Chapter 3

Practice the rest of the week was tough! Even though I was pushing really hard and setting faster times than I ever had before, Coach Hedge was really pushing me to improve and do better. I was starting to think that Luke, Connor, and Travis had exaggerated a little with how excited Coach was to have me. From my perspective, the guy was a complete hard ass. I had no idea how I was going to be able to make it through this and new classes on Monday.

Before Monday comes the weekend, and I planned on making this one memorable! Even though I had turned down Luke and his party invitation on Sunday, that didn't mean I couldn't have any fun on Saturday night. I had seen signs up around campus for a few different parties: Frats promising to be a rager, sororities claiming to be a must for new students, but I was planning on going to a far more well-known party on campus, the NRU Football New Year Kickoff. Jason and Piper were good friends with the host and star running back, Charlie Beckendorf, and Piper was in class with his girlfriend, Silena Beauregard. According to Rachel, they had become a bit of a power couple on campus since they got together last year, and their parties were usually huge and legendary. A great party with my new friends?! Count me in!

"We are going to be late if you keep messing with your hair!" I yelled from my side of the dorm. I swear, Nico had been in our shared bathroom for the last 2 hours trying to look just right for this party. The door swung open to reveal Nico in an all-black outfit complete with dress shoes, slacks, and a tucked-in dress shirt.

"I'm sorry if I want to look good at this party and represent this family/roommate pairing well." Nico gave me a once over, then rolled his eyes, "Because one of us has to." I looked down at my jeans and AHS t-shirt I was wearing. The outfit was what I had put on this morning to go to practice and then swing by my class buildings so I knew where I was going on Monday. It never occurred to me that people would be dressing up for the occasion. Clearly, this realization hit Nico before it hit me because he was already in my closet and looking through my shirts.

"Here." He threw me my light green dress shirt that I had worn for my swim team banquet last year. "Not great, but at least it will bring out your eyes." He kept walking and made his way back to his side of the room. I changed shirts and looked in the mirror. Nico walked over next to me and looked at the two of us standing there. I couldn't help but crack a smile at him. "What?" He looked hurt.

"Nothing, my mom just said the same thing about this shirt when she bought it for me a year ago. That it would 'highlight my sea-green eyes.'" I laughed and walked towards the door to leave. Nico grabbed his leather jacket and walked out after me.

"That is because my aunt Sally is an amazing woman who knows fashion when she sees it." Nico smiled and put his hand on my back. Even if he was joking a little about the shirt, it still felt nice to hear that he thought fondly of her.

We met Jason, Piper, and Rachel outside our building. For a supposed summer night, Seattle was surprisingly cool compared to New York. It wasn't freezing or anything, just a crisp 55 degrees that left Nico comfortable in his jacket, and me shivering in my dress shirt.

"Little cold there perc?" Rachel pointed at my chest. I looked down to see what she was pointing at then rushed to cover myself with my chest. Rachel and Piper laughed as my face turned a fiery red. Jason tried to hold back his amusement and offered me his letterman. I waved him off accepting my embarrassment and followed them down the sidewalk to the party.

Jason and Piper had warned me that this was one of the most popular parties during the frost week of school, but I don't think anything could have prepared me for the sheer number of people at this place! The house was a sight all unto itself, sporting a U-shaped driveway, an eight-foot-tall metal fence, and what appeared to be a backyard pool surrounded by a maze of bushes and plants. I would have to make sure to not get lost in there tonight for fear of meeting a small rabbit that would lead me to a new world full of backward tea parties and angry queens playing croquettes. The front yard was full of NRU students drinking, talking in groups, and platoon cornhole. Piper led us through the front door with Jason close in tow. After we entered it was all I could do to keep up with them. Crowds filled the foyer and spilled into different hallways and rooms. Even the stairs were being used as seats with people stepping over others to try and get to the second floor. If the crowds were enough, the loud music and neon lights made the room seem like it was spinning.

