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Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson, though I wish I did.
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Annabeth POV:
It was my last, first day of high school. Kind of a weird thought, if you really think about it. Throughout our lives, we always hate the first day of school. It signifies the end of summer, fun, and vacations. It's kind of crazy to think, that eventually you'll have your last, first day. And here's how mine is going.
I'm Annabeth Chase; a senior at Goode High School in Manhattan. I don't get out much, and when I do, it's usually as part of a study group. To be honest, I haven't had the full "high school experience." There's a lot of firsts that I've missed out on. I've never had a first kiss, a first boyfriend, I haven't even been to my first high school party. My firsts are more along the lines of: first to finish the homework, first to class, or the first accepted into a college—I'm going to NYU next fall. Though, I have had a first crush, actually an only crush. It's been the same person since the first grade when he was my best friend: Percy Jackson. I thought I had a crush on Luke Castellan during middle school, but that was a weird stage for me, so I don't really trust my judgement. Anyways, back to Percy. He was my best friend up until seventh grade, when he suddenly started caring about the way he looked, and what people thought of him. He was rapidly gaining popularity, and unfortunately, I wasn't good for his image. He wanted people to see him as the cool kid, the one who hung out with the coolest people, and attracted the prettiest girls. The truth is that he has every girl he meets swooning at his feet. He, and his cousin Thalia were my only friends, and when Thalia moved away after the fifth grade, it was just me and Percy. So, when he left me in the dust, I didn't have any friends.
Now, in my senior year, Percy is considered the god of Goode High. He is the captain of the football and the swim team, and led both to win a state championship last year. He's been with his girlfriend, Rachel Elizabeth Dare since the end of sophomore year, and she is the captain of the Goode High cheerleading squad. While me on the other hand, still doesn't have a best friend. I have acquaintances, even study buddies, but not someone that I could call to come have a Harry Potter movie marathon with me. Besides, there isn't much time for that anyways. I can plan hangouts after I graduate with a perfect GPA, and 5s on all of my AP exams.
Back to present, I pulled up to Goode High in my old, beat-up Jeep Liberty, as I try to find a parking spot. For how many students there are at Goode, there is not nearly enough parking—something about encouraging us to carpool, and save the environment. When I finally found one, and was about to pull in, a brand-new white BMW pulled in front of me, and into the parking spot – causing me to slam on my brakes. Rachel Dare hopped out of the front seat of her convertible and smirked at me, with Percy Jackson in suit. Percy looked at me, not realizing who I was, and when he did, his eyes widened in alarm. He gave me an apologetic look, before slinging his arm around Rachel's shoulders and turning away. I sat there confused for a second before I pulled away to go find another spot.
Percy Jackson hasn't even acknowledged me since middle school, even though it was just a look, why did I feel like something was changing?
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First, second, and third period were a breeze for me. It wasn't until fourth that my day took a turn. My fourth period class was Ancient Greek. When I walked into the classroom, it shocked me to see that for the first time in a long time, I wasn't the first to class. It was only me and one other student. Mr. Brunner wasn't yet in the classroom. When I looked to see who it was, my jaw dropped.
"Thalia Grace? Is that you?" I asked.
The girl with the punk style, and spiky black hair looked up at me. No one had those same electric blue eyes. And if they did, they most definitely did not wear that much eyeliner. I dropped my books on the nearest desk, and Thalia looked up at me. A wide smile spread across her cheeks as she stood up from her desk to welcome me into a hug.
"Annabeth! How have you been? It's been years!" she said.
"Oh, you know, just school and stuff." I replied. "How have you been?"
"I actually have been really good! At first the move was hard, without you and Percy, but I made some good friends! By the way, how is Percy? I haven't seen him all day!"
Oh . . . right. Thalia had no idea that the current-day Percy wasn't the same as when we knew him. She seemed to notice my face darken.
"You are still friends with Percy, right? Even though we were only little kids, you and he were meant for each other!" She joked.
"Well, junior high changed some things, actually . . . Percy and I don't really talk anymore."
I could tell that Thalia was about to ask why, when we were both cut off by a huge bang and a laugh. We both looked towards the doorway to see none other than Percy Jackson. Speak of the devil and he shall appear. He brushed off his shoulder, and let out a hearty laugh. Either Percy is incredible clumsy and fell into the doorway himself, or was pushed. Immediately after Percy enters, so does Nico DiAngelo. So I guess Nico pushed Percy, and that was the loud bang. Stupid boys. I turned back to Thalia to continue talking, as this was a normal occurrence, but found that she was entranced by the two boys. Oh, that's right, Thalia hasn't seen Percy since the fifth grade, and he's only gotten better looking since then. But then I realized that she wasn't looking at Percy, she was looking at Nico. And Nico was looking right back at her. And Percy was still laughing due to his obliviousness to the situation. When he finally realized that Nico was no longer kidding around with him, he looked at Nico and followed his gaze to Thalia. His eyes noticeably widened, and then he glanced at me.
