disclaimer: i own nothing except for my own twists and turns. most credit goes to Simone Elkeles and Rick Riordan
Percy
Okay, it might've been out of line to write in her notebook You and me. Saturday night, at the beach, alone. Swimming lessons and blowjob sessions from 5-10pm but I was totally dying to see Little Miss Idiofyia (Genius) stumble over how to solve this problem.
"Annabeth," Mr. Brunner called.
"Yes?" she asked, looking from the notebook to Mr. Brunner with those innocent grey eyes of her. Oh, she was good at hiding her real emotions and thoughts. I'd know; I've done it before.
"Introduce Percy to the class," Mr. Brunner instructed.
I could practically see the gears in her mind working as she tried to come up with a false story. I looked straight at her stormy grey eyes, saying with my own Hit me with your best shot.
"This is Perseus Jackson," she spoke to the class, her voice ringing clearly throughout the room. My mouth turned into a small smirk as she said my given name. "This summer, when he wasn't at the beach surfing the Atlantic or hitting on girls in bikinis, he was with his gang, terrorizing Manhattan."
Bitch. This little prinkipissa (princess) with her curly blonde hair and stunning grey eyes thought she knew me Girl, you've got it all wrong.
"His secret dream," she said, getting all of our classmates to lean in on listen this "secret". I was pretty sure this was another lie, but I was intrigued to listen on what she assumed. "Is to be a Greek teacher like you, Mr. Brunner."
I could hear snickers coming from my friends. I looked behind me to see my friend and neighbor Juniper smiling as if it was funny to see a smartass rich Upper diss me in front of the class. Mr. Brunner said it was my turn. Oh, this was going to be fun.
"This is Annabeth Chase," I spoke, getting everyone hooked. "When she wasn't studyin' for future exams all day and rereadin' classic novels all night, she was 'practicing her chemistry' with her boyfriend, I mean boyfriends."
Catcalls and whistles were made by my friends and Annabeth turned her furious, stormy grey eyes at me. Oh well, my introduction probably had more truth in it that hers.
"Her secret desire," I said again, the room getting so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. "Is to be taught Greek by an empeirognomona (expert) because her Greek needs a little work so she needs help from someone. Someone like me."
Mr. Brunner peered at me with his dark brown eyes. I swear those eyes could see right through me.
"Very..interesting introductions, Miss Chase and Mr. Jackson, meet me at the end of class."
"I'm extremely disappointed in the two of you," Mr. Brunner admitted to us after class. Annabeth was looking away from me, her golden curls blocking her face and preventing me from looking at her expression.
"I expected better from the two top students of the junior Greek class."
"What?" Annabeth exclaimed, obviously surprised at this. "He has the second highest average in Greek?"
"Yes, Annabeth, he does," Mr. Brunner answered her, acting as if it was no big deal that a Lower was ranked closely to her. We may not be as rich as the Upppers, but we've learned to fight for ourselves and that includes survive high school with passable grades. I just managed to excel higher than most Lowers.
"I won't stand to see disrespect in my class," Mr. Brunner said to us, holding a blue detention slip and two sheets of looseleaf. "I'm giving you the options to either have after-school detention with me or write an essay on how the Greeks viewed respect."
I took the detention slip while she took the looseleaf. Of course. Oh well, Mr. Brunner didn't seem all bad.
"In the world, you must learn to deal with people that you don't like. It's best to deal with that situation now. Now get to your next class."
After getting a pass, I followed behind Annabeth. She noticed me and sighed.
"Stop following me," she said to me, turning around to see if anyone
spotted us together.
As if I'm Hades himself.
"Relax," I said to her. "You worry too much."
"Well, too much is at stake."
"Like what? Your so-called boyfriend catchin' you with someone like me? I can handle him."
"Luke will kill you if he thinks that way."
"Let the bastardos (bastard) try and get me then."
Annabeth double-checked to see if anyone was around and when the coast was clear, she slapped my cheek. It didn't hurt, but it still surprised me. Consequences for any sign of violence in school was detention and I knew she had a perfectly clean record she wouldn't want to screw up.
"What in Hades was that for?" I asked.
"For making fun of my boyfriend, kopanos (jerk)," she said in a matter-of-fact way. I got tired of playing nice with this girl. I stepped close to her while she stepped far back. I smiled at the thought of her being intimidated by me.
"Scared that you're so incredible boyfriend isn't here to protect you?" I taunted her. Surprising me once more, she looked into my eyes with her intense grey ones.
"He'd kill you if he had the opportunity," she said bravely, but I wanted this girl to have reason to fear me. I stepped even closer, backing her up into the wall. I brought my lips near her neck and heard her slightly gasp. I knew she wasn't expecting me to be this close to her. Hell, I didn't even understand why I was so close. I brought my mouth up to her ear.
