Chapter 1

She didn't know the way to her dorm. Normally, Annabeth would have asked for a map at the front desk but with all the nervous energy inside her, she totally forgot to ask. Her dad had come to drop her off at New York University and left her at the entrance of the main building. She looked down at the paper in her hand. Room 394. Dragging her luggage behind her, Annabeth made her way back to the front desk.

The receptionist seemed to be preoccupied on the phone. When Annabeth approached the table the receptionist looked up and seemed to recognise Annabeth.

"Are you Annabeth Chase?" she asked.

"Yes." Annabeth said. "How do you know?"

She smiled. "I was in the graduating class at Goode three years ago."

Suddenly, Annabeth seemed to recognise her. The dark hair and sky blue eyes did look familiar.

"Silena Beauregard?" Annabeth said. "The lead cheerleader?"

Silena nodded. "Yes."

"Wow." Annabeth said. "Um . . . May I have a map of the school?"

"Yeah. Sure."

Silena opened one of the drawers of her desk and got out a map.

"Here you go." She smiled warmly at Annabeth. "Welcome to NYU. And if you need any help, you can always come to me, Annabeth."

"Thanks." Annabeth smiled and she headed in the direction of her dorm.

She didn't expect a boy to be in her dorm. Well, he wasn't really alone; a girl was there too, which Annabeth guessed was her roommate. Both the girl and the boy seemed to have dark hair. The girl had strikingly electrifying blue eyes and the boy had deep sea green eyes. His hair was messy- as if he had just gotten out of bed and he looked about Annabeth's age whereas the girl looked a little older and she had a punk rock edgy look. Annabeth assumed they were probably a couple.

She silently stepped inside the room and dumped her backpack and suitcase on the bed. She could feel the couple's eyes at the back of her head when she was trying to unpack a few of her things. They didn't say a word about her but she heard the boy tell the girl that he was leaving and silently, he left the dorm.

Annabeth was a little glad he left. She wasn't used to new people and socialising. Of course, the girl had to stay behind. Annabeth felt a little awkward as she was unloading her backpack. The girl ignored her and plugged in her earphones and silently listened to some music. In a way, Annabeth was glad the girl didn't try to make any conversation with her. She was already nervous as it was about needing to stay at a dorm for the next few years. She would have probably hyperventilated from the pressure of moving to a dorm, meeting someone new and having to put up a conversation with them.

The girl started to pay attention to her. Annabeth could feel her staring.

"Hey, do you need some help?" She asked. She was already by Annabeth's side, without her earphones on.

"Um, thanks." Annabeth mumbled, trying not to make eye contact with the girl.

They silently unpacked Annabeth's belongings. Annabeth put up a few posters which she had packed. There were also a few of her blueprints of her architectural designs which she had worked really hard on.

"I'm Thalia by the way," The girl said after they were done. She held her hand out and Annabeth reluctantly shook it, just to be polite.

"Annabeth."

"Are you coming to the Welcoming Party tomorrow night?"

"I don't think so. I'm not really the party type."

"Oh, come on! You should come. I'll take you there."

"What makes you think I'll agree with you?" Annabeth narrowed her eyes a little.

"It isn't a request. I'm making you come no matter what."

Annabeth scowled. "Yeah. That'll happen."

"I'm serious." Thalia said. "Something tells me you need to loosen up a little. I could see the way you were acting just moments ago. You were all awkward and flustered."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, irritated. "Why do you care, anyway?"

"I don't," Thalia said. "But it's my duty, as part of this year's welcoming committee to ensure that the freshmen are comfortable in their new environment. But apparently, you're just not co-operating."

"For someone in the welcoming committee, you're awfully rude and pushy." Annabeth retorted.

Thalia glared at her. It was menacing but Annabeth pretended that she wasn't intimidated by her.

"Atleast I'm not a socially awkward loser." Thalia said angrily.

Annabeth glared back at her and they had a glaring match for about a minute. Thalia eventually gave up and grunted and stomped out of the dorm. Annabeth let out a breath which she didn't know she was holding. This was why she wasn't used to socialising. It put way too much pressure on her.

She tried to forget about what had just happened with her roommate. She cleared her mind and brought out one of her textbooks for her architecture class. She cleared her mind and brought out one of her textbooks for her architecture class. Annabeth always liked reading ahead. It gave her more time to relax than fret about studying in the last minute for a test.

Thalia didn't come back to the dorm. She didn't even come back when it was time for dinner. Secretly, Annabeth was worried if she had struck on a nerve. She didn't want to have to share a room with someone who was already starting to despise her and think she was a freak.

