The Deal

Annabeth POV

Silena's party was loud, but it wasn't very crowded. She only seemed to invite her friends and their acquaintances. I was keeping an eye on the punch bowl because Leo Valdez and the Stoll brothers were here. They were the pranksters of Goode High, so it wouldn't surprise me if they spiked the drinks.

As I grabbed some drinks for me and my friends, I was stopped by the Queen Bee: Drew.

"What do you want, Drew?" I asked in annoyance.

"I'm just surprised to see a nerd attending this party."

"Wow Drew, is that the best you got?" She had to be kidding herself if she thought that was clever. Her smile immediately wiped off her face.

"Is there a problem here, Drew?" Thalia asked menacingly as she came up beside me. Everyone at our school, including Drew, was scared of Thalia, and rightfully so.

She simply huffed a curse before storming off probably to find her next male victim.

"What did she want, Annabeth?"

"Nothing, just Drew being Drew," I said with a laugh. "Here, take some of these drinks because I cannot hold them all."

"Yup, I got em," she said as we both continued walking towards the backdoor. Most of the party was happening in the backyard since Silena had a pool.

People were roaming around and dancing to the loud music blaring. Piper and Jason were dancing together on the left side of the yard. Hazel and Rachel were sitting at a table nearby. Thalia and I maneuvered our way through a group of jocks in order to get to our friends.

Suddenly, I felt a hand grope my butt, and anger spread throughout my body. I whirled around and threw my drink in the guy's face.

"Don't you dare touch me," I spat into the guy's face before realizing who it was.

"Annabeth, I'm so sorry if I touched you. I didn't mean to," Luke said firmly.

"I, err Luke, I'm so sorry. I thought you were some pervert." I immediately felt bad because I knew that Luke wasn't like that. I think.

"Wait, Luke what are you doing here?" I asked. Luke and I had dated for a couple of months, but then, he had to move away last year. He was my first love, so we tried the long-distance thing, but it didn't work out. We both mutually decided to end it.

"I'm actually moving back to Goode High," he said with a smile as he wiped his face.

"Wait, oh my gosh, really?"

"Yup."

We stood there staring at each other until I went in for a hug. Thalia cleared her throat behind me to split us up. She wasn't a fan of the mushy-gushy relationships stuff.

"Oh, hey, Thalia. How's it going?"

"I'm good, Luke," she replied simply.

"So, Annabeth. I was actually wondering if maybe we could pick up where we left off."

I stared at Luke's handsome face. It was very hard to get over him after we broke up, so I wasn't sure if I wanted to go back to him.

"Can I think about it for a few days?" I asked gently.

His smile wavered a little, but he replied with an 'absolutely'. I smiled at him before walking away. I couldn't believe that Luke was back. I genuinely didn't know how I felt about his return. I was happy, but something didn't feel right.

***

"Annabeth, why were you talking to Luke?" Piper and Silena asked simultaneously.

"Luke told me that he moved back into town. He'll be back at Goode High for the next year."

Piper and Silena looked at each other before turning back to me. Piper and Silena were half-sisters, but they didn't share many similarities. However, neither of them liked Luke ever since we had broken up. They hypothesized that Luke broke up because of another girl, which I didn't believe. There wasn't any proof of that either.

They were about to speak when a sob interrupted both of us. Rachel was tearing up as she looked at something in the distance.

I followed her gaze to see Percy Jackson kissing some girl wearing only a swimsuit. Damn.

He continued to kiss her for several seconds before pulling away. The girl had a dazed expression as she nodded happily at something he said. Percy smiled before walking away, and the girl squealed as she rejoined her friends in the pool.

"Hey, Rachel. Are you okay?" Hazel asked softly.

"No," she cried. "I'm so hurt. I can't believe that he broke up with me. I really thought that we were something."

I sighed. Rachel had fallen for Percy, but it was aggressively unrequited.

I stared helplessly as she continued to cry. Then, I felt anger boil in my veins. Enough was enough.

"You know what, I'm gonna set him straight," I exclaimed boldly to all my friends before walking towards the house.

"Woah, wait. Annabeth, what are you doing?"

"You'll see!"

I found Percy in the basement. He was playing pool with his friends in the corner, but there were a lot of people throughout the entire basement as well. I walked over quickly and confidently as my friends followed from behind.

"Hey," I shouted as I shoved his back.

He turned around in shock as I glared at him. While he seemed to be affected by my glare, a smile graced his features, regardless. I wanted to drop-kick the stupid smile off his face.

"Hey, Annabeth, are you here to answer my question from yesterday?"

"Shut up, Jackson," I exclaimed sharply. I had the attention of everyone in the basement.

"You can't have sex," I said sharply.

"What?" he asked chuckling as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, effectively flexing his biceps. I ignored his demonstrations.

"I bet you can't abstain from sex for 3 months because you're a player and an asshole."

"Abstain?" he asked in confusion.

I groaned in annoyance. "I want to make a bet with you: live without sex for 3 months."

He seemed intrigued as he stared at me. However, there were some deeper emotions in his eyes that I couldn't quite decode. Everyone was wearing a face of shock as they stared at us.

"What happens if I have sex and you win?" he asked firmly.

I thought about it for a second. "You apologize to every girl you've ever dated," I said firmly.

Percy looked at Rachel real quick before turning back to me. His friend, Grover, spoke up: "Percy, what are you doing? You can't take this deal."

Surprisingly, Grover didn't want to set his friend on the right path, which didn't make sense. Grover seemed concerned as he stared at Percy. They had a silent war between themselves.

"Scared you can't win, Jackson," I said with a smirk.

Percy shook his head as he turned back to me. "What's in it for me?"

My smile faltered. Percy actually seemed to be considering this when I was simply here to embarrass him and tell him off in front of everybody. I simply shrugged as a response.

He smiled mischievously before saying, "if I win, I get one night with you."

An intense silence filled the room as my glare intensified. His friends even entered the deal and promised that they'd tell if Percy lost the deal.

"Percy, you can't do this. You need-" Grover said again with deep concern.

"Grover, this is Percy's chance to not be a player. Why are you discouraging it?" Thalia challenged.

"Wait, Annabeth, are you really accepting this?" Hazel asked with worry.

"Hazel, this is Percy we're walking about. There's no way this horrible jerk is gonna go three months without sex. He deserved to pay for his actions," Rachel said firmly.

Silence took over once again as the whole basement waited for my response.

Percy held out his hand for me to shake as his eyes locked on mine. He was daring me to back out, and my pride rocketed up. My pride was probably my biggest flaw, but I was NOT going to bow down to Percy Jackson.

My hand clasped his calloused, but surprisingly, warm hand. I ignored the feelings of comfort, warmth, and ecstasy as I shook his hand.

A deal with a player was made.

Even Percy seemed shocked and worried by my response. We were both thinking the same thing: what have I gotten myself into?