the second quarter to go.

Everybody could see that the student body was preparing for the show at halftime.

"Peter, they just told me you need to get down there in three minutes," Mr. D called, referring to the people in charge of the homecoming show.

"Wait, Thalia, what's going on?" Annabeth asked the drum major. She was still new to the traditions at Goode High School and had no idea what was happening at the moment. What she did know was that Percy looked like he was about to crap his pants.

But before Thalia could reply, Percy ran down the bleachers to where the two was.

"Thalia, I refuse to go down there. I mean, I don't even want to be king. So can you please try to hide me, please?" He sounded desperate.

"Percy," Thalia grabbed his shoulders. "You need to get a grip and be a man for once in your life. But since I hate school events as much as you do, we'll hide you behind the band."

Percy felt relieved like immense pressure just lifted off his shoulders. He even almost hugged the person closest to him—Annabeth—from the good news. Almost though, because that would've been awkward.

"Thank you, Thals."

"It wasn't my idea, you can thank Mr. D for that later." She smirked and went to give new orders to the band.

'Mr. D?,' Percy thought.

As if Mr. D knew what Percy was thinking, he looked over and winked before turning back and reassuming his dour expression.

Annabeth laughed at the surprised gesture. "Care to explain to me what is happening?"

"Uh, long story short, those nominated for king and queen are supposed to do this big whole performance at halftime. And I'm supposed to escort one of the queens across the entire track."

She laughed even harder. No wonder he wanted to hide.

"Ok, now this is all making sense." She gestured to the chaos that was happening in front of them.

Thalia was apparently making a wall made up of the bigger guys in the band, the tenors, the bass drums, and the tubas. The instruments were staggered in front of the guys, like how it would be if they were about to play on the bleachers, except they were more squeezed together than usual. A casual bystander, with no knowledge of band practices, would think nothing of the formation. And for a band with more than a 150 members, it was hard to tell the difference.

And honestly, it looked so stupid that it just might work.

Despite it all, the band were all giving Percy thumbs ups, happily knowing that they were helping out a fellow band mate, and possibly pissing off the student council in the process.

"OK, you are hiding behind them." Thalia pointed Percy to the big mass. "You'll just have to crouch down so you won't be seen on top."

"You guys better not fart," he accused them as he was getting in position.

"No promises," Travis smirked.

Then, the signal for the end of the second quarter rang.

Annabeth told him a good luck before returning back to her team. Suddenly, the night felt a lot better for Percy.

Thalia conducted the band through the fight song when a shriek came out of nowhere.

"Percy! Percy! Where are you?" Surprise, surprise, it was Rachel. She came racing down to where the band was. From what she was wearing, it looked like she was about to trip any moment.

The band erupted in laughter at seeing Rachel basically screaming Thalia's ears off, but also because they knew where Percy was.

He cussed and crouched down even further so that he wouldn't be seen.

"Dude, this is hilarious," Travis whispered to Percy and the rest.

"What do you mean where is Percy?" Thalia put her hands on her hips, the impatience only partially faked. She absolutely loathed when somebody interrupted her conducting or playing.

"What? Are you stupid or something? How did you even get drum major?" It seemed like absolute disgust dripped from every word that came out of Rachel's mouth.

A few excited titters escaped the band.

"Damn, your ex is about to get smacked by your cousin," Travis whispered.

Percy chuckled. He would love to see that.

"Look here, missy, as you can see Percy is not here, he is probably in the restroom, so why don't you leave because you're about to miss your chariot."

The chariot that Thalia was referring to were the five Porsches parked on the track, specifically for the kings and queens nominated.

"Fine, he better be out of the restroom in two minutes!" She left but not before leaving a stomp on the floor and glaring daggers to Thalia, and Annabeth.

The whole shebang was about to start. Normally the band wouldn't care as much, but some of them couldn't help but watch this time.

Connor and some of the tuba players were able to move a little for Percy to see and breathe.

