Hey there! Thanks for checking out Two Worlds Collide. I'll do a formal introduction later, so all I'll say here is...

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. The amazingly talented Rick Riordan does. I'll say this once, since I think it's pretty obvious that if I was him I wouldn't be on here.

Claimer: I own the plot and story.

Without further ado, enjoy the first chapter!

"Nico, I don't know about this. The season starts next week, and I can't miss any practices," I told my best friend, jerking the steering wheel to the right. The red Stingray I bought last week turned sharply, jerking both mine and Nico's seatbelts.

"Watch it, Percy!" Nico exclaimed, carefully steadying his cup of coffee in his hand. "As I was saying, how will going to a party tomorrow hurt? You have the next day off."

"I know," I told him, gritting my teeth. "The team is counting on me this year. I can't let them down."

"You've said that ten times this car ride!" Nico reminded me. "Just because you promised the media and the team you'd ditch your old high school partying doesn't mean that you can't have fun every once in a while."

"And what would you know about fun, death boy?" I asked. That was his nickname between the two of us, since all he ever wore were black t-shirts and black jeans. His skull-and-crossbones necklace added to the whole 'death' effect.

"I'm a very fun person," he said, causing me to laugh out loud. Nico raised his eyebrows, looking offended, before continuing. "I just usually don't care to share it with others."

"Isn't that the whole point of having fun? Having fun with other people?"

"That might be fun to you, but I'm perfectly content with my ways."

I rolled my eyes, carefully making a textbook left turn to appease Nico as well as the New York Police Department. "Whatever, man. Back to this party thing, I hate to let you down but I can't come."

Nico sighed. "C'mon, Percy. Just one hour? Are you too important now that you're the star quarterback of the New York Rebels that you can't spend a little time with your friends?"

"I never said that! Okay, fine. I'll go. But just one hour," I answered. "Where is this thing, anyways?"

Nico sighed again, but it was of relief this time. "Thanks. It's near your house. My…friend is hosting it. Her name is Thalia."

"Thalia…Thalia who?" I asked, my eyes glued to the road.

"Thalia Grace, goddammit! Her brother's on the Rebels!" Nico said.

"Who's that?" I replied absentmindedly, cursing under my breath as a car cut in front of me. I've lived in New York City all my life, yet I never grew to appreciate anything about its traffic.

"You don't even know your team's starting running back? What kind of team player are you?" Nico asked me, waving his hands in the air. That got my attention.

Oh. Thalia. How did I forget my cousin, even if we didn't get along?

I blamed the traffic.

"Chill, man. I remember now. What time tomorrow are you picking me up?"

"You mean what time you're picking me up? It'll leave a good impression on Thalia if I show up in style."

"You like Thalia?" I asked my best friend, as he took a sudden interest in his coffee.

"Hey! It's not like I can choose who I fall in love with," Nico complained.

"No, that's cool and all. I have a right to be surprised, though. You've never taken an interest in girls until now."

"And that matters why?"

I grinned. "You're getting lessons from the master tomorrow before the party on how to get girls. Thalia will be begging to go home with you after the party."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Who's this master you speak of?"

"Why, me, of course."

"If I recall correctly, you've never kept a girlfriend for longer than two months," Nico pointed out.

"On the bright side," I countered, "That means I really know how to pick 'em up."

"Yeah, but I also need help in the art of keeping girlfriends. Not throwing them out like yesterday's trash as soon as I'm bored of them like a certain football player I know," Nico said frowning.

"You're on your own then, man," I said, pulling into the players-only lot of our new stadium. "You know, it's not that I'm a commitment-phobe. I just haven't found the right girl yet."

"Fair enough."

I parked in a VIP spot and walked into the stadium with Nico, who insisted on coming to 'cheer me on' (read: convince me to go the party) in our last practice of Training Camp before Week One of the football season next Sunday.

"Coach Douglas might not be too happy about seeing me again," Nico said. "Un-groovy charisma, he called it."

"Nah, you'll be all right. He's a cool guy. Just stay in the stands."

"You're late, Jackson!" Chiron aka. Coach Douglas yelled at me as I walked into the locker room. "Third time this week, no less."

"Sorry, Coach. It won't happen again," I assured him, opening my locker.

Coach Douglas sighed. That was the great thing about my coach-even though we played football at the highest level, he never stayed mad for long. "You better make sure it won't. Well, everyone's already on the field. Meet me out there. First team scrimmage today."

"Got it, Coach."

"You killed it out there!" Nico told me, giving me a high five which I returned halfheartedly as I walked out of the stadium.

"I missed Connor Stoll on the touchdown pass at the end. It wasn't even a decent throw. I threw the damn football ten feet over his head," I complained. It was an embarrassing mistake. My entire offensive line buried their face in their hands as soon as the ball landed well past the end zone.

"That's one mistake, Percy. Putting up six touchdowns takes serious skill."

"Nico, it's just a scrimmage. The defenders aren't allowed to touch me," I reminded him.

He shrugged, still in awe. "Still…Atlanta won't know what hit them next week."

I grinned. "You got that right. I may be a rookie but I'm not getting paid big bucks for nothing."

