*All names (and most classes) are made up. Most of Percy's and Thalia's classes are classes I will be taking next year, since I'll be a senior (Woo hoo).

*Chapter 3: Introductions*

(Annabeth)

As Silena, Clarisse, Hazel and I walked into first period, Literature, I found Beckendorf and Leo waiting. I sighed in relief. Thank goodness, I had friends in this class. But Hazel and Leo in the same class, without Frank? Oh no . . .

"Annabeth!" Leo waved me over, and I sat next to him.

"Hey, guys," I said.

"Sup, Annabeth." Beckendorf grinned. He kissed Silena, and she giggled.

"Nothing, except wishing I could have slept in longer." I yawned. I hadn't gotten very much sleep last night. Lately I've been having nightmares about spiders. I shuddered. I hated spiders.

"I hear you," Clarisse muttered, putting her head down. "I'm taking a nap. Don't wake me unless there's a fire or someone's about to get punched." We laughed, but left her alone.

"So how was your summer?" Leo asked Hazel.

Hazel blushed. "Good," she said in a small voice. "And you?"

"Good." They were silent. There was an uncomfortable pause.

"Well well well, look what the Barbie dragged in," Silena said. We turned.

Drew was dragging Percy into the classroom, who's other arm was linked with Thalia's.

"Poor guys," Leo said, "They've already been exposed to Drew's fake claws."

"Now she'll never leave them alone," I added, feeling sympathetic.

In the front of the room, Drew called out loudly so that everyone would hear, "Mrs. Powell, this is Percy and Thalia, new students." She tightened her grip on Percy's arm, and I saw him wince.

Mrs. Powell, the teacher, looked over Percy's and Thalia's schedules. "Alright then," she said. "Welcome to Goode High. Hope it's a stretch to homeschooling."

I saw Percy and Thalia both blush. "We hope so," Thalia sighed.

"Have a seat anywhere." Mrs. Powell gestures around the room. "There's plenty of seats to go around." She smiled, and I knew I would like her.

Before Drew could drag Percy over to sit with her and her friends, he gently shook her off and said, "Thanks for showing us around."

Thalia grinned. "Yeah, it was . . . fun." It was obvious she thought of Drew as pestilent, and that they clearly did not like each other. Red faced, Drew turned around and walked to her seat.

Then, somehow, Percy and I locked eyes. He didn't look away, and neither did I. Then he started walking forward. Thalia raised an eyebrow but silently trailed along.

Percy sat in the desk right next to me. Thalia sat in front of him.

"Hi," he said. It took me a moment to realize he was speaking to me. His green eyes were mesmerizing.

"Uh, hey," I whispered. I cleared my throat and tried to make my voice higher. "You're Percy Jackson, right?"

"Yeah. And you're . . . Annabeth? Athena's daughter?" I was aware of my friends behind me, trying not to stare but hanging on to every word of our conversation. I could practically feel Silena's excitement. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her squirm in her seat.

"Yeah. Welcome to Goode. I see you've already met Drew."

Percy smiled. "Yeah. What a Barbie."

"That's what we call her!" I laughed. "She's awful."

Percy laughed, too. "Oh, and uh, this is Pinecone Face." Thalia smacked his head. "Ow! I mean Thalia."

Thalia turned to me. "Ignore him, he's always like this. And as for 'Pinecone Face,' well, it's an inside joke kind of thing." She held out her hand. "Thalia Grace."

I took her hand. "Annabeth Chase."

"Hey, our last names rhyme! And if that girl is your enemy too, then we're going to be great friends."

"Oh, you have no idea," I told her. "Drew is our constant nightmare. And, um, these are just a few of my many friends of misfits."

"Hey!" they chorused behind me.

"This is Silena, her boyfriend Beckendorf, Leo, Hazel, and that's Clarisse over there sleeping."

"Hi!" Silena squeaked. "So nice to meet you!"

"Hey," Percy and Thalia said.

"Where's Nico?" Leo asked.

"He's a sophomore," Percy answered, a flash of worry crossing his face. "He has different classes."

"So are you two seniors then?" Hazel asked. Now that I broke the ice on introductions they were starting to talk more.

"No, we're sophomores with senior classes," Thalia muttered.

Beckendorf grinned at her sarcastic tone. "You're alright, Grace."