The speaker announced each of the queens and their profile. From the other side of the stadium everybody could see Rachel running to catch up with her ride.

"Slow down the damn car! What are you doing!"

Poor speaker, he was rudely interrupted by Rachel and all the audience focused on her instead of him.

"She does know that the cars are going around a mile per hour right?" Annabeth whispered to Thalia. She loved what was happening; events like these never happened at her old school.

"Yeah, but with those heels? I'm surprised she hasn't eaten crap yet," Thalia snickered.

"Ooh, the drum major cussing in her uniform, I'm telling." The girls looked behind to see Nico, smiling. Thalia rolled her eyes knowing that Mr. D would never do anything when he is occupied.

Apparently, Rachel caught up with the car and managed to be there in time for her turn.

"Up next we have Miss Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Her hobbies include painting and drawing and her favorite classes are the art classes. She was in the dance team, art club and is currently captain of the cheerleading team."

Annabeth noticed how most of everybody's eyes concentrated on the speaker. And once he was done, they relaxed more.

"Beside her and her escort is the captain of the dru-" He couldn't finish because Rachel nagged the microphone from him when she got up to the platform. There was that evil gleam in her eye.

"Oh, shit," Nico cussed.

"Ssh, no swearing in uniform," Thalia hushed.

"I am actually escorted by my boyfriend, Luke Castellan."

Cheers abrupt as they saw their quarterback and cheerleader together. Luke went in for the hug but since he was covered in mud and dirt, Rachel pushed him away. How cliché.

Thalia gasped and Annabeth looked anxiously at her. She distinctly remembered that football game when she saw Rachel with Percy and… and Thalia with Luke.

She saw the daggers that Thalia was sending to the happy couple.

Yeah things like these would never happen at her old school.

Third quarter began and Percy came out of hiding. His right leg had gotten numb from his crouched position but he was glad he avoided his nightmare.

Wait wasn't Thalia with Luke and Luke with Thalia?

How could Luke have the audacity to hurt his cousin like that. On the other hand (he knew Thalia could take care of herself) now Rachel was off his back and Luke was off Annabeth's, so maybe he had a chance.

"What are you smiling about?" Thalia looked at his happy face.

Yeah, what was he smiling about, Annabeth wondered. He just witnessed Rachel and Luke together. He should be pissed, like Thalia.

"Nothing." He turned to Annabeth and couldn't help but smile more.

"Alright, captain, let's go back to what we really are good at," Travis pulled Percy back to where the drumline was.

The football team ended up losing, but with the hysterics that happened that night, not a lot of people cared. And on the bright side, Travis didn't have to ask Katie to the dance.

Nearly 18 hours later, the Goode High School Marching Demigods lined up a state away from home for competition.

Today was an important performance because this score tonight would partly determine their ranking for Championships.

Back at home, the students at Goode High School were preparing for another special night: the actual Homecoming Dance. However, all of the excitement from yesterday drained their anticipation for the dance.

It was about to start as the band was about to go on.

Thalia saw the anxious looks amongst her senior peers.

"No regrets tonight ok guys? This competition is ours, no matter what," They nodded at her with relief and with promise.

Percy looked down at Annabeth. "Sorry you couldn't go to the dance. I know how important it was for you."

The sincerity surprised her. "Don't worry, Percy. This is more important than a dance."

He smiled and grabbed her hand as they walked out to the field.

Online, the Homecoming goers were posting up videos and statuses about the dance. Since it was on a yacht, apparently, some kid got drunk from the alcohol that was sneaked in and fell onto the ocean. He was rescued in no time, but that didn't stop kids from taking pictures.

Rachel won queen along with her king Luke, even though he wasn't nominated, people still voted for him.

And one of the guys accidently tripped on a girl's dress and ripped the bottom half of it.

That was all of the commotion that the band was receiving when they finished their performance, changed, and got onto the stadium to watch the other schools perform.

