THE NEW KID | Percabeth AU

t w o

When Annabeth got home, she found her dad helping her brothers Matthew and Bobby with homework, while her stepmom was on a phone call. When she saw Annabeth, Helen put the phone down. "Hey Annabeth!" 

"Hey Helen. What's for dinner?" Annabeth replied.

"We're ordering pizza," Helen said. "I'm trying to save the food for your birthday next week. The menu planning is taking forever for the sweet 16." Everyone thought Annabeth's stepmom was strict and mean when they first met her, but Annabeth liked her. Even though she wasn't as comfortable with her as with she was with her dad, she and Helen got along pretty well. Sometimes they even had girls days out.

Annabeth walked over to her dad. "Dad!" 

"Hey Annie. How was school?" Dad said as he hugged Annabeth tightly. 

"It was good. But... something happened. I caught Luke cheating on me with another girl." Annabeth said, tears streaming as she squeezed her dad. Annabeth didn't usually cry, but with her dad, she was fine with letting her feelings out. She hoped that one day, she would find someone who she could tell anything to.

Her dad held her at arm's length. "Listen, Annie. That guy didn't deserve you. I know that one day, you're going to find someone who you're going to love and who's going to stay with you forever."

"Thanks, dad," Annabeth said, a smile growing on her face. 

"PIZZA'S HERE!!!" Matthew yelled. Helen paid for the pizza, and the family sat down to eat. Helen had gotten Annabeth's favorite: olive and mushroom pizza. 

"Thanks, Helen," Annabeth said with a mouthful of pizza. Helen squeezed her hand in return. Annabeth smiled. Even if life wasn't going very well, she was lucky to have a family that cared for her.

After some pizza, a movie, and some games, it was time for Bobby and Matthew to go to bed. Even though they were in middle school, they had a tendency to stay up and play video games. Careful not to disturb her brothers, Annabeth went upstairs to her room: a small place with lots of books, a bed, bean bag chair, and a desk covered with homework and blueprints for her architecture class in school. She knew she should pick up next week's homework, but she wouldn't be able to focus. She sat down on her bed instead, picking up the copy of The Book Thief on her nightstand. Suddenly, she received a soft ping: a text message from Piper in the group chat. She opened it.

Piper: guys i just got news that there's going to be a new kid in our homeroom

apparently people saw his school picture and found out he was super hot

Thalia: Wow, that's soooo cool. What does he look like?

Piper: he has black hair and green eyes 

apparently he's super tall and tanned, and muscular 

i couldn't get his pic but everyone's drooling over him

srsly though, A, he's ur type

Annabeth: Very funny, Piper. You know I just broke up with Luke today.

Piper: ya but still i ship! 

i heard he starts school tomorrow so u can see him and drool then

Thalia: g2g. Jason wants to show me smth. See y'all tmrw

Piper: WHAT DOES HE WANT TO SHOW YOU SPILL

Thalia: look who's drooling now?

Annabeth: HAHAH

I'm going to go too. See you guys tomorrow.

Annabeth put her phone down and sighed, but her stomach felt funny, like she was nervous and excited. Oh no. She promised herself she wasn't going to fall for this guy as she leaned back against her bed and went to sleep.

The next morning, Annabeth woke up, her mind reeling from the alarm that had blared just a second ago. Overnight, her mind had pushed away the mysterious new kid, so she quickly brushed her teeth, showered, and got dressed into her usual outfit: a t-shirt and jeans. Her mind was filled with architecture plans instead. Since it was slightly chilly outside, she pulled on a Harvard hoodie and put her blond hair into a ponytail so she wouldn't have to fix up her curls. Then, she headed downstairs.

The middle school started earlier than the high school, so Bobby and Matthew were already gone. Helen was grocery shopping while her dad was at work, so Annabeth grabbed a piece of bread and popped it into the toaster. When it was done, she spread some jam on top, gulped it down, and grabbed her backpack. She pulled open the fridge door, but there were no more yogurt cups left. Looks like that would be a nighttime snack instead. Finally, she locked her front door and headed off to school.

On the way, her mind somehow suddenly reeled back to the new kid. Was he really her type? What does he look like? Sighing, Annabeth started thinking of her favorite books, an extreme she used when she wanted to get her mind off something, and she finally forgot about the guy.

When she got to school, she opened her locker, continuously wishing she had a locker buddy. It was nice having some extra space, but the lockers around her were empty, and Piper and Thalia had lockers on the other side of the junior hallway. When she had finished getting her books out for her first period class, she shut her locker when Thalia rushed up to her.

"Thals?! What're you doing here?" Annabeth said, confused. Thalia usually never came all the way to Annabeth's locker in the morning; she would be late to her first period class.

 "Annabeth...there's a fight," Thalia panted, pointing at the other side of the hallway.

Thalia was right. Two juniors were fighting each other, punching and kicking. One guy had a black eye, while the other had a bloody nose. Suddenly, the first guy turned, and Annabeth caught a sight of him. "Luke!" She gasped. Thalia squeezed her shoulder. Why did Luke get himself into this? Annabeth rose on her tiptoes to see if she could recognize the other guy, but before she could see him, he was being pulled away by a hall monitor, as well as Luke. Annabeth frowned, because she could practically bet this kid had green eyes and black hair --- the same features Piper described the new kid having.

Wow, the new kid got into a fight. On his first day.

Even Annabeth's ADHD wasn't this bad.