Chapter One
This is my first Fanfic story. However, critical reviews are appreciated! Happy Reading~
Annabeth (Prologue)
I'm in such a mess.
I mean, the popular kids are after me. Well, not technically me. They're technically after Goode's Anon.
And I'm Anon.
But I'm not blaming myself why I'm being tracked down. This is all going on my parents and Thalia.
Okay, it is my fault. Just a little.
Let me just explain how this all started.
Annabeth (Actual Chapter)
"So, how do you like it sweetie?"
I couldn't believe my eyes. My parents had gotten me a laptop for my birthday! "Oh, my gosh, thank you so much!" I immediately said. It was a brand new MacBook, all shiny and white. My stepbrothers, Bobby and Matthew had their jaws dropped. "But mom!" Bobby whined. "Why can't I get a laptop? That's not fair!" they complained. I gave them a smug smile as my step mom and birth dad gave them their answers, "Bobby, Matthew, don't whine. I won't allow that under my roof. Besides, you two have iPhones! What more do you need, you greedy twelve year-olds!"
"This is so great! I can't believe I got a laptop! Oh, thanks!" I kept saying. Then I put it away in my room. I'll set it up after school.
I took a glance at my phone. "I'll be going now!" I shouted and grabbed my book bag. My family gave me quick hugs and 'Happy Sixteenth Birthdays's as I walked outside. Outside, Thalia was already there waiting in her car (it was her sixteenth birthday surprise).
"Hey, Annie!" she said as soon as she noticed me. "Happy birthday! My gosh, you grew up so fast!"
I smile. "Thanks, Thals! And we're only a month apart..." I get into the passenger seat. She looks at me expectantly. "So, what'd you get?" she asks. I smile only wider. "Thals, you cannot believe it! I actually got a MacBook!"
She fakes a gasp. "Cool." She starts the engine and begins driving to school. After two minutes of listening to Bruno Mars, 'When I Was Your Man' on the radio, she breaks the silence. "Hey, I have an idea," Thalia says with a gleam in her eyes. "You have a nice computer. So what're you going to do with it?" I know she was on to something other than what I was thinking.
"Studying," I reply simply.
She shakes her head. "No," she says. "Nothing that has to do with education, Annabeth. Seriously. Studying?" She's in disbelief.
"I don't know, Facebook? Twitter? Tumblr? Instagram?" I say.
She nods her head a little as she makes a left turn. "Getting closer," she said.
I start to think more. I already have a Facebook, so I will use that on my new laptop. I'm not going to even try Twitter or Tumblr or Instagram. I keep thinking but I couldn't come up with anything. I shrug and give up. "I don't know. YouTube?"
She shakes her head. "And we're a little bit farther off again. Look, Annabeth. I'm just gonna tell your clueless blonde head the answer. I was thinking, why don't you start an anonymous blog? I mean, imagine all the excitement and stuff. It's gonna be so cool!" The song changed to 'Thrift Shop' and she began to mouth the lyrics. I was about to reply, but she shushed me because it was her favorite part.
When the song ended, we were in the school parking lot. "Okay, you can talk now," Thalia said as she parked the car.
"I don't think I should do a blog. Besides, why don't you do one?" I say. Thalia turns off the engine and motions me to get out of the car.
"Well," she said as she closed the door. "I already have a blog. It doesn't get a lot of attention, just maybe fifty or sixty views. Few comments at each blog post. But blogging is fun! You share your ideas and find out who agrees and who think it's crap!" I sigh. "I know what a blog is, Thals," I remind her. "I just don't see me doing one. Besides, I don't even have an idea to share."
She seems to think for a little bit. We walk to our lockers and she is still thinking.
"Oh!" Thalia finally says. "You can rant about school and stuff! You know, teachers full of crap, popular kids, the society. I mean, you have a lot of comments for every topic." That was true. I would always think of something smart or even smart-alecky to say to teachers or even the principal. I start thinking a little bit of her idea. It did seem fun to run a blog. And if I was anonymous, I can always say my thoughts without getting caught. But what if blogging gets in the way for my grades? Nah, that won't happen. I'll also study while blogging.
