Warning: Minor Spoilers for 10 Cloverfield Lane

Chapter 7: Thank God I Don't Take French

It was Sunday evening, and Nico felt like he could no longer be in his house. Hazel, being Hazel, had a bunch of girls over. Consisting of Annabeth, Piper, Rachel, and others he didn't know the names of.

Nico couldn't stand it.

The collected smell of different perfumes, the loud shriek every time someone said something. It gave him one of his famous Nico di Angelo headaches.

So instead of trying to deal with it, the best thing to was run from it. That's basically what he did with all his other problems.

He took a stroll through the park, the cold breeze of the November air hitting his face. The sun was still out, hovering behind the buildings in the distance. The sounds of cars and voices of people surrounding the area seemed to dissolve when he looked at the sun. The sun was the same all around the world. That means, it was the same sun he used to watch set every night with his mother and Bianca...

That thought made him sad. Well, sadder than he already was. He had tons of things to be sad about. Beside the death of both his sister and mother, and dealing with a neglectful father, people would probably call his reasons for depression petty.

He sighed and pulled his coat tighter around him as a chilly breeze found a way up his coat. He did a few laps around the park, walking up and down the paths. Few children played on the jungle gyms, and he didn't blame them. There were small flakes of snow starting to depart from the sky and it was not a comfortable temperature.

He readied to head back home, although he doubted all the girls left. Instead of walking all around on the path again, he decided to take a short cut across the grass. Unfortunately that meant passing the ramps where all the "daredevils" like to ride their bikes and skateboards.

Nico tried to avoid them at all costs. He never exactly knew why, but he felt uneasy going over there. Maybe it was because he had no idea how to ride a skateboard, or maybe it was because he was worried that the guys could actually sense his fear.

Whatever it was, he was taking his chances today. There were four guys occupying the area, and as far as Nico could tell, they didn't look too threatening. As he neared closer, he resisted the urge to slap himself. All he needed was to catch glimpse of the messy black hair and green eyes to realize who he unintentionally steered into. The fates have a sense of humor.. He thought. Too bad I don't.

To his relief, Percy hadn't noticed him. So Nico took it upon himself to scope the scene. Percy was standing at the top of the ramp with a goofy grin on his face. His jeans had rips and holes in them, so Nico could only assume he wiped out a few times. Nico also couldn't helped but notice how stupid his past friend was. It was flipping -20 degrees outside and he was only wearing his school hoody. So stupid, Nico thought. Now he understood why Solace freaked so much about warmth.

Jason Grace was with him, rolling down the ramp quite gracefully. Oh my gosh that was the worst pun ever, Nico grimaced. Jason did a sort of jump flip with his board and grinned. "Beat that Jackson!"

Percy shook his head and smiled cockily. He rolled down and mirrored Jason almost exactly, only doing the jump a bit higher. He seemed to look at the two guys sitting near them on the bench for approval. "Leo? Frank?"

The two looked up from what they were doing. Frank was playing a game on his phone and Leo was fiddling around with some pipe cleaners. "Uh yeah. Pretty cool." Leo said.

Percy rolled his eyes, a little disappointed they didn't find it as cool as he did. Jason checked his phone and began looking around the park. Nico took it as his cue to leave. Before he could even take a step away, he heard a booming voice yell, "NICO!"

He awkwardly looked over at them, trying his best to hide the fact he was staring. Percy, Jason, and Frank were waving him over. Leo was still busy with his pipe cleaners.

Nico had a short debate in his mind over what he was gonna do next. If he walked away, he was gonna look like a huge jerk. Which he was. If he did go over, he was gonna act like a super awkward kid. Which he was. So either way, it was a lose lose situation.

He took a deep breath and went with the ladder. He could tell by the looks on their faces they were surprised too. His shoes seemed to skid across the pavement as he walked which made Nico more self conscious.

"Hey Nico," Frank smiled and gestured to the seat on the bench beside him.

Nico politely declined but nodded his head in acknowledgment. "Hey Frank." He looked at the other guys. "Hey."

Jason picked up his board under his arm and and walked up the ramp. He anchored himself next to Nico. "What are you doing out here?"

Nico buried his hands in his pockets. It sure was chilly out. "Hazel has a bunch of girls over at our house."

Jason blinked like he was just now remembering something. "Oh yeah. Piper's over there."

Percy stood his skateboard up and leaned against it. "Annabeth is too.. Wait if Annabeth's over there then why would you leave?"

Nico shot Percy a hard glare. "Hm?"

Percy took a step back with a shrug. "I just thought..ah nevermind."

Leo finished up his contraption and readied it for lift off. It was a little helicopter and none of them were half surprised it actually flew. "Dude, why would you wanna get out of a house of girls?"

