Chapter Text
Annabeth Chase liked to think she had her life figured out. She was going to a good school, she was the top of the class, had some great friends, a bright-looking future, and a dream. She didn’t couldn’t really complain about anything. Sure, not everything was perfect in her life, but she was happy. Beyond happy actually. Especially now that it was time to head back to school. Call her crazy all you want, but she actually enjoyed school. Well, not so much school as learning in general. High school was the worst, and that was one typical teenager thing she agreed on, but she was so close to finishing it. Only one more year, and then she would be free. Until she started college, that is. But Annabeth didn’t worry about that much. She was an amazing student, and was fairly certain she was going to get a scholarship for a full ride at the NYU. So yeah, she had her near future all planned out, and ready to be taken on.
She woke up bright and early on September 1st, and jumped out of her bed with a smile on her face. She pushed away the blinds to let the reddish rays of the autumn morning sun seep into her room. She checked her clock. School starts at 8 am, and she had to be out of the house at 7:15 at least, so she had just over an hour to get ready. Seeing as how she had prepared everything the night before, she was in no hurry. She quickly hopped into the shower, letting the warm water wash over her. She stepped out after about twenty minutes and dried herself off. After brushing her teeth, Annabeth returned to her room, where she found her navy blue polka dot dress. It was a fairly nice day, so she decided to go with it and a simple white button-up sweater over it. She struggled a little to brush her crazy curly hair, but managed to make it look presentable in a simple high ponytail. Annabeth did wear makeup, but it was so subtle and so little of it that it barely counted. Just some rosy blush, a little mascara, transparent lip gloss, and some concealer in case she had any imperfections to hide. After all, she was known for always being spot on in everything.
Glancing at the clock, she realized she might not have had as much time as she originally thought. She quickly snatched her purse, stuffing in her phone, lip gloss, keys, earbuds, and a small notepad and a pen. It was only the first day of school, so she didn’t really need to bring any books or supplies. Annabeth slipped on her white flats and made way towards the kitchen. She didn’t really have time to make herself breakfast, so she just grabbed a granola bar from the pantry and ran out the doors.
Just as she had predicted, it was a fairly nice day. The sun was shining, the New York traffic was as bad as ever, there was a slight breeze in the air – a perfect first day. She just hoped everything went smooth at school, but knowing who all goes there, she didn’t hold too high hopes. It was likely that Leo or the Stolls were to cause some trouble on the first day, as the tradition goes.
Annabeth walked down the streets with one earbud in, listening to music. She didn’t really have a particular taste, or a preferred artist or genre, she enjoyed almost everything that was on the radio. Along the way, she stopped by a small coffee shop and got herself a vanilla latte and continued her trek towards Goode High.
Annabeth strolled into the schoolyard with grace and confidence. She smiled and waved at some people she knew, and made her way towards the main entrance, where people were already slowly gathering. She walked up the steps and into the building, raising her shades so that they rested on top of her head. She made her way to the second floor, where the seniors and juniors had their lockers and most of their classes. Annabeth found her locker and typed in the combination. She found her schedule inside, as well as a welcome back card from the administration, updates on the news and rules concerning the school, dates of all annual celebrations and a list of clubs she could join. Annabeth glanced over the news and stuffed everything except her schedule in her purse. She studied the yellow and green paper carefully, content with her classes. She had Latin in her homeroom first period with Mr. Brunner, English Literature with Mr. Blofis, Honors Maths with Mrs. Dodds, lunch, History with Mrs. Clio, AP Science with Mrs. Reeves, and an alternating class of PE with Coach Hedge, Music with Mr. Papadopoulos, Art with Mrs. Minerva or Study Hall with Mr. D. A nice schedule, if a little packed. Knowing her, Annabeth was most likely going to be in school a couple of hours after classes for extra-curriculum activities every day too.
The blonde closed her locker to see her brunette best friend standing beside her. She had a blank expression on her face, making Annabeth instantly start worrying she did something wrong.
Annabeth had known Piper since ninth grade, when Piper's family moved to New York from LA. They instantly became friends, though they are quite different. While both of them always tried to look good, Annabeth had never really been all that interested or devoted to fashion, whereas Piper was a real Beauty Queen, as their friend Leo liked to call her. You could say it was partly due to her relation with Silena Beauregard, one of the nicest, but also best looking people Annabeth had ever met. Silena is Piper’s half-sister, but they grew up together. Silena is a few years older, so when they moved to New York, she was already a junior. Another difference between the two was that Annabeth was always focused on her academics and future, and Piper was more of the living-in-the-moment kind of girl. But that played out very well for them – Piper would drag Annabeth out to parties and such so Annabeth had a social life, and Annabeth would help Piper whenever she needed help. And Piper was also that girl who thought a lot about boys, but never really dated much, partly due to her long time crush on a certain blonde jock. Annabeth never really had time for boys, nor was she interested. But still, even with all their differences, Annabeth really loved her best friend. She didn’t know what she would do without Piper. She was her rock to rely on, no matter what. And they honestly always had a great time together. But Annabeth also knew Piper could be very dangerous at times, and the glare she was sending Annabeth was really starting to unsettle her.
