Chapter 2:

Third Person (following Annabeth)

English ended rather quickly, and as soon as the bell rung, before Annabeth had time to react, Percy ran out of the room, like he was trying to avoid her. I'll just have to find him later, I guess she thought to herself, as she whipped out her schedule, checking what class she had next. She let out a sigh of relief and smiled to herself when she saw it was architecture. She was always crazy in love with architecture, and wanted to be a famous architect when she grew up. She always said she wanted to build something permanent, a monument that would last long after she dies. And she was confident she could. Architecture passed in a breeze, much to Annabeth's disappointment, as she made her way to physics. She was shocked to find that her teacher, Mrs. Haley, was already in the room waiting for her to come in as soon as the second bell rang.

"Annabeth Chase?" She asked in a cold voice.

"Yeah, I'm ne-"

"You're late" Mrs. Haley cut her off.

"Sorry" she muttered under her breath, not really meaning it. She didn't like her already.

"Because you're late, you may take the free seat in the back, next to Mr. Luke Castellan over there" Annabeth looked as Mrs. Haley pointed to the back of the room. She saw a tall, lean, kid with blonde hair and blue eyes, motioning her to sit next to him with a ridiculous smirk on his face. I don't like the feeling of this. She sat down, keeping her chair at the age of the table, as far away from Luke as possible, but of course he didn't get the message

"Hi beautiful" he said, sliding closer to her, "Why so shy? Don't be scared" he added as he slid his hand across the table, trying to take hers.

"You're the last thing I'll be scared of" she answered in a cold tone, pulling her hand back and giving him a glare, "Now please move".

"Feisty aren't ya? I like it" He said as he turned back to the board.

"You wish…" she whispered to herself.

The truth is she wasn't scared of him. Sure, judging by first looks, she had to admit Luke is a handsome guy. But looks don't mean everything to her. She's much smarter than that.

But she couldn't focus. From Luke trying to mess with her every other second and her thoughts constantly bringing up Percy, she simply couldn't focus. She couldn't understand why he was so worried. It's not like he's bad looking or anything. Crap! What am I thinking? Focus, Chase, Focus! Annabeth raised her hand so Mrs. Haley can see her. She needed a break.

"Yes, Mrs. Chase?"

"May I go to the bathroom?"

"Yes," Mrs. Haley replied, "But make it quick"

She nodded and left the room. She just needed to wash her face, get some cold water to drink, and refocus. She wasn't normally like this, not even in San Francisco, where a lot of guys tried to hit on her. She never lost focus and finished the year with perfect grades. She was determined to do the same here.

She walked over to the water cooler when she saw him. Knees bent to his chest, head tilted down, and hoodie pulled over his head. This isn't normal, she thought to herself. She silently walked over to him, kneeling next to him

"Percy?" she asked in nearly a soft, caring tone. Percy's looked up at her slowly, and Annabeth saw his eyes were still a small shade of red from earlier, but he looked better, but that didn't say much.

"What is it?" He asked, rubbing his eyes, "What do you want? I already told you I'm fine"

"You don't seem fine. I saw in English this morning. You didn't look good" She looked at him as she spoke, but Percy had trouble taking his gaze off the floor tiles, "Look, I just want to help you, ok? I'm worried that something's bothering you." This wasn't normal teenage behavior, and she knew it. "Please, just let me try and help you, ok?"

He looked up from the floor, meeting her eyes for the first time. His eyes are beautiful…wait, what? Snap out of it Annabeth, come on! Stay focused! She thought to herself. "Why do you care so much?" He asked after a slight silence. "What's in it for you?"

She didn't understand why he was so protective, so closed and worried. You barely know him Annabeth, jeez, she thought to herself again. She brushed it off, "You just…you look sad. And…And I'm worried you might be holding something." He turned his eyes away from her. She thought she may have just hit the spot, "Please, Percy. Just let me help you. Please?" she pleaded to him. She wouldn't be able to sleep at night if she knew she left someone in pain, and she didn't do anything while she could. And she COULD do something. She just had to convince that idiot that she was trying to help him. "Please, just let me help you. Just talk to me. When school ends; the front gate. Meet me there. Then you'll tell me. Ok?" As harsh as it sounded, she had to try and convince him.

"But I-"

"No buts. Please?" she pleaded again

"Ugh" he groaned, "…fine".

Percy's POV:

What the heck? Did I just agree?

No. I didn't. I wasn't going to meet her, I just wanted her to leave. But I wanted her to stay. How does she make me feel like this? I was torn. It was like my brain was split in half. One wanted me to let Annabeth in, to let her know what I felt. I just felt, I don't know, different next to her. Like I was ready to let all my insecurities go, and just be the old me again. And it didn't make it any better that she was really, really hot.

The other was warning me. Reminding me of Luke, of sophomore year, of the emotional breakdowns and the sleepless nights that kept me home for a week. I wouldn't let it happen again.

I couldn't tell her…Or could I? Could I trust her? "Damn it, Perce, of course you can't trust her! You don't know her! She can't know!"

"Don't ditch on me or I'll kick your butt" she said and punched my arm playfully, with a small smile that made one half of my new dual-personality-brain melt. I hate to admit it, she was really strong for a girl.

"Whatever" I said back

"I'll see you later then" She stood up and disappeared down the hallway.

And I was alone. Again…

A/N: I know, I know, this chapter was really short. But i realized I may have put a little bit too much into chapter 1 and didn't want to go overboard, so I used this to set up the rest of the chapters.

Hope you enjoyed!