So this story has been recently revised and I have added another chapter, one that I believe is better than the first three. So read it, please review, and enjoy :)

Rights to Rick

I sat and watched as the flames danced around my school and black smoke billowed from the windows. I had been dismissed early like all the seventh graders, and soon after that younger kids came running from the school led by crazy eyed teachers. My thoughts seemed so distant from the blaring sirens of the school, the teachers yelling and the younger kids crying. I mean, I wasn't happy to see my school burn, nobody is, but bad memories seemed to burn with it. The awkward school dances where all the guys stood against one wall and the girls against the other, the constant snickering behind my back, and the paper airplanes that hit me in the back multiple times. I turned away from the school to escape the smell of burning hope and deathly expo markers and noticed a 7th grade girl sitting in the corner. She had curly blonde hair that fell like a curtain around her face, and she wore blue jeans with an orange t-shirt that said something I couldn't decipher. I noticed a tear streak down one corner of her face and I walked towards her, curiously. As I got closer, I recognized her. What was her name? Anna, Annie, Beth? I couldn't put my finger on it. All I knew was that she was unlike all the other girls. While they seemed to cry for attention, she always strayed from the spotlight. She was nice enough, she helped me pick up my things when I dropped them, but people had given up trying to be her friend a long time ago, probably due to the death glare she gave them. I however, had never tried.

"Why are you crying?" I asked, my voice sounding surprisingly gravelly. She looked up, and her face immediately turned expressionless.

"The school's on fire if you haven't noticed" she replied sarcastically.

I studied her face; the dark circles under her stormy grey eyes, and the way she fiddled with the necklace around her neck.

"Yes it is," I replied," But that's not why you're crying."

Don't ask me how, but I knew something was wrong. She looked up once again, startled. Slowly she stood up and studied me. Her grey eyes sparkled intelligently and I saw the gears turning in her head.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"I'm Dylan," I replied.

"Well, Dylan" she said slowly. "You are correct. I am not crying because of the school."

She cocked her head to the side. "Your ability to read emotions is very advanced for a mortal, though" she said, almost to herself, before striding away.

Mortal? What the hell did she mean by that?

"I'm Annabeth by the way" she yelled back over her shoulder as she walked away..

I was left more confused than ever, but a kind of curiosity and excitement that I hadn't felt in a long time boiled up inside of me.

So I did the only logical thing. I followed her.