I've had this written for a while now. I had plans to start an entire new series, using this as chapter one. Except I'm terrible at anything other than one shots, (See The Meetings at the Mall) for proof. So I've adjusted it to make it a one-shot from Percy's POV. I left a lot of things open or somethings that can be expanded on, on purpose for no other reasons than I wanted to. I just felt it would be better to have the relationship between Annabeth and Percy stay ambiguous for this fic. After all, this is a compilation of ways they met, not all of them are gonna end in them getting together or something. Although if I ended up making a part two, for the next day, where they end up touring New York, I'd probably make them get together. Anyway I like this how it is, and I probably won't make another part to it. Although I definitely feel like it would be good. ;) Anyway, nonetheless, I hope you enjoy. Please REVIEW, to let me know what you think. P.S, I've currently been uploading a lot recently, and I have no idea why, but it's usually been a lot of Stranger Things fic, which isn't the normal PJATO stuff I do. But nonetheless I think you should check it all out anyway since, I'm currently in this Stranger Things stage right now and I'm not sure when I'm leaving it. Oh well, basically just enjoy this fic, and check out my other one please. Thanks!

Words w/out AN: 5924

Pairing(s): Percabeth

I am not Rick, so I own nothing.

Anything for Science

It's 11:00 am. It's Monday morning. It's the first day of school.

And Percy was tired.

You could say he was definitely not a morning person. He spent the previous night, and even the entire summer vacation pre-studying, as he liked to call it. It's where he would read over the work he was supposed to do during the next year, that way when he was taught the subjects the following year, he would be familiar with it. So yeah he was too busy pre-studying to hang out with friends during the summer.

Not that he had too many friends, but that's not the point.

He had some friends he could rely on, he had his family. There was Grover, his best friend since the first grade. There were his cousins, Nico and Thalia. He's known them since diapers. He can remember when he was younger, back to a time when things were good, when things were great. They all would play together at the beach, swimming, playing in the sand, having fun. And last but definitely not least, there was his mom. Sure you could call him weird for having his mom as a friend, it's not like everyone at school already thinks he's weird. But she was the best person in the world. She was someone you could talk to, if you were sad or mad. She never got mad at Percy, even if he did something stupid, which was most of the time. She's endured a lot of things, and she did it all for Percy. All so he could have a better life. So Percy was thankful, thankful for this wonderful person in his life he could call his mom.

She's one of the main reasons Percy is how he is. Sure, he barely has any friends, sure he actually tries in school. And he does well too. But in the end it's all worth it to him, when he comes home, with good grades, and a loving mother who says she's proud of him.

So, he may be tired, on a Monday morning, but he reminds himself again and again, once he completes high school with exceptional grades. Once he gets a career that pays well enough for himself and his mom. Then being tired every morning for the rest of his high school life would be worth it.

So anyway, it was 11:00 am, school started at 9:00 am. He wasn't late or anything, he got to school on time, but the first couple hours of his day were so boring. Sure he got to meet the teachers that would be teaching him, but he's been at the high school for three years already, he was their star student. He had the highest grades in the school, he didn't want to brag or anything, but with the amount of work Percy put in, he wasn't surprised when he found out. So his first and second period classes weren't anything special. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. It's only the first day, but he could see himself falling into a routine.

Wake up. Eat breakfast. Walk to school. Have Luke or one of his cronies harass him in the morning. Simultaneously, die of boredom and take perfect notes in first period. Rinse and repeat for second period, third period and even fifth period. But in between third and fifth was something special.

He had lunch.

Forty minutes to do whatever he pleased. Whether it's sit with his friends and study, or sit alone and study, or maybe even just studying. And unsurprisingly, just as quickly as it came, the idea of free time was instantly engulfed by the responsibilities in his life. Maybe after school, or even on the weekends, he could do something different to deviate from this path that he's set up for himself.

Or maybe he'd just study.