"Listen very closely, " I whispered to her, gladly noticing the shivers that she began to make. "You don't need to be afraid. Gettin' near the water doesn't really mean you'll drown."
"YEA, PERCY. FUCK THAT BITCH HARD!"
I lifted my head and saw my friend and fellow gang member Connor Stoll giving me that twisted grin he gets normally after he pulled some prank. Guess yelling out to the whole school was technically his idea of a prank.
Unfortunately, Connor wasn't our only audience.
"Get the hell away from her, Jackson," Luke called from across the hallway, striding towards us. Annabeth quickly walked past me and met her stupid boyfriend. When he kept trying to walk towards me, she tried to pull him away.
"Luke, it's okay," she tried to tell him. "I can handle him myself."
"He needs to learn," he insisted, shaking away from her grip. "He needs to learn that you're mine."
"You never know," I said casually, leaning against the wall. "She might be tempted to find someone else."
That definitely raised his temper. He looked like the Minotaur, his face red in rage, his body positioned as if he'd charge me down. Two guys appeared behind him, one of them Travis Stoll,trying to talk some sense into him. Even my own friends, Grover and Connor, ended up behind me. Grover patted me on my back.
"Tì enai kalo (everything good)?" he asked me.
I looked at Annabeth, staring straight in her grey eyes. They were storm clouds again and they just seemed so...mesmerizing.
"Yeah, everything's megálos (great)," I replied.
To Annabeth, I said, "We'll meet again, etaìros (partner)."
Before I turned around and left with my friends, I was able to glimpse Annabeth giving me the finger. Gods she's annoying.
Annabeth
"My gods, Greek must've been torture," Katie said to me as we were heading to architecture. We were both on the architecture and chemistry club. I was head of both of them.
"It's not my fault he's my partner," I reminded her. "Gods, got to find a way to tell my mom without her freaking out."
"Well, don't end up like my cousin," Katie warned.
"Why? What happened to her?" I asked. Liliana Jovan is a straight A student and attending Columbia University majoring in biology.
"She used to date Garret Green, a gang member," she explained, grabbing some tools for possible projects. "Apparently, Garret was popular in the gang. All the girls in it hated her and he didn't do much about it. Even most of her friends stopped talking to her. She was practically an outcast. Thank the gods she broke up with him."
I could only nod in agreement. I didn't want that to happen to me. I kept assuring myself I have Luke, but a nagging feeling in my mind keeps telling me that there's still a possibility of it happening.
"Oh, I hate to be a constant bad news, but rumors say that Rachel's looking for you," warned Katie. I slapped my palm on my forehead.
"Gamóto. Theoí, na me voithísei (Damn it. Gods help me)," I prayed. Rachel Elizabeth Dare was known for a snappy attitude. She also liked to make it well known that Percy was hers. Most Half-bloods were a bit territorial about each other, especially boyfriends and girlfriends.
"Hey, Annabeth, Katie," a voice called. I turned to see the familiar face of Malcolm Greyson, my junior "adelfós" (brother) and co-captain of the chemistry team. I forced a smile on my face as he approached us.
"Hi, Malcolm," I greeted, playfully ruffling his hair. "How was your summer?"
"Okay," he said, trying to straighten his hair and glaring at me with his dark grey eyes. Sometimes, Malcolm and I were called dídyma (twins) because we both had blond hair, grey eyes, top of our classes, and both took architecture.
"What's up with the rumors I keep hearing about you and Percy Jackson?" he asked me, observing me a little too closely.
"Well, nothing is going on, I can tell you that. We're just Greek partners," I reassured him. "Besides, shouldn't we be heading to architecture now? Before Mr. Stanton kills us for being late?"
"Stanton wouldn't kill his architecture captain," Katie reminded. "But I do hope he'll let us build some miniature greenhouses or something. I need a place to keep my polýtima louloúdia (precious flowers)."
We headed down the hallway up to Room 423 where the architecture team met Mondays and Wednesdays. In the room, seniors, sophomores and juniors were already sitting in desks. Some wore the Half-Blood bandanna and others were dressed as regular Uppers. Gang members Jake Mason, Beckendorf, and Juniper Green were talking with each other until we came into the room. I hope they weren't talking about the disaster in Greek. They might be mad about someone insulting their gang leader in public. There haven't been any serious fights between Uppers and Lowers. We mostly stuck to our own groups and only mingled with others when necessary.
"Well, if it isn't the little know-it-all who made fun of Percy earlier," said Jake Mason, glaring at me with burning eyes of coal. "Why don't we didáxoun tis na min cháos me to Half-aímata (teach her not to mess with the Half-Bloods)?"
"Shut up, Jake," warned Juniper. "If you get caught, you'll end up suspended. Besides, what would your mom say if she found out about you picking fights on Uppers?"