Nico frowned. "Well I was just heading back to that house of girls before I was so rudely interrupted." He turned on the cement to be on his way when Jason caught grip of his arm. Nico immediately pulled it away, but for whatever reason didn't take offence to the gesture. "What?"

Jason grinned uneasily. "That's just Leo, ignore him." He brushed off Leo who yelled "hey!" and continued. "You now how to ride?" He pointed at his board with his toe.

Nico shook his head.

"Really?" Percy raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were learning a few years back."

Nico shrugged but didn't meet anyone's eyes. "Never got into it really."

Frank got up and stretched. He sure is tall, Nico thought. Frank was like a giant and was even a tiny bit taller than Jason. "Don't worry about it Nico. I don't have a clue how to skateboard either."

Leo let out a puff of exasperation. "That's an understatement. You couldn't stand on the thing even when it wasn't moving!"

Frank frowned as the other guys let out small laughs. He even noticed Nico suppress a grin. Frank found a small amount of pleasure in amusing Hazel's brother. "Well at least I tried standing on the board! As far as I remember, you didn't even try standing on the thing!"

That earned more laughs. Leo shrugged. "Guilty. I couldn't let this," he pointed to his face, "be touched by the concrete. It could damage it."

Frank rolled his eyes and continued the game on his phone. "If I were the concrete I wouldn't want to touch your face."

Percy grinned and did one last trick down the ramp. ''Besides, there's not much more damage that can be done to your face Valdez."

Leo narrowed his eyes at Percy and threw a paper clip in his direction. Percy easily dodged it. Frank stood up straight when his phone went off. "Hold up guys." he said. "I got a message from Hazel. She asked if we've seen Nico."

Nico furrowed his brows and stuck his hand in his jeans pocket. "Dang it." He muttered. "I didn't realize I forgot my phone."

Percy checked his phone as well. "In fact, we all need to start heading home."

Frank nodded. "Okay I'll tell her." He typed He's on his way.

Nico nodded and muttered a goodbye as he departed. Frank responded with bye! Percy yelled see ya! And Leo shouted PEACE! The only one who didn't say anything was Jason. At first, Nico was a little offended Jason didn't say anything. But he immediately regretted those thoughts when he felt a presence next to him. "What the heck do you want Grace?"

The blonde shrugged as he dragged his skateboard behind him. "Others had to get home. Thalia's out with her boyfriend tonight, so if I'm home a little late no one will know."

"Wow." Nico mumbled. "Mr. Perfect is breaking the rules."

Jason grinned and picked up the pace a bit. "Yeah, well lets go. I don't want to risk too much."

They walked in silence for a few minutes and Jason pondered his decision of following the younger kid. He wasn't quite sure why, but he felt like it was the right thing to do. It made him uncomfortable, for he didn't know Nico too well. One thing he did know was that Nico didn't like conversing too much. So Jason kept his mouth shut. Which in turn, Nico surprised him.

"How did you and Percy become friends?" He asked.

Jason didn't respond right away. Half because he was surprised Nico sparked a conversation, and the other half was because he needed to remember the answer to the question. "Well I met Annabeth and Piper at summer camp a few years back. We all had gone to the same middle school, but never knew each other really. Annabeth talked nonstop about her best friend, a dude who could do just about any of the activities at camp. Eventually Annabeth and Piper became really close friends. When we went back to school Annabeth introduced us to Percy."

Nico nodded. "Oh."

"Yeah," Jason continued. "Then this past summer, Annabeth and Percy finally got together. It was so obvious from the day I met her she was smitten with that guy."

When Nico tensed and didn't respond, Jason felt a pain if guilt. He had no idea what he did, but obviously that last part was a sensitive subject for him. That made his mind wander to Reyna. Up until Piper started feeling a little uncomfortable around the subject of Reyna, he had no idea how Reyna felt about him. Sure, they were still friends and hung out sometimes, and maybe he had a small thing her for her when they first met. But now a days, she seemed more distant and grumpy than usual. Jason also heard that she got a couple yellows and even a red card during her soccer games. That couldn't be a good sign. He started to sense a growing resemblance between Reyna and Nico di Angelo. He wasn't quite sure if that was a good thing or not.

When it was time for them to part ways, Nico gave Jason a small nod and began down the sidewalk.

"Later Nico." Jason yelled and threw his board on the ground. With a swift step, he took his skateboard toward the Grace residence.

Nico turned around for a moment and watched Jason. From the back, it could be Will Solace. They were both ridiculously tall and had the blonde hair. Except Jason's was strictly cut short, like this is how it's supposed to be. Will let his hair grow out more. It fell into his eyes and curled around his ears. It was much more relaxing. Then he thought of Percy Jackson and how different he was from the two. Not just his looks, but the personality. Percy Jackson was a trouble maker, whether he meant to be or not. Jason always obeyed the rules, and Will just kind of went with the flow. Nico couldn't help but admire Percy's confidence though. Whatever that kid did, he acted like he knew what he was doing.

