Disclaimer: I don't own anything! Well, I own some stuff but not any of these characters or the Heroes of Olympus or Percy Jackson series!

Chapter 1

Ok, I'm not gonna bore you with the whole life story. Let's cut to the chase. I'm in love. With my best friend. I'm an idiot, I know. But believe me, if you saw her, you'd understand. Her name is Piper Mclean, and she is the most amazing person I have ever met. The day I knew I was in love with her was on my first day of first grade, the day I met her. I was sitting on the low bow of a young elder tree, just looking out at the sky through the breaks in the leaves, and I remember thinking that the clouds looked like brushstrokes, each one in a straight line, perfect at the beginning and then waning and breaking consistency as they stretched across the sky. The sky was a clear forget-me-not blue, and there were two jet streams that crossed above me, making a huge X across the sky. "X marks the spot." I thought happily. It was then that I heard someone singing. It was the most clear and beautiful sound I'd ever heard. It was full of promise and purity and seemed so clean and new that it could usher in peace between opposing armies, or make the dark clouds dissipate to reveal the sun. That's how it felt to me. All the clouds disappeared and I could suddenly see the sun.

I turned around and saw a girl sitting hunched under the slide, her arms folded around her knees which were tucked up to her chest. Her choppy, chocolate brown hair was in a short braid down her back, curling at the end, with wispy strands flying here and there in the breeze. She was singing that song 'Feed The Birds' from Mary Poppins. It was the most breathtaking sound ever to be heard by human ears. I edged forward and stared down at her, resting my chin on my hands and drinking in every word with untold fervor, until the last perfect note drifted out and was swept along by the breeze. To this day, Mary Poppins is one of my favorite movies, and the song 'Feed The Birds' still makes me cry, just like it did that day.

Once she stopped, I brushed the tears from my eyes, and I started to clap. I have always been a fairly shy person, not really the type to do something this daring, but I felt she deserved it. Her head jerked up and her eyes locked on my face. Those eyes were, and are, indescribable. In their depths I saw so many colors, colors I'd never even imagined. Those eyes made me feel like I was suddenly splitting open, and pouring my soul out for the whole world to see. I felt irrevocably changed. I caught my breath and stared in transfixed awe. Suddenly, her face split into a wide grin. My breath hitched in my throat at the glow her face seemed to possess, as I could perfectly see her sweet soul shining through her kaleidoscope eyes. I smiled back.

Since that day, there has never been any other girl in my eyes. It's always been her. How could it not be? How could I have eyes for anyone else when a girl like Piper exists. A girl so fundamentally good that it shouldn't be possible. A girl so breathtakingly gorgeous inside and out that it should be illegal. I'm rambling, sorry. You don't even know who I am and I'm already regaling you with my whole pathetic love life.

Flash-forward about ten years. Here I am, things are um... well they're pretty much the same. I am now in high school in New York city. I guess my life is pretty good. Well, it's normal anyway. Accept for the whole being-in-love-with-your-best-friend thing of course. I attend Goode High school on the upper east side, along with all my friends. The day I am taking you to is a perfectly normal day in my life. Or at least it seemed like it at the time.

'AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! Don't think about it! Do it!' I awoke to the sound of my alarm, which was blasting out the song 'Do it' by Henry Rollins, the loudest heavy metal song I could find and the only thing that had the slightest hope of waking me up, at full volume. As usual, I fell out of bed in a panic, struggling to untangle myself from the bedsheets which seemed intent upon strangling me as the music filled the cavernous space of my room, making my eardrums throb. I finally wrenched out an arm and dived for the alarm clock, hand clenched into a fist. Unfortunately, I misjudged the position of the clock and smashed my fist down on the bedside table, capsizing it and sending the alarm, last night's glass of water, my phone, my glasses, and the bedside lamp, spinning out across the floor. The glass of water landed on my back and spilled all over me, while my phone fell to the floor and I saw the screen crack. The alarm was still blaring out as loud as ever, and I picked it up and threw it against the wall, where it smashed, the screen cracking, the back falling off, the batteries falling out and the plastic breaking into a million pieces. The music promptly stopped. I groaned and rolled over, my hand over my eyes. Yep. Just a regular Thursday morning.

