White Lies - 1
Annabeth Chase: adept, cunning, a visionary, one of the smartest people you'll find on a set. All her struggles garner her praise for the show she puts on. A perfectionist, and it is clear in every bit of her work. Percy Jackson: clever, stubborn, determined, a bit of a jester between takes. Everything that runs wild inside his heart plays out on screen. Almost every review of him includes "raw honesty" and "authentic" somewhere in the praises. They can't stand each other. Now they have to play nice - and get the rest of the internet to believe they trade kisses and sweet nothings.
read it on ao3!
The door shutting behind Annabeth solidified the now apparent mood of the office. When her phone rang this morning, it wasn’t a red flag to see her manager’s name light up her phone screen. It was a little odd to be called down to his office, but that was something she pushed aside.
Now, the short conversation about her schedule to promote her latest movie felt like a bad omen. Filming had wrapped just two months beforehand, there were another eight before the film was set to premiere, and Annabeth thought she had more time. She normally had another few months to possibly film another project before an international interview circuit overtook her life. Mentally, she was kicking herself for not realizing this meeting was far from standard. At least she could blame her hangover for that- having satisfied her churning stomach with a decidedly greasy McGriddle on her drive down.
“Hey, awful fancy for my normal press obligations.” Annabeth tried to keep the tension from her voice.
She glanced quickly at the woman she didn’t recognize. Long, black hair was carefully braided and stretched to her waist. She had deep sun kissed skin, not much lighter than her own. Her face was beautifully sharp and disarming, with eyes the color of mahogany. If Annabeth hadn’t been on the other side of this woman’s calculating gaze, she might have wanted to hang out sometime. Yet, here she stood, being assessed by a stranger.
“Hi, Annabeth. I’m Reyna, I’m from the press team on White Lies.” Reyna smiled at Annabeth, dripping with professionalism, as she reached her hand out.
Annabeth took her hand, shaking it. “Nice to meet you.”
As their hands parted, Annabeth took her seat at the other end of the table. The chair squeaked as she sat in it, only accenting how quiet the room felt without niceties.
“Sorry to bring you down here,” her manager cleared his throat. “I thought you would prefer to talk about this here instead of over the phone.”
Annabeth leaned back in the office chair and sighed. “Okay, Chiron, just spit it out. I doubt it’s as bad as you’re making it out to be.”
The pause that followed could have choked everyone in the room. Chiron’s gaze was hesitant, almost nervous. Annabeth wasn’t a wild card or a problem child by any means, but there were enough instances of raising hell in her younger years to make people wary. Seeing Chiron brace himself, Annabeth’s stomach dropped. It was going to be as bad as he made it out to be.
“We were talking with the distributors and some of the producers,” Reyna bit the bullet and began the conversation. “The public response to the movie isn’t where we want it to be.”
Before Annabeth could stop herself, she felt her brow crease in confusion. “We just wrapped a few months back, There’s only been the announcement that it was in development. I mean, some set photos got leaked, but it shouldn’t have a whole legion dying to see it yet.”
“Yes and no,” Reyna sighed. “There are definitely devoted fans, given that it’s a book adaptation and all, but my bosses want to increase the hype.” The last word seemed odd coming from her mouth.
Annabeth let the silence fall again, looking between the two people in front of her. It felt like an intervention. If they wanted her to post more on her Twitter, that could have been an email. She isn’t hard to get in touch with, and isn’t inactive on social media either. Chewing on her lip was starting to hurt, and that is how Annabeth realized she was biting her lip at all. This really could have just been an email, and frustration was starting to overtake the confusion settling in her stomach.
“This could’ve been an email, you know,” She laughed it off, trying to diffuse her own emotions building within her. “I’ll post more behind the scenes stuff.”
Chiron shook his head. Annabeth swore to herself they would have sat in that room for twenty minutes before he would finally speak.
“I wish,” Reyna chuckled, the uncomfortable lilt covering the sound. Maybe at another time her chuckle would be fun and light, but right now, Annabeth’s mouth tasted sour. “Again, this is my bosses, but they noticed how much of the response was to how the cast interacted.”
The way Reyna’s voice dropped couldn’t be missed. Annabeth’s brow furrowed more, if even possible. Chiron cleared his throat, as if it was time for him to say something.
Fucking finally, Annabeth thought. He’s my manager. This is something he kinda needs to tell me.
“A lot of fans think that you and Percy are a good looking couple,” Chiron said.
Percy? Perseus fucking Jackson?
