Annabeth was right when she figured she'd be the talk of the school. As soon as she stepped foot in the school, heads turned, voices whispered and eyes poked and prodded her like little knives. It was uncomfortable to say the least. Fortunately the school was kind enough to send her a map and Annabeth was pretty damn good with directions, so she didn't need to deal with any of that new kid-finding-their-way bullshit, nor did she need to have a guide.

…But AP Euro turned out to be a lot harder to find. Maybe the map was flipped? Hmm… She managed to arrive somewhat on time however and that was what was important. Her teacher greeted her warmly, with kind intelligent brown eyes. The kids were another story however—just like in the halls steely eyes followed her like hawks and she awkwardly took a seat in the front of the room. It took all of Annabeth's strength to stop from twitching every second; she could feel all the eyes in the room on her back.

Other than that however, the blonde girl found herself enjoying the class a lot, her teacher was clearly someone she could get along with. And fortunately it wasn't a struggle to keep up.


PE was an interesting event to say the least. She of course, had to prove her worth to the track team and more importantly the sprinters. The head of the sprinters was a regal girl with glossy dark volcanic hair and dark navy blue eyes. Her lips were pulled into a thin line and barely greeted her when the head coach introduced the two.

Her name was Reyna Jackson.

Reyna's face barely changed when they announced Annabeth's time, half a minute below the school record, which of course was set by Reyna herself. The coach gapped and the other runners applauded her enthusiastically and honestly it was the first time Annabeth felt accepted at her new school, instead of being the circus freak new girl. The blonde felt like rolling her eyes at Reyna—what did she care if she impressed some ice queen or not? She had made the team, easy.

The rest of practice went off with a hitch—it was grueling to say the least. Reyna worked them like slaves or child laborers, until they were drenched in sweat and their knees threatened to give out. It was gonna be a tough season that was for sure. She was just glad that she had lunch right after.

After Annabeth had changed into some fresh and clean smelling clothes she aimlessly wandered in the direction she hoped was the cafeteria.

"Hey! New girl!" The blonde girl stopped and turned to see, surprisingly an attractive guy. Immediately she narrowed her eyes at the tall blonde teen. He jogged to catch up with her. "Hey, I'm Luke Castellan and I just wanted to say, I saw you at track practice, and I don't think I've ever seen Jackson so mad." He laughed, almost maliciously and Annabeth wondered if there was some bad blood between this new guy and the head sprinter. "You almost smoked her record on the first day—you will not believe how long it took Reyna to beat her older sister's record. You almost cost her that mile high pride she's got. Congrats on that!" Annabeth gave him a weak smile. Sure his compliments fed her ego, but she didn't want to be on Reyna's bad side and she certainly didn't want to start picking sides in a possible war. Ugh, drama.

"So, you going to lunch then?" Annabeth nodded.

"Yeah, I guess." Luke grinned widely.

"Awesome, you should come and sit with me and my friends." Annabeth really hoped the horror on her face wasn't apparent. If his friends were anything like the rude, bullying jocks she was picturing, she'd rather pass and pull a Lindsay Lohan and eat in the girl's bathroom.

"Oh, thanks." Her voice was feeble. "But I'll have to pass. Sorry Luke." She didn't fail to notice the dark look that passed over his face.

"That's cool I guess." Suddenly his voice was stiff and had a certain edge to it. Annabeth felt better about her choice in turning down the handsome blonde. He was about to walk away when he seemed to think the better of it. His expression was hard and he towered over Annabeth in a threatening way. "Listen here new girl, you clearly don't realize how this school works, so I'll give you a quick tip. Stay. Away. From. The. Jackson. Family. You hear me? Reyna and her brother—do yourself a favor and don't get associated with them." His hard expression eased into a charming smile and despite Annabeth's best wishes, she blushed. "You'll thank me later, babe."

Annabeth felt the sudden urge to ram her fist into his throat.


