Chapter 1

Percy

Nothing to do Town

Percy Jackson was a city boy, through and through. He had been born at Mt. Sinai, finished preschool in an ivy-covered brownstone on Lexington Ave, and had lived on the Upper East Side in a small apartment with his mom ever since he could remember. He honestly never wanted to leave. Until this summer, he had been pretty sure he was going to spend every moment of his life hanging out with friends in Central Park, drinking one too many beers at a party at somebody's expensive penthouse and bringing back girls his mom disapproved of.

Unfortunately, that was not how the summer before college ended up going.

Instead, he was on a plane - which scared him to death, by the way - flying to the middle of nowhere to hang out with his loser dad who had abandoned him when he was a baby. So yeah, not ideal.

At the end of the school year, he had brought this girl home. They were both drunk and very loud coming through the door of his two bedroom apartment. Apparently, they were also very loud later that night. His mom was, to say the least, pissed. She kicked the girl out the door at six AM, and wouldn't talk to Percy for over a week.

"This isn't the first time." She finally said, making him his favorite blue pancakes as a peace offering before school.

"I know, Mom," He said, pouring way too much syrup on the pancakes. "It won't happen again." Sally sighed. They both knew that was a lie, especially with summer coming around.

She started to vigorously scrub the pan she just used. "Percy, I've been thinking." She blew a strand of hair out of her face, wincing like this was hard for her. "I love you. I do." She took a deep breath. Fuck. He thought.

"I called your dad." She finally spit out.

"You didn't." He groaned. His dad was a grade A jerk. He had left when Percy was only three months old, and had called around to say hi and that he wanted to reconnect, gotten his drinking problem under control, blah blah blah. "What good is seeing Poseidon gonna do?"

"That's the thing." She winced again, like she was regretting bringing this up. "I think you should go live with him for the summer."

Percy's jaw dropped. He let out an unbelievable laugh. "You're not serious."

His mom set down the dish she had been washing by hand even though it could have easily gone in the dishwasher. "I am. I think it would be good for you to get away from the city for a little, take a break."

"Poseidon lives… downtown." Percy said, cautiously. "In a penthouse, right? Pretty sure that would be even worse than staying in the same 500 feet with my mom."

His mom finally sat down across from him, pulling her frizzy brown hair back into a ponytail. "I don't mean here. He has a summer house he goes too. It's in Virginia, in a small town."

Percy violently shook his head. "No. I'm not going to Virginia. Why doesn't he go to the Hamptons."

Sally shrugged. "Don't know. He says that Hampton's isn't all that relaxing since he still has to see everybody out there. The house is nice, Percy, it's not like you're going to be roughing it out there."

"You hate me, don't you?" He rolled his eyes.

"Percy-" She started, but he had already slammed the door to his room.

Percy had reluctantly gotten over his mom and her idiocy before he left. In fact, he got a little teary eyed at the airport leaving her, but he hoped she hadn't noticed. He was a mama's boy despite all of his other issues. He hugged his stepdad Paul quickly, before stepping into the security line at JFK.

During takeoff, Percy was pretty sure they were going to die. He was gripping the armrest so tight his fingers were turning blue and the two old ladies next to him were snickering behind hands.

By the time he landed in West Virginia, he was as white as a sheet and about to vomit. He made his way off the plane, rudely pushing people out of the way who were shuffling around in the top bins. He earned a few choice words, but ignored them.

A man in all black was waiting with his luggage and a sign that said JACKSON. Immediately, Percy's heart fell. His own Dad, who he hadn't seen since that day he showed up unannounced at his apartment, couldn't even bothered to pick him up.

"You the chauffeur?" Percy snapped. This guy didn't do anything wrong, but he couldn't help himself. "Must be pretty degrading to be driving around high school students."

The man didn't seem fazed, just kept walking. "I am your father's personal assistant. Come, he is waiting in the car." Percy didn't know what was worse - his dad not coming at all, or being to snobby to get out of the car and greet Percy himself.

A black Cadillac SUV was parked in a permit only spot a few steps away. The man who picked him up opened the back door and Percy climbed in, finding a tanned Poseidon sitting next to him, typing out an email frantically.

As soon as he saw Percy, he broke out in smile. "Percy!" He exclaimed, giving him a half hug that he didn't return. "When your mom told me you were coming to my house this summer, I couldn't believe it. It'll be so good to have you, son."

Percy scooted closer to the window. "Don't call me that."

Poseidon's smile fell for a split second before it returned. "Right, well, no worries. Bridgeport's about an hour drive from here. It's a nice town. Different from New York, obviously, but the house is about ten times bigger. Only a few thousand people though. You should talk to the neighbors, there's a few people around your age you might get along with. The Grace's live the closest, but the Chase's are only a few minutes down the road. Speaking of them, your mom mentioned you getting a job? They have an opening for just a basic farmhand. Could be a good gig, probably minimum wage."

