Percy's POV
It wasn't that I was nervous to go to another school. I had done it seven other times. It didn't even phase me now. Santa Monica High School was just another high school I would be at until my mom and step dad decided to up and move again. Or so I thought…
You see, my step dad Paul has this weird job where he gets moved all around. I don't even know what he does; something in construction or engineering maybe… anyways, his boss let him choose where he would relocate to. My mom and him decided for an early birthday present, I could pick. I have always loved the water, more specifically the ocean and I've always wanted to learn to surf. So I chose Santa Monica, California, a nice city right on the coast, Paul even bought a house on the beach. Sadly, we wouldn't move in until a week before my junior year so I never even got a chance to explore or meet any of the other kids my age. All I had time for was unpacking, getting ready for and touring the school.
Today was the first day and I was doing pretty well… until I hit Latin. There was this girl. Ok, I know how cheesy that sounds, but this girl is different. She had her dirty blonde hair pulled up in a loose pony tail, framing her face perfectly and accentuating her stormy, gray eyes. She was tall and athletic, wearing tan shorts and an orange t-shirt with a purple backpack slung across her shoulder that had a worn out Yankees cap strapped on to it. She was mesmerizing. And way out of my league. She took a seat in the middle row, by the windows and on the opposite side of the room from me. Nobody sat down next to her or said hi. I wondered if she was new too. I made a rash move. I picked up all my stuff and asked her if the seat was open. She looked at me. And I mean like right at me. In the eyes. And her velvety voice drifted up saying one sharp word. No. And that was it. She snapped her head back around and didn't acknowledge me after I sat. I plopped my stuff down and made a face at her, all she did was pull a book out of her bag and start reading. I searched my bag for a pencil (I found one, but I just wanted an excuse to talk to her… whoops?) "Excuse me?" I tapped her on the shoulder… "Uh… I'm sorry I don't know your name…" Her stormy eyes peeled away from her book, "My name's Annabeth and here." I took the pencil and smiled at her, "Thanks, Annabeth! What book are you reading?"
"A book," she replied and went back to reading. "Are you new here?" No reply. "That's cool. I'm not from around here, I moved here a week ago. Maybe you could show me around, or we could explore together?" That got her attention, she looked at me, smiled, laughed and shook her head, then went back to reading. "Cool! I'm going to take that as a yes then! What do you think about today after school?" Then the bell rang, she never had a chance to answer.
Our lovely teacher, Mrs. Dodds walked in. To be completely honest, she reminded me of Jabba the Hut in a tight leather jacket. She was enough to give a toddler nightmares. She seemed pretty useless though. All she did was make us go over the syllabus, then told us about the project that was going to be due at the end of the week about Roman Gods. She had already picked our partners. I just leaned back and relaxed, this made my job easier considering I didn't know anybody. She rattled off a few names like Charlie, Silena, Clarisse and Chris. Then she said Percy and Annabeth. Annabeth looked around and my heart did a little back flip in my chest. "Heyyy partner!" I smirked. She nodded and replied with, "After school, right?" I nodded, smiling like an imp. This was awesome. She gave me a disapproving look then went back to focusing on Jabba the Hut: biker edition.
And that was Latin. After the bell rang, I had lunch. I packed a lunch, already knowing that my best bet was getting a table and having whoever asked to join me, join me. A scrawny looking kid with a goatee was the one to ask. I said of course and we had a nice conversation. We even swapped numbers. I made a friend. His name was Grover and it was his first year here at Santa Monica High. He was from Long Island, New York and his parents sent him here so he could "experience new things!" While we were talking my gaze wandered across the cafeteria to where a blonde ponytail bounced with a tray full of food next to a frizzy red head who had a smile that could light up a room. "Wow… Those two must be real heartbreakers…" I thought out loud. Grover gave me the weirdest expression ever. "Look over there…" I responded dreamily while pointing in their direction. He nodded still giving me a quizzical look. "Okkkaayy…" he finally said, "well there are two more minutes left of lunch so I'll see you tomorrow!"
"See ya!" I shot back. I picked up my bag and made my way to gym.
Turns out, I have no classes with the bright redhead, but gym was still fun! I wasn't picked last for soccer and I was on the dominating team. We played outside in the 90 degree humidity and I was absolutely drenched in my own sweat. Awesome, I thought, just how I want to see Annabeth. To top it off… the showers were broken. I just changed and waited for the bell to ring so I could see her.
Annabeth's POV
The boy in my Latin class. I couldn't tell if he was friendly or irritating; cocky or confident. But he was attractive. His eyes were like the sea and his dark hair was styled, but shaggy, he certainly was athletic and taller than me and he was already perfectly tanned for only being here for a week. He was rather straightforward though. I didn't know if I should be scared or excited for after school.
Even though I was unsure, Rachel was definitely excited for me. At lunch she saw him and almost pulled my arm off. "A, he's looking at you! Oh my god! Look at him! Do you see him? You're not looookkkkinnnggg!" she squealed after I pointed him out. When we got to the table she elbowed me and announced, "Annabeth's got a hottieee!" I rolled my eyes along with everybody else at my table, knowing how boy crazy she was. Last year, she had thought Octavian was a 'hottieee'. Octavian is this blonde, pudgy kid that carries around beanie babies still. Like c'mon, seriously? You're 17! It's time to grow up! Rachel's credibility wasn't very high with anybody, but she was my best friend. "C'mon A, stop day dreaming about McHottie cuz we should head to Trig!"
All through Trig I anticipated after school. It was too hard to forget about it with Rachel giving me sly looks every two minutes and passing notes saying 'You better tell me everything!' I had almost chewed my nails to the quick. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Could the seconds go any slower? Do I really want them to speed up? I hated not knowing my emotions. The bell rang. I jumped out of my seat. I could hear Rachel giggling in the background.