He shows up by her locker once the final bell rings with his hands in his pockets and a slight frown on his face. There's a distinct lack of an annoying quip or a "hey princess" and it's actually surprising.

Seems like he isn't quite over what she said to him in math earlier in the day (not that she regrets it saying all that to him, he deserved it and she was right) and now it's awkward between them.

She knows it's awkward because it's unnerving that Percy hasn't said some dumb shit to her yet. Not that she would ever admit that to him.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain."

Of all the things she could have said to fill up the weird silence, of course she chooses the stupidest one.

"Seaweed Brain?" He looks genuinely confused and she refuses to give into embarrassment.

So she forges on ahead because what other option does she even have at this point. "Yeah, cause you're dumb so your head is full of seaweed and your eyes…" she trails off making a random gesture in the air in front of his face.

The smile that makes its way onto his face makes her instantly regret opening her mouth. "My eyes?"

"They look like rotten seaweed," she deadpans in an attempt to save the way the conversation is going.

But his smile just grows as he raises an eyebrow at her. "So you're looking into my eyes?"

"Yes Percy, I'm drowning in them," she rolls her eyes to further emphasize her point.

"It's okay, princess," he says with a wide smile as they begin to walk. "Most people do."

She fake-gags because who even says that? As if she has nothing better to do then to look at his stupid eyes, anyway.

But somehow they're back to where they were before this morning at math, and she wants to maintain it so she continues on.

"They must not have anything better to do." She finds herself biting back a smile, and oh god, is she actually enjoying this?

"It's 'cause they want me to do them."

Never mind, she takes it all back.

"Eww! Percy! That's so gross!"

He just throws his head back and laughs and she smiles when he isn't looking, but only because this is better than him sulking and not because she thinks it was funny.

Mr. Brunner calls them to his desk as soon as they walk in. "There you two are, I've got a project for you guys."

"Sure, what do you need?" Annabeth asks immediately. And as he turns to retrieve some papers, Percy bends down to whisper in her ear.

"Me."

She elbows him and hopes her face isn't bright red just as Mr. Brunner turns back around. It's a stupid, untrue joke and she just…can't believe he said it in front of a teacher like that.

"Are you okay Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner asks, which just makes her want to sink into the floor, but she pushes on.

"Of course, you were saying?"

"We need the flyers for spirit week. These are the themes we decided on earlier, you can coordinate with Travis and Connor for the songs during passing period."

She nods, quickly taking the paper from him and turning away. Percy chuckles beside her, a complete 180 from his earlier mood.

"Are you okay, Annabeth?" he mocks quietly and not for the first time, she wonders if this payback plan is worth it.

She doesn't respond, just beelines to Travis and Connor.

"Annabeth," Connor greets with a wave. There are paint flecks on his fingers and he notices her looking at them before he quickly puts his hand down. (Not before she shoots him a knowing smile, though).

"What brings our almighty president to our neck of the woods?" Travis adds.

"I'm here too," Percy mumbles, but not quietly enough.

Connor turns to look at him. "Our almighty president and the resident fuckboy," he amends Travis's words.

Percy's frown deepens and it's clear he's about to retort, but before he can say something and cause more problems, Annabeth cuts in.

"We need to review the playlist for spirit week." She holds the paper out for them to review.

"We'll play I'll Sleep When I'm Dead on Monday," Travis decides after a moment of looking at the paper.

"By Bon Jovi?" Annabeth asks, wondering where this came from.

Travis nods. "'Cause it's pajama day."

"Oh my god…you know we need at least eight songs right? And you can't just play songs related to sleep for pajama day."

"I think it's great!" Connor pipes up. "We should do a sleep theme."

"How many sleep-related songs are there?"

"Enough," Connor answers with a grin. "Come sleep over and I'll play 'em for you," he adds, shooting her a wink.

She's about to roll her eyes and tease him back when Percy speaks up for the first time.

"That's not even a funny joke."

His tone is hard and when she turns to look at him the frown is back, stronger than ever. Actually, he looks a little…pissed?

It's rich coming from the guy who had just made a worse version of the same joke earlier.

Connor raises an eyebrow at him. "At least it's just a joke. I don't follow through like you do."

Another fuckboy jab, at this point Percy looks livid. The last thing she needs is Percy starting a fight.

"Why don't you guys come up with the playlist and bring it to me once you're done?" she says, moving in between Percy and Connor who are having some sort of staring contest. "We'll review it together."

"Sure thing," Travis responds, as she grabs Percy's arm to pull him towards the computers.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" she asks as soon as they're out of earshot.

"What?"

She glares at him. "You didn't have to be so mean!"

"It was a shitty joke!"

"You made an even worse one not even ten minutes ago!"

