Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rick Riordan. And as cliché as the story line is, it's mine.

Chapter 1 – Percy

I looked up, sweat running down my face as I took in my surroundings. Somebody to my right and two people rapidly approaching me, determined to get what they want. I flick my wrist and the ball flies towards Jason and he jumps to catch it and fly down the court. The score is pretty close, and it's about 15 seconds until halftime. The rest of my teammates quickly follow Jason as he jumps and dunks it before the other team can even catch their breaths. I wipe the accumulating sweat off my brown and shake my hair out. Ten more seconds until the buzzer goes off.

The other team quickly tries to gain back the points but fails to do so before the buzzer goes off like music to my ears. I head to coach and sit down as someone hands me my water bottle. I gulp down about half of it before I feel a pair of arms wrap around my neck from behind. "Good job, Perce," says Rachel. The rest of the cheerleaders stand behind her as we all settle in for the halftime show.

As much as I insisted to Rachel that I can't be in a relationship, I finally gave in. And here we are. She kisses my cheek and I smile up at her.

"Now presenting, the Goode High Dance Team. Choreography by Reyna Avilas and Piper Mclean." A group of girls in red, gold, and white run in and take their positions. An upbeat dance rhythm blares through the speakers as the girls begin to dance.

I'm not one to judge how good the dance team is, but they're pretty awesome from what I have heard. They go to competitions all over the US and perform at most of our basketball games, though this is really the first time that we have been able to watch them and we weren't forced into the crowded locker room for an unnecessary pep talk. The student section behind me goes crazy, yelling for specific girls. They all look the same, but different at the same time. The music pauses for a second before two girls come through the formation. One with light brown hair and darker green eyes, the other with black hair and black eyes. They perform a bunch of spins and soon the rest of them join until another pause in the music and the dance ends.

At this point every student in the student sections is yelling and screaming. The girls stand and smile, taking small bows before running off the court and into the girls locker room. Rachel stirs behind me and talk to the rest of the cheerleaders behind her. "Well, if that wasn't a skank show, then I don't know what is." The rest of the girls snicker and Rachel smiles smugly.

As nice as she is around me, other people are a whole other story. Her curly red hair is up on top of her head in a ponytail with a bow. She turns back to me, "Right Percy?"

I shrug, knowing that if I admit I didn't really mind, or think that it was bad, she would think I am choosing sides. I have no problem feigning indifference. She rolls her eyes and kisses me before turning back to the squad. They all head back to the sides of the court and stand in their lines. The coach outlines the main points of our second half and we're out on the court playing again.

About 5 minutes into the third quarter, and we pulled ahead by six points. I chuck the ball across the court to Leo but it slips through his hand, heading towards an innocent bystander out of bounds. Before I can yell out, a head of curly blonde hair turns and catches the ball easily before throwing it back to the ref. Her grey eyes meet mine and the group of dancers around her pat her back, asking if she was ok.

She nods briefly and looks away from me before sitting with her fellow dance team members on the bleachers to watch the rest of the game. The game is already in play and before I know it, the ball is coming towards me again. I catch it and fly past players in green until one grabs my jersey and yanks it back, making my back thud on the hard gym floor. My teammates crowd around me and help me up, before pushing me to the free throw line. The ball is handed to me, and I start to register everything around me again.

The cheerleaders are yelling, just like the spectators and close my eyes, letting the sound fade away. I groan and open them again. I dribble the ball a couple of times and line up my shot, before letting the ball sail through the net. My teammates pat me on the back and I go for a second one scoring just as easily as the first. The fourth quarter starts and I'm pulled out for a couple of minutes to catch my breath.

A group starts to walk past me before I look back and see familiar blonde hair. I shout to get her attention and she turns to me, looking slightly confused. "Sorry about the ball," I say. She smiles and shrugs. "No harm done, besides it looks like you took a harder hit than I did," she answers. I smirk and nod as she turns away. But when I turn away too, I wish I hadn't. Rachel's hard green eyes glare at me. I smiles uneasily and she softens a little, smiling back.

We end up winning the game, and by the time I get home, I'm tired and fall right into bed.