Poseidon was rambling and the irritating noise was getting louder with the second. "Poseidon!" Percy finally snapped. "I'm not getting a job, and I'm not making friends here either. And we don't need to talk just because you screwed my mom once."

Poseidon was quiet the rest of the drive. Percy had never felt worse.

The drive to the house turned from small city to suburbs to willow trees and dirt. Great. Despite Percy's animosity towards the country, he had to admit the south was pretty. As they drove farther out, they rolled the windows down and you could hear the birds in the wind, making as much noise as the traffic in New York.

Before long, they were pulling into a private drive. The gate opened slowly, framed by two tall lanterns burning with real fire. Jesus Christ.

It was another ten minutes before the actual house came into view. They passed the stables and the barn, where staff wandered around, doing various things. Horses were being trained in the corral, and Percy's head followed, watching them.

"We do lessons here during the summer for the kids around here." Poseidon explained. "Also we board horses when people go out of town. It's a good way to make some extra money while we're out here."

"Can't I just get a job here?" Percy asked.

Poseidon shook his head. "It'll be good for you to get out of the house for a little. A summer just with me and the staff is definitely not what you want."

"This whole thing isn't what I want." He grumbled.

Poseidon ignored him. "I already set up an interview with Fred on the way over here. Of course, he'll hire you. His wife and I are old friends."

Percy didn't respond and became too preoccupied at the house that stood in front of him. It wasn't even a house. It resembled a castle more than anything else. Three stories high with a driveway lined with those mini hedges rich people liked. A man - the butler, maybe, but Percy didn't know if people used that language anymore - stood at the front door, awaiting their arrival. It was a white brick, with a dark, wooden door. It looked like something out of those romance movies his mom liked.

"Mr. Jackson." The butler said in a deep, gravely voice. "How was the drive?"

"Beautiful, as always." Poseidon responded. Before Percy could protest, people were already taking his bags. Maybe he could get used to this life after all.

"I'm sure you're tired from the flight," Poseidon said, heading towards what Percy assumed was his office. "Go upstairs and rest, I'll call you for dinner." It wasn't an option, it was a request. Percy reluctantly headed up to his room.

Poseidon must have talked to Sally before decorating. The room was beach themed, and about three times as big as Percy's whole apartment. The walls were a light blue, with cotton white sheets and dark blue accents. There were two pictures on the nightstand, one with Percy and his mom and the other of Percy and his two best friends, Leo and Grover. Yep, Poseidon had definitely talked to his mom.

—

There was something oddly calming about waking up here. It couldn't have been earlier than 9 or 10, but it was still dead silent outside even though his window was wide open. The loudest sound was the chirp of birds and the wind brushing through the willow tree right outside his window.

He rolled out of bed with a groan, and stumbled into his personal bathroom in nothing but boxers. After brushing his teeth and putting on some jeans and a fresh pair of underwear, he headed downstairs for breakfast.

Poseidon was already seated at the huge table meant for sixteen, the paper flipped open to the business page. He raised an eyebrow at Percy when he saw him. "We're going to have to go shopping."

Percy reached for a croissant while the server poured him coffee. "What? Why?"

"You can hardly mow a lawn in this season's Adidas." Poseidon said, not looking up from the paper. "The interview's at noon. You can take the truck. It's yours for the summer."

"I don't want it." Percy said with his mouth full.

Poseidon looked up at that. "You will." He said shortly, then pushed back his chair and headed back to his office.

Percy finished up breakfast alone. There was something extremely lonely about this place, despite the multiple people running around fixing lamp shades and dusting off porcelain. He didn't know how Poseidon lived here all on his own.

An hour later, his dad was knocking on his door. "Percy. Time to go. I'll walk you out to the garage, show you the car and everything."

"Didn't I say I wasn't getting a job?" Percy asked slipping past Poseidon and heading down the stairs. He was really just being difficult. This summer was about to be extremely boring if he didn't find something to occupy his time.

Poseidon led him down a path to the left of the house, where there was a house for all of his cars, not a garage. He had probably ten, but Percy didn't count. All were luxury, except for the truck - of course.

"So I'm not getting the Rolls?" Percy joked.

Poseidon gave him a smile. "We'll see. You might be able to take it a few times this summer."

Besides a Rolls Royce, there were two Audi's, a Mustang, two Cadillacs, and a Bentley. One of these cars could pay the rent on his apartment forever. It was kind of disgusting.

"The Audi's are Amphitrite's." He mentioned. "So don't touch those."

"Amphitrite?" Percy asked.

"My… wife?" Poseidon looked confused. "Sally didn't tell you?"

"No." Percy shook his head. "I didn't know you were married."

"Oh, sorry. I thought you knew. She's in Martha's Vineyard this week with some friends. She'll be back a couple days from now, Friday I think."

Percy was kind of wondering why he didn't know that, but he didn't have long to dwell. His dad tossed him the keys to the monstrous Ford. "The address to their house is already saved as a favorite. Don't crash it," He said, turning to walk back out of the garage. "And behave!"

