It's been a while, sorry about that. Please enjoy. I know it's short, but it's pretty much just an intro chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or any of its characters.

Discord

Chapter One: Running

Waking up early was never something I took a lot of pleasure in, which was probably why I almost never went to school. It's not that I don't enjoy learning enough to set an alarm; and honestly, I would screw up my sleep schedule to go. It's just that the people I go to school with aren't exactly the nicest. I don't fit in, and they love to point it out. It may seem cowardly, but it's better this way.

I woke up just before noon today. I briefly consider showing up for afternoon classes, but decided against it. I was running out of money anyway. Hopefully Josh will let me pick up some extra hours today. If not, I'll try to sell some more paintings. Suddenly a loud vibration buzzed out followed by the music of Carry On My Wayward Son. I flipped open my tiny phone and mumbled a greeting.

"Good morning, Sunshine! How would you like to cover Melissa's shift? She called in sick again," Josh's voice crackled through the speaker.

"No problem. How soon do you need me?"

"Is now too soon?" he asked.

"I'll be there in twenty, okay?"

"You're a goddess!" He squealed before hanging up.

I threw on some jeans and sloppily pulled my hair up into a pony tail before grabbing my bag and running out my apartment door and locking it behind me. I'm currently working at a music shop. It's pretty tiny, but it has great character. Josh owns it. He's been taking care of it for years now – way longer than I've even been in New York. He cares for all his employees like a father would. Not that I would know anything about being taken care of by a dad. Mine wanted nothing to do with me. He blamed me for my mother leaving, but that's a different story. The shop was only a fifteen minute walk from the apartments, so I knew I could make it on time, but I had always enjoyed running. I found a quick run at least once a day invigorating, plus, it burned off some of the extra energy given to me in part by my ADHD.

I was almost to the shop when a deafening crashing noise stopped me in my tracks. I stopped and turned my attention to two cars that had just collided. The crash wasn't bad, I didn't really see any real damage. Two figures got out of the car closest to me. A teenager with dark brown hair came from the driver's side and a blonde from the passenger's side. The blonde girl immediately whacked the other with her hand and said something akin to 'seaweed brain'. They looked fine to me, so I continued on my way.

The bell over the door chimed as I walked in. I grabbed a work shirt from the back and scouted around for Josh. I could hear shuffling from behind a large stack of records and I called out to him.

"Hey, Josh. Can you come out of your fortress of vinyl for a second?" I laughed.

"Yeah sorry, Kit-Kat," he said standing.

"Oh good grief. Don't call me that," I frowned at him.

"Oh excuse me," he grinned, "I apologize Ms. Katherine Sinclair of who-knows-where."

"Geez," I raised an eyebrow at him, "You make it sound like I'm shrouded in mystery or something."

"Well aren't you? I've know you for almost two years, and you still haven't told me how you ended up here. We both know that a thirteen year old doesn't normally show up in New York with no one with her and no possessions besides the clothes on her back. You still shouldn't even be allowed to have an apartment at fifteen," he frowned back at me.

"What happened to your policy of 'everyone has their secrets' and 'always accept people as they come'?" my tone was harsher than I had meant for it to be, and he winced at it.

"I know. I'm sorry. I just worry about you. Chaos follows you all the time, and I don't want you to feel like there's no one to talk to. Your situation is a strange one. A guy can't help but be curious."

"I'm sorry," I sighed, "You've done a lot for me, and I shouldn't snap at you. It's just not something I prefer to talk about. I'm more about the present rather than losing myself in the past. You got me an apartment, a school, and a job. I'll always appreciate that."

"Speaking of, isn't today a school day?" The twenty-four year old was rarely stern, but now was one of those times.

"Well…I- uh…I decided that I would work instead?" I asked.

"You can't just skip school all the time!" A chime from the front door interrupted what would have been a long speech about education.

"I'll get that!" His sigh followed me as I scurried away.

I was surprised to see the blonde girl and the brown haired boy in the shop, but I greeted them none the less.

"Good afternoon. Welcome to our shop. Let me know if you need help with anything!" They both smiled at me and went back to talking.

"Annabeth, what are we doing here? We're supposed to be helping Chiron find her," the boy complained.

"I'm just going to ask around to see if anyone knows who she is. We already checked the school and apparently she hasn't been there in a couple of days, so maybe someone outside of there has seen her," the girl, Annabeth I guess, said.

'What girl?' I wondered as I took my seat behind the register. I didn't really pay attention to the rest of their conversation. If Josh had taught me anything, it was that you always need to give people their privacy. I zoned out until suddenly I found sea blue gazing into mine. I jumped slightly.

"I'm sorry. Did you need something?" I questioned. He laughed nervously and placed a hand on his neck.

"This may seem a little strange, but do you go to Macbeth High school? You look like you're around the age to go."

"Oh. Yeah, I go there. I'm a sophomore," I replied with my eyebrows knitted together.

"Do you know someone named Katherine Sinclair? She's in your grade," Annabeth came over and asked. Her grey eyes burned into my green ones. I nervously tucked some stray hair behind my ear. I bit my tongue thinking of what to say. They were looking for me, but why? My eyes widened. What if my dad sent them to look for me?

"I'm sorry, but I'm not really social in school. I don't know anyone by that name," I lied through my teeth. Annabeth looked like she wanted to question me more, but Josh picked that moment to walk in.

"Oh Ms. Katherine Sinclair!" he sang. I froze. I mentally smacked myself for telling him that I didn't like the nickname. This was so not good. I could feel the other teenager's eyes burning holes into me.

"Kat? Are you feeling okay? You look pale," he asked. I felt sick.

"I'm actually not feeling very well. Do you think you could call someone else to cover?" I glanced back at our company and so did Josh. I could see the gears turning behind his eyes.

"Did something happen?" The protectiveness in his voice was clear.

"I'm sorry. We're from Katherine's school. We just told her that she might have to repeat the year if she skipped anymore school. I guess she's surprised," Annabeth lied smoothly.

"Is that true?" Josh asked me. I couldn't trust myself to verbally lie to him, so I only nodded my head.

"Well, I'll go call Ashley to cover, so you can go catch up on school," he said after a few moments. I think he was satisfied with my answer.

Now, I had a choice to make. Fight or flight. It was an easy decision, considering I had hardly done anything besides this. I just barely glimpsed the shocked looks from the teenagers as I leaped over the counter and sprinted out the door. Conflict followed me no matter where I went, and I always ran. You can call me a coward, but at least I've never been caught. And I hoped with all my heart that it wouldn't change today.

Thanks for reading. Please review. Constructive criticism is appreciated as well as encouragement.