I shrug. "Okay, I tell her. "I guess I'll start after school. But you have to be with me the whole time I'm trying this."
Thalia smiles really big. "Okay! This is going to be so much fun! We'll get to pick out your profile picture and your username and your profile about...Ah, this is too exciting!" She continues rambling on and on about how happy she was.
I shake my head. "Um, let's just get to class. We have a whole day ahead of us before you start getting excited." She agrees and we start walking down the hallway to homeroom, Mr. Brunner.
While we were walking there, I end up colliding into somebody who was running. "Sorry," I apologized and immediately bent down to pick up my books and the person's books. There was laughing and snickering in the background.
Thalia was just standing there, which I thought was really rude. The person also bends over and starts to pick up all the books he/she dropped.
"Annie..." Thalia mumbles. "This can't be good..."
I give her a questioning glance before I stood up, knocking into the poor person's head!
"Oh, my gosh, I am so sorry! Are you okay...Percy Jackson..?" My voice trails off as I blush fiercely at the black haired boy rubbing his forehead. So that's why Thalia was stiff when I walked into him. "Um-um, I'm really sorry," I stutter out. My heart was pounding and my ears were turning hot. "Are you okay? I didn't mean it," I kept saying.
Percy stands up. "I'm fine," he says fiercely. I'm a little taken back by the harshness of his words. His friends kept laughing at him. "Aw, poor little Percy! You ran into her!" A guy I think whose name is Nico says. He glares at him with his green eyes. "Shut up, de Angelo," he grumbles. The others laugh and Percy's tense shoulders loosen a little.
"Um..." I began to say. "I have your books, Percy..." I tried to get his attention, but his alarming height of six foot one seemed to tower over me. Annabeth, he's not too tall. You're five foot seven. That's only like six inches, I reassure myself. But I was too scared of him.
"Percy," my voice is a little more insistent. "I have your books. Would you like them back?"
He glances back down at me. "Oh," he says and takes his books. "Thanks." He starts to walk away with his friends laughing and trailing behind him.
I was in a daze. I hate to admit it, but I have a kinda crush on Percy Jackson. After that one time when he lent me two dollars for my lunch, I fell a little for him. He was just too dreamy and tall and...
"Annabeth!" Thalia's words snap me back to reality. I blink and I realized that my heart was no longer pounding and my ears had cooled off. "Yeah?" I say as I continue walking side by side with her to Mr. Brunner's. "What happened?" she asks. I shrug. "What do you mean?" I ask.
Thalia doesn't hesitate to give an answer. "I mean, you seemed so frantic and tense there. And maybe a little embarrassed," she explained. I shrugged. "Oh, yeah? You try crashing into the most popular guy at school and having to almost break his forehead with your head and hair," I reply, a little smart-alecky. She laughs. "Hey, at least your hair smells nice," she says, which makes me laugh.
We made it to Mr. Brunner's three seconds before the bell rang. I went to my seat and the morning announcements came on. "Good morning, Goode High! This is your secretary, Miss Fowl with your morning announcements! Basketball tryouts are finally here at Goode High! This is your second season. Also, football season may have passed, but not for us! We have football tryouts after school! Don't be late, don't miss the date-the Goode High Goode Dance is coming!" After a few more announcements, we stood up and recited the Pledge.
After homeroom, I walked to my locker to get my calculus stuff for first period. That's strange. It wasn't there. My textbook and notes were gone! I start digging through my backpack and the rest of my locker but I couldn't find it.
"Thalia!" I snap at her. She frowns at me. "What? I swear-I did not do it this time!"
I sigh, becoming frantic. "My math stuff isn't here! I looked everywhere-I don't have my calculator, textbook, or notes! The teacher's gonna get so mad at me!"
Thalia's eyes widened. "Oh, no..." she says. I give her a questioning look. "What?" I ask, my breath a little shaky. She slowly closes her locker and locks it. "I think..." she sighs. "I think you gave the books to Percy on accident."
"What?" I ask. "Why would I..?" My voice trails off as realization struck me. Earlier, when we collided, I might've given him my stuff.
