Surprise


"Home at last!" Sally exclaimed and dropped her luggage to fall onto the couch in the living room. Percy sighed and walked into their old living room and dropped his bags too so that he could join his mom on the couch.

This is it, Percy thought, back in New York. He hasn't really contacted anyone here except for Rachel. Percy only mailed Grover and Nico a few times a year since he was gone. Then there's Annabeth. They haven't talked since the incident in the rain and she was only brought up by Calypso on his 16th birthday. That also made Percy confused. Of all the years Percy has been gone, Annabeth chooses his last year in Hawaii to finally call? And for the past 4 birthdays, on his 16th was the one where she finally decided to call? Girls are way too complicated.

Percy's face probably showed something to catch Sally's attention. "Uh-oh," Sally suddenly said. "I know that look. What's wrong, baby?"

She grabbed a hold of Percy's hands in hers. He sighed. If there's one person to tell everything to and seek advice, it's Sally Jackson. Percy loved her with all his heart and as much as he hated it, she knew when something was wrong with him. He has no other choice but to tell her what's wrong.

"Being back here . . . that's the problem. I feel like I'm revisiting a nightmare," Percy said.

Sally sighed. "Percy, hun, things weren't that bad back then."

"They weren't. Until seventh grade, things went downhill from there."

Sally knew that. She noticed a sudden change in behavior with Percy in his seventh year in school. She thought it was a normal transformation thing, but to see Percy like this, maybe she was wrong. Now she wanted to know.

"Talk to me, Percy," Sally and leaned back in the couch while Percy leaned onto her shoulder.

Percy sighed and closed his eyes, enjoying his mother's hands massaging his head. "What if Nico and Grover changed. Who do I have left?"

Sally let out a small laugh. "Hun, I don't think you have to worry about Nico and Grover. They're your best friends. And you still have Annabeth."

An aching feeling arrived when Sally said her name.

"I'm not so sure about that," Percy said, referring to still having Annabeth as a friend. The uneasiness of being back in New York increased as he started to think about facing her again. The last image he had of her was in the rain – well, asides her kissing Luke, which by the way, he convinced himself it was a dream.

Seeing Percy's sad expression spread all over his face, Sally decided it was time. She took his hands into hers and kissed his hand. Percy was going to protest but he needed the comfort of his mother right now.

. Sally sighed. "You remind me a lot of your father."

Percy's eyes widen. He has never heard about his father before. Never. All he knows is that he walked out on his mom before Percy was even born yet. When he was young, he would ask Sally about his dad, but Sally would just give a half-hearted smile and change the subject. After years, Percy gave up trying to find out more. His father abandoned his own family, didn't support them at all, and was a plain jerk. That's all Percy needed to know. It was surprising that Sally brought him up now.

Percy stayed silent but still shocked. He took his mother's statement offensively. Sally felt the stiffness of Percy when she said it.

"You have his eyes. I swear, every time I look at you, I can see him," she said while getting a good look at her son. Percy gave a disgusted look. "Your father was a good man, Perce. He was charming, loyal, and sweet. I love – "

"Mom, you don't have to talk about him, okay?" Percy interrupted.

"But I want to, Percy. What I'm trying to say is that in all good people, there's always a flaw. As perfect as I saw your father, there's one thing that he had that I see in you right now. And that's being unforgiving. Your father had a troubled relationship with his two brothers. They all fought for a head-spot over their Olympus Company."

"You're saying that my father owned the number one business in America?" Percy asked a bit impressed.

"Well he did, until your uncle finally won over the spot. Your other uncle ended up starting his own business – The Underworld Inc. And your father worked for your uncle. Ever since he lost his spot, he's held this grudge against his brother and it went downhill from there. According to business policies, head-employees are not to have 'secret-relationships' with people outside of the company. Your father was a head-employee so . . ."

"He couldn't be with you. Then he met you and young puppy love – I get it," Percy said, not wanting to know the whole story leading to the making of Percy.

Sally smiled sheepishly. "Right. So when I got pregnant with you, your uncle was going to send agents to take you away."

"Why?" he asked. Why would his own uncle do that to his nephew?