At the reminder, Jake lowered his intense gaze away from me. I sighed in relief and gave Juniper a silent thank you with my eyes. At that moment, Mr. Stanton came into the room. His light brown hair was streaked with more grey hair than last year, but he still looked like the same busy, man that was the head teacher of the architecture team for the past three years.
"Okay guys, welcome back. Annabeth, Katie, Malcolm, take a seat," he told us. We sat as far away from the senior Lowers as possible.
"So, as you know, 9/11 is coming up," Mr. Stanton said to us, removing his glasses and cleaning them furiously. It was a nervous habit and I've seen him do it whenever 9/11 was near. His wife used to work in the Twin Towers and was one of the injured victims. She was able to evacuate quickly, but pieces of debris and concrete landed on her head and gave her a permanent brain injury.
"9/11 was a tragic event for all of us, especially those here in Manhattan," he resumed. "Hundreds of thousands of people died and this memory still haunts some today. If only people had even considered thinking that the Twin Towers could be hit by jet fuel, so many lives could have been spared."
Malcolm raised his hand.
"Yes, Malcolm?"
"What does 9/11 have to do with what we're going to do?"
Impatient as always, I thought. Oh well. He's young; he'll learn.
"The Twin Towers were once considered indestructible, but the Titanic was also considered unsinkable. I want you to plan some designs of an impenetrable building complete with a backup plan. Just in case something goes wrong, like how the Twin Towers didn't have a backup for a plane crash filled with jet fuel."
While others began drafting, Mr. Stanton waved me over to him. Once I approached him, he gestured to the group of sophomores, juniors, and seniors who just started architecture this year.
"Why don't you help explain the basics in drafting?"
"Sure."
Rummaging through my book bag, I took out my own detailed copy of the Parthenon. It wasn't the actual building; it was more of a sketch that explained the structures and how it supported the building. I hung it in front of the chalkboard.
"Does anyone know what building this is?" I asked the new architects. A few hands shot up, including the group of seniors. I picked Beckendorf to answer.
"It's the Parthenon," he answered.
"Correct," I said, gesturing to the sketch. "This drawing of the Parthenon shows how each structure is made and how it supports the building. I want you to copy this down and study it. It'll help to understand how to draw and build your own supportive buildings."
The group took out pencils and began to copy the sketch into their notebooks. I observed the group as they copied. Most of the sophomores and juniors kept glancing at the drawing before continuing to copy. On the other hand, Juniper glanced a lot less and Jake and Beckendorf only took a long glance and spent the rest of the time drawing.
When time was up, I called everyone to stop and walked around to check the drawings. Being younger and less experienced, the sophomores and juniors had accurate but slightly distorted drawings. Practice makes perfect. Looking at the seniors, all three had drawings almost exactly the same as the Parthenon. I looked at Junipers and noticed lightly shaded marks near the side of the Parthenon.
"Juniper, what are the shaded areas on your drawing?" I asked.
"Oh, those were supposed to be sun beams," Juniper replied, looking a little flustered.
"Explain."
"Well, if the Parthenon was built in such a way, sunlight would directly hit the roof. The idea was kind of based on a greenhouse."
I smiled at the concept. Juniper could turn out to be a really bright architect.
"That's smart thinking, Juniper," I praised. "Keep those ideas and you could even turn out to be a greenhouse builder."
The bell rang, signaling the end of the architecture meeting. The sophomores and juniors packed up quickly and were out the door in a few minutes. Kate and Malcolm tried to wait for me at the door, but I told them to go ahead and help Mr. Stanton clean up a little. It turned out Juniper was still in the room as well. Juniper has light brown hair the color of amber and eyes the color of summer leaves. Her black and green Half-blood bandanna was tied in her hair like a headband and strands of amber were tucked behind her slightly pointed ears. People used to call her a xotikó (elf), but she would look into her bully's' eyes and those vivid green eyes of hers scared them away.
"You really think I could be a potential greenhouse architect?" she asked me. I nodded.
"You really have great ideas," I told her. "Aren't you taking chemistry this year too?"
"Yep. I hope to be either a greenhouse builder or the scientist to find the solution to global warming," she told me. I tried giving her a smile, but my mind was still thinking about Percy and Rachel. She probably noticed how nervous I might have looked.
"Don't worry about Rachel," she assured. "She likes to talk skatá (shit), but she's not much of a machitís (fighter)."
"So she is looking for me."
"Probably."
I groaned. I had enough on my plate and I didn't need to add Rachel to it.
"Min anisycheíte . Don't worry. She won't try to hurt you in public."
"Juniper, aren't you in my Greek class?"
"Yea."
"And, do you know Percy well?"
"Yea, why?"
"Is he usually such a..."
"Maláka (Asshole)?"
