Color. Despite what you might believe, it wasn't familiar to most of the people Percy had met. It was a strange concept if you didn't know what color was in the first place. If you only saw gray.
He could see some differentiation however, he could see shades of gray. Black was black, and white was white, but everything in between was just a darker or lighter shade.
As was the world.
No one knew how long the affliction went back in human history. Some ancient Egyptian tomes speak of the man who saw red. They say that one day he went to work at the market, went through his day, and suddenly the blankets hanging on the wall weren't gray.
They were a bright, vibrant red.
No one knows how, or why, that happened.
It just did.
There was another tale, in 1666. London was a sprawling city of hustle and bustle, workers trying to advance their well-being. One man was different. "He was a recluse", one source says, "Hidden away in his house all day. Never went outside."
Then he did.
One word was said by the man who started the fire. The Great Fire of London, which claimed an estimated 70,000 homes.
"Love."
He was deemed insane, and was shipped off to prison without a second thought. No one ever asked a second question.
The last tale to be told here will be told, choose to believe it or not, that is your choice. The last men to have seen color were Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and Richard Morris Hunt. They designed the Statue of Liberty.
Word was, when the Statue was finally built, and erected for the first time, tears shed from the men's eyes. They were said to have put all they had into the one structure, and that was emotionally momentous for them.
Then they saw the gleaming, brown copper. Not gray. No one believed them, but the words were put to record in history.
These are only the most popular of examples. Many people claiming to see color were all over the world, but they were called crazy the moment they said anything like that. Some called it societal suicide, others insanity. One man didn't.
Someone made the connection. One Alexander Albert Lehman. He was an aspiring scientist, living in a small apartment in New York City. Legend has it, he was sitting on a busted up couch late at night, reading some old novel by some small author.
Then he cracked the code.
More specifically, it was the decision to stay up late reading romance novels, but the code was cracked nonetheless. Alexander's work was strange. He had no true purpose of study. He majored in engineering, and became a scientist of his own accord. No major in chemistry, physics, or anything. Just hard books and late nights.
According to the man himself, he was reading about love, no matter how cheesy the book was, it struck a spark. "I snatched my laptop from my side and frantically tapped out some words into Google. Crazy, I know. Some wanna be scientist cracked the world's secret with one Google search, but that's how it happened."
All he did was type: People who claimed to see color.
It was easy as that. The sleep deprived man in an extremely cheap apartment changed the world.
Percy sighed as he leaned back in his chair. He cracked his knuckles as he typed his paper on Alexander Albert Lehman, the man who changed the world.
"Crazy old man." Percy muttered under his breath before going back to typing, "If you're going to change the world, at least have some proof behind you first."
Alexander's theory wasn't the best. It was half-baked at best and maniacal at worst. He had no one to back him up, and so the only thing to do was write a paper.
When the paper was published, The Complete Analysis of People Who Saw Color and the Similarities Between Them, it lit up like wildfire. Critics from every corner of the scientific community bashed the piece, calling it 'stupid' and 'non-scientific'. Then the proof became undeniable.
One of the biggest haters of the theory, a man of German descent, Rheiner Stahlbaum, saw color. In one night he went from destroying the paper by hateful words, to praising it like the high heavens above. The paper was taken as real by one post.
"Hello. It is I, Rheiner Stahlbaum, here to apologize. As you may know, the extremely popular paper, The Complete Analysis of People Who Saw Color and the Similarities Between Them, has been public for a week now. I have been attacking it for what I saw it as. Unscientific and ridiculous. Then something changed. As you all know, the paper claims that to see color, you must fall in love. That happened to me. I am ashamed to admit that I use a dating app. On this first date, it was unexplainable. She was wonderful, funny, amazing. When I looked in her eyes, I saw blue."
The post exploded. Everyone was shocked, and it was accepted as true. People came forward, telling their stories. Most were old couples who had been married for years. They had been called silly and senile for claiming to see the world as it was supposed to be, and now they were accepted.
By the year 2010, the idea of Matching was born. The creator of the app Tinder combined efforts with Stahlbaum and Lehman, and invented an algorithm that took data from social media posts, personal inserts of interests, wants in a partner, needs in a partner, etc.
Matching stations were popping up in every major city. A revolution was taking the world by storm.