Somewhere in the crowd a hand grabbed mine and pulled me through to the living room, if you could even call it that. My living room in my apartment back home was a 30 square foot room only big enough for a TV, couch, and a small coffee table my mom picked up from a yard sale. By comparison, this room had 3 couches, a full DJ stand with a turntable, and 15-20 foot ceilings. In fact, I'm pretty sure I could fit my entire apartment in this room! It wasn't until I had recovered from the awe of the house that I realized I was still being pulled by someone towards a group in the corner of the room. I had no idea how Rachel had managed to track me down in the crowds and pull me past all of those partiers on her own, but her perseverance had led us to Piper and Jason, who themselves had found the people of the hour.

"There you guys are, I was beginning to think this party was too much for you, Jackson." Piper turned to open up the talking circle. The two people they were talking to were wearing King and Queen matching crowns leaving no chance to the understanding that they were the curators and center of this event.

"Nice to meet you, Percy," the King stepped up from leaning off the wall and extended his hand. "I'm Charlie, and this lovely lady," he reached for the queen standing next to him, "Is my girlfriend Selena." He gave her a twirl to show off her dress. The sparkles were mesmerizing and reflected all of the colorful lights of the party. Piper whistled and Rachel clapped for the show they were putting on together. Silena quickly fell into Charlie's arms in embarrassment.

"This is quite the place! Yours?" I couldn't help but ask about the quasi-mansion I was standing in.

"Well technically it's my grandfather's, but he passed it on to my dad when he went to NRU in the 80's. He and my mom have their own place in Monterey so he lets me and a few of my teammates lease it every year for school." Charlie spoke with such certainty and charisma that he seemed to pull you in. It almost felt like the party stopped just to hear what he had to say. I could see why so many people spoke highly of him on campus. A person with that much power could easily dominate campus, but based on his soft-spoken nature and the way everyone seemed comfortable around him I was definitely feeling gentle giant vibes.

"Evening everyone." Nico walked up holding a drink. I jumped a little when I turned to see him right next to me. Rachel let out a small laugh when she saw my eyes widen.

"Where did you go dude, I lost you somewhere in the front yard." Nico looked up at me, then at his drink, then back at me. I didn't appreciate the sarcasm.

"He was probably out looking for Will." Piper said, taking a sip of her drink and ensuring to slurp loudly so Nico could hear. Nico looked over and shot a glare at Piper that could have cut diamonds.

"Listen, we have been over this a thousand times, Will and I aren't really even friends. I only met him this summer and I don't even know him really, so you can take your little fantasy and shove it." Piper leaned towards him and put out her tongue. Nico returned the gesture making sure to really push his annoyed face to its limit. Piper laughed at his strain and stood back up to lean on Jason.

"Ya know, it's funny you say that." Selena locked eyes with Nico and a small evil smile started to crawl across her lips, "Because I am pretty sure I see him right over there in the kitchen." Nico met her gaze and tried to look strong, but you could see a bit of panic in his eyes. He eventually lost his will to stay strong and his eyes darted towards the kitchen, then immediately to the ground. He tried to walk away but Rachel grabbed his arm playfully.

"Hey, Will!" She called over the music. A boy in the kitchen looked and put on a big smile. He waved and started to make his way over to the group. He was about my height and had shaggy blonde hair that just met the top of his eyes. As he approached the group he walked to Rachel first for a hug, then made his way down the line to Piper, Jason, Selena, and Charlie. He stopped at me and cocked his head to the side inquisitively. Then, just as quickly as it faded, his smile came back and he put out his hand.

"You must be Percy, Nico has told me about you." I took his hand and he pulled me in for a hug. He was a lot stronger than he looked and nearly pulled me off of my feet, but his hug felt warm and soft like my mom's.

"All good things I hope." I looked over to Nico to see if I would crack a lame joke at that, but that was when I realized he had not moved from his position of gazing at the floor. His jet-black hair covered most of his face, but even with dim lighting, you could see the small fire burning in his cheeks. He looked up at me with eyes that looked calm but were clearly screaming for an escape. Before I could decipher his cry Will leaned in and hugged him. Nico's stiff form immediately appeared to melt into the hug and his embarrassment seemed to disappear.

