3: The School

Percy POV

"Mom," I said excitedly as I went in for a hug.

My beautiful mother happily embraced me as I entered my home. This was my parents' home in New York. Technically, my actual home was in Los Angeles.

"Oh my god, honey, it's so good to see you again. I missed you so much," my mom said happily. She had tears of joy streaming down her face.

"Mom, I'll be here for a whole year," I exclaimed.

My mom immediately stepped back to look at my face. "Wait, Percy, are you serious? You're not pranking me, are you?" she asked in shock.

I nodded my head before smelling the baked cookies coming from the kitchen. Of course, my mom would make blue cookies for me. I loved my mom's baking.

"Oh, I'm so happy, Percy," she said as she hugged me again.

"Yeah, me too. I finally get a break from all the craziness, mom. I can't wait to relax. However, Chiron's making me go back to school," I complained.

I wasn't on board with the whole school thing. While I liked the notion of reuniting with my friends and living a normal teenage life, I knew that people would treat me differently. I had fans all around the world. It's weird how fame made them treat you like you were different and special all of a sudden.

"Actually Percy, that was my request," she said sternly.

I simply gazed at her in shock. She smiled as she walked towards the kitchen. I followed her to the chocolate chip cookies.

Our home was fairly big due to my earnings over the past two and a half years and counting. Much of my profits went to my parents since I was a minor until recently.

"What do you mean, mom?" I asked.

My mom put on her mitts and took a tray out of the oven. Unsurprisingly, blue cookies were simmering to the heat, and I immediately went to grab one.

She immediately slapped my hand.

"You have to wait for them to cool, Percy," she chuckled. "You are such a grown man, who still turns into a little kid in the presence of sweets."

"Mom, it's been ages since I had one of your cookies," I whined.

"Yes, so five more minutes won't do any harm. Anyway, I wanted you to graduate from high school in person. This will give you something to do over the year. Plus, this will be good for you, Percy, trust me," my mother explained.

I sighed before smiling again.

Considering everything I put her through while pursuing my dreams, I figured that this was the least that I could do.

"Oh yeah, mom, where's Paul?" I asked.

Paul was my step-dad for several years now. He was a very nice guy and way better than my old step-dad, Gabe, who we don't talk about.

"He's at work, honey. To be honest, he doesn't know that you're coming home. I didn't tell him because it should be a surprise, right?"

"Sure thing," I said excitedly.

After a while, I went upstairs to my old room. It was exactly as I remembered it: blue walls and bed. The desk and dresser were clean, so it was obvious that my mom fixed the room up. My bedroom was never this tidy.

My eyes caught on three framed pictures on my desk.

One picture captured me, mom, and Paul on my 12th birthday. Another picture was a selfie with me and all of my old friends: we were so happy.

The last picture was the one that I picked up.

The picture was zoomed in. Annabeth was in a white sundress. The sun was shining above her, causing her blonde hair to glow. Her eyes were sparkling as she smiled at the camera. Her head was leaned back to pose for the picture.

She was beautiful, and her eyes shone with passion and intelligence. I loved that picture.

I shook my head as I set the photo down. This was ages ago. I knew that Annabeth had grown up based on her social media. She was even more stunning now.

We were both eighteen.

I was nervous to see her again, but I was also hesitantly excited.

I started to set up my room. I also had a small recording booth in my basement that I'd also have to fix up for this year.

As I unpacked, I realized one thing. Tomorrow was gonna be interesting.

***

"Bro, how excited are you?" Jason asked.

"Going back to the hell that is school, oh, so excited," I said sassily. I was still salty about going to school rather than doing online school like the past two years.

"Glad to see the personality is still intact," Jason chuckled. "Don't worry, bro, everyone's still cool."

I nodded as I looked out of my window. My private security was driving me to school. Honestly, I wanted them to be gone, but Chiron said that they were needed, especially in the beginning.

"Mr. Jackson, please be careful in the school, sir," the driver said firmly.

"Yes, I will, Terminus. Thank you," I responded.

I watched as my school came into view. Security drove my blue Tesla into Goode Academy's parking lot. They stopped the car in front of the main doors.

A crowd of students had already formed around our car. Oh shit. This was part of the reason why I was so nervous. They were screaming my name and tapping on the car. I could tell that Terminus was very uncomfortable.

