Intro:

Hello there! My name's Alissa. I'm writing this book for two guys I knew. Connor and Travis Stoll? You may have heard of them. They're the two troublemaking siblings in the now-popular Percy Jackson series.

Anyway, I'm writing this for them. In the series they're portrayed as troublemakers, hated by many gods and campers, and very mischievous. Yes, all that is true, but that's only part of it. To me, they were so much more than just rebellious sons of Hermes. They were loving, caring, fun guys. They weren't just my best friends. We were closer than that. They're like brothers to me, and they treated me like their sister, even though I'm a daughter of Athena.

This is just a little book of some of their adventures and my fondest memories with them. So let's see I think I'll start...here.

Chapter 1:

"Dude, come on give it back!" 14-year-old Travis Stoll said to Micah, the school bully. He had just taken Connor's backpack...again. "Make me!" Micah smirked. He dangled the bag just out of reach. "Give it to him now!" Travis yelled as he charged Micah. He knocked the bag out of his hands, and they both fell to the floor, punching and kicking. Connor slipped through the group of kids who had gathered to watch the fight and grabbed his backpack. He backed up and started to dry his tears with his sleeve just as a teacher pushed his way through the crowd.

"What's going on here?" he demanded. No one said anything. "You two" he pointed at Micah and Travis "come with me." They slowly got up and followed the teacher to the principal's office.

Connor, not really knowing what to do, just ran to his next class. He was a year younger than Travis (although people swear they're twins) and very smart. He actually skipped a grade to be in Travis's class, but since that made him the youngest he always got picked on. He got to his seat right as the bell rang. He decided that he wouldn't worry about Travis. Travis could take care of himself. He'd just focus on making it through this class and meeting Travis at lunch.

The class dragged by. Connor kept looking at the door, then the clock, then his paper, then back at the door. Travis never walked in, which Connor half-expected. He knew he was still being "interrogated", so he tried to concentrate on math. It frustrated him, he knew the answer to every question, but because of his ADHD he couldn't concentrate.

Finally the bell rang. Connor was the first person out of the classroom and made a mad dash to the lunchroom, looking for his brother the whole way. Sure enough, Travis was waiting for him at their lunch table, wearing a huge grin.

"Did you get in trouble?" Connor asked. "No not this time. But Micah got expelled." he said smiling. "You don't have to deal with him anymore!" Connor was about to start jumping for joy (or at least in his head he was) when he got a good look at Travis's eye. It was all black and blue. "Oh my gosh Travis this is all my fault I'm so sorry!" Travis looked confused for a second, but he must've figured it out. "Dude, don't worry about it! It wasn't your fault. Besides, you're my brother. It was worth it." he smiled a warm, brotherly smile, when he was suddenly he was doused with chocolate milk. "Oh my gosh I-I'm so sorry! Um...here!" Travis turned around to see a girl about his age holding out a napkin. Behind her, he saw a bunch of girls laughing at her, and instantly he knew what happened.

"It's cool." he said. "Gosh that was a stupid thing to say" he thought to himself. He took the napkin she offered and quickly wiped the milk off him face, hair, and shirt as best he could. "Um, would you like to sit with us?" Connor asked her sheepishly. Travis nodded in agreement as the girl stared at them in disbelief. "A-are you sure? I mean, I just spilled milk all over you and-and" Travis stopped her. "Yeah we're sure. And besides, it technically wasn't you, it was them" he gestured towards the other girls who were still laughing hysterically. (A.N. Just in case you didn't figure it out, the other girls shoved this girl, which made her spill the milk all over Travis). She smiled and sat down. "I'm Alissa" she said. Connor and Travis introduced themselves, and they talked for the rest of the lunch period.

The rest of the day dragged on. The Stoll's found out that Alissa was in all the same classes except P.E., so they sat near each other for the remainder of the day. They also discovered that Alissa lived pretty close to them, so the threesome rode the bus together as well. Alissa got off the bus at the first stop, so Connor and Travis had some time talk before their stop.

"I like her" Connor stated. "Me too" Travis agreed. "She's very nice. I'm actually glad she spilled milk all over me." They looked at each other and burst out laughing. What a weird way to meet their new best friend!

They got off the bus, still laughing, and walked back home. "Mom, were home!" Travis shouted. No answer. "Mom?" Connor asked. "Where are you?" They walked down the hallway into the living room. "Go away!" their mom's familiar voice shouted. Connor tried again. "Mom, it's me and Travis!" "I told you to leave me alone!" she screamed. Travis pulled his younger brother out of the way just as their mom hurled a book at his head. They dashed up the stairs into their room, locking the door behind them. Both of them had tears streaming down their faces.

"How long do you think it'll last this time?" Connor's voice trembled as he spoke. "I-I don't know buddy. She's pretty out of it." Travis said, hugging his brother tightly. Their mom had never been an alcoholic. She had always been against it, up until their dad left them three years ago. Even after he mysteriously disappeared, she rarely drank. But when she did, it was awful. Usually she'd get so stoned that they would have to lock themselves in their bedroom, sometimes for days, and use their window to get in and out of the house. They had gotten use to this, and kept a few boxes of pop tarts and a case of cokes in their room, just in case they got hungry. So, after eating their pop tart dinner, they helped each other with homework and went to bed.

