Chapter 2

-Annabeth-

Annabeth doesn't think any school has lunches as good as this. Granted, it was a small selection between either cheeseburgers and french fries, salads, or ham and cheese sandwiches. She was told everything's homemade by the lunch lady, Mrs. Morgan.

"She does this every day?" she had asked while eating her sandwich.

"Yup! Of course, following the lunch schedule the school provides, but even things that normally aren't well liked are really good when she's here," Rachel says.

"Like chicken and dumplings!" another girl, who had introduced herself as Silena Beauregard. "I usually hate that stuff, but I've tried Mrs. M's and it was amazing!"

"What foods do you usually like, Annabeth?" Reyna asks.

"I eat pretty much anything," she replies. "But I do my best to eat healthy so I usually avoid places like McDonald's and such."

"So what about pizza?" Rachel asks.

"I can't say no to pizza," Annabeth laughs.

"What do you say Friday night we all get together at my house and order some pizzas?" Reyna asks.

"I can't promise anything," Annabeth says. "But I'll see about coming."

Rachel sighs, then as she looks up at the clock. "The bell is going to ring soon. I want to just stay here and keep talking, you know?"

"Yeah," Reyna says. "You're really cool, Annabeth."

She blushes lightly, "I'm not, though."

"Yes you are," Rachel says with a smile.

"Right," Annabeth replies. "You guys keep telling yourselves that while I put up my tray."

She gets up and walks over to the drop off window while the other girls keep talking. She smiles at the thought of going to a friend's house for the first time in what felt like a lifetime.

She hears Mrs. Morgan talking to a student, asking something about his mom. She doesn't hear the reply but the look on Mrs. Morgan's face tells her things are good. Besides, it's none of her business anyway.

"See you tomorrow, Mrs. M," the boy says as he turns around.

He walks right into Annabeth, making her drop her tray on the floor. She's just about to call out the guy in annoyance, but before she can, he starts muttering apologies and kneels to pick up her tray. She's so used to people not paying her any attention that she's a bit stunned by it. She watches him for a second and realizes it's Percy. The same boy Rachel keeps telling her to avoid. But she can't just ignore him because that would make her a hypocrite, so she crouches to pick up her tray while Percy grabs the fallen milk cartons and napkins that spilled from her tray when her hand brushes his. He pulls his hand away as she mutters an apology.

"No, it's my fault. I wasn't paying attention-" Percy finally looks up at her and freezes. Annabeth can't help but blush at the staring. Her own heartbeat skyrockets once their eyes meet and she can't bring herself to look away. His messy black hair just seems to work for him and his arms and chest look strong. She can't help but imagine being held in those arms, looking into those green eyes.

Snap out of it, Chase!

"A-Ann... umm... h-hi," he stammers.

"Hi," Annabeth says, almost sighing. His green eyes are locked onto hers and it just takes her breath away. "Umm... Percy, right?"

What a stupid question. She knows his name! But walking up and saying 'I know who you are!' will give off a bad impression.

"Yeah, that's me," he says. He continues to stare, which Annabeth quietly admits is a bit cute from him. He doesn't act all confident and arrogant, much to her appreciation. Most guys she meets normally try buttering her up by now, trying to get a good impression with her family name. All the compliments and stuff she gets right off the bat... not that it's a bad thing -she enjoys compliments- but every meeting she's had with guys were immediately full of them.

Just this morning, there were like, a dozen guys approaching her being like, 'Hey beautiful, would you like to see a movie later?' or something like that. If it wasn't a movie, it was just hanging out or getting to know each other. Percy, on the other hand, seems to be figuring out what to say. Or at least, trying to piece his words together.

She looks down to her tray, which Percy is still holding and he snaps out of his trance-like state.

"Um... I'm sorry, here you go," he says as he hands it back to her.

"Thank you," she says with a smile.

"A-Are you okay?" he asks her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What about you?"

She hopes he isn't hurt, but so far there's no sign that he is. It wasn't even a hard collision, but she can't think of anything else to say.

He feels around his body, his hands running over his arms, chest and stomach. "I think I'm okay. I don't feel any forks or knives stuck in me so I'd say that's good."

She laughs and the bell rings. It's time to get to class. She doesn't want to leave. She wants to stay here and talk to Percy. Get to know him a little. Not how the guys earlier probably meant, but she means really get to know him. Talk about what he likes and doesn't like, his hobbies, maybe his family if it isn't a sensitive subject like it tends to be for Annabeth.

She gets up and puts her tray in the window. "Thanks Mrs. Morgan. It was delicious."

Mrs. Morgan smiles and nods. She seems to be enjoying what's happening in front of her. Annabeth turns back to Percy, who's now on his feet again and still staring at her.

"I should get to class. It was nice to meet you, Percy Jackson," Annabeth says, smiling.

"Yeah," he replies. He looks even better standing up close. She studies him, not wanting to forget every detail. "You, too."

