Chapter 1-Percy's mortal friends. Scene: Percy's house. Characters: Percy Jackson, Alex Getterman, Josh Mac, Lucinda Rune, Annabeth Chase, Jason Grace, Thalia Grace, Nico di Angelo. Mentioned: Travis and Connor Stoll, Clarisse La Rue, Leo Valdez, Piper Mclean, Frank Zhang. AU-high school. POV- Lucinda Rune.

Hiya! The name's Lucinda, Lucinda Rune, but most people call me Lucy. I'm a senior at Goode High School, I have a bunch of goode(see what I did there? ;) friends, a big brother, a little sister, a steady boyfriend, and great parents! My grades are above average, not straight A's but never below the C's, and I want to be a scientist when I'm old enough!

My looks are pretty good, I have curly black hair and healthy skin, with freckles and light brown eyes. I don't pay much attention to my looks that often, but I think I look pretty either way!

I have a pretty good life, if I do say so myself, which I do. Earlier that day, my science teacher gave me and three of my friends a big project to work on! It's a HUGE part of our grade, so me, Alex, Josh, and Percy went over to Percy's house.

Percy Jackson has sea-green eyes and windswept black hair. If I didn't already have a boyfriend *cough*Josh*cough* I would be drooling all over him like all the other girls in our school. But I do, so I don't, and me and Percy quickly became friends. He's a bit mysterious, claiming to have a girlfriend, but none of us have ever seen her before. He says that they met in summer camp when they were twelve, and started dating when they were sixteen. He describes her with tan skin, blond wavy hair, and these startling gray eyes. If she is real, I can't wait to meet her.

Josh, my boyfriend, and Alex don't think she exists, but I'm on the fence for this one. If it turns out she is real, I don't want to offend her, but if she isn't? Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

So, anyways, me and the boys are in Percy's living room, talking about video games, when the door slams open. I hear a voice call out in a weird language- latin maybe?-and say something.

"Hey Kelp Head! Have you got any greek fire?" The voice sounds feminine to me. Maybe she was the elusive girlfriend? I discard the thought as a girl comes stomping into the room. She has choppy black and a silver circlet that did not match her shirt, which reads: die scum! It has a picture of a boy, lying dead with an arrow peeking out of his forehead. I shudder. I knew right away that I did not want to get on her bad side.

Surprisingly, Percy answers in the same language. "Naw, I think Leo took it all. Why?"

"Cause cabin eleven started another prank war and roped cabin nine into it," another voice answers in English, a masculine voice this time.

Percy groans. "Please tell me they didn't," he pleads to the blond-haired blue-eyed boy who had just stepped into the room.

The girl smirks at Percy. "Why? You scared?" she taunts.

"Uh, yeah! I dunno 'bout you, but I don't wanna end up covered in hot-pink paint like Clarisse did last time the prank war happened," Percy replies.

The boy shrugs. "Yeah, that's fair," he admits. "Anyway, that's not why we came over here," he glares at the girl, who just smirks back.

"Why are you here, then?" Percy asks.

Before the boy or the girl can answer, another boy steps into the room. I'm a little freaked out, because I didn't even hear any footsteps.

The new boy, a goth or emo from the looks of it, gives a death glare to the pair. "That's a surprise," he answers. "But Piper called about an hour ago, and she said that Frank is doing really well."

I have no idea who they're talking about. Frank? Piper? I didn't even know Percy spoke another language! I'm a little pissed, 'cause while, yeah, we knew he had friends other than him, he wouldn't tell us anything about them or where he met them. All he told us was that he met them at 'camp.' I'm starting to want to see what this elusive camp is. And prank wars? That's right up my alley.

"So, I have absolutely no idea who any of you are, or what you're talking about," I put in, "but if you need pranking advice, I prank my brother and sister all the time," I offer.

The girl opens her mouth to say something, but the hot blond steps in. "sorry, but we have plenty of pranking experts back at camp," he tells us.

I deflate a bit, but smile anyway, because it was kinda rude of me to butt in in the first place. "I'm Lucinda Rune, but you can call me Lucy," I say, introducing myself. "That's my boyfriend, Josh, and our friend, Alex."

"I'm Thalia," the girl says. "Nice to meet you guys."

"Likewise," Alex says, giving them a warm smile. He turns to the boys. "And you are?"

"Nico," says the goth kid.

"Jason," the blond guy says.

Suddenly, the door opens again, and in walks this super-hot chick with tan skin and wavy blond hair that's pulled up into a ponytail. She looks like a stereotypical California girl, but her eyes are an intense gray that makes her look like she can see right through any lies you tell her.

I gotta admit, I'm a little jealous.

The second he sees her, Percy's mouth drops open. He rushes towards her and pulls her close into a hug, nuzzling his chin into her hair. The girl laughs, and when he spins her around, she shrieks. "Gah! Seaweed Brain, put me down!"

Laughing, Percy sets her gently down on the floor. "Sorry Wise Girl," he apologizes.

Huh. Seaweed Brain and Wise Girl, odd nicknames. I mentally shrug. It's none of my business what they call each other. Maybe an inside joke?

Percy turns to us, a huge shit-eating grin on his face, but not before placing a peck on the chick's cheek. Ah, I think, this is the girlfriend.

"Everyone, meet my totally real," he glares at Josh and ALex, "girlfriend, Annabeth. Wise Girl, this is Lucy, Alex, and Josh."

"It's nice to meet you," Annabeth says, although I can tell that there was a barrier for some reason. Most people wouldn't be able to see it, but I can. I'm observant in that way-oh! I just realized! I'm sorry, I don't mean to toot my own horn, it just kinda. . .happens.

Anyways, there's a kind of hardness in her eyes, a kind of brokenness that I've only ever seen in Percy before, like they'd all been in a war or something. Looking at Jason, Thalia, and Nico, I see the same kind of sadness. I can only assume that 'Piper' and 'Frank' have it too.

Throughout the rest of the night, we all hang out, working on the project, with Percy's friends helping us. When we're done, we all smush onto the couch(or floor) to play video games. As we play, I notice that Percabeth(Thalia had pulled me aside earlier that night and explained that they had met when they were twelve at camp, and she and the rest of their friends had just been waiting for them to get together, Percabeth was the ship name they came up with) is almost always touching. Hands brushing together, short pecks on the lips or cheek, knees knocking together, you name it. (not that, gds. You people have such dirty minds.)

"Son of Hephaestus!" Percy yelps suddenly.

We all look at him strangely. That was a weird way to curse. Thalia looks like she's about to burst out laughing.

"Did- you just use a Leo cuss word?" she asks.

Percy shrugs, a faint blush on his face. "Yeah, so?" he mumbles.

"Why would you say that, anyways?" asks Jason curiously.

"Dude, have you seen the time? It's almost midnight, and my mom and Paul won't be out all night!"

We all agree, but surprisingly, Annabeth stays. She waves as the rest of us leave. "Bye!"

"Later!"

"See ya!"

"Toots!" That one is Thalia. For some reason, Percy looks mad at her. I decided to put it aside and walk home, grateful that I was finally able to meet Annabeth.