Miles From Normal

Chapter 2

The doorbell rang. As Percy was upstairs changing, Sally answered the door.

"Hi, Mrs. Jackson," said Damon. "I'm Damon, your neighbor. I'm here to pick up Percy?" He phrased the last part like a question.

"Hello, Damon," said Sally. "Percy will be here in a minute. Why don't you come in?"

The vampire entered the Jackson household. He was looking around when Percy descended down the stairs. She was dressed in a blue tank top with jeans and ankle-high boots.

"Ready to go?" Damon asked the raven-haired girl.

"Yeah," came the reply.

They went outside after saying goodbye to Sally where a blue 1969 Chevy Camaro came into view.

"A Chevy Camaro. I dig your style, Salvatore," said Percy, smirking.

"A girl who knows her cars. I'm impressed," Damon said, an identical smirk gracing his features.

They got into the car.

For a moment, they were in silence. Before it could get awkward, Percy spoke. "Tell me about yourself."

"I'm a Cancer, and I'm a sweet, sweet guy looking for love in this terrible world. I have a brother who I don't get along with, and I love puppies."

"Half of what you said are lies," snorted Percy, deeply amused.

"And how would you know that?"

"You're way too forward to be a 'sweet, sweet guy looking for love in this terrible world,'" she made air quotes with her fingers as she spoke, "and you don't look like a dog person."

"You got me," he said with an exaggerated sigh. "Your turn."

"Okay, I'm a Leo, I have a brother who I get along with very well, I have a pet hellhound, and I don't care about love at all."

"Ding, ding, ding! We have another liar," said Damon.

"What did I lie about?"

"Well, the pet hellhound thing is obviously a lie, and you can't not care about love."

Percy gave a mysterious smile that suggested she knew something he didn't.

"Okay, you win."

"And that's how it's done." Damon looked extremely pleased with himself. "Aaand we're here."

"Where is 'here'?" asked Percy.

"The Grill. Our go-to place for any kind of food."

As soon as they were seated at a booth, a cute, blonde guy came to take their order.

Damon nodded at him. "Hey, Matt."

He nodded back. "Damon."

"I'll have a burger and fries," said Percy. "And do you have any drink that is blue in color?"

Damon rose an eyebrow at that, but didn't question it. He decided to ask her later.

"We have the Blue Lagoon," said Matt.

"Perfect," said Percy, grinning.

"A cappuccino for me," Damon said.

It was Percy's turn to raise an eyebrow. Can vampires drink coffee? Can they eat food at all? She decided not to ask.

As they waited for the food to arrive, Damon tried to get to know more about Percy. Meanwhile, Percy was confused whether to tell Damon that she knew what he was or keep it to herself. She wanted to tell him but didn't know how to bring up the topic. She imagined how the conversation would go. "Hi, Damon. I know you're a vampire, and I'd probably drive a stake through your heart if you weren't so nice to me."

"You said you spend your summers in Long Island," said Damon. "What do you do there?"

"I go to a camp," answered Percy, looking nostalgic. "They teach us all kinds of stuff there. Sword fighting, wall climbing..." She conveniently forgot to mention that the climbing walls had lava on them. That was the most she could reveal without telling him outright what she was - a demigod.

Damon looked surprised. "What kind of camp teaches you how to fight with a sword?"

"An awesome one," replied Percy with a smile that lit up her eyes.

"Sounds great," he said.

"What's your brother's name?" Percy asked.

"Stefan. He's really annoying. You wouldn't like him," came the reply.

Percy laughed. "You don't say."

"In fact," Damon continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, "he's right there."

Said brother saw them and started to move towards them.

"Fancy seeing you here, little brother," said Damon.

"Hello to you too," said Stefan. "And who's this?"

"This charming young lady is Percy Jackson. Our new neighbor. Percy, this is Stefan, my little brother."

"The annoying one," quoted Percy.

"Not exactly what I want to be introduced as," said Stefan, holding out his hand for her to shake. "Pleasure to meet you, Percy. Welcome to Mystic Falls."

"Thanks. Nice to meet you too."

"I should go," said Stefan, spotting a dark-haired girl come into the restaurant with another girl.

After he went, Percy couldn't help but notice a weird vibe from the girl who had come with the dark-haired girl.

Soon, their food came and they continued to talk while eating.

"So where do you want to go next?" Damon asked.

"I just wanna walk around, look around the town," said Percy.

"Sure."

*time skip *

"I had a really great time," said Percy as Damon dropped her off at her house.

"Me too," he replied.

"I'm starting school tomorrow, by the way. So I should sleep soon." She looked at her watch. "Gods, I didn't realize it was so late. Bye, then. I'll see you."

He didn't miss the way she'd said, 'gods.' "Oh, you've got school," Damon smirked. "I'll see you then. Bye."