"Ok, class. We have a new student joining us today." My teacher, Ms. Bains said cheerfully. I rolled my eyes. What was so great about a new student? Just as she said that, a guy that looked my age-15-walked in. Every single girl's mouths fell open, except mine. The guy had long, jet black hair that fell over his sea-green eyes. He had really tanned skin and perfectly white teeth.
"Would you like to introduce yourself?" Ms. Bains asked the guy.
"Sure. My name's Percy Jackson." He said.
"Well, Mr. Jackson, you can take a seat beside Ms. Chase over there." Ms. Bains said while pointing to the empty seat beside me in the back of the room. I sunk down in my seat. Percy walked over and sat down. All the girls looked at me with envy. Percy smirked at me.
"Hey." He said quietly. I didn't reply.
"Wow, someone's grumpy today." He chucked. I rolled my eyes.
"I'm not grumpy." I said, not even looking at him.
"So what's your name?" Percy asked.
"Annabeth." I said.
"Nice." I tried to concentrate and do my work, but I kept on getting the feeling that someone was staring at me. Every once and a while, I would look I at Percy and catch him staring at me, then looking away. Towards the end of class, Ms. Bains wrote some things on the board and told us to take notes. I tried to ignore my dyslexia and copy it down as best as I could. I finished mine pretty fast, but Percy was getting no where. He would write something down, then erase it. How hard could it be to copy something down?
"Hey, Annabeth." Percy whispered to me. "What does that say?" He pointed to the board.
"Which one?" I whispered back.
"All of them. What do they say?"
"Can't you read it yourself?"
"No. I'm dyslexic. What does it say?" I was about to tell him, when I saw Ms. Bains giving us a be-quiet look.
"I'll tell you after class." I said. In a few minutes, the bell rang. Ms. Bains assigned some homework and then we left. I was walking to my next class, when I heard someone calling my name. I turned around and saw Percy walking towards me.
"Come on. Notes." He demanded. I rolled my eyes and walked towards him.
"Ok. So..." I told him everything that I wrote and he copied it word for word.
"Thanks." He said when he finished. "Oh, by the way, can you show me where Mrs. Coar's Greek class is?" I forced myself not to groan. Seriously? SERIOUSLY?
"Just follow me. That's my next class, too." I said. Percy smiled and nodded.
"Awesome." We walked in silence, and I got several jealous looks from other girls. Why the heck would they be jealous of me? I was one of the least popular people in my grade and I wasn't exactly pretty. I couldn't have been happier when I got to class and saw four of my friends. I left Percy and walked up to them.
"Hey guys." I said. My best friend Megan turned and smiled.
"Oh my god, Annabeth. That new hot guy is so into you!" She said. I tried not to gag.
"Percy? Ew he's not even cute." I said.
"Uh, yeah he is!" My other friend Alicia said, staring at Percy.
"Annabeth, face it. He's the hottest guy at school." Said Chloe, my last friend. I rolled my eyes.
"Wow, guys. I don't know what you see in him." I looked at Percy, who was talking to a group of guys. I mean, I guess he was ok, but I wouldn't say that he was hot. And I wouldn't date him. He seemed cocky and arrogant. The bell rang again, and everyone took their seats. Percy sat beside me, and Megan, Alicia and Chloe were staring at him. Oh god. Mrs. Coar walked in, her arms filled with books.
"Alright class. Today we're going to be continuing our study of Greek mythology. Now, who can name all of the Greek Olympians and what they're known for?" Only two people put their hands up, Percy and I.
"Yes, young man." She said and gestured to Percy.
"My name's Percy, by the way. Anyway, there's Poseidon, God of the sea and his symbol is a trident. Zeus is the god of the sky and is married to Hera. Dionysus, the god of wine. Hephaestus is the god of forge and is married to Aphrodite. Apollo, the god of sun, poetry, music, healing and prophecy. Ares is the god of war. Then there's Athena a maiden goddess, the goddess of wisdom, and her symbol is the owl. Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty, and, like I said earlier, she is married to Hephaestus. Hera is the goddess of family and marriage. There's Artemis-another maiden goddess, the twin of Apollo and goddess of the moon and hunt. And finally, Demeter, the goddess of agriculture." A kid at the front of the room raised his hand.
"Yes?" Mrs. Coar said.
"He forgot Hades and Hestia."
"Actually," I said. "Hestia gave up her seat on Olympus for Dionysus. And Hades isn't considered part of they Olympians. But Lady Hestia is the goddess of hearth and Hades is the god of the dead and the Underworld." Percy looked at me like he was surprised that I knew the answer.
"Very good, you two." Mrs. Coar said. Percy smiled at me, but I ignored him.
"Now," Mrs. Coar continued, "for the next couple weeks, you will be doing a project on anything you want in Greek mythology. It could be about an Olympian, a monster such as the Minotaur-" Percy inhaled sharply when she said the name Minotaur- "but it has to have something to do with Greek mythology. And also, you will be doing this project in partners." I looked at Megan and gave her a wanna-be-partners? look. She nodded.
"And I will be choosing your partners." Mrs. Coar said, as if she could read our thoughts. Everyone groaned.
"Now... Here are your partners. Josh with Kelly. Jade with Miranda. Chloe and Alicia. Ryan and Megan." Great, I thought, Now I can't be with my friends. I waited for my name to be called. After everyone was paired up, I thought that Mrs. Coar forgot about me and I would have to do this project by myself.
"And for our last pair... Annabeth and Percy." Wait. What? What? What.