Annabeth’s blood ran cold at his name. This had to be some elaborate joke. There was no way on this heavily polluted Earth that she was brought to her manager’s office to talk about the bane of her existence. Sure, he was also Chiron’s client, but Annabeth knew for certain that he had to deal with phone calls from each of them complaining about each other. On several occasions, Annabeth had called Percy a ‘waterlogged brain that lost every useful bit besides how to be disgustingly insufferable’. She was sure Percy called her something on par or even worse.
“Fans keep tweeting that your chemistry is too real to be acting,” Reyna said.
When Annabeth’s eyes fixed on her, Reyna visibly stiffened. Seems she’s always on guard too. “It really wasn’t. It was entirely acting,” she snapped.
Reyna sighed and rolled her shoulders, and Annabeth couldn't help but respect her for being unfazed by Annabeth’s reaction.
“Well, we know that,” Reyna pulled out a manila envelope from her bag and placed it on the table. “But the distributors don’t care how fake it is. They want to capitalize on it.”
“Capitalize?” Annabeth’s voice hurt as she said the word.
This cannot be happening, Annabeth thinks. Not in a million years can this be happening.
This was sounding like something she would have read in some fanfiction while pulling an all-nighter in highschool. It was all so surreal, her skin was tingling. Her life was already unpredictable and almost unbelievable, but this was taking it way too far. If the next words out of Reyna’s mouth were-
“They want to use you two dating as publicity.”
Shit.
“We aren’t dating,” Annabeth said. The words sounded weaker than she wanted them to.
“They want to pay you,” Reyna continued. “I think you can pull it off.”’
Why isn’t Chiron saying anything? Just say something, Annabeth thought to herself.
Her mouth was dry and her throat hurt when she tried to speak. Yeah, she was talented and she worked hard on every job, but this was too much. There was no script, no fake person to become. Plus, this effectively took her out of the dating scene for whatever hellish time the contract dictated. The most glaring downside, one that instantly brought back Annabeth’s nausea, was that she had to spend time with Percy. Even the thought made her want to tear her hair out. Swallowing down her bile took all of her effort.
She didn’t have time to respond before Chiron finally said something. “I know I have a vested interest, but please look it over,” he started, remarking on his cut of the pay. “Besides, Percy already signed his.”
Percy already signed his.
The words bounced around her head, reverberating in her skull. The money had to be great for him to sign on. Something stirred in Annabeth’s rib cage, and she didn’t know whether to hate or accept the thought that came to her head.
He was so confident, if I don’t sign I’ll be a coward. He is not going to beat me in this.
The thought was bitter and extremely unwanted, but the competitive streak in her set her blood alight. Still, she wouldn’t believe it until she saw it.
“Show me,” Annabeth finally found her voice. “Show me that he signed it.”
Wordlessly, Reyna pulled another envelope from her bag. It was almost like she expected this as she pulled the stack of papers out and pushed them across the table. When Annabeth’s eyes fixed on the bottom of the paper, her stomach dropped again, her blood still on fire and a war in her head.
There it was, sure enough, his name scrawled in deep ink along the signature line. Percy’s handwriting burned into her eyes, and she stared at it as if looking longer would make the signature disappear. It didn’t work, and it only made her ears ring.
“It is enough to fund your documentary,” Chiron said.
Annabeth nearly started shaking at the mention. She had wanted to make a documentary on the life of runaway and homeless teens. It was the only way she knew how to share her own life plainly, and the ignorance of others was something Annabeth took it upon herself to change. She had been slowly pulling together studies, resources, and possible interview subjects for years. This might give her enough to truly make what she wanted. Chiron mentioning that this could buy her that chance is what tipped the scales. For as much of her that knew this is what she needed to do, the same amount of her hated that Chiron knew what to say to get her to sign.
“Hand me a pen,” she said, the words nearly a whisper. “Let’s get this over with.”
By the time her contract was signed, she had a stack of notes in her hand like a glorified checklist. The pages sat on the passenger seat of her car on the drive back to her apartment. The drive was silent except for the damped street noise as she thought about what she’d gotten herself into. She nearly left the checklist in her car when she got home, but being unprepared bothered her more than having a pile of papers to ignore on her counter. Annabeth could act like they weren’t there, but she really should have them nearby in case it was the time for her to do one of the things she was now contractually obligated to do.