That shuts him up. He just glares and shoves his hands back into his pockets. Annabeth sighs, trying to ignore the part of her wondering if that's his way of pouting and how even if it is, it isn't her business anyway.

What's Percy's deal anyway? Why is he the only one who can make a shitty joke about sex? Connor was right that he didn't mean it, that's just how her and Connor are. Percy, on the other hand…

She starts up the computer, Percy slumping down on the seat next to her, and begins to outline the flyer.

"Red or blue?" she asks absently, trying out some font colors.

"Blue."

Percy's answer surprises her, she didn't think he'd actually have an input. As she turns towards him to find that he'd already been looking at her. His gaze drops when their eyes meet and he leans back.

She wants to say something, question him, but she doesn't really know how to phrase it. Why were you looking at me? Why were you so mad at Connor? Why—

She needs to focus on the flyer. She continues to type, Percy staying silent, but her mind is still teeming with too many thoughts.

"What do you think?" a voice breaks her out of her head and she turns to see Travis holding out a piece of paper.

She skims through the track list.

"Taylor Swift is on here a lot," she comments handing it back to him.

"As she should be," Travis replies and she really can't argue there.

"This is good guys, thanks!"

"No problem," Connor replies with a smile. Then his eyes flit to Percy's face for a second before turning back to her as he adds on. "You know you belong with me."

She shakes her head, laughing along to the pun.

"Guess it's not our love story," she replies.

Connor grins, putting a hand on his heart. "You hurt me."

The pain flecks are once again visible and she smiles, nodding over to where Rachel is bent over a painting. "You just need to learn how to get the girl."

He seems to catch on to her nod and blushes. "Whatever."

They leave and Annabeth turns back to the flyer in a much better mood. Teasing Connor is so easy ever since she got him to admit his little crush.

But about thirty seconds of silence and her good mood, Percy mumbles something.

"What's his deal anyway?"

"Who?" she asks, confused.

He just nods towards Connor.

"What do you mean?" Percy is the one causing problems with Connor, so she has no idea what he's talking about.

"Are you two…?"

It takes her a second to realize what he's implying and when she gets it, her cheeks flush for no particular reason, but surprisingly, so do Percy's. "Oh no, he's just a friend, why would you…"

And suddenly there's a tiny little thought forming in her brain. "…care?" she asks, slowly.

He turns away. "I don't."

Her shock turns into a smile. "You do…you got mad…" She's connecting all the dots now. Oh my god...

He scowls at her before looking at the screen. "Will you just finish this damn thing?"

Oh, but Percy's embarrassed for once and she plans on making the most of it. "You're changing the topic," she sings. "Is someone…jealous?"

"No!"

It just further proves her point.

She smiles wider. "Uh huh, suuureeee."

His cheeks are tinged with pink as he makes a face. "You're thinking too much, just shake it off."

Now that is the last thing she expected to come from him. Her surprise must be evident because he smirks at her, embarrassment completely gone.

The flyer isn't done, but she's learned a lot more about Percy Jackson.

-.-

"I can't believe he was actually jealous," Thalia says over the video call. Annabeth had called her and Piper as soon as she got home to update them about the news.

"This is great," Piper says. "It means the plan is working."

Thalia is still looking at her in disbelief. "How did you manage that? What did you even do?"

Annabeth shrugs. "Nothing. I don't really know what happened. I was just talking to Travis and Connor normally and—"

"Yeah but you and Connor are constantly teasing each other," Piper cuts in. "So I can see Percy feeling left out."

"What a sucker," Thalia comments, leaning back in her chair.

"But it's good that he's falling for it. He needs a taste of his own medicine," Piper points out.

Percy's cocky smirk comes to mind at the words. For a brief second the image flickers to him smiling at her in those rare moments they're actually okay. But then she remembers his attitude in math class and how she'd put him in his place. That had felt good.

"Yeah…" Thalia nods. "It just sucks that Annabeth has to be the one to do it."

"It has to be her," Piper replies. "He picks on her the most."

They both look at her and she shrugs. She doesn't know why either.

"She's like the only person he picks on." Thalia rolls her eyes as she says the words.

"Yeah…" Piper drifts off, looking at her thoughtfully. Even through the screen she can feel the weight of Piper's gaze.

"What?" she asks, squirming a little. But Piper just shakes her head and takes a sip of the coffee she's drinking.

"Nothing."

There's something to her tone that makes Annabeth think it's more than nothing, but she'd had a long day so she lets it go for now, listening to Thalia talk about her horrible chemistry teacher instead.

A/N: And we finally get to see what happened after that tense math class! (More tension lol, but it's different) Tune in in two weeks to see what's going to happen next with these two (I have not written enough slow-burns to know how to say this well)

Anyway, I hope you guys liked it! And I'd love to hear your thoughts, so Please Review!

And as always, thanks for reading!