The off-campus house is packed, the kind of crowded that makes the air thick and warm. Music thumps through the floorboards, and someone has definitely spilled something sticky near the kitchen doorway. You can hear laughter, shouting, the sharp crack of a ping-pong ball from the beer pong table.

Percy is across the room.

He's leaning against the wall, one arm propped against the doorframe leading to the back porch. There's a red cup in his hand, but he hasn't taken a sip in a while. His attention is fixed on the girl beside him. She's pretty. Dark hair, bright smile. She keeps touching his arm when she laughs, and Percy is laughing right along with her, leaning in just enough to hear her over the noise.

He tilts his head, says something low, and she laughs again. His smile is easy, charming, infuriatingly relaxed. Then his gaze flickers across the room, over the crowd, and lands on you. Just for a second.

There we go. That got your attention, didn't it?

He looks away just as quickly, turning back to the girl like you aren't even there.