"Well it was nice to see you all, but I have to get back to beer pong before someone steals my spot at the table." He waved and made his way back over to the kitchen. All heads appeared to follow him as he jagged away, then, like a synchronized swimming team, all made a slow turn to look at a now tomato-ripened Nico. He didn't dare look up to make eye contact with any of us.

"We…" Before Piper could even get a word out Nico his arm up in her direction and put his finger in front of her lips.

"If any of you ever mention what you just saw I will tell my dad to expel you." He lowered his arm and stopped off towards the side hallway that led outside. The group was full of silent smiles that read a mixture of wanting to bust out laughing and feeling bad for the kid.

"I think I better go make sure he's okay," Rachel said, "And that he doesn't hurt himself or any unsuspecting household object." That released the laugh everyone was holding in as Rachel walked off, "I'll catch up with you guys later!"

As Rachel ran off a loud noise came from the front door like someone had just been pushed into a wall. The crowd parted to show a joyous-looking Luke and Travis as Connor appeared to be holding his arm from some kind of hit. In tow behind the boys were Katie and Drew. They really did know how to make an entrance. The three guys all wore matching sparkling silver shirts as they walked out of a 70's movie. The three of them sparkled in the party lights almost as much as Selena did.

"Hey, Luke!" I called out and made my way over to the group.

"Hey Jackson! Pretty sweet party they have going on here!" He grabbed my hand and pulled me in for a hug.

"Which apparently is hard to do because this is our third try tonight to find a good one," Connor said. It looked as though he had recovered from whatever foyer-related injury he had acquired. I could only hope that whatever he hit could say the same.

"Yeah this place is awesome, I was just asking Charlie about it and he said his dad…" I turned to see that Charlie was gone. In fact, the entire group seemed to have wandered off in the 2 minutes I had been talking to the guys.

"Oh look, beer pong! Travis, how about you and Katie versus me and Drew, the loser is DD." He wiggled his eyebrows at Travis with a challenging smile. Travis turned to look at Katie who rolled her eyes at him but smiled in agreement.

"You're on!" The four of them pushed past me and left me standing with Connor in the middle of the room. He looked at me and shrugged, we shared a laugh and he walked after the four lovebirds as the eternal fifth wheel. I was going to walk around and try to find Jason and Piper when a hand grabbed mine and spun me around. I came eye to eye with Rachel who looked out of breath.

"I'm starting to think you like holding my hand Dare." She shot me a look between breaths that could have killed a three-ton rhino.

"Your cousin is pretty bummed about everyone making fun of him earlier. I tried to get him to come back inside but he started walking home. I think he may need some company tonight." She looked at me with a seriousness that told me she knew this was the right thing to do. I took one last look around at my first college party and begrudgingly followed her out the front door to catch up with Nico.

The rest of Saturday night was pretty boring. I spotted Nico outside the party and told Rachel she could stay and hang out. Nico and I walked back in pretty awkward silence to our dorm room. It wasn't until we got back to the room that he apologized for storming off like that. I mean, hey, could you really blame the guy?

Sunday was exactly the calm day I needed to prepare for the first day of classes. I walked my schedule around campus one more time just to make sure I knew where I was going and how much time it was going to take me to get there. I really don't know why I was so worried about school. I had never been a straight-A student and was well aware of the fact that my swim scholarship was probably the only reason I had been accepted to NRU, but I still felt the urge to start well. Maybe it was because my Uncle would see my grades? I wanted to impress my mom and Paul? Or maybe I just didn't want to be the one to tarnish my family's legacy at the University.

Regardless, Monday started with a bang! Practice started at 6:30 sharp and I was able to break my personal best in the pool by a thousandth of a second. It wasn't until I had hopped out of the shower that it really hit me that I was damn near exhausted and still had 3 classes to go to that day. Algebra 1001 and Intro to Biology weren't so bad. The classes were huge and I was able to sit in the back and steal a few long blinks between slides.

