So, Will You?

Annabeth POV

"You're doing it wrong, Seaweed Brain," I said to Percy. We were making additional posters for the musical. The art students had already made a bunch of posters and flyers for us, and they were all over the school and our small city. But, more publicity didn't hurt.

However, if they saw Percy's posters, it certainly would hurt.

"What do you mean, Wise Girl? My art is beautiful," he said gesturing at his large poster and looking at me.

"Your spelling is terrible, Percy. Your 'h" looks like a freaking 'n', and don't get me started on why the words are slanted," I exclaimed with a laugh.

He just huffed in frustration before turning back to his poster. "You're just jealous of my abilities, Wise Girl. Now stop distracting me."

You're the one distracting me, I thought to myself. Percy wasn't wearing a shirt because his hair was wet, and he didn't want to soak his shirt again. The visual in front of me only emphasized how hot and sexy Percy's outer appearance was. I watched as the tan muscles of his upper-body stretched and contracted as he moved around. Percy was tall, lean, and muscular in all the right proportions; years of swimming did him very well.

I sighed before turning back to my poster. However, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't sneak several more peaks at Seaweed Brain.

***

We had less than two weeks left before opening day. The show was falling into place, and we had our first dress rehearsal on Friday where we would go through the entire show.

Thalia, Piper, and I decided to go shopping for some make-up products today (for the show, obviously). I used very little make-up on normal days. Mondays were usually our free days to spend time together after rehearsal.

"Wait," a voice called out to us.

We turned around to see a freshman boy with platinum hair and light grey eyes.

"You all are in the musical, right? My name is Bob. I was wondering if you knew someone named Percy Jackson. I think he's in the musical, too."

"Yeah, he's our friend," Piper answered with a smile. Everyone considered each other to be really close friends now.

"Oh, thank goodness, could you guys tell me where he is? I'm a freshman, so I can never find him. Plus, he seems to always be busy."

That was true. Due to the musical and swimming, Percy didn't have a lot of free time to relax. Sometimes, we had to force him to go out and just have fun. The thing was that Percy liked to have fun. He was usually the life of the party, but he was very busy these days.

"He already went home, Bob," Thalia answered. "Maybe we can give him your message."

"That would be great. Please, tell him that Bob says thank you. Percy saved me from a bunch of bullies a few weeks back."

I smiled. That certainly seemed like Percy. He was always so caring about everyone, even people he didn't know.

"Also, I'm sorry if I caused him more trouble again."

"What do you mean?"

"Okay, you didn't hear it from me, but my bullies mentioned something about already teaching Percy a lesson once. They said that Percy would be losing more than just six weeks of swimming if they came at him again. And, then, they threatened Percy's girlfriend as well."

Thalia, Piper, and I exchanged looks. The situation was pretty clear. Bob's bullies were the people who attacked Percy, which meant that Percy knew them and didn't tell us.

Wait, Percy had a girlfriend, I thought quietly as I digested all of what Bob told us.

"What girlfriend? Wait, who were your bullies?" I asked a little too quickly.

"I don't know his girlfriend, but my bullies were these horrible seniors and juniors. I know a few of them: Ethan, Octavion, and Luke."

***

The phone was ringing for way too long.

"Hey, what's up, Wise Girl?" he asked as his face came onto my phone. Percy seemed to be walking in what looked like a grocery store.

"Percy. Why didn't you tell us that it was Luke?"

He paused. H's expressions turned serious as he faced the phone directly.

"It wouldn't have done any good, and I didn't want you to feel bad or guilty, Wise Girl because you shouldn't."

I let the information sink in, and it made logical sense. "I don't feel guilty, Seaweed Brain. I'm just pissed that that bastard attacked you."

"Yeah, me too, but there really isn't any proof."

I sighed. We wouldn't be able to do anything without proof, especially because it happened outside of school. I pushed Luke out of my mind as another question came up.

"Seaweed Brain, you have a girlfriend?" I asked with fake enthusiasm, trying to hide the venom I felt in my gut. I didn't like the prospect of Percy with another girl.

"What!?" he asked with a surprised chuckle.

"Bob said that they threatened your girlfriend, and that's why you back down from a fight."

Percy's eyes intensified as he looked at me, and I had my answer. The 'girlfriend' that Luke threatened was me. The phone call became a little awkward after that. There were certain topics that we stayed away from. For example, neither of us brought up our feelings for each other. I guess our last fight scared us into avoiding any risks to our relationship.

We changed the conversation and talked for a few minutes before I hung up.

Me as Percy's girlfriend. Did the idea make me feel warm and happy? Yes, incredibly warm and happy.

***

The week passed by quickly. Before we knew it, most of the cast members were at the dress rehearsal, but something big was happening. Apollo was freaking out into his phone, and we all waited awkwardly on stage.

Apollo looked really angry as he came towards the stage. Miss Artemis and Mr. Bruner also looked quite upset.

'What's going on?" Grover asked as the backstage coordinator.

"We had a cast-member fallthrough. She refuses to perform due to personal reasons, apparently," Apollo said angrily.

"Wait, who?" Percy asked.

"Rachel."

There was silence as everyone took in the tension. No one in the cast particularly liked Rachel, and this only made us hate her more. I mean no one just pulled out of their commitment a week before the show.

"Err, maybe I could go talk to her. We could resolve any, um, personal issues," Percy suggested. It didn't take a genius to figure out why Rachel was doing this. She wanted Percy, and she thought that this would be another vantage point to get him.

"No, Percy," Mr. Bruner said boldly. All our attention turned to our director.

"We're not going to sacrifice a cast member's personal life over some pettiness. Look, Rachel wasn't even supposed to be in this musical. I suggest that Annabeth plays the role of Jenny Lind and sings Never Enough."

I stared at him in shock. Wait, he had to be joking right.

"That is an excellent idea," Apollo squealed. Everyone started to slowly agree.

"Wait, what about my part as Charity?"

"You can play both parts, Wise Girl. You certainly have the talent to do so," Percy said gently from beside me. I looked at him, who just nodded reassuringly.

"Yes, I completely agree with Percy. You can learn the part in the next few days, and we can move around a few scenes to facilitate the same actress playing two roles. This is gonna work great. You were the best choice for Jenny Lind, anyway." Apollo explained to everyone.

Miss Artemis called everyone's attention and told everyone to get dressed in their first costumes. Most of the cast members had 2-3 outfits. Now, I would have five outfit changes (two for Jenny Lind and three for Charity).

"Percy," I said grabbing his arm before he could leave. "One week is not nearly enough time to-"

He placed his hand on my cheek and rubbed it softly with his thumb. "Annabeth, you got this. You perfected the more extensive role of Charity in like two days. You got this, Wise Girl."

He said it so softly and reassuringly as his thumb continued to graze my cheek. I stood there for a few minutes just taking in his support and comfort.

"Wise Girl, you love this song and this character, so you have to take this role. So, Will You?"

"Yes."

He smiled and cheered as he twirled me around the stage, making me laugh wildly with joy.