Chapter 1: Morning beatings

(A/N: Hi guys. I know I have already started a story, but, this one seemed like a really good idea. Don't worry, I will continue 'Relive to save lives' but I decided to start this one so I didn't get bored of it later. Enjoy reading!)

Annabeth POV

I felt a burning sensation in my cheek. I opened my eyes and saw my dad. He slapped me again and shouted "GET UP!" I quickly sat up on my bed and looked at the time. 6:15. I had 45 minutes until school started. I'm Annabeth Chase. I'm 16 years old and I live with my two stepbrothers, my dad and stepmom. Great life, right? Wrong. Both my dad and stepmom abuse me and treat me like a slave. My brothers are the only nice ones to me. But sometimes if my parents are too drunk, they hit my brothers too. I always try to make sure that they don't hit Bobby and Mathew and only me.

My dad kicked me out of my daydream and I groaned. My dad heard this and looked at me, a smile etching onto his face. "What's that darling? Did you just groan?" He said it like it was a crime. "I'll teach you to make a noise." And with that, he began to kick and punch me. He kicked my stomach, punched my face and kicked my shin. I lay on the floor, not daring to say anything. "MAKE ME BREAKFAST, BRAT." And with that, he left the room, slamming it shut. I crawled to the bathroom and looked in the mirror to see how bad my injuries were. Yikes. Blood was coming out from the side of my mouth and there was a nasty bruise on my cheek. My wrists had some large bruises and my leg was bleeding. I quickly cleaned off the blood and put on some makeup to cover the bruise and my black eye.

I limped downstairs and began to make some eggs for breakfast. I quickly made the twins lunch and began to clean up the house. There were beer bottles everywhere and wrappers littered across the floor. I bent down to pick up a bottle when I felt a sharp pain in my back. I fell on the floor and the glass cut my wrist. Blood started leaking out. I turned around to find Helen standing there, grinning. She had kicked my back with her boot. "Good morning miss Helen." I said. "Breakfast is on the table ma'am."

"I know that dear." She said. "I heard you shouting. What did I say about the shouting? You never learn, do you? You need to be taught a lesson my girl." And with that, my second beating of the day began. And all I had done was announce that breakfast was ready. No one knows about me being abused. No one except me, the twins and my two best friends Bianca and Thalia know. Thalia and Bianca moved away two years ago and I haven't seen them since. I keep in touch with them but they've never come to visit in San Francisco. But by now I was used to it. I mean, it's been going on for six years now, so I must be used to it, right? Wrong again. Helen and my dad, (if you can call him that), always find new ways to torture me. I remember the day it all began like it was yesterday.

Flashback:

I was in the library on my birthday as a treat. I had just turned ten so I was celebrating by myself in secret. I loved the library. It was one of the places I could escape to. My friends had all gone home from the party, and I told my parents I was going out for an hour. I checked the time. Ten minutes until I had to be back home. I quickly checked out the book and started walking. It took 15 minutes to get back home from the library, but I didn't mind. I loved the outdoors. It reminded me of my mom who died three years ago. My dad had finally found a girl he liked. I don't like her too much though. She looks funny. But if dad loves her, then I suppose it's okay. They've been married for two months now and Helen already has kids! Dad and Helen had been dating for a year and then got married. They're my dad's kids though. They're names are Bobby and Mathew and they are so cute! They're like little angels without wings.

I checked the time. Quarter past seven. Oops, I was late. It's only five minutes. I thought to myself. They won't mind. I turned right into the driveway and opened the door to the house with the spare keys. The air smelt of cinnamon. Yum. I hung up my coat and called out to my parents. "I'm home!" I yelled.
"Annabeth Minerva Marie Chase!" Helen yelled. "Where have you been? Your father and I have been worried sick!"
I frowned. I had told them I was going to the library before I left. Maybe they forgot. "I told you I was going to the library for an hour." I said.
"Did you tell ME?" She asked.
"Dad said yes." I argued.
"Don't lie Annabeth!" She screamed. "You didn't ask me or your father so don't lie about it."
"But I'm not lying. Dad must have forgotten to tell you. I said it really loud anyway. You were probably just busy with the twins." I suggested.
"Don't talk back to me!" She shouted.
"If you had just payed more attention to me, you would have known." I argued.

