Look, I didn't want to be a Half-bood student. I earned it. And in this school, earning a title is everything. I was the captain of the swim team, and I was captain of everything else. My title was Poseidon, one of the strongest. My dad was a celebrity, so that didn't really help, but I liked the school.

Welcome to Half-blood High, home of the Demigods. We were all acedemically and athletically advanced children, gifted with different talents. I've been at this school longer than most of the kids, ever since I was twelve. My friends, Jason, Leo, Piper, Hazel, Frank, and Nico, they all started about three or so years back. My brother, Tyson, was here for a year, but decided to join the army.

There was only one girl who was here longer than me. A sorta-pretty-but-geeky girl. A girl I've known since I got here. I kinda sorta liked her a bit, but I thought that I could save myself by teasing and being mean. Drive away the pain, I thought. Just drive her away. I thought that she was pretty, and I got turned on by every fact that came out of her mouth. When I said "Wise Girl," it was a compliment. But she didn't think the same way, obviously. So I started using it the way she wanted me to.

Right now we were in the courtyard during our free hour. I had just taken that stupid book of hers out of her hand, reading it for myself. It had really started to get to the good part, with all the killing and murder. I smiled. She was reading Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. How did she know it was my favorite? I hoped my burning face didn't show.

I've never seen her pick it up before, so I think this must have been her first time reading it. I skipped to a random page. "Ohp," I said, pretending to sound surprised, "There goes Peeta."

"WHAT?" she yelled, reaching for the book. "What happened?!" She jumped up and down, trying to grab it out of my hand. "What happened to Peeta?"

"Oh, nothing. He just—OW!" I yelled, Chase judo flipping me to the ground, ripping the book out of my hands. "Annabeth!"

"Stop stealing my books, Kelp Face," she said, flipping me off, her eyes red. Was she crying? She ties her hair up, and walks away. Jason and Leo start making wolf whistles, and Nico helps me up.

"Thanks, Neeks," I say. He blushes. I pretended I didn't notice. Jason, on the other hand, was giving me the "look." The look he always gave me when I was around Annabeth. I know what you're trying to hide, it told me. He was on the verge of finding out. Finding out how close I was to punching him. How much I thought Chase was hot.

"You know," Jason said, smirking, "a girl like that is a keeper. Why do you annoy her like that?"

My face burns, and I whip my face in his direction, giving him my best evil glare. "I'm not interested. I already have a girlfriend, Jase." He just snickers, and high-fives Leo. Frank looks confused.

"What are you two talking about? Percy doesn't like Annabeth," he said. I almost fell to the ground, this was so untrue. My heart squeezed. "He has Rachel."

"Right. Rachel," Nico says, defending me. This guy already knew I didn't really like Rachel, but it was the best I could do. I had to keep up my image. And Rachel said that she didn't mind, as long as she could make someone jealous.

So win-win.

"Yeah. Rachel," Leo said skeptically. "And your face isn't as red as her hair. We know you're lying, Aquaman."

"Don't call me Aquaman, Repair Boy," I grunted.

"How about in love, then?" he smirked. Leo was one of my best friends, but sometimes he didn't know when to back off. I grabbed his shirt collar, and he smiled. "I knew it!" he said.

"Leo—" I started, raising my fist, but Piper walked over, crossing her arms.

"Hey," I said, lowering my fist. She looked like she meant business. "What did we do?" I ask, setting Leo down.

"Pipes!" Jason said, faking a smile. He loved Piper, really, but she was giving the trouble look to us.

"Annabeth just broke down crying about how much you annoy her." Piper pointed to where Annabeth stormed off to. Piper was talking to me. I gulped.

"So . . . ? She doesn't cry usually, does she?" I say, getting nervous. I see Chase crouched down in a corner behind Pipes. She was shaking, and I knew I must have done something wrong. I immediately felt awful, and I wanted to comfort her. If she didn't mistrust me, I would have been able to apologize.

"She's in that time, Percy. Be nice. You don't want to piss her off." Piper looked pleading. She was like my sister, so I knew that she was worried for both of us.

"Ohh," I say, realizing. Annabeth was dangerous when she was on . . . that. "Her period." I said it quietly, and I felt like a giant jackass for making her cry.

"You'll have to Apollo-gize sooner or later," Frank said, trying to hide his smile. Frank's title still hadn't been determined, but he was hoping for Apollo. His smile quickly melted, knowing that it was the wrong time for a pun. "I'm sorry," he muttered.

Later, I had to be partnered up with Chase. I felt like I was walking into a trap sitting next to her, working on architecture. I didn't know what to say. It was awkward for a few minutes, so I took a peice of paper out of my bag and started to draw.

First the eyes . . . then the tail . . . I always imagined her with a tail, drawing on a rock with a sea shell in her hair. Mermaids were easy for me, as was anything else related to the sea. Another reason I was a Poseidon kid.

"What are you doing?" she asked, staring at my finished work paper and the former blank one I was sketching on. "Why are you drawing?"

"I'm done, Wise Girl," I said. "What's it to you?" I shoot her a glare.

"Nothing. I'm just asking, Water Boy," she argues, rolling her eyes and getting moody. I feel like I should back off.

"I'm drawing something," I tell her.

"Oh? It looks . . . human. Who is it?"

"I don't know," I lied. "Just a mermaid."

"Can I see?" she asks. I hand her the paper after putting my signature on the sketch.

"Look," I said. "It's just a—"

"It's me!" she said, surprised. "How did you do that?"

"Um . . . ," I say nervously, "I don't know."

"Can I keep it? Just to color it in? I'll give it back, I swear," she begs. What was going on?