Annabeth walks away, still smiling. She can feel his eyes on her back but somehow she isn't too bothered by it.

I'll have to test him then, she thinks. See if he really is different. Hard to get might work here.

She hears a smack and a loud 'OW' and she turns as she grabs her bag. Percy is rubbing the back of his head and glaring at a blonde kid. She thinks it's Luke at first, but this one doesn't have the same size or demeanor. She remembers seeing this one sitting near Percy when she first walked into homeroom, but she never got his name. A kid with brown hair is also with them.

She finally looks away and walks off to class. Coincidentally, Rachel also has this class with her so she was waiting in the hallway for her.

"Hey Rachel," she says.

"Hey. What happened over there?" she asks.

"Oh, um..." she blushes lightly. "I kinda ran into Percy. Or more like he ran into me."

"He ran you over?! Where is he?" Rachel shouts, clearly angry.

"Woah, hey it's okay," Annabeth says with a laugh. "He apologized and helped me pick up my tray. It's alright."

"You didn't talk to him, did you?" she asks, warily.

"I did a little. Just asked if I was okay and I asked him the same thing."

"Girl, I get he's attractive but he's weird," Rachel says.

"Weird doesn't mean anything to me, but don't worry. If anything I could play hard to get," Annabeth says.

"You're crazy," Rachel sighs, but she smiles. "I know what he's like though."

"You do?"

"Yeah, but... I don't want to get into that right now."

"Oh, that's alright. You don't have to tell me," Annabeth says. "Not now anyway."

"I will eventually. Maybe after school. But in the meantime, you might as well tell me what happened."

"I thought I just did."

"No I mean, did he make a move or say something else?"

They enter their classroom and sit at a table together. Rachel is leaning on her arms, her chin resting in her hands as she looks at Annabeth.

"He stared at me the entire time, which I guess was a bit weird, but he didn't do or say anything ridiculous," Annabeth says. She thinks about his eyes, the look on his face when they were locked with hers. It wasn't really a look she got often. Most guys have a hungry look in their eyes, but Percy's was different. She can't quite put her finger on how to describe the look. Maybe longing? That doesn't sound quite right, either.

"But... his eyes..." she says dreamily. She slouches so her head rests on her arms on the table, thinking about those green eyes. "Honestly, I didn't really mind his staring because I was staring right back at him."

"You're not falling for him, are you? You don't know anything about him!" Rachel points out.

Annabeth smiles. She's right. She knows absolutely nothing about him. But she's done letting people tell her what to do and how to do it. That's exactly what she's trying to get away from. She'll take advice every time, but she will not let herself get pushed around like a piece in a board game.

"I know," she says. "But, there's no harm in talking with him and being friends. Right now, I don't see why you guys are mean about him. Being a weirdo isn't a good excuse for me."

"Alright, fine," Rachel says then. She doesn't seem upset, surprisingly. But there's more worry.

"Is something wrong?" Annabeth asks her friend.

"Not right now. I'll tell you after school. There's something you need to know."

...

(This next part gets into some Greek Mythology and I don't know too much about that so if anything is wrong I apologize)

-Percy-

Her eyes...

He can't get those eyes out of his head. Or her laugh. He wasn't trying to get her to laugh, but it happened.

But he scared her off...

No, she was smiling. The bell rang.

She was blushing a little, too.

"Mr. Jackson!"

Percy blinks a few times and his eyes focus on Mr. Brunner, the Greek Mythology teacher. Also one of his favorites because he's so kind.

"Um, yes sir?"

"I would appreciate you listen to our discussion, young man," he informs him.

Percy nods and tries to concentrate.

"Now, I'll ask you my question again. Can you tell me how the great hero, Achilles, died?" Mr. Brunner asks.

"Umm... he was shot in the heel by an arrow?"

"That's right. Now, of course, that's just the legend. Achilles was known to be arrogant in his battles, but he wasn't invincible. Now, gather in your groups. Work on your projects, they're due by Friday."

Percy sighs and gets up, moving to a table in the corner of the room where he and Grover have collected plastics, cardboard, leather straps and so on. The projects Mr. Brunner talked about is supposed to have something to do for Halloween next month. The topics were assigned and he and Grover and a couple other guys were given the Greek warriors. They had to make armor, shields, fake swords and spears, even the plumes on the helmets. Now of course that part wasn't assigned. They could do whatever they wanted. It was a group decision, one which Percy took charge in.

He always enjoyed the stories of ancient Greece, especially the myths and the battles. He looked up to heroes like Achilles, Hercules, the great King Leonidas and his Spartans. Percy was named after a Greek hero -Perseus.

