Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, nor do I own the Bachelor.

Chapter One

He smiled at me as I stepped out of the limo. His dark hair was disheveled and his green eyes sparkling. My pale pink gown swayed at my feet as I walked towards him. I gave him a short hug before introducing myself.

"Hey, I'm Annabeth. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Percy. You're stunning." He told me. I blushed slightly.

"You don't look too bad yourself." I said, and Percy smiled.

"I'll be sure to find you later."

"Of course." I flashed a smile before walking into the mansion. There were twenty-five women coming here tonight to compete for Percy's heart. Five limos with five girls in each. Inside I counted ten other women. I was the first out of my limo.

"Hey, guys! I'm Annabeth," I said once I got inside. The other girls were introduced as Sarah, Chelsea, Millie, Kathryn, Emma, Melissa, Ashley, Ellen, Kate, and Marie. I took a seat next to Emma and Ashley. Soon, the rest of the girls were all here, and Percy was walking through the doors.

"Hey, ladies! First I'd just like to thank all of you for being here. It really means a lot to me, and I take this seriously. I'm looking forward to spending time with all of you, and can't wait to get this party started!" Everyone cheered and began sipping champagne. A girl named Maddie pulled Percy away to talk to him.

"So what do you guys do?" I asked the group of about five girls I was sitting with.

"Why do you care?" A girl I remembered as Kenzi snapped. I raised an eyebrow.

"Just trying to be friendly." I said. She scoffed and walked away.

"What's her problem?" Emma asked.

"I have no idea. Anyway, I'm an architect." I changed the subject back to occupations.

"Cool, what kind of stuff do you design?" Chelsea asked.

"All sorts of things. I've done office buildings, restaurants, a few homes."

"I'm a teacher," Emma said, "I teach eleventh grade English."

"Sorry to interrupt," We turned to find Percy standing in the doorway, "but I was wondering if I could see Annabeth for a few minutes?" He looked at me with raised eyebrows.

"Of course." I stood and followed Percy out the door. We sat on a small bench outside. Percy draped a blanket around us and started conversation.

"How old are you?" he asked. I raised an eyebrow.

"You realize that you're not supposed to ask a woman her age." I said with a grin.

"Please?"

"I don't know…" He gave me the puppy dog look. "Fine," I relented, "I'm twenty-four." Percy smiled in victory.

"I'm twenty-five," He told me, "and I though you weren't supposed to ask a woman her weight."

"That too." I said. We laughed for a few minutes.

"So where are you from?" Percy asked after our laugh attack.

"New York City," I answered.

"Really? That's where I live too. Have you always lived there?"

"Kind of. My family lives in San Francisco, but I went to boarding schools in New York my entire schooling career. My family didn't-"

"Excuse me," we turned to see Kenzi standing behind us with a sickly sweet smile on her face, "but may I talk to Percy?" Seriously? We just sat down. Literally.

"Um," Percy said, looking very uncomfortable.

"Sure," I smiled at Kenzi, "it was great talking to you, Percy. Hopefully we'll get a chance to speak some more." I stood and Percy followed in suit.

"Hopefully," he gave me a hug and whispered something in my ear: I'm sorry. I gave him a smile before going back into the mansion. I found a seat in the main room and sipped my champagne. I hadn't really made any friends yet. A lot of these girls seemed unapproachable. They had a vibe that said leave me alone. I'm only here for the mancandy.

"Hey," I looked and saw that Emma had sat next to me. She had dark brown hair that was about as straight as straight could get, and pale blue eyes. Her dress was a navy blue color.

"Hey. Emma, right?" I asked, double checking her name.

"Yeah. Annabeth?"

"Yep. You teach, correct?" I asked, recalling our conversation from earlier.

"Mhmm. I doubt my students are too disappointed I'm gone." She laughed and I joined her.

"Oh, I bet they do." I said sarcastically, knowing that most kids are more than happy to have a substitute for a few months.

"How did your conversation go? With Percy, I mean." I rolled my eyes.

"Kenzi interrupted about a minute and a half after we sat down."

"Kenzi. She doesn't seem very nice." Emma stated.

"No she doesn't," I agreed. We talked a little while until Chris Harrison walked in. Everyone gathered in to main room, where we already were, to hear his announcement.

"This," he said while placing a single rose on the coffee table, "is the First Impression Rose. Whomever Percy decides to give this to will be safe through the first Rose Ceremony. Percy, give this rose to the girl who gave you the strongest first impression, whenever you're ready. Enjoy the rest of the party." He smiled and walked out. A low chatter started back up. I saw Percy walking towards me. Or Emma. Or one of the other girls sitting near me.

"Annabeth," he said, "wanna talk?"

"Definitely." He offered me his hand and I took it. I swear my whole body tingled when we touched. He led me outside, again, around the front of the mansion, and down the road. I was vaguely aware of the cameras following us.

"I thought we could take a walk?" He said, unsure.

"Yeah," I smiled at him, "great idea." He swung our hands a little.

"Sorry about Kenzi earlier."

"It's fine. Tell me about your family." Percy smiled.

"Well, my mom is without a doubt the nicest lady in the world. She makes awesome blue cookies."

"Blue cookies?" I raised an eyebrow. Percy chuckled.

"Yeah. My dad died when I was a baby," Percy was looking straight ahead, "he was at sea and something went wrong with his boat. We don't know details."

"Percy?" he looked at me. "I know how you feel. I was a baby when my mom died." I looked down at our walking feet. Left, right, left, right.

"It's hard, isn't it?" Percy asked. I looked up at him.

