After classes let out, Percy waits at Annabeth's locker for her. She has economics last period and it's on the other side of the school, so he leans against the wall and sets his backpack at his feet.

He's scrolling on Tiktok when he hears a familiar jingling sound. His blood seems to freeze in his veins.

Calypso.

All too late, he remembers that Cal's locker is only a few down from Annabeth's. He watches, heart pounding, as Calypso twists her combination into the lock, 1589, and reaches inside for her coat. He slumps down the wall, scarcely breathing, and fuck. He was handling this breakup so well (in his opinion) but just the sight of his ex is enough to send him back to square one.

She's smiling, dimples showing, caramel curls in a loose ponytail. Her bracelets continue to jingle as she pulls her textbooks from the locker shelf, and Percy notices that she's wearing the silver charm bracelet he bought her for his birthday.

Ouch. His chest clenches painfully and he thinks he might be having a stroke or some equally shitty medical complication. But then Annabeth finally arrives, nearly tripping over her feet in her hurry, open backpack slung over one shoulder as she hastily shoves papers into it. Percy lets out a sigh of relief. Annabeth halts when she sees him standing there.

"Hey," he says, nodding his head subtly in Calypso's direction.

Annabeth's eyes widen. She's frozen for a moment before she understands, and then a switch seems to get flipped in her.

"Hey, babe," she croons in her "girlfriend voice," louder than necessary and injecting fatal amounts of affection into her voice. He kind of wants to puke.

Instead, he pulls her into a hug and asks, "How was econ?"

"Miserable, as usual," she groans. "What about you? Calc, right?"

"Spanish, actually."

"No way. I can't imagine you speaking a foreign language when you talk english like a neanderthal."

He raises an eyebrow and says, "Eres muy estúpida."

"That's like the most basic Spanish there is. You literally could have learned that from your mom."

"I'm only in spanish I, don't be so mean."

He casually glances over at Calypso, who's fluffing her hair using her phone camera as a mirror. It looks like she hasn't seen them yet. They're going to have to up the game.

He wraps his arms tighter around Annabeth, pulling her closer. She mutters, "What are you doing?"

"Making Calypso freak out." He tucks his head into her shoulder, nudges her neck with his nose. "Can I kiss..."

"Yes," she says, the word coming out in one long breath. He starts to pepper kisses on her neck, keeping low enough that her collar will cover up any marks.

Annabeth runs her fingers through his hair, groaning softly. "Do you use conditioner?"

He pauses and asks, "What's conditioner?" before pressing his lips to her skin again.

"It goes in your—mmmh, keep doing that—hair after you shampoo and— oh —you know what, never mind…"

Annabeth plays her part perfectly, moaning a little and whispering his name. He spins them around so her back is to the wall, and looks at Cal.

Calypso's pleasant smile has vanished and twisted into a scowl. She slams her locker door shut so forcefully that the decorative lights hanging inside clatter. Her glare is positively withering; they make eye contact for a second and Percy can feel how agitated she is.

This plan really is working.

He keeps his lips glued to Annabeth's skin until Calypso disappears down the hallway. Once she's gone, Annabeth pulls away hastily, flattening her hair. "Fuck," she grumbles. "So maybe you are a good kisser."

"Just wait until you get to really make out with me."

She just sighs. Pulling a tube of lip gloss out of her pocket, she stares into her mirror and begins applying it to her chapped mouth. Percy watches, strangely mesmerized by the way the wand passes over her lips, how the pink sheen glimmers in the fluorescent lights. Then he comes to his senses. This girl is Annabeth fucking Chase. He needs to get his shit together.

He'd thought that this fake-dating thing would make his attraction to her go away. Instead, it's like it's having the opposite effect—he wants her even more.


As they're walking out of school, he tries convincing Annabeth to hang out with his friends.

"I don't want to!" she says, jostling his shoulder and sighing. "Jason's weird, Frank's standoffish, and Leo…don't even get me started on him."

"But Chase," Percy wheedles, "you introduced me to your friends. It's only fair that I introduce you to mine."

"I already met your goddamn family, Jackson."

"I promise you'll like my friends."

She resigns. "Alright, fine."

They meet up with Jason and Frank at the park (much to Annabeth's delight, Leo had to work a shift at the local auto-body shop). Percy tries to make the introductions as painless as possible.

"Guys, this is my girlfriend, Annabeth. Annabeth, I believe you know Jason and Frank, right?"

"I have calculus with them," she says.

Jason begins pestering them for details about their relationship immediately, "How did this—" he waves a hand in the direction of Annabeth and Percy's clasped hands "—come to be?"

Annabeth answers for them, which is a relief to Percy because he's already kind of forgotten their relationship origin story. "We've known each other since we were kids, but we recently got to know each other again and, well, here we are."

"You know, Percy's always had a bit of a thing for you," Jason says, grinning, and Percy knows where this is heading. "In elementary school, he was practically in love."

"I was not!" Percy says.

"You totally were," Frank says. "Remember in second grade, when you spent hours and hours making that valentine for Chase? You bought store-bought cards for everyone else, but not her."

"I still have the card! He even used his favorite Finding Nemo stickers on it!" Annabeth says, nudging Percy, who's pink up to his ears.

Jason and Frank are bringing this up to embarrass him, and fuck, it's kind of working. Annabeth does not need to add this information to her Percy-insult arsenal.

"He's blushing!" she cries, cackling and touching Percy's cheek.

"Aw, is Percy embarrassed?" Jason asks, like he's talking to a toddler. Percy really wants to sock him right in his perfect face that all the cheerleaders seem to love.

"Uh, I can't stand all of you."

"Don't be embarrassed, it's cute," Annabeth says. She pinches his arm. "You look so adorable when you're all flustered."

Oh, great, he's somehow getting even redder.

Luckily, he manages to swiftly steer the conversation away from his childhood crush on Annabeth to more bearable territory, and by dusk, he's able to get rid of Jason and Frank by saying he and Annabeth want to do "couple shit."

They stroll around the park aimlessly, passing old couples holding hands, joggers, dog-walkers. Then Annabeth points to the playground, which at this hour is deserted; they each take a swing even though they're much too tall for them. The sky is growing dark and they'll probably be going home for dinner soon, but right now they sit in companionable silence, swings creaking and chains jangling.

He takes in Annabeth's outfit for the first time: a long flowy skirt, white tank top and a paint splattered jean jacket she probably borrowed from Rachel. It's very Calypso-like. Maybe Annabeth's trying to look like Cal, like someone who would be Percy's type.

It's funny, because his type is honestly just her. Annabeth Chase.

(Don't get any ideas, he does not have feelings for her. That would go against her beloved contract, so it's attraction, nothing more)

"You must love her a lot," Annabeth murmurs, "if you're willing to be with me to get her back."

"Yeah, I do," he says. Then he thinks for a moment and adds, "But to be honest, the being-with-you part hasn't been as terrible as I thought it would be."

Percy recalls long afternoons they spent at this playground together, getting into all sorts of mischief. They'd crawl up the slides until they got yelled at, sit atop the monkey bars and toss gravel on heads, terrorize the other kids with wild tales of park demons that would eat their souls. The neighborhood parents hated them.

His favorite piece of equipment at the playground was the merry-go-round spinner. He and Annabeth played a game where one of them stood in the center of the platform while the other pushed the spinner faster and faster and then let go. He remembers the way everything faded to a blur when that moment came, Annabeth's giggling like musical notes, the feeling of whirling out of control.

Annabeth smiles at him now, and he feels that dizzying sensation all over again.