Title: Apartment 23

Summary: A story about a gambling Italian, a violent punk, a drunkard goatboy, an insane pyromaniac, a golden boy, a rich girl, and a semi-sane boy who's head is full of seaweed who's only sanctuary is the blonde brainiac next door. Welcome to Apartment 23. College!AU.

Genres: Romance/Friendship

Pairings: Percy/Annabeth/Luke, Nico/Thalia, Piper/Jason, Reyna/Leo, Hazel/Frank, Silena/Beckendorf, Clarisse/Chris, Travis/Katie

Warnings: Drinking, gambling, and Leo's flirting

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo Chapter One

PERCY JACKSON closed the car door of the old rundown Mustang that had seen better days. At one time it had been a beauty, but now, after years of running, it was falling apart and was pretty much... well, a dump. His step-father, Paul Blofis, had generously given him the car for his eighteenth birthday. It was my grandfather's car, he had said. He passed it down to my father, who passed it down to me. Now, I'm passing it down to you. The way Paul looked at him made Percy feel like he was supposed to clap and go down on his knees in thanks. But his mother's look told him very clearly, Don't do anything stupid. So he mustered up his best smile and gave his step-father his thanks.

He supposed he should have felt grateful that his parents were giving him a car in the first place. After his first few driving lessons with his parents, he didn't expect to be allowed on the road at all. It had resulted in a sweaty and nervous Paul, a very angry old woman, a reproachful policeman, and a shocked Sally Jackson. No one had been very happy to hear that he had almost run over an old woman, but honestly, Percy didn't think someone her age should be walking on the road at all. She could have been from dinosaur times for goodness sake.

Speaking of Sally Jackson, the middle-aged woman was currently sitting in the driver's seat of the car, nervously looking at her son in the rearview mirror and clutching the steering wheel so tight her knuckles were white. Even at her age she was a beautiful woman. She had always been kind and fair towards her son, even after all the expulsions from school and the detention slips he always brought home needing to be signed. Percy had always been a troublemaker, but his mother loved him anyway. Not to mention she made the best blue deserts in the world. Percy thought his mother was absolutely wonderful, and at times he could have sworn he saw a gold halo above her head. Many people had called him a momma's boy because of the way he talked about his mother, but Percy had always took that as a compliment. But at times his mother could be a bit... overprotective.

"Are you sure you have everything, Percy?" she asked him for the fiftieth time.

Percy sighed as he took another box full of his stuff from the trunk. "I'm sure, Mom."

"Truly? Do you have your toothbrush? Toothpaste? Do you have your teddy bear-"

"Mom!" Percy felt his face burn. "I told you I don't need him anymore! I'm eighteen now, Mom."

"I know," she sighed. "I'm just worried about you. Are you sure you want to do this?"

By this, she meant him moving into an apartment. In about two weeks he would be starting his first year in college, and instead of moving into one of the college dorms, he had decided to move into one of the campus's apartments. Olympus University was apparently one of the best universities in the country, and everyone had been surprised when Percy had been accepted; even Percy himself. His history teacher had reccomended this university to him. It has a wonderful history program, he had said. They'll be lucky to have you in their history department.

Percy couldn't have disagreed more, but he sent in his application anyway. His entering this college, however, meant that he would have to leave his home in Manhattan and move to sunny San Diego; much to his mother's displeasure. But they both knew that chances like this didn't happen very often, so she had no choice but to let him go.

Percy had always been good at history for some reason. His grades in his other subjects had never been the best; not to mention his conduct in school. History had always come easily to him, and he found it quite interesting. Call him a nerd, but he had always wanted to become a historian when he was older. That or a marine biologist; that was his second choice. Still, even with his wonderful grades in history, (Yes, he liked to brag about that. Who wouldn't?) it was still a mystery why the university decided to accept him. But the last thing he wanted to do was question it. If Olympus University wanted to accept him, who was he to say anything against it?

He had hoped to be able to pay for his own apartment and pay for his tuition at the same time, but his parents wouldn't have it. Just worry about school and paying for the apartment. We'll pay the tuition for you, they had said. He had protested, of course, but his parents wouldn't have any of that.

