New story, because I deleted a lot of the ones that I failed. Flowers was similar to this, but I rushed it... a lot. Anyways, this one is from Annabeth's P.o.V.

Here goes nothing!

Chapter 1: Hi, I'm Annabeth

It had been almost three whole years since I had seen my best friend, Thalia Grace. In person, of course. We used to go to a school on Long Island together, but she moved away to some island called Ogygia. It was a beautiful island (she sent me pictures) somewhere off the coast of the Bahamas.

That all changed today. After a ton of convincing, my dad had finally relented- I would go to boarding school with my best friend. I would stay with Thalia and her brother, Jason. I was excited beyond belief! Thalia had been my best friend since I was seven, and when she moved away, I was crushed.

Back at Alfred High, our old school, she, Luke, and I were the best of friends. When she moved away after eighth grade, Luke asked me out. We dated for a good three years and my last year at Alfred, I caught him cheating on me with a girl named Leila.

I realized that I really didn't have feelings for him, it was more brotherly-sisterly. I wasn't even sad that we broke up- I was sad that he went behind my back and betrayed me.

Then there's the best part: no more Helen! Helen is my "evil" step-mother, who's not exactly evil but just mean and annoying nowadays.

Enough with the sob stories, my plane's landing in five minutes! Whoop whoop!

The girl next to me shuddered. I assessed her appearance. She had curly, cinnamon-colored hair. Her eyes- they were a strange golden color. She had dark skin and was average height, although I couldn't tell because she was sitting down. She looked about my age. She was pretty, but not the kind of super-makeup-I'm-gonna-sleep-with-the-next-guy-I-see kind of pretty.

"Y'alright?" I asked.

"Yeah," she replied. "Just not a big fan of flying."

I nodded, thought flying had never really bothered me.

"My name's Annabeth. Annabeth Chase," I said.

She smiled nervously. "Hazel Levesque." She stuck out her hand and we shook.

"Are you here for any particular reason?" I asked.

"Yeah, actually. I'm going to school with my boyfriend," she replied.

"Really? I'm going to school, too. What school?"

"Um... Seal Beach, I think?"

I gasped. "So am I!"

She smiled at me. "It's a small world after all."

"Attention passengers, we are beginning our descent to the island," the flight attendant said over the intercom. "It's about two p.m. Eastern Time, eighty-three degrees, and partly cloudy. We thank you for choosing Olympus Airlines and hope you have enjoyed your flight. Please fasten your seat belts, and welcome to Ogygia."

Hazel and I both fastened our seat belts as the plane descended through the clouds.

As soon as it came into view, I realized that the island was much more beautiful in person, even from here, thousands of feet above it. The water was gorgeous; crystal clear and a sort of turquoise-ish color. I could see sandy beaches and a medium-sized mountain on the far-side of the island. It wasn't a volcano (atleast I didn't think it was a volcano). There were miles and miles of beautiful green forests, and a town close to the very center.

All-in-all, it was like a modern day Garden of Eden. And I would be living in it for the next year.

The landing gear was deployed as we got even closer to the ground. I finally spotted runways, and a couple minutes later we landed on one.

Next to me, Hazel let out a deep breath. I chuckled.

"Hey!" she said, slapping me playfully in the arm.

"What? It was funny! I'm not afraid of flying, but I am afraid of spiders," I said.

She nodded. "Well if we ever meet again, I'll be sure to bring a spider with me."

I involuntarily shuddered, then said, "Who's your boyfriend?"

"Frank Zhang."

The name sounded familiar... maybe Thalia had mentioned him when we video-chatted? Thalia occasionally talked about her friends. She had mentioned two boys- her cousins- named Percy and Nico. From what I'd heard, Nico was a walking corpse and Percy was a human fish. She had also said something about a girl named Katie and a guy named... Hunter? No... Connor? I know he had a brother, Travis... and some joker named Leo- argh! It's all too confusing, and I'll probably be meeting them some time soon, anyways.

