Chapter 2: Friends . . . (For Now)
A/N: Oh hey guys! Couldn't wait til tomorrow to post so I'm doing it today! Ok, so one thing I saw in my reviews was that I should split up dialogue and make more paragraphs. I went back and looked at my story – you guys are totally right! It was four long run-on paragraphs! How annoying is that? Anyway, I'm gonna work on that for this chapter. I won't change the first chapter just because that was how it was originially and I learned from my mistake. Alright so enough of my jibber-jabber.
P.S. To clear up some confusion, Percy is in New York (Manhattan, to be specific)
(Forgot to do this in the last chapter):
Disclaimer: I do not own PJO – I could never come up with the ingenious idea that Rick Riordan came up with
Hope you enjoy!
Percy's POV
I tapped my pencil against the side of my desk. I glanced up at the clock. Homeroom started five minutes ago but Mr. Brunner wasn't here yet. That was not like him. I stared out the window then back at the clock, then at the door, then back at the clock. When is this stupid class gonna start?
Finally the door opened. Mr. Brunner wheeled his wheelchair into the room. He was followed by a guy with sandy blond hair and crisp blue eyes. "Good morning class! Sorry I'm late but we have a new student. Please introduce yourself."
The boy beside Mr. Brunner looked up through the strands of hair hanging in his eyes. He surveyed the room before his eyes landed on me. Uh-oh – this can't be good. A guy like him, who is clearly one of those 'I'm so cool and girls follow me around all day screaming my name and sighing' type guys, would only look at someone like me as a target. I immediately stopped tapping my pencil and sat up a little straighter. Don't wanna be irritating – don't wanna look likie I have a bulllseye on my forehead. He looked at me a moment longer before tearing his gaze away and turning to the class.
"Hey, I'm Luke Castellan. I moved here from Virginia – totally psyched to check out the city that never sleeps." (A/N: I know what you're thinking: I had said that Luke is older than Annabeth yet Percy and Annabeth are the same age so how are Luke and Percy in the same homeroom? They just are. It's called FanFICTION for a reason – it's not the real book and it's not necessaroily real; for the sake of my story, work with me. K? K.) Mr. Brunner smiled at Luke. "Well, Luke, why don't you grab the seat next to Percy? Mr. Jacksonn, please raise your hand so Luke knows who you are."
When I raised my hand, Luke smiled and took the seat on my left. On my right, Thalia Grace fidgeted in her chair. I felt her foot nudge my leg across the aisle. I raised an eyebrow at her. 'I know that guy,' she mouthed. I tilted my head in Luke's direction, and then met her eyes for a silent exchange. We mouthed our conversation.
Which guy? This guy? The new guy?Luke?
No, the guy sitting behind you who we've known since kindergarten! Yes, the new guy! I've seen him before.
Really? Where?
Remember when I visited Virginia?
Yeah . . .
I saw him and some girl at a park.
Oh, wow, you must know him real well, then, huh?
I said I saw him, not knew him.
"Mr. Jackson and Ms. Grace."
Thalia flinched – she hated when people used her last name, and Mr. Brunner knew it, too.
"Is there something you care to share with the rest of us?" I felt my face burn. Thalia and I shook our heads.
"Then I suppose it can wait until after the bell?" We nodded.
"Very well. At least you're showing your affection in an open manner instead of the cliché lovenote." The class snickered. Thalia glared at me, like she was gonna punch me, as if it were my fault. Mr. Brunner looked satisfied with our reactions at his comment. He wheeled around to face the board and continued whatever he was talking about. Thalia nudged my foot one last time. 'We'll talk after class.'
- After Class –
"Way to go, Jackson," Thalia said, rolling her eys at me as we made our way to our lockers.
"What? How was it my fault? You started the conversation!"
"Whatevs, lil' cuz, just don't do it again." (A/N: yes, they're cousins.)
I stared at her indignantly. I was about to protest, but Grover caught up with us.
"Hey, guys!" He made his way over on his crutches. He had some muscular problem with his legs so he always was on crutches, and probably always will be. "Hey, Goat Boy," Thalia smirked. She and I nicknamed him Goat Boy because his crutches against the floor sounded like goat hooves. Plus, the guy will eat anything. (Except meat)
Grover pouted. "Will you quit calling me that?" I slung an arm around his shoulders. "Aw, c'mon G-man! It's out of affection!"
"Yeah!" Thalia added, "I love goats!" I glared at her.
"Hey, wait!" We all turned in the direction of the person's voice. Luke came up to us. I looked at Thalia. She shook her head. Luke wouldn't recognize her because he hadn't seen her in Virginia and she wouldn't tell him – it really wouldn't matter.
Luke panted, like he'd run form the other side of the school.
"Percy, right?" he asked me. I nodded.
"Cool. Hey when do you guys have lunch?" Checking his schedule, we saw that we would all have lunch together.
"Can I sit with you guys?" Luke asked.
"Sure, we sit towards the back of the cafeteria – we'll call you over so you know where we are." Luke nodded and headed off, probably to his next class.
Grover knit his eyebrows together. "Who's that?" I shrugged. "Some guy named Luke who moved here from Virginia. He seems pretty chill, but we'll see at lunch."
- Lunch –
Luke turned out to be a cool guy. He was into basketball and football. Thalia spoke up. "Hey, Percy's the captain of the swim team. Maybe you should try out! He does basketball and football, too."
Luke shrugged. "I don't know – I'm not much of a swimmer." I smiled.
"S'okay – I'm not that good at basketball and football!"
"Yeah, Percy has terrible aim! The gods must've been with him when he tried out!' Grover chuckled, but Thalia and I glared at him. Luke looked confused. "The . . . gods?"
Thalia sighed. "See, there's this teen club nearby – it's called Club Half-Blood. (A/N: Hee-hee; you like?) It bases a lot on Greek mythology, which is why lots of people think we're geeky losers. It's supposed to be mysterious, like we don't tell you about it so it stays sort of secret," She glared at Grover, "But that doesn't mean you can't join. Even though technically we're not supposed to, we'll tell you all about it and then if you want, you can join."
Luke smiled. "Cool. Tell me in a moment. But first – why aren't you supposed to tell me?" I smiled.
"Well, only certain people can join – it's special and, like Thals here said, secret. It's exclusive – only the best of the best can join." (A/N: Get it? 'Cause in the series half-bloods can't tell mortals? And typically to get in you have to fight a monster and prove you're good enough for the camp?)
Grover piped up. "Yeah, you have to do something special to get in. You have to prove yourself, somehow. There's a test you have to pass."
Luke nodded. "So what kind of test is it?"
The three of us exchanged mischievous smiles. "Well . . ."
A/N: So what'd ya think? Did I do a better job? Anything you want me to change about my format of writing for the next chapter? (Paragraphs, more/less dialogue, shorter/longer chapters, other POVs, etc. I wanna know what my readers like.) I accept constructive criticism. Also, is there anything specific you maybe want to happen? Ideas, anyone? I accept ideas. If I like it, I'll use it. I will give you credit in the beginning, so others know it wans't my own idea. PM me, review – anywhere, just tell me.
Note: I WILL NOT use any specific OCs you ask me to use. Please don't submit a character. If I feel it's needed, I'll use my own OC. Well, I might make exceptions, but I don't think so.
Constructively criticize me, review, flame – all is welcome.
So there's the little blue button at the bottom of your screen – do what ya gotta do.
- Promise
