DISCLAIMER: Percy Jackson and all its affiliates belong to Rick Riordan, who I most decidedly am not. Cover art by Tumblr's phil-the-stone.

For those of you who follow me here but not on Tumblr (cokebottleglassesarecool), here's the dealio: I know I said I wasn't going to take on any of my new WIP ideas yet, but... When you've got a chapter, you've got a chapter. This is what I was in the mood to write, and who am I to dismiss any creative urge that comes my way? The thing about writing, kids, is that you write what you feel like writing, regardless of other obligations. Sorry if yet another project frustrates any of my readers who are waiting on other updates, but I just can't say no to what gets into my head and stays on my mind.

That being said, I'll work on everything as it comes to me, and right now what's coming to me is a Percy Jackson high school AU, and to serve as evidence to that fact, here's the prologue-y thing.

I. Hello, I'm a Fish, and I Think Too Much

Percy Jackson was sure of about seven things (he would have liked to make it a round ten, but he wasn't sure he'd ever be lucky enough to know so many things that he actually crossed over into the double digits, so seven would have to do):

1.) He'd rather be swimming.
2.) He held Olympus Academy's detention record.
3.) He should probably pay more attention to his classes than to Annabeth Chase.
4.) His best friend Grover was going to get a good kick the next time he laughed at Percy about Number 3.
5.) He didn't understand his parents.
6.) He was irrational.
7.) His favorite color was blue.

It was nice to know things; it just so happened to be Percy's bad luck that they were all pretty useless. Because, really, when he thought about it…

1.) Everyone would always rather be doing something else.
2.) It didn't matter how many detentions he got, since his athletic prowess convinced the school to keep him as a lost cause rather than kick him out like he probably deserved.
3.) You can't not pay attention to Annabeth Chase.
4.) Kicking his paraplegic best friend would make him feel like a jerk, and Grover would just laugh and say "Didn't feel a thing!" anyway.
5.) Teenagers aren't supposed to understand their parents.
6.) Thank you, Captain Obvious.
7.) Who cares?

Go figure the seven things he knew didn't actually matter.

Percy mulled this over while he did laps at Olympus Academy's pool. Swimming always gave him time to think. He'd try to focus, try to concentrate on the water, but ADHD made it sort of hard to focus on anything for any set amount of time and, anyway, water was second nature to him; he didn't have to think about it. That was great for meets and everything, but Percy wasn't sure it was so great for his sanity.

The water rushed over him and he didn't think twice about it. It splashed against his skin, sloshed against the sides of the pool, but he hardly registered the sounds as they bounced and echoed against the concrete walls.

He thought about washing chalkboards at seven A.M. and his parents' weird relationship and Annabeth's curly hair and how he was going to have to wash more chalkboards if he didn't quit punching every kid who laughed at Grover's wheelchair. He thought about tomorrow's algebra exam - good luck with that one, Jackson - and how he was definitely going to be kissing the ground outside OA by the time Friday and subsequent freedom rolled around. He thought about how much he hated Luke Castellan for no real reason, and Octavian Abellona (what kind of name was that, anyway?) for a pretty good one.

But thinking about that - about his make-believe nemesis and his very real one - made the blood pound in his head, so he thought about Annabeth some more instead. Maybe it didn't calm him down, but at least it made him feel better.

Percy reached the other end of the pool and pushed off the side, propelling himself back into the sloshing blue water. He didn't think about his time or his strokes or the fact that it was almost dinnertime so he should probably go home already. Because his parents were weird and he'd rather be swimming, so what harm could another few laps do?

"You're a fish, Jackson, and I'm a bird," Annabeth was fond of telling him, and he couldn't help but think about every time he thought of her. "We're a pair, aren't we, but we always end up going home without each other."

Percy thought she was complicating it, especially since she'd just say it sometimes without even the slightest provocation, so he didn't even know why she was saying it at all. But he couldn't really complain since he complicated it, too, because that's what happens when you keep your mouth shut about how you feel. But hey, what was adolescent romance without a little complication?

Probably a lot better than this, his cynical side pointed out, making Percy grimace and swim a little harder. His cynical side was too rational for its own good – or his own good, anyway. And since he couldn't get rid of it, Percy admitted defeat and adhered to its desperation: He took a deep breath and sunk to the bottom of the pool to drown in his hormonal anguish, where, incidentally, he came up with the eighth thing he was sure of:

8.) Percy Jackson absolutely, unequivocally, no-doubt-about-it, hated high school.

Eight down, two to go.