But were not friends anymore. Nico thought. You shouldn't think about him. No matter how much you might want to.

Nico panicked and started thinking about anything to distract him from Percy Jackson. School, Cecil lighting his head on fire, Hazel, the latest episode of Supernatural, Will, my plant Jules-Albert, dead stuff. Nico hated to admit it to himself, but aside from Cecil burning his complete face off, Will's image is what stuck in his mind.

He hadn't seen Will since Friday when he fell on his face running home. The idiot had gotten up and continued running. As of right now, Nico was still clueless to what the outcome was. Will hadn't contacted him with any news about what happened after he got home. So Nico could only assume that Will did get grounded.

Nico glanced up at the sky and noticed the sun was still slightly visible. A million things popped up in his head all over again: His family, Will and Percy (he wasn't quite sure how they popped up, considering he was already thinking about them) but mostly, he thought about how cold he is.

Maybe Nico thought, a little warmth in my life would be useful.

Will wasn't quite sure what annoyed him more: shopping in general or shopping with Lou Ellen and Cecil. As of right now, it was Sunday evening and the three friends were all roaming through Walmart. "Do you guys know where they keep the pull ups here?" He tried asking them.

The other two were standing in an open section of the store, hunched over something in Lou Ellen's hand. Will wearily walked over, only to regret it when he heard what they were arguing about.

"Will tell Cecil that Princess Peach and Daisy weren't sisters!" Lou Ellen announced waving the video game disc through the air.

"No Will," Cecil shook his head. "They were totally sisters. Mario and Luigi are brothers, the princess' are are sisters."

Lou Ellen shoved the game back on the shelf and grabbed Cecil's face in her hands. "Yeah! But if Peach and Mario get married, that means Peach would be Luigi's sister in-law! Which means Daisy would kind of be Luigi's sister in-law too! It would just be too weird! And since Daisy and Luigi are in-love, it would be even weirder!"

Cecil wiggled out of Lou Ellen's grip and frowned. "How would you expect me to keep track of all that!? Besides, I still think they're sisters." He glanced at Will. "Will?"

Will shrugged and maneuvered his cart so it wasn't in the walk way. "I dunno man. She makes a fair point."

Cecil furrowed his brows together. "Fine I'll google it!" He pulled out his phone and scanned the screen. When his face reddened and he frowned, Lou Ellen laughed in triumph.

"What are you laughing about?"

"I was right." She smirked.

"No you weren't!"

Will grinned and snatched the phone. Cecil tried to reach up and grab it, but Will was much too tall for that. "It says here," he cleared his throat, "Princess Peach, formally know as Princess Toadstool, is the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. Her friend Daisy is-"

"HA!" Lou Ellen interjected. "IT SAYS FRIEND!"

A few heads turned their way in response to that little scene. Will smiled awkwardly and waved them away. "It's all good over here!" he assured them. When everyone went on with their business he turned to his friends. "Anyways, do you guys know where the pull ups are?"

Lou Ellen and Cecil, now forgetting the small encounter just now, smirked at each other. "Will, you use pull ups?" Lou Ellen challenged.

Will rolled his eyes and pushed the cart down the aisle. "Jeez guys we already went over this. Every time we go shopping. Every. Time."

"Then why do you always buy them?" Cecil grinned. "Hm Amazing Will?"

Will smirked at the nickname but groaned at the questions. "Cause I have two little brothers who pee a lot you dumby."

Lou Ellen grabbed a book off the shelf as they passed the reading section. "Why do you buy them diapers? Wouldn't you rather them use the real potty?"

Will turned the corner and found a stack of diapers. Tossing the right brand in the cart he responded with, ''Trust me. No wants them to use the real potty more than me." When his two friends laughed in his face, he continued "Seriously though, have you guys ever changed a diaper before? It's the worst thing ever!"

The two laughed harder. Lou Ellen dropped her book, and Cecil made fake gagging sounds.

After gathering everything Will's mom put on the list, they went to the checkout and loaded everything into Lou Ellen's car. Out of all of them, she was the only one who was sixteen and had her drivers license.

Will closed the trunk and raced Cecil to the front seat while they both yelled "SHOT GUN!" They pushed and shoved each other, fighting to get in the front seat. Will thought he had an advantage because of his height, but Lou Ellen honked the horn resulting in Cecil's triumph.

Will scowled and reluctantly sat in the back seat. "Not cool Lou."

She put the car in reverse and rolled her eyes. "Hey man, I just want to get out of here." She pulled out of the parking space and started down the busy road.

Cecil leaned against the window and began pointing. "Lou! Lou! Turn on this upcoming corner!"

Lou Ellen looked at where he was pointing and scowled. "Why?"

He nodded his head. "It's a short cut."

