Hello, so this is my re-written version of chapter one. Looking back at my first chapter was actually quite painful. The poor writing was a bit hard to swallow and probably not at all appealing to readers. So I rewrote it. Hopefully it goes a bit better with the rest of the story and is all-around better written. Thank you!
Disclaimer : I do not own Percy Jackson. All rights go to Rick Riordan/span/p
Annabeth's POV
"Stop!"
"I'm sorry."
Then a scream pierced the air.
"Annabeth!" A shout broke the silence of the morning, waking waking me with a jolt. I groaned, burying my face in my pillow. There was a dream… Something dangerous was happening. A battle? What was happening? My thoughts wandered as I laid in the blissful silence.
"ANNABETH! Daddy says that you have to get up now!" The shriek rang out once again, more persistent this time.
"Bobby, go away!" I groaned. "Can't I sleep?" Why was Bobby waking me up on a Sunday?
"Annie, daddy said to get up now!"
"Don't call me Annie! Besides, a few more minutes can't hurt." I replied shutting my eyes tighter as I grasped at the remainders of my dream. There was a storm coming. Something was about to happen and-
"Yeah it can. It can make you late for school!"
My eyes snapped open and immediately shot to my calendar: Monday April 21. I bit back a curse as I fell out of bed. "Right! Coming, coming. Just give me a few minutes! What time is it now?" I asked, scrambling around my room trying to get my clothes together. I threw a pair of jeans and a t-shirt on as I rushed into my bathroom.
"Um... it's 6:45."
The urge to curse hit me once more as I vivaciously tugged at my blond curls. My only chance to get to school on time was to catch the subway which was scheduled for 6:50am. "Thanks, Bobby. Tell dad I'm up, okay?" With a defeated groan, I gave up on my hair, choosing to instead start searching my room for my books.
"Yeah, whatever Annie." His feet made a thundering sound as he rocketed down the stairs, fully aware of the use of the nickname I despised so much.
"Don't call me Annie!"
Surrounded by obnoxious kids and solemn adults, I stared out at the passing lights. I never really liked using the subway, the feeling of willing putting myself in such a vulnerable position nerve racking. Dark and enclosed spaces were never my favorite, especially since I was a demigod. Monsters seemed to like picking fights when they could hide in the dark.
Demigod. I thought, a bitter-sweet tang coming to me. Sometimes I wish...
I shook my head. There was no point in pondering over what I could not change. Instead, I let another topic occupy my thoughts. Why had I been so incredibly out of it that morning? I naturally had a fairly good sense of time and being an entire day behind schedule was unheard of for me.
I must've stayed up much later talking to Thalia last night. It probably created the illusion that it was a Saturday, therefore setting my internal clock back a day. My mind reasoned as I stepped off of the subway, turning towards the dirty stairs. As I sped towards Goode High in the early morning light of New York City, another brilliant revelation wandered through my thoughts. Thalia was talking to me. I have no idea what she was telling me. I am in so much trouble.
"Annabeth!" I turned around to see Thalia's electric blue eye staring right at me as she strode towards me. She wore her normal black jeans and combat boots, her bands t-shirt hidden by the leather jacket that draped around her shoulders as always.
"Hey, Thalia! How was your weekend?" I asked politely, shutting my locker as I turned to face her fully.
The girl let out an exaggerated groan, leading me towards the entrance of the school. The crowd was thinning, giving me a clearer view of the street outside. "Too freaking long! I've waited for this day since I was five! I can't believe he's gonna go to the same school as us after so long!"
I raised an eyebrow questionably. I had never seen her so enthusiastic about someone transferring to our school before. I was just about to voice my question when Thalia's cousin, Nico, strode up to us.
"Thalia, have you seen him yet? I haven't spotted him all morning." Nico spared a quick glance at me. He and Thalia seemed to have a competition going for who could wear the most black for the longest amount of time. It was rather amusing watching them argue who looked better in the color when it really did suit them both. "Oh hey, Annabeth. I guess Thalia probably filled you in on what's going on, right?"