SLAP!
I fell to the floor holding my cheek. Tears gathering in my eyes but not yet falling.
"That's what happens when you disrespect elders." She snarled.
I looked at her in shock. I can't believe she would slap someone because of such a stupid thing.
"What's going on down here?" My father came down the steps and looked at me cradling my cheek and at Helen who was looking on, satisfied. "Annabeth your back! Where were you? I was so worried. Why are you holding your cheek?" He asked.
"Helen slapped me." I sniffled. My father looked shocked and Helen shrunk down a bit. He turned to Helen. "Why?"
"She was lying." Helen replied. "Annabeth said that you let her go out to the library but you didn't. Then she said that I wasn't paying attention to her."
"I asked you dad. Don't you remember? You let me."
"See?" My stepmother screamed. "She's still lying!"
"I am not lying!" I yelled.

SLAP!
My cheek was now raw. I looked up to see my father standing there. "You will not disrespect my wife." He snarled. Then he turned to Helen. "I'm so sorry darling." He kissed her. "Annabeth needs to be taught a lesson, doesn't she?" My stepmother nodded and the both approached me, still lying on the floor.

I felt a kick to my leg.
A punch to my eye.
A slap to my face.
A hit to my arm.

And I just lay. Accepting whatever punishment they gave me. When they were down. My dad picked me up my neck and threw me in my room. Helen came in and gave me a final slap my throwing some makeup at me. "Don't want anyone to find out, now do we?" She said. "Oh and, if you tell anyone what is happening. I'll kill you." I simply nodded. She smiled and walked out the room, slamming the door shut.

As soon as she was gone, I broke down in tears again. I cleaned my cuts and bruises and applied the makeup. That was the first time I got beaten up, but not the last. They used to do it every two weeks, but as the years passed on, they got more frequent. And now, they occur four times every day.

End of flashback

I slipped out the house and made my way to school. Goode high. Worst school ever. Every kid probably says that but it's only because they hate learning. I love it. I hate school because everyone thinks I'm their free punching bag. I get bullied a lot, and I don't even know why. But the person who bullies me the most is Percy Jackson. Percy Jackson and his group are the most popular people in the whole school. The group consists of: Jason Grace, Frank Zhang, Leo Valdez, Nico di Angelo, Grover Underwood, Juniper Tree, Piper Mclean, Hazel Levesque, Calypso Jewel, Rachel Elizabeth Dare and Reyna Avila Ramirez Arellano. Percy Jackson is the leader of them all. Jason is the boyfriend of Piper. Frank is the boyfriend of Hazel. Grover is the boyfriend of Juniper and Leo is the boyfriend of Calypso. The others are single and they prefer to remain that way. Not all of them bully me though, only some of them. But they still aren't nice to me.

I went over to my locker and ignored the whisperings of everyone watching me. Suddenly, they all became quiet. This only meant one thing. The popular kids were here. I inhaled sharply and pretended to be doing something with my locker. Please don't stop here, please don't stop here, I prayed. They stopped. I mentally cursed and went back to 'placing books into my locker'. "Well if it isn't miss Anniebelle Chase." A voice said. I ignored him. "Ignoring me huh?" He said. "Turn around." I didn't do anything. "Turn. Around." The voice said more sharply. I disobeyed. All of a sudden, something grabbed my shoulders and forced me to turn around. Standing in front of me, was Percy Jackson.

I flinched. The hard contact with my shoulders hurt from the time Helen had punched it. He noticed this and smirked. "What's wrong? Can't handle a little pressure?" He jeered and squeezed my shoulder – and not in the friendly way. I winced and he laughed. "Where are your friends?" Leo asked pretending to think. "Oh, that's right! You don't have any." The whole group laughed and I stiffened.

"I have friends." I mumbled.
"What was that?" Jason asked.
"I said, I have friends."
"Oh really, who?" Piper taunted.
"Thalia Grace and Bianca di Angelo." I stated confidently. I noticed that Jason and Nico winced, when their sisters were mentioned.
"They don't deserve a friend like you." Rachel said coldly.
"Who said they were friends?" Nico said. "Bianca never talks about you."
"And neither does Thalia." Jason added.
"I talk with them every day." I replied. "And they talk about you."
"What do they say?" Jason asked suddenly.
"Like I would tell you."

I was suddenly pushed up against a wall, a hand around my neck. "What. Did. They. Say?" Jason whispered menacingly. "Oh, you know, about how you were big idiots to them and-" I was cut off by a sting in my cheek. I looked up in shock at Jason who was smirking. Even Hazel and Frank looked a bit shocked. "That's what you get for lying." Nico spoke up.
I ground my teeth. "I wasn't lying."
The hand around my neck tightened. "Say that again."
"I- wasn't l-lying." I choked out.
I felt a punch to my stomach. Third beating of the day. I thought.

