The next morning Percy doesn't pass her locker. Which is good, because she has no idea how she's going to face him now.

Shower, food, and sleep has her in a better state, but there's no denying that Percy made her cry yesterday. And while she hates that he saw her like that, she still remembers the guilt on his face as she walked away.

I didn't mean to make you cry. Percy's words come back to her. They've been following her around, making her wonder just how true that was. The guilt on his face…did he actually not mean to hurt her?

It's too confusing and honestly, she's a little embarrassed and mostly hopes that she can pretend it never happened.

At least, that's her goal if Percy tries to bring it up.

But she doesn't see him at all until math class. He's actually there earlier than her for once and she avoids looking at him as she takes her seat.

And given that this would be the point where he makes some sort of comment to her, the fact that he doesn't makes her wonder if he's just planning on ignoring her entirely.

She doesn't know how to feel about that and busies herself with getting out her things. On one hand, it's easier if he's not talking to her, but she's sort of offended by the principle of the thing and—

A poke on her arm startles her. She turns to see Percy holding out her pencil. Somehow she missed it rolling off her desk and for a second she just stares at his outstretched hand.

"You dropped this, princess," he says simply. Is she going crazy or did he just call her princess without his usual snarky tone?

Before she can say anything else he throws her a cocky smirk.

"Gotta pay attention, princess, no need to daydream about me."

She scoffs almost automatically. "Yeah, right, Jackson."

He just continues to smirk and she turns back to her notebook as the bell rings, feeling her lips tilt upward.

So they are pretending it didn't happen. But there's something different…a shift.

Mrs. Clark begins to talk, but she can't help but glance over at him again. He catches her eye and raises an eyebrow. She quickly looks back at the board.

Yep. Definitely a shift.

-.-

"So are we finally done?" Percy asks, running a hand over his face.

His exasperation brings a smile to her face. It's amusing for him to be the fed-up one for once. She's about to respond when a knock on his door stops her.

"One sec," he says to her, his finger tapping the screen, before he turns to someone just out of frame.

The last leg of the script had to be completed over a video call since Percy informed her at the end of math that he couldn't stay after school.

"It's fine," she'd told him. "I can finish it by myself."

He'd just narrowed his eyes at her. "Right, so you can turn to Mr. Brunner and tell him I did nothing and then I'm stuck in an even longer detention."

This logic still doesn't make sense to her, because why would she even do that? Completing the script had mostly been her, anyway, with Percy occasionally agreeing or making some joke at the football team's expense.

But it's worth it now because Percy has most definitely not muted his mic and though she can't hear what the other person is saying, she can hear him clearly.

"Yeah," he nods to whatever the person is saying. "That girl I told you about."

Now that's curious… Percy mentioned her? He continues, "Yep, homecoming."

"Alright, see you later," he ends the conversation in an unbelievably soft voice.

When he turns back towards the video call, she can't stop the wide grin from overtaking her face. Percy looks confused for a moment before he realizes that he forgot to mute.

She sees the moment the regret enters Percy Jackson's eyes and she almost giggles out loud. (Wait, what? Who is she?)

"I meant to mute," he mumbles, running another hand over his face.

"I figured," she responds, still smiling. "So…you talk about me?'

He frowns at her. "Don't flatter yourself."

She shrugs as casually as she can. "I don't need to," she replies airily.

Percy rolls his eyes and being on this end of the teasing is so much better than the receiving end. She should really do this more often.

"Whatever," he grumbles. "Is the script finally done?" He crosses his arms, clearly trying to change the subject.

"It would have been done weeks ago but you decided you had to 'help' so…" She shrugs, shutting her notebook.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what I said."

He narrows his eyes. "Are you insinuating that I slowed you down?"

She smirks. "I'm not insinuating, I'm saying it."

It feels good to be on top. Even Percy looks a little taken-back by her answer. "You hurt me, Princess."

But the remark doesn't carry any weight. It's like he's…banting?

She doesn't even know how to respond to this.

"That's my goal."

It's even surprising to her that her answer also doesn't hold the same bite.

"Rude."

"Thank you, I try."

He rolls his eyes again, but she can see the corners of his lips quirk upward.

"Well, princess, it's been a pleasure slowing you down." It's clear he's trying not to smile but she sees it anyway.

What's crazier is that she has to bite her own lip from smiling back.

"Well, we still need to submit it to Mr. Brunner for edits, so you still have an opportunity to slow me down."

Why did she say that? It's almost like she's inviting this on herself.

He breaks out into a grin. "I look forward to it."

-.-

"This is great!" Mr. Brunner says after he finishes reading it. "You guys did a great job."

Well, it was mostly me, she thinks.

"Thank you," is what she actually says.

"I knew you guys could work together," he continues with a smile. "So Percy, you're going to help Annabeth with all of her tasks moving forward."

What?