Annabeth watched from her lone corner of the cafeteria, surprisingly keeping away from the prying eyes of her new peers. Her eyes trained on one thing however—or perhaps two people. Reyna and there was a guy with her. His back was to Annabeth so she couldn't get a good look at his face, but he had a great set of broad shoulders and the rest of his body slanted down into a V. She had the suspicion that that was Reyna's brother, the other Jackson and she also assumed that he was just as beautiful as his sister.

They sat alone and Annabeth could just see the ice rolling off the two siblings, no kids dared to approach and the two family members didn't want anyone to come near them. It was curious really; you'd think a beautiful girl like Reyna and the assumed handsome guy like her brother would be swarmed with attention.

Maybe they were like the Plastics of Goode high. Only there were only two of them, they were siblings, and they didn't seem to care about popularity. If they're anti-social behavior said anything anyways. They seemed elite—feared and respected and left alone. Like celebrities, you could only gaze on their beauty, but not touch or talk to them.

Annabeth wondered why that was.


Turns out that Annabeth has the other Jackson sibling in her American Lit class. And she was right to assume he was beautiful—but no words could really do him justice. Lightly tanned skin, muscular build, sharp features, an angular jaw to die for, and impressive height. Freckles littered his face and a silver lip ring dangled from the corner of his mouth, guiltily Annabeth found it sexy, and his thick eyebrows set up his face perfectly. He was perfect in a rugged, troublemaker way. He was sinful, Annabeth knew that right off the bat. He was seductive and she knew that she was going to have to look out for herself against him. Maybe Luke had been right—keeping a distance from the Jackson's would be in her best favor.

They were presenting some form of free style poetry in class and Annabeth had the pleasure (displeasure maybe?) of listening to high school juniors fumble their words of fake philosophy and poorly written angst. But it wasn't until the other Jackson walked up there with such an air of casual cockiness that was so polar from Reyna and all the girls in the room leaned forward, batting their lustful eyes and twirling their hair that Annabeth knew she was in trouble.

Rich dark chocolate words melted on butter lips and Annabeth knew she was right when she said he was sinful, that he was seductive, he could charm anyone in the world with a voice like that. And poetry was clearly something he excelled at; artistically written words flowed so smoothly like honey. There was an ache of sadness and a surprising amount of depth in his words. Annabeth felt compelled by him. She was entranced, enchanted, enraptured.

Percy Jackson's murky, sad eyes landed on her for a moment and the air in Annabeth's throat caught. Eyes, eyes, eyes… oh.


Eyes like the ones in her dream haunted her throughout the day. She couldn't shake them; they were there when she closed her eyes, tattooed to the back of her eyelids.

Reyna was in her leadership class, but her brother was not. There were a few other familiar faces surprisingly, like the rude punk girl, the boy from the bookstore (she couldn't remember his name for the life of her—), Luke, and the Cherokee girl from the track team who had helped Annabeth figure out her PE locker. The only other kids there was a blonde with the same eyes as the punk girl, a gorgeous Asian girl, and another Asian kid with a body builder's body and a baby's face.

She was introduced awkwardly before they launched into discussion over the themes for Homecoming week.


Her first order of business after her hectic first day was to pick up her little brother's from the elementary school. It wasn't a far walk to the other school and when she got there she was immediately greeted by two cheerful voices.

"Annie-beth!" Bobby called and launched himself off of the swing set and onto the blonde girl. Annabeth let out a small 'humph' as the small boy wrapped his arms around Annabeth's legs tightly. Mathew trailed after his brother in a much more reserved and shy fashion, but he wrapped his spidery arms around Annabeth and Bobby anyways.

"Hi, boys, ready to go home?" The two nodded against her but didn't make any sort of effort to release themselves from her. She rolled her eyes. "If the two of you don't let go, I won't take you guys to the candy and toy shop I was telling you about yesterday." Bobby let go of her in record time, as if she was suddenly a nasty bug. The force of said action nearly knocked poor Mathew to the ground.

She chuckled and ruffled both boys' hair. "Come on, let's go get you boys hopped up on sugar so Sue can yell at me later." The two cheered and Annabeth was sure they would've spend off into the forest and gotten lost, if it weren't for Annabeth's hands clasped tightly in theirs.


