CHAPTER ONE
-of gray eyes and bubblegum-

Percy straightened his new uniform, careful not to brush the delicate maroon fabric against the dirty counters of his kitchen as he grabbed a granola bar from the highest shelf. Taking a bite out of it, he stepped over a pile of glass as he walked out into the living room, inhaling sharply when he saw Gabe knocked out on the couch. A fine line of saliva trickled from the right corner of his mouth, and a bottle of booze was clutched to his chest.

It was a typical Tuesday morning.

"Gabe?"

There was no response. Personally, Percy hoped that he had drunk himself into a stupor, but that was unlikely. If his lungs hadn't been destroyed by nicotine consumption at that point, he might as well have been invincible. Indeed, just as Percy was leaning across the couch to snatch his bag, the man stirred, grunting in his sleep. That was Percy's cue to flee, before Gabe regained his consciousness to the point that he recognized his stepson.

He hated that he had to act like a trespasser in his own home.

"Do you mind if I sit here?"

Percy looked up from his transfer papers to face a very pretty brunette woman with a soft look on her face. She reminded him of a painting that he had once seen on display in the Met, back when he used to go to museums. Bracelets dangled from her thin wrists.

He shook his head and gestured to the seat beside him, figuring that she must have been a tourist or something of the sort. Real New Yorkers rarely ever interacted with each other, especially if they were strangers. Percy couldn't remember the last time that he had talked to someone that he didn't know, and would probably never see again.

She was a quiet woman, and didn't speak to him again, though he could most definitely feel her eyes on him. It seemed like everybody always stared, though he didn't really understand why. He tried his hardest to just ignore it, turning back to the papers. Using his pen, he scrawled a messy sort of signature that was close enough to match his mother's, though it was a bit too shaky to be completely hadn't had the chance to sign them when they had arrived, seeing as she was working a double shift that day.

And the day after that.

And the day after that.

He couldn't exactly blame her for scheduling herself full. Honestly, he had done the same most of the summer. Anything to get away from Gabe.

The subway car came to an abrupt halt, making his ink smear. He rolled his eyes, because it seemed like the sort of thing that would happen to him. He just hoped that the pretentious little pricks at the head of the school wouldn't mind.

The woman beside him stood up, brushing off her skirt. "Thank you for letting me sit next to you, Perseus."

Absentmindedly, he nodded his head, watching her dismount the car out of the corner of his eye.

It was only when she was out of sight that he realized he had never told her his name.

The Academy was about as pretentious as its name suggested, perhaps even moreso. It housed the children of the rich and famous, as well as those who weren't quite as well-off, but clever enough to get in on scholarship.

Percy was one of those people.

It wasn't that he was really that intelligent, per say, at least not by the Academy's definition. He had never done well in school, not since he had first begun. He could do math and science and remember historical events, but his track record with the language arts had always been quite abysmal. It had improved since elementary, but he still had trouble deciphering words a lot of the time. That was probably what had contributed to his deep hatred of reading. But on the grounds of just academic record, he would have never gotten in. The real reason that they had allowed him to go was because of who his father was. His real father.

He was the only reason that Percy had accepted the invitation.

Perhaps that was why he felt a strange sense of comfort as he stepped foot through the gates, knowing he was honoring his father's legacy. Another wave of relief washed over him as he caught sight of someone that he knew.

"Yo! Jason!"

The golden boy turned away from the small group of people around him, smiling at the sight of his on-and-off best friend.

(Percy was also technically his cousin, but they never talked about that.)

"Perce! My man!" he exclaimed, deserting his friends and high-fiving Percy.

Now, at this point in time, you should understand that Jason's family was not just one of the elite, they were the elite. There were rumors that his father's shit was made out of gold, and they weren't really that far-off if you thought about it. Jason didn't really understand Percy's dilemma of living in an apartment the size of a shoebox, and not being able to blow money on whatever he liked. He saw the world through rose-colored lenses, acting like they were five again. Acting like Percy still lived in that big penthouse on fifth, with that amazing view of Central Park and the Met. That was where most of their fights spawned from - and when they fought, it was an ugly thing. Sally would always swear that the weather would turn gray and dismal and the tides of the Hudson would turn when he and Jason had their screaming matches. But they always made up in the end.

"Dude, I've only seen you like twice the entire summer. Where the hell have you been?"

Percy shrugged. "I was working man."

Jason laughed. "Seriously? Why? Summer's supposed to be the time that you get off."

"I'm saving up for college. Don't want my mom to have to pay, y'know?"

"Sure. Well, I'm glad you transferred anyway. The people here can get kinda boring," he told him, scratching the back of his neck. "But they're cool to hang around sometimes."

Percy opened his mouth to say something, but a voice behind him spoke before any words could escape.

"'Sup, Kelp Head? Haven't seen you in forever."

"Hey Thals," Jason said, peeking behind Percy's shoulder as he turned around. "How're you?"