My third class of the day was named Meet the Bard: An Intro to Shakespeare, and I was frighteningly unprepared. There were ten students in the room and the professor was teaching from the stage. At least, I think it was the teacher, it could have been some homeless guy speaking Swahili for all I know. He mumbled something about the language of Hamlet and then we were invited to the stage to walk around and meet our classmates in a 'speed dating' style exercise. I walked up on stage prepared to use my last bit of energy to fake a few conversations when I looked up to see a familiar face as my partner.

"Hey, Percy! Fancy seeing you here." Will's smile was just as big as it had been the other night. It took me a second to realize who he was before I let out a sigh of relief.

"Will, thank the gods." I leaned in so no one around us could hear me, "Do you have any idea what the professor was going on about?" I raised my eyebrows in a hopeful gesture. Will let out a laugh.

"Professor D is just a little dramatic, and the man LOVES his Shakespeare." He put his hand on my shoulder and leaned in. "And lucky for you, I do too, so I can definitely help you out in here." I just smiled back at him and we went on introducing ourselves for the exercise. I didn't mention it, but I could have leaped into his arms as a thank you! My Shakespearean hero, Will Solace.

Tuesday was the only day of the week I had to rest a little. Swim was still early and Hedge was still loud, but pushing myself to try my best was somehow easier with the prospect of a shower and a nap on the horizon. I looked over the syllabus for the three classes I had on Monday/Thursday to see if I needed to buy any books and how much work I was going to have to do. Somewhere between learning I would have to take six algebra tests and attend three school shows, my eyes glazed over and I drifted off to sleep.

My thirty-minute nap ended up taking three hours. I woke up and felt like my stomach was going to kill me. I hadn't had breakfast and it was after lunch, my stupid tired brain was going to be the death of me. I went to get up but my legs protested. I guess after yesterday they saw what a full day of practice and walking from class to class was like, and by gods they weren't going to waste the one rest day they got before the weekend! I settled for a few snacks my dad had left for me when I moved in. The rest of the day was a blur between naps, work, and watching YouTube with Nico.

Listen, I will be the first to tell you that my face when I wake up is never happy. Sure, my hair is a mess and my cheek may or may not be covered in drool, but the death glare I have given some people has scared them away from coming within five feet of me for a while. So when I tell you that I sort of smiled when my alarm went off Wednesday morning, you have an understanding of how ready for the day I must have been. I guess all of the rest of Tuesday had really paid off. I even made it to practice early and got a few laps in with the coach before the other guys arrived. I would never condone being a kiss-ass to anyone to further your own benefits, but man does it pay off sometimes! Hedge pulled me aside during the last thirty minutes of practice and said I could hit the showers early!

To top it all off I only really had one class today! Sure, it was a two-hour course, but it was finally time to interact with my supposed major. Today was Photography/Videography taught back to back by the same professor. My advisor said that these were usually separate semester-long classes, but they had been combined into one big year-long experiment this year. Hey, at least sitting for two hours meant not running to another classroom halfway across campus. Plus I was excited for this one.

I wasn't sure if this was really what I wanted to do forever, but I had always liked taking pictures. My mom had gotten me the cheat disposable cameras with film from the mall all of the time so that I could take pictures of the city. I know it sounds kind of stupid, but hanging those in my little apartment bedroom somehow made it feel so much bigger and brighter. As for films, my mom never had the money to take me to the theater, so we always stayed in and watched her old movies from the 80s like TopGun, Tombstone, and Dirty Dancing. A lot of them were cheesy romances, but the way the camera was always positioned just right always somehow helped them draw the audience in and come to life. I was hoping that I could try and do some of that. Or maybe I would throw all of that out the window and become a marine biologist…who knows!