Connor was the first person up, so he got to wake Travis up, which wasn't an easy task. They grabbed what little cash they could find in their room for lunch since they had left their wallets down stairs, ate a pop tart for breakfast, and climbed out the window.

The bus pulled up shortly after they arrived at the bus stop. Alissa was listening to her iPod, but she turned it off when they sat down. She gave a warm smile to the two tired boys and said hey. They returned the smile and said hey as well, and they talked the rest of the way to school.

All of 7th grade went like this. Every now and then something odd would happen. They weren't made fun of as much anymore, but they still remained outcasts. They even started to get into pranking people, and since they were the "outcasts" they got away with it 99% of the time.

Pretty soon 7th grade was over, which meant summer vacation! Unfortunately, Connor and Travis's mom's bad habit got more and more frequent. And the more frequent it became, the worse it got. But there was one day in particular that stood out as the worst.

Connor had just left to run down to the store and buy some water since they were out of coke. "Call me if you think of anything else!" Connor said, leaving Travis to clean up their room. "Okay mother" Travis replied with a smirk. Connor smiled, then left.

Travis had just started cleaning, when he came across their box of pop tarts. It was empty. He looked around the room for his phone, but couldn't find it. "Uh oh" he said to himself. "I left it downstairs!" After a moment of hesitation, he decided to sneak down and grab it. He slowly opened the door and looked both ways. No sign of their mom. He snuck out as silently as possibly, and quickly made his way down the stairs.

He peaked around the corner. His mom was sleeping on the couch. His phone was on the kitchen counter where he had left it 3 days ago. He tiptoed past the couch and into the kitchen. "Where is it?" he thought. He finally spotted it, grabbed it, and turned to go back. When he reached the couch, he stopped. Mom was gone. "Oh my gosh" he whispered to himself, suddenly very scared. He ran as quietly as he could towards his room. He made it up the stairs when she screamed. To his horror, she was hiding next to the staircase. He screamed as well. "What are you doing out here?" she screamed, spit flying out of her mouth. Yeah, she was defidently out of it. He ran towards his room, but not fast enough. She grabbed his wrist and twisted it violently. He let out a cry and pulled towards their bedroom door, trying to get out of her steel grip. He made it through the door part way, but she still hadn't let go. Travis grabbed the edge of the door and tried again to get her to let go, but she wouldn't. Instead, she grabbed the door handle and pulled the door shut as hard as she could (which was pretty hard) and let go of his hand just in time to have it get slammed in between the door and the frame. She laughed evilly as he cried out in pain.

As quick as he could manage, Travis carefully got his hand out and turned the lock. He sank to the floor and curled up into a ball, sobbing uncontrollably. Why did their dad leave them? If he hadn't, this never would've happened. He felt like his dad had left because of him. That's what his mom told him every time she got drunk. At first Travis just ignored her. After all she was drunk. People who get like that say things they don't mean all the time, don't they? After a while though he began to believe her. Why else would his dad leave? His mom was the greatest person he knew when she was with his dad, and Travis knew they loved each other. Connor was so curious and innocent. That only left himself. He was just...well, just Travis. Nothing special like Connor or his mom. He had half a mind to just put himself out of his misery right then and there. It would save everyone else some trouble. But he couldn't bring himself to do that. Not yet anyway. He had to be there for Connor. Connor needed him, and although he wouldn't admit it, he needed Connor.

Drying his eyes and clearing the previous thoughts from his mind, Travis sat up. He looked at his wrist but quickly looked away. It was all black and blue, and you could see the bone sticking out. Connor climbed in the window as Travis was trying to get up. "What's wrong?" Connor asked Travis, who was trying to hide his hand behind his back. "Nothing" Travis responded. "Why do you ask?" He was trying to be convincing, but it wasn't going as well as he had hoped. "It looks like you were crying." Connor said. "I'm fine." Travis answered. Connor backed off. "Okay, well could you get the other bag? I didn't have enough hands." Uh oh. Travis nodded uneasily and walked over to the rope ladder hanging out their window, still trying to hide his wrist from Connor. He didn't think he could do this one handed, but he tried. About halfway down he lost hold and fell the rest of the way. He hit the ground and let out a yelp. "Dude are you okay? What happened!" Connor said as he rushed down the ladder. "Nothing I-I just slipped." Travis stammered. He reached out his hand to grab the bag. He didn't realize which hand it was till Connor gasped. "WHAT DID YOU DO?" Connor yelled. "I, uh, w-went to go get my phone from the kitchen." Travis said. Connor's eyes opened wide. He knew exactly what had happened, and it was obvious to him that his brother was still in a lot of pain. "Stay there" Connor said. He disappeared through the window and returned a few minutes later with two backpacks. "What are you doing?" Travis asked Connor, but he didn't get an answer. Travis followed Connor wordlessly for 10 minutes. They arrived in front of Alissa's house shortly after. "Why are we here?" Travis asked, but again Connor didn't answer. He must've been crying on the way here, because he wiped his face with his sleeve before ringing the doorbell.

