1 – I Get an Unexpected Visitor

It was the end of the summer vacation and I couldn't have been more disappointed. The summer had been great: Mom, Paul and I had gone down to our cabin in Montauk only they didn't tell me the good news - Annabeth was coming as well! Actually, they may have hinted at it but they should know I'm way to slow to work things like that out. Annabeth and I had spent all our time together during the break because once school started, we wouldn't see each other again since Annabeth was going to an all girls school in the fall. So during the day, it was walks on the beach with Annabeth (this never got old since we ended up not walking) or fishing with Paul or listening to Mom tell the world what exactly it was I had liked to do when I was two years old (why are moms so embarrassing?). During the evenings, Paul wowed us with his surprisingly good cooking skills and we tucked in to barbeque or, when it was Mom's turn to cook, defrosted pizza.

So any sane person would be able to see why exactly I dreaded going back to Goode for my sophomore year.

"Honey, relax," my mom told me endless times, "You survived a whole year! You should be so proud of yourself, not dreading a new year! In fact, I think this calls for a celebration."

"You want to celebrate the end of summer?" I asked as if she had suggested we pay Hades a trip.

"Well, not so much the end of summer, but the beginning of fall." My mom is so weird. I talked her out of this because she wanted to invite the neighbours who always look at us like the spinach that got stuck between their teeth.

So on the first day of school, Mom made an extra special breakfast for me and Paul consisting of blue sausages, blue eggs and blueberry muffins (with added blue). She also fussed around us like we'd both got amnesia and forgotten everything.

"Percy, are you sure you did all your summer homework?"

"Paul, did you pack your lunch?"
"Have you both got your house keys?"

In the end, Paul had to say: "Sally, do you want me to empty out my briefcase so you can see what exactly I haven't forgotten?" to shut her up.

Mom came to wave us off. Paul was taking me to school from now on since he was my step-dad and everything and Mom was supposedly staying home to write, though knowing her she's probably sneak out to buy us a "Well Done On Your First Day Back" cake…wait, no, she'd make it.

"Bye, Percy!" mom shouted as we pulled out of the garage, "Have fun! See you later, Paul! Good luck!"

"Sheesh, you'd think we were never coming back!" I joked.

Paul laughed and said "That mother of yours is too kind."

Paul was a cool guy and we got on really well. My real dad wasn't exactly around to watch the Yankees game with; he was way too busy making sure the oceans were all under control…or on a bad day, totally out of control! I'd come to think of Paul as my substitute dad – he could never take Poseidon's place, but he was the human dad I'd never had (who loved to watch Yankees games).

Paul's Audi (he used to have a Volvo but I kind of trashed it, so we went to get a new car and since I would also be driving it, I helped to pick a cooler one) pulled up into the teacher's parking lot and I made to get out.

"Well, have a good day, son." Paul smiled as I shifted my backpack and made towards the doors.

I paused and replied "You too, Dad." And you know what? The overjoyed look on my step-father's face made the whole thing worthwhile.

To be totally honest, there was another reason I was dreading walking into homeroom today. Last year, I had unexpectedly made friends with Rachel Elizabeth Dare so I didn't look like a total loser. But this year, Rachel had struck a deal with her dad: he let her save my butt and she would attend an all girls finishing school he wanted her to attend. Rachel had stuck to her word and was now attending a school full of rich, stuck-up, snobby girls. She'd said to me during one of our phone calls "You owe me, Jackson!" and I totally did. But my new dilemma was: this year I would be a total loner.

I'm not exactly what you would call the most social of people, so any new friends I made, it was because we'd probably been through a terrible ordeal together or something. The types of people in my class were not the type of people I generally mixed with: mortal. I was guaranteed a lunch table all to myself with a blue sandwich for company.

So that's why, when I walked in to my homeroom, I got a surprise that nearly knocked me over.

Ω

When I entered the classroom, the teacher was not yet there. Some girls were hugging their friends and squealing like they hadn't seen each other since forever, when in reality they'd probably had an email fest in the morning to sort out what they would be wearing. The guys who had probably dated every girl in the sophomore and freshman years were entertaining themselves by burping loudly or high-fiving each other.

"Yo, Jackson!" came a voice from behind me. It was, unmistakably, Chad Harold who was considered to be 'cool' because his parents were loaded; he had a fast car and had been voted Best Kisser by the sophomore year in the yearbook (I had been nominated for Biggest Freak but Rachel stole that title from me).

"What?" I answered stupidly; everyone knows you're just supposed to keep walking but Chad was just one of those irritating people you couldn't help but respond to, even if the response it to break his nose.

"Wow, so rude of you not to even say hello."

This time I kept walking towards my seat.

"Aw, I forgot, Becky," he said to the girl hanging off his arm, "Jackson's girlfriend's dumped him to go to that snob hangout."

Becky laughed and teased: "No, Chaddy, don't you remember? She's not his girlfriend."

