Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, or the Heroes of Olympus series.
Chapter 1
Julian
It was a cold, winter day when my life changed forever. The sun shined through my window, as birds flew threw the air. My alarm clock was going off like crazy, the digital numbers flashing 6:30 A.M. I groaned, and sat up. Another agonizing day of school was upon me.
"Hey, Julian, remember there's a field trip today!" My dad, David, yelled from the kitchen, "We have to get there by 7:30, or the bus leaves before you!"
"Okay, dad, I'm on my way!" I lied. Then, I just dropped my head back on the pillow, and closed my eyes. I stayed like that for ten minutes, before my dad came crashing in.
"Get up! You don't want to be late!" Actually, that's the opposite of what I wanted.
"Come on, why can't I skip one day of school?" I groaned, pulling the covers over me, and tried to shut him out. Suddenly, he grabbed my foot, which was sticking out, and lugged me off the mattress.
"Get up, Julian! Law requires that unless your sick, or out of town momentarily, you have to go to school." I sighed. Now he was never letting me even lay down again, until I cooperated. I grunted, and grabbed some clothes. After putting on a T-shirt and a pair of jeans I slipped on a jacket, and headed downstairs. Instantly, the smell of sausages and pancakes wafted into the air.
Dad's food was to die for and he somehow managed to make every meal better than the last. I sat with him in the super high-tech kitchen. My dad was pretty darn rich; he was a famous movie director.
"I don't see why I need to go on this trip." I said, trying to talk my dad into letting me skip. I knew it was a lost cause, he knew every word I would use.
"Young man, I swear, if you even think about skipping, I will ground you," He took a bite out of his pancake, "Again." How many times had I been grounded? 6 in the past year.
"Okay, I'll go." I groaned, "But I bet my mom would let me skip!" He suddenly froze up, and I knew we would have a talk after I returned. He just sat up, and walked away. I never knew my mother, nor had he ever told me anything about her.
"Okay, so, you're done?" I asked. No reply.
My dad was silent as he drove me to school so I just stayed quiet and turned up the music and it was set to country music. His gold coin necklace, which I have no idea where he got it, was dangling on his neck. I always wondered why it was there, but I had never asked.
"Hey, dad?" I said. He was still quiet, "I'm sorry about this morning. I shouldn't have said that." Still quiet. I sighed, and waited. Soon, AC LC came into view. AC LC was a small school, which you could stay from middle school up to high school. I had been going there since 6th grade. It stood for Alameda Community Learning Center. I noticed a huge bus in front of the school.
"Okay, bye dad, see you later." I said, as I exited the car. He was still silent as he drove away. I waved, and approached the bus.
"Hey, Julian." I heard a familiar voice say. I turned around, and saw Simon, my best friend approach me. Simon had glasses on, and was a whizz with computers. We both entered the bus and sat together.
"Simon, what's up?" I asked, as the teachers did roll count.
"The usual, homework, math, computers, and stuff." I nodded.
Suddenly, I saw someone I didn't quite recognize. One was a tall kid, with a hood over his head, his jacket jet black, wore jeans, and was standing next to another kid, who was on crutches. He had a hat and scarf on and had a thick goatee. Talk about getting held back. There was a kid with short spiky black hair and wore a red jacket. Our biology teacher, Ms. Rolland, noticed them, and moved into their direction.
"Excuse me, young man, are you even part of...?" Suddenly, the crippled boy snapped his fingers, and the teacher quickly said, "Oh, wait, your shadowing? Okay." Ms. Rolland walked away to talk to bus driver. How did he do that?
The shorter boy whispered to him, and he nodded. He snapped his fingers again, and my teacher wrote something down on her clipboard.
"Who are they?" I asked Simon, as they started calling out for people to be paired. It was pretty ironic, because I was pretty sure he was ready to ask the exact same question. Simon shrugged.
"Simon and Randy." Simon looked at our teacher with a confused look.
"Who's Randy?" He asked, before the kid in the red jacket walked to his side.
"That would be me." Randy said, as his two friends gave watchful stares at us before turning their heads back.
"Julian and Daniel." The taller kid walked to me. I could finally look past the hood. He had brown eyes, very dark brown curly hair, and tan skin.
"I'm Daniel." He said, giving me a stern look, "It's nice to meet you...Julian, right?" I nodded. I felt suspicious of him because I barely knew who he was except his name. Then he just suddenly shows up with his friends and now we're partnered on the same bus. I looked over at Simon and could see him confused and lost just as I was.