A/N

Hey guys! Chapter 2 is up! It may seem like it's moving really fast, but I don't really have this story planned out...at all. So, yeah. Enjoy.

I shuffled down the hallway. The Annabeth Carter ruse was such a drab. My black wig was in a ballet-style bun on top of my head, I had my blue contacts in, and my uniform was regulation to perfection. Yawn. As I was walking, someone knocked the books out of my hands. I stumbled, and knelt down to retrieve them. Once they were in a neat pile again, I looked at the offender. Brown hair, tan skin. Dark eyes and freckles. Peter Johnson.

"What do you want, Johnson?" I asked quietly. He smirked.

"Still on last name basis, huh, Annie? I thought we were past that," he said, mock hurt. I resisted the urge to punch him.

"Leave me alone," I said, not meeting his gaze.

"What would be the fun in that?"

"I'm sorry. Please, stop being like...this," I mumbled. His eyebrows rose, and an expression of disbelief contorted his features.

"What? No way! You messed me up, Carter. You screwed with me, right in here," he pointed to his head, then his heart. "I think I deserve my revenge."

"And you've got it."

"Oh, no. See, you're going to love me, Carter. Then you'll know just a smidgen of how it felt, all those years ago. Sixth grade. Good times," a rueful smile twisted his lips.

"If you keep treating me like this, I'll never like you," I replied.

"That's how it works. The nerd falls for her bully. Isn't that how it goes in all your silly romance books?" He asked harshly.

"You don't know me," I whispered. A grin quirked one side of his mouth, and he leaned down so his face was right beside mine.

"And you don't know me. Because if you did, you wouldn't be quite so resistant," he muttered, before standing up and stalking off. Oh, my fake life. So fickle.

"Hey! Blondie! Long time no see!" I spun, fist cocked back. A guy with an orange bandana wrapped around his wrist lazily raised a hand in greeting. My eyes rolled.

"It's been a day," I said.

"24 hours without, that's pretty hard, sweetheart." I glared at him.

"I've got a boyfriend. Piss off," I snapped. His eyebrow quirked.

"I'm sure I'm better than your boyfriend. Who's the lucky guy?" He asked cockily. I smiled smugly at him.

"Castellan. Leader of the Titans," I answered. He flapped a hand.

"Him? Pfft. You can do so much better than the Titans, honey."

"Like the Half-Bloods? Yeah, right," I snorted. He raised an eyebrow.

"They took me in in my time of need. Maybe they can do the same for you."

"Ha. Then where were they in my time of need?"

"You know, I never got your name," he said airily.

"I never offered it. What about you, hotshot? Do you have a name?" I sent back.

"The names Jackson, sweetheart. Now, do you want me to keep up the pet names, or use your real name?" He offered, voice sickly sweet. I scowled at him.

"It's Chase." I ground out.

"You know, you remind me of someone," he called as I started walking away.

"Yeah? An old girlfriend of yours?"

"Nah. She wasn't good enough for me."

"That's modest," I observed dryly. He gave me a lopsided grin.

"Yeah, well. Going through what I have makes you appreciate stuff. You should learn sometime. I could teach you," he added, wiggling his eyebrows. I glared at him over my shoulder.

"In your dreams, Jackson," I scoffed.

"You will be!" He called after me. Jerk.

"Tell me what happens!" I called back, before turning down another side alley. I pulled out my phone. Normally, we gangs try to avoid phones, so the police can't pick up on us. But everyone had Luke on speed dial.

"Hello?"

"It's Chase. And I've got a name. Jackson," I told him. He didn't reply.

"Uh, hey?"

"Jackson," he repeated.

"Yeah," I said slowly.

"Oh, this is bad. This is really bad," he muttered.

"Lu-Castellan. Why is it bad?" I demanded.

"He's the second in command of the Half-Bloods. He's dangerous. He and I have...history. I'd advise staying clear."

"Sure, Castellan. I'll stay clear. If you tell me what's wrong with him."

"Chase...let's put it this way: his worst flaw is loyalty," Luke began. I frowned.

"Isn't that a good thing?" I asked.

"He would do anything for his gang. It's...dangerous, for someone like him."

"Someone like him?"

"His initiation was...messy. Why do you care so much?" Luke's question caught me off guard. Why did I care? The guy was in a rival gang, which should be enough for me to steer clear of him. But I was intrigued. I honestly didn't know why.

"I-I don't know," I murmured. I heard Luke sigh.

"Chase, I know our relationships' been rocky. But...just, don't fall for Jackson, okay? You'd get hurt."

"Why would you think that I'd fall for him? I hate him!" I fumed.

