Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I went on holiday for a week and there was NO INTERNET!

But it wasn't as bad as it sounds.

PS: You get to meet her mom now!

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus

CHAPTER 3

I sat down at the dinner table next to my mom, Sarah Winnok.

She's an amazing person, really, even if I don't see her much. She grew up in Florida but moved to New Jersey to go to college. That's where I was born. My mom had me just after she left college, where she received a Masters of Medical Science degree. My father left a month before I was born; mom said he had to go, and she understood his reasons. I don't see any reason for him to leave though. Parents shouldn't leave their kids. She never saw him again.

My mom says that I look a lot like him. My dad, I mean. Mom says that I have his hair, long and dark, but I have her loose curls that end up being more wavy than curly. She also says that I have his personality; confined, cunning, resourceful and misunderstood. But she doesn't know where I got my eyes from. They're golden, and shine different colors, like rubies and emeralds embedded in gold.

My mother, on the other hand, has warm violet-blue eyes and greying strawberry-blonde hair. She's tall and thin, with an angular, inquisitive yet kind face. She works two jobs, one at a lab during the day, and another at the local Wal-Mart at night, so I don't see her much. She doesn't work on weekends though, so we have lots of mother-daughter bonding time. We have dinner together, because that's the only time I see her all day.

Mom looked at me and asked, between bites of spaghetti, "How was your first day of senior year Gab?"

I smiled, but didn't quite know what to tell her, "Well, I'm in Miss Garcia's homeroom, and I have her for History and Geography. First period was English; Mr. Blofis is really cool. He makes it fun. He knows how to deal with dyslexic kids."

"That's great. You didn't have Greek today then?" Mom asked. She never taught me, but I've always had a knack for the Greek language. It was strange at first, never having studied it, and yet being able to read the original Odyssey with the same difficulty as reading English, even with my dyslexia. Basically, I could stumble over a few lines without my head exploding. Now, I can speak – and read – it as a second language. Cool huh?

"No, that's fourth period tomorrow," I replied. I finished telling her about my morning, but stopped after I finished my story about Kayleigh.

"Is something wrong?" Mom asked me, "You shouldn't let Kayleigh get to you."

"No, it's not that," I replied, "I just met this really strange guy in Algebra."

"Oooooh," she said, nudging my shoulder. Mom has this idea that whenever I mention a guy, I automatically have a crush on him. It gets really annoying sometimes.

"Urgh!" I groaned, rolling my eyes, "I don't like him Mom, besides, he has a girlfriend."

She shrugged, obviously not convinced. I decided to ignore it and finish telling her about Percy.

"His name's Percy Jackson, he's that kid who set fire to the music room during the orientation to Goode." Mom's eyes opened wide when I mentioned this, I just rolled mine, expecting her reaction. "He didn't do it on purpose. He's really weird though. He has ADHD and dyslexia too. He loves his mother more than anything and she makes Percy's favorite food, blue cookies."

Mom definitely hadn't been expecting that. She looked at me, eyebrows raised, but I waved my hand and said "Long story. Anyway, he's been going to a camp on Long Island since he was twelve. He is obsessed with the ocean, and anything that has to do with water. His girlfriend's name is Annabeth Chase and he met her on his first day at that camp. Apparently they hated each other. They got together on his sixteenth and have been together ever since."

I looked over to see Mom's reaction to my story. She looked like she agreed with me about the weirdness factor.

"You did say blue cookies didn't you?" she asked. I laughed and took my empty plate into the kitchen and I could hear Mom muttering to herself. Blue cookies? Who eats blue cookies? I shook my head and went upstairs to finish my algebra homework.

I was lying on my bed with my earphones in, listening to Taylor Swift's Breathe on my iPod and thinking to myself. Three guesses what I was thinking about. Ding ding ding! We have a winner! Yeah, I was thinking about Percy Jackson.

I need to ask him about Rachel Dare, I thought, I haven't seen her since sophomore year. Where did she move? Oh right! She went to Clarion Academy or something. Huh, I can't imagine her there. Mind you, her father is the owner of Dare Enterprises, he probably sent her off there to become more of a 'young lady'. She probably hates it there. I miss her.

Yes, before she left, Rachel was the only person who was remotely nice to me. I didn't know her very well, but she kept me company during lonely lunchtimes. But, she left. But Percy might still be in contact with her, I thought, who knows, we might have a little reunion.

My thoughts drifted to Annabeth Chase as the song changed to Teardrops On My Guitar. I really hoped I'd meet her. Percy seemed to really love her. I wonder if she'd like me? I was pondering whether or not we'd become friends (but I didn't want to get my hopes up), when I heard a knock at my bedroom door.

The door opened to reveal my mom in her pink fluffy dressing gown that I got her for Mother's Day last year. I took out my earphones as she sat next to me on my bed. I looked at her and she smiled.

"I'm so glad that you're finally making friends Gabby," she said, "you need someone to talk to that isn't your mother."

I smiled at that. As much as I loved my mom, there are some things that I can't talk about with her. I mean, everyone feels uncomfortable opening up to their parents, and even though Mom and I have a really stable relationship, I can't tell her everything. Although, I cannot imagine talking to Percy about shopping or the cuteness factor of Harry Styles' butt.

"Yeah," I smiled, "I'm finally getting a social life." I paused, not really sure what to say next, but continued by saying "and really, of all the people I could be friends with, I'm actually glad it's him."

