Percy's POV

I am having the worse time of my life.

For starters, I'm late. Again. It's not like I'm not putting effort in waking up early. I sighed and adjusted my glasses. My raven black mop of a hair flew as I sped towards my room.

"Thirteen times in a row, Mr. Jackson", Mrs. Dodds, my Algebra teacher said as i stood at the door, panting. "That's got to be a new record."

Some of my classmates laughed. I felt my face burn up with embarrassment.

"Detention. Now go to your seat", Mrs. Dodds said.

I slumped on my chair, imagining how this day could get any worse. I picked my Algebra book and tried to jot down notes. Emphasis on tried. Math is one of my weak points, and my dyslexia is not helping the situation. I adjusted my glasses and started to concentrate harder. With more effort, I started to understand what Mrs. Dodds was talking about. Then, the bell rang signaling the end of class.

"Alright, get ready for a long quiz next meeting about this topic."

Everyone groaned. Well, everyone except Annabeth Chase, who was just twirling her blonde locks as if the quiz was just a piece of cake. She is very popular and also has great grades. Heck, I'll bet that Annabeth has not seen a B for a long time. Even longer than me even getting near that grade.

"And Mr. Jackson, I'll see you later."

That snapped me out of my thoughts. I just nodded and quickly went out of the classroom. Outside I saw my friends waiting for me.

"Took you long enough Perce," Frank said. Frank is a Canadian but he has Chinese blood. He might look huge but he has a soft spot for his granny.

"Yeah, cuz. Heard you were late again today? Maybe we should give you an alarm clock for Christmas" Nico said while the others laughed. He is my cousin on my father's side. He likes the color black though he still denies that he's a Goth.

"Whatever Nico." I said as we went to our next class. We had History next with Mr. Brunner. Now, just thinking about it is making me feel better. Mr. Brunner is best teacher I have ever met in my life. He understands kids with dyslexia like me unlike some teachers who stereotype us as dumb without even knowing our situation.

"Good morning class" Mr. Brunner said as he entered the room." Well, let's start our discussion."

An hour later

"Whew, I' m glad I survived that one." Frank said as we went to get our lunch.

The cafeteria was jam-packed with students eating their lunch. The History class really took my mind of the bad things that happened to me today. Shoot, I now I remembered them again. I sighed and went in line. 'How could things get any worse?' I thought to myself. I have never been so wrong in my life.

I felt a strong force knock me to the ground. It was so unexpected that I fell face first while my lunch fell on the floor. I opened my eyes and everything was blurry. 'Where are my glasses?' I thought.

"Oops. I didn't notice you were there, Jackson", Luke said, a smirk on his face. His cronies laughed.

Luke Castellan is the biggest jerk in all of Goode High. He is the quarterback for the football team. He is tall and has blond hair. He is also Annabeth's boyfriend. Don't ask me how that even happen. Even I can't believe straight-A Annabeth Chase fell for a total douche.

"It's okay, Luke." I said. Frank helped me up while Nico picked up my glasses. Good thing it wasn't smashed.

"Here you go dude", Nico said, still glaring at Luke.

"Thanks guys". I said. I silently prayed for this to end now. I quickly took another sandwich and dragged both of my friends to the counter to pay. Then, we went to an empty table and sat down to eat lunch.

"Why did you drag us away, Percy!?" Nico said as he gave me his deluxe death glare. I sighed. "We could have handled it."

"No Nico, we would've been beat to pulp. I don't want to go to class looking black and blue!" I whisper shouted to him, making sure nobody heard our conversation.

"He's right Nico." Frank said, his eyes closed. 'Oh man, I can feel a 'but' coming' I groaned.

"BUT, we can't run away forever Percy" he said giving me a pointed look.

"Oh watch me." I said before taking a bite from my sandwich.

He sighed. Then, his face lighted up. This can't be good.

"The talent show is coming up. We really need to be part of it." He said cheerfully.

"And why should we do that?" I said, completely not interested.

"He just wants to impress that girl from the other class." Nico said. "What's her name again? Hailey?"

Frank blushed. "Its Hazel!" he said but quickly shut his mouth. Nico and I laughed. He blushed harder.

"T-that's not it! I mean, this could really improve how people treat us" He said. He obviously likes her.

I looked around. Frank was right. Nobody seemed to care with the glasses kid, the chubby boy and the goth. I sighed. It's just a talent show. Maybe if I just tried a little harder….

"Fine. I'm in. But what are we going to do? Just a heads up guys, my body has coordination problems so dancing is definitely a no". I said.

They snapped their heads to look at me. Shock written clearly on their faces. What? Can't I try doing something for a change?

Frank recovered first. "Okay, right what should we do? Oh, I was thinking of forming a band."

"You are serious about this?" Nico asked.

"Yeah, is there anything wrong?"

"Nah, it's just weird. The only things you took seriously is swimming and your mom's cookies". He said and shrugged.

"But dude, admit it. They were really good." Frank said.

"Yeah" Nico and I said, remembering how good those cookies tasted. Then, the bell rang.

"We'll talk about this later at my house", I said, standing up. "You'll have to wait for me though, I have detention. See you later guys."

"Yeah we'll be at the gate waiting for you", Frank said as he went for his next class.

"See you later cuz" Nico said and left. I finished my sandwich and proceeded to my next class.