Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

An AU story inspired by Miss Maudie and Jack Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird.

Chapter One – How It Began

Annabeth was nervous. Her parents concentrated on the road with the moving truck in front of them. At the back of the car, her two annoying step-brothers sat in their car seats on both sides of her, yelling in her ears as they threw a confetti of cheese strings all over her hair. Annabeth just quietly fumed as her eyes anxiously flickered over at the windows, looking at the unfamiliar neighbourhood.

Their moving truck suddenly made a left turn, and their car followed in suit. Her step-mother announced that they were almost there. Her brothers cheered, wriggling in their seats with excitement. Annabeth just silently observed and took in the environment.

It was a lively neighbourhood, unlike their old one where everything was so quiet and perfect. Each and every house had some sort of unique look to it here. Annabeth was not exactly used to this. Some garage doors were painted in strange, but bright colours. Other garage doors had graffiti scribbled over them. The houses all had different shapes and sizes. There were chalk drawings all over the roads and on some driveways. Lawns weren't mowed and weeds were growing everywhere. She could see a lot of kids running around with their action figures and dolls, playing in front of their houses and with their friends.

Annabeth did not like this. She preferred more of a peaceful environment. Her brothers, however, had different tastes. They stared out the windows in awe, wanting to play with the other kids too.

Finally, their car pulled over. They arrived at a pretty normal looking house. It was red-bricked with a nice white-painted garage door. The lawn here was properly mowed, and there was a nice patch of gardening flowers in the corner.

Everybody got out of the car to help with the moving. The truck was parked on the side of the house, and her father was already there to help carry the furniture. Her step-mother picked up the boys to take them inside, instructing Annabeth to help out the move by carrying the lighter boxes.

Nodding solemnly, Annabeth did as told. She walked to the back of their car to pull out a box that was labeled "Bobby's" on it with permanent marker. She frowned and shook the box, confirming that it was filled with Bobby's miniature cars and other toys.

She was about to walk into the house to place the box inside until she heard chattering behind her.

"Very nice to meet you, Dr. Chase," said a deep voice.

Annabeth turned around to see a tall man with salt-and-pepper hair shaking hands with her father. His eyes gleamed with some sort of joy – probably because of having new neighbours. Annabeth then noticed the boy hiding behind the man's legs, staring at her with interest. She took note of his glowing sea green eyes.

Her father laughed, which was quite rare. "Frederick is fine; there's no need to be so formal. So, Paul, who's this young man over here?"

The man, Paul I'm assuming he's called, puffed out his chest with pride. Paul nudged at the kid behind his legs to encourage him to come out from his hiding. "This one's my son, Percy Jackson," he said. The man then sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Well, step-son, actually, which explains the difference in the last name. But he's a good boy."

"Hello," Percy waved before fiddling with the edges of his T-shirt.

Frederick nodded in stern approval before turning back to Paul. "How old is he?"

"Eight, just last week," Paul replied.

"My daughter's the same age," Frederick says. "Perhaps they can be good friends."

Annabeth panicked. She looked at the raven-haired boy who was staring at her father with absolute confusion written on his face. There was no way she wanted to be friends with a dork like him. She quickly ran into the house with the box in her hands before her father had a chance to call her.

Annabeth spent the past couple of weeks cooped up inside organizing her room. Everything was already in proper order, and today was her very first day at school. She double-checked her schoolbag to make sure she had everything, including her own interest novel. Annabeth was dyslexic, but she enjoyed a nice challenge every now and then.

Annabeth had her breakfast of eggs and bacon before she slipped on her shoes and headed out. Her father insisted on driving her to school on her first day, and she couldn't protest. She checked Google Maps for the location of her school, and it wasn't too far away. However, it'd be a good idea to have her dad drive her there just in case, and so that she could get the feel of the directions to get there.

It wasn't long until she had arrived at her new elementary school, and she pulled her golden locks with nervousness. Annabeth was not very good with meeting new people; she preferred being by herself. Nevertheless, it was the first day, and she should try to make friends. At least, that was what her stepmother told her.

Waving her father goodbye, she walked up the steps to the school doors where other children swarmed. As she walked, she noticed something in the corner of her eye. She was a bit alarmed by the girl with a red bandana who was already beating up some kid by the wall. Annabeth eyed her warily as the bandana-girl pummeled him, walking away to not get involved. She tried to ignore the familiar green eyes, swallowing a bit of guilt.

Going through the doors, she headed to the office to get her homeroom number. Annabeth headed straight for class afterwards. There were already some kids inside chatting amongst each other. She noticed cubbies with assigned names stickered onto them and easily found hers. Slipping off her bag, she hung her jacket up and shoved her bag inside after collecting her binders and pencils. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be a seating plan. Annabeth took this chance to sit up front.

