Percabeth AU

Chapter 1

The second Percy's alarm clock went off, he had a feeling today would be an important day. Even without this premonition, he could have guessed that. It was his last first day of school, a day to which he had been looking forward to for what felt like centuries. Shockingly, he was a little sad for it to finally be here. He finally had a good group of friends, and his family life was also stable. This type of cosmic balance seemed unlikely to last.
After a speedy breakfast of blue waffles, a symbol of miracles, like Percy's likely graduation, he was off for the day. He said a quick goodbye to his mom and younger brother, and darted out the door. As soon as he was on the busy New York street, he plugged his headphones in, a universal don't talk to me. Before he even made it to his subway station, someone yanked them out of his ear. He was about to exchange some vicious words, but before he could, he saw the golden-brown curls. It was just Hazel.
Hazel was his oldest friend, as they had been neighbors for as long as Percy could remember. She was two years younger, but his mother said she was ten times as mature, and hey, she was right. As he reached to pull back his headphones, Hazel tugged them back. "Please! First day traditions!" She gave him puppy dog eyes, and he tucked his headphones back in his jacket pocket. She was like his little sister, and very hard to say no to. "Ok Levesque," he said as he slung an arm around her shoulders, "what are your goals for this new school year?" She smiled, obviously grateful he was humoring her. "Well, I definitely want to get straight A's. And maybe try out for track! And..." She trailed off and got a weird look in her eyes. I briefly wondered if she was hallucinating. "And? And what?" Hazel looked at him skeptically. "Promise you won't tell?" He grinned at her. "Have I ever?" She smiled back shyly. "Well there's this boy... You know Frank, right?"
Wow. Hazel admitting to liking a boy? This was a change of pace. Hazel was cute, if Percy was being objective. And he knew a couple of boys had made remarks about her, something he and Nico had quickly ended. But she had always seemed to ignore them, preferring her books any day. Yet, here she was, and Percy could tell it was more than a simple crush. Hazel quickly blushed and looked away. "Anyway, what are your goals? Master that kick flip thingy maybe?" Percy had to hold back his laugh. Hazel tried to be interested in his interests, but she did not get skating. "As fun as that sounds," he said, "I'm hoping to finally get above a D grade point average this semester. A swimming scholarship won't be enough if my grades are too low." Hazel frowned. "Well, you could always get a tutor! You know Piper had to do that for Chem last year, and she said it really helped!" I couldn't withhold my grimace. "Yeah, being stuck in a room with one of those gorgons is going to help me." Hazel laughed. "Most of the tutors are students. Y'know, people who have exceptional grades? Maybe you'd get someone nice." I smiled at her. "Thanks H, I'll think about it."
As our conversation ended, we walked across the Goode High threshold. A huge gothic looking building that seemed as terrifying as the actual prospect of high school. As he and Hazel made their way to their lockers, they ran into the majority of the remainder of their friend group.
Piper stood at her locker, seemingly trying to cram as many pens as possible into her bag. She was definitely pretty, even Percy could tell, but like Hazel, he only ever saw her as a sisterly figure. Her brown hair, almost the same color as a Hershey's bar, was always cut choppily, with a feather or two braided in sometimes. Her eyes couldn't seem to hold a color, and Percy had been forced to listen to Jason wax poetically about them way too often. Jason was Piper's boyfriend, though they had only really been together a few weeks. He was tall, within an inch of Percy's own height, with short blonde hair he kept perfectly gelled.
Next to them, joking and fiddling with gears and wires, was Leo. A self-described "Latino elf" he was shorter, and had dark curly hair, and generally a manic look in his eyes. Jason was obviously trying to ignore whatever Leo was saying, but every now and then he cracked a smile, showing he found him entertaining. Reyna and Rachel stood together a little bit away, looking as if they might be arguing. Reyna had coal black hair she normally kept tied back in a braid, and she'd rather wear cleats to school than sneakers. She was captain of the soccer team and the volleyball team. She and Percy had been friends since freshman year, but recently he'd caught her giving him weird looks.
Rachel was the opposite of Reyna's All American. Her long red hair was always loose down her back, and Percy doubted he'd ever seen her in jeans without added ink. She was "The figurehead of the art association" as she put it, and objected when they called her a president. Rachel and Reyna had attended a private school together before Goode, but most people were surprised that they were still friends.
As their friends saw them approach they smiled in greeting. Both Reyna and Rachel gave Percy wide grins. Piper ran up when she saw him. "Ohmygod Percy!" She grabbed his arm and squeezed really hard, "I have the most exciting news! I've found the girl you're going to marry!" "Ouch Pipes. You're leaving bruises." She frowned and let go. "Weakling." Then remembering her topic, she smiled again. "Any who, this girl moved into my building yesterday, and I, being the kind soul that I am, invited her for coffee, blah blah, long story short, I have a weird feeling about you two and I call maid of honor." The rest of the group heard her final sentence, and she got weirdly dirty looks from Rachel and Reyna. He never would have guessed they were invested in the bridal party. "She's starting here today though, and I told her to meet us at lunch! Her names A- "
"PIPER MCLEAN!" All of their heads swiveled to the source. Mrs. Dodds, the hall monitor, was giving her a death glare. As she rolled up on her Segway, he had a difficult time suppressing his snicker. Piper rolled her eyes. "Gods not this again." She smiled sweetly up at Mrs. Dodds as she came into hearing range. "Yes, ma'am what can I do for you?" Ignoring Piper's smile, Mrs. Dodds glared back. "Are you aware that you are, yet again, out of dress code?" Piper continued to smile. "Mrs. Dodds, I'll tell you, yet again, that leggings are not against the dress code." The remark did not earn her any points. "Follow me young lady. Principal Chiron will sort this out." She Segway-ed away, and Piper had no choice but to follow. Slamming her locker, she shot us one last smile, and chased after the teacher.
"Piper should know better than to tangle with Mrs. Dodds. Wanna bet she gets detention for a week?" Rachel had walked over to me, smiling as she grabbed my arm. "C'mon, I told Nico I'd meet him for homeroom, and I know you want to see him!" She was right, I should check in on my cousin before the day began. We said goodbye to our friends, and made plans to see them at lunch. I noticed Rachel still had a hand on my arm. As we walked away, I saw Reyna huff off from a conversation with Hazel. Guess she wasn't excited for homeroom either.
"So, excited for another year?" Rachel smirked at me as we walked toward our classes, and she was still holding my arm. "Yeah, definitely." I said as I scratched my neck. Her hand was removed and her face fell a bit, but she perked back up. She went on, talking about some art project she was doing, and I tried to follow, but my eyes were glazing over. As she talked about hues and saturation, my mind drifted to the hand on my arm, and what it meant. I could say I hadn't thought about Rachel, but it would be a lie. She was pretty, with her freckles and bright red hair, but I couldn't make myself attracted to her, even if it would have been convenient.
This was all going through my mind as we came to an abrupt stop, apparently reaching the destination. Nico leaned against the classroom door, messing with his skull ring. "Gods, I thought you were going to make me late. You know I can't get a detention before the year even starts!" Rachel smiled at him. "Drama much? I just figured you'd want to see Percy." At that he looked at me. "Yeah, someone has to report to Sally that he showed up." Nico was my cousin, and though a year younger, pretended he was looking out for me. Whatever he needed to believe. "Well, if your sacred duty is done, I'll be on my way." I gave them a wave and left them to it, ready to face my last first day.