Hey, guys! PLEASE READ :D! I don't know exactly where this story is going to go yet, but I wanted to do a high school AU with Percabeth, Jasper, Caleo, Frazel, and Solangelo. I'm going to try to make the characters as much as they are in the books as possible. I might even be punny and add certain lines from the book into the story. Here are some things you need to know for this chapter: Frederick Chase does not meet Susan and have Bobby and Matthew in this chapter. I want him to sort of have a sad backstory of losing Athena, and him to be more work-focused, so I took them out of the story. Basically, he's a rich single dad who owns a company and is obsessed with planes. Sorry for any inconvenience those small changes caused. I also LOVE to answer reviews, so any questions you have feel free to ask them! I reply to all of my reviews, and I will usually put the replies at the end of the chapter. Also, sorry for all of the '…' in this chapter. For some reason, I was in a really … mood today. Lastly, this is really such a filler chapter and I'm sorry. I really need you guys to know about Annabeth's past and her new regular school day routine. Uh… that's about it. I really hope you enjoy my stories, and please, I beg of you, review ;)
Disclaimer: I'm literally a fangirl with no social life. How could I own PJO?
Annabeth's POV
Junior year. New school. Not nervous. Not at all.
Okay, I'm a bit nervous.
Who am I kidding? I'm dying over here!
"It's okay," I muttered to myself. "You'll be fine." I consider myself a pretty likeable person. I mean, sure, I can be annoying sometimes, and sure, I can ramble on sometimes, and sure, I'm probably smarter than the whole high school combined, and sure, I'm a little full of myself on occasion, but honestly, what could go wrong?
I straightened out my outfit in the mirror. I'm usually not so much of a people-pleaser, but today especially, I wanted to cast a good impression. I was wearing a white tank top (regulation sleeves, of course) that said, 'Act like a lady. Think like a boss'. My dad had gotten it for me for my birthday on July 12. Okay, so that wasn't really my attitude, but I loved making my dad smile, and whenever I wore it, his grin was huge. I wore dark blue skinny jeans and my blue Toms with them. I wore a light blue jacket unbuttoned, in case it was windy. I had my rainbow striped watch, my rose vine bracelet, and my rosette earrings. I smiled. I liked it. I loved looking natural, and this was an effortless outfit. I had put on a bit of mascara and lip gloss for the occasion, too.
My gray eyes held way more confidence than I actually had, and I simply let my blond hair down.
I grabbed my blue and white striped backpack from the floor next to my door and walked downstairs. My dad was sitting at our kitchen counter, sipping coffee while scrolling through something on his computer.
"Hey, 'Beth," my dad called. "Come over here for a second." He smiled at me, and sure enough, I noticed it widened when he saw my shirt. I grabbed a banana and walked over to him.
"Yeah?" I asked, taking a bite that probably should've been a little bit smaller.
"Franklin Theodore High has so many clubs and extracurriculars; they even won the National Spelling Bee last year!" He noticed my look and frowned. "But I'm guessing you're still stuck on going to Goode."
I gave him a small smile. I really wanted this, so I didn't feel as bad when I said, "Dad, you know my reasoning." Truth be told, I had been in a genius school like Franklin Theodore for the last two years. But it had no social aspect whatsoever, and I was honestly missing having friends, best friends, and a boyfriend. I had never had time for those things, and hopefully now I would. I was trying my best not to be classified as 'Nerd' my first day. I mean, you can get good grades and not be a nerd still… right?
"Yeah, I know, honey. I just want the best for you."
"Dad!" I said with a small laugh. "You know I can still achieve the best if I go to regular high school, right?"
"Of course I know that. You are your mom's daughter, after all."
I gave a small smile as I finished my banana. My mom, Athena, died in a car crash when I was only two months old. My dad was heartbroken, and he vowed to never love anyone else. He became extremely focused on me and work… only me and work. Basically, he never found a girlfriend, had any other kids, or really any social life. That was fine with me; it meant I got to see him more. But now, I sort of wish he would get out more.
