Chapter 1

Annabeth

Everything changed on a beautiful, albeit sweltering, summer day.

"Come on, Annabeth!" My best friend Rachel pleaded over the phone. "It's 95 degrees outside, and my AC is broken. I'm practically sweating to death!"

I laughed. "Then just come over - mine is working just fine. Besides, the pool will be so crowded today - if you wanted to go, you should've called me this morning, so we could've gotten there early and gotten some good chairs and a nice umbrella."

I could practically see Rachel frowning over the phone. "Please Annabeth? I won't even make you swim - you can read that one architecture book you've been obsessing over for months that arrived... yesterday, right?"

I blushed. "I have not been obsessing over it for months! And yes, it did arrive yesterday."
"Sure you haven't," Rachel said dismissively. "And besides, Percy is working today..."
I could feel my blush deepen. "So?" I counter.

Rachel laughed. "You can't fool me - I know you want to see him. We've been a month and a half out of school and you haven't seen him yet. Plus he'll be shirtless..."

"Rachel! I don't just like him because he's ridiculously handsome," I scolded. Rachel sighed. "I know, I know - I'm just trying to motivate you. Did it work?"

I sighed. "Fine, I'll come," I conceded, and Rachel squealed with delight. "Yay! I'll be there in 10."

***
5 minutes later, I heard a honk from outside and I cursed, throwing a swim suit and my book into a bag, along with some sunscreen and my wallet and dashed outside, quickly locking my front door. "What happened to 'I'll be there in 10?" I asked, sliding in next to Rachel and heaving my back into the backseat. Rachel shrugged sheepishly. "I was getting impatient," she said, backing out of my driveway and roaring down the road. "Clearly!" I said, hurriedly buckling my seatbelt. "You're going 40 when the speed limit is 25!"

Rachel shrugged again, her eyes fixed on the road. "Whatever," she said flippantly. "At least I don't drive 20 mph under the speed limit."

I glared at her. "I do not drive 20 mph under the speed limit!"

Rachel raised her eyebrows. "Yes you do."

"Only once in a while!"

"So you admit it!"

"Sorry, I enjoy being safe and not hitting people."

We continued on like this until we reached the pool, and after parking the car some distance away, started our long trek to the main entrance. Rachel fanned her face. "It's way too hot outside! Why is it so hot?"

"Because it's summer, Rach," I said with a smile. Rachel rolled her eyes. "I know, but it should be against the laws of nature for it to be this hot," she said. "Plus, I think I'll have a major sunburn by the time we even get to the entrance." She gestured to the heat visibly rising off of the pavement to our left. "It's like we're walking in an oven," she grumbled. "Well we're here," I said, tugging her into the shade of the public pool entrance. Rachel just rolled her eyes before glancing at the counter and stiffening suddenly. I looked at her. "What?"

She gestured subtly to the person standing behind the admittance counter. I turned towards it, and instantly I could see why Rachel had suddenly taken a defensive stance and crossed her arms in a somewhat threatening way – or at least, as threatening as you can be as a 5'7" red – haired teenage girl.

Standing behind the counter was none other than the girlfriend of the guy I've had a crush on since the summer of eighth grade: Calypso Jameson.

In addition to sounding like a Mediterranean goddess, she looked like one. Caramel hair braided to fall over one shoulder, and almond shape eyes that seemed to change colors in the light. She was also nice to almost everyone. The only real reason why Rachel didn't like her? She thought Calypso was 'too good to be true', whatever that meant. I always felt horrible plain next to her – my curly blonde hair and grey eyes always felt so normal compared to Calypso's beauty.

"Hi Annabeth, Hi Rachel," she said with a small smile. Rachel just huffed while I returned the smile. "Hey Calypso," I said awkwardly. "Just you two?" She asked, punching something into the cash register.

I nodded. "Just us," I said, and she rang us up. "That'll be $10, please."

I glanced at Rachel, who was making no move towards her purse. I sighed. "Fine, I'll get it," I said, and she smiled slightly. "Thanks Annie!" She flounced off into the locker room as I rolled my eyes, handing Calypso a ten dollar bill before following her in.

