Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. This work is a form of fiction for the enjoyment of myself and fans, no profit is being made.

"HOW ARE YOU GOODE!" The Student Council president's voice echoed through the gym. Loud calls and whistles answered him. "Awww, come on! I think we can do a little better! HOW ARE YOU GOODE!?"

Impossibly, the cheers increased in volume.

"Well, I'm doing fine too, thanks for asking," The audience chuckled. Percy, sitting near the top of a bleacher, grinned. He usually didn't like assemblies; to many people, a lot of risks. But every once in a while they were kind of fun, especially with this president on the microphone.

Alex Johnson was a gangly African American kid, who was impossibly charismatic and could engage anyone in conversation. He was polite to all the teachers, but could entertain a diverse crowd. So obviously when Alex became a senior, he was the shoe-in choice for Student Council President.

"Well, I hope you everyone is having a great time a Goode, can you believe we've been in school for six weeks now?" The students groaned. "I know it feels like a whole year has passed already. But today we aren't here to talk about school. What are we here for Goode?"

"Pizza!"

"To waste time!"

"Sleep!"

Alex gave everyone a funny look. "Y'all on something?"

Laughs filled the gym again, and someone shouted out, "SPORTS!"

"BINGO!" Alex pointed in the general direction. "We are here for sports! Now, for all of our incoming freshmen, did you know Goode has one of the best sports programs in New York? I'm sorry but I gotta gloat a little. Other high schools may have a cool basketball team or excel in chess, yes, Derek it's a sport, but here at Goode pretty much all of our teams are good. And so this assembly is to recognize them. And make fun of them a little, because we need some entertainment after a long week. WHAT DO'YA SAY GOODE?"

Every roared, and the assembly began. The football team came up and competed in a contest where they had to pick up a cheerleader and run a race. The boys' and girls' volleyball teams competed in a game of "who-can-keep-the-volleyball-up-the-longest". The golf team wrapped someone up with Ceram wrap like a mummy and then made them hop to a finish line.

After a quick dance intermission from the cheerleaders, Alex announced the next team.

"All right, now listen up you rambunctious kids (see Mrs. Urban, vocab word). This next team is special. It pains me to say that as little as two years ago, they were hurting. A lot. But then a wave of freshmen came in last year. And they were good. Like-wait, I ain't gonna say anything just yet. Right now, let me introduce you to THE GOODE HIGH SWIM AND DIVE TEAM!"

Percy stood with the rest of his team and walked to the gym floor amongst applause and pats on the back. They stood in a line at the front of the gym, all matching with swim and dive t-shirts.

Alex tried to quite the crowd. "Ok, settle down guys. Quiet. Let's play the silent game. Hey, I need to get on with this assembly! SHUT YOUR MOUTHS!"

Eventually he got the students to settle down. "OK, now as I said before, Goode High's swim and dive team was hurting, until last year, when a bunch of talent in the form of awkward gangly freshmen arrived. This year they are sophomores, and they are doing some amazing things. But so are the upperclassmen, so don't glare at me like that!"

Alex went down the line, introducing each athlete. "And finally we come to our sophomores. Alex Marquez, Jennifer Olson, Mat Fritz, Katy Lai, Johanna Watson, and Percy Jackson!"

"Now don't clap just yet!" Alex raised his hands to stop the spectators from clapping. "I told you this team was good right? Well, Alex, Mat, Percy, and junior Gus, wave hi Gus, they are coming this close" he held up his finger's a centimeter apart. "from beating the school record for some sort of fancy butterfly relay. I'm not sure what it is exactly, but I'm told it's hard."

Guffaws came from the stand.

"But the most amazing thing," Alex continued. "Is this guy right here, Percy Jackson, beat the school record for the 500 meter freestyle in a time trial on the day practice started!"

Alex clapped him on the back, and Percy felt a rush of blood run to his face. It felt odd to have so many people cheering for him, weren't they supposed to be jeering and calling him names?

"And now for the interesting part, the game." The audience "oohed". "This game won't have a winner, per say, but I promise, it is entertaining! Basically, I will read of a list of words, and the contestant has to answer with what comes to mind first. If that something is interesting, well, there's our entertainment. Now a few days ago the team voted on a person they wanted to play, and that person ended up being MR. PERCY JACKSON!"

Percy felt his face go blank. It was one thing to be called out in front of the whole school for something good, but it was another when he actually had to say something. Panic overtook him when he realized that if he said the first thing that came to mind, he could probably say something incriminating. Like, "summer", "death".

Oh gods of Olympus, he was doomed.

But his teammates didn't seem to care. The cheered and pushed him around and laughed like it was no big deal. Well, to them it wasn't.

Someone shoved a microphone in his hand and his team backed away. He was facing Alex, who had a piece of paper in his hand. "Ready?"

"Er, maybe?" Percy ran a hand through his hair.

Alex put his microphone to the side. "Relax, man. Just pretend you are playing with me." He gave Percy an encouraging smile and then looked down at the list. "Ok, starting off with, clouds."

"Fluff."'

"Earth."

"Rock."

"Support."

