Déjà vu
A PJO FanFic
Summary: "…For once, I didn't look back." When I was twelve years old, I had a dream. No, not about Martin Luther King Jr. My dream was the highlight of my twelve years of living. It was also just that. A dream. Almost five years later, I'm starting at a new school… again. But there are a few familiar faces. Faces that trigger memories. Not as depressing as it sounds. PJO AU. Percabeth.
1: I Meet the Girl of My Dreams
"I'll be back next summer," I promised him. "I'll survive until then. After all, I am your son." I asked Argus to take me down to cabin three, so I could pack my bags for home…
In my dream, I always said I didn't want to be a half-blood. Well, that was just the idiotic part of my twelve year-old brain that was talking. Thinking back on it, it would have been pretty dang cool. Imagine me, son of Poseidon, running around country, chasing lightning bolts and stabbing the heels of gods. Imagine me, hero of the world! Gosh, the world would be doomed.
Well, unfortunately for me (and fortunately for the world), that twelve year-old fantasy of mine was just a dream. I woke up, like always, to Smelly Gabe screaming. The next three years of my life were pretty miserable, and I hung onto that dream like monkey in a hurricane.
But things took a turn for the better, when I turned fifteen. My dream had been right about one thing: Smelly Gabe was an abusive husband. I really should have known. That bastard. When I turned fifteen, I called the police myself. Gabe was arrested and he and my mom divorced. My mom has a boyfriend now. Mr. Blowfish.
That's not really his name, of course. Legally, his name is Paul Blofis. He's a good guy, and I'm glad. My mom deserves to be happy.
As for me, I've been doing better. As soon as Smelly Gabe left the apartment, everything really seemed to look up. In freshmen year, I joined the swim team. Not to brag or anything, but I'm kind of awesome. I didn't have as many enemies as I used to, but I didn't have many friends either. Despite my constant school switching, my best friend, Grover, has been following me from school to school. He was starting with me at Goode High this year. Did I mention? Paul works at Goode. Considering I've been kicked out of every school I've ever attended, I tried to tell him that me attending the school her worked at was not a good idea, but he wouldn't have it. So that leaves me here, starting sophomore year at Goode High School.
Grover and I walked (limping for him) through the front doors of the school and immediately regretted not trying to sneak in through one of the side doors. The entrance was crowded and disorienting. Already, kids had grouped into their little cliques and I mentally prepared myself for another lonely year with just me and Grover. I glanced over at my friend, who was clutching his schedule in his hand. I compared it to mine. We had one class together.
"At least we can eat lunch together," he offered.
"Yeah, man," I said, trying not to let it get me too down. We had history together. History with Paul.
"Well, see ya at lunch." Grover limped off in the direction of his class. I hoped no one would bother him. Nearly five years later and he was still an easy target. He still had that leg disease, was still as scrawny as ever and his face hadn't changed at all. Except now, he kind of fit in with the mass of pimply high schoolers who were trying to grow facial hair.
I had math first. What a wonderful way to start the day! That was sarcasm. Despite being the first day of school, by the time study hall rolled over, I was exhausted. The again, I'd been up all night giving myself a long-winded pep talk about not getting expelled from Goode.
I dragged my sorry butt to the library to try to get at least some studying in. I'm a procrastinator. Blame it on the ADHD or something, but I spent an entire fifteen minutes trying to force one sentence through my dyslexic brain while also trying not to get distracted by my own breathing. Without realizing it, I drifted off to sleep.
I felt someone shake my shoulder.
"Hey. Hey. Hey!"
I jolted up right and a pain erupted on the top of my head. I looked up to see a girl, clutching her chin, apparently where my head had hit her.
"What the-" I muttered. Then I looked at her again. My jaw dropped.
"I was trying to wake you! Next period-" I completely zoned out of what she was saying, too fascinated by her appearance.
Did I ever imagine that the girl from a dream I had when I was twelve would appear in front of me at Goode High's school library. N-O. Yet there she was. Exactly how I remembered.
Pretty (too pretty for me) with tan skin and curly blond hair pulled into a ponytail. Stormy gray eyes that seemed to take in everything at once. She was frowning at me.
So the girl looked kind of like the girl in my dream from five years ago. Did that mean anything? No. Did that stop me from saying the name "Annabeth" out loud? Again, no. As soon as the name came out of my mouth, she stopped talking. She raised an eyebrow.
I stared.
"Yes?" she prompted.
I said something intelligent, like, "huh?".
"You said my name." She looked at me like I was crazy. I didn't blame her. I was starting to think I was crazy too. This was too weird to be a coincidence. The girl who looked exactly like the Annabeth from my dreams also just "happened" to have the name Annabeth as well? How many parents name their blond-haired, gray-eyed daughters "Annabeth"?!
Just to make sure, "Annabeth Chase?"
"That's me." She was talking slowly as if she thought I didn't speak English.
"Do I know you?" I blurted out.
