HEY! This was quickly typed up while I was midway through a 2-hour car ride! Not my best work, but I like it! Let me know if you're interested in a second part!

ALSO!! IT'S UNEDITED, FEEL FREE TO HAVE AT IT ;)

ALSO PT 2!!! The quote from the Iliad (hahaha fun right?) is from this PDF: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/6130/6130-pdf.pdf

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Perspective: Third person

Type: Mortal AU

Main Ship: Percabeth

Word count: 1460

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Percy Jackson had a problem.

There was this girl. She had the most beautiful long blonde curls, piercing grey eyes covered by fluttering eyelashes, and perfectly plump lips that ever so often parted to reveal a breathtaking smile. She had a killer figure, not too tall or too short, not too scrawny or too muscular. She had been frequenting his mother's library cafe about once a week for the previous two months, and Percy always rushed to serve her. She had such a sweet voice, with just the right amount of authority.

Percy was head over heels already, but here comes the problem; he didn't know her name.

Percy sighed and sank back into his mattress. It was a Sunday, the one day a week his mother's library cafe was closed. The following day was the first day of his senior year.

Maybe she'll be there, Percy thought to himself. Maybe we'll share classes and get to know each other. Maybe she'll like me back.

But he knew he was just lying to himself. That girl must be in all honors and AP classes - she was much too smart for his simple grade-level classes.

It wasn't that Percy wasn't smart. He just suffered from dyslexia, which stopped his love for learning. But nobody seemed to understand.

Percy turned his phone on and glanced at the time. It was a little past six o'clock, and his mother would be finishing up dinner any minute.

He stood up and made his way into the kitchen. There, he immediately spotted the one and only Sally Jackson.

Sally was the best mother anyone would possibly ask for. She would do anything for anyone. She had a heart of gold. She was kind and understanding. She was a great chef and an aspiring author, which led to her current occupation.

She had been through a lot, but it didn't stop her from living the life she deserved.

Percy smiled. "Hey, Mom."

His mother glanced up from the bowl of stew she was stirring. "Hi, Percy. You came just in time. Have a seat!"

He grinned and settled into one of the bar stool seats. His mother dished up two bowls of her famous beef stew and sat beside him.

"Are you excited for school?" she asked softly beside him.

Percy scoffed. "Not at all."

Sally smiled softly. "You get that from your father, you know."

He bit his lip, before spooning more stew into his mouth to excuse himself from speaking.

Percy didn't believe he got anything good from his father. What had he received from his father leaving him? Abandonment issues, an abusive stepfather, anger issues...the list goes on, and it doesn't get better. The only genetic inheritances seemed to be his jet black hair and sea-green eyes, but who cared? Not Percy, that's for sure.

The two Jacksons finished their stew in silence. Percy helped his mother with the dishes before excusing himself to his bedroom. After a brief shower, Percy plugged in his earbuds to his phone before falling asleep with an image of a blonde-haired girl dancing behind his eyelids.

*****

Percy couldn't name one positive benefit from going to school unless he counted the proud smile of his mother every time it was confirmed that he didn't ditch. His school was full of snooty teachers, rich bullies, and nasty, non-blue food.

Percy pulled his hood over his head and firmly pressed his earbuds into his ears.

Six more hours, he thought. Times one-hundred eighty more days. Then I'm out of here.

Percy continued to his first class, walking as quickly as his legs could take him and keeping his head down.

Of course, he rammed straight into another human.

"Watch it," a girl's voice warned.

Percy caught a glance of her honey-blonde curls before she whisked off.

Strange.

*****

Finally, the last class of the day had arrived. Percy was excited about the subject as well - his only AP class, Mythology. After many years of hearing countless myths from his mother, Percy was ecstatic when he realized he could earn a high school credit from hearing and writing about stories.

Percy took a seat in the back of the room and dug a pencil out of his backpack. He observed as his peers wandered into the classroom. Seconds before the bell rang, a familiar blonde rushed into the classroom.

Percy's posture immediately straightened as he tried to take in every detail about the girl. She settled into a seat in the very front row and placed a binder onto her desk. She scribbled something on her schedule, brushing a piece of hair from her view with her nondominant hand.

Percy zoned out, resting his jaw on the palm of his hand. He only perked up when the teacher, Mr. Brunner, called his name during attendance. That was when he had the genius idea to get the girl's name from the attendance list. A lot of letters came after J, so it was likely she was after him in the alphabet.

Unfortunately, statistics were not on his side. The girl stayed silent for the rest of the roll call.

Mr. Brunner sent the attendance email to the secretary before walking over to the chalkboard and scribbling some notes.

"This year is going to be quite fun. We will spend each quarter studying a variety of myths. We're going to start off easy, but keep in mind that this is an advanced placement class."

He grabbed a box from behind his desk and began passing out the contents - books, oh goody - out to each student. When he got to Percy, the student focused on the letters naming it. The Iliad of Homer. Everyone broke out into murmurs.

Mr. Brunner cleared his throat. "Today, let's take turns reading from the Iliad. We'll go down in order of attendance so that there's no arguing. Annabeth Chase, would you mind starting us off?"

Percy grinned when his favorite blonde started reading off the first lines of the book.

Annabeth. What a pretty name.

He began listening to the girl's words intently. 

"Achilles in discontent withdrew, uh, withdraws himself and his forces from the rest of the Greeks; and complying to Thetis...wait, complaining to Thetis, she supplicates Jupiter to render them sens...sensible of the wrong done to her son, by giving...victory to the Trojans. Jupiter, granting her suit, incenses Juno: between whom the debate runs high, till they are rec - reconciled by the...address of Vulcan."

Percy frowned, recognizing the stumbled pace of her speech. It reminded him of his own. He stared at her in awe. There was no way a girl that spent an hour a week at a library had dyslexia.

Annabeth looked up at Mr. Brunner, a small flush on her cheeks.

"Nice work, Annabeth. Randall Clyde, would you read off next?" he asked absentmindedly.

The boy nodded and began rambling off more lines from the book, but half of the class still had their focus on Annabeth. Percy was sure they were all thinking the same thing: The new girl with all honors classes couldn't read?

Annabeth must have felt the stares on her back because she whipped around and glared. "Never heard of dyslexia?" she hissed.

Percy stared at his desk, embarrassed. He was lost in his own thoughts for the rest of the class, which made his reading portion even worse than it typically would be. Of course, he just glowered at anyone who sent him a judging look, leading to them whirling around and focusing on the book.

The second the bell rang, Percy threw his book into his bag and booked it out of the class.

He was just about to waltz out of the school when he realized he needed to stop at his locker. He internally groaned and performed a 180-degree turn, before speedily heading to his locker.

Standing two lockers down from his own, Annabeth Chase was sorting out her books.

Percy halted, a blush heating up his cheeks. Should he say hi, or just ignore her?

He sucked in a breath and walked to his locker.

"H-hey," Percy stammered.

Annabeth glanced at him. "Hi."

He bit his lip. Those eyes. "I believe we have the same mythology class."

"And you want to know why I sound so imbecilic?"

He shook his head frantically. "No! Not at all. Um, I have dyslexia also."

She rose an eyebrow. "Really?"

He nodded, smiling a bit. "Yeah. My name's Percy Jackson."

She stuck out her hand. "Annabeth Chase. Nice to meet you."

They quickly shook hands, and then Annabeth walked off. Percy finished up with his locker before practically sprinting out of the building.

His entire walk home, a giddy smile was on his face.

Annabeth.