Turns out, Percy was not a good driver. His dad had been right to worry. He had thought his spare lessons with Paul in South Hampton would suffice, but driving on these roads was a whole other ball game. They turned and twisted, and his stomach lurched as he winded throughout. They were constantly switching between paved to dirt to gravel to dust to paved and he couldn't keep up. The fifteen minutes it supposedly took to arrive at the Chase's seemed like hours.

His dad had described the Chase's house as right next door, but to Percy that usually meant ten feet. The Chase's were at least ten miles down the road, if not more. But, he guessed that next door really just meant there was no property in between them. Instead, the two were split with a pretty white picket fence, horses wandering the fields on either side.

Frederick's house was much more modest than his father's, but still way more than Percy and his mom could ever afford. It was a tan, with stone built in pillars on the entrance. A fountain ran through the front walkway, and Percy stepped carefully over purposefully placed rocks.

"Sir." A man opened the door for him, eyeing Percy warily.

"Hi." Percy said, then tried again louder realizing his voice was barely a whisper. "Hi. I'm Percy Jackson. My dad, Poseidon, said I had an interview for a job today?"

The man looked as if he was resisting an eye roll. "Oh, yes. Poseidon's kid. Right this way, kiddo."

Percy didn't like that, but he followed him anyway.

"Mr. Chase." The man said, knocking slightly before entering through a modern barn door that led to a spare office. "Jackson kid to see you."

"Thank you, Watts." The man at the desk said. He was attractive, for an older man. Sandy blonde hair, blue eyes and a soft fold in his body, like he wasn't as serious as the house really made him look.

"Percy Jackson." Frederick said, greeting him with a warm smile after finally looking up from papers. "You came at the perfect time. Just finished grading those summer papers. You know, things could be worse for you. You could be in summer school." He said, laughing to himself. Percy stayed silent. He didn't know what to say. "Sit down, sit down. Frederick Chase. Pleased to meet you." He stuck out a sweaty hand as Percy settled into the leather armchair across from him.

"Nice to meet you, sir." Percy said, extremely polite.

Frederick shook his head. "Oh, none of that. Your family and ours are old friends. Fred will do just fine. Now, your dad wanted me to look into a farmhand job for you? I have a staff manager, but I thought I could do this interview in person. I had no idea Poseidon had a son!"

This guy talked too much. Percy laughed uncomfortably. "Uh, yeah, neither did I until last winter." Percy winced internally. What a dumb thing to say.

Frederick - or Fred, whatever - just looked confused before shaking it off. "Well, we'll of course hire you. We would love to have you, you'll get along great with some of our other staff I'm sure. It's a pretty easy job, as long as you can - " He was interrupted by a knock on the door, then a young girl spoke behind Percy.

"Didn't realize you had company." The girl said, and Percy turned to face her. She was the same girl from the horse, and she was even more breathtaking than he had realized. Her eyes were a startling gray, even though she seemed to be paying no attention to Percy. Her glare was directed at her dad, though Percy couldn't figure out why. She was wearing riding clothes, tight tan pants, brown cowgirl boots and and a cotton white long sleeve. Somehow, she totally pulled the whole thing off.

"I always have time for you, sweetheart. What's up?" Fred asked, clearly jumping at this girl's every need. He was beginning to realize they might not be the best of friends. Or maybe, it was just one of those phases every teenage girl goes through. Rachel had been horrible. So snappy, it had become slightly impossible to even be friends, let alone anything more.

The girl rolled her eyes. "I'll just ask Jaqueline to pack lunch for me and Luke. We're going to go for a picnic, if that's all right."

"Of course. Just remember, we have that dinner with the Grace's tonight." The girl rolled her eyes, turning on her heel to walk out. Percy forced himself to look up, not about to get distracted by the tight pants. "And Luke can't come!" Fred called out, but the doors were already closed.

Frederick sighed. "Girls are… another breed. No matter what I do, I can't make her happy."

Percy chuckled. He could relate to this. "Trust me. My ex, she was a piece of work."

Fred gave him a wry smile. "Aren't they all," He said, before sliding a work contract and a black pen in front of him.

Hey. So, this is my new story, obviously. If you're coming from The Nanny, welcome back. If you're new, welcome! I wrote The Nanny when I was so excited to be moving to NYC, and I started writing this when I realized how much I missed my hometown (obviously, I don't have this kind of glamour or drama, that's the fun of fiction). I was going to post this on like a Sunday or something, but I couldn't wait. Next update will probably be Sunday or so though - sometime over the weekend.

The chapter titles are real songs, including the title of the story. If you guys want the whole playlist, just PM me!

As always, let me know what you think. This story is not anywhere near done, and I'm kind of just writing as I go so I would love (positive) suggestions. Review, favorite, follow! See y'all Sunday 3

-A