Percy's class also worked with the other classes that shared their projects, but that tends to start rivalries between the other classes, which everybody enjoys. Next to Christmas, Halloween is the best time of the year for Goode because of these Halloween projects from Mr. Brunner. Grover and Jason are a part of the other class, but they have the same assignment Percy's group does. There's two other classes as well but Percy's group and Jason's group agreed to work together against the other two classes. They brought up the idea to the other two so they can get in on it and they agreed to fabricate some sort of mock battle during the dance. They've talked to Mr. Brunner about it, as well as the principle, and they said it's alright so long as nobody gets hurt. The rest of the school, and even the rest of the class, won't know.

"Okay, guys, what do we have so far?" Percy addresses his group.

"We have some good pieces of cardboard we could use to make some of the armor," one of the other guys says.

Frank Zhang. He's no more popular in this school than Percy is, but a little more unpopular. They get along well, though he is very shy for someone with his body type. He's not overweight in any bad sense, he's got muscle and plenty of it. He could beat just about anybody in arm wrestling. But his face is what ruins school for him. He's got a babyish face which is typically the reason for the teasing and mocking he endures. But he doesn't let it get to him. Percy admires that he can just keep it cool, while Frank admires how Percy tends to fight back.

"Good. What else?" Percy asks.

Another kid in his group, Leo, keeps fidgeting with some leather straps. "I brought these in from my workshop," he says. "Instead of using tape or something, we could put these through the shields and armor."

"Maybe we could mold the plastics to make the shields and the swords," Frank suggests. "The cardboard would be easier to use for the chestplates and the helmets."

"Well," Percy begins. "Maybe the cardboard could be used as a sort of mold? We could try to get enough plastic to make the full chest pieces and such."

"What should we use for the swords?" Leo asks.

"Obviously nothing metal," Franks says.

"That's right. I don't know if we want to use wood or plastic. Cardboard won't work for the swords but maybe the spears," Percy says.

"I have plenty of broomsticks discarded from my dad's old job," Frank suggests. "Those could be used to form the shafts of the spears."

"Great idea! Think you could bring those here?"

"I'll have to ask, but I'll see what I can do."

"If anything, I could always go buy some broomsticks," Percy offers.

Since Leo has more skill with designs and making things, Percy had given him the task of writing down the notes and lists, drawing up the designs and ideas. He works with metal sometimes since his dad has a forge at their house where he sometimes helps make real swords or knives. It's like a small hobby/business his dad does since sometimes he even sells what he makes.

Percy actually got his own sword from Leo's dad once. It was made from bronze and it's pretty well balanced for him. Because he's so fascinated by the ancient Greek warriors and heroes, he developed an interest in sword fighting and Greek fighting tactics. Of course, you can't make a living from that very well so that's where his other hobby comes in. He loves to swim. He's really good at it, too. Goode has a swim team but he's never joined it because of all the negative treatment he often gets from the others. Though, that doesn't stop Grover or Jason from pressuring him to join up since those two are the only ones who know his talent. As for his sword skills, only Grover and Leo know about that. Jason suspects, but Percy hasn't given him proof that he knows how to use the sword.

Swords and swimming, he thinks to himself. What a combination that is...

"Oooh! I have an idea!" Leo shouts.

"Shut up, Valdez!" Frank hisses. "We don't want the other groups to hear us."

"Let's here your idea," Percy says, "But I agree with Frank. Be quiet about this."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I was thinking, maybe we could try to learn the orders and formations used by the Greeks. Use them to make things even better," Leo says, his eyes wide with excitement.

"I like that that idea," Frank says, smiling. "Percy?"

"How many people are in this group?" he asks.

"There's us three, and another two that are out sick," Frank says. "So that's five here."

"And Jason has five in his group. The other two I think have 12 students total so we're outnumbered by two," Percy says.

"We could make a phalanx work," Leo says.

"Maybe," Percy says with a grin. "I'm really liking this idea, guys. I'll see if I can text Jason really quick."

He pulls out his phone, which right now Mr. Brunner allows so people can search for references and even cooperate with other groups if needed. He pulls up Jason's contact info and shoots him a text explaining the idea.

He responds a minute later and replies. "Hell yeah man! I'll gather the troops after school. Where should we meet?"

"Where should we meet, guys?" Percy asks his group.

"My house," Leo says. "I have a big yard and there's the workshop and the warehouse which only holds the scrap metal dad uses to make his stuff-"

"I don't need a rundown on your property just yet, dude," Percy laughs. He texts Jason Leo's address and asks if that would be alright.

He responds with a thumbs up and a 'yeah I'll let them know. We'll meet up outside the school and head over there together. Sound cool?'

"Sounds like a plan," Percy says, typing it out and sending it. He tells his group the plan and they agree to it, all of them feeling pretty excited about this.

...

A/N: Yes, you read that right. Mock battle during the Halloween dance. The next few chapters will go into further detail about that so I won't say anything about it here, but I will say this may be the only kind of battling in this story. I was in a mindset full of Spartans from the movie 300 at the time of writing and also the fact that I mostly wrote war stories before this so I'm trying to adjust. This story won't be full of militaristic combat. Please be patient with me and I seriously hope you enjoy this story.