“I officially hate you,” Piper stated.
“What?” Annabeth questioned, a little taken aback.
“Why would you make me read that book?” Piper whined, and Annabeth let out a relieved sigh.
“You finished it?”
“Last night, yeah. I cried like a baby,” Piper continued whining, “But it was really good, I loved it.”
“I told you you’d like it,” Annabeth smiled smugly. She had read The Song of Achilles by Madelaine Miller many times, and she cried like an absolute baby every goddamn time. She knew Piper would like the book immediately, but it took some convincing to get Piper to actually read it.
“Let me see your schedule,” Piper grabbed the paper from Annabeth’s hand, examining it. She handed it back after a few seconds, “We’ve got History and the alternatives together. That’s about it, I’m afraid.”
“Well shucks,” Annabeth sighed. She had really hoped Piper would be in most of her classes. But alas, fates would not have it so, “Are we meeting up with the others for lunch? I haven’t seen any of them yet.”
“Yeah, I saw Leo and the Stolls when I got here. God knows I don’t want to know what new little scheme they had in mind,” Piper shivered, “But I haven’t seen anyone else. And yes, we’re still up for lunch. I’ll send a text later.”
“Cool,” Annabeth nodded, just as the bell rang, “We should get going. I don’t wanna be late.”
“Of course you don’t,” Piper smiled, and she and Annabeth made their way down the corridor towards their homerooms. The students around them slowly started filing in their classrooms as Annabeth and Piper parted ways at the end of the corridor. Piper’s homeroom was in the Biology classroom, on the third floor, and Annabeth’s just by the staircase on the second floor. Annabeth promised her friend to meet her by the lockers for lunch and entered her classroom. She noticed that she was among the first people in her homeroom. She found an empty seat in the middle of the classroom. She always preferred to sit at the front, but she had found out that her dyslexia is more bearable with a little distance. Yes, she was dyslexic and ADHD, but she managed to be the top of the class all throughout her schooling anyway.
She watched absentmindedly as people slowly started filling in the single desks all around her. She knew most of them fairly well, they were all nice people. That was one thing she loved about Mr. Brunner’s classes, there were no asshole jocks or bitch queens in them. And the meaner people were always well behaved. Mr. Brunner just had that effect on them all. Most of the kids in his class were normal students, ones who didn’t draw too much attention to themselves. Annabeth was not one of them, as much as she wanted to be. She was the top of the class, on the cheer and debate teams, architecture and green club, as well as president of the student council. So yeah, she was known around the school pretty well. Most even described her as one of the popular girls, which Annabeth tried not to be. When all was taken into account, she was your average student who was just a little famous for her accomplishments.
But of course, not all students in her homeroom could be nice and good, there were also those she didn’t particularly like. One of them was the most popular guy in the school, but no one dared approach him. They all said he looked too scary to be talked to, but was insanely hot, which Annabeth frankly found ridiculous. Sure, he was handsome in his own way, but she really didn’t get what people saw in him. He stuck mostly to himself and his small group of friends, he never spoke up in class, he was always late and often didn’t even show up for school. Annabeth also found him quite dark, with all the black he wore. He was your local punk, you know, combat boots, ripped jeans, band shirts, leather jackets and fingerless gloves, and a number of piercings. He had two lip rings, an eyebrow stud, and three helix rings in his cartilage. Annabeth often saw him skating through Manhattan, since he lived just across the street, a few houses down from hers. She didn’t know much about him, other than that he was an exceptional swimmer and liked to get in trouble. He was famous among the other kids at school for his swimming records and his good looks, which Annabeth really couldn’t catch.
She had, well known, but not-known him since day one of high school. They always seemed to have most classes together, but they never uttered a word to each other. Other than their usual half-greetings, that is. Somehow they had gotten into a habit of greeting each other every morning in homeroom, but they didn’t speak other than that. Annabeth also often found him staring in her direction from the back of the class, and when she would look back at him, glaring her infamous glare, he would simply offer a smirk, to which Annabeth always only shook her head. It went on like that every day. Annabeth had grown used to it, but she never really liked him, and never made a move to speak with him or befriend him.
So you could say she wasn’t exactly thrilled when he strolled in, one earbud in his ear, pilot shades in his hair. He didn’t utter a word to anyone as he walked in and back towards his seat. Annabeth didn’t pay much attention to him, but she did notice a slight change in him. He had let his sidecut grow out a little, while the rest of his fair was a lot longer longer, covering his eyebrows a little, and he dyed his tips bright green, the color that matched his eyes. He was also maybe a little taller, so he was towering over everyone even more. Okay, maybe she did see the handsomeness in him everyone talked about, but it wasn’t her kind of handsome.
She looked past him with an empty gaze and a bored look on, waiting to get their one interaction out of the way. The punk walked towards her, as he always did, even though that was a longer route to his seat. He arched an eyebrow as he passed her, “Chase.”