"Well, you were considered a threat to Olympus's reputation. If the press found out, suspicious would rise and serious things would've taken place between the employees. Your father loved you too much for them to take you away. So he left before you were born and confronted his brother, saying that you weren't his and he never met me. Eventually, your uncle let it go and they continued their lives still clashing heads together."

It took a while for Percy to process what his mother has just told him. His father left him for protection. It takes a real man to sacrifice his love for his child for his safety. Now Percy understood why his father left and he's grateful for it. All those first impressions that Percy had on him was now gone. Without his father's actions, Percy would be with another family and not Sally. But something still bothered Percy.

"So what is the point of this story?" Percy asked.

"Well, first, I know I haven't told you much about your father and I hope this helps you change your impression on him," Sally replied.

Percy scoffed. "It sure does."

Then Sally turned her head to face Percy. She looked him straight in the eye. "And just like your father, you are unforgiving. Because of this, he lost his relationship with his own brother and you are losing your friendship with Annabeth. Whatever went down between you two, I want you to forgive her. It'll take time, but don't take advantage of that time. Your friendship with her is too good to lose, Perseus."

Percy slowly nodded his head. He knew his mom's right. As much as he hates what happened between him and Annabeth, losing her is the last thing he wants.

"Well, all right then," Sally said and shot up to go to the kitchen. Before she did, she gave Percy a kiss on the forehead. When she was about to enter the kitchen, she looked like she remembered something. "Oh, right! Later this evening, you have to go to the school and pick up some paperwork for the school year."

There was a tone in her voice that made Percy a little suspicious but ignored it anyways. Percy closed his eyes and fell into a little nap. After everything that's been going on lately, this nap was really needed.


Annabeth threw on a pair of skinny-jeans and a gray blouse that hung loosely off her shoulders. She brushed her hair thoroughly and let her blonde curls fall down her back. As she was about to leave the front door, she noticed that her phone was nowhere in sight. Annabeth started to go on a full-out investigation to search for her phone. She told Bobby and Matthew – her twin brothers – to search too. After 15 minutes, Annabeth started to get frustrated as she noticed that she was going to be late for the setting up of the party.

When all hope seemed to fade, Annabeth's step-mom came into the living room with a familiar grey-cased iPhone in her hand. Annabeth sighed in relief. As Annabeth reached to retrieve her phone, her step-mom pulled away.

"Can I have my phone?" Annabeth asked in annoyance.

"Wherever you are planning on going, cancel plans," her step-mom said.

Annabeth scrunched her eyebrows like she always does when she's annoyed. "What?"

"Cancel your plans for tonight. Your father and I are going out to a conference. You're watching the twins," she said as a statement instead of a question.

Annabeth scoffed. "Dad?" She tried using her dad to get out of this situation. Fredrick looked uneasy between the two women in front of him.

He turned to his wife. "She hasn't seen the boy in four years, hunny."

Annabeth smirked when she saw her step-mom glare at him. Her smirk immediately disappeared when her dad was starting to shiver under her death-glare.

Once Fredrick turned to face Annabeth, she knew she lose the conversation. "I'm sure you can wait one more night."

Annabeth's step-mom gave a little grin that annoyed the living life out of Annabeth. She tossed the phone and Annabeth caught it easily, giving a sarcastic smile. She let out a groan of annoyance when her parents exited the house. Just to make it worst, her two 4 year-old brothers came running into the living room.

"Not now!" Annabeth shouted when Bobby started to jump on the couch that Annabeth was laying on.

"Don't bwe such a souwr pwuss!" Matthew exclaimed in a high-pitched voice.

Annabeth rubbed her temples to relief the stress. She dialed the number of her best friend.

"Hello?" Thalia greeted from the other side of the line.

"Hey, Thals, it's Annabeth. Can't make it to the party tonight. Parents are out and I have to watch the twins," Annabeth said and then she heard Thalia groan.

"Great. Well, do you want me to come over then?" Thalia asked.

"No, no. I'm fine. You go there – have fun," Annabeth replied.

