Percy

No one asks to be seventeen. It's a brutal age.

I'm too tired to wake up, too awake to be tired. I get angry quickly, (my mom loves that) I get sad even quicker. No amount of blue candy or relaxing dips into the Goode High School pool alleviates my mood swings.

Bottling up my feelings and pushing everything down seems to help so much! I walk around the Theater District of NYC, no one pays any attention to me. Just another average kid, nothing very special here folks. Even the things that separate me from others are total negatives. Dyslexia and ADD, thanks the gods for that. How to Kill a Mockingbird is already hard enough to decipher, add dyslexia into the equation. I'm cooked.

My backpack weighs me down as I march into Goode. I should feel lucky to have come here, the private high school is gorgeous. Architecture and I are not on the best of terms, but even I can admit how well the building was designed.

White Roman pillars stood on the edge of W 44th Street. The 7 pillars are the only thing that remains from a fire like a hundred years ago or something. I don't remember the exact date, cut me some slack I couldn't read the pamphlet. The rest of the school had a very modern feeling to it. Large panel windows stood shoulder to shoulder with the door entrance. The building had a lot of natural light in every area. It made it hard to catch a 4th-hour nap, but I managed.

Grover, Nico, Jason, and Leo were waiting inside the foyer. None of them wanted to head straight into class, I didn't either.

Grover waved me over, " Hey Percy!". He had been my best friend since I enrolled in Goode 4 years ago. Grover was an odd-looking guy, considering he was the only guy at Goode who could pass for 30. His curly hair fell out of his beanie in every direction.

"What's up G-man. How's it going, guys? "

All my friends looked at me and nodded, various good mornings and heys were exchanged. This was a pretty normal fall morning. All of us seemed a little tired from Thanksgiving break. Staying up to the early hours of the morning was not smart, but what else can you do during break?

Leo interrupted our conversation about the Knicks game last night, ( our conversations about the Knicks were never happy conversations).

"Did you guys see the two new girls that transferred here from the West Coast?"

That never happened. Goode was a smaller school. It was not very prestigious, we had no former Presidents or billionaires as alums. But it wasn't a public high school where anyone from the neighborhood went. Goode existed in this world between worlds.

"No, I hadn't heard yet. Have you met either of them?" I was a little intrigued. Not that I should be, girls usually steer clear of me. At dances I have the ability to part the sea of girls that walk around. They usually whisper, laugh, and move away. Allowing me to play basketball in the corner.

"Yeah, I met Piper. She's in our grade, Jason."

Jason and Leo were sophomores, while Nico was a Freshman. Grover was the only senior, and I was the only junior. Jason and I played basketball at Goode together. Nico has been "shadowing" Grover for his freshman year, something our school does where a freshman is partnered with an upperclassman for the year. Leo and Jason have woodshop together. Leo swears Jason is useless, and the last clock he made kind of backed that up.

"That's cool, is she nice?"

"Yeah, she's nice Jason."

"Why did you say it like that?" Jason looked genuinely hurt.

"Because, I'm sure that Jason Grace is super worried about if she is nice or not. Why don't you ask me what you really want to ask?" Leo grinned.

We all laughed. Jason had a certain reputation around Goode. It was exactly a Goode reputation, but we loved him nonetheless. He was the tall, blonde, and good looking captain of the basketball team. What else can you expect of a guy like that.

"Its basketball season boys, I am off limits to all. Coach Hegde's strict orders. Academics and Basketball is the priority right now." Jason looked at Percy, " I am following your lead Perce. No ladies. "

"Shut up dude."

I laughed with the rest of them, but felt a little embarrassed. You can chalk girls on the long list of things I am bad at.

Nico interrupted, almost scarring me a little. He can be so quiet, you almost forget he is there.

"Who is the other girl?"

Leo responded," I didn't catch her name. She was talking to Brunner."

Dr. Brunner was the principal at Goode. He was a really nice guy, not the stereotypical mean principal.

Jason opened his mouth but I interrupted him, "Jason, just shut up man."

We all laughed and heard the bell ring. Saying our goodbyes and heading to first period.

Grover and I walked together towards third hour biology. It was his best class, and the only class in which we did not talk during. He was all business when it came to bio.

" Percy, I don't want you trying to look of my paper again. I love you man, but this course means a lot to me. Just try to do it on your own please. "

"Okay Grover." I was really pissed. He didn't have dyslexia or ADD. This was a lot easier for him than me. I know I shouldn't cheat, and he is right for encouraging me not to. But, damn that hurts. I already felt dumb enough, but now he was making me feeling like I had just lost 'Are you smarter than a 4th grader'.

We sat down in the lab. There were two seats per lab table. Equipment was scattered all over the room. Various things that I did not know the purpose of. The translucent light bore down on me, making the white walls an floor look like an insane asylum. The room smelled of chemicals, like the smell on Sunday when my mom and I would clean the entire house.

I sat down next to Grover, not wanting to look anywhere but the lab bench in front of me. I still felt small, and so stupid. I didn't notice the teacher begin class.

"Good afternoon guys, I hope you had a good break. As you know we will be starting a new section today. We are going to be switching lab partners." She stopped and looked to her left.

For the first time I noticed the blonde girl to her left.

Author's note

Hey guys, I hope you liked the first chapter! It is my first story here, and I will try to keep updating! I start school again soon, so it may not be too regularly. But I want to write another three chapters by next week. Let me no what you think of the story so far.

Love you all!

Ciao