Strange

Chapter 1: Chills and Research

8:00 am, Wednesday, September 1st 2010

When Percy Jackson first came to Goode High, everyone knew something was off about him.

Before people even met him, there were rumors about him. About how he blew up the band room during the summer. About how he had been kicked out of every school he had ever stepped into. About how he was the same Percy Jackson who blew up the gateway arch a few years back. Everyone braced themselves for a punk, a delinquent.

But nothing could prepare them for the actual Percy Jackson.

He was not a punk, or a delinquent, he was something else, something worse. There wasn't a name for what he was, but whatever he was, it set everyone the wrong way.

He didn't look like much. He always wore hoodies with the hood always up, jeans with rips that didn't look like they were originally part of the jeans, and a pair of well worn converse. He was tall, yes, but he wasn't ridiculously tall.

But despite his outward appearance, it was blatantly obvious that he was a lot more than he seemed. When he passed people in the hallways power seemed to ooze out of him, sending chills up everyone's spine.

But as the months passed, people forgot about Percy Jackson. He faded into the background. He was no longer an enigma, he was just another student in Goode High.

That was until Percy Jackson disappeared almost halfway through his sophomore year.

He didn't return until his junior year, and when he did, Percy Jackson was again thrust into the spotlight. Over the months he was gone, he had gotten taller, and so much more intimidating.

And the strangest thing was, he didn't return alone.

It was on the chilly morning of Wednesday September 1st, 2010 that he had driven in on a black motorcycle, flanked by three other people also driving motorcycles. Immediately heads turned at the sight of the motorcycles, due to the rarity of them at the school.

And people felt a chill run up their spines when the person on the front of the procession removed his helmet. It was Percy Jackson. But...it didn't really look like him.

First of all, this guy was at least 6' 5", which meant if this was Percy, he would have had to grow at least 8 inches in the time he had been gone. Additionally, his hair was longer, being tied in a small ponytail and the nape of his neck. There was also a streak of white hair that stood out against his black hair.

People at first didn't think it was him, instead a doppelgänger version of him. But when he looked up and they saw the green eyes, they were certain it was him.

The rest of his crew removed their helmets as well, revealing another guy and two girls. Together the group walked into Goode High for their first day of school.

———

Kate Reeds was an integral part of the flow of Goode High. While she didn't run any clubs, didn't captain any teams, she was one of the most important people to be on the good side of.

The reason why was a simple one; she could figure out everything about anyone. Many people used her services to get dirt on school rivals, and multiple times the popular crowd would use her to get info on others.

While many used the junior girl for their own personal gain, she had her own agenda and motives. There were a handful of people who Kate was determined to get more info on. At the top of the list was Percy Jackson.

Her info on her mysterious classmate was frustratingly sparse. She knew that his stepfather was the English teacher Paul Blofis. She knew that he'd been kicked out every school he'd been to, and was the subject of a nationwide manhunt back in the summer of 2005.