Now, he wasn't expecting period three to be any different from period one or two. He'd been hoping that this period would stick to the plan he'd set up and just be uninteresting, like all of his other classes. But Percy guessed you couldn't really expect her. With her honey, blonde hair that cascaded down her back in princess curls. Or her stormy, grey eyes that seemed to be scanning everything in the room, seemed to be holding a determined, intelligent glint in them. Percy felt he could go on, describing her tanned skin, or athletic figure. But when she looked around the room, and she locked eyes with him, him of all people! Percy felt nervous.

If anything, she should be the one that was nervous, she was obviously new, since Percy had never seen her before. And being in new places, surround by new people, who were all staring at her, mind you, could be a scary and nerve wracking experience.

But no, Percy was scared, nervous, terrified even. Not to mention he was horribly inexperienced when it came to talking to girls. And yeah they were probably going to talk sometime in the next minute or so, since she was gracefully weaving her way through the mass of desks and students, eyes still locked with Percy, as she took one of the available seats beside Percy.

Her sitting beside him was even more of a shock than her even bothering to take the time to look at him. There were so many other open seats. But she decided to take the one right next to him, smack-dab in the front of the classroom. Now Percy has had his fair share of crushes, he'd even managed to get himself a girlfriend a while ago. Albeit, they were over now, but still, just being around someone of the opposite sex, someone as pretty as her, was slightly overwhelming and definitely intimidating. Sure he was around Thalia almost everyday, but she was his cousin. His family. If anything she was more like an older brother to him anyway.

"Are you gonna say something? Or are you gonna continue gaping, like a fish out of water." The girls said with a teasing smirk.

And that was the tipping point.

Actually the tipping point was her gorgeous, blonde hair and the fact that she actually looked at Percy, but her melodic voice made it oh-so much better. Sure she just called him a gaping fish out of water, but that was just a minor detail. Her soothing voice was practically music to his ears. And if this perfect mystery girl wasn't cliché enough, Percy didn't know what cliché was. He half expected someone to jump out and scream 'SIKE' and every trace that she'd ever existed would disappear. But there was no camera man. There wasn't any mystery T.V show host. But there was still this mystery girl beside him.

"I'll take your silence as a no, then." The words flowed from the girl's mouth. "And wipe your mouth, you're drooling a little bit." The girl turned back in her seat and pulled her started pulling her books from her bag.

Percy subconsciously wiped the side of his mouth with the back of his hand. Appalled to not find any drool on his hand, he looked up at the girl, shocked. "I was not drooling!"

She smirked again, and without even looking up she said, "Check the other side of your mouth."

Percy wiped the other side of his mouth. Again, appalled, but this time because he actually found drool there. So it turns out he was actually drooling, not a big a surprise, since whenever Percy wakes up, his pillow is soaked. But slightly mortifying since this pretty girl had managed to catch him in the act of drooling.

Percy wiped his hand on his pant leg and turned towards the girl and muttered. "Whatever. It wasn't even that much drool."

She laughed in response and turned back to him. "I don't know about that." She said. "It seemed like quite a bit."

Percy, as mortified as he was about having a conversation about his drool with this girl, managed to speak out. "Can we please stop talking about my drool?"

The girl laughed and checked her watch, "Well, we have three minutes until class starts. What do you want to talk about? Since you've banned you're drool from being a topic."

Percy huffed in response, trying to control the raging blush he most definitely had crawling up his neck. "Well for starters we could talk about ourselves. Hi, I'm Percy."

He extended an arm, but quickly retracted it after remember it had previously be slothered in drool. She seemed to notice this and laughed again. Percy inwardly smirked, for being able to maintain a conversation with her without stuttering and for being able to make her laugh so many times.

"Hi, I'm Annabeth. Annabeth Chase."

"I'm assuming you're new. I haven't seen you around the school before."

"Yeah," She replied with a nod, "I just moved here with my dad from California."

"Oh that's cool, it gets a lot colder up here in New York, so you should be prepared for that."

"I am. I have, like, an endless supply of sweaters in my closet. I am prepared for the cold."

