Chapter 1

Percy leaned up against the truck. He did not want to be here. His parents had forced him to leave his school (not his biggest complaint), his friends, his girlfriend, and the swim team, all to come to this little dump of a village. And, what's more, they weren't even in the village. They were on a hill that looked out over the valley, which the village was so coyly hidden in.

Percy looked around. His eyes rested on the old mansion next to him. A small shiver was sent down his spine. A sensation of someone watching him slowly crept across his mind.

He tried not to think about it and looked down at his phone. Incoming Call: Rachael Dare. He sighed. It was his girlfriend. He put the phone to his ear.

"Hey, Rachael," he said, obviously not really wanting to talk. Rachael didn't seem to catch that.

"Hey, babe," she said, her sickly sweet voice echoing through the speaker. "I called to see how you were doing and... If you've got Phase One of the plan done."

Percy shook his head, even though he knew Rachael couldn't see it. "Look, Rachael. When we formed the plan, we didn't know that the nearest airport would be sixty miles away. There's barely any place that I could get a job here, let alone make enough money for a plane ticket. I know you wanted me to come back, but it looks like I'm stuck here."

"But Percy!" whined Rachael. "I'll have no one to go to the End-of-the-Year School Dance with!"

"I'm sure you'll find someone," Percy said shortly, hanging up.

He was tired of Rachael always getting her way. Yeah, she was super nice, and really cute, too, but she was spoiled. She took everything for granted, including Percy.

His phone buzzed. New text: Grover Underwood.

Hey, man. I got some bad news, it read.

Percy texted back.

What, did Rachael find a date to the dance already?

Grover's reply was immediate.

Whoa! I thought you were coming back! Remember the plan?

Percy sighed.

There's no way, Grover. Not now. So, this bad news...?

Grover's text seemed to take longer than normal.

Uh, well... I'm sorry, Perce, but Coach Duncan... Well, he sort of found... A new person for the team.

Percy caught his breath. It had been three days. Three days. Was one weekend all that his swim team needed to find somebody else?

You mean I've been replaced? Already?

He knew what the answer would be before it came.

Yeah, man. Look, I'm really sorry. I tried to convince him to wait, but he wouldn't listen. But don't worry, nobody's ever gonna live up to your standards. It's impossible.

Percy blinked a few times. He didn't get upset about many things, but this? This was just too much. Of course, he couldn't let Grover know that.

It's okay, G-Man. I'll talk with you later, okay?

Percy put his phone down and looked up at the sky. Grover had been his best friend since they were eleven. Grover was socially awkward when they met, but Percy had coaxed him out of his shell.

It wasn't that Grover wasn't popular, though. Their school didn't do the whole popularity levels thing. Everyone was accepted, though some people had more friends than others.

That's one of the reasons Percy missed his school so much. He didn't see why his parents had to move in May. There was one freakin' month until the school year was over. But they couldn't wait to move out here to Summerville, New Hampshire, where there were only forty kids (or less) in each grade, because it was the only school around and kids came from towns up to thirty miles away. Where the school was grades K-12, because the town couldn't afford more than one educational program. Where they didn't even have a public pool.

He looked at the mansion again, and something caught his eye. He held his breath. In one of the windows was a face. It's features were blurry, because in between the mansion and his house there was a field, but he was certain of some things. It was a girl. She had blonde hair, that was curled in waves and was somewhat tangly. Her blue eyes were sharp and clear, and she was looking straight at him.

Percy blinked, and the face was gone. He shook his head. "I... I just imagined it," he whispered to himself. "I'm hallucinating."

As the day progressed, though, all Percy could think about were those intense blue eyes that seemed to see straight into his soul. And that told him more than anything that it was not a hallucination.

And so, this is the first chapter!

Did you like it? Hate it? Want to throw a pie at it? Let me know by reviewing!

Okay, so, maybe I should have explained this better: I did not make a mistake about Annabeth having blue eyes instead of gray, it's a huge part of the story.

Sorry about not being clear:)

-Rebel