Chapter 1: Taking a big step

Hello. This is Winter Wolf again. So now that Movies are real life is over I need a new story to keep my readers at bay. So here it is. This will hopefully be even better than Movies are real life and if you are as supportive as you all were there this will be a gripping adventure in the end in which people who themselves would expect it least learn what trust, companionship, friendship and love is all about. Now, I truly hope you enjoy this. A green eyed boy will appear the next chapter.

Lucy Beckett Annabeth Chase pov.

This day had started less than good and was swiftly heading for bad. I had just gotten into a fight with Drew. Not that I didn't beat her, first verbally then physically when she cracked but it was always so much stress.

Drew somehow believed that it was my fault that Luke started talking to me even though they were dating. Okay, it wasn't too bad even if Luke was four years older than me. It was nice to not be looked at as the book obsessed nerd who always kept her private life a mystery.

It made me feel pretty for once. Of course I had friends at school, but the moment that school was over I kept to myself again. It wasn't that I wouldn't love to hang out with them but I had a dark secret.

I was in the FBI's witness protection program. I used to be Annabeth Chase. Now everyone knows me as Lucy Beckett. After my father and stepmother had managed to get me to run away I was on my own, a homeless child in San Francisco.

You would think that people cared if a seven-year old girl ran around alone with a grime-covered face and torn clothes but they didn't.

I had become the unwanted part of society. The one everyone gave a large berth to. Nobody wants to be around a homeless girl. They pretend they care to the public, but when people actually need help, they don't do a thing.

I stayed homeless until I witnessed something. It was a crime involving the Italian Mafia. They had spotted me and caught me before I could run.

Even though I could barely remember it I knew that they had started cutting me to kill time. The long, thin and pale scars that run down my back are proof of the things that they did to me to simply amuse themselves.

All I knew was that at some point, there was a large explosion and suddenly people came running in, yelling loud and holding guns. I now knew that a traffic camera had filmed my abduction even if it hadn't seen the murder.

They had tracked the van with traffic cameras to an old warehouse. The detective that had been charge of everything was Erwin Brunner.

Anyways, they had found out where I was being held and called in SWAT or so I've been told. When the paramedics arrived I had lost consciousness and woke up three days later in a hospital bed. The first person I saw was Hestia Brunner.

She's the wife of Detective Brunner. I found out later that she works with the police and FBI. Her job is to deal with traumatized cases.

Outside of my room were two police officers standing guard. Over the next few hours, pretty much all Hestia did was hold my hand while I cried. She kept on telling me everything was going to be alright.

They took me to their home after I was discharged from the hospital, which had come as a nice surprise because I had been afraid that I would have to go back out on the street. At some point it was explained to me that I was getting a new name so that the people that hurt me couldn't find me and that the Brunners had adopted me.

As far as I knew, even today there was a price of half a million on my head because my account of what happened brought a very powerful man behind bars.

So, for the next few years I grew to love my new family. Hestia had insisted on giving me a home and I was happy. I grew up to be a very independent girl who loved freedom, and the constant meetings with the US marshals that told me what to do drove me nuts.

I still had to go to school. I had a pretty serious case of Dyslexia so naturally Hestia often teased me by calling me a masochist. I loved reading and I loved books.

I was a straight A student. Except in English. I quickly learned German and ancient Greek too, and found out that spelling and reading those languages was just as hard as English.

My other hobbies are designing buildings and sports which I did out of necessity. I also did martial arts. I had tried to learn how to swim before I ran away from my old home and after I had moved in with the Brunners and in both cases I found out that water freaked me out.

So anyways, at one dinner I complained about all the attention and the fact that everyone wanted me to do something I didn't want to. The marshals wanted me to stay more at home and I wanted more freedom and independence.

So we made a deal. I would get my own flat, here in New York. In return I would not leave the city and I would let them bug my lobby and let them put transmitters into all my clothes so that they could keep an eye on me without crowding me.

That's exactly what happened half a year ago. I moved out and Hestia had cried so much that even I started crying. It wasn't as if I would never see her again. I would meet her every Monday after school in her office. She was a shrink and I needed one. I still had nightmares every night. Every night I relived what had happened to me all those years ago.

Now, I was facing a new problem. The feds didn't want to pay the whole flat for a single person that legally should still be living at her legal guardians.

Again, we had struck a deal. Another person my age, also from some government protection program had to move in. I was however allowed to put up some rules which were:

1. No drinking. No smoking. No drugs.

2. No causing a mess.

3. Had to care about hygiene.

4. Had to respect my privacy.

5. Had to be a quiet person.

6. No parties.

7. Basically he or she wasn't allowed to make my life more complicated than it already is or irritate me.

Suddenly I heard the loud school bell ring. I jerked back out of reality. I was sitting in English. Today was Friday and this was the last period.

"Come on, Lucy." I looked around, irritated. There stood Piper and Jason, the most irritating pair imaginable. Sadly, they were my friends, and I didn't have that many of them.

They respected my privacy even if they thought it was strange. Okay, they didn't respect it, like at all. They, and a handful of other students, had forced me to become friends with them.

I was secretly happy about this. Even though I preferred being alone all the time and being my own boss it did get...well, lonely from time to time.

