Annabeth POV

I was shaken at the fact that I could remember my mom. She's been dead for so long, that I don't even remember the sound of her voice, the smell of her perfume, what it felt like to be held by her. The only reason that I know what she looks like are the numerous pictures that are in the family photo albums at home. My dad doesn't like to look at them anymore, but I love to, because it gives me a chance to get to know my mom. It lets me see what she was like when she was still alive, and I could see more of her than just the tombstone that resides in the cemetery across town. But this was the first time that I remember seeing her from my own perspective. I remember us at the beach, she's looking beautiful, with the wind blowing her hair into a mess, sand all over, but she looks so beautiful. I remember seeing her face zoom out, and then rush back close, the action repeatedly, and then I remember that she's tossing me into the air and catching with me. She's smiling the entire time and it makes me feel so happy that it hurts that I can finally remember what she's like. And I have the boy that's across the room to thank for that.

He's still standing at the front of the classroom, Mr. Blofis introducing him. I see him looking around, taking in the different people around the room. Everyone's either on their phones, or talking to someone else. It seemed like I was the only one interested in meeting the new kid.

"All right, Percy, just find an empty seat and sit there. You guys are going to be moving around in a few minutes anyways."

"Thanks, Paul." I see him wince before saying, "Sorry, force of habit."

Why would Percy have a habit of calling a teacher by their first name? Did they know each other outside of school? Either way, I watched as Percy took the only open seat, which was to the right of me. He sat down, and Mr. Blofis looked around the room.

"All right, I think that you guys get the gist of what I'm saying. I don't want to bore you guys to death with a syllabus. So, we're going to do a little activity. You will all come up here and pick a number out of the hat, and find the person with that same number." Nobody moved from their seats. "C'mon, get up, that's the point of this exercise."

The sudden scraping of desks and chairs was deafening as everybody started to move around, and moved towards the front of the room, where a crowd was forming. One by one, everyone took a number from the top hat in Mr. Blofis's hand. When I grabbed my slip of paper, I unfolded it and saw the number 63 on it. Looking around the room, I saw everybody pairing up, except for Percy, who was sitting at his desk and was staring at a piece of paper. When did he get his slip of paper? He didn't have it before he sat down, or did he? He might've gotten it from Mr. Blofis as he walked to his desk.

I went back to my desk and sat down, looking for anybody else that didn't have a partner. I glanced at Percy, and I saw his slip of paper. 63 was written on the paper in the same black ink that was on mine. I reached over and tapped his shoulder, and he trained his green eyes on my gray ones.

"I think that we're supposed to be partners." I said, showing him my slip of paper

"Cool. As stated by Paul, I'm Percy." He said

"I'm Annabeth. Why do you call Mr. Blofis by his first name?" I asked

I saw his cheeks turn slightly pink, and he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "Oh, that. Um, he's kinda my step-dad."

Well that wasn't what I was expecting. I thought that they just might have known each other outside of school. Well, I wasn't wrong, I just wasn't expecting that they knew each other because Mr. Blofis married Percy's mom.

"Oh, that's cool." I said, not really knowing what else to say

"Yeah, it is actually. He's a really awesome guy, and I'm really happy my mom found him. It's actually kind of funny how it happened. He was my English teacher at my last school in the City, but he was also teaching my mom night classes so that she could get her college degree. Let's just say that she got extra credit in more than one way."

Oooookay, too much information. I made a disgusting face, and Percy laughed.

"What about you? Who're your parents?" He asked

My mood dropped slightly. "My dad is a history teacher at West Point. He's… um… not really around a lot, and when he is, he's not really that talkative. My mom died when I was little. I don't really have any memories of her."

"I'm sorry. I never met my father. He was a fisherman, and he set sail one day, never to return. Neither my mom nor I know what happened to him but she hasn't heard from him since."

So he knows what it's like to grow up with only one biological parent too. It sucked for me, because my dad doesn't love me the way that he should, so I can only see green. Not that I'm really complaining right now, because that means that I can see Percy's eyes, but other than that, seeing in one color sucks. It's painful to know that there is a whole world of beauty out there, and only being able to see the tiniest part of it, it hurts more than any pain that I've ever felt.

I just wished that I could remember the love that my mom had for me, so that way I could at least see in another color. If I were able to remember what my mom was like, that would open a whole new world to me. I wouldn't be limited to seeing the grass, trees, nature, only a part of the Northern Lights. I wanted more than anything to be able to see in red, blue, or yellow. I wanted that to happen more than anything.

"I'm sorry you never knew your dad. It's painful knowing that there was someone who loved you unconditionally, and to have them be gone before you ever have a chance to know them." I said

"What's your colors?"

Wow. That came out of nowhere. Here I was thinking that this guy might be different from everyone else, but then he goes and brings up which colors I can or can't see. The smile fell from my face, and I looked down towards my feet. I debated whether or not to answer the question. On one hand, if I told him, then he would know about my inability to see color, but on the other hand, if I didn't tell him, then he would think that I didn't want to talk to him, and he would think that I'm some stuck-up person.

"I'm sorry."

Wait, did he just say that he was sorry?

"I shouldn't have asked, that was rude. It shouldn't matter what colors you can see." He said

"Then why'd you ask?"