Mom frowned, deep in thought. It must have come as a shock to her; her daughter's first actual friend is a guy. Not just a guy, but a very cute guy. I'm just saying.

As if to prove a point, Mom said "So tell me more about your friend. What was his name again?"

"Percy," I replied. "His mother's name is Sally Jackson and his parents separated after he was born. Apparently his dad is a marine biologist, but Percy didn't meet him until he was, what, twelve?" I felt a lot of different things when I said this. My own father left in the exact same manner but, unlike Percy, I have never met him. I don't even know what he looks like; Mom has no photos of him, or if she did, she never showed me. I smiled grimly, imagining what I would do if I met him. I'd probably shout at him and scare him to death or run at him and hug the life out of him. Nah, I'd probably just tell him to go to hell.

"Gab. Gabby. Hello?" Mom was waving her hand in front of my eyes. I turned to face her, snapped out of my gaze.

"Hmm?" I smiled sheepishly. I need to stop doing that.

"You tuned out again," Mom said. She cocked her head to one side trying to read my expression, her curly hair framing her face like trees from a picture book. In the dim light I could see the lines on her aging face. She was only forty-one, but she looked so much older. I looked into her eyes and could tell that she knew what, more importantly who, I was thinking about.

After a minute of silence she tried to reassure me by saying, "Don't worry, you'll see him one day. Then it will all make sense."

Mom could tell that this wasn't a topic that I wanted to talk about, so she asked me what Percy was like. I replied by saying "Well, Percy's kinda hard to describe. He seems loyal. Heck, he must be loyal, he and his girlfriend have been going out for two years. Most of the kids at school can't hold a relationship for more than two weeks."

"What else?"

"He's got a stupid sense of humor but seems very emotional, which is strange. When I was talking to him, he always knew what to say; he says the right things at the right time, like he actually cares about someone else's feelings."

Mom nodded in approval. She knew I hold grudges and am often too quick to judge people. I will admit, I'm quite prejudiced. When Mom first mentioned this, I told her 'I'm not prejudiced, I just hate everyone equally.'

I couldn't think of what else to say, so I shrugged my shoulders and said "Well, that's about it."

Mom was shocked. "You haven't told me what Percy looks like yet!"

I frowned. I wasn't sure what image she had in that mind of hers, but I was sure that it wasn't even close to what Percy actually looked like. She probably either pictured a leather jacket wearing, motorbike riding bad-boy because of the whole 'torching the music room' episode, or a shy, sensitive happy-go-lucky tree-hugger because he has a stable girlfriend or actually shows emotions.

"He's tall," I began, feeling a bit awkward not that Mom will find out that he's actually cute. "But when I say 'tall' I don't mean freakishly tall or anything. The top of my head goes to just above his chin."

"What else?" Mum asked. God, she's really getting excited isn't she, I thought to myself.

"He's a swimmer, so he's quite athletic looking. He's not muscle-man or a string-bean either though. He's got a light tan and messy hair. Black hair. But I think it's just naturally like that. He smells of something that seems so familiar but I can't quite put my finger on it."

"You notice how he smells?" Mom asked, amused. "You know how he smells?"

I rolled my eyes, "You would too if you sat next to him all day."

I thought about all the other things I could say about him, like his confident, yet wary stride, or the angle of his shoulders that makes him look like he's about to whip around to defend himself against an attacker. Or I could talk about the emotions in his eyes, like he knows more pain and loss in eighteen years than I will know in my entire life.

I looked at Mom and noticed her processing what I had said. To break the silence, I said two words. "His eyes."

Mom looked at me. "What?"

"His eyes. They're green. Sea-green. Very strange, like the color masks something bigger."

Mom looked at me strangely. "Are you sure you don't have a crush on him?"

"I'm positive," I replied. "He's not my type. Although, I don't know what my type is yet."

As she squeezed my shoulder and rose from the bed, she said softly, "Don't worry Gabriella, you'll find out someday."

I smiled, kissed her cheek and said good-night. At that same moment, I had a flashback.

It was of me, but I couldn't have been older than six. I was at the beach and I danced around in the waves while my mother watched cautiously. I ran back to her and felt the sand between my toes. A second later, the wind picked up and whipped my hair around me like long, dark ribbons against my pale skin. The salty air hit my face and I took a deep breath in.

I opened my eyes just as Mom was about to close my door.

"Wait!" I called.

She turned around, confused at my sudden outburst.

"That's it," I said. "His eyes…like seaweed. He's like a wave; untamed and unpredictable. And," I paused, wary about what I was about to disclose, "the ocean." I said, looking at my mother's confused face. "That's what he smells like. The sea."

I wasn't sure what to expect when I looked into Mom's eyes. Maybe confusion, maybe amusement. But I saw something completely unexpected, an emotion that I'd never seen her face bear.

When I looked into her eyes, I saw fear.

Ooh, cliffy! You'll find out why her mom's scared later.

So this is where the demigodishness comes in. I will bring in Annabeth (she's one of my faves) and there will be Percabeth

I plan to send Gabriella on a quest and I've got a prophecy ready, but I'm still open for ideas.

Please PM me if you have any questions and/or comments or suggestions

Luv ya

3 BcozYou'reMyFriendSeaweedBrain