Thalia sighed. "Fine. See you tomorrow then." The call ended before Annabeth could even say bye.


"Drinks?"

"Check."

"Snacks?"

"Check."

"Banner?"

"Check."

"Balloons?"

"Nico, we don't even have balloons."

"We need balloons then."

Grover groaned as Nico started to check down the list of things for the party. He hasn't really seen Nico so engaged into something. It started to freak Grover out because Nico looked like he hasn't slept in two days – probably planning the whole thing. Sure, he was excited to see his best friend again, but throwing a party is crossing the line.

"Stop looking at me like that," Nico said, a little creeped out when he saw Grover staring at him.

"Sorry," Grover mumbled.

Nico took a good look around at his work. The gym was filled with hanging streamers, a little stage for the band to play, a long table filled with food and beverages, and a blue disco ball hanging from the ceiling so that it makes the gym glisten in blue lights. Near the entrance hung a big banner saying "WELCOME BACK".

After a few minutes, Nico frowned. "It needs balloons!"

It was six in the evening and people started to enter the gym. Most of them seemed to not care about what or who the party was for but seemed more interested in the beverage on the table. Music was blasting and students started to dance a bit more inappropriate than school policy says.

"Where's Percy?" Nico asked worriedly as he glanced at his watch to see that it was already 30 minutes into the party.

"Sally just sent a text. She said that he's on his way over," Grover replied, trying to calm his impatient friend.


Percy hopped out of the shower. He put on a pair of loose skinny jeans, a white fitting v-neck, and a pair of blue converse. Sally was acting a little suspicious after she told him to go pick up the paperwork at the school.

It was six and the sky was already showing a lack of sunlight. It was about a 30-minute walk to the school so he should make it back on time before it gets too late. Before Percy left the apartment, Sally tossed him a blue hoodie.

"We're not in Hawaii anymore. It's going to be cold out there," Sally warned. "Do you have your phone with you?"

"I'm just walking there and coming back, Mom. I'll be all right," Percy complained.

"I know, but just in case something comes up," Sally said, trying to hold back a smile.

"Okay . . ." Percy said slowly and closed the apartment door behind him as he exited.

Percy was walking when suddenly he found his heart beating faster at each step. High school, he thought. His years in Hawaii were easier but now he was entering high school in New York as a senior. Entering in senior year is scarier than entering freshman year – way scarier. Then there's the fact of seeing everyone else and let history repeat itself. Percy was the underdog in school – the kid who got pushed around and everyone thought that didn't exist. Percy could be that again. Or that's what he thought.

About 10-minutes or so, Percy finally reached Goode High. He noticed that there was a lot of cars parked in the parking lot of the school and students walking in and out of the gym. Percy made a mental note to go check out what's going on there. But for now, his mind was focused on the office.

Percy entered the principal's office to be greeted by a big man with a white beard and combed brown hair with white streaks. The man was too busy behind the computer on his desk to realize that Percy walked in.

Percy cleared his throat to try to get his attention, but it didn't work. "Uh, hi, I'm Percy Jackson, the transfer student."

The man continued to work behind the computer.

"I'm here to – uh – pick up the paperwork for the school year," Percy said uneasily.

A few minutes passed and the man behind the desk was still not responding. Percy's fingers started to fidget uncontrollably. He cursed mentally when his ADHD started acting up.

"Sir, just please give me the stupid paperwork!" Percy snapped without him noticing soon enough to stop himself.

The man looked up at Percy with shocked eyes. "Excuse me, young boy?" The man's voice was very low and scratchy.

Percy gulped hard. Curse his stupid ADHD. "I'm Percy Jackson, the tr – "

The man scoffed. "Yeah, I know who you are. Just another pretty boy in this school. Here," he said, handing Percy a folder full of papers. "By the way, I'm Mr. Kennedy – the principal."

"Percy," he introduced back, sticking his out for a handshake. Mr. Kennedy ignored the gesture and continued on his computer again. Percy awkwardly brought his hand back to his pocket. "So – um – what's going on in the gym?"

Mr. Kennedy shrugged. "Students throwing some party for this Jenson boy, I don't know. Go check it out yourself, smartness."