I checked my watch. 6:59. I kissed my dad on the cheek as I got ready to leave.
"Love you! Bye!" I called as I walked out the door. I rubbed my learner's permit nervously between my fingers as I stared at our two cars. It was either take one of them, or take the bus on my first day, and who takes the bus on the first day? I know I should be driving with a licensed adult, though. I sighed. I pretty much had two sides, Strict Annabeth, following the rules; and Badass Annabeth, who sort of cares but does it anyway.
My dad had connections that would let me get my license in 4-ish months, but until then, I was stuck with a permit and no ride to school. I finally decided to just catch the bus. No law-breaking from Annabeth today.
I checked the time again. 7:02. I had spent three minutes thinking about car or bus? Typical.
I rushed a block down my road to make it to the bus in the next minute. I got there just as it pulled up, breathing a sigh of relief.
As I climbed on, I stared around, taking in the scene. Jocks and cool guys, wrestling in the front. Nerds and outcasts, in the back. People deemed socially 'acceptable', in the middle. There was one girl closer to the front who immediately caught my eye.
She was dressed like she cared, but she looked more like she didn't. She was wearing burgundy colored skinny jeans with a Nirvana tee shirt. She had tan booties with probably an inch and a half heel, as well as a leather jacket and a tribal print scarf. What really caught my eye was her choppily cut hair. That kind of hair only she could pull off. I studied her eyes for just a second. They were green—no, blue—no, brown—I don't know! They were gorgeous, with flecks of gold.
I walked over to her, not wanting to push my luck, but she gave me a charming smile and asked, "First day?"
I took a deep breath and returned the smile, sliding in next to her. "Yeah."
"Cool," she said with a laugh. "Don't be nervous, I can tell already we're going to be great friends. I'm Piper."
"I'm Annabeth," I said. I didn't have a chance to say anything more, because the guy sitting in front of us turned around, looking first at me and then at Piper.
"Who's this?" he asked, directing the question more at Piper than at me.
"I'm Annabeth. You are…?" I asked.
"Jason," he said with smirk. Turning to Piper again, he asked, "Potential squad member?"
I almost snorted, barely holding it in. #1, I was seriously getting annoyed with how he kept directing questions about me at Piper. #2, Squad? What were they, seventh graders?
I took a second to study Jason. Blond hair, blue eyes. Not my type. He was wearing a Hollister shirt with an open black flannel over top. He was also wearing blue jeans, and there was a plain gray backpack on the seat next to him.
"More like potential friend," Piper replied with a chuckle. "But yeah, I think she would like the 'squad'." Piper said it more like it wasn't her choice to call their friend group a squad. I laughed.
"Cool," Jason said, with a bigger smile at Piper. "Let's see them all at lunch then? Table 3."
Piper nodded and smiled, and Jason turned around. I immediately turned to Piper.
"He likes you!" I whispered.
She blushed, her cheeks turning pink. "No way."
"And you like him!" I said, barely not squealing. What? I'm a girl.
"Only a little…" she muttered. I laughed.
"Come on! You two are so cute together. I can already see it," I said with a small sigh of anticipation. "Ten years from now. A little Piper and a little Jason." I laughed at the look on Piper's face. "Kidding. But seriously, you should get together."
"Maybe someday," Piper said. "If he ever actually asks me out."
"It can't be that bad. How long have you two been going to school together?"
Piper muttered something unintelligible.
"What?" I asked.
"Third grade," she muttered louder.
"Are you serious?" I said. "How couldn't he fall for a girl like you?"
She laughed. "He already admitted to liking me. He just 'doesn't want a relationship right now' and 'needs time to think'. After breaking our friend Reyna's heart—she used to go to this school—he's pretty hesitant to get back in a relationship."
I nodded. "Makes sense." It did, after all.
