Alright, guys. This is CHAPTER 1 REVISED!

Please tell me your opinion, your constructive critism, and what's your favorite color, because I'm awesomely random like that.

As per usual, ENJOY!

(Again, this is Chapter One: REVISED.)

Monday isn't really a good day for me. It usually goes somewhere along the lines of tardiness, tripping and hitting my head against lockers, and dealing with Thalia's teasing for the rest of the day. The worst bit is usually the homework.

This Monday's morning began with me waking up Thalia (that was never fun) and a cold shower. "Hey, hey Nico!" I said around the toothpaste in my mouth. It still hit the mirror.

"Nico!"

His head popped through the door, black hair ruffled, and he rubbed his eyes tiredly. "What d'you want?"

"Do you know what the weather's like for today?"

"No," he snapped. "What do I look like? A weatherman?"

That probably shouldn't have hurt, considering he'd been cold to us for awhile now. It still did. "Oh...kay. Um, are you hungry? I could—"

"No."

Thalia came into my room wearing her favorite, faded and worn "Death to Barbie" tee and tattered jeans. As she tied up her hi-top Converse, she said, "We have new neighbors."

"Oh, that's right. The, uh...Chases, yeah. Came in yesterday evening, right?"

"Right. They've got a daughter our age and Sally volunteered us. She's going to hitch a ride." Thalia straightened and stole my toothpaste while grabbing her toothbrush.

I have a weird relationship with Mom. I don't hate her or anything, but it's kind of hard to talk to her. We haven't spent time together since I was thirteen when my birthday present was my Mom's new job and long hours.

"By the way, I'm taking my skateboard to school," my cousin mumbled past her toothpaste. "I haven't ridden it in ages. Nico's probably ditching again, so unless you can convince him otherwise, you're stuck with Chase. Grab my brush."

"Well, alright. If you're sure. Thanks," I grumbled. I bonked her in the head with her brush and she scowled at me in the mirror. Thals shares the same black hair as Nico and I, but has pale blue eyes that freak everyone out. I shivered.

"You know, Kelp Head, there's this popular thing called 'brushing your hair.' You should definitely try it sometime," she said with false enthusiasm, smiling innocently.

I frowned. "I did brush my hair."

She frowned back.

Nico then yelled from downstairs, "Some dumb blonde bimbo is standing here saying she's Annabeth Chase!"

"Gotta go—hey, what's the weather today?" I blurted, grabbing my backpack, keys, and shoes.

"Uh...Psh, um...I don't know. You could check the paper," she suggested slowly, "or your phone." Right. Phone. I felt real dumb right there.

I pulled on my favorite olive jacket to be safe and quickly went to greet the new Annabeth Chase. She wore a red flannel with a gray top, shorts and Converse. Well, she's not one of those girls. Cool. The 'dumb blonde bimbo' was glaring at Nico, who scowled back moodily.

"Hi, uh...Annabeth Chase, right?" I said, closing the door behind me as I left. Wow, she's kind of cute.

She blinked up at me and I tried to suppress the urge to grin; I used to be pretty short. Annabeth then took a step back and seemed to be studying me with her stormy gray eyes, which made me straighten my shirt and run my fingers through my hair anxiously. "Yeah, that's right," she answered coolly. "Nice friend you have there."

My ears felt warm and I quickly told her, "Well, Nico's not that bad once you get to know him. Really, he's, uh...He's...I'm Percy Jackson, by the way." Maybe I could make a good impression on her and she'd forget about Nico's attitude.

Annabeth cocked her head to one side and nodded, but she clearly didn't believe me about Nico. I wouldn't either; it's kind of obvious about Nico.

"Right, so," I cleared my throat. "Yeah. Let's get going. Maybe I could show you around the school—if you want, I mean—since it's so early."

"How's the library?" she questioned softly.

"Uh...It's cool. I guess."

"You don't read much," she stated flatly.

Embarrassed, I told her, "Er, I want to—really, I do! Don't give me that look—but I'm dyslexic. It's frustrating. That's all."

"Oh, really? Cool," she replied, flashing me a smile. A really nice smile, too. "So am I, but I found some ways to get around it a couple years back. One is..."

As we drove to the school in my car, we talked about things we could do about our dyslexia. Annabeth promised to help me with it ("I mean, if you'd like. I don't want to push you or anything and maybe your cousins would like to—stop laughing, Percy!") so that was pretty cool, too.

I showed Annabeth around the school and found we had a number of classes together. Annabeth tugged out her hair elastic and her curly hair fell onto and past her shoulders with a slight bounce.

Gosh, smart and beautiful.

Annabeth stared back like she was surprised and I blushed hard when I realized I had said that out loud. Then, she did something fantastic. The blonde girl chuckled and smiled at me—a little, close-lipped smile. I felt myself beam back.

"Thanks," she murmured, turning back around

"Yeah," I said awkwardly, clearing my throat. "Yeah, you're welcome, Annabeth."

The bell rang and I was suddenly ten times happier that we had the same homeroom.

Please take note on the subtle/not-so-subtle changes in these characters' personalities and let me know if you like how I changed the characters or if you didn't like it. Flames will be dutifully considered and also be used to keep me warm on this chilly day.

I expect a paragraph's worth from each of you! *scrutinizes*

(Not So) Sincerely,

WaffleGirl