Alissa answered. "Do you happen to have a first aid kit somewhere?" Connor asked, his words jumbled together. "Well hello to you to!" she said with a laugh. The brothers however didn't find it so funny. "Um, yeah I think so. Why?"

Travis and Connor looked at each other. They hadn't thought of what to say. They couldn't let anyone know their mom did it. That's why they came here, not the hospital. Travis spoke up. "I uh...fell off a tractor." She stared at him in disbelief. "We live in the city, Travis. There are no tractors." she said sarcastically. Connor glared at him. He shrugged. Before Travis could come up with any other "brilliant" ideas, Connor spoke up. "He broke his wrist." Travis nodded and showed her. "How?" she asked, surprisingly calm. They hesitated. "He was climbing a tree, and he fell" Connor said confidently. "Well, then why don't you go to the hospital instead of here you dorks? This is serious!" "Well-" Travis interrupted Connor. "I have a fear of hospitals!" "Then why didn't you go to a clinic or doctors office or something. They're not the same!" Alissa yelled. Connor must've gotten tired of trying to come up with ideas, so he just looked at Travis expectantly. After all, he is the older brother. "I h-have a fear of people who wear lab coats or-" he stopped and thought for a moment. "or whatever doctors wear." "Scrubs?" Alissa suggested. "Yeah those!" he said. Connor rolled his eyes. Alissa stared at them, doubt clouding her eyes. She let out a frustrated sigh and let them in.

"Travis, go sit on the couch over there. Connor, see that cabinet over there? Grab a washcloth out of it please. I'll be right back." The boys followed her instructions and she came back with the first aid kit and dragged a little table closer to the couch. They sat in silence as Alissa carefully examined Travis's wrist.

"We need to get the swelling down a little before we can do anything else. Connor, can you get a ice pack from the freezer? Its right around the corner." He got it and had Travis hold it on his wrist.

"So is your dad traveling?" Connor asked Alissa. She nodded. The brothers knew Alissa's dad was rarely home, and her mom was in some kind of freak accident and died when Alissa was only 2 years old. "How did you really break your wrist?" she asked. "We told you already. I fell out of a tree." Travis said. She rolled her eyes and almost looked hurt that they weren't telling her. "You want your wrist to get better or not? Cause if you do, you better start talking." Travis shrank back and looked down with tear-filled eyes. Connor stood up and walked out of the room. Travis hesitated. "My mom." Tears trickled down his face as he said it in nearly a whisper. Alissa sat back, stunned. "Ever since my dad left-" his tears were falling faster now. "You don't have to tell me it all" Alissa said with tears in her own eyes. "N-no it's fine. You need to know. Ever since my dad left my mom started drinking. At first it was mild, but the longer it went on the worse it got." he went on to explain the rest of the story. About halfway through, Connor came back in the room, his eyes red from crying. By the end of the story Alissa was crying too. They sat in silence for a while and watched whatever was on the TV.

Everyone calmed down, and Alissa started to work on Travis's wrist again, tender moment over. "Hey Connor, could you hand me the washcloth you got earlier? Thanks." she said as he handed it to her. She put it in Travis's mouth. "Okay Travis. I need to set your wrist, so when it hurts bite down on the washcloth." He nodded. Connor leaned in close to her. "Are you sure you know how to do this?" he whispered. "I'm positive. Besides, I've done this before. And my dad showed me how, just in case. He'll be fine." she replied and gave him a reassuring smile. Then she got to work.

To their surprise, Travis didn't make a sound when they set it. He had his eyes closed tightly and they could see his jaw trembling from biting down so hard, but no noise came from him at all. Alissa put a splint on it and wrapped it as best as she could, but it wasn't perfect. "If you guys want, we have a spare bedroom with two twin beds you can use. You know, if you don't want to go home." she offered. They gladly accepted. Travis took an aspirin, which pretty much knocked him out for the night, and after Connor thanked Alissa again, he went to sleep. Alissa, however, couldn't sleep that night. She felt awful for forcing the truth out of them, but they were her best friends. They could've told her, right? After hours of tossing and turning, she fell into a restless sleep.

That's pretty much how their summer went. If their mom was okay, then Connor and Travis would stay at their house. If not, they would use the spare bedroom at Alissa's. And Travis's wrist finally did heal, but since they didn't go to the hospital to get it fixed it gave him trouble from time to time.

A/N: How was that? Was it too brutal or mushy or sad? Please let me know so I can make it better :) All reviews welcome! Both good and bad. And I have somewhat of an idea of how the rest will go, but you can still send in suggestions and I can try to use them. Thanks for reading! Please comment and subscribe! I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I'm done writing it.

Oh, and just so everyone knows I post all my disclaimers on my profile. So as far as I know (even though I haven't really looked into it) I don't think I'm breaking any rules. Let me know if I am. Thanks again!