The bus jerked to a stop next to the school entrance, and immediately everyone stood up. Jason, Piper, and I walked out together. It must be the only part of the 'squad' that goes on that bus.
We were pretty quiet until we got to the front doors, when Jason said, "Hey, Annabeth, have you gotten your papers sorted out and stuff?"
"Yeah, my dad had stuff sorted out in advance." I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and stared the lock screen, which I had made my schedule. "So what do you guys have after homeroom?"
"Calculus," Piper practically groaned.
"Biology," Jason said.
"English," I said with a frown. Darn it, I was hoping at least Piper had a class with me.
"Let us see your schedule," Piper said. I obediently handed her my phone. She smiled. "We have History and French together. Will's in History, but so is Drew, so that's probably a 50-50 class. Hazel's in French. You'll love her." She handed me back my phone, and I smiled.
"So who's all in this squad?" I asked.
Jason smirked. "There's a lot—get ready. The guys are Will, Nico, Percy, Leo, Frank, Beckendorf, and me. Then the girls are Piper, Calypso, Hazel, Silena, Thalia, and you, I guess."
"Cool," I said. "Thanks for fitting me in there." I laughed.
Jason blushed.
"Kidding, it's fine," I said, smirking. Piper laughed with me. I had homeroom 212, and Piper had 210, so we walked up to the second floor together while Jason stayed on the first floor.
"Hazel's in my homeroom, Nico's in yours," Piper explained. "Juniors all have third period lunch, so come sit at table three and we'll introduce you to everyone." She gave me a smile as we reached our rooms.
"Alright, see you a lunch!" she called.
"Bye!" I smiled, and entered the room. I grabbed a desk in the third row, and stared as we went through announcements. Lunch lady retiring. Sign up for clubs in the office. First football game on Friday. I pretty much zoned out after that. Suddenly, I heard the bell ring and practically jumped up, rushing to first period.
English class was an okay class, I guess. I easily aced all the tests, so I can't say it was a challenge.
I met up with Piper next for History. She introduced me to Will, who gave me a bright smile (literally, it was sunglasses worthy) and welcomed me to Goode.
I took a second to study Will. He had blonde hair and blue eyes,
Next was lunch. I stopped at the bathroom beforehand to freshen up. Piper had said to meet at the bathroom on the second floor. I found her in there, fixing her scarf. I brushed away some flecks of mascara that had traveled under my eye.
Piper grinned at me. "Ready to become part of the squad?"
"I was born ready," I teased back.
We walked into the lunchroom. She showed me the best food for the best value. They had great cheese pizza. She disdainfully looked at the pepperoni, telling me about how she was a vegetarian. We grabbed fruit cups and carrot sticks, as well as stopping at the slushy machine. She said she usually stopped at the salad bar, but she was fine without it since we had grabbed carrot sticks.
I smiled. I was definitely thankful for all of the information and for stumbling across Piper, who was extremely nice, on my first day. We walked over to table three and sat down. Two of the girls started fawning over me.
(Skip this part if you don't want to hear about every inch of clothing they are wearing.)
Piper rolled her eyes with a smile on her face. "This is Silena." She pointed to a smiling girl with long light brown hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a white crop top that said 'LA' on it in pink dripping letters. She was also wearing ripped dark gray jean shorts. Apparently the dress code wasn't upheld here. Cool, I'll keep that in mind.
Piper pointed to a tan girl with dark brown hair. "That's Calypso." Her hair was down and wavy. She had a tight-fitting white tee shirt tucked into high-waisted bright blue shorts with a flowered pattern. She was also wearing a gray oversized cardigan. She smiled and waved at me.
One of the girls interrupted Piper, giving me a once-over. "I'm Thalia." I smiled at her, and she gave me a small smile in return. She had short, dark hair, and was wearing pretty dark makeup. She had a black and white patterned hat in her lap. She was wearing a white tee shirt with jean overalls over top of it.
