Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson.
Intro
The war with Gaea is over. The seven are going to high school or staying at one of the two camps. Leo returned 3 days after Gaea's defeat, and brought Calypso with him. Percy returned to Manhattan to live with his mom and go to high school.
Percy Pov
It was the first day of school. I pulled up in my sea-green Maserati, courtesy of my dad for saving the world. All of the seven plus Nico and Reyna had been presented with a car as gratitude from the gods. It was the least they could do after the demigods had saved their butts. Again.
As soon as I parked the car, I noticed everyone's stares. It was easily the best car in the parking lot. I noticed my mortal friends from last year standing by the door, all of them gaping at me. I wasn't surprised, they hadn't seen me in over a year. I was taller, more rugged, with way more scrapes, bruises, and scars on my body. There was also the broken look in my eyes, that Annabeth, Nico, and I had because of our journey through Tartarus. I tried not to think of how I would survive the school year without Annabeth. The nightmares were always bad.
"Percy?" Liam asked cautiously, as if afraid I wasn't real.
"Hey guys! How's everything?" I responded cheerfully. The girls shrieked and ran to hug me, while the boys and I did "bro handshakes", as Annabeth calls them.
"Where've you been Percy?" asked Lacy as we entered the building. "You disappeared last November and we haven't seen you since." I winced. I'd been expecting that question, and had an excuse, but I wasn't sure if they were going to buy it. I couldn't tell them that Hera had abducted me and put me to sleep for eight months, and that then I had to travel to Europe to stop Gaea from rising.
"I was part of an exchange program with a school in Greece." i say, hoping my lie would be enough to stop my friends from any further questions. There were four people in our group, other than me (or myself, as Annabeth is saying. Ow! What was that for? Your know you love me. - cue eye roll - ). There's Carson and Lacy, who are dating, and Liam and Elizabeth who obviously like each other, but can't seem to gather the courage to tell each other. Thankfully, they all bought the excuse, and after getting our schedules, we headed to our lockers. Mine is next to an empty one, something I'm grateful for. Last year, girls were killing to get that locker.
As soon as I opened my locker, I taped two pictures to the inside of the door. The first one was of Annabeth and I on the beach at Camp Half-Blood. Piper had secretly taken it while we were kissing. The second one was more recent. It featured (I know, big word. Annabeth would be proud) the seven, including Nico, Calypso, and Reyna. We had taken it on the last day of camp, before the Romans had to leave for Camp Jupiter. Leo had appeared a week after Gaea's defeat, and had brought Calypso with him. At first, Percy thought that she would still be angry at him for forgetting about her, but she said that Leo had explained about his situation and forgiven him long ago. She had also taken Annabeth apart and apologized for cursing her. The picture had been taken in front of the Big House, with their arms around each other. The boys in the back, and their girlfriends in front of them. They were all grinning from ear to ear. Everyone was wearing Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter T-shirts with jean shorts, and all the girls' hair was down. Gods, Annabeth looked beautiful.
"Who are they?" Carson asked. I sighed heavily.
"My friends," I replied. I hadn't seen some of them since camp. Piper and Jason had gone to LA with Coach Hedge, Mellie, and the baby, to go to high school and see Piper's dad. Reyna, Frank and Hazel had returned to Camp Jupiter with the rest of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata. Leo and Calypso were staying at camp, same as Nico, who I thought was going to end up with Will. Sure he was dense, as Annabeth said, but he wasn't that oblivious. And Annabeth, Annabeth was in San Francisco with her dad, all the way on the other side of the country.
"Did you guys hear about the new girl?" Elizabeth asked. I mentally groaned. My friends had been trying to set me up with some girl for over a year now.
"I already told you guys, I have a girlfriend!" I said, pointing to Annabeth and I in the first picture. My friends glanced at each other as if they don't believe me. "What?" I asked, annoyed.
"Are you sure she's real?" Asked Lacy tentatively.
"Well I wouldn't be dating her if she wasn't," I snapped. They raised their hands in 'ok' gestures, but I could tell they still didn't believe me. "Fine," I huffed, beginning to close my locker. "I'll prove it. I'll -"
"Percy-boo!" I froze. Was that -? No. It couldn't be her. The Fates couldn't be so cruel, could they? I closed my eyes briefly, sighing at my bad luck. When I opened them, I saw that my friends all had sympathetic looks on their faces, confirming my fears. Why her? I thought. I tried to walk in the other direction towards class, but I felt a hand on my shoulder. I closed my eyes before turning towards my nightmare, worst than any monster in Tartarus. I tried not to puke.
Annabeth Pov
I walked into Percy's school and immediately began to look for him while on my way to the secretary's office. Once there I got my schedule and began to wander the hallways.
"Excuse me," I said, tapping a girl. She was surrounded by two other girls. I was hoping that she'd be one of the decent ones, but when she turned around, I saw that she was one of the Queen B's. she had curly brown hair (though not as curly as mine), and blue eyes (obviously contacts). She was wearing the tightest, most revealing clothes I had ever seen. Her face looked as if a bomb full of makeup had exploded in front of it.
"What do you want?" She snapped at me, trying to look intimidating. However, despite her 5-inch heels, I'm still a couple of inches taller than her.