"Crap!" I slam my locker and lock it. "What do I do, Thals?" I whine. She gives me a sympathetic look. "Well, we have homeroom with him. Maybe he left it in Mr. Brunner's." A small bit of hope brightened me until it was darkened. Percy always skips homeroom.
"It can't be there," I say to her. "Percy skipped class. Again." I sigh. I guess I would have to tell Mrs. Trisha about the incident. She will take off some points for being unprepared and stuff but it's nothing a little extra credit can't fix.
"Oh, well. See you at lunch, Thals."
It wasn't too bad. Mrs. Trisha yelled at me a little ("This isn't pre-algebra anymore! Do you hear me, Annabeth Chase? I expect you next time to be fully prepared. And if you aren't, I expect an apology letter!") When I arrived at the cafeteria, as I expected, Percy was there. He was eating a cheeseburger with his friends. They were laughing and stuff like that.
I sat down next to Thalia, Piper, Silena, Hazel, Frank, and Leo. "Hey," Hazel said, her eyes filled with sympathy. "Thalia told us what happened. That's rough." Piper nodded and Silena gave me an one-arm hug. "Oh, you poor thing," she cooed. Frank gave me sad panda eyes (which was cute in a teddy bear sort of way) and Leo kept on twirling a pencil.
"So," Leo said. "How're you gonna get the math stuff back?"
I bit my cheek. "I don't know. I should get it back but...I really don't know how to..."
There was a moment of silence. We all looked down at the table. Frank was eating his burger silently while Piper glared at the meat.
Silena broke the silence. "Well, enough of the depressing stuff...Happy birthday, Annabeth!" All my friends perked up. "It's your birthday?" Piper said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. We laugh and they all take out little brown paper bags. "We have a different present at your party, but we decided that you needed a little more," Hazel explained. They unwrapped the bags. They all packed me lunch!
"Oh, thanks, guys!" I say and laugh. There was Coke, some crackers, cheese sandwiches, a bowl of fruit, some popcorn, and a box of chocolates. We all dig in. "You guys are the best!"
After eating, Thalia pushed me towards Percy. I shifted my feet nervously as all his friends stared at me awkwardly. "Um...Percy..." I say. My heart started to pound again and my face felt hot. I cleared my throat. "Well, you see, funny thing is-"
"Oh, another confession?" Percy snorts. I raise an eyebrow, questioningly. "Wha...No, no! Not a confession!" I deny. His friends burst out laughing as Percy cocks his head to one side and looks confused. "Really?" he asks. This seemed to be news to him.
"Sorry but, not every girl is attracted to you," I say, nervously. His friends all go, "Ohhh," and Nico adds in, "Apply ice to burned area!" I felt my confidence building up and my voice becoming a little louder. "You see, Percy. I ran into you this morning and you-on accident-took my calculus materials. I was wondering if you have it now so it can be restored back to the rightful owner," my voice sounded smart-alecky, and I wanted it to be that way. He seemed so arrogant on how he thought that I came here for a love confession! I needed to prove to him that I wasn't that attracted to him.
"What?" he says, not understanding a single word I just said. I clear my throat and simplify my previous words. "You ran into me. You took some of my math stuff by accident. I want it back. Do you have the books now?"
He nods, meaning that he understood what I just said, not that he had my stuff. He stands up and walks up to me. He leans in his face to mine, where our noses are only a centimeter apart. "Listen," he says, breathy. My face becomes red and my heart starts to pound even more. I've seen him use this trick on a lot of girls. He was flirting, or trying to prove that he could get any girl he wants.
I do my best for my stare to penetrate into him. My gray eyes were to look fiercer and stormier than they ever been.
He seems taken back a little, surprised that I was glaring at him. But he shakes it off like it was some fly that was buzzing around. "Hey, you know...Your eyes are really beautiful." His voice is still breathy and even a little seductive. I gulp and I felt like I was going to faint. His method was working and I felt a little happy that he was complimenting my eyes. But I wouldn't let that show.