Then there were some, shall we say, unexpected results. A woman took the test out of pure curiosity, and matched with her boyfriend's best friend. The news got out, and the boyfriend was not happy. The boyfriend killed the girl in cold blood and drunken rage, then moved on to the friend, and killed him too.
President Barack Obama declared that something had to be done. Congress passed a law unanimously, stating restrictions of the test, and those who took it.
Any person who wishes to take any form of the 'Matching' must be over the age of majority, or else punishable by a minimum of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Any person who applies for the test must not take any mind altering substance, such as alcohol, hard drugs, or any amount of overdose of over the counter drugs.
Any person who completes the 'Matching' cannot sue any person for emotional harm, such as the reason for the test is to see inside one's mind and find a match.
The President signed it immediately, and the Supreme Court didn't even so much as object to the passing of the law.
The Matching had begun.
Percy groaned as he cracked his fingers. Snatching a glance at the clock, he read 11:37. He groaned louder, and slammed his hand on his desk in a not-so-light way. He cringed at the loud sound, hoping not to wake his mom, or worse, Gabe.
Gabe was a stinky bastard of a man. He smoked cigars the size of Percy's fist, and drank til the sun came up and then down again. Percy still didn't know why his mother stayed with him. She hadn't taken the matching, it cost too much, and Gabe definitely didn't love his mom.
Percy sighed, then stripped off his shirt and collapsed into bed, ready for another insufferable day at school.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP SMACK!
Stars floated around Percy's head as he hit the ground.
'Not a good start to today.' He thought miserably, eyes drooping.
Reluctantly he crawled off of the floor. Grabbing some fresh shorts from a drawer and a decent-smelling shirt from the one above that, he tip-toed into the bathroom. The shower water was ice cold, and he definitely wasn't stepping into that water anytime soon.
BANG BANG.
"Brat open up the door so I can take a piss! I told you to never lock the door dammit!" A roaring voice yelled from outside.
'Gabe. Shit.' Percy cursed, then he yelled aloud, "Alright but give me a second, I'm getting in the shower."
Percy hurriedly unlocked the door, then nearly sprinted into the shower. Sure enough, Gabe didn't wait so much as three seconds before barging in and slamming the door into the wall.
Percy tried not to shake too much as the water slowly warmed up, but the goosebumps were only visualizing the misery of the morning so far.
After the shower, Percy slipped into the clothes he had, and then toweled his strangely, barely wet hair, and then strolled into the kitchen. Ignoring Gabe in the living room, smoking again, he greeted his mother warmly and sat down.
"Morning honey." Sally Jackson smiled, focusing on the pancake batter on the pan.
Sally Jackson was pretty much the only light in Percy's life. She cared for him through thick and thin, even with his terrible grades and getting kicked out of numerous schools. Sally was the only person holding Percy together, or else he would have ran away years prior.
"Morning mom." Percy replied, breathing deeply, "Smells good, but don't forget…"
Sally interjected, "The blue food coloring. I'll never forget sweetie."
Percy smiled as he zipped up his backpack, checking that all his papers and school laptop were in there. Tapping absentmindedly, his ADHD zoned him out he didn't even hear the doorbell ring.
"Percy, could you get that please?"
"Huh, oh! Yeah sure mom."
Percy hopped off the stool, then snuck past Gabe, who was opening another can of cheap beer, and opened the door.
"Grover! Hey man what're you doing here? School isn't for another hour and forty five minutes." Percy said, clapping Grover's hand.
"Actually I was here to remind you about that new club we signed up for. Study Club, remember?" Grover deadpanned, as if knowing that Percy had forgotten.
Percy cringed, "Oh. That. Umm, well I was hoping you would forget about that. Look man my grades are rising. I've got an A in Latin, and my lowest is a D in English, and that's only because Mrs. Roan sucks."
"Ah ah ah, I can see right through you man. It's only been a few weeks and I know you have an F in Math. C'mon. I'll be right there with you. I heard that Annabeth girl is gonna be there. Remember her?" Grover grinned, a sly smile on his face.
Percy blushed, then pulled Grover into the kitchen, past Gabe, who had opened a second beer and was holding a new cigar in his left hand.
