Percy Jackson

New York City, 2012

"Before you guys leave, don't forget tonight's homework. Read the first chapter of your book and write a short and quick summary about it. Tomorrow we'll be discussing what you read."

Percy looked around the classroom in boredom as uninterested students all around him packed up their backpacks, barely even consciously hearing what the Mrs. Watkins even just said. Percy sighed, knowing he was going to have another night of painful homework to do. The bell finally rang and Percy stood up, making sure not to forget his paperback copy of The Great Gatsby and walked out, glad to be finished with English 4 class for the day and school in general.

If one were to ask Percy that eventually he would be a senior in high school, he wouldn't believe it. And then he actually reached it. To say the least, Percy was a bit disappointed. Everyone sets high expectations for senior year. It's the last year, why wouldn't he? All those high school movies he used to watch on Disney Channel made it seem so fun, but at the same time, so dramatic. But it wasn't like that at all. It was all cliche bullshit what they showed in those movies.

There weren't any jocks picking at him. There weren't any socialite girls trying to hit on him. Nerds didn't get bullied so much. At the end of the day, everyone in high school just kind of minded their own business. It was just ... normal. The only topic for drama is when two guys or girls went at each other's throats for personal reasons. And the flirting? Nonexistent. Sure, he'd hear from some of his friends that someone was crushing on him, but was too afraid to ask. Percy would simply smile and carry on with his business. He already had a girlfriend, he had no need to say anything else.

Percy was grateful, though. It was May which meant he had exactly one month left of school before he graduated. And despite the wonderful friends he had, the whole process of going to school was mind-numbingly boring and he was ready to be done with it.

And speaking of his friends, they were a group of four completely different people, and yet despite that, they got along so swimmingly. Percy was a great person to get along with and he had three friends who could back him up. Well, it used to be four friends before Rachel left for that finishing school she went to. But the other three and Percy remained as tight as ever.

"Yo, Percy! Woah, is that the Great Gatsby? Let me guess, you gotta read the first chapter."

That would be Felix Garcia. Fantastic soccer player. Kind of naive and gullible, though, so don't expect to him to have straight A's ... or B's, for that matter. But, he was seriously, seriously fast. Percy remembered how one time in Physical Education, the class was running the mile and he clocked in at a little over 4 minutes. On the field playing as a winger, he left defenders in the dust. Percy had never seen someone with legs so blessed.

Percy sighed. "Man ... they keep testing how good I can read. Now they're having me read this long ass shit."

"Yeah, that dyslexia, huh?" Felix shook his head in sympathy. "Sucks."

Percy started putting in the numbers to his locker combination. "How was it though? You know, when you took it last term?"

Felix shrugged. "Boring. It was like Shakespeare almost. Everyone dies except the main character. 'Eff' Scott Fitzgerald."

Percy opened his locker. "Yeah, that's the name of the author."

"No. I mean, 'eff' that guy for making such a stupid ass book."

Percy chuckled. "Clever. But to be fair, if it ain't Barcelona, you find everything boring."

"I was telling him the same thing."

That would be Zachary Warren, the smartest one of the group. If someone needed answers, he was the guy to go to. His photographic memory allowed him to know pretty much everything that he ever laid eyes on and he was an absolute computer wizard. The guy had literally gotten all of his points to graduate in the term before and he was just taking elective classes for fun now.

"Felix gets a little too pumped up over 22 players kicking a ball," Zachary finished.

Felix raised his eyebrows. "Are we gonna do this again? We do not just kick a ball. There's more to it. Tactics, rotations, movement—Percy, help me out here?"

"The guy has a passion, Zach," Percy said, stuffing his locker with his books. "You like computers, he likes soccer. I mean, you at least get that, right?"

Zach frowned. "I just don't get the point of it."

Percy closed his locker. "To be fair, you don't get that point of any sport."

"See? Percy gets it. And not just because he swims and plays basketball," Felix said.

"But also because he's too nice for his own good."

Now that would be Mariah Quinn, the last person of the group. Fun-loving, outgoing, and part of student leadership. She gave off the positive energy that Percy would be the first to admit their group needed.

"There's our girl," Felix said. "Where you've been?"

"Finishing up in leadership class," she answered. "You've seen where the mob is going? Someone is claiming they saw Iron Man pass by and everyone wants to see."

"Iron Man?" Percy said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah," Mariah answered. "Wouldn't be so sure, though. I hear he's busy trying to make modifications to his tower."

"I still think that's so cool. The fact that we have actually have a superhero," Zach said.

"You just like his armor," Felix said.

"'Armor'? You mean the masterpiece, the beauty of art, the pièce de résistance that, he created with his own two hands?"