"Mom." The students cooed at his answer.

"Fun."

"Friends."

"Loss."

"War."

"Gain."

"Paul." It slipped out of his mouth before he could think. Percy was shocked at his own answer. He spotted Paul standing to the side with a shocked look. Percy just smiled and shrugged.

"Aww, dude you are a sap." Alex ruffled his hair playfully. "For those of you who don't know, Mr. Blofis is Percy's stepdad."

Cue more cooing.

"OK continuing. Winter."

"Snow."

"Field."

"Strawberry." The audience looked confused. "Um, my summer camp had a bunch of strawberry fields, so…"

"Ooh" they said.

"Moving on. Smart."

"Athena."

"Distant."

"Dad."

"Beautiful."

"Annabeth." Percy felt a rush of blood heat up his face. He could hear students in the background catcalling.

"Oooh, this sounds interesting. See I told you guys this game would be fun," Alex winked at the crowd and turned back to Percy. "So, who's Annabeth?"

"Um," Percy rubbed his neck uncomfortably. "She's my girlfriend."

His face turned bright red as everyone "awed".

Alex smiled. "Does she go to Goode?"

"No, she goes to a private school."

"How long have you been dating?" Alex asked.

"Um, since August."

Alex clapped his shoulder. "Good for you man. How long have you known her?"

"Since I was twelve." Percy answered. Alex prompted him to say more. "Uh, well, she's been my best friend for a long time, and we've been through a lot together. I would probably be a different person without her." Probably dead, a voice in his head said.

"She's honestly one of the most amazing, dedicated, and yes, beautiful people in the world." Percy finished, now a little more confident.

Alex whistled. "Percy, your girlfriend is a lucky girl. You're making all of us normal guys look pathetic. 'I've known her since I was twelve, she's my best friend.' Dude, you are the model boyfriend."

"Er," Percy grimaced. "I have no idea what I'm doing."

The audience laughed. Alex turned to ask them, "Do you think Percy's doing all right, ladies?"

The responding cheers told him all he needed to know.

"Well, thanks Percy for the entertainment and making the average teenage boy look mediocre. And thank you swim and dive team!" That was the team's cue to walk back to their seats. "Next up, the GIRLS' SOCCER TEAM!"

Percy stared out the car window as Paul drove them back home.

"You did well today, in front of all those people," Paul commented.

Percy snorted. "I didn't know what I was saying half the time, and I was about to die from embarrassment."

Paul shrugged. "Everyone else seemed to like it, including me by the way. Very touching."

"Er, that just kind of spilled out. I'm sorry if that was too forward or something-"

"What, where you said my name when the word was 'gain'?" Paul chuckled. "Percy, I'm touched but I actually wasn't talking about that."

"Oh, Annabeth," For what seemed like the millionth time that day, Percy blushed.

"Yes, Annabeth." Paul grinned. "I'm sure your mother would have liked to see it. Probably would have wanted it on video."

Percy turned to Paul in horror. "You didn't."

"I did."

Percy twisted in his seat and dived for Paul's bag in the back seat, where he kept his phone and where the incriminating video was most likely stored.

"Go ahead and delete it," Paul called back to Percy, who was halfway out of his seat and in the back of the car.

Percy turned suspiciously back to Paul. "Wait a second…oh my gods you didn't."

As if prompted by that statement, Percy's phone dinged. He straightened himself in his seat and pulled it out. A text message had been sent from his mother.

Aww, sweetie you are so cute! I'm sure Annabeth will like to see this too :)

"I have malicious parents," Percy muttered as he dialed his mother's number. Paul guffawed in the background.

Sally picked up on the first ring. "Hi, sweetie,"

"Mom, if you have any love for me, your son, you will not send that video and you will spare him from embarrassment and the very real possibility that the video will be used for blackmail."

Sally chuckled. "Well if you put it that way… but I'm not deleting the video."

"Why not?!" Percy cried.

Sally sighed. "Well, since many of your intimate moments with Annabeth were during camp, this is one of the few things I have to show at your wedding."

"MOTHER!" Percy protested. "What wedding?"

"It's a possibility," Percy could hear his mother cackling on the other side. "So, I am going to hide multiple copies of this around the house and in other undisclosed locations. But to preserve your pride or whatever you were worried about, I won't send it to Annabeth. See you soon!" She hung up.

Percy groaned. "Mean, vicious, teasing parents."

This kind of just spilled out randomly one day. I don't really know where it came from. I think you've realized updating for this is slow, but I'm trying.

In other news, HARRY POTTER IS BACK! Ok, I just had to say that because Harry Potter guys, Harry freakin' Potter.

If you are wondering, I am working on Illusions. But it's slow going. Again, I can post the first chapter of that or Big Five if I have any interest. But as of right now, I'm kind of banging my head against the wall because I'm at a roadblock. I think this is where having a beta would be handy. Any offers?

Also, I've started on another PJO fic because that also just spilled out one day. It's a future fic about the gods' negative reaction to learning Percy and Annabeth are going to have a baby (eight years after Giant War). I am actually very proud of it.

Review and ask for a preview, and I'll give you one!