More students soon filed in, and the girl in the bandana entered her class as well. Annabeth pursed her lips, but didn't say anything as the girl passed by her desk. Soon enough the bell rang, and the students all took their seats as the teacher introduced herself. Attendance was taken and everybody was here except for the one boy absent under the name of Percy Jackson. Lessons began, and the green-eyed boy finally arrived almost half an hour later.

"Perseus," Mrs. Dodds glared. "You're late."

"I hadn't noticed," Percy said stiffly. He took the only seat available left in the classroom; he sat next to me. He flung his jacket onto his chair and dropped his bag onto the ground. Annabeth wondered why his step-father considered him a "good boy."

Our teacher crossed her arms. "I will not tolerate any tardiness nor your much-appreciated sarcasm from you. Take out a sheet of paper and start copying what I've written on the board." Mrs. Dodds turned back to the rest of the class and continued her teaching.

Annabeth noticed Percy fumbling through his backpack for a while. Suddenly, he stopped. Percy sat back up and turned to stare at Annabeth. Annabeth flinched with wide eyes before quickly diverting her attention back to Mrs. Dodds. Their third grade teacher continued to talk about the importance of mathematics.

"Psst," Percy whispered. "Hey, can I borrow a piece of paper and a pencil?"

Annabeth turned back to Percy and raised an eyebrow. This boy was extremely unprepared, and she was definitely not impressed. Annabeth decided to ignore him and continue listening to Mrs. Dodds' lecture.

Percy kept staring at her with his sea green eyes, and he gave a slight pout. He reminded her slightly of a cute baby seal. However, Annabeth was quite stubborn and continued not to look his way.

"Please?" Percy pleaded. He kept repeating the same word over and over again until Mrs. Dodds snapped.

"Perseus!" She barked. "Will you stop interrupting the class?"

"I need a paper and a pencil," Percy said bluntly. Mrs. Dodds fumed, but she handed him a piece of paper and lent him a pencil to use. It wasn't long until Percy butted into her lecture once again. "Excuse me," he says with his hand raised. Percy then pointed to the blackboard. "What does that first word say?"

Most of the children in class snickered. Mrs. Dodds only scowled. "Yes, I heard you were dyslexic, as well as many other rumours about you from other teachers."

Percy smiled angelically. "Good things, I assume."

Mrs. Dodds did not find him very humorous. "One last straw and you will make your very first trip to the office this year. Our principal is not fond of having troublesome students like you on the first day of school."

"Don't worry," Percy promised. "I've already made that record a few years ago."

Mrs. Dodds slapped a meter stick onto Percy's desk, and everybody cringed at the loud snapping sound. However, Percy looked unfazed. Annabeth maintained her perfect posture. Mrs. Dodds noticed this and eyed her as well.

"What was your name again?" the teacher asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice. Annabeth ignored this. She took note of the fact that Percy was an untameable student, and their teacher is now targeting her instead. She should've behaved more properly, but she disliked the tone Mrs. Dodds was giving her.

"Annabeth Chase," she replied proudly. Annabeth's grey eyes looked confident and the atmosphere around her burned with absolute pride. The glint in Annabeth's eyes offered a challenge, and Mrs. Dodds took it.

"I believe Perseus was talking to you earlier?" Mrs. Dodds sneered.

"I'm not sure. I haven't even noticed his presence," Annabeth said coldly.

Mrs. Dodds crossed her arms and looked down at Percy and Annabeth. She hadn't expected that sort of reply from an eight-year old girl. Already, she did not like this Annabeth girl. Mrs. Dodds face turned into a slight shade of pink as the class giggled and whispered amongst each other. "Office," she demanded. "Both of you." A smirk was plastered on her face when she saw Annabeth's face drop. Not once had Annabeth been sent to the office before.

"I'm sorry, but for what reason?" Annabeth countered, her hands clenching into fists and her eyes narrowing.

"For talking back," she snapped, leaning forward. She kept giving her that evil grin. Annabeth wrinkled her nose at her bad breath. The class was enjoying this show.

"I've only answered your question. I wouldn't even call it 'talking back'," Annabeth frowned.

"You're a potato face," said a calm voice from beside her, right before their argument escalated any further. Mrs. Dodds glowered at Percy and pulled him by the ear.

"Both of you," she growled, "will go to the office, or I will drag you there for you."

They didn't even have time to protest before they were kicked out of the classroom.

