Hi guys! So, I have taken into account the reviews that you have sent me and I have decided to reply on here:

Percibeth: Thank you so much for both of the comments, I like my name too!

Teacuppup: Don't worry, there will be no Thalico, I like Solangelo too. I just haven't got around to introducing Will yet.

Baconisluf: Thank you for the tip. As requested, the chapters will be longer from here on out, I just rushed to introduce both of the characters before the story really got going. Let me know if this one is long enough!

Thanks to you guys for reviewing, keep them coming!

Chapter 3

Percy's POV

I couldn't believe that Connor would do something like that! It was totally unlike him to have a full on fight with a bigger dude. He was more the type to make fun of the dude and taunt him with witty remarks, then dodging whatever blows came, or just down right hiding in the shadows and pranking the guy with his brother. So for him to be fighting is a big development. I thought back to the girl they were "fighting over", Katie Gardner. She was pretty and funny, I could instantly see what the younger Stoll saw in her. When I say younger, it's really just a matter of minutes, but yes, Travis is five minutes older than Connor, so he is the youngest Stoll in effect. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen Trav today, I wondered where he was. Just then, Connor swayed more violently. Beck had cleared a pretty good path to the school building for us, but Connor wasn't making the trip easier. I adjusted him to get a better grip before pushing on to the nurse's room. The kids around us dispersed, and we breathed a sigh of relief. It was hard being popular, I know that sounds awful and snobby but I don't mean it to. We, as the "populars" are role models for the other students. We are expected to get good grades, perform well for our various teams and clubs, help the other kids out if they were in trouble academically or socially (this was because we were the nice guys, not like that douche Luke) and it was just so exhausting! We felt like we didn't really come across as ourselves anymore due to all of the stereotyping and judging by the other kids. It made it hard to make different friends, like, we couldn't get too friendly with the "geeks" because they would get bullied for being noticed, and we would be judged to be geeks ourselves. Not that there is anything wrong with geeks, I just hate being put into a box, be it popular, jock, geek, nerd, whatever, I just didn't want it. Being popular just isn't all it's cracked up to be. Ok, now that I've come across as a complete jackass and snob, I focused on Connor. He looked faint and there was blood streaming down the left side of his face. A lovely bruise was beginning to blossom on the right side of his jaw and there was a nasty looking scrape on his forehead. That, too, was beginning to drip with blood. He grinned manically, his eyes trained on me briefly. "Percy! Haven't seen you in ages bro!" He said, still grinning.

"Connor, we saw each other last week at your place." I told him exasperatedly (see, not just any jock could use that word, told you I was fairly smart). "Where is Travis anyway?" I questioned. His face fell. "Um, well, he's a bit under the weather..." He began, but quailed under my glare, I had been working on it over summer. It warned people to cut the crap and either get out of my way or start talking straight, depending on who the person was. "Ok, Luke broke his leg because he was talking to Katie while Luke was working. We were just chatting and then Katie was there asking Trav about the Geography homework they got for over summer, which was a presentation on volcanoes by the way, did you do it? You're in their class right?"

"Connor! You're babbling! Tell the story!" I yelled, putting a restraining arm on Beck, who already showed signs of going to find Luke and turn him into a pancake. I could understand the feeling, but I wanted to know the full story first.

"Ok, so Luke came out of the shop and asked Trav what he was doing and Travis said he was, and I quote this here, talking to a great girl about school work so could Luke please get the f# k out of here. And Luke didn't take kindly, it got heated and then Luke insulted mom. Travis snapped, but Luke's buddies came over and started whaling on him. I tried to run over but one of them stopped me." Connor had a tear rolling down his cheek now. Me and Beck were shaking with rage. I was so tempted to go and find Luke and all of his cronies and beat the living s# t out of them, but I didn't. I wanted to play this smart. There was no reason for us to get expelled or anything over this. We would get our revenge, and I realised exactly how. "Beck," I said to the hulking figure beside me. "I don't want you to go after Luke, I know, I want to kill him too," I added as he opened his mouth and made to protest. "Look, we'll get him back, have you not realised who the captain of the football team is?" I questioned and a look of realisation dawned upon his face. He grinned, and I resolved to make try outs interesting this year.

We dropped Connor off with the nurse, who had some very strong words to say about the matter. "Fighting!" she screamed "Fighting already! I can see I'm going to have my work cut out for me this year!" We left, uttering excuses and profound apologies as she began to patch Con up.