"She did, actually. I just sorta forgot." I offered them an apologetic smile, internally bracing myself for Thalia's reaction.
"What?" Thalia's voice was distracted as she turned to me, her anger halfhearted. "Annie, how could you forget? I was only talking for three hours!"
"I'm sorry! I had to finish last minute homework." My weak excuse barely seemed to register for her. Instead, Thalia sighed before taking my arm and leading me closer to the doors. I took a swift glance at the clock. 20 minutes till class. I thought, gazing about the front street. Taxis and cars created a steady stream of traffic up the road.
"Thalia, why are we standing at the front doors?" My eyes searched for anything out of the ordinary, as I crossed my arms over my grey T-shirt.
"Well if you listened, you'd know exactly why!" She replied, obviously still a little miffed about my lack of listening.
"I'm sorry, okay? You know how I get when I'm doing schoolwork." I looked up to see not her expected expression of annoyance in her eyes, but excitement.
"Okay, listen this time." She told me, her eyes flitting back to the street every few seconds. "My cousin is moving here from Long Island. I have only seen him like a handful of times since I moved here when I was little. Although we haven't seen each other in a while, we were always close and kept in contact. He's even good friends with Mr. Antisocial over there." She said jabbing a finger to where Nico was standing. Surprisingly he only rolled his eyes at her before he continued to scan the grounds.
"Okay." I said trying to spur her forward since she also seemed to be content to stare out at the road.
"Right, anyway. So he's a really great guy and he's going to transfer to Goode today." Thalia finished. A giddy smile slowly stretched across her face, "I can't wait to seem him!"
I smiled inwardly as I caught the rare expression on the normally sarcastic and stoic face. I had never seen her so energetic and happy. Glancing back at the rode, I couldn't help but feel that this guy was someone special.
"Hey, Thals, if you don't mind too much, I'm going to go to class." I had been waiting for Thalia and Nico's cousin until five minutes till class, which was a record for me.
"Yeah yeah, sure, Annie." Thalia replied, never tearing her eyes from the road. I rolled my eyes at the name.
"Don't call me Annie." I called over my shoulder as I head to my first class.
As I walked into my history class, I glanced around at the familiar surroundings. The old book shelf at the corner of the room that no one uses. The rows of desks facing the old chalk board. Yeah, chalkboard. Our history teacher, Mr. Smith, is very old-fashioned. I swear, if he could still whack us with rulers when we misbehaved, he would do it with a smile. I sighed and took my seat at the front of the class.
In the next few minutes the rest of the students trickled in, taking their seats and pulling out their homework with collective sighs.
Piper sat down on my right, greeting me with a wave. Piper was, and still is, a smart, adventurous girl with the looks to knock anyone down. However she always played down her looks and is as sweet and modest as you could get. She is half Cherokee consequently giving her beautiful brown hair and tan skin. She had a huge crush on Thalia's brother, Jason.
I guess Jason was good-looking. He had blond spiky hair, cut in a military form. He has blue eyes like Thalia, but that's pretty much the only thing they share besides their parents. You see, Thalia is a punk. She loves heavy metal and rock, which to me, just sounds like a bunch of screaming toddlers with pots and pans. She wears a black leather jacket every day and some outfit with spikes. Her hair is cut short with spikes everywhere and she wears heavy mascara and black eyeliner. Jason on the other hand, is the little angle. He had a perfect attendance record, perfect grades (enough to rival mine, though not quite as good) and a perfect personality. He even had the looks to prove it. With his blond hair and blue eyes, he had a ton of girls chasing him. I didn't really know him enough to judge him, but he seemed like an okay guy. As a bonus, Piper liked him, and she had an excellent judge for character.
Ripped from my thoughts by the obnoxiously loud bell, Mr. Smith walked in carry an armful of books.
He set the books down on his desk neatly before turning to address the class. "Good morning."
A hollow chorus of "good morning"s echoed back to him which seemed to satisfy Mr. Smith enough.
"Okay, class, please take your seats. Today we will being our new unit on Ancient Greece." Mr. Smith clears his throat before he began an introduction to the lecture on our new unit. He speaks about the geographical features and the dangers they presented to the Greeks.
