Chapter Three: Settling in at Goode (Annabeth POV)

Yeah. By now, you're probably wondering, what the heck is Annabeth doing as a Goode High science teacher? Isn't she supposed to be at home in San Francisco? Well, I'd like to explain. San Francisco is no longer my home. I have moved to New York. Partially to be near Mount Olympus (since I'm the architect, you know…) and partially (wink wink) to be near Percy.

That's right. I'm in love with the guy. You've probably figured that out right now. The unfortunate thing is, I don't even think he knows. I've written about it in my diary but I've never been able to tell him. Sigh. What a boring and miserable life I've got.

I guess I'll have to wait and see.

Whatever. I'll just continue the story.

Where did Percy leave off? Oh, yeah. He discovered that I was his science teacher, yada yada.

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That science class, I was trying my best to stay cool, but it was hard with Percy's eyes constantly boring into me. I felt like a piece of Swiss cheese. (I know, disturbing thought.) Just as usual, you could feel the pressure building up in the room, like a bubble. At last, that bubble burst, and everyone began asking questions.

"Miss Chase, how old are you? You look about our age."

"Are you even qualified to be a teacher?"

"Whoa, you're hot."

"What are your plans for the curriculum this year?"

Gosh. Talk about annoying. Can't people just see me as a normal teacher? I guessed not. However, believe it or not, I managed to make it through class. Barely. After class ended and everyone was filing out, I hid behind my desk and had a nice scream.

"Interesting sound coming out of your mouth there, Wise Girl," said a voice from behind my back. I jumped. Percy was standing behind me, and he was chuckling. "First day of teaching, and the stress is already getting to you?"

"Never mind that," I said, standing up and tackling him with a hug. "I missed you… but hey, fancy meeting you in a place like this, huh?"

We laughed. "I thought you were going home," Percy said.

"This is my home now," I said. "Literally. This classroom that we're standing in actually also happens to be my bedroom."

"Really? Oh, gee, I feel bad for you…" he said, shaking his head.

I waited expectantly for him to say, Oh gods, Annabeth, you don't have a place to live except this crappy old classroom? Oh, I'll just call up my mom right now and ask her if you can stay with us. Wouldn't that be nice?, but of course he didn't say that, being the clueless idiot that he is. I sighed and just let the matter drop. "Whatever. Don't you have to be getting to another class, Seaweed Brain?"

"Nope. It's lunchtime," he replied simply.

"Oh," I said. "Well then, let's go eat." I grabbed my lunch box and we headed to the cafeteria together.

Once getting there, I noticed that everyone seemed to be staring at us. Actually, not us. At me. I was just about to scream out to the world, "CURSE MY GOOD LOOKS! EVERYONE JUST STOP STARING AT ME!" A bunch of jocks were waving at me, beckoning me to sit at their table, but I shot a glance at Percy, who was still walking on. Well, I couldn't just leave him for a bunch of lecherous popular dudes. I continued to follow him.

I noticed that in the far corner, a girl with wildly red hair was bouncing up and down, gesturing at Percy. He seemed to be walking towards her. I walked along with him. We finally reached the table the red-head was sitting at, and he gave her a small wave.

"Hi, Kat," he said.

"Yay! Percy! You're finally here! I was kind of lonely. I haven't seen you since Art, and I was kinda booored," the girl, now identified as Kat, pouted. I chuckled. She seemed like a very energetic girl.

Percy sat down, and he scooched over to make a spot for me. I gratefully took a seat, and Kat looked at me in a fascinated sort of way. "Percy, who's the cute girl?" she asked Percy, gesturing to me. "Is she your boyfriend?"

"Hmm?" Percy turned to look at me. We were both blushing madly. "I… well… uh…" was all he could manage to say. He turned away and coughed something that sounded a little like "I wish." However, I learned not to get my hopes up.

"No, I'm actually the science teacher," I said, "but… uh… I guess you could say that we're close."

"Really? Oh, where did you meet?" Kat asked excitedly.

"At… er… camp…"

"Oh, what camp was it?"

"Camp… Ham-Burger?" I finished lamely, and exchanged glances with Percy. He was giving me a look that said, Seriously, Annabeth? Seriously?

"Oh, um, that's a very interesting-sounding camp," Kat said thoughtfully. "Whatever."

"Oh yeah, you're the science teacher, Miss Chase," a boy sitting at our table said. He stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you. Well, I've technically already met you, but nice to meet you in person."

I took his hand and shook it. "Thank you. You can just call me Annabeth," I said cheerily.

"Really?" the boy asked.

"Yeah. After all, I'm still a teenager, like you. Outside of class, just think of me as a fellow classmate," I said.

His face lit up. "Well, my name's Jared," he said softly.

I grinned. "I hope we can be friends," I said.

"Yeah," he replied, and turned away to eat his lunch.

Kat turned to me. "Wow! You got Jared to speak," she said incredulously.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Jared never speaks. He's always really shy and quiet," she explained. "He's always alone. I always invite him to sit with us, but he never speaks to us. It's really disappointing. I hope he can warm up to us sometime."

"I'll help you guys with that," I said. She and I looked at each other and knew that we would be good friends.

Yes! Third chapter finished. I'm sorry if I don't update as often as you want. I'm kind of busy and I'm trying my best. However, I might be doing an all-nighter and finishing up a lot of chapters of the book. Do not fear, my followers! This story is still active and going.