How does that make any sense? This is the worst outcome given how much it took just to write a simple script.

She just plasters a smile and nods, and out of the corner of her eye, she sees Percy nod along with her. At least he's not causing a scene in front of Mr. Brunner.

But as soon as they are walking away he leans closer to her to make a comment. "Guess you really are stuck with me now, princess."

She raises an eyebrow at him. "You do realize that also means you're stuck with me."

He just shrugs. "So?"

"So…you hate me?" She can't believe she has to prompt him. Reaching into her backpack she pulls out a folder, and finds Percy frowning at her.

"Who said I hate you?"

She rolls her eyes. "Literally everything you do is to make my life miserable, Percy." Well, she thinks, except for yesterday. Yesterday was…different.

"That doesn't mean I hate you," he insists.

Now he's just being difficult for the sake of it.

"Whatever," she says, already over this conversation. "We need to paint in these signs Rachel designed."

On cue, Rachel walks up to them holding a huge piece of paper folded over itself.

"I'm working on the other one, but this one will go in the back. I marked the colors with post-it notes," she says with a smile.

"Thank you, Rachel," Annabeth replies gratefully, taking the paper from her.

"Yeah," Percy says from beside her, smiling at Rachel. "Th—" But Annabeth cuts off his words before he can begin.

"Are you capable of not being a douche for more than thirty seconds?"

Rachel laughs as she walks away, and Percy turns to her with a glare.

"What the hell?"

She sighs. "I told you, no flirting with or dating anyone in this club."

"I was just trying to thank her," he grumbles.

"Sureeee." She rolls her eyes and she spreads the paper on the floor. True to her word, Rachel had marked the different sections with the colors they needed to be painted.

"No need to get jealous, princess," Percy replies. She can hear the grin in his voice, and she stifles another sigh as she turns to look at him.

"Why would I be jealous?"

Sure enough, Percy is grinning. "'Cause I know you want me all to yourself."

Where does he come up with these outlandish ideas? She's about to say that he really couldn't be further from the truth but then Piper's plan comes back to her.

The plan she was ready to give up on after he made her cry but now…well, he's a lot more manageable now. Maybe she should try to play into it a little.

"Right," she replies sarcastically but her cheeks flush anyway, mostly because she's embarrassed about fake-flirting, but it helps her case because Percy's eyes widen a little.

Oh god, now he thinks she actually was jealous. Which helps her plan, but what about her dignity?

Thankfully he's quiet as they grab the paint and brushes. It all feels even more cheesy when they reach for the same brush and their fingers touch. She quickly pulls away her hand.

"Right," she says, clearing her throat. "Like Rachel said, the colors are on the post-it notes, let's get to work."

Percy stares at the brush in his hand.

"What?" she says, looking up at him where he's still standing. "Don't you know how to paint?"

He finally looks at her and she can see a different gleam in his eyes. "Wanna teach me?"

She scoffs. "You wish."

He laughs before kneeling down by the paper and dipping the brush into the paint.

Their arms brush and she knows her face is heating up for no reason now.

This might actually be worse.

-.-

"Hey, princess~" he sings the words.

She's right, it is worse.

It takes her a full ten seconds to decide if the word sounds better when it's said like this or when there was more of a bite to the nickname. (She decides she doesn't like it, regardless of the tone).

Her contemplation means she doesn't respond, which is fine because it's not like she wants to anyway.

"Hey!" he repeats, stopping beside her locker.

She rolls her eyes. "I have a name, you know."

He grins, reaching forward to tug on a curl of her hair. She actually freezes at the move because when did this happen?

"Princess suits you better."

Is that supposed to be compliment or a jab? She can't tell and hates even more that it makes her flustered.

"You know, pulling the hair of a girl you like is so fifth grade."

What is she even saying? God, she hopes she doesn't look as rattled as she feels.

Percy's grin changes to a smirk. "Who said I liked you?"

She refuses to be embarrassed by him again. She turns back to her locker. She doesn't need anything but she pretends to rummage around anyway, buying her some time to think of a response.

"Is there some other reason you follow me around like a puppy?" she responds, shutting her locker and turning back to him. She even bats her eyes innocently and watches his smirk turn into a frown.

"I don't do that!"

She smiles, finally able to get under his skin. "Aww, how cute. You're trying to defend yourself." Before he can say anything else she decides to keep the upper hand and starts to walk away. "Keep trying!" she calls over her shoulder.

The one look back is enough to see the flush coloring his face.

Never mind, this is way better.

A/N: Things are changing? Maybe? I hope you guys liked this chapter! (I definitely enjoyed writing it more than the angst anyway) Not too many answers though…maybe the next chapter will explain further?

(Is this working? Do you want to keep reading or do I just sound like a bad impression of a tv announcer telling you to tune in next time? Maybe I should lean into it…)

Please Comment! I'd love to hear your thoughts!

And as always thanks for reading!