"Well if you could just tell me where to find Percy Jackson," I said coldly, putting my hands on my hips. "I'll leave you and you're wannabe clones alone." After a second of silence, they all burst out laughing. I raised an eyebrow. Judging from the incredulous looks they were giving each other, my guess is that they don't believe I could know him or even talk to him.
"Please, honey," the lead one said. "You don't have a chance with him. Besides, he's all mine."
"Really?" I said. "And has he declared his oh-so-undying love for you?"
"Not yet, but as soon as he admits that his imaginary girlfriend isn't real, he'll declare his love for me!" She squeaked. I rolled my eyes. Was every girl in this school in love with MY Seaweed Brain?
"I'll take my chances, thank you," I responded. She looked at me shocked, but then sneered and turned away.
"Whatever. I bet you couldn't even talk to him." I got an idea and grabbed her arm.
"I accept." I said. She turned, confused. "I bet $100 dollars that I can both talk to him and that he will kiss me at his own will." I waited for her answer, smirking, knowing that I could definitely win this bet. She considered a moment.
"Fine," she said. "It's not like you'll win anyway." She turned on her 5-inch heels and yelled "Percy-boo!" I looked to where she was strutting and saw Percy and some of his friends. Percy froze, half-way through shutting his locker. Was that a picture of us kissing on the inside? My heart warmed and I fought back a blush at the sight. He slammed the locker shut and tried to go in the opposite direction, but she put a hand on his shoulder. He turned around slowly to face her.
"Hey Caitlyn," he said, trying to inch away. You may wonder why I am not interfering? Simple. Me, being the loving girlfriend that I am, am waiting to see him tortured a little bit.
"My parents aren't here tonight, you want to come over?" Caitlyn asked, running her fingers down Percy's arm. I shivered, and internally gagged. Could she be anymore obvious?
"Um, I have a girlfriend," Percy said, moving his arm away. Always the loyal boyfriend!
"Well what does she look like?" she asked angrily.
"Well you see," Percy said, starting to get animated. "She has blond, curly hair - "
"She looks like me." I announced, walking forward. Caitlyn looked at me with annoyance and disbelief written on her face. I smirked at her.
Percy turned to stare at me. "Wise Girl?" he asked, probably not believing his eyes. I never told him I was transferring.
"Hey Seaweed Brain!" I said playfully. He surged forward and hugged me, swinging me around, while kissing me on the lips. I shrieked in surprise, but kissed him back. Eventually, he stopped spinning, but we kept on kissing each other. It had been so long since we'd seen each other. Finally, we were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. *cough* Caitlyn *cough*. We broke apart, but Percy kept his arm around my waist.
"Caitlyn," he said. "Meet Annabeth, my girlfriend." Caitlyn looked shocked.
"That girl, is your girlfriend? Please, she's just a dumb blond!" Percy and I both stiffened. Percy knew how much I hated being called a 'dumb blond'.
"Annabeth is amazing." Percy said fiercely. "She's beautiful, smart, caring, someone who I know will always have my back, and I love her with all my heart." I stepped forward, giving her a death glare.
"And don't ever call me 'dumb blonde' again, or you will have a death sentence. I have a 4.0 GPA, which is probably 4.0 higher than yours." Caitlyn trembled with fear for a moment, before recomposing herself and stalking off down the hallway.
"Oh, and Caitlyn?" I said, remembering something. She turned. "You still owe me a hundred dollars!" I turned and walked towards class, pulling Percy along, not bothering to see her reaction.
As Percy and I walked down the hallway, I noticed Percy's friends following us. "Percy, care to introduce me?" I asked, stopping abruptly.
"Right," he said. "Guys, this is Annabeth, my very real girlfriend. Annabeth, this is Liam, Elizabeth, Carson, and Lacy."
"Hi guys," I said. They waved back. I like them already.
"Annabeth, why are you here?" Percy asked curiously, as we headed to our first class, which just so happened to be English, with Paul, sorry, Mr. Blofis as our teacher.
"Well, I was going to go to San Francisco with my dad, but I decided not to, so I could be closer to my mom and upstairs, and well, I need someone to wake up during my nightmares." I said this last part looking down. I could tell that Percy's mortal friends were confused, but Percy's eyes widened. He drew me off to the side.
"You still have nightmares?" he asked. I nodded, dejectedly.
"I get scared, Percy. I'm in that place, surrounded by monsters, and you're not there. I eventually wake up, screaming and kicking. I can't keep doing that, I just can't. Sally has volunteered to let me stay at your house, in the spare bedroom. She also said that you have them?" I asked. He nodded.
"My mom can't wake me up. I always wake up in the morning, but I spend the night screaming."
"This arrangement is supposed to help both of us." I said quietly, grabbing his hand and squeezing it reassuringly. "With us living under the same roof, we can wake each other up during the nightmare. We'll be fine. Besides, it's not all bad news. Leo, Calypso, Nico, and Will are arriving from camp tomorrow. They're going to rent the apartment next to yours and stay there for the rest of the school year."
Percy looked at me shocked. "Are you kidding me?!" he shouted.
"Shsh, not so loud!" I said, trying to calm him down, though my eyes were sparkling. It was going to be a great year. The seven would be back, together, and facing high school like only demigods could.
I held Percy's hand and smiled radiantly as I headed towards English with my Seaweed Brain.
There will be no sequel, but I will post more stories. Some will be one-shot, some will be longer, chapter stories.
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Thanks for reading!