that way, but the more serious things got at camp, the more I found myself needing to call up Rachel and get away, just for some breathing room. I needed to remind myself that the mortal world was still out there, away from all the monsters using me as their personal punching bag. " Okay," I said. "Just a normal afternoon and two normal people. "But you're not normal," Zeus pointed out. Hades smacked him in the arm, and received a shock in return. She nodded. "And so... hypothetically, if these two people liked each other, what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss the girl, huh?" "HEY!" Apollo cried. His lips were twitching though. Hermes was doubled up laughing next to him. Everyone else was making an effort to contain their snickers. Percy just smiled sheepishly. I can't pretend that I hadn't thought about Rachel. She was so much easier to be around than... well, some other girls I knew. I didn't have to work hard, or watch what I said, or rack my brain trying to figure out what she was thinking. Rachel didn't hide much. She let you know how she felt. Athena looked at Percy suspiciously. She'd accepted that maybe Percy could date her daughter -- at least until she decided whether he was a jerk or not -- but it seemed that he also had feelings for this girl. Well, that certainly wasn't going to fly with her... I'm not sure what