"Oh man, a lot of shit happened at the dance," Travis spoke up from his phone. Nearly all of the upperclassmen got on their phones because of Travis's announcement.

"How the hell did Rachel win queen," Thalia laughed when she saw some of the statuses.

"I don't know but I am so glad that I'm not there," Nico snickered. The pictures online were hilarious.

Some were about the guy who fell over, some were of Rachel's and Luke's dance as king and queen, and apparently Luke tried groping Rachel which ended with her giving him a bitch slap to the face.

"Sorry we couldn't go to the dance together," Grover apologized to Juniper. He was honestly sad about missing his first event with his girlfriend.

"Aww, Grover, it's okay," she smiled and hugged him. Around them, the band aw'd at their "it" couple. It was really cheesy watching those two.

The entire night, Percy couldn't talk to Annabeth at all because his sections basically held him hostage far away from the color guard. It wasn't until the leaders were lining up that they got a chance to talk.

"Great job today," he nudged her shoulder lightly.

"Thanks, and thanks for not dropping me."

"Ahh will you always bring that up?" he rubbed the back of his neck, shyly.

"Of course I will, you seaweed brain."

Thalia turned towards them, looking slightly distracted. Annabeth had a feeling that she was still disturbed from yesterday, even though she tried her best to focus on the band.

"Come on guys, we got this competition in the bag, right?"

"You bet we do."

One by one, the schools lined up and marched out to the field.

Unfortunately, Percy couldn't concentrate as the placements were announced. Why? Because Annabeth was next to him, so he couldn't focus on anything except her.

She was so close that he could touch her if he wanted to. Run his hands through her hair. They were so close that if he moved slightly, their hands would be touching.

But they were at a competition, almost ready to get their award, so it would be completely inappropriate of them to do so. Absolu—oh screw it.

He couldn't take it anymore so he did the impossible and reached over to grab her hand.

Percy didn't dare to look at her through his periphery, but based on her reaction of her gasp, holding her hand was the last thing she expected.

He didn't even know what place the speaker was on until…

"And for first place the Goode High School Marching Demigods!"

They had won by a hair's breadth—apparently, the school who got second place was only an eight-tenth of a point away from them. The first place was an accomplishment that every Marching Demigod knew wouldn't have been possible tonight without Annabeth's help.

The bus ride home was filled with cheers and laughter. Eventually the pictures and statuses online about the dance tonight were dominated by the celebration and pictures of another first place trophy.

It didn't matter anymore that they missed the dance.

When the buses arrived that night at the school, it was empty and dark. Everything was unloaded from the buses and they were all waiting outside of the band room to be opened by Mr. D.

"Oh, no," he rummaged through his pockets and his backpack.

"Mr. D?" one of the booster parents asked him.

"What's going on?" somebody in the back asked.

"Apparently, I don't know what I left my keys." Mr. D was going through his backpack for the third time. This wasn't good, it was dark and cold on a Saturday night and who knew what would happen to the instruments over the weekend if left outside. Everybody complained and worried that they wouldn't be going home anytime soon.

"Alright, everybody set your stuff down and go unload the trailer and the trucks while I try to find my keys," he sighed.

"Well this is great."

"I can't believe this."

While the kids unloaded, the parents went around the school to see if they could get inside. Luckily, the janitor left a building, which was connected to the band room, open.

Mrs. Blofis went around and opened the back door for them.

"OK guys, come inside."

"Finally!"

"Thank you, Mrs. Blofis!"

They all piled in from the cold. Somebody tripped along the way getting inside because the lights were still off.

"Ow, shit, can you guys turn the lights on?"

Suddenly the lights turned on dimly and then Christmas lights turned on as well. The room was decorated with streamers and balloons, and there was a table of food in the front.

The leaders walked to the front where the parents were.

"Surprise you guys! The parent and the officers decided that since we missed the dance, we'll have our own dance here."

