AUTHOR'S NOTE: HELLO EVERYONE! :) THIS IS MY FIRST FANFICTION STORY. :)) OKAY, GIVEN THAT THIS IS MY FIRST TIME, I HOPE YOU WILL ALL BE PATIENT WITH ME. GRAMMATICAL ERRORS AND ETC. SUGGESTIONS AND INSULTS ARE ACCEPTED. ENJOY! :D

THANK YOU READINGRED AND KASI-WA!

READ AND REVIEW, PEOPLE! :) HOW HARD IS IT TO REVIEW? :)) JUST PUT A SMILEY, IT WOULD DO. :)

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS, OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS.

CHAPTER ONE

BY: IRONCOW

I hopped inside Argus's car and let him take me home to my mom's apartment, which she now shared with Paul. I stole a glance back at the camp. I still can't believe that Annabeth defended Luke. I felt kind of jealous. Despite his betrayal to camp and to his friends, she still believed that Luke is innocent. I really hated that guy. There was no competition between the two of us. I'm pretty sure that Annabeth would choose Luke over me, despite his flaws and betrayal. Annabeth kissed me twice but I'm sure she would do the same thing to him, too, if Luke were in my place.

I sighed and looked ahead. Every once in a while, I looked at Argus and wondered how many eyes he had. One time, he felt me staring at him, so he looked at me. He smiled at me and waved. I thought he would have an eye on his teeth, but unfortunately, I thought wrong. But when he waved at me, I almost jumped off the car when I saw that his palm had an eye.

Argus finally dropped me off at my mom's apartment and bid him good-bye. I had a spare key and opened the door. My mom wasn't inside so I figured that she and Paul had a date. I headed to my room and realized that it was just the way I left it earlier this summer, only that the bed was made up and my clothes weren't scattered on the floor. I decided to change my clothes and take a nap.

"Percy,"

I felt warm hands shake me. I slowly opened my eyes and saw my mom. She was smiling at me and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Hi mom," I said hoarsely.

"Hey." She smiled, "Have you been here long? Are you hungry? I have some pizza downstairs if you want to eat."

"No, I'm fine. I missed you, mom." I hugged her tightly and then let go.

"I missed you, too, sweetie. How was camp?" She said,

The moment she asked that, I thought of Annabeth. To think that I went to the Labyrinth and faced different kinds of monsters, and I only think of her? I must really like her.

"It was fun and..." I thought of a better word to describe it, but only came up with one word, "Different."

"How was it different?"

I stared at her and wondered if it would be awkward if I told her about Annabeth. After debating for seconds, I figured that my mom would be the best one to consult on because one, she was my mom and two, she was a girl and she knew what girls thought.

"Mom, it's... I think I like my bestfriend." I finished looking down, feeling ashamed that I confessed that I liked my bestfriend.

When she didn't say anything, I looked up and I saw that there was shock in her face.

"What's wrong, mom?" I said feeling concerned.

"Oh. That's okay. Grover's a really nice guy. I can see why you'd like him. I still love you, Percy." My mom said calmly.

"What? No mom! I meant Annabeth. I think I like Annabeth!" I screamed.

We stared at each other for endless minutes, then bursted laughing.

"You like Annabeth." Mom said in between laughs.

"Yeah, mom," I said while holding my laugh. "But there's a problem. She likes someone else. And I don't think she would ever get over him."

After hearing that, she stopped laughing and comforted me.

"I really like her. I want to tell her that but she keeps pushing me away. She wants to do everything by herself. She doesn't accept any help from anybody. She wants to prove to everyone that she's strong. I've seen her cry. I've seen her at her most vulnerable, and yet she pushes me away. What do I do?" I sighed.

"Well, first off, have you ever felt like that? I mean to the point that you don't want any help from anybody, including me?" She asked.

"I don't see the point of..."

"Just answer me, Percy."

"Yes."

"Then you know how she feels. Every hero needs a sidekick. If you want to be her sidekick, I suggest that you work on things to win her heart. Just take some time and understand her. Maybe she has her own problem, and she doesn't want anyone to find out." She kissed me on the forehead and left me to think on our conversation.

FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER, PERCY WILL BE GOING TO SCHOOL AND WILL BE MEETING SOMEONE HE ALREADY KNOWS. GUESS WHO.

READ AND REVIEW, PLEASE? :)

-IRONCOW