When Percy Jackson starts at a new school, he has a head full of cliche high school dramas. What he doesn't expect is to promptly join a group of strangely matched kids who somehow work perfectly together.

The first thing I noticed about her was her bright blue shoes.

I know, I know. Not that typical, but in my defence, they were a very vibrant shade of blue, to the point of eye pain. Like, I swear all she had to do if she got mugged was kick them in the face because they will never see again.

I would like to say that we locked eyes and instantly knew we were gonna be friends, but honestly, that's just not how it worked out. (And not just because I was temporarily visually impaired.)

Because it was my first day at a new big, bad high school and I just wanted to make it through the day without making a complete fool of myself, and talking to a cute girl you could render me blind forever seemed like a pretty bad way to start. And it certainly didn't help that she was in a group with her friends. A squad of cute girls with a dangerous taste in clothes was not a very dignified way to go.

So I decided to just go on my way to the office to do the average "first day at a new school" activities. It honestly wasn't something I'd done before, but I'd watched enough dramatic sitcoms to know that there were many ways this could go wrong.

I should've known that blue boots was gonna get involved. Classic sitcom move. I'm pretty sure that it's one of the most commonly used TV tropes. The good ol' "Somehow makes an emotional connection with the first girl he sees".

I turned up at the administration desk and ask about my timetable, which the kind secretary hands to me with a smile.

"We can assign you a buddy to help you get to classes until you get your bearings if you want."

I glanced down at the map on the back of my timetable and nodded gratefully. It turns out that the school is massive and I didn't think it would be much fun to get lost on the first day.

That was when blue boots waltzed through the door. I took this moment to take a closer look at her. She had choppy brown hair and her schoolbag was slung over one shoulder carelessly. She smiled at the secretary whose name I had already forgotten.

"You said I might need to look after a newbie"

The secretary smiled and pointed to me.

This is when blue boots turned and looked at me for the first time, like she was trying to assess where I'd fit into the high school hierarchy. She grinned and turned back to the secretary again.

"Thanks Mrs H, he'll fit in just fine."

To be honest, at this point I was kinda unsure what she meant. Was this some sort of high school code for "This kid is dead meat for sure" or "Perfect for target practice, good pick Mrs H." ?

Sidenote: Watching a bunch of cheesy high school dramas the night before you start at a new school will instantly make you expect the worst.

"Piper McLean," she pronounced. "Welcome to not the crappiest school in the state. Follow me if you want to live!"

She then ran out of the room.

I turned to Mrs H. She just nodded in the direction of Piper's receding figure, so I took that as a good indication that it was probably safe to follow her.

The hallway was mildly busier than it was before, despite the fact that there was still a good forty minutes until school actually started.

I guess people who actually know other people here can catch up with friends and enemies who they haven't seen all summer.

I had to run to catch up with Piper who was still running and had gotten a pretty good headstart anyway.

"Well you didn't just stand there like an idiot, so you've already passed the first test," she said.

"The first test?"

"To see whether you're worthy of meeting my friends or not!"

I laughed. "How many other things are on that list?"

"I'm not really sure. I'm making them up as I go along."

"I bet you are. My name's Percy Jackson by the way."

She smiled. "Good to know."

After a few more hallways of running and more than a few strange stares, we broke back outside into the sunlight, this time out the back of the school.

We stopped at the top of the stairs leading down to the football field and she waved to a group of people sitting on them.

"Those are my friends there."

I took this moment to look at them. They didn't strike me as particularly any sort of high school stereotype, just a group of teenagers who all happened to be interested in different things but still best friends.

And in spite of myself, I smiled. Because these are exactly the sort of people who you'd want to spend your high school years with.

Piper ran over to them and I followed.

They all hugged her and asked about her weekend.

"This is Percy, by the way. He's our newest recruit."

I just kinda raised my hand in greeting, unsure of what to say.

They all looked at one another.

"I'm Jason."

"Leo"

"Hazel"

"Frank"

"Nico"

"Thalia"

"Reyna"

"PIPER!"

The girl named Thalia roller her eyes and looked at me. "Just in case you didn't know her already," she informed me.

"Have you seen Annabeth though?" Reyna craned her neck and looked toward the doors that Piper and I had just walked though.

"No, I don't think she's here yet."

If my life was a high school sitcom, that would have been the moment when the girl comes gliding down the stairs and I instantly fall in love. But alas, my day seemed to be missing the cliché moments today, because that was when she came jogging up from the football field with her blonde hair tied back in a messy ponytail and sweat dripping down her face.

"Where have you guys been?"

A/N - I am lazy and I master procrastinator, so expect updates erratically and for (hopefully) the quality to improve as we progress through this story. Leave a review for my own personal satisfaction (and also yous - I mean it's the nice thing to do - right?) if you want.

xoxo Gossip Girl

(actually Lexiconicy)