Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson

The ice clinked in my glass as I swirled it contemplatively, gazing down at the drafting papers spread out all over the table. I was enjoying a rare moment of quiet. Others might not believe so. The cafe I was in was always buzzing with conversation- girls sitting around cradling coffees, loudly gossiping about each other's boyfriends, little kids with their parents, begging for another donut, guys arguing about football.

Most adults never came in here. They claimed it was always noisy, crowded, altogether uninhabitable. I didn't care. It didn't have bloodthirsty monsters. And, for once, I wasn't being chased by bloodthirsty monsters. Or helping others (ahem, Percy) get away from bloodthirsty monsters. Bloodthirsty monsters were always intent on ruining my day. And the rest of my life if they could get away with it.

"You know, I think it's a sin to be happy while doing homework." I glanced up, not at all surprised to see a brunette leaning on the end of my table. Alex was in almost all my classes- the deceptively smart one who managed to ace tests, frequent cafes, and still find the time to tell me every five minutes to go find a guy to date (even though I had told her on multiple occasions that I had a boyfriend. She didn't believe that Percy existed.)

"Hi, Alex." I said cheerfully.

We got along fairly well, actually. People believed I had no life and I believed they had no brain. Alex was the exception to this rule. "I can't believe you're doing this now." Alex commented, plucking a french fry from my quickly diminishing pile.

I rubbed out a pencil line, shrugging off her words easily. "Have to do it at some point." Then I had to grab her wrist to stop her from stealing another fry. "And stop eating my food."

She raised her eyebrows. "Look, Annie, that isn't due for, like, a month. Just let me drag you away from your precious work for five seconds so I can go find you a guy." Her eyes lit up suddenly. Bad sign. "Oh, there's this thing tonight and I think-"

"Alex." I cut off her babbling with a tone that brooked no argument. "First. My name is not Annie. Ever. And second, I have a boyfriend."

"Come on," Here she paused and said my name with much more emphasis than normal. "Annabeth. He isn't real. Just admit it." She twirled a lock of hair around her finger, grinning as I rolled my eyes.

"Alex, I'm not having this conversation. Again. I," I tilted my chin up and tapped the pencil end on a blank piece of drafting paper. "Am working."

That was when the door to the cafe exploded open.

Okay, not literally. It did not fly into hundreds of shards of wood and glass and land in coffee cups (which, yes, has happened to me). But it did smack into the opposite wall with an earth-shattering crash.

Looked like free-time was over.

With a sigh, I scooped my papers into a semi-organized heap and tucked them into my bag. "Oh my God, he's cute." Alex's breathless voice whispered into my ear. "You think he's single?"

I scooped up the last of the french fries before she could get to them, saying exasperatedly, "Alex, I have a boyfriend. How many times do I have to say-" As I glanced up, I found myself staring at a very familiar figure (currently trying to figure out how to get past the overbearing waitress). "Anyway," I said with a slight smirk. "He's not single."

Alex's jaw dropped. "How do you know?"

The guy looked up and caught sight of me. He dodged the waitress and her formidable stack of menus and skidded to a stop in front of my table. "Wise Girl." He panted. It looked as if he had run a mile to get here.

"Seaweed Brain." I countered, slinging the bag over my shoulder. "What kind of trouble have you gotten into now?" I looked him over critically. "Did you crash Paul's car again?"

"That was not my fault!" He yelped, dragging his hands through his hair. "Party ponies and cars just don't mix well. And besides. This is worse."

Oh gods.

What had my idiot of a boyfriend gotten into now?

Almost unconsciously, I started flicking through scenarios. If he had annoyed Artemis again, we would all be in for a very long day. Because no matter how cute jackalope-Percy was, I did not wish a repeat of that particular week. Jackalope-Percy was very hard to keep out of a zoo. Although, to be fair, human-Percy was almost as bad.

"Worse?" I asked cautiously.

"Sorry to interrupt the party," Alex said. "But who are you?"

Percy glanced next to him, as if he just realized that there were other people in the cafe. Alex had crossed her arms, disgruntled, but also looking vaguely shocked at the abrupt appearance of a random guy. "Oh. Right. Introductions." I said hastily. "Percy, this is Alex. Classmate." I added, because Percy was looking at her curiously. "Alex, Percy. My boyfriend." I added, a tad bit more viciously than perhaps necessary.

"He exists." She said blankly. "He actually exists."

Percy blinked.

"Anyway." I decided to stop this conversation before I was embarrassed beyond belief. "Percy. What are you freaking out about?"

Percy came back to earth. "Oh. Oh. Worst thing that could ever happen to me! And I mean ever. I," he paused and took a deep breath. I braced myself. "Have a physics test."

Do people think I should expand this or leave it as a one-shot? Please review!