“Jackson,” Annabeth replied, her voice monotone. The boy merely nodded and without halting, continued his stride to his seat by the window, diagonally from Annabeth. The blonde shook her head and pulled out her phone, checking the time. Class was about to start any minute now.
Annabeth was kinda sad that none of her friends were in her homeroom, but she supposed that came hand in hand with hanging out with more juniors than seniors. The only seniors in her friend group were Grover, whom she’s known since forever, Juniper, Grover’s girlfriend and Annabeth’s good friend, and Reyna, who Annabeth knew fairly well from debate club and some classes, but rarely really hung out with. Reyna tended to hang out with Jackson and his gang of punks and misfits, which was actually just the three of them – Percy, his friends Nico and Thalia. There were a few others, but Jackson, Grace and di Angelo were the elite. Nico was also Hazel’s older half-brother, but they were both juniors as Hazel started school earlier. And Hazel was probably the first person Annabeth and Piper befriended after starting high school. Thalia the older sister of Jason Grace, the captain of the football team. He was a nice enough guy, certainly nicer than almost everyone on their team. Piper had a major crush on the guy for ages, but she never acted on it.
When it came to who Jackson hung out with, there were several connections to Annabeth and her friends. Even though Hazel and Nico were siblings, they didn’t interact much when at school. Annabeth only remembered the time when they had only just started high school, and some of the local mean girls were picking on poor little Hazel, but word got around quick enough about how Nico chased them off. Not to mention he had Thalia and Jackson there for support. It was similar with Thalia and Jason - other than a few words between the two in the hallway, they didn't interact. Annabeth remembered how a new girl once asked her if Thalia, Nico and Jackson were siblings, and promptly didn't believe her when Annabeth said they weren't. She didn't blame her for it - Thalia and Jason looked absolutely nothing alike, and neither did Hazel and Nico, while Jackson, Thalia and Nico literally looked the same.
Nico Annabeth had met a couple of times when at Hazel’s, but those were very brief interactions. Nico isn’t exactly the most sociable person. And as for Thalia, Annabeth knew her well. She’s known her since kindergarten in fact. They had kind of parted ways around sixth grade or so, when Thalia started getting into the punk scene and everything, but they maintained contact and actually hung out sometimes, very rarely, but they never really talked about Percy or any other of their friends, as a matter of fact.
Annabeth had to admit that she applauded one thing about Jackson – he always stood up for those who needed a hand. Sure, he got into trouble a lot, but from what Annabeth heard, he usually got into trouble for beating up the goons picking on other kids, and she appreciated it. He was a big guy, and definitely a strong one too. He could and should stand up for the weaker students, and he does. No one ever asked him about how or why he got in trouble, but Annabeth knew because Grover told her how Jackson had chased off some of the jocks picking on him. You see, Grover had injured his legs, and needed crutches to walk for a couple of weeks, and that was a perfect opportunity for the bullies. Grover told Annabeth how Jackson just decked one guy and the others scrambled off. Jackson had a habit to escort Grover to class after that, until they were sure that no one would pick on him. After a while, the habit stopped, but Grover and Percy were seen together a lot.
Grover tried to convince Annabeth that Jackson was actually really nice, and maybe he was back in the day, but he had changed a lot since then. Back when they started high school, Jackson looked more like a regular troublemaker, and now he looked like he really strayed off. During freshman year he wore hoodies and normal jeans, and didn’t have any piercings, but now, in their senior year, Percy was completely different, much more intimidating, much darker. Annabeth didn’t try to make friends with him before, and she certainly wasn’t about to now.
“Good morning class!” Mr. Brunner’s voice rang out through the classroom, pulling Annabeth from her wandering thoughts. Mr. Brunner was a kind-looking man, with warm eyes, melodic voice, nicely trimmed beard and a fun way of teaching. Rolling into the classroom in his wheelchair, Mr. Brunner immediately stopped all conversations around the room. Everyone loved him and his class, and never really wanted to miss an opportunity to listen to Mr. Brunner’s stories. Especially since he usually went over the Latin grammar quickly, and devoted most of his time to mythology, usually Greek and Roman, but sometimes he would teach his students about Norse, Egyptian or Sumerian mythology. Everyone loved those, because Mr. Brunner knew how to make them interesting, or better say, more interesting than they already were.
“Good morning, Mr. Brunner,” the class echoed. The teacher chuckled and took his usually position by his desk, grabbing some papers from the drawer.
“I hope you all had a nice summer, and are ready to take on this one last dreaded year of high school,” the professor laughed slightly and opened his binder, “Now, first we’re going to do the attendance, and then we have some new rules to go over, as well as the curriculum for the year. Now, let’s see…”
He started calling out names, and after a while, he got to Annabeth, “Chase, Annabeth?”
“Present,” Annabeth’s voice rang through the room.
“No doubt there. I hope to see you at the council meeting next week,” Mr. Brunner smiled.
“I’ll be there,” Annabeth returned the smile and the attendance continued.
“Jackson, Perseus?” Mr. Brunner called out.
