Chapter One:

July 7th

Percy didn't know where his life was going. Although he had aspirations, most of them were unrealistic based on many things, his grades, his financial situation, and his ADHD and dyslexia, just to name a few. The future to him was just something to worry about later, even if he was entering his senior year of high school.

At this point in time, Percy was focused on making sure he didn't burn the cookies he was baking and that he didn't eat so many of them that his mom noticed. As he waited for the timer to ring signaling that the chocolate chip cookies were finished, another bell rang at the front of the small bakery and Percy heard his mom greet the customer.

As the timer continued ticking, Percy halfheartedly scrolled through his phone while simultaneously listening to his mom discuss catering a birthday party next week on July 12th. Finally, Percy put his pencil down and pulled the baking tray out of the oven just as his mom entered the kitchen.

She smiled at him and said "Hey honey, would you be able to help cater an event on July 12th? I know it's a Friday night, but I could really use the help. This is the biggest event we've ever catered!"

Percy could tell his mom was excited, ever since she opened the bakery 3 years, she's slowly been gaining more and more customers that have allowed her to expand the business, experiment with new treats, and provide new services like catering while using it as an escape from their home life.

He smiled back and replied, "Of course Mom! Do you want me to see if anyone else can help, like Grover or Rachel?"

He could physically see her shoulders sag from relief at the offer, no matter how much the business continued to grow, she still couldn't afford to pay anyone more than minimum wage to help, so any chance she had to have very cheap help from his friends, she jumped on it.

"Can you ask both of them? I think between all the baking and then serving at the party I could definitely use 3 people." She responded.

He nodded as he grabbed his phone to text his closest friends. He had packed up his backpack and help his mom close the store before he got any responses.

Grover, his closest and oldest friend, responded with a simple, Sure, let me know the time and place, I'll be there. Considering that Percy's mom had practically raised Grover from the 6th grade and that he always needed the money, as long as he didn't have plans with his girlfriend, Juniper, he jumped at any opportunity to help.

Rachel, who Percy had befriended their freshman year of high school and always looked for an excuse to get away from her parents, texted back Duh any chance to eat leftover desserts ;)

Percy smiled at that and sent both of them the details of the job before heading to the back door to meet his mom in the car. As he slid into the passenger seat, he said "Grover and Rachel are both in for Friday." He paused while he buckled his seatbelt and then said, "Hey who is this event for anyway?"

His mom backed out of the parking spot and pulled onto the road before answering, "It's for Athena Chase, she's throwing her daughter's 17th birthday party."

Percy slowly processed that information before choking out, "Annabeth Chase?"

"What?" His mom said while sending him a confused glance, "No, Athena Chase."

He shook his head, "No I mean is the daughter's name Annabeth?"

She paused for a minute, thinking, before slowly nodding her head, "Yes I think she said that was her name during our conversation, why?"

Percy put his head in his hands, "No no no no no- this cannot be happening." He groaned out.

"Percy, honey, what's wrong?" His mother questioned.

Right as he was about to answer, his phone buzzed with another text from Rachel, Wait, isn't that Annabeth Chase's address?

Could Percy's life get any worse? Not only did he have to work on Friday night, but he had to work at the one girl at school that he'd had way too many fantasies about, Annabeth Chase. What a girl. The only girl Percy had ever really noticed in his almost 17 years of life. Beautiful, blonde princess curls with tanned skin that went on for miles and a smile that always left Percy a little breathless, not that any of them were ever directed at him. But Annabeth's best feature was her eyes, gray. Never just one shade of gray though, they were a constantly changing pool of storm clouds and flashes of silver that changed with her mood. She was stunning and wonderful and she reflected everything good in the world. To summarize, Annabeth was so far out of Percy's league and not just in looks, she was smart, like a shoo-in for valedictorian and tutors other kids smart, while also being apart of the debate club and a captain on the dance team. Everyone in Goode High knew her and respected her.

And now Percy has to serve her and all her parent's rich friends. He snapped out of his trance when he realized that they had pulled up to their apartment building and his mom was shaking his shoulder trying to get him out of the car. As they started walking up to their door, his mom said, "So, are you gonna tell me who Annabeth is?"

He shrugged and look at his shoes, trying not to blush, "She's just a girl that goes to my school."

"Oh, are you guys friends?" His mom questioned, as they walked up the stairs to their 5th-floor apartment, the elevator has been broken for over a year now.

"Not really, I just know who she is, everyone at school does." He replied.

His mom smirked knowingly and just hummed her response while she unlocked the door. As soon as the door was open, they were hit with the stench of spilled beer and cigarettes.

Oh, the joys of living with Gabe.

Gabe Ugliano was the worst stepdad in the world, so bad he didn't even deserve the title of stepdad. Percy's mom had married him two years ago after only dating for 8 months. He seemed nice at the beginning, before the wedding, and Percy knew they desperately needed money, the bakery wasn't taking off yet and all of his mom's money was tied up in it and Gabe had a steady job with some corporation that paid really well, so when he proposed, Sally had accepted, trying to do what was best for her and her son.

It took a full year for everything to really fall apart. It started gradually with a couple of rude comments towards both Percy and his mom, but mainly Percy, talking about how he was a waste of money and space and was too dumb to graduate high school. Then Gabe lost his job and everything went to hell and the beatings started. At first, he would only hit his mom but never hard enough to leave any bruises, just a slap here and there, and then it slowly progressed to full-on beatings for both of them that left bruises on their bodies for weeks. Eventually, at the start of his junior year, Percy joined the swim team and started working out and realized that he could fight back, and then one swift punch that broke Gabe's nose ended the beatings. But that was the only thing it ended, the verbal abuse and drinking continued, it actually got worse, but his mom couldn't afford to leave, not without selling the bakery, so they stayed and tried to stay out of the house until it got late enough that Gabe had passed out.

"Sally, is that you?" Gabe yelled from the living room.

Sally replied, "Yes, Percy and I are back from the bakery."

Percy heard a grunt at his name and Gabe's response, "Whatever. Go ahead and make dinner, I'm hungry."

Sally just sighed and said "Of course honey. I'll get started on it right away."

Percy hated seeing her this way, so submissive, he knew his mom had a wild side and was incredibly stubborn, like him, but she lost that the minute she married Gabe, and Percy desperately wanted to see her find it again. The situation with Gabe made him hate his birth father even more for leaving when Percy was a baby. He didn't know much about his father, his mom always got emotional and changed the topic when he asked, but he knew that he left before Percy was born, stating that he didn't think he was ready to be a dad or some ridiculous bullshit like that.

Percy trudged up to his room without even looking at Gabe to shower before dinner and to ponder how he was ever going to suffer through Friday night serving at Annabeth's party.

A/N: Hey guys! I had this idea for a fanfic a while ago but wasn't sure if I was ever going to actually write another one, but I decided I would write the first chapter and see how everyone likes it! So please leave me a review and let me know what you think! I'll go ahead and start on the next chapter but please leave your feedback!

Btw, I promise there is more to this story that you think! ;)

Bye!