I basically skipped class and found that it had been split down the middle. Two men stood at the front that could not have looked more different from one another. One was a more slim gentleman in a sleek black suit whose eyes met mine with a ferocity. His intense gaze made me feel like a hawk had just spotted its prey, and it was me! The other was a much broader man who had a thick beard that went halfway down his buttoned shirt. His sleeves were rolled up to show multiple forearm tattoos mostly related to what appeared to be fire. I looked back at the split room and saw that the separation was not random, but based on two signs that read Photo/Video: Professor Argus and Intro to Architecture: Professor H. I took the furthest back seat on my side of the room. I was early enough to be one of the first in and proceeded to join my fellow classmates in staring down each student who walked in to find the strange setu[p. It really felt like teams were being formed and no one wanted to be on the wrong side, even though we were already pre-assigned and no sports event would take place.

The last few people rushed in as the slimmer of two professors closed the door. The silence of the room was finally broken when the larger professor with arm tattoos spoke up.

"Hello students, I am Mr.H and I will be teaching those of you in this half of the room." He gestured to the right side of the class. I don't know what it was about teachers here and only using a Letter for their name. Maybe they didn't want us to have the power to find them on social media. He went on to explain the extent of the course and how architecture was the most beautiful and amazing thing on the planet. About five minutes into his spiel, those of us in the photography side of the room began to look around. Eyes met and silent questions were asked. Who is this guy? Why are we here? Is the other guy Professor Argus? Are we being punked!?

"And now to the question you are all wondering." Professor H looked to our side of the room. "Who are these photography people and why are they in our class?" All eyes from the right of the room shifted over to us.

"That is where I come in." Professor Argus stepped forward from the desk he had been leaning on. "Photography is an art form that many attempt, but few can master. Of those who do have the eye for it, even fewer of them can capture the moving picture." He began to flip through a slideshow of pictures that I assumed he had taken from around the country. I had to admit, they were great! Not just the image quality, but the way that the still picture seemed to move and shift like it was happening in real time. "It is my goal this year to not only find those students who are capable of doing both but also to weed out those who cannot." His gaze moved from the slides back to us, as if his statement and eye contact might scare a few poor souls out of the room already. No one moved, but that could also be that a few of us were shell-shocked at the sudden change of pace.

"This year," Professor H stepped back into the conversation, seeing how the air in the room had changed. "Professor Argus and I have decided to merge our end-of-the-term projects together and have you work with partners from either class to create something truly breathtaking." Once again awkward eye contact shit across the room at those sitting on the other side.

"You will have to take what you learn in our classes and in your own time to create multiple small still image projects for class that truly capture 'the city'" Professor Argus had begun to pace around the room. I swear, no matter what angle he was at I felt like he could see me.

"Those in Architecture will be completing their year-long project alongside those in the other course." Professor H interjected towards his side of the room. "You will be expected to build multiple cityscape dioramas throughout the year, ending in building a set for their end-of-year film project." He watched Professor Argus pace around the back of the room and students turn their heads to try and keep eye contact. He let out a small laugh. "You will meet with your partner on a weekly basis, on Fridays, in a study hall hosted on the second floor of the student center. There will be a retired professor there to assist you if needed."

The room began to buzz with the news and in anticipation of seeing who our new partners would be.

"Because it is only day one of class, we will assign partners, hand out syllabi., and you are free to leave. We will meet every Wednesday during class time so you can learn your art form." Professor Argus had made his way back to the front of the room and pulled a folder out of his briefcase. He pulled out a stack of syllabi for the class and placed them on the table, then produced a list. Everyone in the class sat forward but remained silent. Two by Two last names were called until, finally, the moment I was waiting for.

"Photographer: Jackson and Architect: Chase." I stood up and started to make my way to the front. For a second, it looked like no one was standing up on the other side of the room. My heart sank. Of course, my partner would be the one to miss the first day of class, and on a year I was actually going to try! I had accepted my fate and was standing at the front desk collecting my syllabus when I felt someone walking up behind me. I turned to see a very familiar Yankees emblem sewn into a hat, which was sitting on the head of a girl. In fact, I remembered this girl, she was the one I saw in the library when my Uncle was showing my dad and me around.

"Hi, I'm Annabeth Chase." She held out her hand and made eye contact in a very business-woman-type way.