"Mom, I forgot about Study Club, gotta run. Sorry!" Percy blabbed. He grabbed three pancakes that were sitting on the counter, his backpack, and almost full sprinted out the door, pulling poor Grover behind him.
This did not fare well, as Grover had a disease in his lower legs, and had crutches. Luckily, he was used to this, and hopped with extreme speed to keep up.
"Perce you gotta stop doing that." Grover whined, puffing with harsh breaths. The pair now walked at a normal speed, towards the new school Percy had transferred to. Goode High.
Percy said nothing, only smirked lightly, then gazed around at the street. Small booths were set up along the sidewalks, advertising different foods, hot dogs, sandwiches, burgers. A very large bill board glowed in a bright grey with one word across it, Matching.
Percy snorted as he watched a woman walk into the small hut just below the billboard. All it was was a fingerprint scanner, and insert for a Social Security Card, and a tray for the entering personality sheet and return list.
He absentmindedly wondered who he would get. It would only be three years, not far off. Annabeth could be there… He blushed a dark gray at the thought. She was the prettiest girl in his grade, blond hair, striking grey eyes, so smart she's taking sophomore classes as a freshman. She was perfect, and dating Luke Castellan. The notorious jock of Goode High, captain of the football team, baseball team, and scholarships to every sports focused college in the country.
Their journey ended, standing at the entrance of Goode High. The flag waved, flapping in the chilly air. Percy sighed, ready to be embarrassed at how stupid he was, but marched bravely into the school, Grover at his side.
The janitor was mopping the halls, a few teachers standing around with coffees, probably gossiping about Percy was early to school for once. He ignored the glances.
"So what room was it, G-Man?" Percy asked, perusing the paper signs hung from the ceiling.
"109. Down by Mrs. Roan." Grover replied.
They trekked through the halls, the only noise was the occasional voice and the clack of Grover's crutches. Finally they arrived at room 109. A simple door, window blocked out by a paper from the inside.
'Probably some stupid inspirational poster,' Percy thought darkly. School was not his favorite activity.
The sound of voices could be heard from inside. Percy took a deep breath, and opened the door.
Inside was a simple room. Instead of individual desks, there were three tables fit for eight people at a time. There were bean bag chairs in the corner, next to a long bookshelf of a combination of fiction books and textbooks.
At the front of the room was a whiteboard, a projector screen hanging above, ready to be pulled down. Next to the whiteboard was the teacher's desk, noticeably empty. Lastly, in the back of the room was a semi circle table, with a teacher sitting on a chair in what would be the center of the flat edge.
There were several other students in the classroom already. Percy recognized a few.
Leo was a sneaky, hyperactive Hispanic boy who had PE, Science, and Band with Percy.
Frank was the 6'4" Asian guy, who played on the football team and had Math, PE, and Spanish with Percy.
Nico was the quiet boy in the corner, fiddling with a pen and staring blankly at a sheet of paper in front of him. He had Science and Band with Percy.
Jason was Luke Castellan's right hand man. He was the captain of the basketball team and played on the football team. Percy didn't really know him, but knew Jason was in his PE, Science, and Social Studies classes.
A few more kids were scattered around the room. Nico was in the corner, still quiet as always. Leo and Frank were sitting at the teacher's table with a third girl, hovering over a Math book. Or at least, Frank was. Leo was currently chaining several paper clips together and was seeing how many he could drape from the hood of Frank's jacket.
Jason was at another table, laughing loudly at a joke Luke had told. Luke had his back to Percy, but right in front of Luke was Annabeth.
Annabeth had thrown her head back in laughter, eyes glimmering with tears of humor. Her golden hair shimmered-
"Percy!" Grover quietly shouted. Percy jerked in shock, then realized he was staring.
"Ugh I zoned out. Did anyone notice?"
"Nah, but let's go meet the teach. I hear she's good."
The moved through the chairs and sat down at the head table, nodding to Frank, Leo, and the unnamed girl.
"Hi. You must be Percy and Grover, right?" They nodded. "I'm Mrs. Chase, the Study Club teacher. As you already know, I'm here to help with any questions you have on homework in any classes."
Percy nearly choked. Chase? Like Annabeth Chase. Oh Lord, first having four, now technically FIVE classes with his crush, and one of them was with her mom as a teacher.