As we rounded the corner to enter homeroom we faced a lot of people. Like, a lot. Then I realised who they were and my face split into a huge smile. "Guys!" I cried "It's been too long!" and me and Beck jogged down the corridor to our friends. On my way I passed a group of girls, "Oh hi Thals." I said as I ran on. Her friends giggled as my cousin waved cheerfully back. I noticed one of them looked familiar. Blonde hair, glasses. The same girl I almost ran over this morning. The same girl who called me a jackass. I stopped and reversed, backpedalling, earning some confused looks from my friends who had moved forward to greet me and Beckendorf. "Hi," I said to her. She didn't meet my eyes as she responded.

"Ummm, hi?" she offered. Dam, up close, she was pretty, really pretty. Not many girls could make a faded Harry Potter sweater, a Hades load of books and glasses look cute, but she did. Snap out of it Perce! She's Thalia's friend! Thalia would totally hate me if I asked her out anyway, and I barely even knew her. All the more reason to stick around, I thought. No! I couldn't do that to Thals. Poor Thals, who was liked by barely anyone, I couldn't risk crewing up one of her only friendships. I could change that though. Back to the conversation Percy! I glanced at her again, and realised that she had looked up and was studying me with amazing, piercing grey eyes. They matched her sweater. "Look," I said, "I..." she was looking at me again, and I got lost in her eyes.

"Yes?" she prompted.

"I... I'm sorry for... Foralmosthittingyouwothmybiketoday." I rushed out. Her eyes widened.

"That was you?" she stammered, paling. Why was she paling?

"Hey Perce, you coming or what?" Beck and Jason called from down the hall. Saved by the idiots, remarkable.

"Yeah sure, be right there!" I hollered back, "Hey Thals, why don't you and your friends come sit with us at lunch? The field should be open today, it's good weather." She nodded, evidently pleased. "Ok great, meet us by the big tree nearest the football posts, you know, the one with your naaaame carved into it." I teased and then took off to see my friends.

"So Perce, who was that you were going all googly eyed over?" Teased my cousin Jason. He was a little shorter than me and had the same build. The major difference was our facial features. Blonde hair and blue eyes for him, black hair and sea-green eyes for me. "No one dude," I lied "Just apologising to her because I nearly ran her over on the way to school today, that's all." The girls, Piper McLean, Hazel Lévesque, Selina Beauregard and Reyna Ramirez Arellano sighed and awed at my "romantic gesture", as Piper put it. Piper was a cool girl, head of the cheerleaders and pep team, but not a girly girl, like Drew Tanaka. Piper was beautiful and liked clothes and all, but she didn't walk around with her face plastered in make-up. Piper was dating Jason and they had a great thing going, they went well together. She had dark, choppy hair that she usually braided and wore simple clothing that made her look both amazing and down to earth, she was a great girl, I'm happy Jason got so lucky. "Oh come on Percy, we all noticed how flustered you got back there." Hazel chipped in. She was Frank's girlfriend although she was a year younger than us. But she fitted in well and we liked her so we didn't care. "Yeah Percy, we aren't idiots you know." Remarked Reyna drily. Reyna was going out with Connor, surprisingly. None of us saw it coming either, but she kept him in line, so she immediately earned our respect after transferring from Spain. "Honestly guys, it was nothing, just a bit off after what happened to Connor." The lie worked and sobered them up immediately. "How is he?" Reyna asked, concern flashing across her usually neutral face.

"He's ok, sort of." I answered, choosing my words carefully, one wrong move could mean the world of bad news to them. "He was trying to make a joke out of it, but he may have a slight concussion, that's all."

"No he's not!" Beck said, and I groaned, "He was bruised and rip-" He cut himself off as Reyna's face morphed into a picture of sadness. "I'm kidding guys!" He amended weakly. Only Reyna bought it, she was distressed enough to accept what would be the worst joke ever if it meant that Connor would be fine. Selina, Charles' girlfriend and Piper's sister, sighed and put her hand on his shoulder. "He'll be fine Rey, Connor's tougher than you give him credit for." She said soothingly. "Yeah," said Piper "just relax a bit ok?" Those two sure have a way with words, they calmed me down and I didn't even feel stressed. "Remember those hits he took in football last year?" she added. Me and the guys winced at that. We had been playing our closest rivals in the league, Brooklyn Badgers, and they had got Connor hard. I mean, they got all of us, the guys were over six feet and built like Beck. We were mauled. But Connor took the worst. He got the ball and two of them came from opposite sides and hit him with a spear tackle. It nearly broke the kid in half. I swear that Connor walks funny because of it even now, a year later. Somehow, we won the game, but only by a touchdown in the last second, thrown by yours truly to Jason. One of our all time bro bonding moments. That and the awesome party at the Stolls' afterwards, I'm pretty sure everyone came. Everyone except a particular blonde girl...