Their conversation flowed on from there. There was hardly ever a lull or stop. Sure Annabeth and him could only talk for a couple minutes before class until it started, then Percy tuned into 'Work Percy,' but Percy had fun during their conversation nonetheless. Percy was so absorbed in their conversation, that when the start of class bell rang, and he looked away from Annabeth and around at the classroom, he was shocked to see almost the entire class staring at him. And they were all looking back at him, shocked expressions on their faces too. Was it that uncommon, to see Percy actually enjoying himself? Rather than studying or doing his work?

The teacher walked into the class and started to introduce himself, he went over the expectations for the class, and a lot more stuff too. Of course Percy already knew all of this, since his previous teachers had all said something along the same lines. And Percy was almost positive, that this class would've been just as boring as the others, if not, more so, if it wasn't for a certain blonde that knew how to make him laugh.

After class he waited at the exit for Annabeth, she was still packing her things into her bag. She walked over to him and smiled.

"Hey." She said.

"Hi." He smiled back. "I was wondering if you wanted to sit with me and my friends at lunch today?"

Her smile quickly turned into a frown. "Oh," She said, "I'd love to, but I'm going out for lunch with my dad."

Percy's smile never wavered. "That's alright. Tomorrow maybe?"

Annabeth grinned again. "Yeah, sure thing." She started to walk towards one of the exits of the school. She called over her shoulder, "I'll see you next science class, Percy"

"See ya."

Percy called back to her, "Actually, and you can stop me if this is too forward or anything, but if you want I could show you a bit around New York. I know this place like the back of my hand. I've lived here since I was a kid."

Percy wasn't so sure where he got this confidence from. Considering just an hour earlier, he was literally drooling. How he could've collected himself and actually asked her on this outing was nothing short of a miracle to Percy.

Annabeth smiled, she looked at Percy, "Sounds amazing, but I have to unpack tonight. Is tomorrow alright?"

"Sounds great." Percy grinned.

Percy walked down to the cafeteria, where he knew his friends would be, his grin still plastered to his face.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

"Whoa, he's smiling." Was the first thing Percy heard from his cousins and best friend.

"What are you talking about, Thalia? I smile all of the time." Percy replied.

"Yeah, but lately, you've seemed so depressed. I thought the copious amounts of work were getting to you, man."

At first Percy thought they were joking, but then he considered them seriously. He barely ever smiled anymore, unless it was with his friends or his mom. He never did any of the schoolwork because he liked it. He'd suffered through it because he had to. He had to help his mom out, even if it was only a fraction of how much she helped him. And the one time he's smiled outside of his family was with Annabeth. A distraction from the routine that was a his life, the deviation in his path.

Of course he didn't voice any of this, he'd probably freak his friends out with his levels of negativity about life. So instead he just laughed. "I'm fine. Nothing to worry about."

Nico gave him a skeptical glance, but shrugged afterwards. Percy tried to change the topic from how his depressing life is being caused by trying to get a better life for his mom to about the new girl in the school. "There's someone new in our grade. We were talking during science and she's really nice."

"Yeah I know." said Grover, slightly annoyed. "She's in my science class too."

"You're in our science class? I didn't even notice you."

"Yeah well you were either too busy talking with Annabeth or taking down notes to notice me. I mean, I even sat directly beside you!" Grover said, glaring at Percy.

"Sorry G-Man, I really am. I just didn't want her to feel out of place at the school."

Grover's harsh expression dissolved. He couldn't stay mad at Percy for too long, they were just too close of friends. "It's alright man. You seemed like you were having a lot of fun talking to her. She seemed really into you, too."

Percy decided not to tell them about him showing her around. Sure, they might congratulate him or something, but he'd rather keep it a secret for now.

Percy looked towards Grover, his eyes glimmered with hope, "You think so?"

"I know so. Just try not mess it up. We all know how good you are at that." Grover said, referring to how clumsy he is and how he can mess anything up with just a touch.

Nico and Thalia both laughed while Grover smirked at him.

"Remember that time, he managed to burn toast in the toaster? And it wasn't even plugged in yet?" Nico said while wheezing.

