Hey FanFiction world! So here's my first fanfic. I hope you enjoy.
Let me know what you think.
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Prologue
Like all good stories, this one begins on a day that is not so much different than any other. Like all good demigod stories, this one begins on a day that turns out to be as strange and as different as you can get. And, like all good high-school stories, this one begins with a bell.
Chapter 1
RING!
I jumped up, jerked awake by the sound of the school bell. My head was in my arms and my books weren't even open. I must have fallen asleep during Mr. Simmonds' lecture about the importance of the arts in our everyday lives. I've got two words for you. Bor-ing. But on the up-side, it's the first day of the school year and I've already set a personal record for catching up on lost sleep.
Don't get me wrong, I love school, but it's just so dull. Having ADHD and dyslexia doesn't help either. My mind wanders and I end up getting detention for not paying attention in class. It's just teachers rambling on about things that I learned about in eighth grade anyway. And that isn't even the worst part.
I scrambled around, gathering my books and notes and rushed out the door, ignoring the glares of the people that I bumped into, and headed to my last class before lunch, praying that my luck would hold. I had already had my first three classes without causing too much trouble. Okay, maybe I did trip up Emily Syre in first period Greek. I accidentally fell asleep while she was trying (emphasis on the trying) to pronounce cat and she fell over my leg. But I only got a glare from the teacher; she likes me because I'm the only student that doesn't get the words cat and chair up. Geography wasn't too bad, apart from when I mixed up Malaysia and Mexico (blame the dyslexia), and in art, Mr. Simmonds didn't even notice that I fell asleep. So maybe, just maybe, I would be able to walk down the hall without getting interrupted. What was I thinking? It's me. So I wasn't really surprised when, in her bleached blonde, blue eyed, short skirted, cake-faced make-upped glory, Kayleigh Edwards cut across my path and stood in front of me with her hands on her hips, closely followed by her posse.
"What's up, freak?" she sneered. Did I mention that I'm kind of a loser? Apparently looking like an escaped circus freak is perfectly acceptable, but joining the orchestra is social suicide. Who knew?
I feigned shock. "Why, Kayleigh, I didn't know you cared."
"I don't care." she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Why in the world would you ask if you don't care? I thought, rolling my eyes.
I smiled sweetly. "Could you excuse me?" I asked "I'm gonna be late for Algebra. Unless you have something you want to say?"
"Oh, I just wanted to make myself feel prettier by being around someone so ugly," she mocked. However, I'm pretty good at comebacks.
"Why did you come over here then?" I asked, "You could have just stayed with your friends. Oh right, even they couldn't make a monkey like you feel pretty. Now, if you could excuse me?"
She didn't respond, so I pushed passed her, books in hand, heading down the hall to forty-five minutes of hell.
Welcome to Goode High, New York.
I sat down in room 113B, in the back row, and begun to take in my surroundings. Scott Davies, one of the jocks, was hitting on Jessica Forrester, which resulted in him getting a slap to the face. I snickered. Scott was one of those...people, if you know what I mean. He's arrogant with blonde hair and brown eyes, and knows he's good looking. I hate guys like that. Jessica was cute in a nymph-y kind of way. She has dirty blonde hair and grass-green eyes. She's tall and willowy, with long limbs and slender fingers.
In another corner of the classroom were two of Kayleigh's cronies. One was texting her new boy toy for the week and the other was re-applying her makeup and fixing her hair. Typical. They notice me looking and shoot me a glare. Jeez, anger issues much? Toward the front of the room were the geeks, Arnold Ryder, Beverly Morris, Lewis Campbell and Brenda Brooks, were writing a science report and comparing comics or something. It may sound nerdy, but the kids were actually pretty cool. I got paired up with Lewis for an English project in my sophomore year, and since then we've been on friendly terms; nothing major, just a 'Hey' in the hall and stuff.
Before I could take in anymore, the teacher walked in.
She was a short, black haired woman, who looked about thirty, and introduced herself as Mrs. Wright. She silenced whispered conversations and glared at Kayleigh's cronies who were still texting. They rolled their eyes as a 'Whatever'gesture. God, they are so annoying.
Mrs. Wright was just about to begin the lesson, when a boy came stumbling through the door.
"Mrs. Wright? Senior Algebra?" The boy asked. Mrs. Wright nodded and raised her eyebrow, asking for a reason for him being late to class.