I readied my pencil, waiting for the lecture to begin. Nico and Thalia always teased me for being so smart without trying, yet holding that reputation wasn't always easy. Children of Athena were naturally born with quicker minds, yet that didn't mean that I could skip studying and notes. It just meant there was more of an expectation on my shoulders. Before I could submerge any farther into my own thoughts yet again, Mr. Smith's dull drone started to buzz through the air.
"And here are your textbooks. Treat them well, I expect them in perfect condition by the end of the year." I glance up from my notes. Mr. Smith was passing out thick green textbooks down the rows. Once I had received mine and passed the others to the people behind me I peered at the cover. It said, "Ciaten Ecerge".
Stupid dyslexia. I thought in irritation. Thankfully, if I concentrated hard enough on the words, I could make them out... eventually. It might not be a great method, but it's better than Thalia and Nico who also have dyslexia. Their "method" is to get frustrated and start throwing books around. In fact, all my friends have dyslexia, Piper, Reyna, Thalia, Nico, Hazel, Leo, even perfect Jason, for a very specific reason of course...
"Okay class, have a good day. Make sure to read pages 228-244." Mr. Smith said as we made our way to the door. A groan was heard from the students as they filed out.
After five other periods of learning I was exhausted. Luckily for me, sixth period was my lunch and eighth was my break. The rest of the day would be pretty easy. I walked to the cafeteria, anxious to see my friends since I only had Piper in history and Hazel in English. The rest of my classes were filled with awkward acquaintances or people I plainly didn't like.
Lunch at Goode is pretty average. Of course, there are the occasional lunches where you don't know if the clump of green stuff is supposed to be vegetables or meat, but there are some nice lunches too. Personally I always got the Greek salad with extra olives. That particular day had a ridiculously long line for salad. Letting out a sigh, I stood at the back of the line, trying my best to be patient. My eyes skipped around the cafeteria as I stood. They passed over the regular mortals, regardless of whatever cliches they had gotten themselves into. Athletes, fashionistas, soon-to-be-CEOs...
Idiots. They have no idea how lucky they are. Barely suppressing the urge to roll my eyes, I let the conversations of dances, homework and significant others turn into a white noise as I carefully started to select which olives to put into my salad.
As soon as I had finished selecting my food I strolled out to our little round picnic table my friends and I would always sit at. I vaguely questioned where Thalia and Nico were as I sat down next to their vacant seats, too engrossed in the thought of food to give it any real thought.
"Hey, Annabeth." Hazel, Nico's sister, greeted me kindly from across the table. Frank gave me a sweet smile and wave from Hazel's left. I waved back at the couple, inwardly smiling at how cute the two were.
"What's going on, Annie?" Leo asked, flashing me a peace sign. He gave me one of his smiles, the type that it's impossible not to smile back to. His curly, brown hair was as messing as ever as was his work overalls.
"Cut it out, Leo!" Piper laughed as she lightly punched Leo's arm from where she sat beside him. "The poor girl just came from Chemistry, show some sympathy." The girl gave me a brilliant smile as she gestured for me to sit. She wore a modest outfit as usual while Jason sported an equally non-descriptive clothing choice. Jason flashed me a smile before taking Piper's hand over the table.
"Hey, guys." I replied after momentarily satisfied with my intake of food. "Where's Reyna?" I indicated her empty seat next to Frank. Reyna was the colder one of the group, but part of it all the same. When she wasn't so busy being cool and collected, she could actually be pretty good company.
"Reyna's at an appointment today." Hazel supplied, picking her sandwich up. This would be a perfectly acceptable answer, had Hazel's golden eyes not locked with mine, a hidden meaning behind them. Camp Jupiter.
I gave an imperceptible nod before turning my attention away from the missing girl.
"And Thalia and Nico are probably helping out their cousin." Jason gestured to the two other vacant seats with a tip of his head.
"Oh yeah, I heard about him. Percy, right?" Leo questioned, looking over at Piper for confirmation. "He just moved here from Rhode Island!"