He hoped she didn't see the fear in his eyes.
"Hi Mrs. Chase. Are we late or anything, there are already a lot of people here." Grover asked, saving Percy from a very awkward staring contest.
"No, not at all. The class doesn't officially start for ten minutes, but some students want extra socializing and study time."
Grover nodded, then lead the still dazed Percy to an empty table. "You alright man? You don't look so good." Grover looked at Percy, trying to see anything wrong.
"Dude, that's Annabeth's mom."
"Ok?" Grover asked, clearly not understanding Percy's point.
"Whatever. Let's get to work."
Percy pulled out his Math book, a notebook, and a pencil. He flipped to the right page, and started scribbling down some numbers.
10 minutes pass. Nothing eventful happens in the class. The bell rings, and all the students file into random seats around the room. Jason, Frank, Luke, Annabeth, and another girl were at one table. Percy, Grover, and Leo sat one table away, Nico joining them a minute later.
Several other kids entered the class, and sat down in random spots. Mrs. Chase took roll from her desk.
"Luke?"
From table one. "Hey Mrs. Chase."
"Annabeth?"
Also from table one. "Here."
"Rachel?"
A perky, cheery voice from table two. "Here."
"Nico?"
A rather quiet voice, so quiet Percy had to strain to hear him. "...Here…"
"Jason?"
Once again, from table one, "Right here."
"Thalia?"
The other girl from table one spoke up, "Here, but I don't wanna be." Scattered laughs from the class, before quieting down.
"Percy?"
Percy spoke up, "Here."
"Clarisse?"
A really muscly girl from Percy's PE almost shouted from table two, "Right here ma'am."
"Hazel?"
A quiet voice spoke up, much like Nico, from table two, "H-here ma'am."
"Piper?"
No answer.
Mrs. Chase tried again. "Piper?" Once again no answer.
Then, from the front of the class, the door sprung open. A frizzy haired girl stood in the doorway, a feather in her hair, most likely there by accident.
"Righ- huff huff- right here, Mrs. Chase."
Piper stumbled in, hair frizzy, and sat down next to Jason at table one. Mrs. Chase did not look happy, but accepted the tardiness.
"Reena?"
"It's Reyna, ma'am. Here."
"My apologies. Grover?"
"Here."
"Leo?"
"Right here, " said a very dark and menacing voice. Heads jerked towards Leo, but instead saw him in a poorly made Darth Vader mask, made entirely out of paper clips. He yelled out, "I USE THE FORCE!" And flung his hands forward. Two long chains of paper clips were attached to his sleeves, jerking Frank's hood backwards, causing him to fall flat on his back.
Laughter roared in the classroom, even Frank chuckled a little bit through his embarrassment. Leo sat down, admiring his handy work.
"Very funny Mr. Valdez. Please refrain from harassing students in my classroom in the future."
Leo smirked, "No promises Mrs. Chase."
Mrs. Chase sighed, "Frank?"
"Right here ma'am."
"Ok. That's it for roll. It seems that almost all of you were here on time." Mrs. Chase glanced at Piper, who blushed a dark grey. "Now, it is the first day of Study Club. This is the start of the third week of school, so we'll start with introductions. I'm Mrs. Chase, the Study Club teacher. I am also one of three councilors here at Goode High. I'm here to provide a safe environment for you all to learn and socialize."
Luke interrupted with a grin, "So basically it's like a place to hang out?"
"No Mr. Castellan, I assure you, this is a place for studying as well, but you may, as you put it, 'hang out', when we have free time."
Luke just smirked, twirling a pencil in his hand.
"Back to what I was saying. The first class will be spent making sure you all have settled in alright. If you have any questions about homework or scheduling, come see me. Otherwise, you have an hour before school starts."
A hushed murmur took over the class as conversations were started. Percy started scribbling numbers again, Grover was researching for an English paper, Nico was still staring at his paper, with a few more lines written, and Leo was… Leo.
Leo had taken out a pre-half written paper and had put it in front of him, to make it look like he was doing something, when he actually wasn't. 'Quite ingenious, really, ' thought Percy.
Hazel was writing on a sheet of paper while Clarisse and Reyna talked about the same English assignment as Grover.