She seemed to consider this but refused to switch lanes. "No it's not."

"Yes it is!"

"Either way," she huffed. "You'd hit mall traffic."

Cecil widened his eyes and sat back in his seat. "Nuh-uh. It's Sunday."

"Your point?"

Cecil rolled down the window and stuck his head out. "You're GONNA MISS IT!"

In response, Lou Ellen drove right past the turn. Cecil held up his hands and made a strangling gesture toward her.

"Yo," Will interjected. "Roll up the window!" When Cecil ignored him and continued arguing with Lou Ellen, Will took it upon himself to do it. He unbuckled himself, leaned across Cecil, who ignored him again, and rolled up the window. If he didn't do that sooner or later, he thought he was gonna get frost bite.

"Why didn't you listen to me?!" Cecil whined still making rude hand gestures.

Lou Ellen let out a huff of annoyance and help up a fist. Cecil flinched like she was about to punch him. "Who's driving right now? Me! If you don't want to be left on the side of the road, I suggest you shut up!"

Cecil bit back more inappropriate comments and waved his arms around in a menacing kind of way. Lou Ellen reacted the same way, using one hand to curse in sign language.

Will watched the whole thing unfazed. This happened quite a bit and he wasn't surprised that he knew what some of the signs meant. Cecil, at the moment, was karate chopping his other hand with his fingers crossed. Will was pretty sure that meant he was gonna take her laptop and burn it in her dog's doghouse. Which would be super bad, because that's where Lou Ellen keeps her prized fanfiction. God forbid her fanfiction be messed with.

"You know," he finally cut in. "You guys argue worse than an old married couple." Cecil narrowed his eyes at him. His ears turned a very faint shade of pink, while Lou's skin tone remained the same.

"Ew bro," Cecil muttered.

Lou Ellen nodded. "Something we agree on! Besides, as far as I'm concerned, you and di Angelo are more like an old married couple than anyone else I've ever seen."

Cecil spouted a laugh as Lou Ellen made a sharp turn down the road where Will lived. "Another thing we agree on Lou!"

Will frowned and slumped down in his seat. "What is that suppose to mean?"

Cecil rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Gosh Will don't deny it! You're always staring at the lil' midget."

Will buried his face in his hands and lay on his side. "I'm just trying to figure him out! He is so weird and dark, and I'm trying to figure out what his deal is!"

Lou Ellen grinned. "I ship it."

Will raised and eyebrow and Cecil shook his head. "Only Lou Ellen. With her ships."

Will wasn't quite sure what the deal was with kids and 'shipping' things these days. But it was a little weird. "Okay." When they pulled up into the driveway and piled out of the car, Will was just thankful they got off the subject of Nico.

"Look!" Cecil pointed at the garage where the door was open. Inside sat a big van. "Dad's here!" He then ran through the garage and inside the door. Cecil referred to Will's dad as his dad as well. Ever since Cecil was a kid, he never met his father. So when he became friends with Will and met his cool, young dad, he adopted him as his father. Which Will's dad didn't mind a bit. He loved the attention and praise of young people.

''Yo Apollo!" Cecil announced to him where he was sitting at the kitchen table eating a sandwich.

Apollo stood up with a grin on his face. "Cecil! What's up kid?'' They highfived just as Lou Ellen and Will walked in. "Lou Ellen sweetie! Like the pink streaks!'' She highfived him as well and beamed.

"Yeah, I was really satisfied with the streaks too!" She smiled running a hand through her hair.

Apollo turned to Will. ''What's up son?" he winked.

Will dropped the bags on the counter and stuck out his tongue. "Why is it so hot in here?"

Will's father grinned and struck a pose. "Cause I'm in here!"

Will rolled his eyes and fanned himself. "Nah man," he walked over to the thermostat. "It's literally ninety degrees in here."

Lou Ellen giggled. "Will, this is the first time you've ever been too warm!"

Will shrugged and reached to turn down the heat. Apollo jumped in front and stopped him. "No Will, it was so cold in here earlier!"

Lou Ellen laughed again and couldn't help but notice the similarity between Will and his dad. Not only looks, but how they are both pretty chill. Until you make them unchill. Then they are unchill. Like how Will would even unbuckle his seat belt on a dangerous road just to roll up the window cause he was cold. How Apollo turned up the heat to ninety cause he was cold. The thought amused her.

Will sighed. "Where's mom? I bought a bunch of crap for her kids."

Lou Ellen exchanged a look with Cecil when he said "her kids.''

Apollo shrugged. "I called her and told her I was coming over, so she is working late today."

Will nodded, for that was nothing new. His mom hated seeing his dad. "What about Shane and Gus?"

Apollo shrugged again. "The neighbors house."

Will nodded again. His neighbors were quite fond of him and his half brothers, so it was nothing to worry about.

