Percy spent his Sunday morning handing out cookies.
He'd moved into the new apartment a week before, but never got time to 'meet the neighbours' as Sally said. He had met some of them, so that was a lie, but Sally insisted they had a proper introduction. On Saturday she made cookies, making sure there was enough for every single family. Now she was making Percy walk around and hand them out with her.
Apartment number one and two were unoccupied, being used for storage. Apartment three was Percy and Sally's new apartment. Sally knocked on apartment number four, knowing the owners of the complex lived there. They lived in apartment four instead of apartment three because it was being used for storage, too, until last year.
Katie Gardner opened the door. She was also in her senior year, but Percy wasn't in any classes with her other than chemistry. She smiled at Percy and spent a while talking to Sally about baking and gluten and flour. Percy didn't know, he'd stopped listening half way through. Finally, they moved onto number five, which was on the next floor. The person who opened the door made talking to Katie about grass seem pleasant.
"Jackson." Clarisse La Rue said, that ever so familiar sneer on her face.
Clarisse had graduate from high school last year, but tortured Percy just a few years before, during his freshman year. 'Tortured' meaning putting his head down the school toilet a few times.
Percy guessed Clarisse lived there with her parents, coming home from college on the weekends. He quickly shoved the cookies into her arms before moving onto apartment six.
Annabeth Chase answered the door. She stared at Percy with piercing grey eyes. Honestly, Percy never really paid attention to her in school, but when he did he noticed she was somewhat intimidating. The type of person you wouldn't want on your bad side.
"So, you're the new people? My dad and stepmom are out, sorry." She said, leaning against the doorframe. Two other kids were sitting behind her, playing with Lego. Percy guessed they were her brothers.
"That's okay!" Sally smiled. "We baked you and your family some cookies, just to say hello. Is there any allergies? If so I'll make a fresh batch-"
Annabeth smiled back. "No need to worry. No allergies. But thank you. It's nice to meet you, Miss Jackson."
"It is lovely to meet you too.."
"Annabeth." Percy said.
"Annabeth." Sally nodded. "Well, we better move on. Plenty of people to meet!"
"Alright, have a good day." She said to Sally, then turned to Percy. "See you around, Jackson."
"She seems nice." Sally said as they walked to apartment number seven.
"Mm-hmm." Percy knocked on the door. The guy who opened it seemed to be in his mid twenties. He had blond hair and looked like some sort of surfer guy.
"You're the newbies in apartment three? Nice to meet ya. I'm Lee Fletcher." The guy had a southern accent. He seemed to live in the apartment alone. They chatted for a while and moved into apartment eight.
The girl who opened the door glared at Percy. Percy had never met her before, but she seemed to take an instant disliking to him. She was no older than twenty, though her eyes were so fierce they looked like they could've been thousands of years old.
"Hello, I'm Sally Jackson. This is my son Percy. We just moved into apartment three."
"Hello, ma'am. Zoë Nightshade." The girl said, but didn't smile. Percy was glad when they moved on and went to the next floor.
He was already tired of holding cookies and talking to people, but Sally insisted the went to everyone. Charles Bekendorf, who'd been a senior the previous year, answered the door of apartment nine. He was with his girlfriend, Silena Beauregard, who explained that she lived in apartment ten with her dad. Her dad wasn't home, so they left the cookies with Silena.
There was plenty of noise coming from number eleven, but Sally knocked. Travis Stoll, another guy in a lot of Percy's classes, opened the door. His brother, Conner was throwing things at him. Percy guessed they were home alone, because no sane parent would let their kids be that loud.
Percy got along well with the brothers and talked for a while.
"Did you do the English homework?" Travis asked.
"Uh-" Percy glanced over to Sally. "Yes."
"Percy." Sally said, giving that mom look.
"Hey, it's not due until Tuesday. And Mr.Blowfish will cope."
Sally sighed. "Poor Mr.Blofis."
Apartment twelve was owned by the twins, Castor and Pollux, who were also in senior year. They weren't at home, but their mother was. She explained they were at their father's house. Mr.D, the principal. Percy never really liked the guy.