"Well, Annabeth," Hazel said as we struggled to get our suitcases out of the overhead compartment. "I hope we meet again at school."

"Yeah, just don't bring any spiders," I commanded.

She laughed. "I'm not too fond of spiders, myself."

"I hate spiders with a passion," I said. "Once, my annoying brothers, Bobby and Matthew, dumped a bucket of baby spiders on my bed while I was asleep. Let's just say I woke up the neighbors with a scream that could've shattered a wine glass."

Hazel laughed harder. "I've had my share of annoying brothers. I'll be staying with my brother, Nico di Angelo."

"Woah... my friend Thalia mentioned a Nico. Is your Nico perhaps a walking corpse?"

She looked at me funny, and for a second I thought I was wrong, until she replied, "That's an understatement. I'm his half-sister from our dad's side. He did have a full-sister, but she died a few years back. I'd never met her, though. Anyways, they say before that he was the most annoyingly optimistic kid you'd ever meet, but now he's all sullen."

I nodded. Thoughtfully. "My brother, Malcolm, disappeared after my mom died. No one's seen him since."

"Well look at that, Annabeth. We've just met and we're already having deep conversations with each other."

I smiled. Maybe I had made a new friend.


OUTSIDE THE AIRPORT


I was sitting on a bench in the warm, island air, looking for my ride. Hazel and I had parted ways at the baggage claim, but not after exchanging phone numbers.

Finally, a black pickup truck pulled up, and my best friend got out. Thalia Grace was simply punk. She had short black hair with blue highlights. She normally dressed in black, but now I see that she had upgraded to black and silver. She had electric blue eyes, like her father. Thalia was the kind of girl who could either make you cry or make you laugh just by looking at you. Her glare was the scariest thing imaginable (no joke).

"Annabeth!" she exclaimed, running towards me. She hugged me so tight I thought that my ribs would crack.

"You're late, Thals," I scolded.

"Maybe you're just early," she replied.

I frowned. "Nope... I'm pretty sure you're late."

She rolled her eyes. "Some things never change. Come on!" she grabbed my arm. "I want to introduce you to my friends!"

"Oh, I almost forgot! Do you know a guy named Frank Zhang?" I asked.

She stopped. "Yeah. He lives next door to me."

"Oh... well I met his girlfriend on the plane."

"Cool," she said.

"She's also Nico di Angelo's half-brother."

"Woah," she replied. "I guess that makes her my... half-cousin? Something like that."

As I walked up to the car, another person got out.

"Hi, Jason," I said, giving him one of those side-hugs.

"Hey, Annabeth," he said, returning the side-hug. Jason Grace was tall and well-built. He had close-cropped blonde hair and electric blue eyes. In fact, his eyes were the only thing he had in common with his sister. They were polar opposites- she was punk, and he was well... not punk. She liked hard rock music, he was more of a pop kind of guy. He liked sports, she disliked them with a passion.

Another person got out from behind Jason. She had brown hair and deeply tanned skin. Native American, maybe? She had very pretty eyes- they changed colors, like a kaleidoscope. Her hair was cut unevenly. It was like she was beautiful but tried not to be. She hugged Jason from behind.

"Care to introduce your friend?" she asked him.

"Oh, Annabeth, this is Piper McLean, my girlfriend. Piper, this is Annabeth Chase, a friend on mine and Thalia's from New York."

"Hi, Piper," I said, thrusting out my hand. She gladly shook it. Where had I heard the name McLean before?

"I think we can be good friends, Annabeth, but please don't mention my last name to anyone. The only reason Jason said it is because he trusts you."

Then it hit me. How did I miss it? Piper's dad was Tristan McLean, the famous actor! Duh, Annabeth!

"Oh... your dad is- oh. That's pretty cool," I said.

