Kimberly couldn't believes any of her 5 senses as she looked at her laptop, mouth slightly open.

The reason that she was sitting there so surprised was that the Rick Riordan himself, author of the Percy Jackson series that Kim was a fan of since a very young age, emailed her and asked her to come to LA to audition for a part in the upcoming Percy Jackson TV show.

Of course Kimberly replied positively, inquiring more about the audition. The casting team emailed her back, saying that the audition was in two weeks, and that she would be auditioning for the part of Thalia. Though she wouldn't have a very long screen time and many scenes, her part would become much more prominent in the later seasons. Well that would be if she got the part.
The 17-year old walked to her father's study, knocking on the door. "Dad, are you in there? Can I come in?"

"Of course, give me one second" the older man replied. "Okay, now you have my attention."

"You HAVE to see this" the teen girl excitedly said as she turned around her laptop to face him. "Rick Riordan HIMSELF asked ME to come to LA to audition for a part in the new Percy Jackson TV show."

"That's great, my girl. I knew you would achieve such great things" her father said. Though his voice remained leveled and calm, his eyes crinkled in happiness for the younger girl. "Now, we need to figure out a place for you to stay. Though I trust that you are independent and intelligent enough to stay in a hotel on your own," the younger girl rolled her eyes, waiting for the "but..." of his sentence "I don't want to risk it, as you are not 18 yet. So -"

"Dad, I will be okay alone for a few days. Really, you don't need to worry about me" Kim cut her dad off.

"I understand that, I just don't want to risk my daughter getting hurt or being in danger" he said "So, as I was saying before you cut me off, I can probably arrange for you to stay with an old friend of yours."

"An old friend? Dad, I don't know if I can trust you to arrange -" the girl began.

"What if the old friend is Charlie?" her father asked, waiting for her reaction. Karl was still on good terms with Charlie's father even though he transferred from LA to New York.

Kim couldn't believe her ears. "Charlie? As in my childhood best friend Charlie?" the girl asked, astounded.

"Yes, I can reach out to his father and talk about it. Give me a few hours and I will let you know. Now get practicing, the audition won't be good if you don't prepare."

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Kimberly spent the whole afternoon and evening rehearsing the monologue and lines that the casting directors wanted for her to recite. She only took one break, and that was to hydrate and feed herself.

She also spent a lot of time thinking about Charlie and what it would be like if she actually got a chance to stay at his place. That hadn't seen each other since they were 10 years old, so she was unsure of how he would react. Would he be happy to see her? Would they connect as they did when they were children, or would they distance themselves from each other? Would he just think of her as a stranger, or remember her a a friend? Would she be happy?

"Kimberly!" Her dad hollered, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Coming!" She yelled back as she stood up from her bed and walked to her dad's study.

"Yeah, dad? What do you need or want?" The teen inquired from her dad.

"Whoa. Always straight to business" the man chuckled. "Anyways, I talked to Charlie's dad. He said that Charlie is okay with you staying at his house in LA for a few days. He also offered to drive you to anywhere you need."

Kimberly was quite surprised at his generosity, to be honest. For once the confident and talkative girl had nothing to say. "Alright, I trust that you can book your flights and pack your bags?" her dad asked and the girl nodded, out of her trance.
"Okay, now scram. I have got stuff to do, work to work on" the man said and the younger girl left his study, still surprised at the eventful day.

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Soon, the surprise turned into excitement. The 17-year old booked her flight for 3 days later and couldn't wait to see Charlie again after 7 years.

The 3 days passed quickly, and soon it was time for Kimberly to go to LA.

"All right Kim, you have everything?" Her father asked her. "Your ID? Phone? Credit Card?" Kimberly nodded to confirm that she had all of these necessities. "Oh!" the man exclaimed before searching through his pockets for something and handing Kim a piece of paper. "Here is Charlie's number, if you need it." The girl thanked her dad and hugged him, saying "I promise I will be back as soon as I can. Please don't burn the apartment down while I am gone."

"I will try not to, but I can't promise anything." Her father chuckled. "Anyways, I won't keep you. Now go, or you will be late to your flight!"

The girl hugged her dad one more time before going to her Uber and waving back at him "I will try to get the part!" she yelled. The man smiled and waved back.

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The flight was pretty uneventful, but right before she got to her gate, she was swarmed by a group of pre-teens that wanted her autograph. Kimberly was always happy to sign and take pictures with fans, as she had vowed to not become a selfish, bratty celebrity, no matter how famous she got.

She boarded her flight and sat down. Kim was ecstatic to finally see her childhood best friend again after so many years. Since it was approximately a 6-hour flight from NYC to LA, she settled in and decided to sleep, or at least take a nap. She smiled as she thought of the funny incident of how she and Charlie met.

Kimberly was seven-years old and today she was dragged to her dad's work again because her babysitter was unavailable again. She liked her dad's work, but she didn't like the child actors or children of actors that were sometimes on set. Often they were bratty and spoiled, expecting everyone to bow to their feet because "my daddy is rich and famous". Ugh.

So before Kimberly even sat down, she saw a boy around her age be teased and bullied by one of those rich, dozy brats. She walked over to the scene, and stood a few feet away, observing.

"Go get me a glass of water, can you hear me?" The younger boy almost screeched. "If you don't, I will make sure my daddy knows of this and punishes you. You know, my daddy acted in many important movies, unlike your daddy. Now, get me a glass of water!"

The victim of the bullying was shaking a bit, but confidently shook his head "I won't, not for a rich and selfish brat like you."

The brat in question walked over to the boy and tried to seem intimidating, saying "GET ME A GLASS OF WATER!" As the brat said that, he raised his leg to kick the other boy, but Kimberly acted fast enough and tripped the brat over before anything happened.

"What do you expect us to do, you spoiled brat? We know that our daddies aren't rich, or famous like yours, but you know what, at least they taught us to have dignity and respect others. We won't kiss your feet because your daddy met Robert De Niro. Heck, we won't bow to you even if your daddy is Robert De Niro." Kimberly exclaimed as the boy laid on the ground, astounded. "Now scram, or we will have to report you and you won't ever come here again."

The brat didn't reply just stood up and tried to wipe the dirt off of his clothes. Before he left the scene, he attempted to spit at the two, but failed miserably.

"Are you alright?" Kimberly asked the other boy "I hope he didn't hurt you." The boy shook his head to the second statement, muttering a small "thanks."

"Have you been here before? They are filming this super cool movie with a guy named Andrew Garfield. He is super cool, plays a superhero. Let me show you around!" The girl left no room for him to argue so he just let Kim drag him around.

Later they became inseparable, conjoined at the hip almost. The two hung out pretty often, even making plans outside of their dads' work. Charlie and Kimberly didn't want for her to move away, but Kimberly's dad had to go to New York to help expand the MCU. The two hung out for as much as they could before she moved. They made a pact to not forget each other, and meet as soon as fate allowed it.

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A/n: aaaahhh my first ever chapter! I finished watching the PJO TV show and my inner 11-year old self couldn't be happier. (Also kinda fell in love with Charlie Bushnell, but that's another story.)
Anyways, give me feedback please!
Ps: I know that Thalia isn't in the first season, but I will have her be in flashbacks and stuff.
PPS: sorry the transition to the flashback sucked
Lots of love!

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