Woodside Academy (Percabeth AU)

Chapter 1 - Greetings from Annabeth Chase

Annabeth's POV

     You see that name written above? Annabeth? That's my name. I'm Annabeth Chase, 15 year old 'genius'.

     Keep in mind, genius isn't the word I use to describe myself, more of a common term others have given me throughout the years. My mother mostly. She loves telling everyone in town that her daughter is perfect (once again, not my words).

     Every class I've ever been in, I've always been the top ranked student. It's not like I was a freak about studying or anything, I just knew the answers. I think I get it from my mom, Athena. She's the smartest, wisest person I know. She read to me while she was pregnant, and throughout my whole toddler-hood until I was quickly able to read myself. Up until year 4, I  was kept home. My mom runs a large Architecture Firm in France, but she would spend laborious hours alongside me at the table as I learned how to read, write, and do maths. I was able to do most things 6 year students were only learning to do by the time I was 5. It seems ridiculous, I know. However, my brain just picks up on how to do things really easily and quickly. Show me how to do something, and I can just do it.

     I don't indulge in bragging about my smarts, it seems pointless to me. I would consider myself relatively down to earth, very aware of myself and surroundings. I know how to act and carry myself. My mother used to hold lessons in our house library on how to act civil and ladylike. These lessons were annoying at the time, but proved their usefulness once I began school. It turned out my pupils were merciless bullies and chose me as the odd one out in class. They would tease me about my wildly curly hair, my weird gray eyes, or my British accent. All of their accents were French, making my posh English accent stick out. Whenever I wanted to blow up at them and use my sharp words as a slap to the face, I would remember everything my mother taught me, making it easy for me to restrain myself. However, once my mother heard of these events, she pulled me out of school within two years to keep me at home again.
I mentioned students bothered me about my English accent, and you may be wondering if I live in France, why is my accent British? Well, both of my parents were British and came to France from England. My mom kept me home most of my childhood, so as a child would, I mimicked her speaking. Then I only spent two years among other children before my mom brought me back to our home, so not enough time for me to pick up the accent from them.

     Anyway, you may also be thinking: why do I speak more about my mom than my dad?

     My parents went to school in England as children together. My mom says my dad always used to tug her hair and poke fun at her. She'd loathed him at first, finding him incredibly obnoxious. But then she found something endearing about his mischievous behavior, so she befriended him. As they met up more and more throughout their teen years and adulthood, she found him quite charming. My father proposed to her at a young age, and escorted her in secret to the alter.

     Their parents didn't approve of them getting married so young, which is why their wedding was a secret. After the wedding ended, they ran away to France and hid away, although I'm sure my grandparents knew where they were once my mother made a name for herself as a major Architectural figure.

     However, one day my father (who is an explorer by the way) left to go on a voyage with his men into a large mountain range. They never returned, and none know why.

     It would make me sad, but this happened when I was nothing more than an infant, so I never knew him. Of course I longed for the presence of a father figure, but my mom fills any empty space in my heart.

     The two of us live in a large home, what some may consider a mansion, located in a city in France. The city isn't very well known, it's more a town with city vibes.