15 minutes later, after the long and arduous task of finding some chairs and an umbrella so we didn't get horribly sunburned, I was finally reading my new book on Greek architecture. Becoming an architect had always been my dream, and so close to senior year, with perfect ACT and SAT scores sitting comfortably on my college applications, as well as a 4.0 GPA average, it was time for me to just relax and enjoy the summer.

Rach was sitting next to me, rubbing sunscreen on her arms, before something caught her attention. "Annabeth!" she hissed, poking me. "What?!" I glared at her from over the rim of my sunglasses, which were a bit big on me and had the bad habit of sliding down my nose. "Look!" she pointed at something directly in front of me. "Rachel, it's not polite to – " I cut myself off, finally looking at what she was pointing at.

Percy Jackson.

Instantly, my heart rate picked up and I could feel my cheeks turn red. Rachel glanced at my facial expression and laughed softly. "You look star struck."

And maybe I was. Percy Jackson was one of the most popular boys at Goode High School. Academically he was average, but he was captain of the swim team, and played a variety of other varsity sports. He was also devilishly handsome, with messy ink hair and startling sea-green eyes that sparkled when he was in a good mood, and looked dark emerald when he wasn't. Not to mention that he was pretty muscular, but not in a big and bulky way.

He was also every girl's dream. Loyal and true, but mischievous at times, with a dangerous smile…

"Annabeth! Annabeth!"

I jumped, almost falling out of my chair. "What?"

Rachel just smiled at me. "You really have it bad," she said, going back to applying the sunscreen. I looked again at Percy, sitting up in his lifeguard's chair. He had sunglasses on as well, obscuring those eyes of his as he dutifully scanned the pool. I looked back at Rachel. "No kidding."

She shrugged. "You guys will get together someday," she stated. I snorted. "Right. When pigs fly." Rachel just looked at me. "I'm serious! I have a feeling you will." I glanced back up at the chair, and then back at Rachel. "He has Calypso, who's gorgeous and popular. I'm average. Normal."

Rachel sighed. "Annabeth, you underestimate yourself. You're much more than that." I just picked up my book again. We had this argument every couple of weeks – and I had just learned to let it go. Rachel was as stubborn as could be – there was no way to change her mind, and I knew the same thing was true about me. I was too prideful for my own good, and I had trouble admitting when I was wrong. It's that quality that often got me into trouble, but Rachel seemed to understand this about me and had gotten used to it. Now, she was just silently applying the sunscreen to her legs, not looking at me. I grimaced. "I'm sorry," I muttered, and Rachel raised an eyebrow at me. "I'll be right one day – apologize to me then," she said lightly. I just shook my head. "Whatever you say."

It was 10 minutes after that when I finally decided to give in and get into the pool.

I set my book down quietly on my chair, careful not to disturb Rachel, who looked like she was sleeping. I then sat by the edge of the pool, carefully dipping a toe in the water. Several lane lines stretched from one wall to the other, and a few of them were full of people swimming laps, their limbs moving in smooth synchronized movement. Standing up, I turned around, only to see Rachel standing behind mne, an evil smile on her face.

"Don't even think about it Rachel!"

She grinned. "I have no idea what you're talking about Annie," my best friend said innocently. I narrowed my eyes at her, glancing at my precarious perch at the edge of the pool. "Don't call me Annie," I said, brushing my hair away from my eyes. "And if you push me in the pool I swear to God -"

With an evil smile, Rachel stepped forward, cutting me off by giving me a good, hard shove that sent me tumbling back into the pool. The last thing I remembered before hitting my head on something hard and plastic was Rachel's now horrified face and the loud shriek of a whistle before I blacked out.

A/N: And I'm back! Thank you guys for sticking with me; your support means the world to me. As per usual, please read and review! I hope you guys enjoy the chapter, and I will be uploading my two other stories after this!

Also, as I'm not really happy with the title of this story, submit any ideas you have! Whether through PM or review, any help is appreciated :)

Again, R&R!