Disclaimer: I don't own any PJO Characters. All rights belong to Rick Riordan.

Chapter Three

As Annabeth sat down in her English class beside Katie Gardner, Annabeth couldn't help but think about the new kid, Percy Jackson. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't forget his gorgeous green eyes or his untamable hair. She couldn't help but blush ever time she thought about how he picked up her books or how he defended her when he hardly even knew her.

"Annabeth? Annabeth?!" She heard someone say. Katie snapped her figures in front of Annabeth's face, snapping Annabeth out of her trance. "How come you were whispering Percy over and over again?"

Annabeth's intense gray eyes widened. She did what?! "No way did I do that."

Katie rolled her eyse. She began fiddle with her bone-straight brown hair as she pressed on. "You totally said his name. You like him! You like Percy Jackson!"

Annabeth blushed. "No…I don't. He's just –, he's nice."

"Yeah, nice looking," Katie scoffed. "Annabeth Chase has a crush on Percy Jackson."

"What about Percy Jackson?" A voice said. Katie and Annabeth spun around. Annabeth nearly passed out. Percy Jackson was standing right in front of Katie and Annabeth. "You said my name?"

"Oh! Hey Percy!" Annabeth said a little bit too enthusiastically. Katie just snickered, quietly. Annabeth shot Katie a glare and then quickly turned back to Percy. "Um, here. You can sit with me." Annabeth quickly cleared off Katie's things and nearly pushed her off of her chair. "It's open."

"Annabeth!" Katie shouted as Percy took her seat. "There's no other place to sit!"

"There's one back there," Percy said. He pointed to back of the classroom to an open seat beside Connor Stoll. Travis had PE right now.

Katie narrowed her eyes as Connor winked at her. "No! No way! I am not sitting with a Stoll!" While Percy was looking away, Annabeth gave Katie her biggest and best puppy dog face ever. Katie sighed. "Fine!" She growled as she grabbed her books and went to sit by Connor Stoll.

"So, you really wanted me to sit with you enough to make your friend sit with her worst enemy?" Percy asked, grinning.

Annabeth blushed and kept her eyes on her books as she responded, "I don't think Connor is her worst enemy. I think his brother, Travis, is."

Percy chuckled. "So why did you want to sit with me?"

"I guess I just wanted to get to know you a little bit better," Annabeth said, smiling. Percy smirked. "So where are you from?"

"Montana." (A/N I know in the books Percy never moved anyway but in this he does.) Percy twirled a pencil in his hands as he continued, "I lived there until this year when my mom remarried someone. He wanted us all to live in New York and for some dumb reason she listened." Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "Oh! No, no, no! Don't get me wrong. I love New York, I just…."

"Don't like your stepdad?" Annabeth interjected.

"Yeah," Percy said. "How'd you know?"

"You should have heard your tone of voice," Annabeth clarified. "It's what everybody that hates their stepparents are like. Trust me, I would know. Thalia, one of my friends, and I have a bitchy stepmoms. On the bright side, Thalia has a good dad but mine just agrees to anything my stepmom has to say. Sometimes, just by the way my parents look at me, I feel like they don't actually want. One day when I got home, my stepmother started screaming at me about how much a terrible. I don't know why. She was just mad. And the worst part was my dad sat there right at the kitchen table just staring at us. That night, I packed my bags and I left to stay with Thalia. That lasted for about a week until my dad finally called me up and said 'Annabeth, I want you back.' But it was a week too late. I stayed with Thalia for a couple more days until my dad finally barged into her house and dragged me home. Three days later, my stuff was packed and I moved in with my actual mom." (A/N I know that that's not how Annabeth's life was in the book but I wanted to dramatize it a little bit more.)

Percy stared at Annabeth, appalled. He hated his stepfather, Gabe Uglianobut he would never move out of his own house. Percy wouldn't do that to his mother. "Do you miss your family?"

Annabeth shrugged. "I miss Bobby and Mathew, my two younger step-brothers. Their twins. I sometimes miss my dad but I don't miss living with him or with my stepmom. Bobby and Mathew and rarely my dad come to visit but I haven't seen Violet (A/N Annabeth's stepmom. I don't remember her original name) in over three months." Annabeth felt tears well up in her eyes and she immediately tried to swallow them back. She hated to seem weak in front of people.

Percy impulsively pulled her into a tight hug. Annabeth hesitated but eventually she returned the embrace. "Everything's going to be okay," Percy muttered as he gently rubbed his hand against her back in calm, soothing motions. "What's your mom like?" He asked when they pulled apart.

"Athena, my mom, is great. She's always at work, though, which was why my dad got full custody of me when I was younger. She's an architect at this HUGE company. My older brother, Malcolm, works there. And yeah, he also hates Violet. But anyway, when I do get to spend time with my mom, it's great. She's funny, nice and smart. She's just like me."

Percy smiled, "That's good." Annabeth realized that Percy was genuinely glad for her and suddenly Annabeth had the instinctive impulse to kiss him. When she did, it was like her very own moment of Cloud Nine. He smelled amazing, like fresh ocean air and wood and his breath tasted minty. His lips were smooth and soft.

Someone cleared their throat. Annabeth and Percy reluctantly pulled apart only to realize that they were face to face with the Mr. Carson, their English teacher. "Miss Chase and Mr. Jackson if you don't mind, can you keep the tongue baths for after class? Thank you." Then, he turned and started his lecture.

Annabeth and Percy looked at each other. Percy uncomfortably began to tap his pen on his desk while Annabeth opened up her English book and began taking notes, even though she hardly know most of what Mr. Carson was saying. As she began to take perfect notes, she realized that instead of writing down information on the lecture all across her paper was:

"I kissed Percy Jackson."

So, what'd you think? Was it dumb that Annabeth all of sudden just kissed Percy?

I hope you liked the introduction of Annabeth's family. They do play an important part in the book.

I know that this chapter might be a little bit short but I'm plainly on having the next be just a little bit longer.

Read and review!