"Long Island, machine boy." She chuckled with an amused smirk. "And yes, this is his first day here, I believe."
"Is he a demigod, too?" Tensing, the table sent harsh glances towards Leo for his casual reference to what we were.
Piper, Jason, Thalia, Nico, Reyna, Leo, Frank, Hazel and I were (and still are) demigods.(Half human, half Greek god) Don't get too excited, it's not too great. For one, we always have monsters out to get us. Like I had said, subways are never a good thing for us. We can never use any electronics connected to the internet, though we still do once in awhile in an emergency. (We prefer Iris Messaging when contacting other demigods) Our only safe haven is Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter, which really aren't so bad, but they can get a little crowded. We have to keep our identities secret all the time, which means putting up with bullies and snobby jerks. Demigods also have ADHD and dyslexia. Sometimes our godly parents even send us on quests.
Now, let me tell you a bit about my friends and I that stand true to this day. My mother is Athena, goddess of wisdom and war. Piper is daughter of Aphrodite and is a very powerful charm-speaker. Leo is the son of Hephaestus, and one of the only fire users. Thalia's father is Zues. Jason's father is the Roman side of Zues, Jupiter. Frank, Hazel and Reyna all also have Roman gods as parents. Reyna's mother is Bellona, Roman goddess of war. Frank's father is Mars, god of war and bloodshed, while Hazel's father is Pluto, god of the underworld as well as precious gems and metals. Nico is the son of Hades, the Greek form of Pluto. Like Jason and Thalia, Hazel and Nico are also related, although their father was in different aspects of himself when they were sired. (Zues/Jupiter, Hades/Pluto)
"Don't say it so loud! Someone could hear you!" Frank squeaked, glancing over his shoulder. He really was quite the athlete, yet it was hard not to want to protect him when he acted so small and insignificant. However, I had learned through experience that he had the qualities of a true leader hidden behind his teddy-bear demeanor.
"It's not like anyone would believe me anyway." Leo defended in a lower tone, a childish quality creeping into his voice. "Besides, I was just wondering, cause he's Thalia and Nico's cousin and all that. And I suppose that would make him Hazel and Jason's cousin as well." He added as an afterthought.
"I don't know him all that well, honestly. I've only seen pictures once in awhile. I was a Wilderness School since last year, remember?" Jason spoke awkwardly.
"I also don't know him very well. I was stuck in the Underworld until for 40 years or so." Hazel gently reminded us. We had long ago gotten used to the fact that Hazel was not from our time. So much so, that we usually forgot all together. "Thalia and my brother are the closest to him."
"Well I want to know if we just found another demigod to joke with. Mortals are so dimwitted." Leo grinned.
"It's too risky to just ask him," Jason reasoned. "We'll just have to watch him. I know Thalia would tell me if she knew, and so far, nothing."
Hazel nodded. "I'm with Jason. I can ask Nico, but I don't think he knows either. The best we can do is watch and listen."
"Well do you know how he's related to Thalia and Nico? If it was like, great grandparents, then he couldn't-" I was cut off by Leo.
"Hey guys, look who's here." We all turned to see Thalia and Nico walking towards us, joking around with some guy. Said guy had messy -but cute- raven black hair and tan skin. He was wearing jeans and a green sweatshirt. He must have been about 5' 11 or so.
"What's up guys?" Thalia greeted us as she, Nico and that guy reached our table. "I'd like you to meet my cousin, Percy!" She confirmed my suspicions as she introduced him. He seemed to be slightly uncomfortable with the stares, but there was an easy-going manner in the smile that stretched curved his lips.
"Uh, hello." His voice was deep, and smooth, the awkward tone easily slipping into a laid back ease.
"So you're the cousin Thalia's been going on and on about. I've been looking forward to meeting you. My name's Hazel. I'm Nico's sister." Hazel introduced gently, sticking out her hand. Percy took it slowly, his smile becoming slightly warmer as he did so.