I got out of my chair, stuffed my books into my bag, and hurried over to them. "Hey, Lucy. We, Leo, Rachel, Thalia, Beckendorf, Silena, the Stolls and Katie, are heading over to Starbucks. Do you want to join us?" They did this every day and never seemed to grow tired of inviting me. The two love birds looked at me with pleading eyes and I sighed as I broke. "Okay. But I can't stay for long. I have an appointment later on."

They beamed at me. "Okay then." To my displeasure they took me between them and hooked their elbows with mine. I didn't like the attention and I didn't like physical contact. I hated physical contact to be precise. I hated it ever since that night.

That was also something the girls in the small circle of people who were part of life cared about. All the hugging made me want to run home and take a shower.

Oh, and another thing everyone should know. "Hey Lucy. Wait up." a familiar voice called over. My two friends stopped and we looked around to see Luke jogging over to me.

"Hey. I just wanted to apologize for what happened earlier." He panted. I gazed at him and intently. "Well I have to go. Bye." His face fell and he looked surprised. Yeah even I sometimes had something to do.

"Yeah will. See you around." Luke said. I promptly turned around and walked to the school doors with Jason and Piper scrambling after me.

"Why do you keep on acting like this to any boy who tries to get to know you?" Jason asked sourly. I look at him surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Do you know how many boys here are interested in you? Half the boys in the school had a crush on you at some point. Hell, I was even interested you after Reyna and I broke up until I met Piper. You look at us as if you don't care about us. I mean, it's better than the way you treat people that annoy you. But you could be a lot warmer to us. For a normal boy with an averaged sized ego, its nerves wracking to talk to a girl. Especially if they are as good looking as you are."

I looked at him confused and Piper burst out laughing. "Luke was trying to talk to you. He likes you."

"He is approximately four years older than me, Piper." I informed her annoyed and straightened my black nerdy glasses that I loved so much for some reason.

Piper sighed. "And when have I ever treated a person coldly or meanly? I am polite to everyone," I claimed. Jason snorted. Piper, who noticed me glaring at him, nudged Jason in the ribs who noticed the danger he was in and straightened his face.

"Well. There was that preacher last week in the city that wanted to talk about his Lord and Savior at Times Square last week. Saying you didn't want to talk to him would have been enough but you didn't need to take him apart verbally like that. The poor man is probably still traumatized." Piper informed me.

"Hey. I gave him a fair chance." I informed them indignantly. "Sure you did. You questioned everything he said so much that he burst into tears."

"It's not my fault he doesn't have his facts straight." I snapped back slowly getting irritated. I hated criticism. Especially when I did nothing wrong.

Piper raised her arms in defense. I had overheard them talking about me once and I had found out that according to them, I was too smart and will verbally lash out at anybody, happy to argue with them.

Piper grabbed my and Jason's hands and dragged us after her, out of the school building leaving me to wonder if Jason was serious or not about boys actually noticing me. I mean, all they did was make fun of my books or flick paper balls at me. It wasn't long before I realized that I was being girly and quickly pushed those irrelevant thoughts aside.

We walked toward the group of teenagers that if I was honest, I actually liked. Their jaws dropped open when they saw me. When I glared at them they quickly closed their mouths again. And so we were off to the nearest Starbucks.

My mood kept getting worse and worse by the minute because Silena kept on hinting that she wouldn't mind giving me a make over. Well, I would mind.

Finally we reached the Starbucks and sat down inside. It was late September and it was slowly getting cool outside. We sat down around the table and it wasn't long before a waitress came and took our orders. Again, my friends ignored my sovereignty and ordered for me without asking me.

As if I was unable to. I would take a bagel and a hot chocolate or a coffee. But what they ordered me sounded long and Italian.

Suddenly Silena burst out loud, startling me and pretty much everyone else. "Lucy. You are so beautiful. Sorry, but I always wanted to tell you this. Can I please give you a make over? You have so much potential!" For the first time, I was speechless and stared at her open-mouthed.

"I've been wanting to say this for ages. Sorry but I just have to ask. Will you please let me give you a makeover?" She looked at me with big round pleading eyes. Piper, who sat next to her, gave me a warning look and I remembered what Hestia told me about trying something new now and then and just doing something with others.

This must be what she meant. I nodded slowly. I decided to go a huge step further. "If you want to you can come to my apparent tomorrow. I would invite you today but I have to go somewhere later on. That invitation counts for all of you."

For the second time today their mouths dropped open. For the last half-year, my apartment had been mentioned like you would name a place in some story. They had all fantasized at many lunches how it looked like from the inside. I had announced that the subject was closed when Thalia had the suspicion that in truth, I had a studio in my living room for "school girls gone wild" and that I had a huge collection of sex toys. That was the first time anyone in the school had seen me laugh even if it was only a sarcastic one.

I did, however, have a secret toy and it was called a teddy bear.(Annabeth has one for those that haven't read the demigod files.) Thanks to teddy I only woke up once or twice at night screaming. Without him it was much worse."

To be honest, I was actually having fun and it must have shown because Piper told me in front of everyone that I was nearly smiling a bit. Suddenly the timer of my ipod came to life. I had to leave for the appointment with Hestia and I would most likely find out who I would have to move in with.

Hello everyone. So tell me if I should keep this up. If yes then tell me. If no then tell me too. With way please Review.

Winter Wolf over and out.