“Alive, and unfortunately, present,” a deep, gruff, voice called out from the back, dripping with sarcasm. Annabeth craned her neck to see Percy sitting at his desk, smiling mischievously at the teacher.
“Well, I for one am glad to see you here on time. I only wish we could correct your punctuation with other subjects,” Mr. Brunner laughed a little. Even though it never really got into Annabeth’s head how, but Jackson was one of Mr. Brunner’s favorite students. It was all there for everyone to see. He never punished Jackson for his behavior, and actually bantered with him at times. One thing everyone appreciated was Mr. Brunner’s sense of humor, but no one quite got it as well as Jackson. It just so happens that Annabeth knows Jackson is a very sarcastic person, and Mr. Brunner appreciates that, so he usually fires right back at Jackson's jokes. What was even stranger was that Jackson actually seemed to listen in his class, other than listening to music or sleeping like he did in other.
“Okay, now that that is all over with, I must say I am glad to see you all here and accounted for,” Mr. Brunner continued, “Now, as you all know, it is your senior year, so you will be having some more responsibilities than usual. There will be dances, like always, parties, college orientations, scholarship hunting, prom, all that jazz. You all know how it goes. Concerning my subject, this year, you will spend most of your time doing projects. We will continue studying mythology and cultures of ancient civilizations, just as we have before, and you will be making presentations and writing essays on the topics we go over here at school. With that said, I will assign you partners for your projects right now, and you will be working with them until the end of the year. To make it all easier, I shall arrange a seating order.”
A collective groan echoed through the classroom, and Mr. Brunner nodded in agreement, “I know you don’t like it, but I do believe it will make things easier for the many projects you will be doing. Now, concerning your partners, I already made the pairs, no switching. There is a reason I put you with whoever I put you, and I cannot go about changing everything now. So you’ll have to buckle down and make do with whoever you’re paired up with.”
And just like that, Annabeth’s day went south. She didn’t particularly mind having to have a seating arrangement or a year-long partner until she hear who she was partnered with. She did not like it one bit, but there was nothing she could to about it. Looks like she is going to have double the work on her hands, because Mr. Brunner saw it fit to partner her up with Percy Jackson. She was sure it had been a couple seconds of her silent shock, just enough for her to register it, but before she did, she found the empty seat next to her filled in by a bundle of black clothes and black-green hair. Jackson didn’t spare her a second glance before he put his backpack on the desk and let his head fall against it. Annabeth merely sighed and turned her gaze back to Mr. Brunner, who kept giving out the pairs he shot her an apologetic look. This really was going to be a long year.
The rest of the class went by in a flurry. After Mr. Brunner quickly went over what they were going to be doing this year, he allowed them to relax a little, seeing as how it was only the first day back. Neither Percy nor Annabeth attempted to initiate a conversation, but rather both keep their attentions on their phones. Percy had his earbuds in, and Annabeth was texting Piper.
Annabeth
You will not believe what just happened in Latin…
Piper
Spill
Annabeth
Mr. Brunner assigned us year-long partners and seating arrangement. Guess who I’m stuck with?
Piper
Oh no, not…
Piper
Jackson?
Annabeth
Bingo
Piper
My condolences…
Annabeth
:/
Annabeth heard someone scoff slightly just as she sent out that last text. She craned her neck to see Jackson with a smile on his face, his head resting against his knuckles. For a moment she thought he might have been reading her texts to Piper when she realized that his gaze was firmly on his phone and his own texts. Seeing how offended she was at the thought of him reading her messages, Annabeth refrained from staring at his phone.
The bell rang soon after. Annabeth had just put her phone back in her bag when she saw the chair next to her already empty, no sign of her desk-mate anywhere in sight. She wasn’t exactly complaining, she really didn’t want to spend any more time around the guy. Slowly, Annabeth made her way out of the classroom. She decided not to go for her locker, seeing how there really wasn’t anything she needed there, and instead made her way to the next floor, where her English Lit classes were to be held.
“Annabeth!” a voice called out from behind her. The blonde spun around to see Hazel jogging slightly to catch up with her. A smile spread across Annabeth’s face, her mood immediately restored upon seeing one of her closest friends. Hazel’s a very kind, very sweet person. Annabeth really loved her.
“Hazel!” she gave her friend a tight hug, her smile not wavering. It was always nice to hug Hazel. She was a lot shorter than Annabeth, and warm, and always smelled of cinnamon for some reason, “It’s soooo good to see you!”
“You too, it’s been forever!” Hazel replied.
“How was New Orleans?” Annabeth questioned.
“Oh, same old, same old,” Hazel waved it off. She had spent the better part of the second half of their summer break in her hometown, visiting her mother’s side of the family. Hazel’s mother died in a car accident when she was really young, but Hazel kept in good contact with that side of her family, while she lived with her father and brother. Annabeth found it completely unfair that someone like Hazel lost her mother like that. She never knew her mother, so Annabeth could relate. But she found it completely insane that anyone should lose a parent, especially someone as kind and sweet as Hazel. If she ever met God, Annabeth would probably fight them because of it.
