Okay, so thank you to LeoLuver (nice name, by the way) for being the first reviewer! Please, guys, review! I know most people think story alerting is enough, but reviews are what really keep us going. So please, REVIEW! Or Noel will get his ass busted and sent to jail ;)

NOEL ETHAN JACKSON

Noel could hear the laughs and shouts coming from Clara's room upstairs; he made a mental note to throw a joint lit with Greek Fire (the effect was hilarious: the joint imploded and everyone to breath in the fumes extremely high, but at the same time mute, so they were running around like idiots, moving their mouths like fishes. Noel had done this a few times with his friends) into the room. However, at the present time, his mother and father were scrutinizing him.

Noel hadn't always been his parents' favorite. In fact, he often felt Clara was the favorite. Well, he hadn't exactly helped himself by asking Zeus to be his patron. Zeus, surprisingly, had obliged, happy to hold it over Poseidon that the sea god's grandson was under the power of Zeus.

"Noel… how- how did you even get the drugs?"

If he had replied truthfully, he would have said Channy. Channy's full name was Cannabis. She was a cannabis plant nymph, and Noel's best friend along with Garrett, a legacy of Pluto. The three of them had been together ever since fourth grade. Channy had started supplying them with weed since seventh grade, when her mother taught her how to make use of herself. As a thirteenth birthday present, Channy had given Noel and Garrett each their own little cannabis plant, so that she wouldn't have to keep taking from her own crop.

"Places…" Noel answered vaguely, pleased at his parents annoyed expressions.

"How long…?"

"Eh… a while."

"Noel, we're trying to help you," Percy said earnestly, leaning forward so that he was on eye level with his son.

Noel was mentally cursing himself for sending Channy and Garrett away so soon. Usually, before she left, Channy would touch each of them somewhere on their faces, which would cure the high and make them completely normal.

"I don't need help," Noel muttered. "I don't have failing grades, do I?"

"It's not the grades," Annabeth replied. "Noel, we're worried about your health."

"Don't worry about it, I have it under control."

"I don't think you do." Annabeth was obviously trying to be sweet and understanding, but really, it was just pissing Noel off.

"I said I'm fine, dammit! I've been doing this for five years and you've never noticed, why start now? If any damage is done, it's already done! I'm fucking fine!" He exploded, and Percy and Annabeth's calm and composed reactions just made him angrier. "Well? What's it gonna be, huh? Fucking rehab? You gonna search my room? Send me away to live with grandpa?"

He was referring to his grandparents on his mother's mortal side, of course. Frederic Chase was his favorite grandfather; he always took him out on plane rides after he had found out the boy's patron god was Zeus.

"Noel, watch your language!" Percy hissed. This shut Noel up, strangely enough. Percy never got angry, ever. He had never once shouted at his children, not ever. But this was the angriest Noel had ever seen his father. And it felt good. For so long, he had wanted a reaction from them, he just wanted them to say something, anything, about him. Whenever he had done something great, whenever he had won something, all they said was 'that's great, honey' or so. They had always been so damn composed.

"So finally," Noel breathed, out of breath. "You do have emotions. Well congratulations. It brought you abso-fucking-lutely nothing. Good night."

…:…

After changing his sheets for a new set of black and white checked ones, Noel flung himself down face-forwards, hugging his pillow to his face. When someone knocked on his door he grunted in hopes of the person simply going away, but no such luck. The door opened and shut quietly, and the sound of footsteps on the floor, and the sound of the same person plunking themself down on the beanbag were heard.

"Stoner," the voice said, which Noel immediately recognized to be Riley's. He could practically hear the smirk on her face.

"Raccoon," he retorted, referring to the heavy black eye makeup that Riley always wore. However, unlike most emo girls at their school, hers was applied carefully, as if from a professional makeup artist. Riley had changed into an oversized Hard Rock Café t-shirt and black skinny jeans. He had never seen the t-shirt; it was probably Mickey's. Mickey – more commonly known as Michael Jarrett – was Riley's secret boyfriend since ninth grade.

He was exactly the type Percy and Annabeth would hate, and that was hard to be. He worked odd jobs; dangerous jobs, that put his life at risk at all times, just to annoy his parents. Lucky for him, he was a legacy of Apollo who had inherited a great deal of healing powers. And his parents… oh yes, Annabeth and Percy certainly didn't approve of the father, a man by the name of Octavian. To Percy and Annabeth, being Octavian's son was as good as being the man.

And Riley was exactly the kind of girl that Mickey's parents would hate. Octavian and his wife were incredibly strict, and Riley did not fall into that category. She was 'untamed' and 'wild', as teachers would say. With her punk-like attitude, she rarely ever made good impressions on older people.

And yet somehow, Mickey still loved her. That was way beyond Noel.

"So I'm guessing you got pretty busted?" Riley asked tentatively.

