Disclaimer: I AM NOT RSQUARED! I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON OR ANY OF THESE FOLLOWING CHARACTERS. This story is inspired by Cassie's Neighbors Of Cuts and Pills.

Okay, you can read now. :)

Chapter One: Teenagers

Percy

They say that teenagers scare

the living shit out of me

They could care less,

as long as someone will bleed

So darken your clothes

or strike a violent pose

Maybe they'll leave you alone

But not me

I hate being mental. I mean, I guess it'd be okay to be a bit out of whack, but how come the only thing that sets my mind into overdrive is the mention of my long-lost dad and twin brother, Tyson?

It's been years. It's been seven years since I've heard of them last. My mom - convinced they're dead - remarried. My step-dad isn't bad, actually, but sometimes I resent my mom, for giving up on them.

What happened? It's a question I ask myself every day. They went to the beach. Every year, we have this thing, where mom or dad gets to stay with me for a week, and the other one takes Tyson off to Montauk, our favorite beach home. Then the next year, I get to go to Montauk, and my brother gets to stay home with the other parent.

They always did this 'cause Tyson and I are both ADHD. We can barely focus in school. It's a struggle for us to pass classes. It's sort of a reward, as well as a way for them to see if Tyson and I can live one day without constantly picking fights with the teachers or pockets of our major idiot bullies.

We were a happy family. I loved having Tyson around. But then dad and Tyson disappeared. And mom remarried. And I became ansty, disappointed, and yeah, a little pissed, that my mother could just go off and marry so quickly. My already teetering grades plummeted. Our four-fisted fights became bloodier, crueler two-fisted battles. I became angry at everyone: my mom, my dad, my teachers, my therapist, my bullies, Paul, and even Tyson.

But as much as I hated my twin brother for leaving me, I became scared of forgetting him more. As much as I hate to admit it, I don't feel anything to him anymore. No connection.

It's like I never had a twin to begin with.

And that scares the shit out of me.

But I guess life could be worse. I have four friends here at Mundie's. There's Luke, who's 19 and a major druggie; Rachel's my age and she's even more out of whack than I am (she's schizo); Thalia has a big mouth and has an even bigger ego for a girl of 17; and Jason's a year younger than me (which is 15,) and he's a complete amnesiac, 'cause he can't remember squat.

Life ain't that bad, 'cause we're all crazy here at Mundie's. In some way or another, some ways worse than others, (like Rachel,) we've all lost touch with the complete reality.

So it was sort of different with the new girl.

Annabeth Chase, they said. Oh, you'll love her! They said.

Yeah. Right.

I'll admit that Annabeth did have this sort of aura around her. It was a cloud of authority; basically, you had to pay attention to her. Especially when she spoke. She was like a natural leader.

But she scared the shit out of me. I think she scared the shit out of everyone, but all of us were just too cowardly to admit it.

I remember her first day: let me just say, she was pretty.

Annabeth had long, curly blonde hair, which I'll reluctantly admit I'm a sucker for. She wasn't tall, but she wasn't like a little puny shortstop either. She was about a head shorter than I was, which is pretty tall. She was slim, and had a nice tan, but for some reason, she had unnaturally blue eyes. I could tell they were fake, but I had no idea why she wanted to denounce her natural eye color, because judging by the rest of her clothes, she was no fashionista.

She was wearing a faded Paramore T-shirt and torn jeans with small holes in the knees. Her shoes were obviously old, judging by the duct tape and the frayed shoelaces, and her bag was as grungy and ancient as the rest of her clothing.

She was pretty, but she was, well, plain. The only piece of jewelry I spotted on her was a small coin on a chain and an owl bracelet, and the only makeup visible to the naked eyes was a thin line of eyeliner.

But the thing that made her stand out was her confidence. She was calm and collected, unlike the other chicks I've seen step into Mundie's on the first day. She had that mysterious glow around her, and she wasn't smiling.

It was like she not only knew that she was in Mundie's, but she also knew why.

That thought was slightly terrifying. Because she's sane, but not sane enough to escape Mundie's.

Once Thalia saw her, the rant began. "Sheesh, will you look at the state of her clothes?"

It was morning breakfast, so I guess you could give Thalia some slack. She's usually an insufferable little bitch in the morning, and no one but Luke can really bring her down a notch. And Luke was in one of his "sessions" that morning, so he wasn't there anyway. Neither was Rachel, because she had a "fit" the night beforehand.

Anyway, Annabeth walks in, and Thalia starts complaining. Jason was looking into his cereal like he's trying not to laugh. And me? I was just watching this new girl, wondering what she could have possibly been admitted here for. I mean, she looked intelligent. And like I said before, she seemed pretty grounded.

I started listing the ways: mouthing off to a fat-faced teacher. Multiple times. Running away. Cutting. Generally suicidal. Shoplifting. Aiding and abetting a crazy bitch or bastard who committed murder...

I nearly convinced myself of the last one when Dr. Athens approached our table. Thalia immediately ended her rant - and brought down her language. Jason looked up. I turned my attention to her, for once.

"Good morning!" Dr. Athens said cheerfully, noting that I barely touched my food and Thalia had made a makeshift ice rink with hers. She raised an eyebrow, and Thalia scowled.

Like I said, she doesn't do mornings.

"I've come by to check up on you," Dr. Athens told us, and this time, Thalia wasn't the only one who groaned.

Every once in a while, one of the therapists at Mundie's would come over to "check on us" and make sure we were, you know, eating, drinking and socializing during breakfast. But with all the commotion with the new girl, I was really in no mood. Thankfully, the others felt the same.

"We're fine, thanks." Jason replied quickly, and I nodded vigorously. "Who's the new girl?" Thalia snapped, and we all looked at Dr. Athens, hoping she'd get the picture.

She did.

She smiled and pulled out a file folder from behind that coat of hers. "Annabeth Chase," she announced proudly, "Oh, you'll love her."

See?

"Age fifteen, got caught in the middle of a crime scene about a year ago... she's been deemed suicidal and her step-mother thought that treatment would help." Dr. Athens closed the file and stuck it back in her bag.

Part of me was amazed that I had gotten one of my guesses right. The other part was as curious as ever.

"What crime scene?" Jason, Thalia and I said at the exact same time. Dr. Athens pursed her lips as she stood up. "Well, I'm afraid that that information is classified. It doesn't really say here." She gestured to her bag.

There were a few more exchanges - I wasn't paying attention to any of them - and then Dr. Athens left. Luke came into the room, looking bleary-eyed and hungry.

He slid into the seat next to Thalia and said, "Hey guys, what's up?"

Thalia shoved him a tray filled with fruit cups and soggy toast. "Well," she began, "there's this new girl..."