5: The Crazy Fan

Percy POV

I realized two things very quickly from my first day of school.

One, it took me forever to get to different places. While I understood how fans could be, I didn't realize that I'd be this swarmed, especially considering a few years ago, most of the students didn't give a damn about me.

Now, I was the hot commodity, and it wasn't as fun as you might think.

Everyone wanted to interact with me. I appreciated the fans that loved my music, but some of them wanted more than that. They were attracted to fame, money, and success.

Second, Annabeth pretty much hated me.

It was so frustrating how she wouldn't even talk to me. She acted like her life would be better off without me in it. Of course, I was to blame for this.

I stared out of my window as we drove through my hometown. Much of the small city hasn't even changed. I sighed in satisfaction as memories washed over me.

"So, how was school, Mr. Jackson?" my head security agent asked.

"Yeah, it was interesting, but it was nice to see all of my friends again. I missed them a lot," I responded honestly.

Terminus nodded as he smiled reassuringly.

"I'm sure that all of the hype will settle down, Percy. Then, you'll really be able to relax. I've seen how busy you've been over the past two years. You barely had time to rest, so this is a good thing for you, sir," Terminus said firmly.

I completely agreed. I was so exhausted, but I wasn't able to ask for a break. I didn't realize that I was allowed to.

Regardless, when I got this news, I was beyond ecstatic.

"Hey, Terminus, you're married, correct?" I asked.

He seemed surprised by the question but answered, "Yes, since I'll be staying here for at least a year, my wife will move here for some time."

"That's awesome. You must miss her," I said firmly.

Terminus simply nodded. I made sure that Chiron gave my staff adequate time off. While I was forced to always be busy (away from family and friends), they didn't have to be.

"Terminus, how do you get a girl to not hate you?" I asked suddenly.

"Excuse me, sir?"

I turned towards him and turned the radio off. It was a weird question to ask my security guard, but whatever. I was a little desperate.

"One of my old, um, friends won't talk to me. I mean, sure, I was an asshole towards her after I got famous, but I had my reasons," I explained.

"Percy, the best solution in relationships is being honest," Terminus replied as he parked into our driveway.

I groaned as I got out of the car. I hated that answer.

I couldn't exactly be honest with Annabeth. I couldn't just admit that I had fallen in love with her (my girl best friend) 3 years ago and suppressed my feelings. I couldn't admit that I ignored her after getting famous to shake my feelings away.

Yet, I owed her so much. So many of my original songs came because of my feelings towards her. I told everyone (my fans, bosses, interviewers, etc.) that Arcade was just a song that I wrote without anyone in mind. That was a lie.

Arcade was about Annabeth, and it catapulted me into stardom. I couldn't admit my past feelings for her, and I didn't know how to adequately thank her either.

I wasn't in love with her anymore. Time and work managed to fix that.

I absentmindedly walked towards my front door.

Suddenly, a person tackled me to the ground. I shouted out as the guy started screaming in my face about how much he loved me. I could barely register anything considering the crazy fan was sitting atop me.

"PERCY, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. I can't believe you also live here. We are going to be great friends," he shrieked madly as he shook my shoulders against the ground.

Terminus was quick to act. He immediately came over and yanked the man off of me. I coughed roughly and groaned due to the bruise on my stomach.

Terminus was struggling to control the crazy fan as I scrambled to my feet. I quickly went inside my home and shut the door.

My security would take care of the guy.

Gods, to be honest, these kinds of encounters weren't as rare as you'd expect. Some people were simply crazy and obsessive over celebrities.

"Honey, welcome home, how was school? Wait, what happened?" she asked as her smile turned into a frown.

"Nothing, mom. Just a crazy fan outside," I said as I hugged her. I accepted her warm embrace as I calmed my breathing.

"Percy, this is your home. Technically, you're more isolated from the world now, and you're on a break. However, my son is still a world-famous superstar. You have to be careful," my mom expressed firmly.

I nodded. Of course, she was correct.

I'd have to be more cautious here than I expected: physically, mentally, and emotionally.

***

I was running late to advanced music. I was very excited about this particular class, considering it was about music, and it was taught by my favorite teacher ever.

I paused in front of the music studio's door.

I was about ten minutes late because I couldn't get rid of a group of girls, who kept asking questions about celebrity life.

"Bro, knock on the door," Jason said quickly.

"Why don't you knock?" I asked as I shoved him forward. Jason immediately stepped away as he shook his head violently.

"Bro, everyone loves you. You'll be excused for being late."

I sighed as I rose my hand to knock. We didn't just want to barge in if someone was performing or if Apollo was lecturing on music and songwriting.

