If Percy had been allowed to choose his roommate, Jason Grace would not have been his first choice.

He never cleaned up after himself in the kitchen, and never put his laundry out for Percy to take to the machines downstairs. He was constantly late for everything, including the building curfew. He always left the front door unlocked. And not once had he ever shut his door when he had female company, resulting in a rather unpleasant night for Percy, smothering himself with a pillow trying to pretend he couldn't hear the noises coming from across the hall.

Still, he certainly could have had a worse roommate. For all his shortcomings, Jason was one of the friendliest, happiest people Percy had ever known. They got along instantly, and there had never been any serious arguing between them in the three years they'd lived in the apartment together. Percy had always figured that if you were going to be stuck with someone for a while then it may as well be someone you can get along with.

The rugged, blonde mass that was Jason Grace was, at this very moment, rummaging through the kitchen, opening every cabinet, drawer and crevice that he could find, scavenging for sustenance that was not primarily made up of chips, soup or noodles. His golden hair was ruffled and crushed in seventy different directions and his storm blue eyes darted from place to place desperately.

"Dude, where'd all our food go?" he asked, perplexed.

Percy did not look up from the TV screen. He was in the middle of an intense battle on Halo 3 and he was not going to lose and start the level all over again just because Jason couldn't find a snack. "I think you ate it all."

"I ate it all?" Jason scoffed. He walked over and smacked Percy upside the head playfully. "Says guzzleguts here. I think you ate, like, three packets of Doritos. In like, one day. Don't you go blaming me for this."

Percy scrambled to regain his superior shooting skills as Jason strolled over and plonked down next to him. "Dude, you totally messed up my score."

Jason smiled unapologetically and, quick as lightning, grabbed the controller out of Percy's hands and took over control of the game.

"No way man!" Percy yelled. "Not fair! Give it back! Jason, I'm serious, I will kill you!"

Percy reached over to grab the controller back but Jason only pulled it further out of his reach. Soon there was an all out wrestling match for the X-Box controller, which Jason was winning, grinning like the evil imp he was.

"Not funny man!" Percy called out, practically laying on top of Jason now, still trying to reach for the controller. Percy was almost an inch taller than Jason, a fact that made him incredibly smug a lot of the time. However, Jason's arms were undoubtedly longer, which meant that he would always win the reaching wars on the couch. "Give it back!"

Someone at the door cleared their throat and the boys stopped wrestling immediately to look up at the door. Percy sighed and dropped his head in defeat.

Standing in the doorway was a blonde girl in light blue jeans and a white blouse. Her hand rested delicately on her hip, which was thrust out to the side a little. She wore no makeup and her feet were covered only by strappy sandals.

"Are you two lovers about done?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jason grinned. "Hey, Annabeth. Come to join the party?"

Annabeth raised her eyebrow further. "I think I'll pass, thank you."

Percy used the distraction to his advantage and launched himself over Jason's chest to yank the remote out of his hands.

"Yes!" he screamed. "Victory!"

"Crap," Jason groaned. "Thanks, Annabeth!"

The game was long over, Percy's character dead on the screen, but it didn't matter. He had achieved the goal of reclaiming the controller. He had won!

Annabeth rolled her eyes. As the dorm supervisor, her duties included seeing to noise complaints, making sure the students all adhered to the rules of campus, fun ruining, dream killing, and eye rolling. Annabeth seemed to do a lot of eye rolling. Percy guessed it was her favourite part of being dorm supervisor.

"How did you get into our apartment anyway?" Percy asked. "Don't you normally have to knock or something?"

She gestured to the open door. "It was unlocked. As usual."

Percy made a pointed glare at Jason, who smiled sheepishly. "My bad," he said.

"Just don't do it again," Annabeth told him. Then she turned to Percy. "And can you try and keep the noise down? Seriously, most of the time I can hear your yelling down the hall. It's ridiculous."

Then she turned around and strode out the door, pulling it shut behind her. "Lock it behind me!" she called.

There was a second of silence, and then, "She is so hot."

Now Percy rolled his eyes. It was such a Jason thing to say. "You think anything with a heartbeat and boobs is hot, Jason."

"No, seriously," Jason insisted. He slid to floor of the lounge room and sat cross legged, looking up at Percy on the couch. "Are you honestly telling me you don't think that Annabeth is the least bit attractive? Is that what you're trying to tell me Percy Jackson? Because, if so, I am calling bullshit on that, right here and now."

She was hot, Percy admitted to himself, in a bossy, annoying kind of way. There was no doubt about it, Annabeth was gorgeous. Her hair always looked sexy, even when it was unbrushed and in her eyes like it always was when she would come to their room at two in the morning to tell them to shut their party down. And every time she turned around to leave, Percy always caught himself staring at her perfectly filled out jeans. Annabeth was definitely attractive, but she was bossy and annoying, and Percy was never, ever going to admit it to anyone, least of all Jason Grace.