I slowly untangled the bedsheets from around me, jammed the glasses onto the bridge of my nose and, rubbing my bruised hand, walked to the bathroom. After a minor incident of kicking the doorframe very hard (accident), I opened the door, cursing under my breath and hopping as I entered, my injured toe too tender to be placed in direct contact with the ground. I looked up at the mirror and let out a shriek of terrified laughter upon seeing my appearance. The quilted pattern of the pillow was still imprinted deeply on my cheek, the bags under my eyes had bags of their own, and my hair was so incredibly messy it looked almost anti-gravitational. I looked like a zombie

I filled the sink with cold water and plunged my face into it. By the time I resurfaced gasping I was fully awake. I did my best to tame the nightmare that was my hair, but eventually gave up and settled for it looking like a robin's nest, not an eagle's nest.

'Jason! Get your lazy ass down here!' my sister Thalia yelled from downstairs as loud as she could. I bolted out from the bathroom at top speed, realizing I was late. I grabbed a pair of old, battered jeans and a black t-shirt advertising the band U2. I pulled the t-shirt over my head, and got it on after about twenty seconds of trying to force my head through the arm hole. The jeans presented an even bigger challenge. I tried to put them on as fast as possible, hopping around on one leg, which resulted in me falling over and creating a colossal crash as I smashed into my dresser. Yep, I'm not good in a crisis. A few seconds later, I heard a stirring noise in the next room and a groan of both pain and annoyance. Uh-oh. I grabbed my bag and rocketed out that door, taking the stairs three at a time until I was in the hallway.

'Finally!' said my sister Thalia. 'What were you doing up there? Actually, don't answer. I don't wanna know.' I grinned and motioned to the door. 'Don't you want breakfast?!' she asked as though I was insane.

'No. I'm ok. Let's go!' She gave me a knowing smile.

'The dragon awake?' I nodded and again motioned to the door insistently. She just shrugged and turned the doorknob, holding it open for me. I darted out and as I turned back, I caught a glimpse of mom at the top of the stairs in her tattered nightgown, looking furious.

'What do you two think you're doing making all this noi-' Thalia shut the door before she could finish her sentence and began striding off to her car without a second glance.

'You'll pay for that.' I told her as I fumbled to buckle my seatbelt. Thalia let out a crow of derisive laughter.

'Oh please! What could that old witch do to me that she hasn't done already?' I searched in vane for an answer. It was true, our mom had given Thalia just about every punishment in the book. She grounded her, Thalia snuck out. She took away her TV privileges, Thalia didn't care. She shouted at her, Thalia shouted back. One of the things I admired about my sister.

Thalia turned the radio to an oldies station, and Hotel Yorba by the white stripes came on. She immediately turned up the volume and nodded her head in time to the music, singing along with the first verse and slapping the steering wheel with one hand in time to the beat of the chorus. In her low, black car, with her spiky black hair and punk clothes, singing along to the white stripes, she looked fairly rocking.

We got to school in less than fifteen minutes because Thalia drives like a lunatic, but when we got there, I jumped out but Thalia didn't.

'Aren't you coming?' I asked, guessing the answer before the question left my lips.

'Nah little bro. I'm taking off for a while, but I'll see you at lunch ok?' I rolled my eyes but nodded and waved as she drove away. I knew where she was going. She was off to visit Luke, her boyfriend. Don't get me wrong, I like Luke, he's a nice guy who loves her very much. But I did think it was irresponsible of him to let her skip class just to see him, especially in her senior year. He's in college but they've been dating since he was a junior and she was a freshman.

I dropped my hand when the wheels of her car had screeched around a corner and carried her out of sight, and turned on my heel to run inside. I wasn't really sure why I was so excited to get to class, then I remembered; today was Thursday! Thursday is the day that I have every class with Piper! Every. Single. Class! That's why it's my favorite day of the week.

I ran down the halls lined with the trolls and goblins I call classmates, and skidded to a stop outside my homeroom, not even bothering to put my books in my locker. I made one last attempt at smoothing down my hair as I stood outside the door, before realizing it was a lost cause. Resigned to looking like there was a very energetic hamster living in my hair, I pushed open the door. I scanned the classroom with hopeful eyes, taking in each desk in turn. Piper wasn't there. Feeling suddenly dejected I slouched over to my seat in the back of the classroom. I rested my chin on the desk and closed my eyes, tuning out the mindless chatter of my fellow pupils. No more than ten seconds later, a pair of rough, calloused hands with long fingers covered my eyes.

