Chapter 1: Annabeth

Annabeth woke up to bright light streaming through her window. She squinted and shielded her eyes. After blinking a few times, she got up reluctantly and stretched, then turned her attention to the large mirror on her closet door. She didn't look too bad in the mornings, just a little less than presentable for her own liking. She let out a long sigh, walked out of her room, and started towards the bathroom.

When she had fixed herself up and came downstairs, her stepmom had already cooked breakfast and was laying it out on the table. Her twin half-brothers, Matthew and Bobby, were pigging out on bacon and pancakes. The smell of syrup wafted through the air and made her stomach grumble.

"Morning," she greeted her family. Her stepmom gave her a warm smile and told her to sit down and eat, while her brothers hardly even looked up from their food. She knew her dad left for work pretty early, so it was normal that he wasn't around for breakfast.

Breakfast was silent except for the chewing and the scraping of forks against plates. Annabeth had finished before the rest of them, so she grabbed her backpack and began to walk out the door.

"Hold on, Annabeth," her stepmom called. She turned and her stepmom asked, "You have any plans after school for today?"

Annabeth thought for a moment. "I might just go with my friends later and hang out someplace."

Her stepmom nodded. "All right, make sure you have your keys. Be home by four thirty, unless you call and tell me or your dad otherwise, okay?"

"Sure thing. Bye guys!"

The school Annabeth attended was within walking distance, thankfully, however her brothers' school was farther away, and towards the same direction as their mom's work, so they'd take the car. Annabeth never minded, though. She liked having my own time to think about stuff and be in her own little world, even though New York wasn't exactly a place where you could keep to yourself.

Annabeth had time to spare when she arrived on campus, so she went on a search for my friends. Rachel would probably be at school already; she was always an early riser. It didn't take too long for Annabeth to find Rachel (you could spot her frizzy red hair from virtually anywhere), who was outside, sitting at the lunch table under a large tree. She had her sketch pad out and appeared to be drawing something. Annabeth walked over and sat next to her, placing her backpack on the floor under the table.

"Hey Rachel," she said, peering over at Rachel's pad. "What're you drawing?"

Rachel looked up. "Oh, hi Annabeth." She smiled. "I was just doing some landscapes." Rachel had a lot of artistic talent. Even the denim knee-length shorts she was wearing were covered in little marker drawings, as were most of Rachel's pants. She had a habit of doodling on her jeans when she was bored.

"It looks really nice," Annabeth complimented. Rachel had drawn a beach scene with a sunset. The waves were sketched so that they were gentle-looking, hitting the shoreline with small splashes. Despite it being in all pencil, Rachel had managed a glowing effect around the sun that was dipping below the horizon.

"Thanks," Rachel said. "I think that cruise our family was on during the summer is having an effect on me." She chuckled.

Rachel's family was extremely wealthy. However, if you looked at Rachel, she didn't really reflect the typical image of a "rich girl." Her father was the CEO of Dare Enterprises. Rachel didn't flaunt the whole ordeal or anything. She only wanted to be a teenager, a regular teenager, not just some big business owner's spoiled princess of a daughter. It was good to know that Rachel was so down-to-earth; it made her a great friend.

For a while, Annabeth watched as Rachel completed her drawing. More people had come on campus, and soon the school was full of noisy teenagers. Then her attention drifted away and she noticed someone she had never seen before. Annabeth was known for her memory and intelligence, and she knew that if she had seen this person before, she would have definitely remembered.

The person was a guy, maybe in her grade. His hair was black and unruly, and his eyes were a green color, like Rachel's. He looked lost, and Annabeth figured he was a new student. She nudged Rachel, and nodded in the boy's direction.

"Do you know who the new guy is?" she asked Rachel.

Rachel moved her gaze over the new student. She pursed her lips, as if trying to recall something. "Percy Jackson, I think. I remember Bianca saying that there was going to be a new student this semester." Bianca di Angelo was another one of their friends.

Rachel put her sketch pad and pencil away. "We should go say hello."

Annabeth turned her head to look at Rachel, her eyebrow raised quizzically. "What? How come?"

"I don't know." Rachel shrugged. "I think he'd appreciate if someone introduced themselves, just so he doesn't feel so out of place. Come on Annabeth, I'm sure he won't bite."

She grabbed Annabeth's hand and all but dragged her to the new person. He hadn't seemed to notice them until Rachel asked, "Hey, are you new here?"

The boy turned to look at them, a little surprised. He was a few inches taller than either Annabeth or Rachel. "Oh, um…yeah," he muttered.

"I'm Rachel, and this is Annabeth." Rachel said cheerily, taking care of both their introductions.

Annabeth saw the guy give a nervous smile. "My name's Percy," he told them.

Rachel grinned. "Nice to meet you, Percy." Rachel stuck out her hand and they shook. Meanwhile, Annabeth stood awkwardly to the side. She'd let Rachel take care of the social graces. But Rachel had other ideas. She gave Annabeth a look and said, "Annabeth, you don't have to be so quiet. Say hi or something!"

Annabeth hesitated. "Uh, hi, I guess." She managed a weak smile.

Percy smiled back and said, "Hey." His eyes twinkled in the light, and the green color reminded Annabeth of the ocean, a deep sea green.

Then the bell rang for everyone to head to their classrooms. Rachel looked back at Percy and asked, "What's your homeroom?"

"Um…" Percy thought for a moment. "Brunner."

"Great!" Rachel nudged Annabeth. "Annabeth has Mr. Brunner for homeroom, too. She'll take you over, right Annabeth?"