"Sorry I'm late," the boy began, "my flight was delayed this morning." He frowned and I could tell from his expression that he didn't like airplanes. I couldn't blame him. I don't like them either.
Mrs. Wright nodded curtly and said "I'll let this one slide, since it's the first day of school, but don't make a habit of it Mr…" She trailed off, and the boy realized that she was waiting for his name.
"Jackson," the boy said, "Percy Jackson."
"Yes," Mrs. Wright smiled. "Don't make a habit of being late Mr. Jackson. Take a seat beside Miss Winnok, and I will begin my class."
I jerked my head up as I heard my name being mentioned, and I saw the boy walking rather awkwardly in my direction. I gave him a small smile as he sat down. That gave me a proper chance to look at him. He was tall. Not freaky tall, about 6 foot 2, and his hair was black. Not dyed black, that was obvious, but a raven black, with what looked like the remains of a gray streak on one side. This puzzled me. I'll have to ask him about it later, I thought to myself. He also smelled strange. Not the 'oops, I forgot to shower' kinda strange, but more like a natural, familiar smell, like I recognized it from somewhere. I shook my head, dismissing the thoughts.
I turned my attention back to Mrs. Wright, because I didn't want to freak Mr. Jackson out by me staring at him for too long. He probably got that a lot. The guy was quite a looker. Not my type, but cute all the same.
"First, I would like all of you to partner up with the person next to you," I heard Mrs. Wright say, "and find out about each other. Then, write about 500 words on yourself, and for homework, write about your opinion of, and your relation to mathematics, particularly algebra. You have the rest of the lesson to complete the task. You may begin."
Chatter immediately broke out among my class, and I turned to Percy and held out my hand to shake.
"Gabriella Winnok," I said as he took my hand and smiled.
"Percy Jackson," he replied with a smile. We locked eyes, and they were the most unusual colour that I've ever seen. They were green. Not green like grass like Jessica Forrester's, or mould green like Aidan Sawyer's, who's in my Gym class, but sea-green. Bright, confident, masking pain and regret. But there was another emotion that those eyes held. Love. There must be someone in his life that he really cares for. Maybe it's his dad, or a brother, I thought to myself, or maybe he has a girlfriend. Whoever she is, she's a lucky girl.
I figured that we had better get to work on out 'project', so I began with a simple question.
"So, is this your first year at Goode?" I asked "I don't think I've seen you around before."
He smiled and replied, "No, I was here for my sophomore year, but was transferred last year because of some, how do I put this… er, family issues?"
I nodded as realization dawned on me. "Oh, I remember you! You were on the swim team."
His eyes brightened when I mention swimming. "Yeah, I love the water; it's my favourite thing in the world." Percy laughed, "I must take after my dad."
"What does he do?" I asked.
Percy's eyes shot up and he replied, "Well, um, he's a, marine biologist."
I wondered about his hesitation. He realized this and he explained that he doesn't really see his dad very often, because his parents had separated after he was born. I noticed that he didn't seem troubled by that.
"You don't seem to mind that he left. Doesn't that bother you?" I questioned. My own father had left my mother before I was born, and I have resented him ever since.
Percy smiled and shook his head. "I was angry with him until I was twelve years old, and then I met him for the first time and he explained his reasons."
"Wow, my father left my mother before I was born. She never talks about him, and I've never met him. I hate him for leaving. I don't understand why it was so hard to stay."
When I mentioned not having met my father, Percy seemed surprised and a little shocked. He looked like he was processing what I had just said, and he put on a confused face, like was having a debate in his head. God, I thought, I'm rambling again. Stupid ADHD.
I must have accidentally said it out loud, because Percy quickly asked, "You have ADHD?"
I blushed, embarrassed. I didn't like people to know about my ADHD and dyslexia, but there was no use denying it now, so I shrugged and said, "Yeah. ADHD and dyslexia."
I expected a lot of things that he would say. When people found out, they would usually say, 'You're such a loser', or 'What an idiot, she can't even read!' But I didn't expect him to say, "Really? I never would have thought. I do too."
I grinned. Before he went back to his work, Percy said, "Hey, do you want to, I dunno, hang out? I need someone to get me up to speed."
"Sure," I replied. "It'll give me something to do."
I smiled, and as I turned back to my work, I thought, Well, it looks like I've found a friend, and it's not even lunch! Speaking of which, I'm hungry.
So, how did I do? Love it? Hate it? Please let me know. I'm open to all suggestions. Please, I would like to know you're opinion. Thanks guys!