"I just don't see it," Percy lied. "Look, the day I admit that Annabeth is hot is the day you get a girlfriend."

Jason scoffed. "What's that supposed to mean? I've had plenty of girlfriends."

"No, you don't have girlfriends, Jason," Percy explained. "What you have is hookups. Some last longer than others. It may be a one night stand, or it may last as much as... Let's say three weeks. But they are always and only hookups. And you know why?"

Jason cocked his head with a do go on expression.

"Because you never get close to any of them. Sure, there's the sex. And there's the pillow talk and whatnot but, honestly, Jason, tell me the last time you had a real conversation with a girl you really liked."

Jason stared blankly at him, realisation setting in.

"Exactly," Percy said.

"But Annabeth is still hot."

"Oh my God."

"Admit it!"

"Grace, here's the thing," Percy said, pausing his game. That's how serious this conversation was. "Me admitting that is literally as miraculous as you getting a real girlfriend."

"Okay, but consider this," Jason continued, leaning in like he was about to tell a juicy secret. "I don't want a so called 'proper' girlfriend. I am perfectly fine with three week hookups. Anything longer than that is a relationship and I don't think I'm, like, mentally prepared for that."

"I know you're not mentally prepared for that."

"So let's shake on it," Jason decided.

"Dude, shake on what?" Percy wondered.

"We both swear off dating for the school year," he explained.

"What's the problem with that?" Percy asked. "Neither of us wants a girlfriend, right?"

"I don't want a girlfriend," Jason corrected. "If I start dating someone, you win."

"What do I win?"

"Eternal bragging rights?"

"Come on, Grace. Up the stakes."

He grinned wickedly. "Fine. I will let you choose the prize. That's how confident I am."

"Fine," Percy countered. "And if I start dating someone-"

"Annabeth," Jason interrupted.

"What?" Percy whipped his head to the door, then back to Jason. "What about Annabeth?"

"If you start dating Annabeth, then you face the forfeit."

Percy scoffed. "You're really determined to lose, aren't you?"

But Jason only grinned wider. "Hookups are fair game for both of us, but no dating at all for me, and no getting with Annabeth for you. If we break the terms, we face the others' forfeit. What's your forfeit for me?"

Percy thought about it. "You have to call your mom."

Jason stopped and grit his teeth, his jaw set. "No. My mom is not part of this."

"You asked for my price, that's it," Percy insisted. "If you start dating someone, you have to call your mom and talk to her - civilly."

Jason closed his eyes and looked like he might throw up, or maybe throw a punch, but he nodded briskly.

"Fine." He opened his eyes. They were merciless and cold. "Then you have to do The Dive with me."

Percy's grin shut off like a light and suddenly he was the one looking ill. He shook his head vehemently. "No. No way."

"You set your forfeit, and now I'm setting mine. You want to play dirty? Fine. Dirty it is. If you get with Annabeth you have to do The Dive."

'The Dive' wasn't so much a dive, but a spastic fall through the night. A ludicrous rite of passage that all the guys did at the end of their senior year - and unfortunately, Percy's senior year had just begun. It meant standing at the top of a ridiculously tall cliff - Percy didn't even want to think how high - completely naked, in the dark of midnight, and taking a blind leap to the bottom.

But it wasn't the height, the nakedness, or even the darkness that scared Percy. It was the endless depths awaiting him at the bottom.

Though previous jumps had proved that there were no deadly rocks at the bottom, there was an ocean pool that ran so deep no one had ever swam more than thirty feet or so without drowning - and the depth from the fall would put people at nearly half that. What if he couldn't breathe? What if he got winded? Or became unconscious? He could drown and he wouldn't even know it, and no one would be able to help him.

The Dive was the worst punishment that Jason could have possibly offered up, and he knew it.

"What's the matter?" Jason asked bluntly. "Scared? Hitting a raw nerve, am I?"

"Fine," Percy snapped. "I'll do the stupid Dive. It's not like I'd ever get with Annabeth anyway."

Jason's smile reappeared, although more tense than before. He held out his hand. "So we have a deal?"

Percy took a shaky breath before clasping his roommate's hand and shaking once, firmly. "Deal."

Their hands remained locked for a few moments before Jason broke the contact.

"Okay, but seriously dude, what are we going to do about the lack of food in this place?" Jason asked, genuinely worried.

"I'll go shopping later, while you're at class," Percy assured him. "Write me a list."

So Percy played Halo and goofed off with Jason for the rest of the morning. But the feeling of uneasiness never left him. All he could picture was Annabeth, bossing people around just down the hall...