“So, how’s your first day as senior going? Exciting?” Hazel asked, not letting the mood weaver.
“Not so great,” Annabeth sighed, “I got a year-long partnership with your brother’s friend.”
“He’s really not that bad, Annabeth,” Hazel chuckled. Hazel knew Jackson over Nico, and she claimed that the trio were really nice once you got to know them and their hard demeanor, “You should give him a chance.”
“I don’t know, we’ll see…” Annabeth trailed off, “I should get to class now. I’ll see you at lunch?”
“You’ve got it,” Hazel gave Annabeth one last quick hug and sprinted off downstairs towards her next class. Annabeth chuckled and made for her own classroom. She was surprised to see it almost full. She searched for a table to sit at when she found an empty spot a little in the back. She got held up with Hazel, and didn’t have time to find a better position. Still, third from the back isn’t so bad. Only that the desk was already half occupied, but Annabeth imagined Reyna wouldn’t mind her sitting with her.
“Hey Reyna,” Annabeth greeted, “Mind if I sit with you?”
“Not at all,” Reyna grinned and gestured to the seat. Annabeth returned the smile and sat down beside the dark haired girl. Annabeth knew Reyna from the debate club, but they didn’t hang out much. She was a great sportswoman, the captain of women’s soccer team, and the second best at kick-box. The only person who managed to outshine her there was Clarisse la Rue. Reyna was also really good friends with Jackson and his gang, but she mostly hung out with her soccer teammates. She was really nice when you got to know her, if a little intimidating. She was very sharp, very straight forward. She knew what she wanted and how to get it.
“So, how’ve you been?” Reyna asked.
“Good, good,” Annabeth replied, “You?”
“Amazing, I’ve had the best summer yet,” Annabeth cocked an eyebrow in question, “I went to this summer camp with my kick box group, near San Francisco. It was really cool, we got to learn and practice some new styles. Can’t wait for the club to start meeting again next month! I’m gonna sweep the floor with them, just you watch.”
“I’m sure you will,” Annabeth laughed in agreement. Just then, the professor walked in.
Annabeth liked Mr. Blofis, he was nice. He was a great teacher and very patient with her, given her dyslexia. He never lowered her grade if it could be avoided, as Annabeth was an amazing student and he didn’t want to ruin her overall score, so he would work with her slowly, until she was finally able to connect the dots.
“Morning class. I hope you had a decent summer, a nice rest, and are ready for the new and final year!” Mr. Blofis announces and receives a few yes’s and nods in agreement, but otherwise the classroom remains quiet, “Now, it’s only your first day, so we’re not going to be doing anything much, just the attendance and I’ll give you your first book assignment, in case anyone wants to start on it early. I will e-mail you the tasks for the assignment sometime during the week, so no hurry, we’re not analyzing it until the end of the month. Now, Chase, Annabeth?”
“Present,” Annabeth calls out as the attendance starts.
A few more students are called out before, “Grace, Thalia?” No reply came.
“Let’s get this over with right now,” Mr. Blofis murmured, “Jackson, Perseus?”
No reply either. Annabeth’s heart kind of sank at the thought of sharing yet another class with Jackson, but at least she doesn’t have to sit with him in this one, if he decides to show up.
“Typical…” Mr. Blofis shakes his head and continues the attendance. Sometime by the end of it, there is a knock on the door and two people step in. Jackson and Thalia. Annabeth took notice of their grins as they stood in the doorway, as well as their similar way of clothing. Beside her, Reyna snickered.
“Ah, Percy, Thalia, decided to bless us with your presence?” Mr. Blofis questions sarcastically as the two scramble inside.
“Sorry for running late, it was her fault,” Jackson laughed as they made way towards the back of the room, to the only available desk in the classroom, which just coincidentally happened to be right behind Annabeth and Reyna.
“Not true,” Thalia smacked Jackson on the back of the head, before turning to face the amused teacher, “It was di Angelo’s fault.”
“Doesn’t matter now, just sit down and try to behave. Or at least stay quiet. And please don’t make this a habit again,” Mr. Blofis sighs and goes back to whatever he was talking about. Annabeth tried to pay attention, but she frankly couldn’t find it in herself to concentrate. Next to her, Reyna was turned to the two punks, chatting away, promptly distracting Annabeth and not even bothering to include her in their conversation.
“Now, I’m just going to shuffle you around a little, seeing as how there's a few peace-disturbers here,” Mr. Blofis said, shooting a pointed look in Annabeth and her little circle's direction, and earning a groan from the students, much like Mr. Brunner, “Let’s see… Annabeth, why don’t you come up here to the front with Reyna?”
Annabeth smiled in gratitude, as she really didn't want to sit that close to Jackson, and made her way to where the teacher gestured with a rather annoyed Reyna. Annabeth knew she would much rather sit with Jackson and Thalia than with Annabeth, but at that moment, she was just glad to be as far away from Jackson as possible. Mr. Blofis also moved Thalia to the other corner of the room, so she and Jackson wouldn’t really be disturbing the class as much, though total prevention was impossible.