Percy exited the office, a bit held back at what just happened. There goes his chance on impressing the principal of the school. Then he found himself walking towards the gym. Time to check out what's going on here, Percy thought.


"Where is he?" Nico asked, clearly bored as they hid behind a table.

"He should be here by now. Maybe he's at the office still," Grover said.

The two friends were crouched behind one of the tables. For some miracle reason, Nico got everyone to hide somewhere in the gym so that when Percy enters, they would all surprise him. No one knew who Percy was but decided to go with it.

Minutes passed until people started to get up from their spots and start to leave.

"This party is a total bomb," Thalia said when crouching between Grover and Nico.

Nico stiffened a bit. "You think I don't know that. I can actually see people going," he stated, annoyed.

"Well, do something about it, Death Breath," Thalia retorted back.

Grover decided to chime in. "Hey, now arguing isn't going to solve – "

Thalia and Nico shot Grover a warning glare. He gulped once before shutting up.

"Tell that Kelp Head to hurry up and get over here," Thalia told Nico. Before Nico could answer, a voice from behind them interrupted.

"So, who's the party for?" the voice asked.

Nico took a glance at the person and looked back towards the entrance of the gym. "It's for a friend -" Thalia and Grover looked behind them to see who it was but they didn't turn back around like Nico.

" – Obviously an uncommitted friend who won't even show up to his own stupid party, which – by the way – I have been planning for the last 4 weeks for. I swear, if I see him tomorrow, he's going to be – "

"Shut up, Death Breath, and turn around," Thalia said.

"What is it now? Can't you see I'm busy," Nico turned around to the stranger behind them. A tall, tanned, and muscular teen with black hair smiled, showing off his perfect straight-white teeth. "And you are?"

The boy's smile faded. Thalia and Grover looked at Nico like he was the stupidest person on earth. Nico store back at them and gave an awkward look. Grover rolled his eyes and shook the stranger's hand.

"It's good to see you again, man," Grover said to him.

"You know him?" Nico asked Grover.

"It's nice to see you again, G-man," the stranger replied.

"Wait. No one ever calls Grover 'G-man' except for – " Nico looked like a ball just hit him in the face when one of the lights shined on Percy's face, showing off his sea-green eyes.

"Percy?" Nico gasped.

"Congrats, Sherlock," Thalia chimed in sarcastically.

Nico ignored her sarcastic remark because he was too shocked at the stranger in front of him whose name was Percy Jackson – his best friend. It looked like this guy has eaten the old Percy. Nico started to get suspicious.

"Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?" Nico asked, examining Percy.

"Really, Nico?" Grover asked.

Nico stepped about six feet away from Percy and started to walk around him. "There's no way . . . Alien." He predicted.

Thalia sighed and punched the bridge of her nose using her pointer and thumb. "I don't understand how you tolerate this kid."

Grover and Percy shared a little glance with each other and then Nico. They both shrugged, "Years of practice."

"Okay, pretty boy. Tell me something only the real Percy would know," Nico challenged.

Percy smirked. "Fine. When we were in sixth grade, I remember you coming over my house and you were a bit different. Then on that day, you told me about your unconditional love for Thalia Grace. You said that she was assigned as your 'big buddy' for school and throughout the tour, all you could focus on was her –"

"Okay! That's enough! You're the real Percy all right," Nico said, embarrassed when Grover started cracking up and Thalia gave an uncomfortable expression.

Nico gave Percy a big man-hug. Percy was impressed by Nico's image. He has gotten much taller and looked like he matured way more – well, physically anyways. He grew out his black hair so that it hung lower than before. He was still pale as ever but a bit better built than four years ago. The same case was for Grover. He has grown taller, still tanned, and wore his famous reggae beanie. Except now, he had a little goatee that was visible.

Nico escaped from the hug when he noticed that everyone was starting to leave the party. He ran up to the stage and took the mic from the lead singer.

"Hey, guys! Don't leave yet! Percy's here and he wants to say a few words," Nico announced. Everyone turned their attention to the stage now.

