First of all, being the new kid sucked. Even at a big school like Goode High. Everyone kept asking me questions like I was on an episode of who wants to be a millionaire like "how old are you." "Where did you move from." I lived in Manhattan my whole life, but I was homeschooled for the last 16 years. My mom was determined to keep me close to home. Literally.

My mom had a weird job. She would go all over New York doing odd jobs for a "client". It wasn't that kind of client, but she never told me who it was. Something about how they help out the family or whatever. Anyway, somehow last summer I convinced her to let me go to public school. My argument went somewhere along the lines of me not knowing what to do after high school because of how cooped up I was.

Anyway, Goode High was alright other than all the questions. Most of my teachers were pretty laid back especially my English teacher Mr. Blofis, although I usually just called him Blowfish. Today he was going over Homer's epic tale of The Odyssey. Perfect. I knew almost everything there was to know about Greek history. I guess you could say it's the perks of being homeschooled. For some reason my mom was obsessed with Greek mythology and demanded that I learned it no matter how young I was. She said it was crucial to my existence. Whatever.

"Elena Paige?" Mr. Blofis called my attention.

"Yeah, sorry. What's up?" I replied, cursing myself for zoning out. "Long night?" "Well..." I stalled, trying to come up with an excuse. "I was just wondering what this has to do with English and real life." I concluded, which wasn't a total lie. The kid next to me stifled a chuckle and smirked to himself assuming I didn't notice. What was his name? Peter Johnson?

"Percy Jackson," Blofis called. Busted. "Would you care to explain to Miss Paige?" Percy looked at him like it was an ongoing joke they shared. "No," Was all he said while keeping that smirk on his face. Blowfish turned to me. "Only time will give you the answer Elena." He stated then resumed his lesson.

What the heck was that supposed to mean? I thought when I noticed the Percy Jackson kid staring at me, as if he unintentionally heard my thoughts. His face quickly returned to normal as if nothing ever happened.

"Sorry, "Was all he said as he turned his head forward, purposely trying not to continue staring at me.

Weird.

My day went on pretty normal, even lunch was tolerable. The Jackson kid invited me to sit with him and some of his friends. I was skeptical at first but I reluctantly agreed. Hey, on the first day I would've even sat with Blowfish. Beside him was was girl with blonde curly hair and shockingly grey eyes, which totally ruined the image of typical beach babe.

"This is Annabeth" Percy said. I thought it was safe to assume she was his girlfriend. "Hey, I'm Elena," I introduced myself. "So Percy told me you're in his English class." She stated. "Yeah, we're going over the Odyssey. I just don't understand how this is supposed to help me out in the real world."

Percy and Annabeth shared an amused glance. Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore. I was tired of feeling like I'm out of the loop with all the inside jokes. "What's up with that?" I demanded. "You and Blofis shared the same look. Is there something I'm missing?" I was looking Percy dead in the eyes. A sudden realization washed over Percy's face. He looked at Annabeth then back at me. Whatever he was thinking Annabeth caught on because they had the same look on their face. At this point I was so fed up with today. Being the new kid was hard enough. I didn't need people thinking I was a fish out of water.

"What!?" I snapped. I know it was a little harsh but I just wanted today to be over. He hesitated. Then after glancing at Annabeth he spoke. "Your eyes". He stated. Okay now I was really confused. I cocked an eyebrow. "Sorry, his head is filled with a little too much seaweed," Annabeth covered. "Uhh. Okay," was all I said. Man what is up with this Jackson kid? I thought to myself. Just as the awkward silence was starting to sink in, a boy with light brown hair came over and sat down. Percy seemed to forget what just happened and shared a cool handshake with the guy, so I assumed they were close friends.

"This is Elena," Percy introduced me. I brushed a stray hair behind my ear. Great, I thought. Now I'm self-conscious. "Hey I'm Darren," said the boy. He gave me an award winning smile. I think I'm going to like this school, I thought to myself. Percy chuckled. For a second I thought I'd said it aloud, and my face reddened. Nobody seemed to have noticed so I breathed a sigh of relief.

"So you seem to be the topic of conversation", Darren says.

"We really"? I asked. I hated being the center of attention. He looked at me apologetically. "We don't get a lot of new kids", he explained. "Even in a big school like this you're big news".

Great.

"I wouldn't worry too much", Annabeth assured me. "It'll die down soon". She gave me a sympathetic smile. "I hope so, I don't think I can handle any more questions." They shared a laugh at that one.

"What class do you have next?" Darren asked. "Economics," I replied. He gave me a strange look. "Isn't that a senior class?" He questioned me. "I thought you were a junior?" They were all looking at me expectantly. "Since I was homeschooled my whole life I'm in a lot of senior classes cuz my mom started teaching me at a younger age", I explain. "Which is why I have English with Percy."

They seemed pretty satisfied with that answer, which I was grateful for. I don't really enjoy sharing my personal life too much.

"Well that's cool", Darren was saying. "That's my next class too." My stomach did a flip. Great. Now I have a class with the only cute guy I've met so far.

Now I'm not saying Percy isn't cute or anything, but I don't think he and Annabeth are going to break up any time soon, which is fine by me considering all the weird looks he'd given me today. "I'll walk you," he said, which of course I was more than okay with. No sooner had he finished his sentence, the bell rang for next period.

As we were walking I noticed he had an SPQR tattoo on his forearm.

Interesting. "What's that?" I said motioning to the tat. "Oh." He seemed to have trouble with an explanation. "My family and I are really into Roman stuff." He finally explained.

Oddly enough, I found that rather interesting. Even though it's not Greek, I thought it was pretty cool to find someone into mythology like me. Don't get me wrong. It was still a little weird but hey, on the first day I try not to judge too harshly. "That's pretty cool," I stated with genuine interest. That won me another one of his smiles. Unfortunately, it didn't last long. As soon as we entered the classroom he froze

"Hello, darlings," said the teacher. "My name is Mrs. Dodds."

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! For those of you have read it already, I edited it a lot so Please let me know what you think good or bad and give some advice what you would like to happen in the next chapter or improvements I need or should make. thanks!