She nodded. "I guess you could say it's cool, but at my last school, I let it slip. From then on, I had no real friends. It was, 'Oh! Can I have an autograph?' or 'Hey! You're Tristan McLean's daughter. Let's be friends so I can be cool!'"

"Don't worry," I assured her. "I'm not like that."

She smiled at me.

"Come on!" Thalia said. "I gotta introduce you to the rest of my friends!" I put my luggage in the truck bed, and joined the other three in the car.


ONE CAR RIDE AND A LOT OF CATCHING UP LATER


"We're going to have a bonfire tonight. There'll be a lot of kids from our school there," Jason explained.

I got of the truck and took in Thalia's house. It was right on the beach. The house itself was three stories tall, and was a light blue color. The roof was white, as were the window panels.

"Annabeth, meet Nico and Percy," Thalia said, gesturing toward two boys who were walking out of the front door.

The first one was short and pale. He had dark, shaggy hair. He had dark black eyes and dressed in all black. I assumed he was Nico. He reminded me of Thalia in a strange, emo sort of way.

Of course the next guy to come out just had to be good-looking. Percy, I assumed, was about six foot three. He had tanned skin and toned muscles. Not like, scary and bulging, but they were there, nonetheless. His eyes were sea-green, but mixed with blue. It was like looking at the ocean. His hair looked like he had just rolled out of bed with it. It was sticking out in all different directions, but was somewhat swept to one side, like the wind had been blowing in it.

"Thalia, what have we told you about picking up random people and taking them home," Percy mock scolded.

"Oh shut up, Kelp Head," Thalia replied.

"Pinecone Face!"

"Fish Boy!"

"Dork!"

"Idiot!"

"Ah, the love our family shares," Jason said.

Percy and Thalia were still glaring daggers at each other, and something told me that they did that a lot.

"I'm Nico di Angelo," the sullen boy said.

"Percy, where are your manners?" Piper scolded.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Sorry mom." He walked up to me and stuck his hand out. "Hi, I'm Percy Jackson."

"Annabeth Chase," I said, shaking his hand and nodding in Nico's direction. I could tell that I would fit in well with this crowd.

"So, Annabeth, d'you like bonfires?" Percy inquired.

"I dunno, I've never been to one," I confessed.

He grinned widely. "Well you're in for a surprise..."


LATER


"Why didn't you tell me?!" Thalia exclaimed. I had been telling her about the who 'Luke' incident.

"Didn't want to bother you?" I tried.

"Don't give me that bullsh-"

"Guys, the others are here!" Piper exclaimed, bursting through the door.

"The others?" I asked.

"The others," she confirmed.

"No, I mean-"

"I know what you meant," Piper said, "but it's a surprise."

She bounded down the stairs, and Thalia and I followed her. I strolled into the living room to find three people, one of whom was Hazel Levesque.

"Annabeth?" Hazel asked in a surprised tone.

"Hi, Hazel. Funny seeing you here," I replied.

She grinned. "This is my boyfriend, Frank. Frank, meet Annabeth. Annabeth, meet Frank." Frank was tall. He had a broad chest, and was well-muscled. He looked Asian, and his face was kind of like a baby's.

"Oh yeah, nobody cares about short people," the other boy said sarcastically. He was short and scrawny, with curly hair and elfish features. He kind of hit me as the joking, sarcastic type. He was also Latino.

"No one cares about short people," Thalia confirmed. The boy shook his fist in protest.

"This idiot-"

"Am not!"

"-is Leo Valdez," Piper said.

Leo groaned. "You drop one expensive vase-"

"Two expensive vases," Jason corrected.

"-and suddenly you're the idiot of the month!" he finished.

Just then, Percy walked through the door. "Let's go to the beach!" he exclaimed, already dressed for it.

"We live on the beach," said Thalia.

"Oh you are just hilarious."

Thalia grinned. "Well I try."

Jason looked thoughtful. "Yeah, I'm up for the beach."

"Oh come on, we just got here!" Frank exclaimed.

