1: Girl On Fire

Annabeth POV

"YOU BRAT! Why didn't you finish cleaning the carpet?" Helen roared as she kicked through my bedroom door.

I whirled away from my homework to face Helen. It was currently 10:30 at night, and I was finishing my AP Calculus work.

Helen stomped towards me as I nervously stood up. Her face was fuming with anger, which only matched her drunk persona. Her makeup was sweating off, and I could smell the alcohol from her breath as she huffed.

I gulped the lump in my throat. I knew that she would be angry, but I assumed that she'd be too drunk or too tired to care tonight.

"Annabel, I thought I made myself very clear," Helen said sternly.

"Err, my name is Annabeth," I said quietly.

Helen was my stepmother of 10 years, yet she still messed up my name. Correcting her only made her angrier as she stepped closer to me.

"Like I care," Helen snapped.

I jerked back and wiped the spit off of my face. I looked up again as I formulated an honest response.

"Helen, I had a lot of homework to do," I explained.

"I gave you my very clear instructions, and you disobeyed. You know that I have to ground you," Helen said with satisfaction.

She leaned back and crossed her arms. Her eyebrows scrunched as she thought of a suitable punishment. I hadn't even done anything wrong. In fact, I was just gonna wait till tomorrow to clean the carpet before school.

"Helen, I did all of my other chores, and I promise that I'll clean the carpet tomorrow. Please don't ground me because that would be the third time this month," I said in desperation.

I've already been grounded for two weeks this month, and I missed spending time with my friends: Thalia and Leo.

"Then, you should be better at your chores. You'll need to babysit the boys tomorrow after school, so clean the entire carpet and kitchen as well," Helen decided before leaving my room.

I sighed as I sat back down.

I stared at my homework as I contemplated my life. This wasn't new at all. I was used to Helen blowing up and making my life hell.

I didn't even cry about this stuff anymore. I simply accepted my punishment of babysitting Bobby and Matthew. I looked after them every day anyway. I sighed again before getting back to my homework.

However, a phone call interrupted my train of thought.

"What, Thalia?" I asked in agitation. I hated getting interrupted, especially when I was annoyed and had a lot of work.

"Woah, Annie, is everything all right?" Thalia asked.

"The usual," I said. "Thalia, can we talk tomorrow? I still have so much homework to finish."

"This is why I told you to not take so many classes. You already have limited time on your hands because of the step monster," she said.

"Well, I love learning, Thals. Besides, the more challenging classes I succeed in, the better chances I have at scholarships. We've been over this already."

I sighed as I finished my calculated explanation. My home life was rough, but I wanted to succeed in my academics. That and singing kept me going.

Of course, no one knew about my singing except Thalia and Leo.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll see you tomorrow then," Thalia said before hanging up.

Before I got back to my homework, my eyes wandering to the picture frame on my desk. It was a photo of me and my mom at a picnic in the park. That felt like a lifetime ago.

Tears bristled my eyes, which forced me to blink rapidly.

I needed to focus on my work before I started crying. I meant it when I said that I didn't cry about my sad life anymore.

On the bright side, I'd get an hour in the sound studio with Thalia and Leo tomorrow after school. I loved Thursdays because my friends and I booked my school's sound studio. However, since I HAD to babysit, I'd only get a half-hour.

Regardless, something was better than nothing, right?

***

Ugh, I was late. I was late, and I hated being late.

I ran through the halls towards my first class, AP Biology. I was cleaning the carpet this morning like I told Helen I would, which made me late for school.

In my haste, I totally wasn't paying attention to where I was going. As soon as I turned the corner, I ran into something hard. My books fell on the floor, but I didn't.

I groaned as strong arms wrapped around my body.

Arms pressed into my back, which effectively nestled me into a man's body. He radiated warmth as his gaze met mine. Beautiful sea-green eyes met my own. I knew those eyes because no one else had eyes like his, and I absolutely despised him.

"Hey there," Percy Jackson said smiling.

I immediately shoved him off. Percy grunted in response as he rubbed his stomach where I pushed him. I quickly straightened my clothes and hair.

"I never thought I'd see Annabeth Chase late to a class," he said with a smirk.

I glared at him and his smirk. I wanted to punch that stupid, infuriating smile off of his face. "Well, I'm not even surprised that you're out in the hallway," I snapped back.

I knelt down to pick up my books.

Percy joined me on the ground to pick up his own varsity swim bag. Then, he surprisingly helped pick up the rest of my books.

