Oh my gods. I HAVE RETURNED. Please don't kill me! I know I've been away for, like, ever but I've been doing something really productive - drum roll please - STORY BUILDING!

Yes, I realized that I hadn't developed the plot as I would like to, so I watched these online tutorials about writing a novel, and they really helped. I've also been writing scenes for this story that I'm going to put in later, so I have been working on this story.

I hope you like this chapter.

Disclaimer: Roses are red, Violets are blue. Me no own, You no sue!

CHAPTER 11

We – Mom, Percy and I – pulled into our driveway after a long awkward silence. Believe me, having your mom and your new friend in a car after said friend's car broke down is definitely a ten on the awkwardness scale. Yeah, not much talking was done. It was mostly Mom rambling on and on about her new favourite TV show. She rambles a lot when she gets nervous. I mean, do we really need to know about the last episode of The Bachelorette?

I had sat shotgun and Percy was awkwardly squished in the back. Our car isn't exactly large; his head almost knocked against the ceiling. I could have let him sit next to Mom…but, no. Not gonna happen.

As she opened the door, Mom began to talk to Percy. Oh crap. I had purposely made sure that I we avoided the topic of 'Oh My God, Gabby has finally made a new friend! Yay!' But now, I should've probably started to think about buying a ticket to Embarrassment City.

"So, it's Percy, right," Mom asked with an inquisitive smile. The two locked eyes and her stare sharpened. I suddenly had a vivid recollection of the fear that darkened her eyes last night. I wondered what caused her to panic so much. Mind you, Percy's eyes were hypnotic. Anyone would be paralysed under his gaze.

"Yes ma'am," Percy replied. "Perseus Jackson."

I couldn't contain my laughter. I cupped my hand over my mouth and tried – and failed – to stifle my giggles.

"What's so funny?" Percy asked me. He had that funny look on his face that he put on when he didn't understand something.

"P-Perseus!" I laughed, wiping my eyes.

"Oh yeah," he said sarcastically. "Mock the name, mock the name."

"Okay kids," Mom said. "Let's try to keep this civil."

I grinned. "That sounds like a wonderful idea Mother. Wouldn't you agree Perseus?"

He shot me a glare and said, "I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that."

Mom, obviously trying to keep the peace, asked Percy about himself.

"So," she began. "Is this your first year at Goode?"

"No, I started in Freshmen year and came back for half of Sophomore year," he explained. "But I got pulled out by my crazy aunt."

"Your mother's sister?"

"My dad's," he corrected.

"Gabby said that he's a marine biologist," Mom remembered.

"Yeah," Percy laughed. Then he turned to me. "Did you seriously remember everything that I told you about me?"

"What?" I smiled. "I have an excellent memory, thank you very much."

"That's true, she does," Mom agreed. "She can recite almost half of her audiobook and remember what she wore on her third birthday, but never to pick up the milk in the way home."

Percy and Mom snickered. I huffed and rolled my eyes at them.

"Well," Mom said, turning back to Percy. "While we're waiting for your stepdad, did you want a glass of water?"

"That would be great," he thanked her.

"Your mom's nice," Percy said.

"Nice?" I muttered. "More like totally embarrassing. Perseus."

He scowled. "Are you ever going to let that go?"

"No," I said.

"Do I get a say in that?"

"No," I repeated

"Drat,"

I laughed. "Well Perseus," I teased. "Shouldn't your stepdad be calling soon? Your mom said that he wouldn't take more than ten minutes."

Mom walked back into the lounge room and sighed when she saw us bickering again. She handed the glass of water to Percy, who accepted it and said a small "Thanks," in return.

Percy arched his eyebrow as he sipped his drink as if challenging me to continue. I took the opportunity.

"You know, Perseus, in classical mythology, married Andromeda. Sounds kinda like you and Annabeth, huh?" I smiled innocently. "When's the wedding? Ooh! Can I come?"