"Don't be a baby," Hazel said.

"You really can't expect for him not to be a baby with that baby face," Percy said with a grin.

"I find that offensive!" he exclaimed.

"Once again: I'll go," Jason said.

The others gradually agreed.

"D'you have a swimsuit, Annie?" Thalia asked me.

"Don't call me Annie! And yes," I added.

"Then let's go, Annie," she said.

I resisted the urge to slap her.


LATER, AT THE BEACH


"Oh, Annabeth. You are in desperate need of surfing lessons," Percy said, shaking his head.

"Um... no thanks, I'm good..."

"Come on! It'll be fun!" he exclaimed.

"Whatever," I said.

"Be right back," he said quickly. He ran out of the water and into Thalia's house. A few minutes later, he emerged with two surf boards. Well... in reality he dropped one and tripped over it, face planting into the sand. But then, he got up and dropped them into the water, where they floated on the surface.

"Now, first things first." He grabbed a small string attached to the board and tied it around my wrist. "Now lie belly down on the board."

I obliged. "Okay..." He got on his board and mirrored my position.

"Now practice paddling." He moved his arms in a paddling motion. I mirrored his motions and began to move forward. "Good, but longer strokes."

I did that, and began to propel forward, slowly at first. "Good," he said.

He grinned at me. "Now, you need to paddle out until you see a good-sized wave."

Once again, I followed his example, but this time, I fell off the board in the process, with a loud, "AH-"

Percy laughed at me first, causing me to glare, then grabbed my hand and pulled me up on the board.

"Keep your balance, Annie," he said.

"No! Really, Seaweed Brain?! And don't call me Annie!" I practically screamed.

He raised an eyebrow. "Seaweed Brain?"

"That head of yours is obviously clogged with seaweed," I said.

"Oh yeah? Well... who made you so wise?!" he exclaimed.

"Well... I would guess my parent since they technically 'made me-'"

"TMI, Wise Girl. TMI," he said.

"Wise Girl? I thought we were insulting each other, not complimenting each other," I said.

"That was an insult," he said dryly.

"And a good one, too," I said sarcastically.

"Everyone's a comedian today," he said, more to himself.

I let loose a short giggle, causing him to glare. Instead of glaring back, I reached up and pushed him off the board.

He came up coughing and sputtering. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

"For being a Seaweed Brain," I replied matter-of-factly.

"Oh yeah?!" He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into the water, and soon it turned into an underwater wrestling match, each fighting for control of the other. I untied myself from the board, then dove on top of him, pushing him underwater. Unfortunately, he grabbed my leg, pulling me underwater with him. We both came up again and grabbed his board. I turned to face him, and realized with a start that our faces were inches apart. I wanted nothing more than to kiss those lips... no, Annabeth! You just met the guy!

"Surfing lessons," he said awkwardly.

"Right. Surfing lessons," I repeated.

"Now, when you see a good wave..."


AFTER SURFING LESSONS


After a while, I got the hang of it. Well... I never actually caught a wave... but Percy caught me once, and I swear I blushed so hard that Micky Mouse's pants would have a fit.

I groaned, as my back muscles were a little sore from paddling so much- and FYI, I was in shape, but that was an awkward motion for me, and it'll take some getting used to.

"Nice job, Wise Girl," Percy said.

"Nice job? I didn't even catch a wave once!" I exclaimed.

"Well... you stood up once," he said.

"And then I fell," I added.

"Yup," he said, popping the 'P.' We strolled back to the beach to find Jason and Piper well... kissing, Leo getting rejected by some islander, and Frank having an argument with Hazel and Thalia. I didn't see Nico anywhere.

"Wanna go inside?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure," I replied.

We strolled into the beach house.

I yawned.

"The party's in a couple hours," Percy said. "Want anything to drink?"

"Water, if you have it," I said.

"I can do better than water!" Percy exclaimed. A minute later, I was holding a glass of blue water.