The rest of English and her Honors Maths were completely and utterly boring. Mrs. Dodds hated just about everyone except the three main bitches of the school, and that meant she hated Annabeth too, but Annabeth also hated her, so there’s that. At least she finally had a class with one of her friends. Juniper and she were amazing friends, and even though you probably wouldn’t guess it because of her devotion to protecting the environment, but Juniper was amazing at maths. They spent most of that class chatting, and Annabeth for one was grateful that her being an Honors student meant one more pro over the regular calc – Jackson wouldn’t approach that classroom within fifty yards, or even Mrs. Dodds, but Annabeth couldn’t really blame him for that. Absolutely no one but the three students she liked, liked her. She had a nickname one of the students gave her a couple generations back – Fury. The nickname stuck to that day, and she was better known by it than her real name.
Juniper and Annabeth separated after class, agreeing to meet again at lunch and headed towards their lockers. Annabeth had everything she needed in her purse, but she promised t meet Piper there, so they could go to the cafeteria together.
“Okay, I officially hate Mrs. Venus,” Piper groaned as Ananbeth reached her, “Remind me again why I chose to sit through one more year of her crazy French classes?”
“I really have no idea,” Annabeth laughed a little, “Come on, the other will meet us at the cafeteria.”
“Oh, actually, we’re going out,” Piper exclaimed and dragged her downstairs towards the main entrance. Annabeth wasn’t really opposed to eating out, but she didn’t exactly have anything real to eat, just a granola bar she grabbed that morning. She planned on getting food at school.
“Don’t worry, Grover is bringing us all enchiladas,” Piper made a face, “And a salad for me.”
Annabeth laughed. She swore that Piper could somehow read minds. They found their friends sitting below an oak tree in shade. The school had a fairly big yard, so students could eat outside if they wanted. Everyone was already there – Leo, Hazel, Will, Juniper and Grover with enchiladas. Annabeth and Piper flopped down between Hazel and Juniper, taking their foods. Leo was a cool, but rather annoying guy. He insisted that he was a womanizer, even though he never had a girlfriend. The poor guy was always turned down by everyone, but that didn't stop him. Annabeth admired his confidence. He was also a really good mechanic, and really smart when he was serious. Will was a literal sunshine of a boy, with a quest to become a doctor. Annabeth had known Grover ever since kindergarten. He was a nice guy, very eco-friendly. He was also Juniper's boyfriend, and it would be their one year anniversary soon, if Annabeth wasn't mistaken. She was happy for them. They seemed very happy together, not to mention that they were into the same things, so they could do them together.
“Okay, spill the beans,” Piper spoke up, “What happened in Latin?”
“Nothing much really,” Annabeth shrugged, “I just got paired up with Jackson for year-long partners, and have to sit with him once a day.”
“Oh come on, Annabeth, I’ve told you before,” Hazel groaned, “He’s really nice. You should at least give the guy a chance. Why are you so against him anyway?”
“I’m not exactly against him, we just don’t… I don’t know, we don’t really vibe,” Annabeth shrugged, “I suppose he’s alright from all you and Grover told me, but I really don’t want to spend more time with him than I must.”
“I don’t know, I don’t blame you. The dude’s scary,” Leo snickered a little.
“Percy? Scary?” Hazel laughed, “It will never get into my head how people associate those two words with him. Or even my brother. Thalia I get, but those two are literally the opposite of scary. The biggest dorks I know, that’s for sure.”
“Are we talking about the same people here?” Will added deadpan, to which everyone laughed.
“Never mind that now, I’m sure you’ll survive,” Piper patted Annabeth on the back.
The rest of the lunch went by pretty calmly. That is, until the queen bitches decided to come parade around. Annabeth was just chatting with Piper when she heard someone start shouting.
“For the last time, Drew, no, I will not go out with you! No, you aren’t pretty! No, I am seriously not the least bit interested! No, no, and no! It’s been a no for three years, and it’s not changing now either! Now fuck off, I’m getting sick and tired of you!” a deep, furious voice yelled and Annabeth saw Percy Jackson stomp away, fuming, from a dumbfounded Drew Tanaka, the local queen bitch. Drew had been bragging about how she’s gonna be Percy Jackson’s girlfriend since freshman year, and every time she asked, Jackson turned her down as loudly and as clearly as he did now. But Drew was persistent, always saying how she’s the hottest girl in school, and the hottest girl goes with the hottest guy, which in her book seemed to be Jackson.
Drew stomped her foot on the ground as Jackson joined his punk friends, who were howling with laughter. Annabeth noticed Thalia, Reyna, and Nico di Angelo there, as well as some other random girls and guys. Her attention was drawn back to her own friends when Hazel nudged her in the shoulder.
“Say what you will about the guy, but at least he has eyes,” she laughed. Everyone agreed with her. Drew might have been pretty, but she wore far too much make-up that it just wasn’t visible anymore. She looked like plastic, literally. And her clothes were way to exposive. Annabeth could never get it into her head how she imagined that she, in her five inch heels and short pink skirts and deep-V shirts could go with Jackson, a dude covered in piercings and wearing nothing but black leather.
