Alec's POV:

Some guy shoved me from behind, and I stumbled forward a few steps, catching myself before I could fall.

I looked to see a guy with unruly black hair run as if his life depended on it, and I glared at the back of his receding head. Why on Earth was he running so fast? If I were him, I'd slow down. Then I saw the blond girl chasing him, and I decided that, if I were him, I'd run twice as fast.

She was holding a tree branch in her hand like a knife, it's end filed to a sharp point. The way she held it obviously showed some form of training, just because of the way her grip was, and the fact that she was twirling it around as she ran, never once dropping it. Her eyes were fixed on the guy with the black hair, and she dodged around people, unlike him, skillfully, as if she were used to moving around people while holding something sharp.

When she reached him, she tackled him, pulled him to his feet, then flipped him over her shoulder.

Some words were exchanged, until the guy pulled something out of his pack and the girl quickly put it in hers. Then the two of them got up, kissed, and walked over to a group of people, who were all laughing at the guy.

As we walked closer, I saw something behind the smiles. Sure, they were happy, but in the boy with the black hair and the blond girl's eyes, I could see darkness. Perhaps it comes from 18 years of seeing people who have fought battles, or perhaps it comes as someone who has seen a lot of darkness himself, but I know someone who has been through suffering when I see it.

"Alec. ALEC!" I jumped, as Izzy shouted in my ear.

"What?" I yelled back.

She rolled her eyes at me. "The first bell just rang, you idiot. Here's your schedule. I printed it this morning. You've got English first period with Mr. Blofis. Have fun!"

I made a rude gesture at her, before making my way through the school. I looked at my sheet, and made my way to my locker. It was located right outside Mr. Blofis' classroom, and I quickly put everything I wouldn't need in there before running into the room before the second bell.

I would have taken a seat at the back of the room, but Mr. Blofis insisted I come up to the front and introduce myself once everyone arrived, and while I was now comfortable and confident in myself, strangers were just not my thing.

At the very last second before the bell rang, the boy with the black hair and the blond girl both made their way into the classroom.

"Hey Pa-Mr. Blofis!" Black hair said.

"Hello, Percy. Nice to see you, Annabeth. I see that Percy does not have a tree branch in him, so he must have returned the thing he stole?" Mr. Blofis asked.

"Yup. Got it in my backpack." She smiled at Mr. Blofis, and my instincts, and the fact that I'm not stupid, told me that they knew each other outside of school.

"Alright class!" Mr. Blofis called, gathering everyone's attention. "We have a new student here today, and I'd like for him to introduce himself."

He gestured to me, in a way that said 'the floor is yours', and I nervously stepped into the front of the room.

Annabeth's POV:

It was odd. The boy at the front of the room looked like the classic, stereotypical jock or player that was in every single teen romance novel out there. The tight shirt, leather jacket, gelled hair and the dark black tattoos snaking around his entire body led me to this conclusion, except his attitude told a different story. He didn't exude arrogance, like all the other teen book characters. In fact, he just seemed nervous.

Personally, I found it amusing. It was obvious that at least half the girls in the class were already taken by his looks; you could see it in the wistful look in their eyes, the whispering that ensued as soon he stepped in, and the furtive glances they were all casting him. Even I must admit, he was attractive, with his black hair and blue eyes, though not in the conventional way.

Where Percy was all bronze, broad-shouldered and brash, this boy was porcelain white and lean, like a dancer, with an innate grace to him. Where Percy could be defined as (at least in my opinion) hot, this boy was simply beautiful. His long lashes scraped his high cheekbones when he blinked, and I could see each movement he made, no matter how minute, managed to look graceful and fluid, as if this boy was made for the purpose of elegance and ease of movement. Though below that, I could see a hardness in his soft blue eyes, a definition and tenseness in his muscles, a litheness to his build, like a panther ready to strike. Below that beauty was power, easy to spot if you knew what you were looking for.

Despite all this, he still looked uncomfortable. There was something about his demeanor, as if he were asking 'why are you looking at me? Why are you paying attention to me? Please stop paying attention' . It was as if he either didn't know about his attractiveness or didn't want other people to notice it.

"My name's Alec Lightwood." He said, shifting from foot to foot.

I couldn't help but notice the way his eyes scanned the room, as if looking for trouble, or how his footsteps were so light, you couldn't even hear them.

"Is Alec short for something?" Paul asked, trying to get Alec to talk a little more.

"Um, it's Alexander, but nobody ever uses my full name."

Percy grinned beside me. I groaned, "And so it begins." All Percy ever talked about was how there needed to be more people like him who didn't use their full name, because, and I quote "No one understands me!" Honestly, he's such a Seaweed Brain.

"And what school did you go to before Goode?"

"I've actually been homeschooled for the past eighteen years. But my teacher recently-uh-quit, so my parents decided it would be good to enroll me in a school for the last year of high school." I narrowed my eyes at that statement. I sensed there was some truth to it, but I was a good judge of lies, and something was definitely missing from that statement. I decided to drop it, since his life has nothing to do with my own.

"Great," Paul's voice snapped my out of my thoughts. "Why don't you go sit in the desk next to Annabeth, the girl with the blond hair and grey eyes-Annabeth, wave-" I waved, " and we'll get started on today's lesson. Have you already learned about Shakespeare?"

"I touched on it, but not much." He answered before sitting next to me.

I smiled and waved at him, and he waved back, looking mildly confused.

I let myself look at him, scan his face and his posture. Reading people was a survival skill, and one I happened to possess. From the way he sat up straight, eyes flicking back and forth, it almost seemed like he was looking for someone, or something, I suppose.

But I would be able to somewhat sense if he was a demigod, and I hadn't seen him in the war or after it. As well, almost everything I could see didn't lend itself to demigod traits. While he looked around, he wasn't jumpy, in the way many demigods are, especially loners, and I could see the outline of a phone in his back pocket, almost a sure sign that he wasn't a demigod.

"Alright," I snapped my attention back up to Paul, who was explaining our next assignment. "I'm going to partner you guys up, and your going to and analyze this passage by Shakespeare. Then, I want you guys to try and write your own story in a Shakespearean style."

Percy leaned over to me, "I hope he got us a copy in Greek," He whispered. I felt myself smile.

As Paul was handing out the sheets, he leaned over to me. "Do you mind working with Alec?"

"Sure," I smiled up at Paul, "Out of curiosity, why me?"

"You know what it's like to show up at a new school, with no friends in your class, and be assigned a partner project the first day. We also both know that he would get nothing done with Percy, and if he's behind on Shakespeare, he's going to need all the intelligence he can get. And while I love my stepson very much, and while he has so many wonderful qualities and such amazing instincts, his level of understanding in this particular class is, um, lacking." I had to stifle a laugh, and Percy sent me a sideways glance.

"Very true."

I turned towards Alec. "Would you like to be my partner?"

"Why me?" He asked, looking around. "There are so many other people to partner with, including the guy I'm assuming is your boyfriend." So he reads people and relationships too. Good to know.

"Lets just say that I know what it's like to be the new kid, and not have a partner." I explained. "Plus, working with my idiotic boyfriend, I probably would get nothing done."

He smiled slightly, and that was the beginning of very important friendship, though we didn't know it yet.