Jason let me go and I slumped to the floor. Then they all started hitting and kicking me. Sometimes it was a kick to the face, others it would be a punch to my side. And I just lay there, unable to do anything. They soon got bored of me and then stalked off. Everyone was gone except Hazel, Frank and Reyna. "You coming guys?" Rachel's voice echoed off the empty hall. "Just a second." Reyna called. "We're gonna do one more beating!"
"Alright!" Rachel snickered.

My eyes widened in fear. Another beating? I couldn't stand that long. I tried to lift my head but my neck flared up in pain. I whimpered and the three Popular kids looked at me. I put my head down. I couldn't stand it anymore. "Do it." I whispered hoarsely. "Do it."
"No." Frank said. "I'm not going to."
I looked at him in disbelief. He wasn't going to beat me? "That's a lie." I said. "You always do. What's different now?"
He winced and I saw the look in his eyes. Pure regret. I looked at Hazel and Reyna. Their expressions were just like Franks. I slowly dragged myself until I was sitting. Hazel reached out a hand and I flinched. She quickly pulled away. "We're not gonna hurt you." She cooed.
"Like I'm going to believe that."
A tear made it down Hazel's face. "Look what we've done to her." She breathed.

"You're not the only one who did this." I muttered. Reyna raised her head sharply and looked at me questioningly. I ignored it and tried to stand up. "Here." Reyna reached out her hand. "I don't need your help." I said and started coughing. A blob of red came out and I looked at it closely. It was blood. I shrugged and continued to move one limb at a time. All their eyes widened and I looked at them. "What?"
"You just coughed up blood." Frank whispered. "And you're fine with it?"
I shrugged again. "I've been through worse. A lot worse. Every day is worse." I mumbled under my breath. "What did you say?" Reyna said sharply.
"Nothing." I said all too quickly.

She looked like she didn't believe me but I had bigger problems to worry about. "We need to take you to the nurse." Hazel said.
"No!" I cried. If I go to the nurse, then they'll see the scars and bruises and question me. I can't tell anyone the truth. "I'll take care of myself."
They looked like they were going to argue but then I quickly said. "The others will start to have suspicions. You should go quick. It was nice talking to you again. My old friends." I whispered the last part and Hazel looked like she was about to burst into tears. "Goodbye." They said, and walked away.

I let the tears fall freely. There wasn't any point in holding them back. I gathered myself and limped to the bathroom and cleaned my cuts and wiped away the blood. I covered the bruises with makeup and plastered a smile on my face. This is what it feels like to be bullied and abused. You don't get your happily ever after in the end, you suffer. And nothing can change that. I limped out the door and made my way to Math class.

I knocked on the door and entered. I could feel the entire class's eyes on me. Everyone was watching with bated breath except the popular kids who were coincidentally in the same class. "Why are you late?!" Mrs Dodds shrill voice cried out. I winced, (I was doing a lot of flinching and wincing today) and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Mrs Dodds. I was attacked by a dog." I lied.
"A dog?" she frowned. "You don't look injured."
I lifted up my trousers a bit to show a long scratch that was made when my dad and Helen 'accidentally' threw a pair of scissors at me. "I see." She nodded. "Detention after school for lying."
"But I'm not lying!" I argued. I couldn't be late today. I would get an extra beating. "I can't go detention today Mrs Dodds, my parents are having some guests over and I have to prepare." If I was late then my parents would hit me for not making dinner for their friends that were coming. "I don't care." She snapped. "You will be in detention today and that is final. Now stop disrupting my class and sit down miss Chase." I obeyed. There was no point in arguing with people like Mrs Dodds, she's like a demon and hates children. Then why be a year 10 maths teacher? Obviously, no one would say it out loud otherwise she would have your leg to make a walking stick. I shuddered at the thought and sat down at the back of the class in the corner. No one would see me here.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo-le-line-break-xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The bell rang signalling lunch. I packed my bag and made my way over to the cafeteria. I quickly grabbed a tray and some junk that was supposed to be spaghetti and meatballs and walked over to the lone table at the back. My table. No one ever sat there so it was perfect for me. Suddenly I fell forward onto my face. Goddamit. Why can't they just leave me alone? I looked up and saw the gleeful face of Calypso. Leo sauntered over and kissed her. "Good job babe." He said. Calypso just giggled. "I'm not done yet." She said and bent down to pick up my tray. She then proceeded by dumping it on my head, food and all. The glass plate then promptly broke on my head and the tiny bits of glass cut my head. Spaghetti was all over my clothes and the glass of juice I had was making its way down my back. My head spun and I tried to not fall unconscious. Everyone around me was laughing and there wasn't a single person that felt a tiny bit bad for me, I'm sure. Except maybe Hazel, Frank and Reyna. No, I must be wrong. No one would care about me. I felt tears prick my eyes as I picked myself up and ran to the bathroom.