"Big bucks that'll end up going into booze sooner or later."

"I'll have you know, I haven't had a drink in months," I told Nico. "And I don't plan on resuming tonight."

When we arrived at the party, Nico rang the doorbell. He straightened his tie and fixed his hair nervously, blind to the fact that confidence was the number-one key in getting girls from my experience. I tried to get that into his head earlier, but Nico didn't believe me. Hey, not my problem.

Jason opened the door, much to Nico's disappointment. "Hey, Perce. What's up, Nico?"

"Where's Thalia?" Nico blurted out, taking Jason by surprise. Even though Nico was my best friend, I had to stifle a chuckle. Rule number two in Percy's guide to getting girls: don't sound obsessive.

"Probably downstairs, with everyone else," Jason said. Nico thanked him quickly before rushing downstairs. "The guys are downstairs, too," he told me. "Frank, Leo, Connor, and Travis."

"Let's go," I decided. Even though Jason was hosting, he as well as everyone else on the team viewed me as a leader even though I was a rookie. My area of 'authority' apparently extended into partying as well as football.

"What up, Perce?" Leo whooped, grinning, as he gave me a fist bump. I fist bumped the other guys, too, before sitting down.

"You guys all came here today, even though we're playing Atlanta next week?" I asked them.

Connor shrugged. "Gotta have fun while we can."

Travis elbowed his brother. "The season's gonna be fun, Connor. Well, as long as you don't miss easy catches like you did today."

Connor laughed at him. "Dude, good luck getting Michael Jordan to catch that one."

"Are you kidding me, or what? That was easier than a drunk Miley Cyrus," Travis retorted. Even though we were all in our early twenties, some of us were as immature as high school students.

I tuned the Stoll bothers out, checking out the girls on the dance floor. Since none of the guys here really looked like football players besides Frank, I was sure nobody would know that I was the Percy Jackson that the Rebels spent their top draft pick on.

I glanced over the crowd, seeing nothing special. I was a party animal in college whenever I wasn't playing football, though, so it took a lot to surprise me at a party.

As I turned my chair to look at the girls at the circular table on the other side of the floor, my sea-green eyes locked with a pair of intense but beautiful stormy gray eyes belonging to a tall girl wearing glasses. Her long, blonde hair cascaded down her back in ringlets. She was seriously beautiful. I dare say, she was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. Even though most girls looked nerdy and unattractive in glasses, this girl somehow pulled it off.

Just as quickly, though, she looked away and back at her friends at the table.

My instinct should've been to get up, deliver a few smooth lines and dazzle her with a confident grin. After all, that's what I was known for in college besides football. My suavity and charm.

But I couldn't do it. What if she blew me off? What if she laughed at me?

Whoa, hold the phone. What happened to the whole confident, unshakeable Percy? Why was I suddenly doubting myself?

"Bro, who are you staring at?" Leo asked me, whistling. "Must be a real looker."

"Wha-what?" I asked, finally tearing my gaze from Annabeth.

Leo laughed, running a hand through his brown, curly hair. "Looks like the great Percy Jackson has finally met his match."

"How would you know?" I asked him. "You haven't met her."

"I have," Jason offered. "If you're talking about the blonde chick with glasses over there."

"Oh, Annabeth!" Leo exclaimed. "I'd ask her to dance if she wasn't out of my league." Naturally, everyone ignored him.

"She's Thalia's best friend," Jason told me. My heart sank a few millimeters since Thalia and I weren't exactly best friends, but I wasn't going to let that stop me.

I glanced at her again, and the whole idea of strolling over and asking her to dance seemed all the more daunting.

As if reading my mind, Connor suggested, "Ask her to dance."

I shook my head quickly. "I'm fine."

He raised his eyebrows. "The confident Percy Jackson, intimidated by a girl?"

"Whatever, man," I managed, as I looked over at Annabeth again. She was laughing and talking to a girl with long, brown hair.

"Percy, if you don't ask her to dance within five minutes, I'll steal her," Leo said, with as much seriousness as he could muster which was to say not much. But still, I wasn't taking any chances. Even though Leo was one of my good friends, I felt sick thinking about him dancing with Annabeth.

"Thalia's gone," Jason announced. "She's on the floor with Nico." Sure enough, my best friend and cousin were slow dancing on the dance floor. They looked happy, and while I couldn't have cared less how Thalia felt, I was happy for Nico.

"That's your cue, man," Leo told me, flashing me a pair of money signs just like he did when he made a field goal. I rolled my eyes.

Ignoring Leo, I stood up quickly and took a deep breath. "Here we go," I said to myself as I approached Annabeth.

I can already smell Percabeth...even though Annabeth hasn't even been formally introduced yet. XD

I know things are a bit confusing at this point but everything will become clear later. I can tell you right now that the story will be centered around Percabeth, not football (even though I love football). I just wanted to make it clear that Percy's mind is on football, not girls, before the party. Also, if I wasn't clear, Nico is NOT on the team and Jason/Connor/Travis/Leo/Frank are.

Question of the Chapter: Should I continue with the story?

Please review!