This caused another wave of laughter which was followed by Thalia. "Or what about that time where he managed to break a doorknob, just by closing the door."

"Okay that one wasn't even my fault, it was a very bad doorknob" Percy said, trying to defend himself. But the blush running up his cheek wasn't really helping him out. "Fine, I'm going to the library to study. You guys have fun."

"We will."

Percy turned around to walk towards the library. Behind him he heard, "Try not to break one of the books!"

As he walked, all of the comments his friends said swirled around his mind. Sure, they were just joking. But all of the stuff they said technically did happen. It just made Percy even more nervous for the outing with Annabeth tomorrow. Percy pulled himself from his thoughts when he realized he was standing outside of the library doors.

The library was the perfect place for Percy to clear his mind. He loved the smell of all of the old books. Or the small, corner of the library. Tucked away behind a shelf and the wall. Hidden for only Percy to know about. Percy loved reading, the story and his imagination, working together to take him to a world he could only ever dream of. Where there weren't any problems and he could live his life without regrets. Of course these fantasies ended at the end of each book, but Percy could just go and pick up another.

After all, libraries were known for their large amount of books. The bell for the fifth and final period of the day rang, so Percy gathered his things and returned his book to the shelf. As he made his way over to his final class, English, he stopped at his locker. He unlocked it and exchanged his science binder for his english binder. He was going to close it, when it suddenly slammed shut. Percy flinched at the loud clash of the metal. The first thing he saw was an arm, pushing against the locker door, keeping it held shut. Percy's eyes followed the arm until he was face to face with Luke Castellan.

Luke Castellan was a bit of a mystery to Percy. Actually, if anything he was a bit of a dick to Percy, but he couldn't help himself from remembering the old Luke. The one that used to stand up to bullies for Percy, the one who would protect Percy, the one who was Percy's best friend. But now all he could see was just another bully. Sometimes, when it was just Luke and Percy, if none of Luke's other friends were around, glimpses of the old Luke relapsed. Percy would make a comment that Luke found funny, and he'd genuinely laugh, with a twinkle in his eye. Or maybe Luke wouldn't even harass him at all if none of his cronies were around. It seemed like Luke was still the same guy who was a friend to Percy. Not the menace he was now.

Or maybe that was just Percy and his wishful thinking.

Unfortunately today wasn't one of the days where Luke was alone. He had one of his other friends with him. Percy remembered his name was Ethan, only because he had an eyepatch. After a while, all of Luke's other friends just sort of blended together, indiscernible from each other, nothing special about any of them. Except for Ethan, since he lost an eye when he was younger and he's had to wear an eyepatch ever since.

Percy sighed, "What do you want Luke? Usually you come annoy me in the morning, not the afternoon."

"Yeah, well it's always fun to mix things up a bit." Luke snarled.

Percy tried to walk around Luke's arm but Ethan stepped in and blocked the way.

"I want you to stay away from that Annabeth girl. She's mine." Luke demanded.

Percy looked up at him appalled. "You want me to stay away from her? I feel like she can hang out with whoever she wants."

"Well don't feel to bad when she chooses to leave you for me then, nerd."

Percy sighed again, annoyed at Luke. It's obvious Annabeth could be with whoever she wanted. She seemed like a nice girl, hopefully she knew to stay away from jerks like Luke. But Percy turned to look at Luke, unconvinced in Annabeth's ability to differentiate the difference between the jerk that was Luke Castellan and the suave, charming student he could pretend to be. Luke had a way with words that made him seem completely trustable. Unfortunately for Percy, he was also tall and handsome with short, blond hair that was cropped to the side. He had a bright smile, and, as much as Percy hated to admit it, he was attractive. His only physical feature that could even seem ugly was a scar that ran from his cheek to his upper lip. And even then, some girls thought it was manly.

Luke didn't really need to tell Percy to stay away from Annabeth, because compared to Luke, Percy was nothing, right? Percy liked to consider himself handsome, at least that's what his mom calls him. He had raven black, messy hair and sea green eyes. He was just over six foot, but since practically everyone at school thought he was some nerd or loser, he figured his social status cut down on his attractiveness. It's not like he was a threat to someone like Luke.