When Annabeth entered the shop, she let go of her brother's hands and let them run off wildly, joining all the other little kids in there. Annabeth grinned and leaned up against the counter, close to where two mothers were conversing.

"—Can you believe that Sally Jackson is still allowed to work here?" One mom exclaimed sharply. Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows. Another Jackson? The other mom cringed.

"It's really unbelievable. What if she—you know—poisons someone again?" Annabeth nearly choked. What—

The first mother looked distressed. "I don't know! You'd think the owners would have more sense than to let that—that whore still work around kids!"

A third mother chimed in. "And if it weren't for the fact that her own little brutes were as nasty as her—I'd be worried as to why social services hadn't collected them—" the other two mothers nodded solemnly.

"Two of those Jackson kids are in high school right? I've heard that the daughter is very promising—but that doesn't excuse the fact that she's a Jackson and they're letting her not only on the track team, but on the leadership board as well!" The third mother gasped.

"I know! My son, Jason, was telling me about that!" The mother looked utterly repulsed. The second mother shook her head sadly,

"It's absolutely tragic that they're letting those Jackson children pollute the rest of the town." The three continued to murmur their fears and disgust and Annabeth was left to digest the new information. So clearly it wasn't just the kids at the high school that would avoid the Jackson's, it was the whole damn town. Maybe she should be a little more cautious and not at all curious about the mysterious family. Vaguely Annabeth wondered if there was anything on the Jackson's in that mythology book she had gotten—What a dumb idea, they were people not bed time stories.

A fourth woman walked up to the group of mothers, with an arrogant smirk and very professional dress. The three women stopped their chatter and stared at the blonde woman with awe and adoration. "—Which is exactly why my husband and I want to get rid of the lake. With the lake gone, the Jackson's will leave and we'll be able to create a new and improved town. It's all apart of the plan and once it's done, everyone will be so much happier." The woman's voice was stiff and cruel and Annabeth found herself hating the unknown woman. "Just think of all the jobs that will open up! It'll put Siren Lake on the map!" Annabeth watched, slightly disgusted, as the other moms chimed in their agreement. Didn't they like their small little town? And surely the Jackson's couldn't be that bad if they weren't in jail?

However a man step up this time. His skin was dark like a Native American's and his eyes were a green brown. He was handsome, for an older man and he seemed to silence the gossip with his presence.

"How dare you buy into her shit." He snapped at the women. "Once they destroy the lake and the town they'll change this place into a factory. They'll destroy the wildlife and history here!" His eyes landed on the blonde woman who was glaring at him. "You and you're husband don't belong here. You don't have the people's best interest at heart; you'll destroy everything—

"And when you do—" The man's eyes narrowed into slits. "The whole town will pay for it. The lake will—" The woman interrupted him.

"The lake will what, Tristan Mclean? Will the petty little creatures from the stories you still fill poor Piper's mind with come and attack us? Will they rise from that batty old man's book and kill us all?" She laughed and the other women joined her. Annabeth's hands coiled into tight fists. Tristan's hands copied Annabeth's.

"You'll doom this whole town—don't act like you don't know, because I know. I know exactly what you're trying to do and I won't let it. The town won't let you do it." His eyes narrowed and his voice lowered. "Don't think for a second I don't know what you really are—"

The woman snarled at him in a feral way, shocking Annabeth. What the hell was that—?

She didn't get to hear the rest of the conversation because Bobby and Mathew were racing over to her with a bag of candy and two red and blue robots. "We're ready to go!" They chorused and Annabeth sighed.

She forced a bright smile. "Alright, let's go pay for all this junk and go home, I've got some homework." Both boys shared a disgusted look. She laughed, "Come on boys."


What is Siren Lake's secret? And what's up with the blonde woman? What does she and her husband want? Why? What's up with the Jackson family? Poison, whores, social security? I'm really enjoying writing this story. The chapters are unfortunately a little shorter than my usual, but I'm hoping once the story picks up speed they'll become longer.

-E