Percy looked at Nico like he was crazy. This wasn't the plan at all but Nico had to come up with something to stop everyone from leaving. Nico had a little eye-argument with Percy before Percy finally came up onto the stage.

Everyone's attention was definitely on the stage now. People from the outside started coming back inside. All attention was on Percy, especially the girls. Their mouths hung low – literally.

All this attention was out of Percy's comfort zone. It made him nervous and speaking when you're nervous doesn't work. He started examining the crowd. He noticed almost everyone. The kids who picked on him or teased him before were now giving him wide-eyes. The kids who didn't even know he existed looked like they just say a ghost. Percy ignored those eyes, but was looking for one pair in particular. He didn't see them, which made him hurt a little.

Percy saw that everyone else was still staring. He cleared his throat and brought the microphone to his lips.

"Uh, hey," he started lamely, earning laughter from the crowd. Once they all died down, Percy continued. "Thank you all for coming to my party. I guess it means a lot so yeah. Drive home safely and I can't wait for this school year with you guys."

The crowd cheered and raised their cups. Percy saw a lot of girls checking him out from head to toe and some boys still staring at him unsurely. It was surprising to see the Aphrodite girls mumbling in a circle and taking long glances at him. Percy stepped off the stage and made his way to Nico, Grover, and Thalia.

On his way, he passed by groups of people who gave him a "Welcome back, Percy", pat on the back, handshake, wink, or in some cases, phone numbers. It took a while to actually reach the three but he eventually got through the crowd.

Nico scoffed when he saw Percy with a bunch of papers in his hand. "Big shot."

Percy smirked, liking all the attention he was getting.


After the party, Percy told the others that he was going to walk home. It was dark already and the streets were cleared and quiet. Percy stuck in his earphones to listen some music while walking. While changing the song, he felt something cover his mouth. It reeked with a strong smell and made Percy's head go dizzy. Soon, Percy felt his eyelids go heavy and soon knocked out.

Oh, chlorophyll.

Percy woke up and took a look around. It was too dark to see anything. He was sitting on a chair and his hands were tied behind the back. Percy closed his eyes, hoping that he would wake up again in his bed. He counted to three before opening his eyes again.

Nope, still tied up in a chair in a dark place.

"It's not a dream, if that's what you're trying to accomplish," a voice said. Percy clearly recognized that voice.

"Luke," Percy growled.

Luke emerged out of the darkness like it was his cue. In his hands were a steel bat and a cloth that was used to knock Percy out. One thing caught Percy's eyes, and that was the scar that stretched across Luke's face.

Percy did the stupidest thing he could do in this situation. He laughed.

"D-did I-I-I d-do th-that to you?" Percy breathed.

Luke growled. "You think this is funny, Jackson?"

"Just a little," Percy replied, earning self-confidence from left field.

Luke smirked and raised his fist and whipped it to join Percy's face. Percy groaned in pain as the side of face throbbed in pain. Luke let out a loud laugh.

"I have to say, Jackson, I'm impressed. Though, you still can't be the best," Luke said while giving another jab at Percy's abdomen.

It went on for a while. The pain eventually numbed Percy's body, making the later hits pointless.

Luke cracked his knuckles. "I got to admit, it was kind of boring beating the other punks for the past few years without you."

That drove Percy way over the line. Anger boiled deep down and he found himself trying to escape the tape that tied his hands together.

"This is so worth it, though," Luke said and raised his bat. The bat already made contact when Percy ripped off the tape that restrained his hands.


Annabeth was in the kitchen cooking dinner when Thalia called her phone. Annabeth turned off the oven before answering the phone.

"Hello?"

"Annabeth, please come here. I came on time but he's just not looking okay. He's beaten and I don't know what to do!" Thalia said worriedly.

"Whoa, Thals, slow down. What happened?" Annabeth asked.

"Just get over here now. He's really injured, Annabeth – don't move! – please hurry." Thalia said. Annabeth heard a boy's voice groan in the background and sirens too.

"Where are you?" Annabeth asked worriedly.

"Across Starbucks. In that alley-way."