Apollo took another bite of his sandwich and reached into his pocket. "But I'm happy all three of you are here! I have something for us to do!'' He pulled four little pieces of paper out of his pocket and handed them out. Will noticed they were tickets.

"10 Cloverfield Lane?" He read aloud.

"Mhm." Apollo replied. "Were gonna go see that movie in..." he looked at his phone. "about right now."

He began ushering them out the door and had them all hop in the van. "I've never heard of that movie." Cecil said.

Lou Ellen nodded. "It's kind of like a sci-fi movie. Three people are in a bunker the majority of the movie."

"How did you know that?" Cecil asked.

Lou Ellen blushed. "I saw the commercials and did my research."

Apollo drove rapidly down the road. "I have no idea. I just saw the tickets and said 'I'm taking the squad out.'"

Will fiddled with the seat belt and looked at Lou Ellen. "It's not scary is it?"

Cecil scoffed with humor. "You and your fear of scary movies."

Will scowled. "I am not scared. I just like to be prepared." He then thought about scary movies. He usually didn't watch them, so he wasn't quite sure what to expect, although Lou hadn't confirmed it was scary. Nico probably likes scary movies. For as much black and skeleton clothes he wears, he practically was a scary movie. These thoughts were already making him nervous and he was starting to feel really warm. He realized he hadn't unzipped his jacket since being in his roasting hot house. The heat was most likely trapped up in his coat, so he unzipped his jacket and let out a sigh of relief.

Maybe, he thought, being a little cold isn't all bad.

"He wouldn't stop whimpering through the whole movie! At like two in the morning he texted me and said 'you still alive? the air still fresh over there?'" Cecil broke out laughing as he explained the previous night event to Nico with Lou Ellen chiming in every once in a while.

Will threw his hands up and groaned. "Well I just wanted to make sure you were alive and that a crazy dude didn't throw you in acid!''

Lou Ellen let out a shriek and shoved Will. "Spoilers!"

Nico grinned and raised an eyebrow. "Acid, huh? Sounds like my kind of movie."

Cecil shrugged and followed them inside the doors. "You cry during movies?"

Nico shook his head.

"Lou Ellen sure does," he grumbled.

She held up her hands in defense. "How could I not? He killed-!"

"Spoilers!" both Will and Cecil shouted throwing their hands over their friends mouth.

Nico rolled his eyes as they lagged behind him down the hallway. "You better not be exaggerating because I totally plan on watching it illegally later."

Will frowned and walked up next to Nico. "That was sarcasm wasn't it?"

Nico widened his eyes innocently and shook his head. "No. I'm being completely sincere."

Will scoffed and flicked Nico in the head. "You're dripping with sarcasm dude."

The short boy adjusted his backpack strap and held up a hand. "Way to state the obvious." He now noticed the unusual silence and looked behind him. "Hey, where did the idiots go?"

Will raised his eyebrows and scanned the hallways. "I dunno. Where did they go?'

Nico rubbed his temples and glared at Will. "I dunno Will. That's why I asked you. They're your friends!'' He walked up to his locker and put in the combination as Will leaned against the wall next to him.

"Shut up Nico. Jeez, I guess you missed your coffee with extra sugar this morning." Will joked, laced with slight seriousness.

Nico grabbed several books from his locker, all the ones he will need for the day. He carried them all, even though it was a pain, because he hated coming back to his locker during the day. "I don't like coffee."

Will shrugged and stood up straight as Nico slammed his locker. "Same." Will blinked. He was surprised when Nico stopped in his tracks and looked up at the ceiling with an annoyed expression.

"God. Please do not say that."

Will raised a brow. "What? 'Same'?"

Nico nodded and continued walking. "All I hear kids say these days. 'Same this' and 'Same that'. It's so annoying! Can't you talk in full sentences, dang it! At least say 'same here!' or something. Don't leave it as a fragment!"

"Wow.." Will whispered. "I didn't know you wanted to be an English teacher!"

"What?" Nico shook his head. There was Will, jumping to conclusions like always. "No. If anything I would teach Italian or something. Which they don't even offer as a language!"

"You speak Italian?"

Nico widened his eyes and gestured to his face with his shoulders, for his hands were occupied. "Duh."

Will shrugged like it was no big deal. "You born in Italy?"

"Nah." Nico said. "Here. My mom was from Italy though, so that's what me and my sister spoke at home."

The blonde boy nodded. "That's cool. I'm from Texas."

"Texas?''

Will pulled a book out of his pack and flipped through it, dodging past Drew Tenaka's squad. "Mhm. We lived in Austin. My mom was here when she met my dad I guess. Then she went back home and realized she was pregnant. We lived in Texas for a few years before her job transferred her here. Where I was reunited with my dad. Yay."