He had spent weeks looking through the different campus apartments, (There was, surprisingly, a wide variety of apartments.) After much consideration, he settled on Apartment 23. There were twenty five apartments in all, not counting 24, (For some reason they had skipped 24 and went straight to 25 on the website. Percy decided not to question it.) He had to admit that Apartment 23 was the best choice. Not too many people, no complaints on anything from that apartment, and good behavior from the people... well, maybe that wasn't entirely true. According to some sources he looked up, Apartment 23 was the worst one to live in, what with the parties all night, loud music, shady behavior, and overcrowding. But with the cheapest price out of all the others, he decided to live there anyway, (Yes, each apartment had different prices. Percy was starting to wonder exactly what kind of university he had decided to go to.)

But at least no one had been found murdered in Room 13, (Apartment 24 was closed for a reason.) This had been labled off as a rumor, but Percy wasn't entirely sure that was true. Of course, his parents didn't need to know this. They would freak out if they found out about his choice of lodging, and would probably choose the apartment themselves. Or even worse: make him go back home. At this point, Percy was pretty sure his mother was debating whether or not to make him do just that.

The apartment itself didn't look too bad. It looked like an average apartment; about five stories tall and made of red bricks. It looked quite peaceful at the moment, and didn't seem at all rowdy or crazy he had been told it was. But looks were deceiving, and Percy had a feeling that that peacefulness would be broken soon. He had been told that he would be sharing a room with six other people because of overcrowding, but he supposed it could have been worse. At least he would have plenty of people to cheat off of. (But then again, he doubted they would have the same homework as him, since they were probably all from different departments.) Still, it was a nice thought. Besides, he had never had a problem with being with other people. In actuality, he probably would have gone crazy if he lived by himself. The overwhelming silence that was there when you were by yourself had always made Percy uncomfortable. It made him feel like the air itself was suffocating him.

His mother stepped out of the car and helped him unload the rest of the boxes. "You'll call me everyday, won't you?"

Percy sighed. "Of course, Mom."

"And you'll tell me if anything's wrong? If any of your classes are too hard or if your teachers are treating you unfairly?"

Percy had never had good experiences with any teacher except for his history teacher. Even at a young age he had never fully trusted adults. It was probably because of his first step-father, or who he liked to call, 'Smelly Gabe'. He had never cared for Percy, and he had treated his mother like a servant. Percy had no idea why his mother had married him in the first place. When she finally decided to divorce him, he had tried to make off with all of their savings. They caught him before he did this, thankfully. Percy wanted to kick him to Timbuktu, but his mother wouldn't let him. If that didn't show what a good person Sally Jackson was, Percy didn't know what would.

He had never known who his birth father was. His mother often talked about him, though. They had met on the beach in Montauk and had instantly fallen in love. She always had this fond smile on her face when she talked about him, and Percy couldn't help but wonder just how great his father really was. He had left them when Percy was just born. He disappeared, his mother had told him when he asked where he went. But he loved you, Percy. Don't ever think he didn't. He'll be back, you'll see. Percy wasn't so sure about that. It had been eighteen years since he left. He honestly doubted he would show up after all this time. He had to admit he felt bitter and angry at his father. He had, after all, left them to fend for themselves. But then again, he didn't know exactly why his father had left them. But after all these years, Percy was starting to lose interest in why. He had his mother and Paul, and that was enough for him.

"Call me everyday, okay? Don't be hesitant in calling me if you need any help." his mother said.

"I know, Mom," Percy said, setting down a particularly heavy box. "I have to go now, though. I've got to unpack my things."

"Okay," his mother said hesitantly. She seemed reluctant to leave him.

"I'll be fine, Mom," Percy reassured her. "You've got nothing to worry about."

"I know that," she said, giving him a small smile. "It's just hard to realize that my little baby boy is growing up."

Percy felt a lump grow in his throat. He was afraid he'd start crying right there. "Mom," he stressed, feeling embarrassed. "I'm not a little kid anymore. I'll be fine."

His mother cleared her throat. "Alright, then. I suppose I should be leaving..."

Percy gave his mother a tight hug. "Bye, Mom. I'll call you once I get settled in, okay?"

"Alright," she said, pulling away reluctantly. "Be careful."

"I will."

"Don't do drugs and don't drink. If I find out that you got kicked out of another school-"

"Mom!" Percy exclaimed.

"Alright, alright. I'm going," she said, holding her hands up in surrender. She looked at her watch. "My plane's leaving in half an hour. I should be going." She gave her son a fond smile. "Be safe."

"I promise," he said, waving as she walked away.

He sighed when his mother disappeared from view. He turned around and looked up at Apartment 23.

I have a feeling things will be different from now on.