The bell rang, making me jump. I'd completely lost track of time. Percy and Thalia shifted in their seats.

"What was that bell for?" Thalia asked.

"At 8:25 the bell rings. That's when class starts."

Mrs. Powell closed the door. "Good morning, class. For those who didn't care to learn my name, it's Mrs. Powell. I hope this year will be a good one, since it's your last."

Everyone cheered except Thalia and Percy. I caught his eye, and he just shrugged. For them it would be their first and last.

For the entire period we went over what we were going to learn for the year while the teacher passed out the textbooks. I was looking through mine when something suddenly landed on my desk. A folded up piece of paper. I opened it.

'Having fun over there reading your textbook? -Percy'

I smirked and responded: 'Not as much fun as you over there passing notes. -Annabeth' I threw the note in his direction, not really paying attention to where I threw it. It bounced off his head and landed on his desk. He gave me a smoldering look, and I choked back laughter. He scribbled something and threw it back.

'Ha-ha, touche, blondie. And what's up with throwing paper at my head?'

I covered my mouth with the back of my hand and replied, 'Call me blondie again and you'll be getting worse than paper thrown at you. And it was an accident.' I tossed it onto his desk. He read it and smiled.

'Then how about Gray Eyes? And sure it was. Just like this was.' As soon as I read the second part something bounced off my head. A paper ball. I looked over at Percy, who might've been the picture of perfect innocence if he wasn't trying - and failing - not to laugh.

My eyes narrowed, I wrote, 'Ok Jackson, you're asking for it.' I tossed it to him. Another laugh. He replied and threw it back. We continued to do this for the rest of the period. The loud shrill of the bell caused us both to jump.

"Guess that's our cue," Percy said, grinning.

"So what's your next class?" Silena asked as the eight of us walked out.

"Math," Percy grumbled. "Ugh."

"Me too," I said.

"And me," Silena added.

"And me, too," Leo said.

Thalia groaned. "I have Biology. See you guys later," she told us before turning to Percy.

"Don't get into too much trouble," he warned her.

Thalia put on a fake innocent smile. "Me? Get in trouble?" She hugged him, then went off to class.

Second period went by slowly. The teacher, Mr. Hendricks, did the same thing as Mrs. Powell, talking about what we would be learning in the year, how we should behave, etc. Occasionally though, I found myself glancing at Percy. He seemed . . . completely relaxed. Comfortable.

I looked down at my math workbook, flipping through the pages. All of this I already knew. I would breeze through it no problem.

This period seemed to blow by, too. Before I knew it, the bell had rung. Sighing, I picked up my books. Unfortunately one decided to be stubborn and slip from my arms and fall to the floor. Before I could bend to pick it up, Percy was already there, grabbing the book for me.

"Thanks," I said, taking the book from him. "Having to carry around all of my textbooks is a pain."

"Tell me about it," Percy muttered. Together, we walked out. I was glad we were talking as friends, and not echoing our parents and hating each other.

"When I was homeschooled," Percy continued, "all of my teachers had us do the work then, we didn't have homework or anything."

"Was it hard? Being homeschooled, I mean. Is it weird being here?" I shut my mouth then. I didn't want to sound like a creeper, asking all of these personal questions.

Percy laughed. "Nah. But I went to school before my dad pulled me out, so I'm more used to it than Nico or Thalia." After that we lapsed into silence, but it wasn't awkward. It was the kind of comfortable silence that didn't need to be broken.

Before I knew it, we were at my third period class, Chemistry. I looked at Percy questioningly. "How did you know this was my next class?"

"I saw your schedule in your binder." Percy smirked. "I didn't even know where it is, you led the way and I followed . . ." He scratched his head. "Wow, that sounded creepy."

It was my turn to laugh. "Thanks for walking me to class, then," I said. "Is this your class, too?"

He shook his head. "Nope. I got . . . Economics with Raves."

"Oh, you mean Ms. Raves? Yeah, she's great. You'll like her."

"Cool." We just stood there for a moment, unsure of what to say or do. Then Percy held up a hand and said, "Well, see you later then, Gray Eyes."

I shook my head.

"No? Okay, I'll keep trying, then." He smiled. "Later." Then he turned around and walked off. I just stared after him, wondering how we could have gotten along so easily when our parents couldn't even stand being in the same room together.