Nico kept walking until he saw Hazel and her friends down the hallway. He noted how Annabeth looked like a train wreck, and felt guilty that it kind of satisfied him. He turned to Will and said, "touching story."

Will scowled and ignored the comment, then placed a hand on Nico's forehead. "Are you okay? You're acting weird. Why did you stop walking?"

Nico pushed the boys warm hand off his forehead and pointed at the group with his head. "I don't want them to say anything to me. Maybe if it looks like I'm actually enjoying a chat with you they'll ignore me."

Will crossed his arms and plastered a fake smile across his face. "Aww you would rather talk to me than them? I feel so special."

Nico glanced down the hall and muttered, "You shouldn't.." Unfortunately they were down a different hallway than usual, so he would have to pass them to get to his first hour. He took a deep breath and headed down that way. He sensed Will's presence next to him and he found it somewhat comforting. When he passed them, the only one to notice was Jason. He gave Will a quick glance and then smiled at Nico and waved. Nico forced a nod and continued before Hazel noticed him and made a scene.

Will glanced back at the group and grinned. "Wow, that was so scary."

Nico scowled and stood on his tippy toes. "Yeah, well at least I'm not afraid of fictional guys with acid."

Will seemed to shrink due to the tease. "Eh man, it could happen."

Nico shrugged and a devious grin broke across his face. "Don't worry about it Solace. You could always just punch him."

Will shrunk another size and his face heated up. "I hate you di Angelo."

Nico blinked with a smirk. "Yeah well what else is new?"

Will narrowed his eyes and ignored the comment. "With a passion." He added.

The small Italian boy only smiled wider and trudged into the classroom, trying to balance all the books in his arms.

Annabeth dragged her book bag into school the next morning, more grumpy than an old person trapped in a Chuck E. Cheese. She used one hand to conceal her yawn and the other to hold her cup of coffee. She trudged over to her group of friends and collapsed against Percy. "I'm happy you got to school safely," she sighed to him.

Jason shrugged. "It was no problem. We got him."

Percy nodded and helped Annabeth stand up straight. He placed a hand on his hip and laughed. "Yeah, well thanks for letting me know Wise Girl. I did not expect Jason at my door at seven in the morning."

Annabeth didn't seem to comprehend what he said and leaned against the lockers behind her, blocking whoever was trying to get to them. Piper cocked her head and raised a brow. She flicked a piece of hair sticking up on Ananbeth's head. "What's up with the hair?"

"Yeah," Leo added. "It looks like a bird built a nest on it."

"Layed some eggs in it," Percy nodded.

"Took a crap in it," Piper grinned.

Frank stepped up and took a better look at Annabeth and shrugged. "And then deserted it."

The group, minus Frank, Hazel, Jason, and Annabeth laughed. "Hey!" Hazel scowled. "Not cool."

Frank blushed and fiddled with his fingers. "Sorry Annabeth..." He shamefully mumbled, hanging his head.

Percy patted Annabeth's back and shook his head, still laughing a bit. "Sorry Annabeth."

She would usually have snapped or bit his head off, so Percy knew something was wrong when she just sighed again. "Hey Annabeth, are you okay?"

She took a sip of coffee and rubbed her eyes, smudging the small amount of makeup Silena forced her to wear the previous day while at Hazel's house. "After going home last night.."she yawned. "I was studying all night! I forgot I had a French test!"

Percy's eye twitched and he clasped his hands in confusion. "French test! We have a French test!?" He looked to each of his friends, who all seemed to have a different reaction. Hazel and Frank looked more confused. Jason and Piper exchanged smug looks. Leo's face completely read I couldn't care less. Even Annabeth managed an eye roll and loud exhale.

"Relax Seaweed Brain." she said.

Jason patted Percy's shoulder with fake sympathy. "You don't even take French."

Percy's eye twitched slightly again and he looked at his hands. "Oh yeah," He said with a smile. "Must be the ADHD reacting before my brain." He reached into his bag and pulled out a paper. "Dang it! It's a math test I have today!"

This time Jason patted his back with real sympathy. Percy swallowed, "Well I'm dead." Although he always played it off like it was no big deal, Percy was actually serious about his grades. He felt like a loser all the time and was quite insecure. He was hoping to get into an actual college with both Annabeth and Frank at his sides, but he felt like too much of a failure. Of course he didn't tell his friends that.

They all exchanged words of encouragement before heading off in their own directions. While walking to their first hour Piper took hold of Annabeth's highly caffeinated drink and took a sip. She made a sour face but forced it down. "Gross man. It's cold."

Annabeth nodded and snatched it back, taking another chug. "That's what happens when you don't have time to make more or stop for any, and you have to use the stuff you found in the microwave that you forgot about from the day before."

Piper made another face and followed Annabeth into the classroom. "You really are crazy." After taking their seats and waiting patiently for the teacher, the brunette turned to Annabeth who was face down on her desk. "Why do you think French is so hard anyway? It's like the easiest class."