"Yeah. It is. But look at us now. We're okay. I don't know you, really at all, Percy. But I'm positive your dad would be more than proud of you." He smiled.

"I feel like I've known you for years. I think your mom would be proud, too." I smiled. "Anyway," Percy changed moved on, "so after my dad died, my mom, Sally, married this awful guy named Gabe. Once he told her that there was no such thing as blue food, so from then on she went out of her way to eat blue. Blue candy, blue chips, blue birthday cakes. Blue cookies." I laughed.

"She sounds great. Hey, you said Gabe was awful?"

"Um, I'll tell you more about that later. But Mom divorced him when I was about twelve and a few years later met and married Paul. Paul's great. That's who she's meant to be with."

"And they're still together."

"Yep."

"Any siblings?"

"No. Just me. What about you? Tell me about your family."

"Well, after Mom died, my dad got remarried almost immediately. Her name is Helen. A few years later, they had twins, Bobby and Matthew. My step-mom…" Why am I telling him this? I just met him. I tried to stop myself, but it came out anyways, "she didn't like me. At all. And my dad loved her more than me, so I was sent to New York for boarding school. My family doesn't love me. I haven't spoken to them in two years, since I graduated college."

"You grew up on your own. I can't even imagine not having anyone there for you. I mean, I always had my mom. You had no one."

"Well, the headmaster of the boarding school, Chiron, he was like a father figure to me. I have ADHD and dyslexia, so naturally-"

"You have ADHD and dyslexia?" Percy asked, surprised.

"Um, yes. Is that a problem?" My defenses were suddenly up at his question.

"No! Not at all. I have them too." I raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Yeah." I laughed a little.

"That's so weird. We're both from New York, both have ADHD, both have dyslexia."

"That really is weird."

"Do you think we should head back?" I asked.

"I wanted to hear the rest of your story." Percy protested.

"I can tell you on the way back." We turned around and started back towards the mansion. "So naturally I got into trouble frequently. Teachers would send me to see Chiron for punishment. But he understood me and took me under his wing. I would have been kicked out twenty times if it weren't for him. He knew about my parents and that I was basically kicked out of my house. Whenever school had a break, I would go to his strawberry farm. When my parents let me. They had to at least pretend to take care of me. At the farm, I wasn't the only kid. There're these brothers, the Stoll brothers, a girl named Clarisse, a guy Grover, and my best friend, Thalia. We're a family. They are my family." Percy was looking straight ahead. I was regretting telling him all of this. Where was my brain? I wasn't supposed to spill my life story out to some guy I just met. "I'm sorry," I whispered. Percy looked at me.

"For what?" he seemed generally confused.

"I didn't mean to dump all that on you. I just met you. I understand if you want me to go home. No one wants a girl with all my baggage."

"Annabeth. I'd be crazy to send you home. I've got baggage too. I don't know what it is, but I really like you. I know it's crazy, because like you've said, we just met. I brought you on a walk with me because I wanted to talk more. Without any interruptions," We reached the mansion. "Stay here." He told me before disappearing. When he came back a few minutes later, he was holding a rose.

"Annabeth," he started, "you have definitely given me the strongest first impression. So, will you accept this rose?" I smiled. I was not expecting this when I walked out of that limo.

"Yes." Percy gave me the rose and looked into my eyes.

"May I kiss you?" he asked, slowly leaning forward.

"Yes," I said before our lips came together. I honestly have no idea how to describe it. The only thing I can say is that he tastes like sea salt and chocolate chip cookies, in a unique, but very good, flavor. We went back into the mansion to find all of the girls sitting in the main room chatting. One of the girls, Emma, pulled Percy away. I sat down, trying to be casual, but that's hard when everyone's eyes are on me. Well, more like the rose I was holding.

"How did you get that?" Kenzi asked.

"He just gave it to me," I answered truthfully. She rolled her eyes and left the room.

"Where have you guys been?" Melissa asked spitefully.

"We went on a walk,"

"You know you're not the only one here, right?" Sarah cut in.

"Yeah, you can't just take him away for thirty minutes." Kate agreed.

"He took me," I tried to explain, but kept getting cut off.

"She obviously wants everyone to hate her,"

"She's not even pretty,"

"What's her name? Annabeth? What kind of name is that?"

"Percy's too good for her,"

"I bet he feels sorry for her,"

"You notice I'm sitting right here?" I asked. I hate to admit it, but I was hurt.

"We're not dumb,"

"We're not blond," It was then that I noticed I was one of three blonds here.

"He probably doesn't even like blonds."

"And have you seen her eyes? They're grey. No eyes are grey." I left the room. I went to where everyone's luggage was being stored and found my suitcase. I dug through it and found my book. I found a room close enough to the party, but far enough that I wouldn't hear the girls' biting insults and began to read. I really didn't want to be that girl. The one that everyone hates. Hopefully tomorrow all of the girls will have forgotten about this. I was lost in my book and eventually it was time for the rose ceremony. Chelsea, Maddie, Marie, Carrie, Ellen, and Millie were sent home. The rest of us said goodnight to Percy and went to pick our roommates. I roomed with Emma, so far my best friend on the show, Ashley, and Kathryn, who said they stood up for my once the other girls started getting really bad. At least all the girls don't hate me.

Sooooo… do you think it's moving too fast? I know it's only the first chapter, so it's kind of hard to tell. Is anyone interested in a story like this? Should I continue, or not bother? Your opinions are GREATLY appreciated. Thanks for reading and reviewing!