More Than Just A Little White Lie~ A Percabeth AU

Chapter 9

Connor and Travis Stoll are both seniors at our school, even though they aren't twins. I've always assumed that one of them got held back a year but I can't tell you which one because I can't tell them apart. Percy pulls into a huge neighborhood and I recognize it to be the same one Piper lives in. The houses here are quite big and most of them have pools and pool houses. I can see why someone would host a party here. The houses are far enough apart that nobody can really complain about the noise.

I've never really been to a high school party before and I can honestly say that had Percy not dragged me with him, I would have graduated with that remaining true. It's not like I've never been invited, because Piper has been known to throw some crazy ones when her dad is out of town but I've never felt the need to get drunk and act like a party girl.

Percy grabs my hand as we walk up the entranceway and I can hear the loud music from out here.

"You look really nice tonight." Percy says and I blush. I wonder if he is actually this nice to others or if he's just really invested in this fake relationship. He opens up the large front door, there's a large foyer and a huge chandelier on the ceiling. Nobody is hanging around this area. Percy turns to face me and he looks at my hair. Before I can even acknowledge what he's about to do, he's pulled my hair free from the bun and it tumbles into my face.

"What are you doing? Do you know how hard these curls are to manage?" I demand but he ignores me. Percy runs his fingers through my hair for a minute or so and I notice that he's actually not bad at fixing them. In no time, my curls are flowing down my back in a princess-y way.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" I ask, looking at myself in the mirror that is positioned by the staircase.

"Youtube." Is his reply as he snaps a photo of me with his phone real fast. I look over his arm to see what he's doing with it and find that he made it his background. It's actually not a bad photo. He'd managed to catch me off guard so it doesn't look like I'm trying to hard.

"Ok, your turn. Take a photo of me to make your background." He instructs and then he strikes a ridiculous pose. I have a hard time keeping the camera from shaking because I'm laughing too hard and have to retake the photo three times before it comes out clear. Our combined laughter seems to echo throughout the house and kids start noticing us.

"Hey Percy, you made it! I was beginning to wonder if your piece of shit truck could make it here in one piece." One of the Stolls shouts as he pushes through the crowd. We all kind of migrate into the heart of the party, which is taking place outside near the massive pool. It's mostly dark now and there are lights everywhere. Dance music is pulsing and I can already tell that it's going to give me a headache later.

There are cups everywhere, some empty and some filled with what I suspect is alcohol. I wrinkle my nose as we pass a couple practically dry humping in one of the pool chairs. Percy's hand has found mine again and I allow him to tug me along. We end up with a group of guys I know to be from his school friends. He introduces them as Frank, a large Asian kid who still has a bit of a baby face, Grover, a short ginger-haired guy who I already knew because Juniper has a huge crush on him, and Nico, who is a grade below us and looks like he could use some sun.

"Do you want something to drink?" Percy asks me loudly over the music.

"Nothing with alcohol please." I call back. He smiles and then disappears. Not wanting to really talk to his guy friends, I find an empty pool chair and sit down. No fewer than 10 seconds later, two girls sit down on either side of me. Rachel on one, and her current best friend, Drew, on the other.

"Hello, Annabeth. Having fun? Can we get you anything to drink?" Rachel asks sweetly, though I know it's all a facade.

"No thank you, Percy is getting me one already." I smile back. Two can play at that game. Rachel's smile never falters but her eyes harden. This has got to be getting to her. As much as I don't care for Rachel, she and Percy were together for a long time and it can't be easy seeing him "move" on so quickly.

"So, you and Percy? Can I be honest? I never saw you with someone like him. I always thought that you'd go for someone more your speed, like one of the student council kids." Drew says, focusing her attention on her perfectly manicured nails. I know she's trying to get under my skin and it's working. I can't blow up on them here though so I just get up and walk away, looking for Percy. It's been 10 minutes since he left to find us drinks. I discover him inside, playing a game of darts. I suppose it's easy to get distracted at these things.

"Fancy seeing you here." A voice says and I rotate to see Will Solace standing next to me, holding two drinks. He hands me one of the cups and I tentatively take a sip, relieved to find that it's just water.

"Didn't have you pegged as a drinker. Also didn't have you pegged as the type of girl to go out with Percy." Will comments, taking a sip from his own cup. I glance around and check that no one is within earshot before responding.

"Yeah well, we are just pretending. You know the letter you got? Percy got one too, and so did Luke. While I don't like Percy anymore, I do still like Luke but I can't do anything about it because he's my sister's ex. So we're fake dating so that I can make Luke think I don't like him anymore and Percy wants to make Rachel jealous." I confess quietly. Will doesn't make a face or anything, just nods along with me. I like that about him, he's very go with the flow and doesn't judge anyone.

"You're succeeding then. I would think that everyone here believes that the two of you are actually dating. We've all seen the way he looks at you." Will says and I scoff. Percy must be a good actor. Percy finally notices me standing there and he smacks his forehead.

"I'm sorry, I got pulled into the middle of these two idiots bet. I see you found a drink though." Percy says and Will fades away, leaving the two of us alone. Percy directs us to a couch and we sit. He drapes his arm around my shoulder and I settle in. I thought that doing things like this would be weird but it's actually very comfortable. Percy has a way about him that makes me feel very safe. He pulls out his phone and turns it to selfie mode and tells me to smile. We snap a few and on the last one I kiss his cheek for good measure.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Percy whispers in my ear after about an hour of just chatting with random kids.

"I thought you'd never ask." I jump up and practically drag him to the front door, he waves enthusiastically to everyone as they laugh at my reaction.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Percy asks when we are back in the truck. I think about it.

"No, I guess it wasn't." I say and I mean it. That was definitely not one of the worst experiences of my life.

"Are you hungry?" He asks, pulling away from the curb. I look at the clock and it's 9:34 pm. Good thing it's a Saturday and things stay open later.

"I could eat." I say and he smiles. We ride in silence for about 20 minutes and then Percy pulls into the parking lot of a 24 hour diner.

"A diner?" I ask, looking up at the neon signs.

"Yeah, they have the best milkshakes. I've been coming here for years." Percy says, holding the door open for me. The inside is in a retro decor, looking like one of those 50's malt and burger shops where the greasers and uptown kids would all hang.