The entire band was awestruck, because this was the last thing they expected, considering they had just driven a couple of hours to go to a competition and back. Everybody was exhausted and lifeless, but the parents were still generous enough to do something like this for their kids.

Percy's mom is the best mom ever, Annabeth thought.

"Whoohoo, party!" Travis screamed at the top of his lungs and everyone else cheered on and rushed to grab the food.

How did the night became even more amazing? Annabeth asked herself.

She was currently sitting on one of the table in the quad which the parents set up as well with lights, music, and more food. Most everyone else were dancing, talking, and taking even more pictures of the trophy and the party.

"Isn't this amazing?!" Juniper hugged Annabeth in the back.

"Yeah, it is."

"And this dance is definitely better than seeing Rachel win queen," Thalia added when she sat down on the table. They all nodded because that was something that everybody would agree on.

"Tell me about it. I mean everybody here is wearing sweats and the band jacket and there's no hassle in spending hours getting ready, or looking for a dress, or paying hundreds of dollars for it anyway!" Annabeth chuckled because Juniper was giddier than usual.

"Alright, why don't you guys go dance."

"You too, Annabeth, this is your first and last Homecoming here."

"I will, but later though, I need to rest my ankle a bit." It wasn't a lie, she did need to rest, just not her ankle. Thalia saw the lie but decided to drag Juniper by the elbow and head to the dance floor.

"Come on, let your captain rest."

She returned back, however, to grab her phone that was on the table.

"He's in the band room, if you're wondering." She winked and left Annabeth there dumbfounded.

Without even realizing it, she left for the band room. It was empty because everyone was outside. But in the corner near the pit equipment was Percy laying down, all by himself.

"How come you're not out there with the others?" she asked him.

"I'm not much of a big crowd person." He sat up to see Annabeth sitting near him.

Both got quiet as another loud song came on outside. She laughed as in echoed through the building. "You're cheery tonight."

"Can you blame me? This night turned out better than all we expected."

"Yeah, this band can pull off miracles sometimes."

There was something Annabeth itched to say, but she didn't want to be rude about it. Surprisingly, to her, he was handling himself really well, better than she expected. She wanted to ask him, so she did, because curiosity took the better of her.

"So... are you upset about the whole Rachel thing?"

"No, why would I be? I actually feel sorry for Luke." He was shocked by her question.

"Because you two were together?"

"Oh," he got quiet. Old memories popped back up. "That was a long time ago. It was practically puppy love."

She thought of him and Rachel kissing and how it was barely a few weeks ago when it happened. If that was puppy love, then what is his "dog" love?

...Okay, that was a terrible metaphor.

"Oh," was all she said, gathering her thoughts.

"Yeah, don't worry about it." Percy stood up and held out his hand to her.

"What?"

"Come on, it's a dance, so let's dance. And please not like how we dance in the show." His smile got to her and she raised a hand to grab his.

The lights were still dim, setting the perfect mood for them.

Rock music played outside, but Percy and Annabeth ended up in a slow dance. His hands were around her waist, a position that he'd gotten accustomed to within the past month, along with her hands on his shoulders.

"Were you always this short?" he smirked.

Annabeth smacked him on the shoulders. What way to ruin the mood. "Jerk."

"Hey, we have a truce right?"

"Yeah, truce."

This time, he acted before he messed up like a Seaweed Brain and before the drumline had a chance to interrupt another perfect moment.

He kissed her.

I must say that I fricken love this chapter.

This long chapter is my late Christmas present to you guys and hopefully you guys enjoyed it! p.s. You guys want to guess the name of yacht the homecoming dance was on?

For the bandos, tell me how your marching season went? I want to hear all about it since that I am sadly not marching anymore and I miss it dearly! Also who is excited for this winter season?

I will try to update a lot faster, because we are almost nearing the end of this story... so sad

And of course, thank you to my beta, Dessert Maniac, like always.

Tell me what you thought of the chapter! Review!