She glared at him, munching on what must have been ten pieces of bubblegum, her jet black hair in disarray. "I wasn't talking to you. Did you go deaf over the summer, cousin of mine?"

"'Course not, Pinecone Face," Percy replied, patting her on the head, then quickly retracting his hand before she could bite it off.

The bubblegum chewing became more aggressive.

"You are so annoying, Jackson. Anyway, I need to talk to Jason. So move."

"As you wish, Queen Thalia," he said, bowing and earning himself a slap on the head, though it was light and rather affectionate. He had always envisioned Thalia as some sort of angry pixie, because though she was loud, she was only around five foot. Jason thought that it was hilarious, though he would never mention this to his sister, as they all knew the more sinister reasons behind Thalia's abnormal height. Something to do with Beryl Grace's severe alcoholism during her first pregnancy (though thankfully, FAS hadn't occurred). Thalia had been a preemie, but that didn't mean that she was any weaker than the rest of them.

"Stop leaving your shit in my locker," she said to Jason, as though proving Percy's point. "I swear, it hasn't even been twenty minutes we've been here and your sweaty-ass jersey from tryouts is already making it disgusting."

"Your fault for giving me the combo," Jason replied with a shrug. "You should have learned your lesson last year. Anyway, Percy, what's your first class?"

"Math. With Dodds?"

He made a face. "Shit, man, she's awful. Like a fuckin' harpy or something."

"Damn," Percy said, forcing a smile to stretch across his features. "Just my luck, right?"

It was only when the bell rang that Jason could manage to peel Percy from his side. It was just so very easy to get people to leave him alone when he hid in the golden boy's shadow, he didn't ever really want to leave it.

But everyone had to leave the safety of what they knew behind at one point.

"Fly away, little birdie. I have English," Jason laughed, waving him away and heading off in the opposite direction.

Sighing, he began to make his way down the hallway, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He hoped that he'd at least be able to make a friend or two in his classes, but with the way that people were looking at him, he wasn't exactly sure he wanted to.

Pretentious assholes, every last one of them.

Glaring at the floor, he slunk into Room 304, and took a quick seat next to a blonde girl who was reading a book with a building on the front cover, trying his hardest to avoid attention. It wasn't even that he was shy, really. In fact, he wasn't. He was just out of place.

And Percy hated being out of place.

He fiddled with his pencil for a moment or two, rearranging his papers even though he knew that they would get messy again. They always did.

Turning back to the blonde girl, he decided she looked a lot less ostentatious than the others. That alone made her an optimal choice for socializing.

"Hi."

Her eyes lifted from the page for a moment, and he couldn't help but feel as though she was looking straight into his very soul. They were a steely sort of gray, and rather intimidating if he were to be quite honest.

"Hello," she finally said after a moment or two, cocking her head. "I don't recognize you. What's your name?"

He flashed a smile. "Percy. I'm new this year."

"I'm Annabeth."

"Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," she said, turning back to her book as though he hadn't even been there in the first place.

They sat there in silence for a moment or two more, until an old woman with a mean face and a cane walked into the room, banging on the whiteboard with a marker.

"Quiet!" she shrieked, though no one was even talking.

Percy immediately hated her.

She started scribbling something onto the board - a mixture of numbers and letters and mathematical signs, all smushed into a word problem that didn't make any sense. When she was finished, she whipped around (surprisingly quick for someone with a lame leg) and smacked the board with the marker once more. "Now, this should be review for most of you, seeing as almost all of you were in my AP last year. It was the most missed question on the exam. I want you to solve it to see who did their math packet over the summer. You have five minutes. Begin."

To Percy's abject horror, everyone started scribbling things down on their papers. He tried to lean down and mimic the way that they were all writing, but he very equation made his head spin. Besides, he hadn't gotten a stupid packet over the summer, but he doubted that the teacher would care.

However, he was decently skilled in the art of bullshitting, so he scribbled a random answer down onto his paper and waited. A few minutes later, he felt a sharp pain in his right rib, making him exhale sharply. Glancing over to Annabeth (because she had most obviously elbowed him), he saw that she was looking straight forward.

Her answer was exposed.

Looking from her to the paper for about half a second, he decided that she was helping him, and copied down her answer. The second he finished, her paper was turned over again.

She must have had the reflexes of a cheetah.

"Hey, Annabeth!" Percy called, catching up to her after class.

She looked him up and down. "Can I help you?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I just wanted to thank you for helping me. Y'know, in math."

"Oh. It was nothing. You should take it as such," she responded, hiking her bag up higher on her shoulders. "But I know you're new, so…"

"Yeah. Thanks."

He turned to leave, but he heard her speak.

"You're Thalia's cousin, aren't you?"

"Um… yeah," he responded. "Do you know her?"

"Yeah. You kind of… look like her. Anyway, it was nice meeting you."

She disappeared into the sea of people before he could reply.