Annabeth had ignored the several missed calls from Thalia on her way home, not wanting to handle the interrogation about how, let alone why, Annabeth said yes to this. Right now, true crime documentaries sounded like exactly what she needed; very detailed murder true crime documentaries. She wasn’t sure she could say she had bloodlust, but that was the closest thing she could think of when it came to anything involved with Percy Jackson.
Over the three months spent filming White Lies, the entire cast and crew lived in Toronto. Since most of the cast didn’t have any Canadian friends, except the already insufferable Percy, Annabeth was stuck hanging out with her coworkers. It was normally quite fun, and a non-issue. In fact, her friendship with Thalia started by being stuck on location for a movie. Not knowing the city, and being stuck with the same dozen people, really narrows the options of how to avoid people she disliked.
Percy’s presence had been nearly overwhelming on set, and decidedly unavoidable. They played both leads, and romantic interests. The way he so easily broke character after each take drove Annabeth mad, and the two never bothered to make plans when the work day was done. Annabeth made it clear how annoyed his presence made her, and Percy had shared his own words of agreement.
On one of the worse days on set, after Annabeth had been more sleep deprived than normal, she blew up at him between scenes. He had been laughing and joking around between takes of the major betrayal scene, where, spoiler alert, her character nearly dies. So, covered in fake blood and dirt, Annabeth ripped into him. She said something about him being ‘wildly unprofessional’ and ‘the most disrespectful person of the entire artform’ she had ever met. She was sure that there were some much harsher words, but they weren’t coming to her head at the moment. No memories sprung to mind that were positive, and trying to find any made her head hurt. He tried to use his stale charisma to get everyone to think that he wasn’t an arrogant, slimy, conniving, waterlogged brat.
After the few hours that passed, Annabeth finally picked up her phone. She was ready to actually talk to Thalia, but her missed calls weren’t the first notification on the screen. Instead, an unknown number had sent her a text.
hey, it’s Percy. this is weird lol
7:38 p.m.
Well, he wasn’t wrong.
Any empathy she had for the weirdness he experienced sending that text vanished when she remembered the sender. Percy made her days horrible when they worked together. Having to send an awkward text is the least of what he should be worried about. So, instead of sending a reply to ease his nerves, Annabeth decided to take a hot bath and ignore his message. The bowl of bath bombs she got for Christmas was calling her, as did some hot tea and Disney Channel movies.
This is going to suck, Annabeth thought as she sank into the hot bath. The smell of lavender and vanilla flooded her nose, her muscles easing as she closed her eyes. But I think I can make it worse for him.
✍︎✍︎✍︎✍︎
Percy moved his sunglasses to rest on top of his head, shutting the office door behind him. Chiron had called him about an hour before, wanting to talk about some press that Percy needed to do. Sure, Percy definitely seemed stupid to a lot of people. At least, he thought he did based on his penchant for impulsivity. Regardless, he knew when something wasn’t quite right, and this moment certainly set off alarm bells in his head. Talking to his manager on the phone was pretty normal, but the way Chiron insisted on meeting up wasn’t as routine. The woman sitting beside Chiron stood to greet Percy, reaching her hand out for a handshake. Percy took it, regarding her firm hands and long braid.
“Reyna.” She gave a short nod before letting go of his hand. “I’m on the press team for White Lies.”
“I’m Percy, nice to meet you.” Percy said, sitting down. He took this moment to study Reyna. Her welcoming smile didn’t feel out of place, but couldn’t entirely hide the firm brow and piercing brown eyes. Percy wondered what she was like with friends, but something gave him the impression that she didn’t make time for anything besides work.
“I thought you’d prefer to do this here instead of emailing everything to you,” Chiron said in lieu of a hello.
“This?” Was Percy’s only response, trying to fight the urge to raise a brow at his manager.
The room was too cold for short sleeves, but if Percy had worn a jacket he would sweat through it. He wasn’t entirely sure if it was the temperature, or the fact that his nerves were steadily building with each passing second. In the moments that he waited for someone to speak, the ticking of the clock hanging by the door grew louder. An audible reminder that time is passing, and it only gets worse the longer anyone waits.
Something deep in his gut churned, telling him that whatever they were going to say would ruin his week. Sure, it was a Tuesday, but it would color the rest of his week with storm clouds that wouldn’t dissipate. The silence met with the look in Chiron’s eyes confirmed Percy’s suspicions. This was as bad as he thinks it is, and they’re bracing themselves for his reaction. Normally, Percy would laugh it off and remark how he isn’t as scary and short-tempered as everyone thinks. All of his antics in school were unbelievable accidents, statistical anomalies even, but not outbursts. He wasn’t the type to explode when he got angry, but he remembered his mom telling him how cold his anger feels. Well, if they’re worried, I just have to keep a handle on myself, Percy thought.