"Hey, come on now," Percy intervened. "We all got hobbies we like. No need to fight over it. We're in the 12th grade and y'all still argue like freshman."

"Don't let the freshmen hear that," Felix muttered jokingly.

"What about you, Percy?" Mariah asked. "Any thoughts on Tony Stark? You're always quiet when people talk about him."

Percy sighed. He still remembered the day Tony Stark announced himself as Iron Man quite vividly. It had blown up over all the media. News, Facebook, Times Square, wherever he had gone, he'd hear the words, "I am Iron Man." At the time he'd only been 14 and he had been fully invested as a demigod, per se. So for Stark to still grab his attention was impressive. But despite everything Tony Stark achieved, Percy was still a little underwhelmed by him. Maybe he just didn't really see the hype.

Percy shrugged. "I'm just like 'whatever.' I mean he's a little arrogant, but he does his own thing. I'm cool with him, I guess."

Felix checked his watch, before bro-hugging Percy. "Alright, Perce, I got soccer practice in five minutes." He embraced Mariah before fist-bumping Zach. "See y'all later."

They said goodbye to Felix before Zach announced that he had to attend the Computer Club meeting as well. That left the neighbors Mariah and Percy to walk to their apartment complex together.

"So I guess it's just me and you," Percy said. "What's new?"

"You know Denise from Leadership?"

"No," Percy admitted.

"Mixed? Brown curly hair? Hazel-colored eyes?"

"Still no," Percy said.

Mariah rolled her eyes. "Well, she was talking to us girls in Leadership, and … she said she's into youuuu." Mariah sing-sang, poking Percy's side.

Percy rolled his eyes too. "This again?"

"What? I'm just trying to get you a date. You are too good-looking to be single."

"So? You already my know my answer: No! And I'm not single. I swear I remember telling you that countless of times."

"Riiight. 'Annabeth' is your girlfriend. You keep insisting on that."

"I've argued enough times about this, and I don't feel like arguing about it again."

"Well, if she's not around, how am I supposed to believe you?"

"Um, Felix and Zach do. I don't know why you can't."

"Come on, Percy. One date. Just one. To see if you click."

"No."

"Come on!" Mariah tapped her chin in thought. "I'll pay you."

Percy hesitated, giving Mariah some hope, but ultimately said no again. "Tell Denise I said I'm flattered but not interested."

Mariah rolled her eyes. "Fine! You're no fun."

As they left school grounds, Percy felt a feeling of unease wash over him and he started to look around in slight paranoia. Ever since the whole situation with Apollo happened, all the monsters had been pretty quiet. Percy rarely even took out his pen anymore, considering he had no one to attack and the fact that he'd been trained so well he didn't need to train anymore. But Percy still felt uneasy, getting the feeling like he had eyes watching him at the very moment.

Mariah had been going on about what happened in her Calculus class when she noticed Percy looking around uneasily. "Is everything okay, Perce?"

Percy could feel someone watching him but couldn't tell who it was. For a second, inside a coffee shop, he thought he saw a man in a business suit with dark glasses on looking in Percy's direction but a bus passed by and the man was gone.

"Yeah. Everything's fine," Percy assured. "Go on without me. I'm gonna grab some coffee."

Mariah looked at Percy with slight worry but reluctantly, she said goodbye and walked away as Percy started to make his way to the coffee shop.

Percy somehow had the feeling he was about to get into some messy business.

Hi, readers. As you can tell, I'm new and I'm putting some stuff I had in thought into writing. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this and expect more to come and I hope you enjoy it as well. With that being said, if you like this start, leave a review and let me know any thoughts as well.

My thoughts: I've seen some stories like these where Percy has no clue about anything outside the Greek world. Yes, he is a busy demigod but only in the summer and he also lives in New York, not a cave. I'm pretty sure he would hear about Tony Stark and he would definitely know that there's a Stark Tower in New York. Also, most of those fanfics that take place with Percy in high school are mind-numbingly cliche. Bullying jocks, flirty girls, and just everything about I read in those stories is cliche. As someone who went to high school that was just normal, I figured it would be refreshing if Percy just had a normal experience for once. So yeah, let me know if you agree with anything I said here.

For the timeline questions: This will take place well after the whole Trials of Apollo series and during the first Avengers. According to Percy's timeline, the Trials of Apollo all take place between 2010 and 2011. And according to Marvel's timeline, the events of the Avengers take place in May of 2012, well after those series, where Percy is already 18 and basically almost finished with his senior year in high school. So that should answer any timeline questions.

Anything else you would like to know, please leave in the reviews and I hope you enjoy what's coming next.