"What exactly is it you guys want?" I asked exasperated; I had been expecting this but right now all I wanted to do was call Annabeth (my mom gave in and bought me a cell phone and I was still alive) and wish her luck before her first class.

Chad never got a chance to answer because at exactly that point our teacher, Dr Boring – that's his real name, walked into the room. He was a large man with no hair on his head but a lot on his chin. "Settle down, please." He said in his monotonous drone. Surprisingly, we did.

"Now as you all know, Ms Dare has left us –"

"What a shame!" Chad called out, looking straight at me.

"Quiet! As I was saying, Principal Forde will be bringing our new student to us shortly."

As if on cue, Principal Forde entered the room. "Good morning, students. I hope you are well and sunburn-free…" he chuckled at his own joke and, finding no response, continued, "I have waiting outside your new classmate. She has come a long way and I expect you to feel her welcome. Now, step inside, young lady. Please welcome to Goode…."

A girl stepped into the room, looking down as if looking up would make her disintegrate from the stares of twenty-nine other teenagers.

No way...the blonde hair and long limbs…it couldn't be… I was still mad for not getting a chance to call Annabeth…But then she looked up and I knew exactly who it was:
"Annabeth Chase!"

And what was Annabeth Chase doing? Staring straight at me with a smile on her face which clearly said Surprise, Seaweed Brain! and enjoying every moment of my surprise.

2 – Lunch Tastes Better

The most annoying thing was, we didn't get a chance to talk to Annabeth all morning. Dr Boring seated Annabeth right at the front meaning there was one person between us: Chad Harold. Then, it turned Annabeth wasn't in any of my classes because she was so much smarter than me. I literally counted the seconds till lunch while I was sat in English (which I had Dr Boring for again. Lucky me – not!).

Finally, the bell rang and I practically ran out if the door. I bet I left skid-marks. I rushed down the hallway and I only knocked over two people and towards the cafeteria. People watching must've thought I was some hunger crazed lunatic.

Inside the cafeteria, it is like a jungle – I'm not even joking: once for a senior prank, they let a monkey loose in here and a lunch-lady fell in love with it and it goes around stealing peoples' lunches. But I found Annabeth easily enough: somehow I knew she'd know which table Rachel and I used to sit at; though the Mr and Mrs Freak graffiti on it may have been a clue.

"Alright. What in Hades' pants are you doing here?" I demanded but I was smiling so hard, I thought my face would rip.

Annabeth laughed and replied: "Hades' pants? Excuse me, but I'm eating here!" Then she stood up and hugged me. Even though she was my girlfriend now, every time she hugged me I felt like I would pass out from the sweet smell of her lemon soap.

We sat down and I breathed again for the first time in five minutes or so. I asked her again what she was doing here, ignoring the stares people were giving us.

"I worked something out with my dad and we came to a conclusion that I could come here to Goode." Annabeth answered as if this had been the plan all along; I guess for her, it had been.

"And you just forgot to mention this to me?"

"I wanted to surprise you." she laughed, "You don't know how hard it was to keep this a secret from you. I mean, I had to make your mom and Mr Blofis swear they wouldn't tell you!"

"Mom and Dad knew about this?" I was so shocked; I was amazed I could speak at all.

"Sure."

"Oh my gods! Where are you staying?"

Annabeth took a bite out of whatever she was eating; cafeteria food is always unidentifiable. She scrunched her nose in disgust, swallowed and said: "I knew you'd ask that. I'll tell you if you eat."

I realized just how hungry I was and devoured my blue sandwich and started on the blueberry muffin Mom packed for me.

"Well, I talked to my dad about staying with you guys and he totally blew his top. I mean, I am his little girl and no dad would be pleased if his sixteen-year-old suggested she go live with her boyfriend." I felt myself flush and Annabeth grinned. "So he was like 'Doesn't your mother have any kids in New York?' and she does but I said 'Dad, there's no way I'm living with Jenny. Her half-brother's in a gang!' But he still wasn't convinced at all even though this true. Then I suggested he talk to your mom and they spent round about an hour on the phone talking about how she has a spare room and I was perfectly welcome to stay there. I think Mrs Jackson's a miracle worker because Dad agreed to let me move in."

I stopped to digest this information and my blueberry muffin and summarized all that she'd said into one sentence: "You're moving in to my house?"

Annabeth nodded, "That's right, Seaweed Brain. You've got yourself a flat-mate."

I had to hold on to the table to stop myself from falling off the chair. I grinned back at Annabeth who was smiling like someone told her Ares was in hospital and managed to say: "Alright, Wise Girl. But I definitely get to use the shower first!"

But as usual Annabeth had beaten me and written up a schedule for the bathroom: I got to go first on Wednesday, that's all. As we sat there in the monkey-infested cafeteria in Goode High School laughing (with a lot of people staring at us and commenting about the appropriateness of the Mr and Mrs Freak graffiti), I realized that my sophomore year may turn out to be okay.

After all, the only thing between my room and the spare room was a door which could very easily be opened….