"We aren't even together! We just met today and we're just friends."

Sure, Percy would be lying if he said he didn't want to be more than friends. Even if he just met her today. But with people like Luke at the school, where they get everything they want, it just didn't seem likely that Annabeth would ever want to be with someone like him. He doesn't even know why she agreed to sit with him at lunch tomorrow or why they're even friends.

"Just let me get to class, I don't wanna be late." Percy pleaded.

"Fine, Ethan, let's go. Stay away from her, Jackson." Luke and Ethan stocked off towards their class and left Percy alone in the hallway.

Percy quickly scurried in the opposite direction, towards his English class, just barely making it into class for the bell. He headed towards one of the only available seats in the class, at the back. He usually would've taken a nice seat at the front, but because of his encounter with Luke, he didn't have as much time to get to class early and choose a good seat.

Hopefully these seating arrangements weren't permanent.

Percy looked around at his desk mates, he recognized some of them. Directly in front of him, was Leo Valdez. He could only see the back of his head, but his curly, brown hair and slightly pointed ears were indistinguishable. Him and Leo had both gone to Goode High for three years, but they've never really talked. Percy knew Leo was really good at anything to do with building. He was the top of the class in both his auto and construction classes. He figured Leo probably thought he was just a nerd, like everyone else.

To Leo's right, was a very pretty girl named Piper Mclean. She's been going to the same school as Percy since the fifth grade. Her brown hair had a small braid on one side with a feather woven in. Percy remembered when he was younger and he would look into her eyes, he'd been confused because he couldn't figure out what colour they were. They always seemed to shift from green to blue, to brown, like a kaleidoscope. Her father, Tristan Mclean, was a famous actor. Everybody in school wanted to be friends with her since she was rich, or she had a mansion. But Piper didn't look the part of a millionaire. Sure she was pretty, but she didn't have designer clothes or the most expensive makeup.

She was very down to Earth and Percy could appreciate not letting money change who you are.

Of course that doesn't mean he isn't slightly jealous of her. Who wouldn't be? She could have whatever she desired and it'd probably be delivered on a golden platter. The popular girls clique at school have been trying to recruit her into their group of girls ever since they realized she was a somebody. The popular girls were the people that had the designer clothes and the newest makeup, they seemed more artificial than anything and they were constantly trying to lie or cheat their way to the top of the food chain. Piper had denied their requests every time and instead stuck with friends from childhood instead, through all of high school. Coincidentally, her best friend was Leo Valdez.

The two were engrossed in a conversation, about something… To be honest, Percy wasn't really paying any attention, he was still thinking about the two people in front of him. Once he stopped gazing into the distance, he automatically tuned into their conversation. He didn't want to eavesdrop, but it was pretty easy since the only thing he could hear was them.

"Why do you think he's staring at me?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe he's thinking really hard, and doesn't realize what he's doing."

"I've done that before, just zoned out. Usually I stare out a window, though. Not directly into someone's eyes."

It took Percy a moment to realize they were talking about him. And they were right. He was staring directly into Leo's eyes. No doubt creeping him out.

"Hey man, you okay?" Leo asked, waving a hand in front of his face to get Percy's attention.

Percy shook himself out of his stupor and focused on Leo. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about that, I was just...thinking."

Leo gave him an impish grin, "Don't worry about it, no need to make up excuses to look at me, I know I'm attractive."

Piper shoved his arm, "Sorry about him, he's an idiot." She flashed Leo a look like, don't be so weird, you're freaking him out. "Hi, I'm Piper, Piper McLean. And this idiot is my best friend. Leo Valdez."

Percy laughed, partly because Leo seemed like a funny guy, partly because it was funny watching them bicker. "Hi, I already knew who you guys were, but you probably have no idea who I am. I'm Percy."