Before I could knock, the door swung open.

"You guys do realize that debating about knocking on the door only makes you later, right?" Apollo asked with a bright smile.

"So sorry, Apollo," I said.

I didn't even have time to tell him an excuse because he embraced me. I bro-hugged him back. Apollo was a cool teacher, who was also amazing at mentoring music.

"It's so good to have you back, Percy," Apollo cleared his throat. "Anyway, don't make it a habit to come late, boys."

Jason and I both entered the classroom.

Several girls immediately straightened and smiled towards me. I simply ignored them and sat down in the seats that were arranged in rows around a mini-stage.

"Nice going, guys," Piper whispered slyly.

I noticed Annabeth roll her eyes next to Piper. Then, we all turned our attention back to Apollo, who started lecturing on song-writing skills again. I smiled as I listened to Apollo about how music came from the heart. It came from emotion.

Apollo was a big reason why I was a passionate songwriter.

Several artists performed songs that were written by other people, which was fine. However, I always wrote my music either individually or collaboratively.

"All right, folks, we are going to split off into groups for a project that's due next Friday, so you have about ten days. You all will try to write and perform a song together," Apollo announced.

There were several groans around the room.

However, immediately, people around me started to ask me about being in my group. I politely ignored them. Gods, this was awkward.

Even before stardom, people wanted to work with me.

Humbly speaking, I had a talent when it came to songwriting and singing. However, this was a little too much.

The room quickly got louder as people argued over who to work with (i.e. a lot of the girls argued over me).

Annabeth simply shook her head as she wrote in her notebook: possible ideas about themes for a song.

"Okay, everyone, I know that you all want to work with Goode Academy's own pop star, but I will be assigning groups," Apollo stated firmly.

I smiled as I mouthed a 'thank you' towards him. Apollo simply nodded at me before speaking, "Okay, so here are the groups."

I was paired with Jason, Piper, Annabeth, and Hazel. I was completely happy with my group. They were all my friends, who didn't care about my fame and success.

Apollo gave us the rest of the class to discuss within our groups.

"I can't believe that we have this project. Song-writing is not my thing at all," Hazel complained. Her cheeks turned a little rosy in embarrassment.

"It's all right, Hazel. None of us are that good at songwriting," Annabeth said supportively.

I simply gazed at Annabeth. Either she was being nice towards Hazel or she was being petty towards me. Based on Annabeth's victory smile, it was probably the latter.

"What are you talking about, Annabeth? We got Percy over here. He can write a hit song in a few minutes," Piper exclaimed.

I sighed as I shook my head.

Writing a song was actually very difficult. You really had to connect with your feelings to write words on a page and compose music for those words.

I could hear several people around the room complaining about not getting paired with me. Their jealous eyes were all over our group.

"I don't know, Pipes. His music isn't that great," Annabeth commented slyly.

I simply gaped at her. There was no way that Wise Girl didn't like my music. Somehow, the aspect of her not liking my music stung deeply.

I guess the hurt was evident on my face.

Annabeth's smile disappeared as Jason nudged me. "Bro, she's kidding. Annabeth's just making fun of you," Jason replied lightheartedly.

I smiled as I pushed the uneasy feeling away.

"Wow, Wise Girl, I didn't realize that you were a hater," I said jokingly.

"Only towards people I don't like," Annabeth shot back. Gods, she was feisty. It was difficult to dominate a conversation with her.

Add that to the list of qualities that made Annabeth so freaking attractive.

Woah, I did not just think that. God damn.

"Wise Girl, you've always been a bad liar," I commented slyly to distract myself from my unsettling thoughts.

Annabeth glared at me to prove otherwise.

Before we could continue, we were interrupted.

"Hello, Percy, it's good to see you again. So much has happened in the past two years, huh?" Apollo commented as he patted my shoulder.

"It's good to be back, Apollo," I expressed happily.

"Okay, group 3, how's the discussion going?" Apollo asked everyone.

"Well, we didn't really discuss the project yet. Annabeth and Percy have been arguing for the past five minutes," Jason said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, so, I see that nothing's changed in 3 years. That's good," Apollo chuckled.

Both Annabeth and I stared at each other.

No, things were definitely different. We did banter a lot in our friendship, but it was always for fun. At the moment, however, neither of us were having fun.

"Anyway, the project, I suggest that you all find a time to work on this after school," Apollo informed before moving on.

I nodded as we finally started discussing the song.

We would all be meeting at Piper's home on Saturday. We texted our other friends as well. Frank, Thalia, and the others also agreed to help with writing the song (even though they weren't interested in music).

We all just wanted to hang out together, which was fine by me.