Annabeth didn't want to go to dinner. She shuddered at thought of a crowded hall packed with college students and people she didn't even know. In high school, she always had her lunch outside in the school courtyard and only had a couple of friends who she barely talked to. She was always out casted as the nerd of the school and she was often a target for bullies to pick on.

Her stomach grumbled. She didn't have any food with her to satisfy her hunger so she was forced to go to the dining hall. She grabbed some money and the novel she was reading- Attachments by Rainbow Rowell and went to the dining hall.

No one seemed to turn and stare at her in the dining hall. She stood in line to buy some food and then tried to search for a place to sit. Almost every single table was occupied by people and there was an almost empty one which was occupied by one guy. It was Thalia's boyfriend. Annabeth weighed her options- she could go back to her dorm and eat or stay here and sit at the table where the dark haired boy was sitting at. Thalia wasn't there with her boyfriend so she guessed that she must have gone back to their dorm. Annabeth didn't want to face Thalia at the moment so she went for the latter.

"May I sit here?" Annabeth asked the boy at the table.

He turned around and looked at Annabeth. "Uh . . . yeah. Sure." His voice was deep and sexy. Annabeth had to stop herself from swooning a little.

Annabeth quietly sat opposite the boy and flipped open her book. She read a page before she was interrupted by the guy sitting opposite her.

"You're Thalia's roommate, aren't you?" He asked her.

Annabeth looked up from her book and her eyes came in contact with his sea green eyes. "Yeah. And you're Thalia's boyfriend, right?"

The guy pursed his lips like he was trying not to laugh out loud. "No." Annabeth could hear the hidden amusement in his tone. "She's my cousin."

"Oh." She said. It sounded like a stupid reply to her. A minute of silence passed between them. Annabeth felt a little unsettled. She could feel him staring while she was trying to eat her dinner.

"What's your major?" He asked.

"Architecture. What about you?" She asked.

"Oceanography." He replied. He smiled slightly. His phone buzzed and he checked.

"Thalia isn't coming to dinner." He said after checking his phone.

"Oh?" Annabeth said."Is it she always like this with new people? Rude and hostile?"

He raised an eyebrow. "With new people? Not all the time. She may get pissed off sometimes, but she'll come around. I know my cousin."

Annabeth felt herself ease a little. It felt more comfortable to talk to him now.

"I'm just worried that she might hate me. We got off on the wrong foot a few hours ago and she hasn't come back to the dorm yet."

"I know. She told me. And she doesn't hate you. She's in the dorm right now, actually. I think she wanted to apologize."

She looked down at her hands. "Yeah."

"You know, you should come to the party. I'm going. It's supposed to be for the freshman only but the others also come just for the fun of it."

Suddenly, the idea didn't really sound so scary anymore. If this boy was going then it probably wouldn't be so bad. She could probably just engage herself in a conversation with him and forget about all the people around her.

"I guess . . ." She said.

He grinned. "What's your name?"

"Annabeth Chase," She said.

"I'm Percy. Percy Jackson." He held out his hand. Annabeth shook it and suddenly, she felt a jolt of electricity go through her. Percy seemed to notice it to and he quickly retracted his hand away. His cheeks reddened and he looked away. Annabeth seemed to be blushing too. She quickly finished the rest of her dinner and got up to leave.

"I should be going." She told Percy. "It was nice talking to you . . . Percy."

"It was nice talking to you too . . . Annabeth." He smiled when he said her name. "Bye." He said as she was walking away. Annabeth waved back. She liked the way he said her name. It sent a tingling sensation down her spine.

Thalia was waiting in their dorm. She didn't glare at Annabeth when she came in; instead, she grinned.

"Hey." Thalia said.

"Um . . . hi," Annabeth said awkwardly.

"Look, I know we didn't really hit it off but we're going to stay under the same roof so, we should at least be in speaking terms with each other."

Annabeth raised her eyebrow. "So . . . no apology?"

Thalia scowled and huffed. "Fine. I'm sorry, Annabeth. Is that okay?"

Annabeth smirked. "Yeah. It's okay, Thals."

Thalia rolled her eyes at the nickname. "Do not call me that."

"I didn't call you 'That', I called you 'Thals'," Annabeth smirked evilly.

Thalia glared at her play fully. She then put her arm around Annabeth's shoulders.

"I have a feeling we're gonna be great friends, Annie."

Annabeth groaned.

~o0o~

A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter! Please review :)