“Hey nerds,” Drew Tanaka greeted in that sickly sweet voice of hers, “How’s it going?”
“Jesus Christ, what do you want, Drew?” Annabeth replied, “Couldn’t bother Jackson, so you’ve come to bother us?”
“Oh, shut up. I just wanted to wish you all a great final year of being losers,” Nancy butted in.
“Get lost, you can’t even think of proper insults anymore,” Annabeth scowled at the four. Well, two. Rachel Elizabeth Dare and Calypso Ogygia were pretty nice, Annabeth honestly had no idea why they paraded around with bitches like Drew and Nancy. At least they never insulted people like the other two did, they were just… there.
“Sure, honey,” Drew pursed her lips and turned on her heel, marching away, “We’ll see you nerds around.”
“Unfortunately,” Grover added after they were gone.
“Whatever,” Juniper sighed, standing up slowly, “Come on, class is about to start.”
Piper and Annabeth bid the other good-bye, and made way for their History class. They wove through the crowded hallway, talking about this and that. They were among the first people in the classroom, so they got a nice seat in the middle. Annabeth greeted some of her friends as they filed in. She enjoyed history classes, because the professor, Mrs. Clio, was really passionate for her subject and explained the lessons in a simple, and yet fun way. She watched the students file in, and was content to see Jackson was no where in sight. She even let herself hope he wasn’t in her class, but those hopes were crushed pretty quickly, as he was just as late as ever. He took a seat in the back, and remained quiet during the period, and of course, was the first one out the doors.
Annabeth was making her way towards her next class, Science, with Piper, who only walked with her, since the rooms were next to each other. Annabeth didn’t miss her friend’s deep flush as she saw Jason Grace rounding the corner. Annabeth had met Jason during cheer practice, and he seemed nice enough. He went to an all boys school during the time she and Thalia hung out, so she didn’t meet him then. He seemed much nicer than Thalia was these days. And Annabeth had to admit, he was pretty handsome. He was tall, with close cropped blonde hair, sky blue eyes, and muscular frame. But Jason wasn’t really her type. Piper had a thing for him for ages, which was really hilarious to watch. It was even funnier when she noticed that Jason was walking right towards them, a small smile on his face. He was in his varsity jacket and jeans. Annabeth tried to suppress her laugh when he halted before them.
“Hi,” he greeted, if a little shyly.
“Hey Jason. What’s up?” Annabeth tried to cover up for Piper’s lack of words.
“Not much. So, um, I’m throwing a beginning of the year party at my place this Saturday. You guys in?” He asked, scratching his neck. Annabeth thought about what she was doing that weekend, and considered rejecting, as she wasn’t all too fond of parties, but she knew Piper would drag them anyway.
“Sure, what time?” she asked, as Piper still hadn’t recovered.
“I’ll text you the details. Could you ask the others if they’re coming too?” Jason smiled.
“Will do. Thanks for the invite,” Annabeth nodded. Jason nodded too and moved so they could pass.
“Nice seeing you, Piper,” he called over his shoulder with a small laugh as the two girls passed him. Piper flushed even deeper and buried her face in her hands. Annabeth laughed and patted her on the back.
“That went awful. I didn’t even know what to say!” Piper complained, “Lucky you were there, if I’d been alone, I’d’ve probably spent the whole conversation gaping at him.”
“That’s what friends are for,” Annabeth winked and slipped into her classroom.
Science was uneventful. Reyna was in that class with her too, and she and Annabeth mostly spent the time chatting. On Mondays, Annabeth had PE as her last period. Piper had that too, as well as Grover, Juniper, Hazel, Leo and Will. They were all seniors and juniors, so they had it together. Half the generation had PE on Mondays and Fridays, and the other half on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Grover never did PE, as he risked having to use crutches permanently, but he was required to attend regularly. Coach Hedge had only told them what they must bring to class and let them do whatever they wanted the rest of the period. Annabeth and Piper informed the others about the party. Grover and Juniper decided not to go, as it was Juniper’s mom’s birthday on Saturday. Will didn’t feel like going, but Hazel and Leo were on board.
Annabeth spent the period observing what other people were doing. She saw Thalia, Reyna and a couple other girls playing football with Jason, Frank and some other guys. And by other guys, she meant Luke Castellan, Ethan Nakamura and Octavian August, the local bullies. Luke was one of the most popular guys in the school, and was the biggest asshole Annabeth had ever met. On multiple occasions she had to turn him down, telling him how she wasn’t attracted to people like him, but he was almost as persistent as Drew with Jackson. Castellan was a bully who acted like he owned everything and he could practically do whatever he wanted to anyone. Others were scared to stand up for themselves, as Luke was really big and always had at least three other jocks with him. There were very few people he couldn’t touch – Annabeth’s friends, as he knew that would ruin his chances with her, Reyna, Clarisse la Rue, Drew and her friends, and Jackson, Grace and di Angelo. Luke made a mistake of picking on Percy back in freshmen year. Jackson usually just brushed him off, but then in sophomore year, he was probably tired of it all, and made sure Castellan stayed away from him as much as possible with a nice right hook. Annabeth witnessed it, and almost went over there and high-fived him. Jackson and Castellan got into a few fights after that too, the last one being when Percy decked him for picking on Grover.