"He's the kind of guy you'd like."

"How would you know which guys I like? Besides, he's in a rival gang. It's not allowed," I argued.

"You know Calypso, right?" I did. She was a really beautiful girl who had been a top, popular student, and then for some mysterious reason, she'd joined our gang, started drugs and alcohol, and her life hit an ultimate bottom.

"What about her?" I asked.

"The reason she turned...bad is because of Jackson. He dissed her and dismissed her. He really hurt her," he said sadly. Calypso used to be a good friend of mine. Or, shall I say Annabeth.

"He must be an asshole," I agreed.

"That's too kind for him. He's not just a jerk, he's cruel. Ever since he joined the Half-Bloods."

"Well, I've got school, so I gotta go. See ya, Luke!" I hung up before he could scold me for using his real name. School time. Such fun!

"Hey, Annie!" Piper called, running up to me.

"Hey, Piper," I smiled. Piper was one of the few people outside the gang that knew about my situation.

"How you doing? We barely saw you yesterday!" Jason exclaimed, coming up beside Piper.

"Annnnd Beth finally decides to show up!" Leo crowed. I punched his arm.

"I had...uh, stuff," I mumbled. The grin dropped off his face.

"Oh, uh, crap. Sorry, I...uh, crap," he spluttered. I smiled faintly.

"It's okay. I had a fight with a Half-Blood." Leo whistled. Jason nudged him.

"Ooh, badass! How bad did you beat that shmuck?" I didn't reply. Leo's jaw dropped. "You...you lost?"

"Yes. I lost," I ground out.

"Who could beat you, Annie?" Piper asked gently. I scowled.

"The second command of the Half-Bloods, apparently. And he didn't even beat me graciously. It...he embarrassed me," I grumbled.

"A guy embarrassed you? Okay, I need to meet this miracle guy. Who is he?" Leo demanded.

"His names' Jackson. Black hair, green eyes. Tanned. I wonder if he's one of the students here," I pondered, glancing down the corridor.

"Jackson. That...actually rings a bell. Dunno from where, though," Jason mused.

"He's the reason why Calypso turned bad." Leo's face soured. He'd liked Calypso before the, uhm, incident, and he probably wanted to kill Jackson.

"I'll help you kill him," he said determinedly. Point proven.

"Leo, he beat Annie. He'd crush you," Piper reasoned. She could always calm people down.

"Uh oh. PJ alert," Jason muttered, his face tensed.

"Peanut butter and jelly?" Leo asked, confused. Jason shook his head, and nodded behind me. Leo and Piper's eyes widened. I glanced over my shoulder, and swore.

"Now now, Annie. That isn't a very nice thing to say," Peter remarked, joining our group. You know what? Forget the dumb quiet act.

"Your point, Peter?" I droned.

"You should respect your betters, Carter," he said, voice hardened.

"Like you respect me?" I asked incredulously.

"You don't know the half of what I go through, Carter. If you did-"

"I wouldn't be so resistant, yeah? Well, I think it's you who doesn't know what I've been through, Johnson. I'm sure it's worse than your tragic childhood," I snapped. His eyes narrowed, and he took a step closer to me, pinning my neck to the wall.

"Tragic doesn't even begin to describe it. You're right, I don't know you. But you don't know me, either. I wouldn't be so quick to judge what you don't know," he muttered, before giving me a final shove and walking away. I rubbed my neck, while the other three glared at his back.

"Jerk," Piper muttered.

"I swear, you two have the same conversation every time you talk," Jason said in awe. I stared at the space he'd just left.

"That's because he's so focussed on the past," I said.

"I don't get how you moved on so quickly."

"If I stayed stuck on the past for too long, I don't think I could cope with it." The sound of the bell rang through the hall. "I'd better be off." See you guys later."

I jotted down a few notes, yawning. English was probably my worst subject, since I was dyslexic. But that didn't stop me from getting A's. I saw a piece of paper land on my desk.

Talk to me. I'm bored

I grinned, and scrawled a short reply.

Pay attention, Malcolm, or you'll end up with Drew at McDonald's

He scowled when he saw that. Good riddance. Malcolm was one of my friends at Goode who didn't know about my gang life. It was refreshing, in a way, having someone who didn't constantly worry about your life.

Or I could be your assistant. Since you're obviously going to be some big-shot business owner

I raised my eyebrows, and scribbled back:

You could be, too. You're as smart as me. You're just lazy

Thanks, Annie. You really know how to cheer me up

You're welcome

Did we have bio homework?

My eyes rolled. He never remembered homework. Even though he was second in the class, he just didn't put in all the effort that he could.

Yeah. The write-up of the dissection, remember?