"Fuck yeah," Noel groaned, turning onto his back so he was looking at the white spotless ceiling.

"Sucks…" Riley murmured. She had always been the one who was there for Noel, who had understood him perfectly.

"Uh-huh. So, how was go-karting? I see you ended up with a t-shirt yet again?"

The oldest Jackson child chuckled.

"Yeah, this one's from his first job."

"Cool. I wouldn't mid working there."

"I'll see if I can throw in a good word. Mickey likes you."

Noel had met Mickey three times, and already considered him his brother in law. Mickey looked like he was racially fucked, Noel thought. Because of his parents' two extremes (Octavian, a tall thin Caucasian man with light blond hair and blue eyes, and his wife being a tiny very Asian Harvard- graduate), he looked a little… well, weird. He had his father's light blond hair, but an Asian complexion. Somewhere along Octavian's side of the family, someone must have had curly hair, because Mickey's was curly, which made most people think he curled it in the mornings. He was average in height and lucky that Riley was just an inch shorter than him.

"Yeah, thanks, but never mind about it. I don't know what mom and dad are going to do with me," Noel muttered again and put his hands over his face.

"Well, if it's any consolation, I'm going to tell them about Mickey."

"Huh?" Noel's head shot up and turned to look at his sister, who just nodded gravely.

"Yeah, it's about time. After all, he got an apartment in Manhattan and asked me to move in with him. It's all already planned. I'm going to Cornell with a ten thousand dollar scholarship per year, and I have a job as a makeup artist with a fashion show company. Mickey has a job at a hospital there as a male nurse; I think Apollo helped out with that a little. Apollo really likes him, I think."

"Lucky bastard," Noel sighed. "And I'm guessing mom and dad know nothing?"

"Yeah, well, that's the tricky part. Whenever I tried to talk to them, they always didn't have time. Always something with Clara."

Noel and Riley didn't hate Clara, they really didn't. It was just sometimes so damn annoying that because she was a prep and popular and a legacy of Athena that she was the favorite.

"I hope you're lucky," Noel said, really meaning it.

Knocking sounded yet again on Noel's door. Both Riley and Noel instinctively knew who it was. They just kept looking at each other, not moving from their respective spots. The door swung gently open to reveal Percy and Annabeth standing there, one looking sadder than the other.

"Noel… and Riley." Percy didn't sound surprised; Riley and Noel often hung out in each other's rooms. "C-Can we come in?" Noel nodded and his parents entered and sat down on the floor, making a triangle between themselves, their son and their oldest daughter.

"First off, Noel…" Annabeth began, not bothered that Riley was there. Again, Riley and Noel went through most things together. Annabeth knew that if one wanted the other to leave, it would be said. "I'm sorry that we made you feel like we didn't have any emotions towards you."

"Yeah, Noel. I'm really sorry, it's just that I had no clue what to do, you know? All along I was thinking you'd be a legacy of Poseidon or Athena and I'd know what to do, but then you come out saying that Zeus is your patron and you sacrifice food to him, Demeter, Persephone and Hestia, it was all just so confusing," Percy added.

"Dad… mom… look, I'm not going to say sorry about the weed; you know that just like I know you won't apologize for the way you reacted. But you have to know that I am completely safe and controlled. Channy is short for Cannabis; she's a weed nymph."

A look of understanding passed over Noel's parents' faces.

"Sweetheart… we don't really know what to say. I mean, we're not angry. We're… we're disappointed. And, we feel we should tell you two first since you're the oldest, we're moving to Manhattan. We, as a family, need a new start, so we'll be moving after spring break."

So the bombshell was dropped.

"What?" came from Riley and Noel simultaneously.

"No!" Noel cried. "Why? If it's because of the-"

"It's not just the drugs, Noel," Percy interrupted his son. "We – your mother and I – need to be closer to Olympus and the ocean. A while ago, we bought a nice old apartment that we wanted to move into after Clara had graduated, but it seems that there are problems and we need to move earlier. And the drugs have actually just enforced our decision."

Noel nodded bitterly; he knew better than to argue with his parents about this.

Percy and Annabeth got up to leave, and Noel shot Riley a glance. Now. Now's your chance.

"Mom, dad?" Riley called in a falsetto-like high voice. Noel could hear the panic quivering in it.

Percy and Annabeth immediately turned to face their daughter.

"Yes, sweety?"

"There's something I need to tell you."

Noel looked up at his sister.

"Do you want me to leave?" He asked quietly, but Riley shook her head.

"No, I need you here."

"Honey, what's going on?" Annabeth asked.

"Well… there's this boy – man – named Mickey," Riley started.