Speaking of Jackson, she saw him on the opposite end of the bleachers, a smoking cigarette in hand, talking to Thalia and Nico. She didn’t pay them much attention, and instead decided to join in on Hazel and Piper’s conversation.
“We’re off to the mall Wednesday after school to go shopping for the party, you in?” Hazel asked.
“Yeah, sure, the meets aren’t starting until next month,” Annabeth agreed, “And I could really use some new stuff.”
After the bell rang, Annabeth and her friends decided to go for a pizza. She really didn’t have much better to do. Her dad is probably still cooped up in his study. He never leaves that place. So she’d be left alone watching a film in the living room or doing something even less productive. They didn’t have any homework yet, so she decided to tag along with the others.
Annabeth got home a little after five, carrying a box of leftover pizza for her dad. Knowing him, he probably hasn’t eaten anything all day. Always drowning in his studies, Annabeth and he almost never spent time. He was also home very little lately, always leaving to go on a trip in the middle of the day or at night, always saying how he was close to a big breakthrough. Annabeth pushed the front doors open.
“Dad, I’m home!” no reply. Maybe he didn’t hear her. Annabeth slipped off her shoes and made way for the kitchen to drop off the pizza before she went up to call him down to eat. Her plans changed when she saw a note on the counter, along with some money.
Got a call from Toronto, had to leave right away. Be back in about two weeks.
Of course he had to. He always has to go on these trips of his. There was about two hundred dollars next to the note, probably trying to pay her off for his absence. Annabeth was a little disappointed that he only left such a cold note, no I hope you had fun in school, or I’m sorry I had to go, but she was also glad he left a note. On more occasions than once, her father forgot to let her know when he went away. The first time it happened, Annabeth was thirteen. He just disappeared in the middle of the night, no note, no money left, nothing. Annabeth was terrified, and she was furious when he picked up his phone after at least seven missed calls, explaining that he had to go, and hung up after less than a minute. Luckily, he was only gone for two days, and Annabeth managed. By then, she had learned to function on her own. Sometimes she was sure her father forgot she even existed. Her mother died a little after Annabeth was born, and her father simply wasn’t ready to be a father. He did his best as she was growing up, but slowly that turned to very little. She was about seven years old when he started distancing himself from her. There were times when she wouldn’t see him for days if she didn’t go up to him. Over the decade, Annabeth had grown used to it. She was sad her father and she had no relationship, but at least she still had a father. As distant as Fredrick Chase had been, Annabeth wouldn’t know what to do if she lost him too.
The blonde put away the note and left the pizza on the counter. She proceeded to clean the house, something she hadn’t done properly in at least two weeks. After she was done with the kitchen, living room and her room, Annabeth moved to the toughest task – cleaning her father’s study. It was a mess when she went in. Papers, notes, books, notebooks, pencils, pens and maps were scattered all over his desk and floor. There was a layer of dust piling on some surfaces. Annabeth sighed and started cleaning. She collected all the papers and stacked them neatly in their place. She grabbed the notebooks and stored them away in the drawers of her father’s desk, along with the maps. She shut down his still open computer and dusted the place. The last thing she did was collect his books and organize them on the shelf. She knew how her father liked them to be – top to bottom from lightest to darkest in color.
By the time she was done there, it was almost half nine. Annabeth grabbed one last slice of pizza and devoured it. She hopped into the shower and washed off the sweat of the day. She slipped into her white pajama top and a grey bottoms with little red owls. After she had picked out tomorrow’s outfit and packed her bag, she checked that the front and back doors were locked, as well as all the windows closed. Grabbing her first Literature Assignment, Annabeth started reading. She had read The Diary of Anne Frank before, but she decided it was best she read it again, so she had better idea of what she was getting into when they get the questions for analysis. The book was in the possession of her father before, but he had given it to her, along with almost all his books that didn’t concern his research. It was well worn out and the pages were slowly yellowing, but Annabeth liked it. It did take her a while to read through it, as the book was in standard print and not wide print, which is much better for her dyslexia.
It was past eleven when she heard howling laughter from down the street. Furrowing her brow, Annabeth got up from her bed and pushed away the curtains. The street was dimly lit with the yellow street-lamps, but she could clearly see the shapes of three people walking down the sidewalk, clutching their sides in laughter. Squinting her eyes, Annabeth recognized them. Where might Jackson, Grace and di Angelo be going at this hour of the night?
Annabeth slipped back into her bed and turned the lamp on her bedstand off as the three figures rounded the corner, disappearing from her sight. She thought about where they might be going, and then she wondered why she was so interested in what Jackson and his friends were doing. Annabeth tried to push those thought away, but that only made them more persistent. She wasn’t sure when exactly she fell asleep, but that question was the last thing she remembered thinking.