Annabeth groaned and waved her hand at her. "Easy for you to say McLean! Not my fault my mom didn't teach me French as an infant!"

Piper rolled her eyes and wrote her name on the top of her math sheet that was passed out. "Just say 'baby'. Not 'infant'.''

Annabeth sat up and went to write her name when she glanced at the paper. The sheet already had someones name on it and it was completed. "Umm Piper? Why did you write your name?" She showed her friend her paper and pointed at the name on hers, which read Jake Mason.

Piper scowled and erased her name, not knowing how she missed the fact she had Dakota's paper. She was about to raise her hand when the teacher cut her off.

"I know what your all thinking." He said. "You have someone else's paper. Well, instead of me grading all ninety of them, I'm having you grade your peers. Please be sincere and take off the proper amount of points. Please write who checked the paper in the bottom corner.''

The class did what was told, but Travis Stoll hesitated. He took an angry breath and stood up on his chair. Most didn't notice because they were writing, and the teacher was facing the other way. Annabeth was one of the first to notice. She silently face palmed. She found the Stoll brothers harmless for the most part, but she couldn't help but find them irritating. She'll never forget the time Connor dressed as Spiderman and went trick or treating at her house one year.

When the teacher noticed he gasped. ''Mr. Stoll!"

Travis grinned and held up a finger. His curly brown hair fell all in his eyes and Annabeth instantly thought of Leo. In fact, Leo could be like their long lost brother or something. "Which one?"

Octavian, who surprisingly kept his mouth shut for the majority of the morning, crossed his leg and scoffed. "You're the only Stoll in here right now you idiot."

Travis's grin fell from his face and his shoulders slumped. To Annabeth, he almost looked like an innocent little puppy dog with that smirk wiped off him face and without the mischievous gleam in his eyes. Almost. She figured this reaction was triggered because Travis was so used to saying stuff like that, due to him and his brother always being together.

"What are trying to do Mr. Stoll?" the teacher tried again, brushing off Octavian's comment. He probably agreed with him for once.

Travis took another breath and stood up straight again. He held out his arms and began. "Who are you to let other kids know our grade? You took this job, so take the responsibility of grading the paper yourself. You don't go reading our report card off in front of everyone, so why is okay to let other kids see how good we do on our test?"

For a few moments everyone was silent. Some people probably agreed with the statement, but most were probably just trying to decipher why Travis had gradually started talking in a fake accent.

Out of nowhere, Katie shot up out of her seat. Her long brown, wavy hair came down to her waist and swayed as she placed her hands on her hip. She had a pink headband on with a flower on it. She pointed a finger at Travis and shouted, "He just doesn't want anyone to see his terrible grade!"

The class erupted with laughter and the teacher suppressed a smile. Travis shrugged and winked at her. "Yeah mostly." She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

The class started to settle down and the teacher signaled Travis to sit. He put the answer sheet on the ELMO and Annabeth relaxed in her seat. She muttered French sentenced in her head over and over.

"Je vais faire le bien sur ce test. Je vais faire le bien sur ce test. Je ne vais pas tomber endormi. Travis est un idiot, vous n'êtes pas ."

Piper patted Annabeth's wrist and she nodded, signalizing that she is okay.

Today was definitely going to be an interesting day.

Percy flipped through the channels and groaned when he came to the Cartoon Network channel. He used to watch the shows there, but as of right now, the Powerpuff Girls reboot was on. Now, he was never a fan of The Powerpuff Girls as a kid. They were for girls and everything about them was pink. But when he met Annabeth, he recalled her mentioning something about how she enjoyed the show. She said something about how it show'd girls are tough and can save the day too. At the time he thought she was just being annoying cause they were twelve. But he actually did try watching the show and confirmed it wasn't that bad. His favorite was Buttercup, because she kinda a tomboy and he could relate to her want to punch things. Annabeth obviously liked the pink one, Blossom, cause she was smart and stuff. His mom loved Bubbles, of course.

But right now he hated it. The original was what he was introduced to, and the reboot was giving him a headache. The voices were more annoying and the characters were all screwed up. His best solution was to turn off the t.v.

After that fiasco, he went into the kitchen to find his mother doing the dishes. He sat cross legged at the table. "Hey mom, anything I can do to help?"

She jumped slightly at his sudden presence and turned around. She pushed some hair out of her eyes causing some soap to get in her hair. She didn't seem to notice. "Here," she handed him a dish towel and a wet plate. He accepted it and after drying it, he set it on the table. "So how was school today Percy?"

Percy shrugged indifferently."I dunno. Same as always I guess. Pretty sure I flunked my math test though." When he saw the distressed look on his mom's face, he rushed to think of something positive. "But Annabeth thinks she did good on her French test!"