No one was in it thankfully. I washed my hair a bit to get the blood out and used a lot of tissue papers to clean my shirt. I still looked a mess, but I was cleaner than before. My stomach rumbled. All I had eaten today was one bite of an apple and I was starving. Maybe I would be allowed to have the leftovers of the food I made tonight. Hopefully. I sighed and went back over to my locker to finish the last few classes of the day.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox-le-line-break-xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Finally, school is over. I can just get home and say to Mrs Dodds that I forgot about detention. Alas, I have no such luck. I started to make my way out the door when I was stopped by the devil herself. "Where do you think your going Chase?"
"Detention?" I answered timidly.
"And is that the way to detention?" She barked.
I sighed and turned around and marched to the classroom. Oh shoot, I thought when I entered. Just my luck. Everyone from the popular's except Hazel, Reyna and Frank are here. Percy smirked at me as I came in and I groaned. Why can't they leave me alone? My life already sucks and I don't need some jerks to rub it in my face. I sat down on a desk just as a teacher came in. "Good afternoon everyone." We greeted her in unison. It was Ms Ellis. She was super annoying and always tried to embarrass us. "Alright, everyone. Each of you stand up one at a time and state why you were late. First up, Annabeth Chase."

I groaned, but stood up. "I got detention because I was late to class."
Percy spoke up. "And?"
I was confused. "And what?"
"And because you lied to Mrs Dodds." He smirked.
"I didn't lie. I was attacked."
"By dogs?" He said. Oh. I see where he was going with this.
"Yes." I grinned. "By dogs. Really loud and mental dogs."
Everyone glared at me, but I smiled and sat back down.

"Leo Valdez." The teacher called.
"I got into detention for protecting my girlfriend."
"You punched someone."
"Same thing."

"Calypso Jewel."
"For kindly giving directions to a new girl."
"You let her into the boys changing rooms and locked her in there."
"Whatever."

"Jason Grace."
"For throwing rubbish in the bin."
"You threw a girl in the dump."
"She was rubbish."

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare."
"For redecorating the bathroom."
"You used permanent marker and unwashable paint, and vandalized everything."
"They needed more colour."

"Piper Mclean."
"For asking for some money to buy a drink."
"You stole someone's wallet."
"I needed a drink."

"Grover Underwood."
"I pressed a button."
"It was the fire alarm."
"Still a button."

"Juniper Tree."
"I borrowed someone's textbook."
"You ripped it and then fed it to the fish at the reception."
"They looked hungry."

"Nico di Angelo."
"I was pretending to be a zombie."
"You bit someone."
"That's what zombie's do."

"Perseus Jackson."
"I talked to the headteacher."
"You insulted everything about him"
"Yeah, by talking to him."

I couldn't believe it. They all did such terrible things to land in detention and all I did was come in late. I sighed. How could this day get any worse?
You could possibly have no food today.
Thanks for the motivation.
Any time.
I groaned. I'm probably going crazy. Who talks to themselves? Am I really that lonely?
Yes.
I groaned again and banged my head on the table. Ouch. I forgot I had a bruise there.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox-le-line-break-xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Oh, thank goodness detention's over! That was torture. I'm never being late to Mrs Dodds class again. I quickly grabbed my bag and ran out of school. It takes ten minutes to get home but hopefully if I run it will only take five. I started sprinting down the road, not caring about the shouts I heard. I took a quick look at my watch and gulped. I was 45 minutes late. I turned into my driveway and opened the door. I quickly ran into the kitchen and looked at the fridge. Oh my god, how was I supposed to make all this?
"ANNABETH CHASE!"

(A/N: Okay, hope you all liked that, I will be posting the next chapter of 'Relive to save lives' in a few days so don't worry. The next chapter will be meeting some special people who come for dinner. Wait and see!

Goodbye my Angels!

Angel of Olympus- OUT!)