Annabeth sat down next to Percy in the quad. He had chosen a table in the sun, and with the cool stone under her fingers she could almost pretend that they were at camp. But she never wore nail polish at camp. After a quick mental battle in Latin (where they had been partnered up for the first project of the year), she realized people would be talking about them anyway. Besides, his packed lunch looked way better than whatever the school was trying to pass off as food and he had plenty enough to share. As if to prove her point, the raven-haired boy pulled another bottle of Voltage Mountain Dew out of his cooler bag.

"Didn't have time to dye your Coke blue?" The girl joked, twisting the cap off with a quick turn of her wrist. It was a rare treat for her to get soda, as her step-mother never let it in the house.

"More caffeine in this," Percy said with a swig from his own bottle. "Mom thought it would help in class."

That was just like something Sally Jackson would do, she thought with a smile. "Does it?"

Percy shrugged, playing with the wrapper to his obviously home-made sandwich. "The ones where I'm not distracted by you."

Blushing, she looked around to see if anyone heard, "You can't keep saying things like that."

"Why? 'Cause I'm no pretty boy? You never seemed to mind before."

"Percy—"

Annabeth was cut off by a higher voice, "Percy!" Tawny was clicking her way over to them, her heels wobbling slightly on the uneven pathway. One hand was up in her brown bob, fixing it every time the wind knocked it out of place. "Percy, hi! I'm, like, sooo sorry about what happened in the hall this morning. Totes my fault!"

"It's Perseus," he told her, before leaning into Annabeth. "She talking in code, or something?"

"Yes, Percy," Annabeth whispered back, "very secret girl code."

"I thought so," he nodded seriously.

"So, like, Percy—"

"Perseus."

"—I thought maybe you wanted to, like, eat lunch with me?"

"No." He said, bringing out another blue-bread sandwich. Tawny wrinkled her nose and Percy smirked as he handed the sandwich to Annabeth. She took it gladly. Anabeth knew how amazing a baker Mrs. Jackson was.

"You got any cookies?" Annabeth's sudden question even shocked her a little as it came out of her mouth. She wasn't making the situation any easier, but Percy pulled out a Ziploc of chocolate chip cookies—blue of course—and the blonde grinned.

"You…" Tawny looked confused, "like blue food?"

"You like white and green food," Percy said with a nod towards the cafeteria.

"But, like, that's actual food," she said in a tone like she was talking to a three-year-old.

Ignoring her, Percy took a big bite of his sandwich. "Don't you have a diet salad to not eat, or something," he asked around the food only half chewed in his mouth.

Annabeth took a bite of her own sandwich to hide her smile at Tawny's disgusted face as the girl turned stiffly and walked away. After Tawny was out of earshot, Annabeth burst out in laughter. "Ew! I can't believe you did that!"

Percy took the time to swallow and drink some soda, making sure nothing was left in his mouth before he spoke again. "Gross, I know. But it got rid of her."

"You'll have to forgive her," Annabeth said before taking another bite. "She'd a bit boy crazed. Has dibs on all the new ones."

"People still dib people? What if someone gets in the way?" He wondered, his shoulder bumping against hers.

"No one has," she confessed, "until now."