Percy considered sticking out a hand, but then he would've had to reach over his desk and lean and then he could trip, fall, make a fool of himself, the usual. So he decided against it.

"Oh." Piper said surprised, "We already knew who you were, too. We've actually went to the same grade since, like, the fifth grade. I guess those introductions were pointless then." Piper laughed and Percy gave her a smile.

He figured sitting someplace new couldn't be that bad.

As he continued talking with Leo and Piper, he got to learn a lot about them. He got to learn a lot more about their personalities and who they were as people, too. He'd like to think that they became friends during English class.

Conveniently enough, they didn't actually do anywork in class. Their teacher, Mr. Blofis, wanted to spend the time getting to know everyone, and he wanted everyone to get to know and become more comfortable with each other. He told everyone to get in groups of the people who sat near you and to ask each other questions. Whenever there was some spare time in between bonding activities, he would always tell a cool or fun personal story. Percy thought Mr. Blofis seemed like a cool teacher to have.

As the bell for the end of the day rang, Percy gathered his things and stood up.

"See you guys tomorrow." He said to Piper and Leo.

Piper flashed him a smile and Leo gave him a grin. "Yeah, it was nice getting to know you."

Percy gave them a lopsided grin and made his way to his locker to collect all of his other books. His grin glued to his face.

Maybe this year wouldn't be as bad as the other years, he thought.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Percy wasn't sure what he expected to find when he opened the door to his apartment, whether it was his mom, or maybe some food she left out for him if she had to go work, but he didn't expect to find his cousins lazily lounged on his couch, watching the T.V and scrolling through their phones.

It wasn't uncommon for them to use Percy's apartment as a place to hangout, but Percy was genuinely confused as to how they managed to get here before he did.

"What are you guys doing here?" Percy sent them a quizzical look.

They didn't even bother to look at him when they replied.

"I'm eating your food."

"I'm watching your T.V."

Percy threw his bag into his room across the hall, "Okay...I meant how did you get here."

"We walked." They answered nonchalantly.

"Okay, but how did you get here so fast?"

"Well now you're asking the right questions." Thalia looked up at him and smirked.

"We ditched last period early and came here to raid your fridge." Nico answered.

Percy just shrugged. "Did you at least save me anything?"

"Yeah, there's food in the fridge." Thalia stood up to scope out the fridge once again, possibly to steal whatever food they left for Percy.

"So you ditched last, huh? It's only been the first day of school and you're probably gonna get a detention."

This time, Nico replied, "Well, we were skipping gym, it's not that big of a deal."

"Well at least nothing's changed." Percy said.

Thalia looked at Percy from behind the fridge door. "Speaking of things changing, what's this about you making a new friend? That seems surprisingly new for you."

Percy stuck his tongue out at Thalia, "You make it seem like I'm completely unable to talk to anybody new. I'll have you know, I talked to Leo Valdez and Piper McLean during fifth today, and they seemed to actually like me."

Thalia started to walk back to the couch, a drink in her hand. On the way back she ruffled Percy's hair, "Well I'm glad you can make friends, I was getting worried about you."

Nico piped up from the couch, "What's this Annabeth girl like, you made it seem like she was an angel."

Thalia cooed at him.

Percy blushed and tried to deny it, "All I said was that she was nice."

He crossed his arms and huffed.

"Aww don't be like that, Percy."

Even though his cousins were picking on him, he still loved them, it's how their relationship worked. They all bickered with each other, but they've known each other so long, that they'll always have each other's backs if there's ever a problem.

Thalia pulled him from his thoughts by announcing something, "Jason's coming back next week."

Percy looked at her, searching her face for any signs of her lying. Jason was Percy's cousin, and Thalia's brother. They were split up in their parent's divorce. Thalia lived with their mom in New York, Jason lived with their dad in California.

"That's awesome!" Nico said, his eyes still glued to the T.V screen. "How long is he staying for?"

"He'll be staying for a while." Thalia said. "Long enough to enroll for at Goode. Dad's job relocated him to New York, so now we all get to see more of each other."