"It's great to meet you, Hazel. I'm Percy, but based on what you just said, you already knew that." His voice was soft, but had an underlying current of power. "Nico's spoken about you before, he really does think quite highly of you. Great to finally meet you in person!"
Hazel smiled up at Percy, her warmth easing the awkwardness. Her gold eyes sparked with an approval, obviously liking this guy from the start. "This is Frank, my boyfriend, Piper, Jason, Leo and Annabeth." She introduced us one by one, slowly gesturing to us respectively. I saw a spark of recognition when Percy's gaze rested on Jason. I was going to make polite eyes contact when I was introduced, but instead was immediately sucked into his eyes. Green and slight traces of blue swirled around, catching the light. A story seemed to play out behind the vibrant iris's, but I quickly looked away, embarrassed by the prolonged contact. As I had turned, I was a little shocked to see how full of sadness and pain there was being portrayed in the story, but it was gone before I could really analyze it all. So fast, in fact, that I started to question if it had actually even been there to begin with. He offered a warm smile to everyone he greeted. It was soft and kind, yet at the same time there was something underneath the smile. Something different from the gentle surface.
Before I could stop myself, I caught his eye once more, unable to break the contact with the vivid eyes. There was just something so breath-taking about them.
"Annabeth!" I was snapped out of my trance by Thalia's loud voice.
"I swiftly broke eye contact, swiveling my gaze to my best friend. "What?"
"Are you going to say hi, or just keep on staring at Percy's eyes?" She asked, smirking slightly at the end.
Blood rushed to my cheeks a bit too quickly for my liking as I nervously shifted. "I wasn't staring" I defended. "I was merely trying to…" I trailed off, quite aware that I was fighting a losing battle. Mortification set in as I realized the everyone's attention was on us.
"Uh-huh. I think Annie's in lo-" I jabbed Thalia in the ribs before she could finish her sentence. The rest of the table laughed at our antics, including Percy who was seated in between Thalia and Frank. His laugh carried across the table, almost like the breeze wanted to carry it. I was almost to embarrassed to realize that Percy was blushing just as much as I was. Almost.
"So, Percy. How are you liking New York City?" Jason's ever-lasting reservoir of politeness kicked in as he sparked a conversation. "I'm also your cousin by the way." The boy added sheepishly, offering a small grin.
"Yeah, I could guess. You and Thalia have the same eyes and the authority. It's great to meet you in person as well." Percy's smile brightened slightly. Silently, I congratulated Percy on his observation skills. "New York City's really cool. There are some really cool buildings, and a hot-dog stands on like, every street." Leo saluted at that.
"It also has a lot of skateboard parks." Thalia and Frank grinned at that one.
"Where are you staying?" Piper asked conversationally, as she quietly twirled her pasta.
"I'm staying at the Bramford."*
"Um.. dude, isn't that place like... I don't know haunted or something?" Leo asked with a raised eyebrow from across the table.
"Supposedly if you believe in that type of stuff. It has good rent though, really cheap." Percy replied nonchalantly eating his pizza.
Thalia sent him a concerned glance, "Perce, that place has had some pretty horrific stuff done inside it's walls."
"Yeah, not to mention that there was a murderer supposedly staying there last week. Police don't even know if he's out yet." Frank chipped in.
I was about to roll my eyes at the notion that my friends were believing some old movie, but I quickly restrained myself at the news of the murderer. There was truth to that particular story.
"Plus, that place reeks of death. Some are pretty recent, too!" Nico had stated easily before his eyes widened at what he had just said. A look of panic briefly passed on his face before he schooled his features into a less incriminating expression.
I shot him a glare, as did the rest of the table. My attention returned to Percy, trying desperately to think of a cover up while still processing his thought process to the best of my ability.
"Hold on, you can smell death?" Percy asked, leaning forward towards Nico. An unidentified light sparked in his eyes, probably suspicion.
"No, what? Of course not! That's impossible!" Nico tried to cover up his mistake, a nervous edge blundering itself into his voice.
"What Nico means by 'reeks' is that it has a very depressing history. Nico's weird and sorta emo, don't pay attention to him when he gets like this." I smoothly stepped in, trying my best to take the attention off of Nico.
