Mr. Harret handed Annabeth two sheets of paper stapled together from the pile, and she wordlessly walked back to her seat, her fingers still clutching the slip of paper that said You will be writing to PERSEUS JACKSON of Section E of TYRC (Texas Youth Reformation Camp). Congratulations!.

"She's writing to Jackson?!" Drew exclaimed in disbelief. "No way! The crack-nut who robbed Torique and Ami Strong and subsequently killed them?" Annabeth silently mused at the fact that Drew knew what Perseus had done to get arrested. News like that didn't usually get printed in fashion magazines, and Drew only ever read those.

"Next," Mr. Harret said emotionless, ignoring Drew. "Miss Tanaka, you can come up next if you like."

Drew tossed her hair and stood up, sighing. She crossed over to Mr. Harret's desk and quickly chose a slip, then grabbed the stapled sheets of paper and returned to her desk.

The process went on for some time, until everyone in the class had a pen pal and the stapled packet. A few of them were as unhappy as Annabeth was about their delinquent pen pals. While some people didn't recognise all the names of those in Section E, Annabeth knew what all of them had done. Some had been sent there for stealing. Others for fighting. A few for murder.

"Remember, no trading! You write who you get, alright class?" Mr. Harret said as he placed the now empty box under his desk. "And… There goes the bell. You are dismissed. You may go home, or to your dorm rooms. Remember to do your homework and start on the project. Everything you need to know is stated on the paper you got-" His speech was truncated as almost everyone in the room rushed out.

Annabeth was packing her bag quietly when Drew sauntered over to her side.

"Hey," Drew said, swiping her hair out of her pale brown eyes.

Annabeth frowned. "Are you… Trying to hit on me?"

Drew glared at her. "Obviously not, nerd. Listen, well, would you trade with-"

"We're not supposed to trade," Annabeth said simply. "Although the rules don't apply to you, I play by them."

"Think about it. Perseus is a murderer. Are you sure you want to write to him? What if he gets your address and targets you? You could be in massive trouble."

Touché, Annabeth thought miserably. "No," she said firmly. "I took his name. I write him. It's ok. Thanks for the offer though, but it's ok."

"No really, I don't mind! I'll write Perseus in your place! You can take Hazel Levesque, whom I believe went to the camp for stealing a pair of expensive headphones from an electronic hardware store?"

"She stole a horse," Annabeth corrected automatically.

Drew rolled her eyes. "Yeah, so I've got a horse-stealing hippie and you've got a murderer. Do you want to switch?"

The offer was so tempting, but Annabeth was sure that her ego was going to be damaged beyond recognition if she accepted Drew's offer. "No it's fine. Really. You can write to Hazel, I'll stick with Perseus. Thanks for the offer though, Drew," Annabeth said sweetly. "I'll see you around… I guess." With that, she swept her backpack of the ground and rushed out of the classroom.

Annabeth did not look back as she walked out coolly. If she did, she would have seen Drew furiously texting on her phone and looking extremely frustrated.

Perseus, or rather Percy, as he liked others to call him, stumbled out of the faded bus, and on to the barren Texas land. A faded sign that had seen better days, was placed about a hundred feet away from him. It stated Welcome to TYRC (Texas Youth Reformation Camp). Please state your purpose of visit. Behind the sign was a tall electric wire that boxed up the whole area. The gate to the fence was locked with a heavy padlock. Inside the Camp, Percy could see a simple white-washed office building. Off in the distance, there were 7 brick buildings. Well, Percy thought dejectedly. No escape.

He looked at the driver who had driven him all the way from New York.

"Thank you for driving me all the way here. But… What if I told you I was innocent?'" The driver, an old man in his fifties with silvery hair with a pair sunglasses perched snuggly on his nose, snorted and patted Percy on the head.

"Been driving brats from all over the country to Camp for twenty years. Heard it all. I'm innocent, I didn't do it, It's a misunderstanding, They've got it wrong. In the end, it's all excuses. You're here because of one person. You know who that is?"

Percy didn't answer. The question was rhetorical anyway.

''That's you. You. You are 100% responsible for your presence in this camp. Perseus Jackson, right?"

"Percy," Percy corrected.

"Yeah, you the Perseus kid. I know all about you. Read all 'bout you on the news. Bet you're regretting killing them now? This generation is really messed up. You're only what, fourteen?"

"Seventeen," Percy corrected. He found no point telling the man again that he was innocent. Nobody believed him. After his trial two weeks ago, he was officially a convicted criminal. Life was looking extremely bright for him. He had gotten accepted by his dream college, and had found a girlfriend. Then, he had gotten himself arrested. Damn.

"Yeah. Fourteen-year-olds robbing and killing people!" the man shook his head. "Of course, that's not the worse I've seen. Had this fifteen year old who had killed his mother and brother. For no reason! His relations! Can you imagine?"

"Not really, no."

"Why'd you kill them? They made you mad, or what? I can't understand, really. Why'd you do that? Didn't you think of the consequence? Ah, there is Mr D!" Percy looked at the man approaching them from beyond the electronic fence.

"Who is he?" Percy asked.

"Mr D," the man replied simply, looking at Percy like he was a few oranges short of a fruit salad. "Mr D. You don't know him? Mr D."

"No…?" Percy said, feeling confused. "So who is he?"

"Mr D."

"I see," Percy said, even though he didn't understand what the man meant.

"Ok. Urgent meeting," Drew hissed into her phone. "Big business."

"What kind of 'big business'?" a voice drawled lazily from the other side of the phone.

"Shut up!" Drew growled. "We got assigned 'Letters of Hope' today."

"And what's that?"

"A retarded project where we write criminals from the camp in Texas. You know Annabeth, that… That little shit in my class?"

"No need to swear, dear. What about Annabeth?"

"Well…" Drew burst out, "She's writing Jackson!" She swiped her hair out of her dirt brown eyes irritatedly and gestured wildly for emphasis, although she could not be seen over the phone. "We have to stop her somehow."

"Perseus… Jackson? The brat we framed?"

"How many Jacksons do you know?!" she exclaimed exasperatedly. How dense was he going to be?!

"There's a guy called Jackson in my class, dear."

"Perseus Jackson!" Drew shouted. "Jackson. Perseus!"

"She'll work it out," he said seriously, the mocking tone of his voice gone. "She's too smart."

"I hate to agree, but you're right. So, in a nutshell…"

"We're doomed." The voice said seriously, with a trace of fear in his voice.