Hello everyone! Welcome to the new version of Mortals. My writing skills were awful when I wrote this story the first time, and my other stories are pretty awful as well. I will not be deleting anything since I feel like I need to give my younger self some credit, but I do not recommend reading any of my old writing. Anyway, this rewrite will include a lot of editing and some minor plot changes. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.


Brett took a deep breath as he stepped out of the school, his eyes immediately searching for the one person who had been on his mind all day. He was going to do it. He was finally going to ask Annabeth Chase out on a date.

Brett found her sitting on the stone wall at the front of the school, reading a book. As always he was stunned by how beautiful she was, seemingly without trying. Annabeth never did anything special with her curly blonde hair, but the way little strands would fall out of her ponytail and frame her face always made Brett want to gently push them away and kiss her. He wanted to stare into her deep grey eyes for hours and watch them sparkle when she laughed.

Brett had been dreaming about Annabeth since she first transferred to his school last fall, and today he would finally make his dreams come true. Everyone in the school thought Annabeth was beautiful, though most guys were too intimidated by her to ask her out. Those who were brave enough to ask were politely rejected, and those dumb enough to try something always ended up with a black eye. Brett smiled at the memory of watching Annabeth sock Liam in the nose for trying to kiss her.

Brett knew that Annabeth was just waiting for the right guy. She never mentioned anything about a boyfriend, so all those rejections must simply be because she was looking for someone better.

Brett was hoping he could be that someone better. He would be perfect for Annabeth. Brett knew she was incredibly smart, and she must be looking for an equally smart boyfriend. She and Brett were in most of the advanced classes together, and she always seemed friendly to him when they spoke. So he took that as a good sign, and it gave him the final push of courage he needed to finally ask her.

He navigated his way around the bustling students, but before he could get close to Annabeth he was distracted by the sound of screeching tires. Brett whirled around in time to see a white van come to a screeching halt in front of the school. The side of the van announced that the van belonged to Delphi Strawberry Delivery, so besides wondering what made the school finally decide to buy real food, he didn't think much of it. That was until instead of workers carrying strawberries, a bunch of teenagers piled out of the van.

Brett wasn't the only one staring as he watched the first one stumble out of the van. These strangers had attracted the attention of most of the school. The only one who didn't seem interested was Annabeth. Brett glanced over to see that she hadn't even looked up from her book.

"Thank the gods!" the first boy exclaimed as he all but jumped from the car. "Solid ground at last!"

"Oh shut up, Repair Boy," a girl snapped as she got out of the driver's seat. She wore a leather jacket over a black Death to Barbie t-shirt. On top of her spiky black hair sat a silver tiara, which didn't exactly go with the rest of the outfit. She didn't look older than fifteen, and Brett wondered if she really should be driving. "I got you here alive, didn't I?"

"You started driving before I even shut the door!"

"But did you die?"

"That's not the point! I could have died! Again!"

Brett figured it must have been some sort of inside joke, though he couldn't imagine why anyone would be joking about dying. The two continued to argue about the girl's driving skills as the rest of the group piled out of the car. The first to jump out was a blond man who simply sighed at the arguing pair and readjusted his glasses. The girl who followed next was obviously his girlfriend if the way that he wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her uneven brown hair was any indication. The gender-swapped version of the driver crawled out next with a scowl on his face as he pushed his shaggy black hair out of his eyes. If Brett had to guess he would say that the scowl made a regular appearance on the young boy's face.

Brett had a bad feeling about these strangers. Everyone in the group radiated power. They all seemed to hold themselves in a way that said, 'I've seen things, and I've done things. Don't mess with me.'

"Guys, come on. You can argue some other time. Right now we just need to find Annabeth and get out of here."

Brett hadn't noticed the last man exit the vehicle, but he whipped around to look at him when he heard Annabeth's name. What could this group possibly want with Annabeth? There is no way Annabeth would ever get mixed up with this type of people. Brett could just tell they were dangerous. He especially didn't like the look of the last guy; the one who had spoken. He had windswept black hair that looked like it had never seen a brush, and he had a troublemaker look about him. His somewhat baggy clothes and tattered sneakers didn't help that image. Brett didn't like the idea of this man getting anywhere near Annabeth.