Her brow furrowed. "No, I don't think so." I stared at her. She looked away uncomfortably. "Next period starts in one minute. I have to go." Annabeth walked away.
I didn't move until the late bell rang.
I dashed into class, interrupting the teacher. He scowled at me. Ducking my head, I mumbled a "sorry" and made a break for the only available seat in the room. It was chemistry, so we sat at tables with partners.
My table partner was terrifying. She had short, spikey black hair and the most startling blue eyes I'd ever seen. Her pale skin was dotted with freckles. She wore all black, with knee high combat boots, ripped jeans and a band t-shirt. Chains decorated her wrists and piercing lined her ears.
"Hey," she said to me with a surprisingly friendly smile on her face. She stuck out her hand. "I'm Thalia." No. "And you are?" NO. NO! NO, NO, NO! Was this even possible?! The Thalia that Dream-Annabeth told me about in a zebra truck on the way to Vegas five years ago?
I tried to swallow my shock. It was like a jalapeno flavored bowling ball. "I-I'm Percy."
"Weird name."
"You're one to talk," I said. My mouth snapped shut. Great going, Percy. Making enemies with your lab partner on the first day of school? Just perfect!
To my shock and utter relief, Thalia burst out laughing. "I suppose you're right!" She thwacked me hard on the back. My face almost hit the table. "You and I are gonna get along just fine, Percy."
Chemistry went by without a hitch (amazingly). Finally! It was lunch time! I was starving!
"Hey! Percy!" I looked around. Thalia was walking towards me. "You wanna have lunch with me and some of my friends?"
And save me the embarrassment of not having a place to sit in the cafeteria? Yes! Instead, like the trued friend I was, I said, "Only if my friend can sit with us."
Thalia shrugged. "Sure. C'mon. Let's find this friend of yours." We wove through the halls to find Grover. Goode was a maze. Suddenly Thalia grinned and shouted, "Oi! Leo!" Thank the gods it wasn't someone I knew. Yes, I said "thank the gods". It became a habit after I had that freakishly long and vivid dream.
'Leo' was a rather short Hispanic kid. With curly hair and an impish face, he looked like the last person you would want to get his hands on anything sharp.
"Yo! Chica!" Leo shouted from across the hall.
"Tell the guys to save two extra seats for us! We've got company!"
"Si!"
We found Grover leaving from his environmental studies class. I made the awkward introductions.
"Grover, this is Thalia. Thalia, Grover."
"'Sup," Thalia greeted.
"Hi," said Grover. For a second I thought it odd. In my dream, Grover and Thalia had known each other. I had actually never seen Thalia in my dream. Just heard her name.
The three of us made our way to the cafeteria. I spotted Leo immediately. He was waving at us with a scary amount of enthusiasm. In his hand, he clutched a… screwdriver?
Thalia immediately sat down. Grover and I were a little more hesitant to take the open seats.
"We're not gonna kill you guys," giggled a girl. She was pretty. No, stunningly beautiful. She looked like she might have been of Native American descent and she obviously did her best to hide her looks. Her hair was cut choppy, like a five year old had given it a trim with a pair of safety scissors. A feather was braided into her hair and she had these huge kaleidoscope eyes. She wore an old Hello Kitty t-shirt. "Well, I won't," she amended. "I can't vouch for these guys."
"Don't scare 'em away, Pipes," Leo said, not looking up from whatever he was fidgeting with on his lap.
"Guys," Thalia interrupted. "This is Percy." She gestured to me. "And this is his friend, Grover." She pointed to Grover. "Percy is my lab partner and Grover is his friend. They're new. Try not to kill them."
"Hi," said the beautiful girl. "I'm Piper. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you to," I said, feeling awkward. Grover just gaped at her.
Piper nudged the boy next to her. His face was buried in a book about the Roman Empire. Slowly, he looked up. "Hello. I'm Jason." He went back to his book.
Piper sighed. "The rude one is my boyfriend-"
"-and my brother!" Thalia piped.
"-He's not usually like this, but he's been studying awfully hard lately."
"Don't know why ya bother man," Leo shook his head. "It's the first day of school. Lighten up!"
"Don't let me hear that from you, Leo Valdez." Two more people joined our group.
I nearly choked on my own spit. Thalia thumped me on the back and if I didn't know any better, I would've thought she was trying to kill me. The speaker and person who slid into the seat next to Leo was none other than Annabeth Chase. The person who arrived with her made my heart leap up my throat.
Luke Castellan.
A/N: Alright! This is my first attempt at FanFiction, so I would really appreciate constructive criticism. No flames though, please. I'm pretty sure this idea came to me when I read a Percy Jackson headcanon, but honestly I couldn't find it online. Being the obsessive Percabeth shipper that I am, you can definitely expect this story to be filled with Percabeth moments. If you're looking for some insta-love magic, look elsewhere. I like to torture readers with slow building romance, just like Uncle Rick! Speaking of which, I don't own nor could I hope to own Percy Jackson, the books, the character or any related titles. I'm just a fan who wants to see the story continue a little longer :)