Percy and Rachel were both looking at her. Rachel was expectant, but Percy's expression came off as more apologetic, like he figured that she didn't want to be stuck as the new kid's tour guide. It's not that Annabeth minded much, of course, she just didn't really have the social skills that Rachel did.

Slowly, Annabeth nodded. "All right," she said. "Come on Percy, before we're late. See ya, Rachel!"

Rachel headed off to her homeroom class and Percy followed Annabeth to Brunner's classroom. The walk to the class was a bit tense; they didn't talk or anything, that is, until Annabeth tripped. She wasn't the clumsy type, but as she was walking, she stumbled trying to avoid getting her feet stepped on by others in the hallway. Percy caught her arm so she wouldn't fall.

"Thanks," she murmured, blowing some hair out her face.

"No problem," he replied.

Annabeth blinked. "Um…Percy, you can let go now."

"Oh." Percy quickly released his grip. "Sorry."

Annabeth chuckled. They walked past a few more doors down the hallway and came to Mr. Brunner's room. Almost everyone else had made it before them, minus a few people, and they all looked up with confused faces as they saw Percy walked in. A few girls started whispering to each other. Nervously, Percy ran his fingers through his messy hair.

"Good morning, Mr. Brunner," Annabeth said to their teacher. "This is Percy. He's new to the school and he'll be in our homeroom from now on."

Mr. Brunner was a tall man, with brown hair and a scruffy beard. He had this fatherly look in him, and his eyes would sparkle with amusement from time to time. Over all, he was a great teacher.

"I see," Mr. Brunner said. "Pleasure to meet you, Percy. Welcome to the class."

"Thank you, sir."

"Go ahead and take a seat," Mr. Brunner told him. Annabeth went to go sit down too, taking the seat next to Percy, as it was the only one available.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Percy looking at her with his head tilted slightly, as if thinking about something. She flashed him a quick, friendly smile before facing the front, and Mr. Brunner called the class to attention as the bell rang.

"All right everyone," he said. "Settle down now. Welcome back to the new semester of school. As many of you can see, we have a new student in our class."

Everyone looked at Percy. Annabeth saw that he seemed quite uncomfortable with the attention, and she felt a little sorry for him.

"Tell them your name, please," Mr. Brunner coaxed. He gave Percy a reassuring nod.

"My name's Percy Jackson," Percy managed to say.

A few guys sitting around Percy introduced themselves, and again Annabeth saw some girls whisper to each other excitedly. Mr. Brunner asked the class to treat Percy well and help make his first day at the school a good one.

"As we know," Mr. Brunner continued, "he'll need a guide to show him around campus—"

A few girls sat up straight in anticipation.

"—so Annabeth, seeing as you two have already been acquainted, I ask that you will be able to follow through with this task."

The girls slumped back in their chairs dejectedly and gave Annabeth envious looks. Annabeth looked at Mr. Brunner uncertainly, but nodded.

As class rolled by, Annabeth looked out the window, lost in thought. She wasn't really a slacker; school was just easier for her than most other people, so she didn't have to try as hard. Mr. Brunner was going on about the lesson, but Annabeth had already taken down enough notes and decided to just relax.

When class ended, Annabeth hurried for the door, momentarily forgetting about her obligation to show Percy around school. She stopped herself and went back to wait for him. Once Percy finished packing up, they were about to leave, but Mr. Brunner told Percy to wait outside the classroom so he could talk to Annabeth.

"Annabeth," Mr. Brunner began, "please see to it that you keep Percy out of trouble today, all right?"

Annabeth looked at Mr. Brunner quizzically. "Oh…okay."

Mr. Brunner nodded for her to go, and Annabeth left. What does Mr. Brunner mean by keeping him out of trouble? she wondered. Annabeth found Percy leaning against the wall, waiting for her to come out.

"What was that about?" Percy asked her.

"Huh?" Annabeth was too lost in her thoughts to pay much attention to his question.

"The thing with Mr. Brunner," Percy replied. "What were you guys talking about?"

"Oh that," Annabeth mumbled. "It's nothing; we were just discussing a few things, that's all." She sighed, and noticed that Percy was giving her a skeptical look.

"Sure…" he said.

Annabeth rolled her eyes at him. "Anyway, whose class do you have next?"

"Sanchez."

"Okay." Annabeth bit her lip, thinking. "I have Oakley, and those two rooms are on opposite ends of campus. We'll have to hurry if I'm to make it to class before passing period ends." She grabbed his upper arm and started walking at a brisk pace. "Let's go."

"Wait, Annabeth—" Percy started to say, but Annabeth tugged him and he stumbled.

Annabeth rushed him through the hallways. Time to time she'd have to wait for him to catch up with her. She found herself getting a little irritated. Annabeth wanted to maintain a punctual record, and Percy wasn't exactly making it easy for her. When they finally made it to Sanchez's classroom, Percy looked slightly winded.

"Geez," he muttered. "What's the rush?"

"Passing period is only five minutes long," Annabeth explained impatiently, tapping her foot.

Percy glanced at the watch on his wrist and groaned. "You have four minutes left!"

"I like to be early." Annabeth shrugged. "Now, when class ends, meet me out here, okay? I can take you to your next class."

"Hold on, a sec—"

Abruptly, Annabeth grabbed Percy's wrist and looked at the time on his watch. She cursed. "Three minutes left. I'll see you later!"

She left Percy standing in front of the door and nearly ran to Oakley's class.