Mom was watching us like a tennis match – back and forth and back and forth and, well, I think you get the picture. Suddenly, I noticed something very strange. The water in the glass that Percy was holding had started to bubble. Then steam began rising slowly into the air.

This time, it was Percy who smiled. "Alright," he said. "The gloves are coming off."

The water was definitely about to start boiling now. By this time, Mom had definitely noticed too, because she tentatively backed away a few paces and looked at Percy with her eyes wide.

They seemed to have some sort of silent conversation, because after a while, Percy broke their eye contact and would look at neither of us directly.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang in a tune that seemed a bit too cheerful for the situation.

"I'll get that," Mom said as she walked cautiously down the hall to the front door. A few seconds later, I recognised the friendly yet cheerful voice of Mr Blofis apologise over and over again for causing any inconvenience.

I rolled my eyes as they began talking about my school progress. Ugh. They'd met before at one of those parent-teacher interviews or whatever.

"Um, Percy?" I began, looking at him nervously. He seemed to be going into overdrive. His eyes were darting all over the place and his hands were shaking slightly. He jerked his head in my direction and looked at me with pupils dilated and eyebrows raised.

"Yeah?" he asked me.

"Are you okay?" I queried. He looked at me funny. "I mean, you seem a little bit put out. Is something wrong?"

"Well," he sighed. "I'm not entirely sure."

I opened my mouth to say something but at that moment, Mom and Mr Blofis burst into the kitchen having a noisy conversation about who knows what, and anything that Percy and I were about to say was lost.

I lay awake that night, tossing and turning in my bed. I might have dozed off once or twice, but the silence would ring in my ears so loudly that it would wake me. Then I'd check the clock and see that about half an hour has passed. I'd sigh then start the cycle over again.

At the moment I had just passed the re-waking up stage. I looked over at the clock on my bedside table and squinted at the red glowing numbers. 12:24am. Drat, I thought. I'm never gonna get to sleep now.

Before he left, Percy had apologized for not being able to pick me up tomorrow (well, today) for school because of his lack of transportation. Then he didn't say another word until left with his stepdad (who had smiled at me, complimented me on an excellent beginning to my English paper, and said that he'll see me tomorrow and that Sally can't wait to see me again).

He was in some sort of trance, muttering wildly to himself about talking to someone named Mr Brunner and his girlfriend Annabeth. I hoped that he wouldn't start avoiding me or something. That would be awkward. Maybe it had something to do with the boiling water…

I checked the clock again – 1:48. Sigh. Time flies when you're ADHD, I told myself.

I went back to thinking about Percy. For some reason, I couldn't forget about him. It's like he's permanently stuck to my brain. Like a leech. Yeah. A really annoying, sticky leech.

I was really starting to freak out a little bit. I mean, I go along having a (reasonably) normal life, and then one day, some guy who just happens to have ADHD and dyslexia too bursts into your algebra class and becomes your new best friend. Then you find out that said friend blew up the music room four years ago and you know nothing about him apart from the fact that he likes the water, has a girlfriend, has a mom who is married to his English teacher and bakes blue cookies. Come on!

But he seems nice enough, I told myself. Yeah, he's nice and already has the attention of the most popular girl in school which means that he'll be swept away into the popular crowd and will never speak to you again…

Overreacting much?

I sighed. Little conscience voice was right. I was overreacting. Who knows? Maybe he'll end up helping me make new friends. Maybe I'll end up doing something spectacular and I'll be noticed. I've always been cast into the shadows and I've been waiting my entire life to prove myself to everyone, prove that I'm not a loser. I'm used to it now, but it still really bothers me. Maybe meeting Percy Jackson is the beginning of a whole new adventure…

So there you have it! Yes, I have written the scene where Gabby meets Annabeth, but it won't be for another few chapters. Remember that so far, this story has only covered two days...

Gosh, I'm too descriptive. Once I've finished this story and When Pigs Fly, I'm going to start on some original stories to post on FictionPress and Wattpad, so I'll let you guys know when they're out.

Thanks for sticking with me here. ILY!

Daphne xxx