"This is your first warning. I won't contact your parents this time, but you'll have detention here during your recess period," said Mr. Brunner. He was a man in a wheelchair with a nice bushy brown beard. His eyes glimmered, and he seemed like a very nice person. Although disabled, the sparkles being held in his eyes made people think that he knew something they didn't. It was mysterious, but kind.

Annabeth and Percy looked down at the floor in shame as their principal frowned at them. It was the first time Annabeth had met him, but for some reason, she felt guilty to disappoint Mr. Brunner. However, even though Mr. Brunner was frowning, his eyes seem to be smiling.

The two children returned to their classes with Mr. Brunner's permission, and they didn't say a word as Mrs. Dodds taught the class mathematics; they didn't say a word to Mrs. Dodds and neither amongst themselves. Time flew by quickly, and recess had started. Percy and Annabeth made their way back to the office.

There was another room within the office – the detention room. Mr. Brunner led them there, and the two took their seats. Mr. Brunner specifically made them sit in the front of the room and next to each other, instructing them to stay as if they were little puppies. He then left the room, and it turned unbelievably silent. Percy and Annabeth sat alone in the awkwardness-filled room.

Percy cleared his throat in dire need of a conversation. "So, uh, hey. I'm Percy," he introduced, turning himself towards Annabeth.

Annabeth glared at Percy with her striking grey eyes. She was absolutely furious at him for getting her into trouble too. Detention on the first day for Annabeth has never been heard of. Heck, Annabeth has never been to detention before. The thought of it made her feel nervous and frightened. What better way is there to release her tension other than taking it out on Percy? The silent treatment seemed very fitting. She exhaled sharply and whipped her head away from his direction.

Percy scratched the back of his head wondering what he did wrong. He decided that maybe he didn't try to be friendly enough. He needs to think of a compliment; perhaps that would work. "I like your hair. It's really pretty." Cue the mental facepalm. His ADHD makes him speak his mind too easily. He should've complimented on her witty retorts earlier with Mrs. Dodds rather than her hair. Now Annabeth might think he likes her in that way. In which Percy obviously doesn't because girls have cooties after all.

Annabeth continued to ignore Percy, finding the white painted walls much more interesting than he is. Truthfully, Annabeth was taken aback by Percy's compliment, and it was a good thing Annabeth was facing the walls when he had said that. Otherwise, he'd have seen her shocked expression. She now has all ears on him, but is still stubbornly not facing him. There's no way she'd let Percy know that she's actually interested in what he's saying. Annabeth has never had any friends before, and so she had never been complimented by people her age either. Right now, becoming friends with Percy seemed to be a bit appealing to her. However, she's still quite angry with him.

Percy has never been nervous around children his age before. Sure he gets bullied and stuff, but that's because he's an honest person. Maybe he's a little too honest, but the point is that he has never had an awkward conversation before in his life. To him, this was a first. He fiddled around with his fingers, and he started to sweat. Percy had no clue what to say. He wondered if Annabeth was angry at him for his compliment earlier too. He couldn't take the silence anymore, so he cleared his throat once more. "Um, so your name's Annabeth, right?"

Again, Annabeth didn't reply. This made Percy shrink in his seat. The only people who disliked him were the teachers and Clarisse. He's heard some stuff about Annabeth from her dad, and he thought she was pretty cool. He doesn't want Annabeth to hate him. "Your dad told me that you like Greek mythology."

Annabeth bit her lip and resisted the urge to splutter out all her favourite myths and stories, as well as some fun facts and ancient architecture. She glared at the wall to keep her concentration so that she'd keep up with her silent treatment.

"I like Greek myths too," Percy continued. He thought that if Annabeth wasn't going to reply, it doesn't have to stop him from talking. This could help deal with the awkward situation. "My favourite god is Poseidon since he's the god of the seas, and I like to swim."

Annabeth scoffed. "Athena is so much better than Poseidon."

Percy frowned at this. "No she's not. All Athena does is brain stuff. Poseidon can make earthquakes!"

"Boys are such muscles-for-brains. Honestly, Athena has made a whole bunch of accomplishments; you only like Poseidon because he does is cause destruction."

"That's not true!" Percy protested. "Poseidon made horses! Don't girls like horses or something?"

Annabeth snorted at this. "Are you kidding me? That's entirely stereotypical. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I like horses."

Their little banter over their favourite Greek gods and goddesses carried on for the rest of the recess period, and it wasn't until the bell rang that Annabeth realized she had accidentally started speaking to him. Even worse, Annabeth actually enjoyed it. The best was when Annabeth made Percy speechless from her well organized arguments, of course. Winning always left Annabeth a good feeling.

She was disappointed when Mr. Brunner came in to dismiss them and return to their classes. The rest of their day went out very smoothly.