The last girl gave me a shy smile, and Piper laughed at it. "That's Hazel." Hazel had cinnamon colored hair and eyes that were golden. She was wearing a black crop top with half-sleeves and tan shorts, with a flannel wrapped around her waist.
She then introduced Nico, Percy, Leo, Frank, and Beckendorf, in that order.
Nico had dark hair and olive-colored skin. He had dark eyes and looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. He was wearing a white long sleeved American Eagle shirt with dark jeans. He had headphones on and aviator glasses, even though we were in the cafeteria.
Percy was… hot. Annabeth, don't think that! But he was. He had black hair and sea green eyes. His smirk made me melt as I took in every detail. He was wearing a white tee shirt that said in black lettering 'Bear With Me'. He had an open black hoodie on. He had on dark jeans and gray Vans. He was holding black Ray Bans.
Leo looked like the Class Clown. He had curly black hair and eyes filled with laughter. He was wearing a tan fedora with a flannel tee shirt. He had on khaki shorts and old blue sneakers.
Frank was heavily built with a military haircut. He was wearing a dark gray shirt that said something about Canada, with a navy blue and white checkered button down over top. He had on jeans and black Converse.
Lastly, Charles Beckendorf, whom everyone called Beckendorf, was muscularly built, being captain of the football team. He was wearing a Hollister shirt with Jeans and Nikes, black sunglasses resting on his head.
(Okay, clothing rant over. Just wanted to give you guys a taste of the characters' high school style.)
"Okay," Calypso said with a smile. I cursed in my head. I didn't even realize she was talking to me. What was she talking about? Oh. Couples.
"Well, Will and Nico are dating, but they're pretty new at this." I wasn't surprised; they had been sitting close to each other, so I had made a tiny assumption. "Percy's single, Leo and I are single, but Leo asks me out like every day," she said with a small smirk. My heart did a jump when she said that Percy was single. "Frank asked Hazel out yesterday, and she hasn't given him a response yet, so basically the whole group's being really awkward waiting to hear what happens. Uh…" She glanced at the table. "Oh, right, Beckendorf and Silena have been dating since we were sophomores. Jason and Piper like each other but Jason won't ask her out. And, Thalia's single, but she's a boy-hater," Calypso finished with a laugh.
"Wow, that's a lot," I said, but I remembered it all easily. I had nearly photographic memory.
"Yeah," Calypso said with a laugh. "Come on!" She dragged me down into a seat between her and… Percy. Fantastic. I don't even know the kid, and I'm already being set up with him.
"Hey, Annabeth," he said, smirking at me. He has to be nice, too? I hadn't even realized Piper had introduced me to the group.
"Hey, Percy," I said, with a bigger smile, than turned to join a conversation with Piper and Calypso. Silena eventually joined in. We talked about boys, clothes, school, and family. I really got to know them better. I found out that Piper's mom abandoned her when they were little, and her dad was famous movie star Tristan McLean. I, personally, didn't fall for celebrities, but Calypso squealed whenever we mentioned his, or any other male celebrities, names. Speaking of Calypso, she had lived on an island with her extended family before she moved here to New York. She had dated most of the boys in the school, but she openly admitted that she sort of liked Leo. She now lived with Piper, which was pretty cool. Silena lived with both of her parents, but she had no siblings. She had liked Beckendorf forever. I didn't mention that I had a slight crush on Percy.
I hadn't even talked to him and I was falling for him.
Dammit.
I felt like that was a good spot to end it. You might think it's moving too fast but this fic is going to be all throughout junior year, and I have to make them fall in love at the beginning so I can put you all through hell by breaking them up again and again.
Yep. That's just how nice of a person I am.
So, I wanted to go over why this is rated T quickly. There will be cursing, as well as kissing and maybe suggested being in bed together, if you get what I mean.
I recommend this for mature people of 13 and up. Thanks.
Oh, and, another reminder- please review! Can I ask for a couple of reviews for a new chapter?
-Emily