Quick A/N – Yes, I do realize that his age makes the prophecy rather irrelevant, but don't worry, it will get explained.

"Stupid sweat," Percy muttered softly, violently brushing at his hair with a pencil. It was nearly twenty minutes until the end time, and Percy was both delighted and frustrated. Ignoring all signs of his future slipping away with his focus, Percy continued to glare at the clock. Stupid SATS.

"Do you hate society as much as I do?" Percy grumbled, as he and his friend Rachel left the gym twenty minutes later.

"Relax, will you? You probably did fine," Rachel replied, giving him an affectionate smirk.

"And if I didn't?" Percy asked, refusing to forget about the exam.

"Then we can both skip college and get jobs." She smiled, but Percy was evidently not in the mood for jokes. "Hey, come on," she said, pulling him down the sidewalk. "You promised to meet Sally at the diner."

"Oh right," Percy said, "Crap, she's going to want to know how it went."

Rachel groaned in irritation. "Cheer up already! You're almost done with high school - forever!"

His mouth twitched as he considered this. "Yeah. It seemed like that would never happen."

"I know what you mean. Anyway, is Paul going to be there?"

"At lunch?" Percy asked, "Nah, he's at the school still. Probably will be all day."

"Cool," Rachel replied, nodding along, "Well –" she cut off suddenly, squinting at something across the street.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Huh? Oh, um, nothing," she replied, shaking her head, "Just thought I saw something." She forced a laugh, "I must be more stressed than I thought." She anxiously glanced around them again, "Listen, I'm going to go home and get some rest, okay? It's been a long morning."

"Yeah, okay," Percy said, too absorbed with his own worries to notice her strange behavior. "Call me later."

"Sure," Rachel said, distractedly hailing a nearby cab, "Have a nice lunch." Percy walked the last three blocks alone, doing his best not to dwell upon thought of college and the future.

"Hey mom," he said, sliding across from her in a booth.

"Hi honey," she replied, thrusting a glass of water and plate of waffles in his direction. "How was it?"

He shrugged, attempting to remain impassive, "Oh, you know. We'll see." He quietly sipped the water, trying to soothe his nerves. "What's up?"

"Well," Sally said, "Percy, I need to talk to you." She sounded extremely serious and Percy looked up, alarmed. "About college," she continued.

Oh boy, I have to repeat twelfth grade. He thought immediately, unable to come up with any other scenarios. Sally must have noticed his panicked expression because she quickly said, "No, no, it's nothing you've done, don't worry. I'm just… I'm sorry I didn't tell you before the SATS."

"Why?" Percy asked, slightly on edge.

She sighed, taking his hand in hers, "First, I think it's time I told you about your father."

Percy gaped at her. Never once in his eighteen years of life had she approached the subject. And in the same context as college… nothing good could come from that.

A/N – No worries, the next chapter will be much longer and more eventful. This is basically just set up. Hope you enjoyed!