'Guess whoooo...' sang a high-pitched voice, like an opera singer's.

'Hi Leo.' I said heavily.

'Damn it!' The hands quickly removed themselves from my eyes and Leo plopped into the chair beside me, looking morose. 'What gave me away that time?' I gave him a look of astonishment.

'Leo, you've done that every morning in different voices for seven years. I think from now on I'm always going to assume it's you.'

'Wise words Sparky.' He stood and mimed sweeping a hat off his head with a flourish and then holding it to his chest before he bowed so low that I thought his nose would touch his knees.

I started to laugh but the laughter hitched in my throat when the door opened and an angel walked in. She was a vision in a dark blue sweat-shirt and battered jeans. Her dark hair, cut choppy and uneven, draped around her caramel, heart-shaped face. Her long lashes fluttered down to touch her cheeks and then her eyes open fully in my direction. Piper's face split in a wide grin that I was half convinced actually stopped my heart. I hated that I was still so desperate for a mere glimpse of her, but after all, it had been this way for ten years. Some things never change.

She made her way over to us, guys turning in their seats, craning their necks to get a glance at her as she walked down the isle between the rickety, gum encrusted desks. Her head was ducked down, and most of her hair hidden under a purple New York Yankees cap. The sweater was navy blue and about three sizes too big. It advertised the band 'Augustines', a recent obsession for both of us.

She sat down in the seat next to Leo, and I casually leaned forward on my elbows so as to keep looking at her.

'Rough morning beauty queen?' Leo asked mischievously as she groaned and slumped back into her chair.

'No such thing.' she said, stifling a huge yawn. Homeroom started with the usual taking of attendance and morning announcements. Mr Brunner, our homeroom teacher placed his spectacles at the end of his long nose and read off an immense list or announcements that seemed to take an eternity, and none of which seemed even the tiniest bit interesting.

But Leo kept cracking jokes and Piper had a bag of gelatin-free candy (she's a vegetarian) which we shared out, so I was cool. We talked and laughed and joked and even though I think mr Brunner must have noticed Leo doing his impression of Miley Cyrus, he didn't let on.

'And finally,' he said with an air of relief as he at last reached the end of his announcements. 'The traditional "Dance of Delphi" will be held in exactly three weeks from now. You all may go.' There was the usual mad dash for the door even before the word "go" had formed on his lips. Me Leo and Piper hung back and walked up to say good morning to mr. Brunner.

'Sup mr. B!' Leo said enthusiastically as he help up a hand for a high five. Mr. Brunner stared at Leo's hand with one eyebrow raised, like 'seriously?'

'Mr. Valdez, I have had yet more teachers complain to me about your continuous lack of homework assignments handed in. Have you at least the decency to attempt to come up with an excuse? The staff would really appreciate it.'

Leo dropped his hand and looked indignant. 'What do you mean I don't give excuses? I give excuses all the time! Wether they're true or not is up to the imagination of the teacher in question.' he said reasonably.

Mr. Brunner opened one of his desk drawers labelled "Valdez" and pulled out an enormous file which seemed to take all his strength to lift, due to it's vastness. He pulled out the topmost sheet of paper and cleared his throat. 'Excuses like; "My family just got a new paper shredder and I had to test it out", "I gave it to the homeless man down the street", and "My cat shat on it" do not constitute proper excuses.' Me and Piper were fighting to suppress our laughter.

'How do you know they aren't true?' Leo asked with the heir of a lawyer spotting a loop-hole in the other attorney's defense.

Piper cleared her throat. 'Um, Leo. You don't have a cat.' At that point me and Piper couldn't hold it in and burst out in fits of laughter. I thought I saw mr. Brunner's beard twitch, and knew he was fighting back a smile himself.

'Just try, young man. That's all I ask. I'll see you in Latin, and I trust that you did not bring the assignment today?'

Leo grinned at him and saluted. 'You know me so well.' Mr. Brunner sighed and wearily turned his attention back to the essays he was grading.

'You really should give homework a try Leo.' I told him as we walked to History.