The next floor was the last floor, since floor five was completely unoccupied. The first apartment, number thirteen, was unoccupied, too. Percy wasn't sure why. Apartment fourteen was owned by the Walker family. Their son, Butch, was a junior in Percy's school. Sally and Percy knocked on apartment fifteen's door a few times, but they never answered. They guessed they weren't home. Finally they were onto the final apartment, number 16.
The guy who opened the door couldn't have been more than 20 years old, but Percy didn't recognise him from school. He had an eyepatch covering one of his eyes. Honestly, he gave Percy the creeps. He stared at both of them.
"Hi." Sally said, though Percy could tell she was pretty uncomfortable. "We just moved into apartment number three-"
"Alright." The guy said, then closed the door.
• • •
They went back to their apartment together. Percy ate one of the leftover blue cookies, before being sent to do his English homework. Thanks, Travis. He got bored after about 5 seconds and told his mom he was 'going outside' to 'explore the apartment block'. Really, he was just trying to get out of doing homework.
He walked out the back exit. He hadn't been out there before. It was a small area with a swing set, though Percy didn't think any kids lived in the complex. The youngest he'd seen was Annabeth Chase's younger brothers. Then there was some sort of shed leading into a small field. It looked like stables. Curiosity got the better of him and Percy walked into them.
Silena Beauregard was already there with her boyfriend. There was three horses in the stables.
"Oh- sorry." Percy said, realising the two of them were in there. Silena was grooming one of the horses while Bekendorf sat on one of the gates.
"No worries," Silena smiled. "The stables are always opened to any residents. Katie and I mostly take care of the horses."
"Oh, right." Percy nodded.
"That's Tempest-" Bekendorf pointed to a grey-coated horse. "Then there's Guido, the brown one, and Blackjack, the black one."
"Cool." Percy said, reaching out to pat Blackjack, though he wasn't really used to being around horses.
"So, do you like the complex so far?" Silena asked, grooming Guido.
"Yeah, it's great. Why's apartment 13 unoccupied though? I mean- why not 16 instead?"
Bekendorf rolled his eyes. "Some say 13 is haunted because it's an unlucky number and all that. It's not true, obviously."
"Right," Percy nodded, though was slightly unsettled. "And what's up with the guy in apartment sixteen."
Charles raised an eyebrow, but Silena spoke before him.
"That is Ethan Nakamura. He's lived in apartment 16 all his life. His mother died, but he stayed in the apartment. Other than Katie and Annabeth and me, he's one of the only people who's been here since he was a kid. Clarisse, Butch, Charlie, Clovis, Lee, Zoë, the Stolls and the twins all moved in when they were older. Ethan is one of my friends."
"One of your really creepy friends." Bekendorf muttered, but thankfully Silena didn't hear.
"Okayy." Percy said. "Anyway, I better get back to my apartment. I'll see you all later." He smiled and left the stables, returning to their new apartment.
Everything had changed so much in such a short time. Percy was glad Gabe was gone, but the guy had been there for all of Percy's life. Even if he could no longer hurt Percy, the memories were still there.
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Word Count: 1389
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A/N: sorry for this chapter, it's mostly an introduction to the complex. But!! Percy!! And!! Annabeth!! Living!! In!! The!! Same!! Building!!
Also I know the people living there is pretty random but it's based off their cabin number (cabin 9- Hephaestus apartment 9- Charles)
Cool.
Peter Johnson's timeline!!
0-11
Percy's father left before his birth, leaving Sally alone with no job and no place to live at only nineteen (since her parents died and uncle kicked her out). She started dating Gabe so she could have somewhere to live. Eventually she got a job while raising Percy, but Gabe (who was now married to Sally) started taking all the funds, meaning Sally wasn't making any money to escape. Gabe was abusing both of them, but they didn't know the other was getting hurt.
12-18
When Percy turned 12, he made friends with a new kid at the school, Bianca di Angelo. They got along really well. To escape Gabe, Percy would often spend his time and Bianca's house. But, one day, he witnessed Bianca's death. As a twelve year old, he was traumatised. He stopped doing his school work. Without Bianca, Gabe's abuse was too much for him. He became so 'troubled' he had to be sent to boarding school (Yancy academy) to repeat 6th grade. The next few years passed, still living with Gabe. He is now in his senior year. (And, by now, Gabe is gone:))