Percy leaned back in his chair, regarding us with a slightly raised eyebrow. "If you say so, I guess." He didn't sound very convinced, but let the subject drop.
"So Percy, what's your schedule?" Piper asked, using her charm speak to clear the air of suspicion she must've felt coming from Percy.
Good idea, Mclean. I thought, before focusing my attention on the newcomer once again.
I stumbled out of of school, my bad forcing me to walk slightly off balanced. My intention was to start my homeword during my free period under my little tree at the back of the school yard. There wasn't a lot of room in New York, so they had their courts on a platform resting on a roof. There was a small tree, just a bit of green in the city of metal that always let me clear my mind. My free periods were spent as less as a 'free' period and more of a study hall. As I turned the corner, I could see a lone figure already seated underneath the tree.
Unusual. I thought as I approached the figure. Not many people had gone back there, all getting to caught up in games and competitions before they even thought to go farther. The figure was reading, one hand writing on a sheet of paper while the other traced lines in the book. As I came closer, I recognized the figure as Percy. He was sitting cross-legged with a pile of books to his left. His head was bent over a page of math problems, his hair raven falling into his eyes.
Percy had not noticed me yet, so I took that opportunity to really look at him. His hair was a dark, shiny black, a little longer than Jason and Frank's military cuts, but not quite as wild as Leo's hair. (Even though it was still pretty messy.) His skin was tanner than I had first thought, a nice sea tan. Just when I had started thinking of his eyes for the millionth time that day, he glanced up from his book.
"Oh hi, Annabeth. What's up?" His voice showed a small amount of surprise, but it was welcoming all the same.
"Um, hey, Percy. I was just coming here to do my homework." I explained, uncharacteristically awkward when being addressed. Small butterflies started to flutter in my stomach, making me nervously shift.
"Oh, did I take your spot? I'm sorry, I didn't know you usually came here." Percy smiled apologetically as he started to gather up his things. "I'll be on my wa-"
"Oh no," I let out a small laugh at his expression. "I didn't mean it that way. Actually, I was wondering if I could join you." I said quickly. He looked up at me with a quizzical expression.
"Join me doing homework?" He cracked a goofy smile I had only seen when he was with his cousins. "Sure, why not? I could use some company." I returned his smile and walked over to where he was sitting.
"So what homework do you have?" He asked politely as we settled back down to work. Percy flipped through some pages in his math book as he spoke, a breeze flicking his hair back and forth.
"Math, Language Arts, Greek and History." My reply was weighted by joking despair as I gazed over my gigantic stack of books. "What do you have?"
"Language Arts, Greek, Math, Biology, History and some make-up work to help me catch up." Percy looked despondently down at his homework as if it had personally insulted him.
I couldn't help the smile that crept onto my face as his face contorted to a pout. "Don't worry, it'll get easier once you adjust and get caught up." I assured him as he continued his stare down with his paper.
He cracked a grin, finally glancing up as he simply replied, "Thanks."
We spent the rest of our time working on our homework in a comfortable silence. It was quite peaceful, working out in the early spring air, even if it was city air. I didn't feel any pressure to fill in every moment with pointless chatter, or the need to monitor my expressions. There was just something different about Percy. I wasn't sure if it was his calm, gentle yet powerful demeanor. Or the fact that he wasn't trying to get attention like every other sophomore. (Including most of my demigod friends) He was simply a restful, gentle, undemanding person.
"So, do you like coming here?" I inquired, indicating the little tree and table we sat around. Immediately I inwardly cringed at my question. It wasn't like he had that much to compare it to. Thankfully Percy didn't notice anything weird in my question, and if he did he didn't comment.
"Yeah, it's nice. Really peaceful. If you don't mind me barging onto your turf, I'd like to do my homework here more often." Percy replied as he shot a questioning glance at me. There was nothing unkind about his glance, just curiosity and maybe something more.
"Of course! It's not like it's my tree." I replied, a laugh in my voice. For some reason my heart fluttered when I thought of spending more time with Percy. Odd.