Reyna cleared her throat, rolling her shoulders back before breaking the silence.
“The distributors want more response from fans,” Reyna said. “They don’t see enough interest.”
Percy had to hold back his huff of a laugh. Really? This was the big conversation that he had to attend? However, every bit of him that relaxed at the simple statement tensed again once his eyes met Reyna’s. They were trying to lead him in slowly.
“Yeah, there’s been like two announcements. Everyone who likes the book is already chomping at the bit based on the reactions to behind the scenes photos. What did they expect?” Percy tapped his fingers on the table, the soft taps turning into background noise as the conversation progressed.
“A lot more than this. Too much, really,” Reyna tried for a laugh, but it died in her throat. “They want to increase the hype for the film.”
“I can post more stuff about the movie,” Percy said. “But we have a few months before the international circuit. All the hype comes then.”
Reyna’s lips pressed into a firm line. Percy just made this conversation harder for them, and he nearly felt guilty. She looked to Chiron for help, and Percy had been ignoring the other man’s potent silence. It seems that Reyna’s look pushed Chiron to action, though, because he spoke up.
“They want you to do more than post on Instagram,” Chiron started, but he couldn’t seem to finish his thought.
Well, this wasn’t going the way that Percy had wanted. Not much could be done more than post on social media, and by the hesitation in his manager’s voice, Percy certainly didn’t want to hear the rest of this proposal.
“Fans were excited by your interactions with the rest of the cast,” Reyna took the reins again. The way she sucked in a breath showed her hesitance, and the growing grimace confirmed it. “They think you and Annabeth have real chemistry.”
Annabeth. Annabeth fucking Chase.
Percy’s face dropped, his fingers stopping their tapping. His whole body froze, and if the room was cool before, it was ice cold now. This had to be a sick joke, a very elaborate prank by Chiron to try to get them to make peace. Even though Percy hadn’t met Reyna, she seemed aware of the strain between Annabeth and himself.
Annabeth had almost single handedly ruined his time on set. She was a hyper critical, self-obsessed, pretentious, murderous street cat in a human’s body. Sharing a manager was bad enough, but being stuck with her for weeks felt like torture. Every look she ever sent him burned like a new cut, and she didn’t know how to relax. Every few days she was riding his tail, ripping into him about his unprofessionalism. Each time, he hit her back with her own inability to lighten the mood, and remind her that their job is supposed to be fun. If she wasn’t having fun, she could leave him alone and stop trying to ruin it for him.
Needless to say, they weren’t exactly best buddies. They seemed to know exactly when the other was hungover, and made it a mission to ruin each other’s days to make it worse.
“This is a joke,” Percy tried to cover the disdain in his voice, but his tone just ended up more cutting.
“My bosses, not me,” Reyna’s nervous chuckle came out, her shoulders tensing, “They want to use it to the film’s advantage.”
The films’ advantage? They already did that by hiring them and shooting all of their scenes. That was the whole point of the movie, they already used it to their advantage. This meeting was slowly turning into a downward spiral that would lead Percy into major trouble. He could sense it, the back of his neck got itchy when he was about to get in serious trouble. Right then, his skin was on fire.
“They did, by shooting the movie.” Percy’s tone was still harsh, but he was trying his best to hold back.
“They want to use the two of you dating as a way to draw attention.” Reyna said finally.
There it was, the other shoe dropping.
The thought of dating Annabeth was enough to set his skin on fire. His stomach churned with the knowledge of how easily it could go wrong, but his anger was the hardest to quell. It bubbled in his chest, threatening to spill from his mouth before he spoke. Percy’s jaw clenched so hard that he thought his molars would crack, and it took every effort to keep it from being directed at Reyna. Regardless, she was not responsible for this, and he remembered that.
“Why would I do this,” Percy said.
For a moment, he thought he did a decent job at reigning in his anger, but the look in Reyna’s eyes told him otherwise. They hardened in that way where she was preparing for a fight. Percy may not know her well, but that was a look he had worn before when he was a kid. His back twinged at the thought that he put someone else in that position, but he tapped the table to remind himself of the situation. She wasn’t a helpless child, and he wasn’t standing over her threatening her life. This was a meeting. A meeting that he hated, and that she obviously didn’t want to do, but a meeting nonetheless.
“It pays well,” Chiron interjected, “About as much as you just made on White Lies. Six months.”