"That's great." Percy exclaimed. "It's been so long since I've seen my favourite cousin." He shot a pointed look at Nico and Thalia.

"Oh, ha ha, very funny."

"Well you'll be seeing him this Friday night. We're throwing a Welcome Back party."

"What if I have plans?" Percy questioned, although he knew he had no plans. And it's not like he would miss Jason's party on purpose, but all of the potential family members that would be there freaked him out a little. Percy was never the best in social situations.

"Oh, come on." Nico said, he shot a look at Percy. "We both know you don't have any plans."

"That may be true, but I'd still like to know." Percy looked back at Thalia.

"I don't care if you have plans or not, I'm dragging your butt to that party if I have to." Thalia said, a determined look in her eyes. "Now shut up, the show just got to a good part."

Percy sighed and leaned back deeper on to the couch.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Percy's mom found the three kids sprawled on the couch watching movies when she returned home from work a few hours later. It's not like the kids being there was a surprise. After all, Percy figured Thalia and Nico were like second and third children to his mom. They definitely considered her to be their mom away from their mom.

"Hey kids." Sally's greeting rang throughout the apartment. "How was the first day of school?"

"It was good." Percy called out to her.

"Yeah," Thalia's tone took on a teasing note, "Percy's made some new friends at school."

"And he even has a crush on one of them." Nico pitched in.

Percy gave them both menacing glares and they both started laughing and chuckling deviously.

"Well then Percy, we have much to discuss Percy." She gave him a knowing smile and Percy blushed and tried to hide his face. "Just let me change out of my work clothes."

Percy turned to Thalia and Nico. "I'm going to kill you guys." His voice deadly calm.

"We love you, too." They spoke in unison.

Nico looked at the clock, "It's almost time for dinner, I should get going to my house. Thanks for having me, Sally."

"Yeah I should get going, too." Thalia called out.

Percy's mom rushed over and gave the two kids a hug. "Alright guys, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Of course." Thalia answered. They both walked out of the apartment and closed the door behind them.

"Great…" Percy muttered. "Embarrass me, then leave."

Sally took a seat beside him on the couch. "So tell me, who are these new friends?"

Percy told her about Piper and Leo, and how they were nice to him and they seemed to have a pleasant conversation. Purposefully leaving out Annabeth for now. He didn't like keeping secrets from his mom, but he'd prefer to tell her when he could figure out how he actually felt about her. Sure she was nice, and funny, and great. But did he have a crush on her? Percy didn't know.

"I remember Piper and Leo." Sally said.

Percy looked at her, confused, "You do?"

"Yeah," She chuckled, "They were best friends with Jason before he left for California."

"Oh, interesting." Percy commented.

"So you have a crush on this Piper girl?" Percy blushed, "Or maybe it's the Leo boy?" Percy looked at his mom, mortified.

"It's neither mom!"

"Okay, I'm just trying to say I won't judge you either way."

"Okay mom, that's enough!"

"So who's the girl then."

Percy considered changing the topic, but he figured his mom could understanding and maybe even give him some advice on the subject. "She's someone new. Her name is Annabeth, and she's really kind, and funny, and she seems like a really nice person. But I just met her today, so I don't think I can say I have a crush on her yet."

"This might seem like generic parent advice, but it works surprisingly well. Just follow your heart. It usually can lead you in the right direction."

This was why he loved his mom. She always knew what to say, or what to do for every situation. She was always caring and could help Percy figure out any problem he had.

"Thanks mom, I really appreciate it."

"Anytime sweetie." She kissed his forehead and got up from the couch.

Percy checked the time again, surprised to find it was so late. He said goodnight to his mom and went to bed.

Percy thought about the day that just happened. He'd made some friends. He talked to an insanely pretty girl without making a fool of himself, which was even more surprising since that almost never happened. Sure there were a few hiccups along the way, with Luke and Ethan, but honestly, nothing he couldn't overcome. He's managed to net let them bring him down before, he can do it again. And as Percy recounted the days events in his head, he went to bed with a smile and one thought, he can't wait for science class tomorrow.