I could only nod. Juniper shouldered her messenger bag, looking as if she was deciding whether or not to tell me.
"You don't really have to answer," I assured her, slowly heading to the door.
"No, it's OK. To be honest, Percy is really a nice guy if you get to know him," Juniper admitted.
"Then why does he act so mean at times?" I asked.
"Trust me when I say he wasn't like that when he wasn't a gang leader," she answered. Her eyes looked honest enough, but it puzzled me that she would give this information to an Upper.
"Juniper, why are you telling me all this?" I asked.
"I don't like to judge people because of how they appear. Percy asks like a kópanos (jerk), but he does it for his gang and for his oikogéneia (family),"she answered, looking right into my grey eyes as if she could see through my "perfect student" act. "I'm not sure if we can be friends, but I have a feeling that I can trust you. Don't prove me wrong."
With those words, she headed out of the room. No, we might not be friends, but I can tell we won't be enemies either.
When I met up with Katie and Malcolm, Katie was texting and talking to Malcolm simultaneously. Before I could tell them that we should go, we heard someone call us.
"Guys, wait up," Silena called, looking as if she came straight from cheer-leading practice. She was still wearing her short cheerleader skirt, her pom-poms were clearly visible from her messenger bag, and her blond hair was tied in a loose ponytail. She still looked like the same preppy, cheerful, and sweet girl that almost all guys drooled over.
"What is it, Silena?" I asked her.
"I saw Luke coming from fencing," she informed me. "He wants you to wait for him."
I glance at my watch and notice that it's a quarter to six. The boys' new babysitter, Breanna, must still be there and I should go help her. Matthew and Bobby had a reputation for getting rid of their babysitters in less than a day.
"I can't," I apologized. "I've got to get home. It's getting late."
"Travis texted me," Katie perked up. "He's inviting us over for some pizza."
"I can come," Silena said, "I've got no plans anyways since Michael went straight home after archery. Apparently, he's preparing for some upcoming archery tournament and he's spending more time with his bow than with me."
"And you're not bothered by it?" Malcolm asked. Silena just shrugged as if she couldn't care any less.
"It bothers me a bit I guess. Just as long as dick is still intact after this whole archery stuff."
I took that opportunity to look for my keys. Silena was a good friend and all, but it can be a bit annoying hearing her talk about dicks and sex. I really couldn' care less about her sex life with her several boyfriends. In my opinion, it's just wrong since she has a major crush on Beckendorf. Since he's a gang member, they obviously can't be together. So, she just uses guys when she can't have him. I'll admit I'm still a virgin. Personally, I think having sex before you're married is stupid. You see girls getting pregnant just because the guy was careless enough to forget about a condom. Besides, it'll all just lead to unwanted heartbreak.
Taking out my keys, I told everyone I was heading home. Since Katie said she's getting a ride from Travis, I was able to drive home alone. It didn't bother me; I like to be alone at times. I'm able to clear my head that way.
My peaceful time alone didn't last. As I approached the door, I could faintly hear yelling. I opened the door to find schoolbooks scattered on the floor, two backpacks lying on the floor and a sweater hanging on a bookshelf. Matthew and Bobby sped past me. I grabbed each by the hand and pulled them into a hug.
"Hey, you little rascals," I greeted them. "You been giving Breanna a hard time?"
They shook their heads, but I raised my eyebrows at them. They slowly nodded. I looked up to see Breanna standing by the bookshelf. Her brown hair hung loosely by her face which expressed weariness and exhaustion. I gave her a sympathetic look.
"My mom told me that you could leave when I got home," I told her. She gave me a tired smile and quickly left.
After helping the boys with their homework and preparing them dinner, I grabbed my own dinner and began to work on my homework. I just finished my respect paper for Mr. Brunner when Luke finally called.
"Hey, Luke."
"Hey. Why didn't you come to Travis' place?"
"I had to get home and help the new babysitter. Why, you didn't have a good time?"
"Not as much fun as I would have if you were there."
"Oh, why?"
I haven't talked to Luke as often as I wanted to last summer. I wanted to hear him say something sweet. To hear him say that he loves me and he misses me. I want to know how important I am to him.
"You know, we've never had phone sex."
Well, that wasn't exactly romantic or anything I expected. I mentally sighed.
"Luke, I don't want to do this tonight."
"Why not? Come on, Annabeth, think of it as practice before we do the real thing. Just take off your shirt, touch yourself, and tell me what you're doing. It'll totally turn me on."
"I don't know, Luke. I don't think I'm ready."
"It's okay. I understand."
"You mad?"
"No, it's just...I wanted to spice up our relationship. I mean, I've been doing so much this summer. You know, surfing, skateboarding, sports, things that make your heart pound."
"I know."
"Annabeth?"
"Yeah?"
"I want to feel that way. I want to feel that adrenaline rush. With you."