Brett didn't know how Annabeth could get mixed up with these people. Maybe they were blackmailing or threatening her, but all he knew was that he had to protect Annabeth from them. Who knew what kind of bad influence they could have on her?

Brett began to walk toward Annabeth at the same time the group spotted her. Somehow they reached her first, and Brett could only watch as the last man tapped on her shoulder.

Brett didn't know what he expected, maybe annoyance or even fear, but he certainly didn't expect Annabeth's face to light up when she laid eyes on the group. She couldn't actually be friends with these people, could she? Annabeth was better than that. She was smart enough to know not to get mixed up with the wrong crowd.

Brett was close enough to listen, but not close enough for the group to notice him. He stood there as he listened to the group speak to Annabeth as if they'd known her for years, not wanting to jump in right away before figuring out the best way to get Annabeth out of there.

"Hey, Wise Girl," the troublemaker said casually.

"Percy!" Annabeth jumped up and wrapped her arms around him, much to Brett's surprise. Though nothing could prepare him for the shock of Percy kissing Annabeth. Brett waited for Annabeth to shove him away and punch him as she'd done with everyone else who had even tried to kiss her, but instead, Annabeth leaned into the kiss. It was only a short kiss, but with it, Brett's world came crashing down. Annabeth had a boyfriend? How could this have happened? And by the looks of him, he didn't seem like a very good one. He was probably a player and a cheater, so how could Annabeth choose this Percy guy over him? Brett was everything Annabeth wanted- smart, kind, respectful. Brett was someone you would be proud to take home to meet the parents, whereas Percy looked like someone every father tried to keep his daughter away from.

"Are you ready to go?" Percy asked as Annabeth greeted the rest of the group. "We still have to pick up Grover; there was a situation in Central Park that he had to deal with. And Hazel and Frank are meeting us there."

"Sounds good to me. Is Calypso going to make it, Leo?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah," the small brown-haired man answered. "She's gonna swing by later. She's still setting up the garden and she insisted on finishing up before coming."

"Rachel's not going to make it. Something about her dad making her go to some gala thing, but Nico said that Will might be able to come around later." Percy wrapped his arm around Annabeth as he spoke, leading her to the delivery van.

"If he can ever get away from the infirmary," the boy who Brett assumed to be Nico muttered.

Brett didn't know what was going on, or who these people were, but he had seen enough. He knew he had to protect Annabeth and guide her away from people who would corrupt her. He walked over to the group, stopping in front of Annabeth and Percy. "Hey, Annabeth."

"Oh, hi Brett. Did you need something?"

It was only now that Brett realized he didn't know what to say. Annabeth and he were on friendly terms, but not friendly enough for him to be demanding that she introduce him to everyone she talked to. Thankfully he remembered that he actually did have an excuse to be talking to Annabeth. "It's just that we still have to do that assignment for English, and I was hoping we could pick a time to meet up." Brett congratulated himself. Not only was that a valid excuse for talking to her now, but it also gave him more time to talk to her, without the rest of her friends hovering around. Brett could almost feel the weight of their stares.

"Oh, yeah, sure." Annabeth sounded distracted like she had already forgotten that they were assigned as partners earlier that day. "Why don't you just come over to my place tomorrow? I'll text you my address."

Brett couldn't believe his luck. Annabeth was inviting him to her house? Surely this was too good to be true. "Sure," was all he said. "Does eight a.m. work for you? I have plans in the afternoon."

"Yeah, sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow," she said, already walking away with the strange group. Brett watched as they all piled into the car, arguing about who got to drive.

"Why can't I drive?" Nico protested.

"Because you're like fourteen, dude," the blond explained.

"I'm literally older than all of you, Jason."

Before anyone else could argue, the goth girl jumped back into the driver's seat, and Brett watched as the rest piled in. The van shot off across the parking lot, taking Annabeth with it.