Ah, yes. The frog guts. Did she just say we had to finish our essay for tomorrow?

I glanced up at the teacher. She was writing on the board about homework.

"I expect you all to have completed your essays by tomorrow. You've already had the weekend to work on them." My eyes widened. I wasn't even halfway through.

Did she just say 'you had the weekend'? Does she think we have no lives? What the heck?

That's a lot of 'did she just say's. I'm not even halfway on the essay. Crud

Just then, the bell rang, announcing the end of the class. I waved at Malcolm, before picking up my bag and rushing off. Time for city patrol.

"Shut it, White."

"Whatever, Benvenuti. You know no one takes scouting missions seriously. Take Jackson and Tanaka, for instance."

"Yeah, but Jackson's second in command. He can make out with anyone, anywhere, anytime, and not get into trouble. We aren't second in command, so stop talking."

"Dare isn't gonna be happy. That's, what, the fourth, fifth girl he's got with since they started dating?"

"Probably more. Anyway, we're scouting. So for the last time-"

"Hey, guys, can you keep it down? You're disturbing me." I knew that voice.

"We're disturbing you? You guys are the ones kissing on a scouting mission-hey, that rhymed! Anyway, you're leaving me to talk to Benvenuti, and everyone knows how painful that is-"

"Dude, I'm doing you a favor. You can flirt without us two listening. No one's here, anyway." I stepped back, and my foot brushed an empty Coke can. I cursed silently.

"Hey, you hear that? No one's here my ass." I backed up, but the four Half-Bloods emerged from their hiding place. Jackson smirked.

"Well well well. Look what we have here," he said, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Cliché line," I observed.

"Who's this, Jackson? Another one of your, ah, flings?" A tan girl with brown hair asked.

"Not yet."

"Not ever. You're the one who ruined Calypso," I said, glaring.

"I didn't ruin her-"

"Can it, pendejo. You ruined her," the girl cut in again. I decided I liked this girl. Jackson gave her an exasperated look.

"Who's side are you on, Benvenuti?"

"Apparently not yours," I muttered. His gaze flashed to me.

"Do you want another beat down?" I shrugged.

"It's not like you actually hurt me." That was probably the wrong thing to say.

"You want pain? I can give you that." I took a step back, and hit the wall. I swore. A sinister grin curled his features.

"So. Where do you want me to start?" He asked.

I fought back. I landed a few punches, and one of my kicks hit with a snap. I don't really want to write about how badly he beat me, so I won't. I'll just tell you that I wouldn't have to worry about my essay tomorrow.

"That pain enough for you, Chase?" He asked, digging his elbow into my neck. I gasped in a breath.

"Pain? I didn't feel a thing," I spat, glaring.

"Do you need a repeat, or..." he trailed off threateningly. I shook my head, spluttering. He released me.

"Don't spy on my gang. Or a bruise won't be all you get." All that...that was to protect his gang? I mean, being loyal is good, don't get me wrong, but...that was cruel. I understood what Luke meant about it being a bad thing. I decided to open my mouth. Maybe I was delirious from the injuries. Maybe I was fed up with people pushing me around. Whatever reason, it was dumb.

"You know, it's funny how you beat up someone to protect your gang, yet you can't stay faithful to your girlfriend," I blurted. The other girl, who looked part Asian, snickered and looked to Jackson. He rolled his shoulders.

"Look, Chase. You can leave now, or I'm calling the rest of the gang. I'm assuming you know what that means." I nodded. I'd probably be killed if I hung around. I flashed a jaunty wave.

"Well, nice meeting you three! See ya, Jackson!" I called, before hobbling out of the alley with what little dignity I still had. Oh, gods. How was I going to explain this to mom?

"I'm home!" I called, wincing at the effort.

"Hi, honey. How wa-Annabeth?" My mom gasped, rushing over.

"It's...fine..." I mumbled.

"Annabeth Chase, you have multiple bruises, two black eyes, a bleeding nose, lip, and...oh my word. Is that a broken bone? What have you got yourself into, young lady?" I winced.

"Gang fight. Asshole second...in command. Beat me...for spying..." I choked out. Mom's eyes widened.

"Which gang?" She asked. My eyes drooped.

"The...Half-Bloods..." and then, as dumb and cliche as it is, I blacked out.

So, for those who didn't get it, the italics is Malcolm and Annabeth talking

I'm gonna start asking questions each chapter, and maybe I'll get more reviews. So, this chapters question:

Which one of the seven is your favourite? If you haven't read Heroes of Olympus, then what characters out of Thalia, Nico, Grover, Annabeth, Percy, Clarisse or the Stoll brothers?