Percy’s anger turned ice cold. If he was sweating before, he was shivering now. The money he made on White Lies was enough to get him a house, and making that much from this fake relationship would mean helping out his Mom. She didn’t want to move, everyone knew she loved her house. Hell, Percy loved it too and couldn’t dream of her selling it, but she always dreamed of Montauk. This could fix up a little cabin, and would guarantee his little sister would have the same happy memories that Percy had. Or maybe, if he did it right, he could get Estelle through most of college.
Silence fell over the room. Percy never felt like he was good at hiding his thoughts, and right now he was sure that everyone knew what he was thinking. The money swayed him, yeah. It would be a lie to say it didn’t. Yet, there was one decidedly major hangup with this.
“I’m supposed to think Annabeth would agree to this?” Percy asked. His question felt like more of a statement, but it didn’t matter.
“She already signed it,” Reyna said.
Silence fell over the room again.
“She already signed it?”
“Yes, she signed it.”
“You’re telling me that Annabeth Chase, Annabeth fucking Chase, signed away six months of her life to fake date me.”
“Yes.”
“Annabeth Chase.”
“Repeating it isn’t going to change my answer, Percy.” Reyna’s voice hardened.
She signed it? She has to be calling my bluff. Annabeth wouldn’t sign this if she thought I would agree too. Percy let his thoughts take over, the burning in him returning. Regardless, he hated when people underestimated him. If she signed it, I might as well lock her into the deal.
“Pass them over.”
Chiron let out a breath as Reyna passed over the contract. Percy skimmed the pages, still skeptical, but figured that everything looked okay. Reyna ruffled through her bag, grabbing a pen to hand over. Percy held up his hand to stop her, grabbing his own from his pocket.
“I have one, but thanks,” He said. As he scribbled his name on the marked line, Reyna placed a few papers next to him.
“A cheat sheet,” She said, “So you guys know the standard.”
“Thanks,” Percy said, pushing the newly signed contract towards her.
Silence fell over them as he checked the sheet for what was expected of him. Social media posts about each other and with each other, at least one interview, and public appearances to be caught by paparazzi. Those were all do-able, and wouldn’t affect either of their schedules that much. However, the last bullet point made Percy go cold. Photos leaving each other’s homes. Did it make sense? Yes. Was that a specific order to spend time alone? Yes. That sucked, but Percy had already agreed. This is why Mom says to read the fine print, he thought.
“Okay,” Percy pinched the bridge of his nose, “I’m going home. Please don’t bamboozle me again.”
“Bamboozle?” Chiron asked, barely stifling his chuckle.
“Yes, bamboozle.” Percy said, “Call me if something changes.”
With that, he drove home.
The drive home was silent, except for the road noise that found its way through Percy’s windows, and the hum of the air conditioning that kept him from sweating too much in the summer heat. The lack of music to sing to or passengers let Percy’s mind run wild. He drove on autopilot, barely paying enough attention to not get in a car wreck on his memorized route home.
Agreeing to this publicity stunt was a major risk. Sure, they were actors, but there was no script. It would be much easier if they were at least friends. Then, it wouldn’t be such a pain. Maybe then the idea of holding her hand wouldn’t fill him with dread. As much as the idea of the whole thing made him want to sit at the bottom of a pool, he knew he’d have to reach out. If Percy learned anything about Annabeth from working with her for months, it was the simple fact that she never conceded. There was no reason for her to start now, so Percy had to set aside his pride. Sure, he’d done that often in his life, but it never got easier.
So, instead, he did what his instincts told him. He sat at the bottom of a pool. His backyard was barely big enough to hold a pool, but it didn’t matter because he didn’t want anything else.
As the sunlight stretched down into the water, Percy watched the tiny bubbles from his nose rise to the surface. He still had time before he ran out of air, and that was his personal timer to think about everything. The serene calm of his fuzzy chlorine vision gave him a sense of peace he didn’t have before that moment. It eased the strain in his chest, and let him come to a resolve. They both agreed, so he might as well try to make it tolerable for everyone involved. There would be more than enough discomfort during public appearances, so he didn’t need to make it worse. Was his logic mostly because she would most likely take everything out on him? Yes, because that’s how she was the entire time they’ve known each other.
His breath ran out, and Percy got out of the pool, drying his hands before checking his phone. Grover had called him, and Percy decided it would be a good time to call him back. Maybe he can help me figure out how to talk to her, He thought. They were friends before he met me, he might know.