I couldn't tell, but he actually looked ashamed. "I can only see blue. Every school that I went to, I was always made fun of because I can't see any other color. I just- I was wondering if you were going to be one of those people. I didn't want to start talking to you, and at the end of the day have you start making fun of me because I can't see the color of your hair."

He was scared. He had the same problem that I did. He wanted people to accept him for who he was, unable to see anything other than blue. We weren't too different, he could just see in a primary color, and I could only see in a secondary. I know it wasn't right, but I felt a little jealous of him, having someone that loved him enough that he could see blue. Why was I the only one that nobody loved enough? Maybe I was just unlovable. Maybe I was just meant to go through life alone, seeing the color green for the rest of eternity. Maybe I- there was someone shaking my arm.

"Hey, you okay? You kind of zoned out there for a minute." Percy said

"Yeah, sorry, I'm okay. I just- I feel the same way. I cna only see green. Ever since I was a kid, people treated me differently. The looks of pity when they found out that I can't see colors, the times that I failed art class because I would only draw with a green crayon, I've always been treated differently. I understand what that's like."

He looked back towards me, not with pity, but with something else. I don't know what it was, but for the very first time, someone wasn't looking at me as if I had some great tragedy in my life. He looked at me like any other human being should look at me. For the rest of the period, we just talked about random things, like what our favorite foods were, favorite colors, that kind of thing. I learned that he loved his mother more than anything in the world. He didn't say it outright, but from the things that he said about her, he thought she was the best person in the world. It was clear that he adored his mother. From the time that she made him his first blue birthday cake, to the time that she bought him his first skateboard after saving a couple paychecks. Sally Jackson sounded like the best person that you could ever find.

It just made it hurt all the more knowing that I was probably the only person out there whose parent doesn't love them enough to give them the joy of seeing in a primary color. To know that there were such great people such as Sally Jackson in the world, and to be stuck with Frederick Chase hurt.

I didn't get to sink too far into my thoughts, though, because the next minute, the bell is ringing and everybody is scrambling to pick their things up and go to their next class. I saw Percy getting up, and I realized that I didn't want this to end, the time that I had with Percy. For once, someone was allowing me in instead of pushing me away for being different. Now, because the school day had to continue, that had to end. I saw Percy give me a smile and a wave before he put his earbuds in and walked out of the classroom. After I saw him go, I pulled out my schedule and start heading to my next class, which I wasn't sure if I was looking forward to now that I had someone worth talking to.

Percy POV

As I left the classroom, I saw the look of disappointment on Annabeth's face. Believe me, I didn't want to leave her and the conversation we were having anymore than she did. But school was forcing us to split apart and we had no choice but to go to our next classes. I just hope that I have more than just that class with her. It would be a shame if I were only able to see her first thing in the morning.

I look at my schedule to see that my next class was Guitar. I started to head back towards the front of the school, going down the hallway to the classroom behind the auditorium. When I walked in, I saw there were a variety of different kids there, ranging from kids who looked like they were just here for another class, and those that looked like they've been around instruments all their lives. And me? Well I was hoping to learn how to play. I remember one time when I was little, there was this guy playing his guitar in Grand Central Station, where my mom worked at a candy shop. Anyways, this guy was always playing his guitar, and it always fascinated me to see his fingers work up and down the frets, creating beautiful melodies. When I saw that Guitar was a class that I could take, I immediately told my guidance counselor that I wanted to take it. Now that I was here, I was just waiting for the teacher to show up and start teaching us the fine art of playing the guitar.

I saw him walk in, and I glanced at my schedule to see that his name was Mr. Adwin. This guy looked like he had just graduated himself. The guy couldn't have been older than twenty-five, had bright blue eyes, blonde hair. He looked like he was your typical surfer guy, tan and everything.

"Hey guys, so I'm Mr. Adwin, and I'll be your guitar teacher for the year. I'm not going to bother with a syllabus, because there's really no need for one. We'll have a quiz about every two weeks, and you'll all get a book that you can bring home to practice with a guitar if you own one. So rather than going over boring syllabuses, I'll assign you your books, and we'll start learning."

And that's what we did. We spent the next forty minutes getting our books, and then learning all about the high E and B strings. Now I know that learning guitar will take time, but for a first lesson, that was boring. Just playing on two strings wasn't really learning much, but yet again, it was a first lesson. I guess that I'll just have to be patient to get to the interesting things about it.

I looked at my schedule yet again, and saw that my next class was Geometry on the other side of school. You've gotta be shitting me. I had to push my way through the crowds of people, heading down the long strip of hallway that held the entrance to the cafeterias and then the gym farther along. Another right and up a staircase, and I'm at my classroom with a minute to spare before the bell rings.

As I walk in, I see that my hopes were answered, and Annabeth Chase is sitting in the back of the room, reading a book, with a clear ring of desks around her. I didn't think about it, but now that I am, kids must be pretty cruel to her. She can only see the color green, and I know what that had to mean about her home situation. She said absolutely nothing about her home life, but I knew that if she could only see in green, then it didn't mean anything good. And if the rest of the kids knew that she can only see green, I can only imagine the bullying that she's gone through in the past couple years. But just because everyone in this school were a bunch of stuck-up pricks, that didn't mean that I had to.

Crossing the room, I sat down in the desk next to hers, and I saw her look up from the book that she was reading, and I saw that her expression immediately brightened. It felt nice knowing that my presence was making her feel better. It made me happy knowing that I finally might find a friend in this fucked up reality that I call life.