"Why blue?" I asked.

He grinned. "Well, when my mom was married to my step-dad, Gabe, he told her that blue foods didn't exist. As an act of rebellion, she went out of her way to make every food blue- waffles, spaghetti, cookies... now everything I eat or drink must be blue or I will not accept it."

"That's a little picky," I said.

He shrugged. "What can I say? I guess I'm a picky kind of guy."

I rolled my eyes as Thalia, Hazel, and Frank walked through the door.

"Ooooh! Percy and Annabeth alone after their 'wrestling match,'" Thalia said, wriggling her eyebrows.

"Pervert," I muttered.

"You were watching us?!" Percy asked in horror.

Thalia grinned. "I'm just a stalker like that."

"No kidding," I said.

"Enough stalker-talk!" Frank exclaimed.

Hazel facepalmed. "Oh, Frank."

"Oh, what?" Frank asked.

"Like I said, oh, Frank."

Frank shook his head in a confused gesture while Percy and I sipped on our blue drinks.

"I see Kelp Face over here has introduced you to the world of blue foods," Thalia said.

"Drinks," Percy corrected. "Blue foods'll come later."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Big difference."

"It is a very big difference!" Percy protested.

"Does this really matter?" Hazel asked.

"Yes. Yes it does," Percy said.

"We'll never survive!" she exclaimed in a sarcastic tone. "Thalia has mixed up food and drinks! What will we ever do?!"

Percy glared at her.


AT THE BONFIRE


"Oh come on, you know you want to," the boy said. This same guy had been asking me on a date for the last twenty minutes- Dylan, I think? I guess he wasn't used to hearing the word 'no' and kept pestering me. At first, I had turned him down politely, but I'm seriously considering kicking him where it hurts.

"No. I don't. Go away before I make sure you hurt badly," I said.

"Oh come on, just onc-"

I kicked him right in the place where men do not want to be kicked.

"Ouch!" he croaked. "What was that for?!"

"That was for not taking 'no' for an answer. I think you'll happily enjoy hearing NO! I WILL NOT GO ON A GOD DAMN DATE WITH YOU!"

He stumbled away, no doubt to ask some other girl out.

"May I have this dance?" a voice asked in a British accent from behind me. I spun around to find Percy, his hand extended in a 'gentleman' gesture.

"Percy, you know we're not slow-dancing, right?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes, like this was obvious. (which it was) "Do you want to dance or not?!"

"Alright, fine," I said.

"You don't sound excited!" he exclaimed. "We'll dance as soon as you sound excited."

"Fine. Let's dance, Percy!" I exclaimed, grabbing his hand and pulling him closer to the bonfire. We danced a good three songs before I excused myself to get a drink.

"-go swimming, Pipes," Jason said, pulling Piper past me.

"Jason, are you crazy?! There are sharks at this time of night! Who knows-" That was all I heard because they were out of earshot. I grabbed a Sprite out of the ice chest and cracked it open.

Only then did I realize how tired I was.

'I better find Thalia,' I thought. I wove my way through the throng of people and finally ran into Thalia who was making small talk with Nico.

"I'm going home, Thalia," I said.

"Why?" she inquired.

"Tired," I said.

"Let me come with you!" she insisted.

"No, stay if you want," I tried.

"I'm coming with you!" she exclaimed. Thalia could be as stubborn as a ten ton rock some times.

"Fine," I relented.

"Good," she said with a triumphant smile. We strolled off into the darkness and, before long, we reached the beach house.

"G'night, Annie," she said, opening the door to her room.

I was too tired to yell at her for calling me Annie. I would blame my exhaustion on jet lag, but Ogygia and Long Island were in the same time zones. Just blame it on the long day.

"G'night, Thals." I opened the door to my room and hit the bed. I fell asleep nearly as soon as I pulled the covers over myself.

So? What did you think? You can tell me exactly what you thought in the review section.

-Me