"Percy," I say as forcefully as I can. "May I please have my books back?" I sound a little shaky. But his expression was really hilarious. He couldn't believe that he didn't make me fall for him (even more than before, that is). His friends burst out laughing. He shoots them a glare and then sighs. "Okay. Okay, I'll give you your books back. Come to my locker after the last bell rings today. See you then...What's your name?"
"Annabeth," I reply and start walking back to my lunch seat. My friends were all gaping their mouths open. "You saw what happened?" I ask. They nod their heads at the same time (which was pretty funny). Thalia snaps out of the shock she was in. "Annie, the whole cafeteria saw! You will now be famous! The first girl to not fall for Percy Jackson!" she exclaims.
The rest of the lunch period was basically them complimenting me on how good of a job I did.
Since it was a Friday, I was having a sleepover after the party. Only Thalia stayed for the sleepover thought. She shooed everyone away saying that it was quality Annie-and-Thals time. But I knew it was honestly for the blog.
"Okay," she said as she leaned in. "What's your username gonna be? It should be mysterious, you know." I shrug. "I don't know, you pick. It was your idea," I tell her. This makes her even happier. "Okay...Okay! Your name is gonna be Goode's Anon, and your profile picture should be a giant question mark!" I do what she tells me.
The profile about: I go to Goode High. My blog will be posts about there. Therefore, I am Goode's Anon since I will remain anonymous. Am I a boy? Am I a girl? Am I a freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior? That's for me to know...and you to not find out. Please read my thoughts and comment on what you think of them. Thalia thought of it. She kept of squealing the whole time which was pretty unusual for her.
"So, what's your first blog post?" she asks me. She opens a bag of potato chips and begins snacking on them. I take a chip and start to crunch as I thought. I wipe the salt and grease onto a napkin and begin to type: Percy Jackson- Heartthrob of Goode High. Yes, he steals all the girl's hearts. But why is he so popular? Is it because of his good looks or charm? Does his stupidity work as a charm? Why ARE popular kids popular anyway? Is it because of how many Facebook friends they have and how many likes they get? Hmm, I don't know. But maybe you do? Thalia nodded in approval. "The 'Percy Jackson' thing is sure to grab attention of a lot of girls. And the questions you put down there so...unanswerable. It makes a good blog. This is gonna be so cool!" she grins and finishes the last of her potato chips.
"Speaking of Percy Jackson," she says while wiping her mouth. "Did you get your calculus stuff?"
I nod. "Yeah. It's in my backpack." For some reason, Thalia was excited to open my backpack and find my stuff. She starts to dig through my textbook. When she didn't found what she was looking for, she starts looking in my notes. While she was flipping through her pages, a yellow post-it note slips out.
"I knew there would be something here!" she says. Then she studies me. "What did he say before he gave you your books?"
I shrug. "I don't really remember," I tell her. It was true. I was in a hurry since all of my friends were waiting impatiently in either Thalia's, Silena's, or Leo's cars. "He, like, just smiled and said, 'Here you go, Annabeth.' Then he winked and I said thanks and walked away," I told her. That was basically what happened.
Thalia seemed a little disappointed but she brightened up as soon as she took a glance at the post-it note. "Percy wrote this!" she said. Then she began to read aloud: "Annabeth, I was wondering if you can call/text me as soon as you see this. Here's my number. From, Percy." She smiled. "Oh, my gosh, this seems like a movie or romantic love story or something! Just fall for him or get a crush on him!"
I shake my head and snatch the post-it note from her. "No, I like Luke," I tell her. And that was true. You see, as a girl, I had multiple crushes. But I crushed on Luke more than on Percy. Percy was just a guy that I admired while Luke was more of the person whom I would fantasize and stuff.
Thalia pouts. "Oh, well. I guess this adds on to the plot! An anonymous blogger, a playboy..." her voice trails off.
I don't get it. Thalia normally isn't the girly person. Silena would say this but not Thalia. I was about to say something, but decided to not. It's probably hormones or something, I told myself.
So how was this chapter? Thanks for reading! Sorry if it was too dull or something, it's my first story! :)
