Don't judge a book by its cover.[Percabeth]

Chapter 8

Percy's POV

It had been a rough night. Tyson had been sent two more meltdowns by his dreams, meaning no one got much sleep at all. I had told my mum that I'd take Tyson to his school because she was clearly shattered. I got dressed in my usual, black jeans, black top, black converse. But that day I decided to wear my piercings to school, I didn't do it a lot. I was always scared it would just cause more comments to be thrown my way by the bitches. At the thought of Annabeth's group, my stomach twisted. She had seemed different the day before, way nicer than her usual self. I wondered if she'd be different again today.

I took Tyson's hand and led him out the apartment, down the stairs and onto the street. His school was not too far from mine, thank gods. Sometimes I'd get a call in school saying they needed me to come and calm him down. That always meant I had to run put of class to get there as fast as I could. Once, he'd had three meltdowns in one day. Now that, was a hella long day. We reached the gates of his school and I walked him into his classroom. I told the teacher I'd be picking him up then I left to head towards my own school.

I walked up the steps, getting the same 'insults' as the day before. Come on guys, change the disk every once in a while. As usual, I walked to my locker and as usual Annabeth and her friends pretty much filled the entire hallway. I slouched towards my locker, yawning as I went. I locked eyes with Annabeth and she smiled slightly. Okay, so she's in a good mood today. Just as I thought the day might be looking up, she glanced round at her friends. Her smile melted and was replaced by a hard sneer. I rolled my eyes, grabbed my books and wandered off to my first class.

I can honestly say I didn't have a clue what was going on that day. No one even spoke to me until science. I walked in and sat at my usual chair. We didn't have to sit with our project partners, so I assumed I'd be on my own yet again. Just as I began to daydream I was rudely pulled out of it by a chair scraping along the floor beside me. I looked up and saw Annabeth give her friends a bored look and mouth 'Project stuff' before sitting next to me. I was confused. I didn't have any project stuff to sort out. As if she could read my thoughts, Annabeth whispered.

"Look, I know there's actually nothing to sort out I just wanted to sit here. Okay? And its nothing to do with you before you get big headed about it, my friends have been getting on my nerves."

"Whatever," I managed to whisper back, "you don't need an excuse to sit with me." I grinned at her annoyed face. She hit my arm and whispered back.

"Shut up. It was the only free seat." I raised my eyebrows as I looked around the room. I counted four other empty seats. I turned to face her, only to find a ' don't say a word, I will kill you' look on face. I smirked but didn't say anything. What? She could be scary. It was nearing the end of class when she spoke again.

"Look, tonight I have to get my brothers from school so I might be a little late." And irritated look flashed through her eyes.

"Do they go to the one down the road?" I asked her. She nodded, her eyebrows furrowed with confusion.

"I'll walk with you then, I have to pick my brother up from there too." She nodded silently. "Oh and I assume you won't want to be seen walking home with a loser like me so I'll meet you behind the gym. I'll even walk a few steps behind you so people think km just a stalker." I winked, only half joking. She nodded but I noticed she didn't say anything the lines of, 'Oh Percy, don't be silly. You're not a loser.'. Lovely. The bell rang and as we packed up our things her friends came over. She shot me a look like, 'Save me!' but I just shook my head lightly and left her to it. But not before her friends insulted me a little more.

"Ha! Look at those piercings, you think a bad ass now? Keep dreaming." I let my face slip into a hard glare.

"Ooh, you think you're scary do you? Lets see how scary you are when the jocks are beating the schist out of you."

"Gods, look at your hair have you ever seen a hairbrush?"

At that, I laughed. I turned to look at the girl, she was tall and thickly muscled. She wasn't particularly pretty or well dressed, to be perfectly honest, I was surprised she even made it in to the barbie clan. I remembered name as Clarisse La something or other. I'd heard her be an extreme bitch to lots of people. I decided she worth an insult.

"Aw, at least I can brush my hair. But you, babe, are stuck with that face forever." I bowed at them and quickly left the classroom, leaving them with a shocked look on their faces. I noticed Annabeth with a hand over her mouth, stifling a laugh. I winked at her through the classroom window then ran off, laughing to myself.

Annabeth's POV

I'd been having a truly shit day. First, my step mum told me I looked like a slut. So I changed into white skinny jeans and a light grey vest top. Then she told me my make up was whoreish and when I refused to take it off she forcefully wiped it off my face. At that, I stormed out the house. Thankfully, I had a some make up in my bag so I put that on once I was out the house so fuck you Helen. Then, when I got to school, my friends were already bitching. Not for the first time, I wished I had a group of friends that cared more about me than bitching about others. Only one of them noticed I was upset. A girl called Piper, who I had never really noticed before, came up to me and asked me if I was alright. It was nice to see not all my friends were awful. I shook my head and tears started to form. She pulled me to the side and I explained about my step mum.

"Annabeth, that's awful! Next time she's a bitch like that, come straight to my place. Okay?" She handed me a slip of paper with her address and number written on it.

"I have to go now, but I mean it. Call me anytime." She smiled as she walked off.

I reluctantly made my way back to my friends and stood there, not really listening to them. Out the corner of my eye, a boy with raven hair and bright green eyes caught my attention. I turned slightly and smiled at him. He looked almost shocked for a second. But then I remembered I was supposed to hate him so I returned my face to its natural bitchface. He looked almost hurt for a second before slouching off. I felt bad, he hadn't actually done anything wrong.

I managed to make my way through the day with minimal effort. I got a text at lunch telling me to pick my half brothers up from school. I inwardly groaned. Bobby and Matthew were okay I guess but they loved to remind me that my mum wasn't around. They were their mother's children after all. After lunch was science. After remembering how he made me laugh the night before, I decided to sit with Percy. Plus, I didn't think I could take a full lesson of making fun of people.

As I went to sit next to him, my friends gave me a confused look. I mouthed something to do with homework then sat down. I was right that he'd cheer me up. We only spoke for a few minutes but I already felt better. But at the end of class, my mood started to go downhill. My friends came over to where I was sitting and they instantly started insulting Percy. I looked down, ashamed at what they were saying my head perked up though as I heard Percy laugh at Clarisse's comment about his hair. I watched him look her up and down before replying.

"Aw, at least I can brush my hair. But you, babe, are stuck with that face forever." He then bowed and ran out. I had to smother a laugh at my friends expressions and the fact that he had just called Clarisse 'babe'. I looked out the window in the classroom door to see Percy wink at me then run off. I had to leave the classroom quickly to avoid bursting out in laughter in front of everyone. It was weird how one lesson with the irritating Percy Jackson could take my mind of my step monster and make me laugh. I was starting to hate him a little less.

see you laters alligators