"Okay, I'll be right there," Annabeth said and hung up. She threw on a jacket and converse. She cursed when she forgot about her two brothers.

Annabeth saw the twins engaged into a show on TV. She silently prayed that they wouldn't notice that she was gone for a bit. She stole the keys to her father's Nisan and drove off. Thoughts started entering her mind when she heard how worried Thalia sounded. She rarely heard her like that, which made Annabeth panic. So many possibilities came up but then she remembered that it was already after Percy's party. She started to worry about what may have happened to that Seaweed Brain.

The grip on the wheel hardened as she turned the corner to the destination Thalia has told her. It looked like hell broke loose here. There were police cars everywhere flashing their lights and ambulance. A crowd formed around the crime-scene. Annabeth parked her car and got out. She rushed to the scene, ignoring everyone and all the policemen trying to stop her from entering the scene.

"Annabeth?" someone familiar asked.

Annabeth turned around. "Ms. Jackson?"

"Oh, gods, Annabeth!" Sally embraced her. "It's so good to see you again."

"Not to be rude or anything, Ms. Jackson. But right now, what's going on?" Annabeth asked.

Sally's face fell again. Before she could answer, someone else familiar called out.

"Annie!"

"Thalia?" Annabeth searched for her voice.

"Over here," Thalia called out. Annabeth found her kneeling next to someone but her body was blocking the face of the person. The person was laying down on the ground and paramedics surrounded him with a bunch of kits. Thalia and Annabeth's eyes locked and Thalia gave an unsure look.

That look made Annabeth rush over to Thalia. She kneeled down by Thalia and took a look at the boy sprawled on the floor. The sight made Annabeth want to throw up. She fought the feeling to gag and examined the boy. He was badly beaten up. Cuts and bruises covered his whole body and blood stained his shirt. It was so bad that Annabeth could barely recognize him.

But when she did, she gasped in horror. "Luke?"

The boy gave a slight nod. It looked like it hurt to even give such little movement. Annabeth fought the urge to break down into a mental state right now. Instead, her protective mode switch flipped on.

"Who the hell did this to you?" Annabeth asked.

Thalia shifted uncomfortably when she asked that. She knew something was going to go down when Luke told her who. Luke struggled to lift his hand to point in the direction of the attacker.

Annabeth followed the direction of where his finer was pointing. When she did, she saw two cops' backs facing her and they looked like they were questioning someone in front of them. Annabeth watched as the cops jotted down notes in their notepad as they asked the person questions. The person pushed past through the two cops.

"I'm telling you that he attacked me first!" He exclaimed at the cops.

Annabeth took a good look at the back of the boy. He was tall, well-built, and had black-longish hair. He wore a pair or loose skinny jeans and a white tee that was stained in patches of blood. Annabeth stood up and walked towards the jerk that beat up Luke.

The boy turned around and stopped dead in his tracks. Annabeth stopped too as she saw how bad he was beaten up. He had bruises and scratches all over his face but they weren't as bad as Luke's. His eyes locked on Annabeth's. She found herself staring at his eyes too. All the hate that Annabeth fist felt towards this boy washed away. His eyes were sea-green and resembled the deep ocean. But when he saw her, they brightened up and calmed. Annabeth was clearly shocked at what she was seeing.

"Perseus Jackson." Annabeth addressed.

"Uh, surprise?" The boy replied.


Characters belong to Rick Riordan


Let me start this AN saying that CHANNING TATUM IS SOOO FINE. I went to go watch Magic Mike on Friday, omg, hotness overload. Review if you agree. Lol, okay back to the story.

Um, this chapter is dedicated to SugarisHEALTHY. You're the one who puts long-ass reviews on this story and like you said, you rarely do that, so I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your awesome feedback and suggestion (which I did use just for you.)

So most of you probably already hate me for making Percabeth complicated. But that's okay, because I'll make you looooove me in the next few chapters or so. Idk. Let's just see how it goes, okay :D

Nico needs his balloons, man.

REVIEW pwease. Happy July 1st! New month, yay! Okay, review, subscribe, favorite, or whatever tickles your pickle!

- Channing Tatum's Wife, Breana