Hello. It's me. I know I'm late, but life has been hectic this week. And I'm kind of trying to squeeze this out late at night, so if it's not as good, I'm sorry. But yeah, to all you new people hello. To user Obsessivebookdiva, thank you for the review. And to the guest who reviewed all of this and Side Window (the name was Emma), THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Both of you really did help, though Obssesivebookdiva's review was a bit confusing (I wasn't sure whether I should take it as a compliment). I love you both. Ok, with that little explosion out of the way, let's get to it. I don't own Percy Jackson.

Broken

Chapter 7: And We're Back

Percy

I woke up to the sound of my alarm for the first time in a month. It scared me a bit, but at least I didn't have another panic attack. It was a little early for that to be happening. I hopped into the shower and did a quick wash up. And, of course, I had a flashback of that night, when I killed Gabe. When I took advantage of the girl of my dreams. When I washed his filthy blood from my hair. Ok, snap out of it. There was no blood. It was over.

Who am I kidding? It'll never be over.

Without thinking, I looked out into Annabeth's room. We made eye contact, and we were both naked. "Percy." She yelped, covering up the bits of her body that she deemed most sensitive. I was stunned. My face started to boil, but I couldn't move. I was just frozen there, not making a single sound.

"What are- What are you doing up?" she asked.

Shaking myself out of it, I responded with "I'm going to school today."

"Maybe we should…" she said, pointing to her window.

"Yeah, yeah! Sorry!" I said, racing to close the blinds. I laughed. Like a full on laugh. It was back to normal. At least, it seemed so. I mean, that was kind of classic between us. I dried off and got dressed as quick as I could. I threw on the outfit for today. It was simple, just an orange t-shirt and jeans, same as what I wore before this all happened. I wanted to get back to normal. This was one way. Something as simple as clothing could get me back… maybe.

"Well one of us has got to change." She said as she opened her window. She was wearing the same thing, jeans and an orange t-shirt. I mean, her jeans were a bit tighter fitting, but still. I laughed again. Oh God, I missed this. "So are you riding with us again?" She asked. "My dad never told me that you were even leaving the house."

"I'll ask my mom. I'm not sure." I responded.

"Wait a second," she said, "I wanna ask about what's been happening."

"It wasn't eventful and I'm glad it's over." I said. "But how's school been?"

"Well," she said, "Luke disappeared after the trial. I think his mother pulled him from school."

"Oh," I said, "Sorry. I know he meant a lot to you."

"He was a douche." She said. "You tried to tell me that. I just kept thinking that he was the kid I met when we were six. I should have listened to you."

"I was kind of a jerk about it as well." I said.

"Yeah you were." She chuckled. I laughed a little bit too. "Anyway, you know how Jason was turning into an actual teenager."

I laughed. "Yeah, did he complete his spiral?"

"He's getting there." She said. "Everyone else is kind of the same. Leo still has a horrible sense of humor."

"Yeah. I saw that."

"Oh yeah, he went to convince you to come back." She said. "I didn't think it would actually work."

"Oh yeah," I said, "I went to visit Nico yesterday."

"I imagine Jason did as well. He's been going over a lot recently." She said. "So he's been doing good?"

"Yeah. He's doing really good. He's getting out next week." I said. "But really, Jason is going?"

"Yeah. Weird, right?"

"Really weird." I said. "How are Hazel and Frank?"

"They're still together. They both have come out of their shells a lot."

"Awesome." I said. "Has Clarisse gotten any less horrible?"

"Percy, you knew her for a week." She said.

"Yeah," I said "And I already know how horrible she is."

"Percy," she said with a soft voice, "Clarisse is going through a hard time too."

"That doesn't excuse her."

"I Know that but-"

She probably would've gone on, but her dad called up to her. "Annabeth, it's time to go to school!"

"Hey dad," She called back, "Is Percy coming with us?"

"Aw, you found out. I was going to make it a surprise." Mr. Chase said.

"Yeah," she said, "Sorry."

"He's coming with us. Tell him to come on as well."

"I'm coming Mr. Chase." I called.

"Good!" He responded.

I waved to Annabeth and went downstairs. As I was grabbing a pop-tart, my mom called down, "Oh yeah, Mr. Chase is taking you to school again."

"I know!" I retorted as she came down the stairs.

"If it gets bad, you can always call me." She said as she engulfed me in a hug.

"I know." I said. "I'll be fine though."

She let go and looked at me as if I was a little kid again. "I know."

I ate my breakfast and went out to Mr. Chase's car. The ride to school was uneventful, a haze of trees, buildings and empty conversations. We arrived at Meriwether Prep soon enough. As Mr. Chase drove off, Annabeth grabbed my hand. I blushed a bit and we started our walk towards the school building.

As we entered the school, a familiar voice called out to me. "Hey Prissy. You're back." I turned to see Clarisse La Rue standing behind me. "So I guess you haven't murdered anyone recently."

Before I could respond, a higher, less familiar voice came from the hall. "Hey," it said, "you know the bells gonna ring any minute now. Maybe you should hurry up."

Clarisse turned. "You know, we have a routine for new kids. But sense you're right, I'll wait until after school for you." She turned back to me. "You too."

"Look," I said, "I was fine. I didn't need-" then I saw the girl's face. "Calypso?"

"Oh no," she said. "If I knew it was you, I would've left her be."

To be continued...

So yeah, the actual story is starting. Yey! I hope y'all have a happy thanksgiving. Leave any thoughts of the chapter or the story so far in the reviews. Follow/Favorite if you want. But I think y'all have gathered that reviews are what feed my inspiration. But yeah, until next week (or Saturday). Make good decisions. Peace!