'If I do it now, then they'll only expect me to do it for the rest of the year. I don't want to lead them on like that! God Jason, are you heartless?' he replied dramatically. Piper laughed. It made me smile.

4 intensely boring hours later...

Lunch! At last! At long, long, long last! That was my only thought as me Piper and Leo made our way to the cafeteria after four hours of pondering questions like "Why are there no windows in this place? Are they afraid that a single glimpse of sunlight will tempt us to make a desperate bid for freedom?" But at last, the one subject I excel at; lunch.

We joined the queue of rowdy teenagers lining up to get their pile of goop only someone who had been born without the ability to taste or smell could call food. Leo and I both got burritos, Piper got a cheese quesedilla and a pack of Nutter-butters. We made our way to our usual table, where the rest of my friends were already sitting with their heads leaning in, while Annabeth seemed to be telling a story. We wended our way over through the sea of little round tables around which kids talked and laughed and pushed each other in a joking fashion.

We sat down to jovial greetings from our friends and a big hug from Percy (that dude's a hugger!). The friends I always sit with are as follows: Percy Jackson, Hazel Levesque, Annabeth Chase, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Calypso Atlas, Frank Zhang, Will Solace, Nico Di Angelo, Leo Valdez, Piper Mclean and Thalia. Most of us have been together since first grade, with the exception of Frank, and Hazel.

Conversation began and Piper recounted Leo's earlier conversation with mr. Brunner, denying Leo's assurances to the group that he had called mr. Brunner an "asshole casserole".

'So, how bout the dance of what-do-you-call-it huh?' Leo asked the group at large.

'What about it?' Piper asked through a huge mouthful of cornbread and melted cheese.

'Who y'all takin'?' asked Leo, moving his shoulders like a salsa dancer.

'I'm going with Annabeth.' Percy said with confidence. Annabeth looked at him half indignant, half amused.

'What? When did this happen?' Percy looked as though he'd just remembered something very important.

'Oh yeah! Annabeth,' Percy turned to face her. 'You wanna go to the Dance of Delphi with me?' Annabeth just looked at him incredulously for a few seconds, before she laughed and put her arms around his neck, so their foreheads were touching.

'You are such a seaweed brain!' They kissed, both of them smiling. It was kind of sweet at first, but quickly escalated to where we all were forced to look away in discomfort.

'So,' Nico said, trying to ignore the weird noises Percy and Annabeth were making with their mouths. 'Who are the rest of you taking?' I looked quickly up at Piper, who was looking down at her food, unsmiling. I wanted so badly to ask her! I wanted to run around the table, sweep her up in my arms, and declare undying love to her. But how well do you think that would've gone down?

We all chorused a dejected "No one" and Leo began rattling off the names of the twenty four girls he had already asked and been rejected by that morning. I noticed Calypso staring down at her plate, tears beginning to pool in her eyes. Leo was so clueless. When someone is crying, the noble and natural thing to do is to try to comfort them, but when someone is crying in secret, trying to hide their tears, it may be more noble to pretend not to notice. So I tried to change the subject.

'Thalia, how was Luke?'

'Oh he's doing good. We went to the park, nothing fancy.' She shrugged.

'You two have fun?' Leo asked. It was a perfectly innocent question, but the hidden meaning behind it was clear from Leo's suggestive tone. Thalia punched him.

I stared at Piper. I had to get over her. For years now a weight had been resting on my heart. I'd lost a lot of sleep over her, and eaten a lot of ice cream. Somehow I had to move on. Get on with my life. Shake off the grip she had on my heart. I was tired of feeling this way, alone in love meant for a pair. But how? How could I learn to let her go?

It was then that I realized that she was staring back, her brow furrowed in confusion, head tilting to the side questioningly. My face reddened as I realized that I'd been staring at her for about a minute, all misty-eyed. Damn it! She raised one eyebrow, like "You ok?" I nodded and took a bite of my burrito which seemed to have turned to sand in my mouth. I could feel her eyes resting upon my face, examining me. She could tell I was lying. As always, Piper saw right through me. And as always, I didn't mind so much.

Ok, that was petty short for a first chapter but I am still kind of setting everything up so please bare with me! They will get longer and hopefully better...

Don't forget to review, and thanks for reading!

Until next time xx