"Thalia? What in the world are you doing here?" He asked.
Thalia slowly tore her eyes away from Nico, and looked at Percy. She grinned.
"I'm back, even better than before, Kelp Head." She said.
Percy chuckled and pulled her into a side hug.
"It's nice to see you too, Pinecone Face."
The two then went on into a rapid conversation of how are you, and all the ordinary things people say when they haven't seen one another in a while. Meanwhile, Nico was looking back and forth between the two with a dumbfounded expression. I let out a snort as soon as I realized this. Suddenly, all three of them were looking at me now. How uncomfortable. Percy scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, and turned away from Thalia.
"So, uh, how are you doing Annabeth?" He asked.
I looked at him with a blank expression, he looked just as uncomfortable as I felt. In my chest, my heart was pounding a million miles an hour. But on the other hand, my head was screaming insult after insult at Percy. He was looking at me with those stupid sea green eyes that I'd fallen in love with—they seemed to be saying a thousand things, and I could only decipher one: guilt.
"I'm fine." I said coolly.
"PERCY!" A girl shrieked, and his eyes tore away from mine to see a flash of red run through the doorway.
"Hi Rachel," Percy said as she ran into his arms, and violently attached her lips to his.
The thing was, usually, these type of things made me laugh, but I was almost feeling sorry for Percy. His eyes widened in shock, and gently pushed her off of him. Rachel looked at him with a grin, and settled for holding his waist in her arms. She was wearing her stupid blue and yellow cheer uniform, and her long, wavy red hair was pulled into a high ponytail with a ribbon. She gave me a smug look, and turned back to Percy.
"So, like, are you still planning on taking me to the homecoming dance? I mean, I know it isn't for, like, another month or so, but who else would you go with? Little miss goody-goody? Why are you even talking to her? She'll only ruin your reputation." Rachel said to Percy, flashing me haughty looks throughout her speech.
Nico rolled his eyes, and Percy looked really uncomfortable, like he didn't know what to do. I could see the wheels turning in his head. Thalia is back after all these years, and suddenly, I'm Rachel's target. She never cared about me before, so why now? He didn't know whether to stand up for me, or side with his "lovely" girlfriend. Before he could say anything, though, Thalia interrupted in all her confident punk glory.
"Listen here sweetheart. I don't even know who you are, but I can tell that you think you're the best thing since Nirvana. Well let me tell you, you're not. Annabeth is ten times the person you are, and I don't even know you. And want to hear one more thing? You might be pretty if I could actually see your face underneath all that makeup." Thalia snapped.
Rachel gave her a murderous look before storming off, dragging Percy behind her – who was giving us all an apologetic look. Thalia, Nico and I all sat there for a minute before Nico looked up to Thalia and said,
"Well that was something. I already like you, and I don't even know your name."
"I'm Thalia Grace. And you are?"
"Nico DiAngelo. I'm Percy's good friend. By the way, if you don't mind me asking, how do you know each other?"
Thalia laughed before saying,
"Me, Percy, and Annabeth here were all best friends through elementary school. I moved to Florida after the fifth grade though. But, I just recently moved back, and turns out Percy and Annabeth aren't even friends anymore, and he has a demon of a girlfriend. Awesome."
"Don't worry, you're not the only one. Everyone hates Rachel. Especially the guys on the football and swim team. I don't even think Percy is really that into her anymo-"
"Then why in the world is he dating her?" I snapped.
Nico looked at me, and was about to answer when the bell rang. Class was starting, I didn't even notice all of the people filtering in through the doorway. I sat down next to Thalia, as Mr. Brunner rolled in on his wheelchair. I didn't even listen to his lecture on classroom procedures, which was odd for me. All I could think about was, why in the world would Percy stay with someone that doesn't make him happy? I could feel a very familiar pair of seagreen eyes on the back of my neck, and then another pair of light green eyes glaring holes through my head. I can't have Rachel Elizabeth Dare harassing me all year. If it's only the first day, and she's already out to get me, that's not a good sign. How did I not realize that her pulling in front of me this morning was intentional? I could feel myself heating up real quick. What did I ever do to Rachel Dare to make me her target? I stayed out of her way, because I can't stand people who are as unintelligent as she is. What makes her think that she is better than me? She must have some reason. And I'm going to find out what it is.
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