"Alright class," Mr. D said sounding extremely bored. "We have a new student. Peter Johnson was it?" The boy shook his head.

"Percy Jackson, sir." The boy said.

"Ah yes. Sorry about that," He didn't sound very sincere. "Anyways, pick an empty seat. You got the down low from the principal, correct? When lunch is, where your locker's at, and all that other good stuff?"

Percy nodded. Mr. D seemed satisfied, and sat down, right as the morning announcements came on. Percy chose a random desk in the middle of a pretty girl with dark black hair, and a mischievous looking Latino boy. He sat down, and hung his backpack on his chair. He turned to the girl.

"Hi. I'm Percy." He said in a friendly way.

The girl looked him up and down for a moment, and then she turned her head back to the front of the room. Percy frowned. This wasn't going as well as he'd hoped. Someone tapped his shoulder, and he turned to see the Latino boy, with a huge grin on his face.

"Don't mind the Ice Queen. She needs to get used to you first. I'm Leo, by the way."

At least this kid seemed nice.

"Percy Jackson." The kid nodded.

"I gathered that that was your name. The way you said your name out loud to the whole class kinda gave it away." The kid said. Percy had to smile.

"You gonna have lunch with us, Mr. Percy Jackson?" Percy nodded.

"Sounds like a plan." He responded with a smile.

Several classes later, Percy was munching on a slice of pepperoni pizza, as he sat with Leo and his friends. So far, he had been introduced to a guy named Jason, a big blond, muscled guy, his girlfriend Piper, a beautiful girl, and Frank and his girlfriend Hazel. Percy deduced that they had just started dating; they were still awkward around each other. The so-called "Ice Queen" was there too. She hadn't said anything all lunch.

"So Percy, would tell us about yourself? What's in your past?" Jason said, breaking the silence. Percy laughed a little bit.

"Oh c'mon, you couldn't possibly be interested in that!" He said. Jason shrugged.

"I'm a little interested…!" He said.

"Same here," chipped in Hazel. Percy gave in.

"I've had a pretty typical life. I mean, nothing out of the ordinary has happened or anything like that. I grew up with my mother, never knew my dad, and I used to live in California. Lived there for all sixteen years of my life, then one day, my mother decided that we needed a change of scenery. We packed up, and moved across the country to here, good old New York City." Percy finished, and took another bit of pizza.

"Wasn't it hard, to just leave like that? Leave everything you've ever known behind, people, places, things like that?" Piper asked. Percy put his hands in his lap where nobody could see them. And then he balled his hands into fists.

"No. No it wasn't."

Percy walked into his new apartment and called out a "hello!" to his mother, who didn't respond.

"Still at the publishing office I guess…" He said.

Percy's mother was an aspiring writer, and she had been going in every few days to talk to the book bigwigs. So for now, he had the house to himself. He plopped down on his bed, and unlocked his phone, going through the contacts. He had gotten everyone's number during lunch, except Ice Queen. Percy frowned. He wished he knew her real name. he selected Leo from his contact book.

Hey, you know that girl that sits next to me in Mr. D's class? The one you called the Ice Queen? What's her name? He sent it, then pulled book out of his backpack and began reading. After a while, the quiet began to bother him. He connected his phone to his speakers, and began playing a bunch of Rise Against through his speakers. He smiled.

"A good book, and some kick-ass music. Perfect." He said in a satisfied tone. He went back to his book.

Percy's phone played the intro to Dirt and Roses, letting him know he had a message. He picked it up, and saw it was Leo's response.

Her name is Reyna. Why? Does the new kid have a crush on the unattainable girl? ;) Percy rolled his eyes.

I was just curious. Thanks man. He typed.

No problem. See ya tomorrow. Was Leo's final message.

Percy heard a door open. His mother was back. Percy paused his music, and then went down to meet her.

"Hey Mom!" He said. "How'd things go?"

Sally Jackson smiled at the boundless energy of her son. He was definitely better, now that they had moved. But Sally didn't like thinking about the past.

"The gears are still spinning, o' child of mine," She said. Percy smiled. "So I was thinking that in honor of our… fresh start…" She said those words carefully, but Percy only tensed. "…That we should go out for some New York pizza. Sound good to you?" Percy relaxed.

"Sure Mom. That sounds great! Everyone always rants about how good it is." Sally smiled.

"Excellent. We'll leave in an hour or so."

Line

A little while later, Percy was munching on yet another pizza slice as he told his mother about his day at school.

"I met some nice people, made a few friends. Things are going well." He said.

"Well, that's great," Sally said. "I think we can be happy here."

"You really think so?" Percy asked, and his mother saw a glimmer of his old self in his eyes.

"Yes, I do." She said seriously. Percy nodded slowly.

"I hope so too…" He said softly, "I hope so too."

Percy was lying in bed, wide awake. He had been having problems ever since the incident. What little sleep he did get was interrupted by hellish nightmares, and terrible torments. They were always about the past. He hated his past. Percy sighed, and got up, turning on his light.

"Well, there'll be no sleep tonight, so I might as well read…" Percy put on some soft, but sad music, and began to read.

Line

"Oh quit it Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth laughed as Percy continued his relentless tickling. "Ahh, stop, stop!"

She finally writhed free of Percy's fingers, tears of laughter still streaming down her face. Percy grinned, and laid down next to his girlfriend. They were in his room, laying on his bed, content with each other's' company. Annabeth turned on her side, put her hand on Percy's chest, and placed her head under his. Percy kissed the top of her head, and he could feel her smile.

The dream had started well enough, but it left Percy screaming. He wished it would end.

He just wanted it to end.

So this is gonna be my new "long" story. I have no idea how long it's gonna be, hence the quotation marks :P

I'm accepting prompts, so if you want some kind of story, PM me the details. Thanks!

That's all I really have to say. See ya!

-Nick