Percy Aidan Jackson was slamming his locker door shut. The cold, crisp December air floated through the white, yellow, and blue tiled halls. He nervously rubbed his arms, wincing as he rubbed across a dark purple bruise. Today were the midterms, which made everyone nervous. Goode High for the Gifted gave really hard midterms. Why they couldn't have normal midterms was beyond Percy. Percy stared at his schedule, internally cursing the main office.

Schedule for Perseus Jackson
9:00- Adv. Greek
10:00- Marine Science
11:00- Swimming
Lunch
1:00- Music
2:00- Equestrian
3:00- Study Hall
Dismissal

He didn't like Advanced Greek. Sure, their teacher, Brunner was cool, unlike last year's Greek teacher, Mrs. Dodds. But, still. Percy had trouble staying awake in that class, unless something interesting happened. Like when the Stoll brothers, Travis and Connor, had taped fireworks to a pigeon, and the said pigeon just happened to be flying by when they set off the fireworks. Now that was interesting. Of course, they got detention anyway. Percy wondered if he could ask the Stolls to set off another set of fireworks to keep him awake during the exam. Percy yawned. Gods, he was tired. Pulling his green backpack onto his shoulder, he winced, realizing that his shoulder was bruised.
Cursing in Greek under his breath, Percy wasn't watching where he was going, and he bumped into a pretty honey blonde haired girl. Sea green met stormy grey, as Percy's face flushed light pink. He had a crush on her since sixth grade, but hadn't realized it until he fell hard for her in eighth grade. And then she had betrayed him. Annabeth Chase had been Percy's best friend since sixth grade, and then in ninth grade, she became reacquainted with Luke Castellan, an old childhood friend of hers, and Percy's arch nemesis. And the cherry that topped it all, was the fact that Luke had stolen her from him. Taken her away. And in two weeks,Percy had lost his only friend. So Percy's cheeks burned with the painstaking shyness that overtook him when he ever came into contact with another student. "I-I-I-I'm so um, sorry Annabeth. I d-didn't you know um, mean to bump into you. Sorry. Just, um let me pick up your books."

Annabeth watched as Percy scrambled around the bright white hallway floor picking up her fallen books and papers. She smiled inwardly at her old best friend. Percy was a transfer student from Greece. He was from Athens, and when Annabeth had bumped into him, on the first day of sixth grade, as he had kept his head down, trying to avoid making eye contact, they immediatly became best friends. Suddenly, a flash of purple and a line of white caught Annabeth's eye. She whipped her calculating gaze over to the exposed skin that Percy's shirt had lifted to reveal. A long, thin white scar, that was still slightly swollen, and a dark, angry purple bruise stood out against Percy's tanned Grecian skin, and skinny frame. Quick as lightning, Percy pulled down his navy jumper, and white button down, leaving Annabeth to wonder if what she had seen was real or not. Percy put the books and papers in Annabeth's open arms, still blushing a faint pink. Suddenly, Percy was thrown, and pinned against the dark blue lockers. Luke Castellan, Annabeth's best guy friend stood in front of Percy. "So, Jerkson. You think you can shove Annabeth to the floor and get away unscathed? I don't think so." But, much to Annabeth, and the entire school's amazement, instead of shrinking against the lockers like usual, Percy pulled himself up to his full height of 6'2", and met Luke's icy glare with his patented "death glare"
"No. I am sick and bloody tired of you Castellan. I've done nothing to you. But all you've done since I moved here from Greece is torture me. And I didn't shove Annabeth. I bumped into her by accident. But, not that she'd care much if you beat me up right?" Ouch. That stung. Annabeth unwillingly flinched at her former best guy friend's harsh tone. But all around her, the student body began to whisper. This confrontation went against everything they knew about Percy Jackson. He was known to be painstakingly shy, and a mediocre student, and though a great swimmer, he wasn't that confident.
Now, here was the Percy Jackson Annabeth had known. The sarcastic, cheerful, and daring Percy that she had come to know once they had gotten closer. "I'd watch your back if I were you Jackson. Just hope that I don't find you pushing Annabeth again." Turning on his heel, Luke marched away, his buddies Ethan, and Agrios behind him. Murmuring, everybody disparsed, leaving the hall empty except for Percy and her. Realizing who he was with, Percy scowled and walked away, his head hanging low.
Annabeth took in the sight of him. From his beat up grey converse, to his lopsided collar, rumpled no sleeve jumper, and messy hair. He wasn't the same old Percy. He had changed. Sighing at her dilemma, Annabeth put her books and papers in her locker while she straightened out her crisp, white school required button down, and her no sleeved jumper.

Percy made his way to the Ancient Greek classroom, conveniently (not!) remembering that Annabeth was in that class too. Sighing, he walked into the classroom, and threw his blue book bag on the tiled floor as he plopped himself onto his seat. Annabeth flashed Percy her brilliant white smile, while sliding into her seat next to him. Percy just scowled into his book. "To Kill A Mockingbird." Percy wished he could be a town shut-in. Sadly, this was New York City. Being the town shut-in was basically impossible. There were probably a hundred so called "town shut-ins". Oh the joys of high school. And life. Both were suckish. Percy thought that Luke was ultimately the thing that made high school a living hell. Wincing, Percy rolled his button down's crisp white sleeves. The sharp purple bruise throbbed and ached. Why oh why did he have to get night terrors? They always ended up with him bruising himself by bashing himself into something that he had left on his night table, like a glass of water. Then again, it was better than being stuck in a hospital, like those lengthy 60 days he had gone through after the accident. Opening up his pencil case, Percy fingered the pencil blade that he always had on him. It wasn't like his Swiss Army knife, but it also did the trick. He rubbed the smooth metal, a accidentally nicked his finger, (for the first time in a long time. Percy never cut himself by accident.) relishing the tingling calm that swept across his body as the blood trickled out of the wound. Hiding the bloody finger underneath a tissue, Percy prayed that nobody had seen. But across the room, calculating grey eyes widened as they darted away from the self-inflicted wound. Annabeth Chase turned her eyes down into her purple notebook, and wrote,

Fact: Perseus "Percy" Jackson cuts himself.

Opinion: I need to know why.