I always like to use one word to describe going back to school after a long summer break. Hell. Imagine you've lay in your bed till after noon, eat as much as you want for lunch, skipping breakfast, and then doing whatever you want for a whole day till God knows what kind of hour. You wander back to your home and crash… Before your heads even hit the pillow. Then you do it all over again the next day, making sure you get as much sleep in the morning as possible so you can party all night again and again… And again. Now imagine you've done that the night before school, and you go to sleep for a while. Then suddenly you're being shaken awake, given a bundle of messy clothes and told to put them on. You stumble down the hall and out to walk to school.

Then when you get there, you're the only one who's late somehow, even all your friends make it, and the grounds are as quiet as a desert. I swear there's always some sort of tumble weed. Then when you get into class everyone's staring at you like you've grown a third eye, or you've murdered a really famous person. Basically that's my life. I'm Percy Jackson.

Another time I like to use that word is waking up for that morning. Double Hell. You could have been having a really pleasant dream, or maybe you were just really comfy. Then suddenly an alarm clock is going off and a bright light is being shone in your face. Actually, that sounds a lot like hell.

Yeah, I know kind of morbid, but there's only one thing that makes it worse. If you're being transferred from somewhere else.

Most kids get transferred because they're getting bullied or they're not happy with it. Nah, little ol' me got kicked out. Yup I know I don't sound like a trouble maker but, uh… Yeah, I do actually sound like a trouble maker. I always remember the first time I got in trouble. Like, serious trouble, though. It was in 3rd grade and I think I was annoyed at my teacher. Well annoyed is an understatement. Old Mrs Dodds really was a witch or that's what my friends always said. I used to believe it for a few years, back when I was quite young. I had finally plucked up the courage to ask if she was gonna teach us spells or something… And she snapped.

She literally went insane. Throwing pencils and chalk all over the room, shouting about how unfair her life and career was, that he only picked this job so she could support her mother. Yeah, crazy, I know. So naturally I got detention for the first time in my entire life. When I got home after it was over, my mom asked why I was late. I had come prepared with a bunch of really good excuses, one of them being I was abducted by aliens. Shoot me, I was 8. But when I saw the genuine concern on her face, I burst out crying and told her everything, in between sobs and gasps.

I got into trouble, but mainly my mom thought I was hilarious. See that's my mom, Sally Jackson. That's just one f the many good things about her, the main one was her cooking skills, but... She's also always laughing, and she puts up with the many decisions I make that et me into trouble.

After the Mrs Dodds incident, that started my long line of getting into trouble at least once very week. At times they were even serious. I still tell people it was a faulty gas line that set my science lab on fire… That one got me kicked out. There was also the time I accidentally aimed a cannon at my school bus when we were on a trip. Yup, totally not me. And no one would ever forget the time, I forgot to hand in my mats homework to my crazy maths teacher. That was another detention. The list goes on and on and in. And there'll probably be even more as I get even older. But I'm only 16 just now, so hopefully I'll have a long life ahead of me.

I was supposed to e starting a new school that morning, and let me tell you, it did not go very well at all

"Percy!" Echoed my moms voice from down the hall if my tiny apartment. We aren't the richest family as you can tell. "Time to get up or you'll be late!"

"I know, mom. Just 5 more minutes!?" I called back.

"No, Percy. Get up now. Remember the last time you were late in your first day?" I thought back to my first year of middle school. Jeez that home room teacher was harsh.

"Ok mom. I'll be along in 10 minutes!" I crawled out of my bed and strolled per to my dresser. Well, strolled, more like tramped. I grabbed the first shirt I could find and pulled it over my chest. I found a pair of nice enough jeans and got dressed. I ran over to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. Then I trudged through to the kitchen, where my mom was waiting for me, flipping pancakes.

"Well good to see you finally got up, Percy. I was beginning to wonder." My mom laughed, and handed me a plate of pancakes.

"Well you know how it is, mom." Trying to sound cheery. "The first day of school and all. Especially if it's a new one." My mom seemed to notice the doubt in my voice as I began stuffing my face with pancake. They are really nice.

"I'm sure it will be fine, dear. And a little birdie told me that Jason's sister goes to this school!" Jason was one of my closest friends, along with Leo, Piper, Hazel and Frank.

"Is that the sister he never talks to?" I asked sarcastically. They had been separated at birth, ad Jason had only recently found out about her.

"Um… Maybe. I'm sure Thalia is a very nice girl. She's only a year older than you, so maybe you'll know someone already?" My mom said, obviously trying to convince me this trial year would be great. I decided to play along, keep her happy. I also knew her fiancé, Paul, worked there.

"Yeah, I'll try to find her if it makes you happy, mom. I also kinda forgot which class Paul teaches?" I asked her, hoping it was something cool.

"English, dear."

"Oh…" That wasn't good. See I have really bad dyslexia, which not only makes reading hard, but writing too. Yay… "That's… Cool, I guess."

"I'm glad to hear that, dear. Now you really must get a move on, otherwise you'll be late." I stood up as went to grab one more pancake, but my mother shooed me out the door quickly. "Honestly, Percy. You can go without one less pancake."

I got to school just in time to hear the first bell. "Goode High School," it said above the gates. Ha, I doubt it.

Everyone has just started funnelling in towards the door, but there were probably still a couple dozen kids outside. I saw a group of boys, all looking like they would crush my skull if I approached them. There was also a group of about 12 girls, who I automatically assumed were the popular crowd. Then as I scanned the rest of the grounds, I saw a lonely looking group of about 4. The looked alright.

I walked on over, towards the small group, thinking I'd say a quick, "Hey, I'm Percy and I'm new around here. Can someone show me around please?". As I got closer two of the group turned around, ones scrawny kid on crutches politely, and one punk-looking girl kinda rudely. The other two, a small boy and a girl were still chatting away.

"Hey, I'm Percy. I'm kinda new around here, so could someone please show me to-…" I stopped as the girl, still talking turned around and stared at me, her blonde curls cascading down her shoulder as she turned. "Uh.. Umm.. Err.." Was all I could manage.

I'm not really as much into girls as other boys are. I mean, there were obviously those couple of girls here and there, but if I had ever had the courage to ask one out, I would have been gone the next year anyway. But did I mention the way he hair flowed round the back of her head. Yeah, I think I did.

The smaller kid waved a hand in front of me, to get me back from my stare.

"Hey, dude? You there, buddy?" He asked. I pulled my eyes away from the now blushing girl, and looked at the little kid, by little I mean short.

"Yeah, sorry. Umm… Just kinda zone out…" I mumbled, and the girl smiled.

"Anyway, Nico, I need to go. Home room starts in 1 minutes, so don't be late again." She warned "Nico", as she skipped off, her hair flying behind her.

"So, uh…" I said, trying not to be awkward. "Which home room is she in, I mean, uh, which one not in a weird way, because you know, uh… Haha?..." Well that totally sucked. I mentally face palmed, trying to think of a way out of this situation.

"You said your names Percy, right?" Said the punk-looking girl. I nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think my brother knows you. I'm Thalia."