"What, Wise Girl? No thank you for saving you a hard fall," Percy commented.

"Whatever," I said before walking back to my class. However, Percy stepped in front of me as his smirk grew. He was enjoying my pain right now.

"Jackson, I am late, so move out of my freaking way," I snapped in annoyance.

Percy simply chuckled before letting me pass. I started walking to class, but Percy ran up beside me. His pace matched mine as we walked through the hall. Did he really have to walk with me? We didn't even share our first period.

"Wise Girl, I'm late because I had swimming practice. What's your excuse?" he asked lightly.

"That's none of your business!"

"You slept in, didn't you?" Percy said slyly.

"NO! Also, just because you had swimming doesn't mean that you need to be late. Many swimmers in our school arrive on time," I said sharply.

"Yeah, well, not every swimmer is like me," Percy said with confidence.

He wasn't lying either. Percy was the best swimmer in our school by a long shot. He ranked fifth in the state of New York last year as a sophomore.

Cocky jerk, I muttered.

Percy turned to me in surprise with a raised eyebrow. Clearly, he heard my remark about him. However, the smile didn't leave his face. Luckily, my class arrived on the right, and I quickly turned into it.

Of course, I received a warning from my teacher before taking my seat.

Regardless, I was glad to finally be away from the infuriating Percy Jackson. He was a popular athlete, but he didn't care about anything else beyond that. It seemed that Percy had everything, yet he didn't apply himself.

By contrast, I worked my ass off to still lead a below-average life.

I shrugged before pulling out my notes and focusing on school. There was no point contemplating Percy Jackson's life right now.

***

"So, Annabeth, what song are we recording today?" Leo asked excitedly.

Leo Valdez is a forever optimistic friend, who is always there for me. He was also very talented with sound and audio technology.

"Can you give us five seconds to situate ourselves?" Thalia exclaimed.

I simply laughed at my friends bickering as I set my backpack down against the wall. The sound studio had a singing booth and a table set-up with tech.

"But, seriously, what song, Annie?" Thalia asked.

"Thalia, don't call me Annie," I said firmly. "I've told you like a million times. Anyway, I want to record a cover of Girl on Fire."

"I LOVE THAT SONG, Annabeth. OH MY GODDD," Leo cheered.

Thalia and I both laughed as Leo continued to have a happy panic attack. He was practically jumping up and down in joy. I knew that Leo would love the song. Another hobby of his was (oddly enough) starting fires.

Once he settled down, I entered the sound booth and prepared myself in front of the mic.

This song was difficult to sing, but I had practiced. As soon as I started singing, the troubles in my life melted away. It was just me and this song.

This song proclaimed my strength and power. While singing it, I felt amazing. If only I had that kind of strength in real life. I'd be able to stand in front of everyone and sing my heart out. However, my anxiety and personal life negated that.

It took several recordings to get a good cover.

As I drank water, Leo replayed the audio recording of my cover of Girl On Fire. I had to admit that it was one of my better songs.

Leo was singing and dancing wildly at the chorus, this girl is on fire...

Thalia and I continued to laugh as the song played. My two friends and singing really helped me with my screwed-up life.

"So, why were you late this morning?" Thalia asked. I sighed.

"I had to finish my chores for Helen, and then, that stupid Percy Jackson continued to annoy me for five minutes straight."

"Gods, Helen is awful. I wish that she was never in your life. You're way too good to have a family like that, Annabeth."

I simply shrugged as a response.

"You know that Percy isn't that bad. He's actually a very cool guy," Leo expressed as he sat on the ground in front of us.

"Yeah, he's a cool pain in the ass," I said. "He's so infuriating."

"You know that he finds you annoying as well," Leo expressed.

"What?" I snapped. "Hold on, Leo, you talk about me with other people." My gaze intensified on Leo, and Thalia also had her eyes narrowed on her.

"Nah, Jason was telling me about it. I'd never talk about you, Annabeth. You're like one of my best friends."

"Yeah, you better not talk about Annie, or I would throw some fists," Thalia said with a chuckle. I smiled at her supportive, yet tough personality.

"Well, I guess the feelings are mutual between us," I said firmly.

Thalia, Leo, and I hung out for a bit more before I had to leave. I still had to babysit my half-brothers and finish my chores after all.

To be honest, recording day with Thalia and Leo was always the highlight of my week. It was the time when I could be myself and have fun. However, that time was always short-lived because I had to go home and return to reality.