Percy
I arrived at Goode right on time, and headed for the pool. There was a surprisingly big crowd, considering people never really go to swim meets. But, this was against our rival school, Titan High School, so I understood.
Inside, the bleachers were full. We actually had a small student section. They had big heads of me and some of the other guys, and posters expressing how we were going to slaughter Titan High.
I dangled my feet in the water after warmups, scouting some of the other swimmers. It wasn't exactly fair that I was so good, given the fact that I could will the water to propel me forward, but honestly, who's counting right?
Right on time, Annabeth walked in. She smiled at me and gave me a thumbs up, Piper and Jason by her side. She wore a simple t-shirt and jeans, and her hair was up in a pony tail. Classic Annabeth. She still gave me those butterflies, and I hope they never stopped.
Soon, it was time for my first event. Out of the corner of my eye as I stood on the blocks, preparing to dive in, I saw Veronica and her crew walk in. Gag in my mouth, I thought, but gave no reaction.
"On your Mark, get set." The announcer said. A buzzer sounded, and I dove in.
I won all my races by a long shot, leaving coaches, swimmers and parents completely shocked.
I made my way to Annabeth, who smiled at me. "Good job, seaweed brain. A true son of Poseidon."
"He could give Michael Phelps a run for his money," agreed Jason.
Michael Phelps, son of Nike. I shuddered. Nike's children. So very competitive. Winning, winning, winning.
"Aw! Percy!" Veronica cried. "You did great!"
Annabeth glared at her. "He did didn't he? My boyfriend is amazing."
Veronica rolled her eyes. "Please."
"Leave it alone, Veronica." Piper sighed. "Percy is so hopelessly smitten on Annabeth, you have no idea. I stood by awkwardly when they ended their family feud. He held the sky for her. She was his mortal anchor- twice. They went through hell and back together. Saved the world, on multiple occasions. Oh, and Coach Hedge, violence obsessed Satyr with a baseball bat, long story, caught them sleeping together. That was interesting. Heck, he even had his memory wiped and could only remember one word: Annabeth. Trust me, I've seen tons of girls go after Percy. It's just not worth the trouble. Guys like him? A dime a dozen."
Veronica stared at her, and a dangerous look crept into her eye. "All of you better watch it. I don't care who's who. I get what I want."
She huffed off.
"Hey Percy and crew!" Joe Johnson grinned, approaching us from the bleachers. He threw up a hand in hello.
"Hey Joe," I said.
"Smile! It's for the school paper!" He held up a camera. We all smiled as Joe snapped the picture. "Fantastic! Thanks guys."
And then realization dawned on Jason. "That's-"
"Joe Johnson," I nodded.
"He's super nice," Annabeth said. "We have classes together. We sit together."
Jason and I exchanged glances. "Annabeth... he's-"
"Hey Annabeth, did you do that homework?" Joe asked.
"Not yet," she admitted. "I just had to support seaweed brain here."
Joe grinned at me. "Annabeth tells me a lot about you, Percy."
Jason still stood gawking.
"I could tell you a lot about my Wise Girl here," I shrugged. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me sometime," laughed Joe. "Well, I better head off. Gotta grab a few more pictures for the yearbook. Hey Perce, I got an action shot of you diving in. It looks great. You should check it out."
"Of course," I said. "Later man."
"Later." He walked off.
"That's Joe Johnson," Jason said, still in disbelief.
"What's the big deal?" Annabeth asked.
"He's a Half-Blood, Annabeth," I said. "There's a satyr here looking out for him. I haven't seen him yet, but I'm sure we need to get him to camp soon. Especially since we're here now, we're going to be attracting tons of monsters. We talked to his mom, she's a teacher here."
"Who's his father?" Annabeth asked. "Honestly, it's no surprise."
"I don't know," I replied. "But we need to watch out for him. There's no easy way to break it to him..."
"How has he lasted this long?" Piper asked. "On his own? Isn't he 17?"
I nodded. "He's a junior. I've known him for the past 3 years, and never thought he was a Half-Blood."
"He must not be too powerful," Jason said.
"Or Percy has been able to throw off the scent," Annabeth suggested.
"Nice," I decided. "Gourmet demigod coming right up."
"We better get going," Piper said. "Sounds like we're calling Chiron for a camp escort."
I didn't think Joe would be too happy with behind carted off to Camp Half-Blood in the middle of the school year, but that's just another day in the office if you're one of us.
We headed back to the house.
When we arrived, Leo and Clarisse were in a heated game of ping pong.
"I'll shove it down your throat, fire boy," Clarisse gave an MLB swing.
"Not so fast you bloodthirsty war god spawn," Leo managed to deflect it.
Their game was going so fast I could barely see the ball.
Then, the doorbell rang. From inside, I could tell who our visitors were.
And they weren't visitors.
Thalia, Reyna and Nico stood in the doorway.
I opened the door. "Welcome to our humble abode. Now, your humble abode too."
Thalia, Reyna and Nicos mouths dropped simultaneously.
"It's pretty spectacular," Leo admitted. He walked out of the living room. "I mean, my dad designed it himself. By the way guys, Clarisse might need some assistance dislodging the ping pong ball that I shot into her mouth."
"You're asking for it you punk!" Clarisse yelled.
"Ah, I see she fixed her problem," Leo said.
"Valdez!"
Leo yelped and took off running up the stairs.
"Just your average day in demigod wonderland," I offered.
Clarisse stormed up the stairs after Leo.