"How was your first day of school?" Annabeth's stepmother asked nicely. "Did you make any new friends?"

Annabeth simply shrugged as she poked at her dinner. She wasn't a fan of her meatloaf. "It was fine," Annabeth replied. She didn't want to tell her parents about her detention; it was something Annabeth still felt extremely ashamed about. She ignored her stepmother's second question about friends. She wasn't sure if talking to Percy in the detention room has officially titled them as friends or not, but she decided that even if Percy does seem to be dorky, he's fun to be around with.

"We're having dinner tomorrow at Paul's place across the street," Annabeth's father announced. "We thought it might be a good way to get to know one another."

Annabeth's mom brightened up at the topic. "I heard they've got a son your age, Annabeth. Perhaps you can be friends with him."

Annabeth stopped poking at her meatloaf and looked up. "I've already met Percy. He's in my class," Annabeth informed. She bit her tongue. Her ADHD accidentally let it slip. She was excited about the topic of Percy, but she didn't want her parents to know about it.

Frederick's wife lit up a huge grin. "Oh, really?" she asks, very interested.

Annabeth sealed her lips and stared back at her stepmother with wide eyes. She knows where this lady is going with this. However, Annabeth really wanted to talk about Percy. "Yes, he was half an hour late for class today," Annabeth said. Not good stuff about him, obviously. She doesn't want her family thinking that he was her friend. She wasn't certain if they were already friends or not, so she doesn't want any misunderstandings.

Frederick scowled. "Late?" he says very disapprovingly.

"Thirty minutes late," Annabeth repeated, panicking. For some reason, she didn't want her father to think badly of Percy. "Something important must've happened to him to be held back from class that long."

Frederick pondered on this for a while before letting it go. "Anyway," he continued. "We're going to have to – Matthew, stop that – We're going to need to dress formally tomorrow. I want to give a good impression to the Blofis family."

Bobby and Matthew threw a spoonful of mashed carrots at each other, throwing into a fit of giggles. Annabeth's stepmom got up to wipe their faces clean with a wet towel. Annabeth resumed her poking at the meatloaf. She was secretly looking forward to the dinner tomorrow at Percy's house, even if she had to wear a dress.

The next day of school, Percy and Annabeth behaved much more properly. Heck, Percy was only fifteen minutes late to class this time. They hung out together during the recess times, blabbering about mythology or something about themselves. Every minute, Annabeth learned more about Percy, and every minute, Percy learned more about Annabeth. It helped that they were both only eight since children like to talk about almost everything, but this was a first experience for Annabeth to talk so much. Never in her life had she enjoyed talking or being around somebody. She loved this feeling of attention from him.

It wasn't until the very last recess period that problems aroused once again. The big girl in a red bandana came marching towards Percy and Annabeth. A group of others followed her. She sneered at them. "Looks like Percy's got a girlfriend," she laughed. Her group of friends laughed along with her.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Percy spat. He crossed his arms in annoyance. Quite normally, Percy would joke around until he got beaten, but he didn't like the idea of getting Annabeth involved.

Annabeth nodded proudly in agreement to what Percy had said. "We'd never be in that kind of relationship with each other." At this, Percy and Annabeth gave each other a high five.

Clarisse raised an eyebrow at them. "Yeah, sure, whatever," she rolled her eyes. "We just thought we'd give a proper greeting to Annabel here since she's new to this school," Clarisse grinned wickedly.

"It's Annabeth," Percy corrected before Annabeth was able to herself. "And greeting people with a fist isn't proper."

Clarisse was a bit confused at this point. Percy never stood up for himself when she bullied him, so when he stood up for Annabeth, the feeling was quite new to her. She had no clue what to do. "W-well, it's proper because I said so!" Clarisse retorted lamely.

"You're the least definition of proper," Percy growled. "Leave us alone!"

Clarisse was stumped. She adjusted her red bandana on her head before she turned away. She snorted. "Let's go, guys. These nerds aren't worth our time anyway." She and her friends stormed off to bully some other kids.

Annabeth was also surprised with Percy's sudden sense of protectiveness. She remembered how Paul had said that Percy was a good boy, and she couldn't help but agree right now. A smiled stretched on her face despite how hard she tried to frown. "You didn't have to help me, you know? I could've handled that myself."

Percy shrugged. "Well, it's what friends are for, right?"

A toothy grin appeared on Annabeth's face. She nodded her head, a bit speechless at what Percy had said. He had called her his friend.

AN: Sorry guys, Internet died for a week. I planned to update this much earlier. I'm half-way through the second chapter, so let's hope that one will be up soon. I'm also 1/4 done with the second chapter of Pirates.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter so far!