Sally smiled softly and turned back to the sink. "I'm glad to hear that. How is Annabeth lately?"

Percy shrugged and started another plate. "She's good. I heard her mom might be coming into to town this summer, so that's exciting."

Sally nodded again. "Very nice. So have you been treating her well?"

Percy felt as if the temperature went up one hundred degrees. He was grateful his mom wasn't looking at him, because his face was a strawberry. "Of course I've been treating her well mom! She's still my best friend!" He wanted to add, "although having her as my girlfriend has it's perks. Like, I can kiss her instead of wondering what it would be like if I could kiss her''. But he concluded it wouldn't be appropriate to say that in front of his mother.

She laughed gently and wiped her face, getting soap on her again. She then looked out the window and muttered, "It's getting dark.."

Percy followed her lead and looked out too. "Oh yeah, it-!" He stopped mid sentence when he heard a knock on the door. His mother gestured for him to answer it, so he crossed the room and went to the front door. When he opened it, standing there was a tall man with eyes like sea foam. He had dark hair and had facial hair like hadn't shaved in a few days. He had smile lines on his face and despite the cold weather, he wore shorts. Percy knew he looked familiar, and was afraid he knew who it was. He was at a loss for words.

The man didn't say anything, he just smiled sympathetically. As if Percy did something wrong and he didn't blame him.

"Percy! Who is it?" Sally called from the kitchen. When Percy didn't answer, she straightened her shirt and walked over. When she saw his face, she turned beat red. "Pos-Posiden?"

He smiled wider. "Hello Sally." She fumbled with her hair and wiped the soap off her hands onto her jeans.

"You weren't suppose to be here until Thursday." She whispered, now gripping Percy's shoulder.

Posiden ran his fingers through his messy hair and laughed politely. "I'm sorry if I surprised you. I just didn't want to wait much longer."

Percy slowly shook his head, still awe struck by his dad. The resemblance between the two, the glowing aura his father carried. It was as if they had met before in the past. "D-Dad..?" He fumbled for the right words and those were all that came out.

"Perseus." His father smiled. Although Percy didn't know what to make of him, he appreciated that he didn't try to hug him or call him son. "How are you?"

Percy almost rolled his eyes at that one. It was like they were old buddies from high school meeting up at the ten year reunion or something. "Could be better."

His dad chuckled softly and his mom tightened her grip on his shoulder. She gestured politely behind Posiden and said, "Who's this?"

Percy glanced past his father toward the boy behind him. He was tall, more than six feet. He had very messy brown hair, worse than Annabeth's earlier in the day. In fact, it was so messy he couldn't see the kid's eyes. Percy wouldn't be able to tell if he even had two eyes or one. He wasn't quite sure how he missed the presence of the giant kid back there, but he blamed it on his dad's eyes. It was kind of hard to look at anything else, especially when you haven't seen your dad in the last sixteen years.

His father turned around and held out his arms. "Oh how rude of me!" He bellowed. "This is Tyson!"

Sally and Percy exchanged glances. "Hi Tyson," Sally waved with a hospitable smile.

Percy waved slowly but didn't break the gaze he had on his father. "Tyson?"

Tyson giggled. Which was the last thing he expected a six foot tall kid to do. "Yes Tyson!"

Posiden nodded his head. "Yes, this is Tyson. Your brother."

Yup I'm back! I apologize for not updating last week and i'm sorry for the suckiness of this chapter.

So I put the Jasico friendship start in there, and don't worry, next chapter there will be more.

The Peach/Daisy thing was a debate from my childhood. I never knew if they were sisters or not, and was highly surprised when I found out they weren't.

Okay, I know 10 Cloverfield Lane is a relatively new movie and some of you might not have seen it and plan to. I put as little amount of spoilers as I could. Now, Ill tell you the truth, that movie did make me cry. It wasn't scary but it was sad. So if you watch it, be prepared. (just like Will)

Then the PPG reference. I LOVE the Powerpuff girls, but i am so disappointed with the 2016 version. The voices killed me. WHERES MY TARA STRONG? idk but i had to say that. #sorrynotsorry

Also, threw some Travis in there, a lot of Lou Ellen and Cecil (whom i adore), some Posiden and Apollo! Oh yeah and Tyson!

I'm not sure what's gonna happen with them.. In fact I'm winging this whole story so it will probably go on for ever. (I was planing on it going on through the summer into the next school year and it's only November right now... So this will probably be like 90 chapters...)

K. So i have no idea what will happen next. obviously Percy/Tyson/Posiden crap. Hopefully some Reyna. Ima try to get some Frazelo in there but I dunno. I'm gonna make Frazel become more official before I bring Calypso in. So she probably wont come in until like Chapter 40 LOL (Im not a huge Calypso fan if you haven't noticed.)

Review. Please bro

See ya fam

Until next time~MyLifeIsALie