At table one, almost no work was getting done. Thalia was reprimanding her brother Jason about not turning in a Math assignment, despite her not turning it in either. Annabeth was at least trying to write, but Luke kept trying to hold her hand. Piper was talking to Mrs. Chase in a quiet voice, so no one could hear.
"Mrs. C, I'm concerned about Jason, " said Piper. She had a frown on her face, but had turned her back to the rest of the class.
"Why do you say that Piper?" Replied Mrs. Chase, concern in her eyes.
Piper hesitated, "Well, with him becoming the captain of the basketball team, and the Junior Varsity team wanting him next year, I'm worried that his grades will slip."
"Piper, that is probably why he is here. This is Study Club. His parents probably signed him up just for that reason."
"No, you don't understand. He has a C in two classes, and B's in the rest other than PE. If his grades get any worse, he won't be able to play. The only reason he's here is because Luke said it would be extra time with me. Can you help him?"
Mrs. Chase gazed into Piper's eyes, "I will try. I can't say that he'll accept my help immediately, but I'll see what I can do."
Piper sagged in relief, "Thanks Mrs. C"
Athena Chase nodded, then scribbled down some notes on a notepad.
Check in with Jason. Offer extra study time.
In the relative quietness of the classroom, a loud yelp shattered the quietness. Heads turned towards table one. Thalia and Jason were staring at Annabeth, as well as the rest of the class. Her face turned a darker grey, blushing. Luke was right next to her, holding in a laugh quite poorly.
Everyone slowly went back to work, but not without a fair amount of strange looks towards Annabeth. The still blushing girl turned towards Luke, "Don't do that! I'm ticklish!" She whisper-yelled.
Luke grinned widely, "What, like this?" He took his hand and squeezed her thigh over her leggings. She squeaked, just quiet enough that only they heard. Annabeth blushed a darker grey and swatted his hand away.
Over at table three, Percy noticed Leo was having quite the battle with a pair of sticky notes and a pipe cleaner. "Hey, uh, Leo? You need some help?" Percy asked, not really sure if he should.
Leo perked up, "Yeah! Okay so I need you to hold the pipe cleaner flat, yeah like that. Then I take the sticky notes and stab them through, like that. Mmmhmm. Yep, then we add a few more, and two note cards for stability, and voila!"
On the table lay a pipe cleaner with five sticky notes and two note cards stabbed through it about one third of the way up. Leo then took one of his paper clip chains and attached it with a roll of duct tape.
"Wait hold on, where'd you get that?" Percy asked.
Leo smiled a smile to make a cheshire cat envious, and merely patted his tool belt. Then he locked eyes with Percy and made a 'shush' gesture with his finger.
Leo ducked down out of his chair, and crawled to table two. Hazel was on the side closer to Percy, and was too immersed in her book so she didn't notice Leo. He then tossed the mini sword back to Percy, still holding the chain.
In a magnificent show of engineering, luck, and precision, Leo managed to swing the chain through the air, sailing the sword like a kite, and stab it right through the paper that Mrs. Chase was inspecting.
Naturally, the class was in shock, most of all Mrs. Chase. Leo snickered from his new hiding spot, unfortunately louder than he meant to, and Hazel yelped when she saw a boy right next to her feet.
Leo jumped at being discovered, and slammed his head on the table, causing the shock in the classroom to break and laughter to fill the air.
Percy laughed in disbelief at the look on Mrs. Chase's face, a mixture of anger and laughter, and just decided to focus on his Math homework. Luckily, Leo was saved from further embarrassment because the bell rang, signaling the start of first period.
As Percy walked out of the class with Grover by his side, he watched all the kids in Mrs. C's room file out.
'This is gonna be one hell of a year.' Percy thought.
Oh how right he was.
Hey guys, Nerd here. I've been gone for a loooong time. Sorry bout that. Kinda lost motivation to write another story, but I'm back.
Anyway, away with all of that negative stuff, into the mysterious questions of which I don't even know the answers to.
Will Jason's grades improve or will he be kicked off of the football team and basketball team? Will Percy be able to come true about his crush with Annabeth? Will Luke make a move on Annabeth before Percy does?
FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON DRAGON BALL Z- wait this isn't Dragon Ball.
But seriously guys I'm sorry I was gone but I'm back so see ya next chapter! o/