"Woah, bro, this is my first time being greeted like this. Perks of being a world-famous pop star, huh," Jason chuckled. "I could get used to this."

Jason stretched in the backseat as he smiled at the shouting students.

"Bro, trust me, you don't want this every day," I responded hesitantly.

I smiled as I waved out of the car. I loved my fans even when inconvenient at times. They were the reason why I was where I was, and I was always grateful.

"So, uh, how are you feeling about seeing Annabeth again?" Jason asked cautiously. He was my best friend, so we knew almost everything about each other.

I sighed as I continued to wave.

"Bro, my feelings are long gone, okay," I said firmly.

Annabeth and I were in the past, and I didn't have any more lingering feelings. Hopefully. She was a very important part of my life though.

Jason nodded as he patted my back. "Well, it has been over two years. Plus, you did move on and date other people."

"Right," I agreed.

Just to be clear, Annabeth and I were never together. We were close friends for a long time, and I developed feelings like a stupid idiot. Then, we lost touch. I could've kept in touch, but I didn't for many reasons.

We sat for a few minutes before stepping outside.

People immediately swarmed around me. I greeted as many people as possible while smiling at and hugging my fans, who were now my classmates.

"Percy, we love you." "I'm your biggest fan." "Gosh, he's so hot." "I wish that he could date me. I'd have him any day." "I love you, Percy."

The comments kept coming as Jason and I pushed through the crowd. I kept the charming smile on my face though.

"This is crazy," Jason shouted.

"Percy, I love your music," a boy screamed. I turned to the boy and shook his hand. He looked starstruck as he stared at me.

"Thanks so much, mate," I said politely. Suddenly, he leaned over and threw up.

"Woah," I shouted as Jason and I staggered back. Several shouts erupted from the crowd as the boy turned red. Surprisingly, this was not the first time that a fan puked after meeting me.

It took forever for the crowd to disperse and even longer for me to find my first class. It was math with Ms. Dodds, a teacher that I despised. And, she hated me too.

As soon as I walked into the bland classroom, all eyes were on me. The girls batted their eyelashes and motioned me over. Some guys were jealous while others wanted to be friends with me.

However, my gaze fell on one girl in particular. Annabeth.

I took a deep breath before walking over to the empty desk next to her. Might as well rip off the bandaid, right?

I dropped into the seat before readjusting my uniform. I was used to wearing fancy clothes, so the tie, jacket, and pants didn't bother me anymore. However, I used to complain so much about the dress code.

I noticed that several girls were disappointed at my choice of seating while others were glaring at Annabeth's back. Of course, Annabeth didn't care. She continued to read her book.

Annabeth was undeniably attractive, powerful, and intelligent as well.

"Hey, Wise Girl," I acknowledged.

She froze as she looked up from her book. Her gaze was piercing into me as she waited for me to continue.

"It's, uh, good to see you again," I said cautiously.

Her expressions were neutral as her eyes locked onto mine for a second. Then, she turned back to her book.

"Wish I could say the same," was her response.

Suddenly, the air between us became very thick and tense. She seemed angry with me, and I could kinda understand why. After all, we haven't spoken in two years despite having been best friends before that.

"Come on, Wise Girl, I came back after two years," I said. Gosh, it was discomforting to know that she didn't like me anymore. It was so annoying.

"I don't really care," Annabeth said without even looking up.

I frowned as I looked around the room again. All of the girls were still staring at me dreamily and motioning me over. Literally, every other girl in this room would cherish being able to sit with me. Yet, Annabeth didn't even care.

But again, Annabeth was definitely not a normal girl.

Before I could say anything else, Ms. Dodds (the bane of my existence) walked in with a stack of pop quizzes.

I raised my hand before speaking up. "Um, miss, I'm new to the class, so I don't think that I can take this quiz," I said firmly.

"Mr. Jackson, just because you're a famous pop star does not mean that you will receive any special treatment. Get back to the quiz," Ms. Dodds commanded.

Damn, you've got to be kidding me, I thought.

The room was quiet, but I did notice Annabeth smiling slyly as she worked on her quiz. Of course, she was laughing at me.

She used to laugh at me a lot (in a good-hearted way, of course).

I sighed as I started my quiz. I've never been good at school subjects unless it was music. Also, students were swarming me from all around, and Annabeth was ignoring me. Ugh, today was going to be a long day.