"Um, I'm Percy, nice to meet you." I reached out to take her hand and it may very well have been the firmest handshake I had ever had, that includes my dad! This girl clearly didn't mess around when it came to introductions. She turned to leave the room and I made sure to keep up. Something told me she was going to talk fast and didn't like repeating herself. He led us outside into a small common area outside of the arts building with a few picnic tables. She pulled her bag off her back and placed it on the ground next to her. She then removed an iPad and put it on the table in front of us.

"So, Percy was it." She looked up to meet my gaze for the first time since introducing herself. I thought the bit of intensity from before was nervousness from getting a new partner, but it still lived in her stormy gray eyes. I nodded and took a seat across from her. "We will need a schedule to make sure we are completing work on time. We can obviously add every Friday for the entire year to the list, but I think we should possibly meet more just to be sure we are both staying up to date in our respective subjects and talents." I watched as she rambled on about schedules, her hair pulled back under her hat into a ponytail, but the curls sticking out the back appeared to bounce with every little movement she made. She spoke with her hands, like my mom, and it made the iPad appear to float in front of her. "So what do you think?" She turned the iPad towards me to show a calendar full of different colors.

"I think…hi, how are you? How has your first week been? Isn't this project a lot for us Freshmen?" I cracked a smile and let out a small chuckle. Where I expected one in return I was met with a blank stare. She rolled her eyes which was quickly followed by a sigh as she put the iPad down.

"You're right, I'm sorry." She looked at the table as if typing to find the words for the next part of the conversation. What was going in her head under that Yankees cap? "Um, how long have you been a Photographer?" She never looked up at me, but rather back at the iPad where she was once again scrolling through something.

"I'm not really, I just like taking pictures. I figured that even if this isn't what I plan on doing forever, it would be fun to do in the meantime." The iPad hit the table. I turned to see Annabeth, hands wide open, looking me dead in the eyes.

"You mean you aren't good at this? The thing that 50% of my final grade is based on and you are just here for fun?!" Her head cocked into a sort of snarl as she waited for an answer.

"I mean, kinda. Don't get me wrong, I love taking pictures for my room back home, but I'm not Paul Mickelson if that's what you're asking." Another excellent joke if you ask me. Her head cocked again, I'm pretty sure it was sideways now.

"Do you mean Paul Nicklen?" I was about to protest her correction when it struck me that I may or may not have combined one of my favorite photographers with one of my Dad's favorite golfers. An embarrassed grin came across my face followed by a laugh.

"Yeah, I guess I did. Oops!" I thought for half a second she was going to laugh along with me, but she simply uncocked her hand and stared down at her iPad again. Her mouth was wide open like she had just witnessed a car accident on the Brooklyn Bridge during rush hour. No laugh, three strikes, and I was apparently not nearly as funny as I thought I was.

"Uh-huh, right, well I am sure you can improve throughout the semester." She stood up and picked up her bag. "It was nice to meet you Percy, see you on Friday." I was feeling confident that we had reached some kind of common ground before I heard her mutter something under her breath as she walked away. I didn't hear exactly what she said, but I could make out something about 'mistake' and 'issue.'

As I sat at the table I realized I had the rest of the day to do whatever I wanted. Although a little less on cloud nine than I had been before my conversation with little miss know-it-all I was still feeling optimistic. It had been a few days since I had been to the Cafe and I was dying for one of Jason's sweet treats. And hey, maybe Piper could even help me out with how to get my new partner to like me. One thing was for sure, I knew the rest of my Freshman year of college was not going to be spent watching my partner stare at iPads and calling me names under her breath. Even if it killed me, I was going to do well in this class and on this project, and that started with becoming best friends with one Annabeth Chase.

A/N - A new Chapter! In only 3 weeks! And we finally meet Percy's infamous project partner Annabeth Chase. Even though things didn't exactly go smoothly…

I am going to try and get Chapter 4 written in a shorter time, but with the holidays coming I make no promises!

Leave a review to let me know what you think! What can Percy do to possibly win over this new partner?

Thanks again for reading!

GRNLEP1309