…:…

"Well… I think they took it well," Riley laughed, and Noel joined in. Their parents had been shocked, to say it in the least, that their daughter was moving in with the son of one of the people they disliked the most. Of course, they had been angry with Riley, but they hadn't been able to say anything against it. Riley was nineteen; a legal adult. The only good thing that had come from the conversation was that Annabeth had been overjoyed that Riley got into Cornell.

"You think?" Noel managed between laughs. They were sitting side by side on the wooden stools on the balcony that led from Riley's room. Noel was the only one without a balcony, but for that, his room had a private little bathroom with a shower attached. Over to the right, Clara's balcony door was open and the sounds of the freshmen laughing as they watched a chick flick drifted over in the otherwise quiet neighborhood.

"Hey, at least they didn't take all my possessions and burn them with Greek Fire!" Riley protested, which made Noel throw his head back and laugh. Percy and Annabeth had confiscated his joints and cannabis garden and set fire to it in the back. Unfortunately for them, the skunk that had been living there for the past few years had gotten a whiff of it, got high and let its gasses loose. Needless to say, everyone stayed inside the house. Or, in Riley and Noel's case, they went on the porches in the front.

"True, true. But hey, at least they agreed to have Mickey over for dinner on Sunday. That's got to count for something, right?"

"Yeah, that's good. Who knows, maybe they'll actually like him!"

Both of them laughed again. It had gotten warmer that day; it had been an abnormally long winter in the suburbs of Boston that year. However, the weather forecast had announced the end of winter with temperatures reaching the seventies and eighties in spring break. It didn't really affect the Jackson family though, since they, along with the families of several of their old friends from camp, had arranged to go on a trip to someone's vacation house at Lake Michigan for the week. It was supposed to be warm there.

It was strange, really. None of the kids had really met the others before and everyone was a little nervous. Now that the whole things concerning Noel and Riley had actually surfaced, it would be a whole lot more… awkward. Oh well. Noel was looking forward to it, especially since he now knew that it was his last week with his oldest sister before she moved in with Mickey.

"So spring break should be fun," Riley started, looking off into the distance over the houses of deepest suburbia.

"Huh, yeah, fun… I have a very different definition of fun, Riles," Noel retorted, and his sister smirked.

"Aw, come on, stoner boy, I'm sure there's at least one more pothead there. You know who all's coming?"

"Oh jeez, don't make me think," Noel groaned. "Uh… well… there's the Stolls, the other Stolls, Thalia and Nico – are they actually married now? – then… hmm… oh, yeah, Jason and Reyna… Leo and whatshername – wasn't he, like, raped by a goddess or so? – and then there's Piper with her kids. I don't think her husband's coming. Or, wait, no, she has demigod kids, right?"

"Wow… you really must be so blunt all the time, don't you," Riley smirked. "Yeah, I think that's all. Oh, and I think Leo and Piper are together now, but I'm not sure. But don't joke about the conception of Leo's kids around him, 'kay? I think that's a touchy subject. I mean, raped by two goddesses… wow, that must suck."

"Yeah, and they weren't even nice about it. I mean, Gaea raped him in his dreams and Khione almost killed him!"

Oh yes, their godly family was quite messed up, Noel mused.

"Well, Ima go to bed. Sleep tight, lil bro," Riley affectionately ruffled Noel's hair and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "How about you, Mickey, and I go get ice cream tomorrow? You could bring a girl you like or so…."

Noel smiled.

"I'll think about it, thanks."

Of course, he already knew who he was going to ask. It was no use asking Channy, since she was more into satyrs. In fact, since tenth grade, she had a satyr boyfriend, Basil. Basil had live skin and long black dreads and sleek black goat fur that he kept clipped pretty short, almost like a horse, just a little longer. He always had cool patterns shaved into the sides of his legs; like tattoos for goats.

No, he wouldn't ask Channy. He'd ask Norah.

Norah… a girl who was five feet tall with six feet of attitude. Her short dirty blonde hair was always so messy it was cute; she had mastered the 'out of bed' style perfectly. She had a tiny stud in her nose which made her so much more adorable, Noel thought.

Later, at about ten thirty, Noel went on Facebook to find Norah. Typing her name into the search bar, he felt his heart rate quicken a little. There! Norah Ethans. He clicked on the name and her timeline popped up. The cover photo was of her in front of some building; presumably in Europe. It looked… European. The smaller picture, her actual profile photo, looked like it was taken from inside an airplane.

Hey, do you wanna do something tmr?

Noel typed into the message box. He was lucky Norah was on at that moment.

sure, what were u thinkin?

well, my sis wants to go see a movie w/her bf and said I should come nd bring some1 along & I thought of u :)

After a few seconds, Norah answered.

sounds cool. Just pick me up whenevr ;)

awesome, c ya

c ya

He could not believe he just did that. He felt like he could take on the world, especially now. His heart still beating a mile a minute, Noel lay down on his bed, figuring it would be good to get at least some sleep before tomorrow.