Love at First Sight... Almost

                                    

                                          
Percy's POV
"Are you all excited for Liberty High?!" my principal cheered.
I groaned. Except for the fact that Nico, Grover & Frank studied there, I didn't want to go. New gossip about me, new rumors... I sighed. Jason came and clapped his hand on my shoulder. "Wassup, bro?" he said. "Why're you looking so down?" "Nothing," I mumbled. 
"Well, cheer up! I heard that the girls are really hot at Liberty!" he said, grinning like an idiot. I rolled my eyes. "Grow up, Jason. We're not going there to harass anyone." 
"Not harass... more like entice them with my awesome personality and hotness," he smirked. I sighed, grabbed my backpack and stepped into the bus. 
Beckendorf and Leo grinned and made their way to us. Only someone who knew them could tell they were half-brothers, because otherwise, they were nothing alike. Beckendorf was big and had muscly arms- quite intimidating to some, but he was a real teddy bear on the inside. Leo was a tiny & scrawny Latino elf that had a big (and very bad) sense of humor. 
"Everyone excited?" Leo whooped. The other guys laughed and made jokes while I stood there, not really listening. The other guys noticed and Beckendorf chuckled, "I wouldn't worry so much, Perce. You're captain of the swim team, school sports ambassador. You're not gonna have any trouble." He winked, and I smirked at him and joined the guys in their jokes. New school, same friends. How bad could it be?
****
Liberty High was a tall & impressive building with a small replica of the Statue of Liberty on the side. We walked inside and listened to a half hour long speech from the principal, Mr. D., who went on and on about how honored they were to have us as their guests and how bad we would get punished if we broke any of their rules.
"Ayo, cut the crap, and get started with the tour," Jason muttered. I couldn't agree with him more. Finally, he assigned us our tour guides. I was with Jason, Travis & Connor Stoll (the twin troublemakers) & Thalia, Jason's sister. 
Me, Nico, Thalia and Jason were especially close because we were all cousins. It was pretty awesome how they were always there for me, although they said it was only because they loved my mom's special blue chocolate chip cookies (yes, blue). What can I say? I have a serious addiction to blue food.
Our tour guide, Katie, introduced herself. As soon as Travis saw her, he went into idiot mode and grinned like a creepy clown. "Hii, my name is Travis, I know I'm so cool but you don't need to be scared of me, I may look scary but I'm not." He winked at her, and I mentally face-palmed myself while Jason was choking on his own laughter beside me. 
Her response was something like, "Umm.. okay?" She side-eyed him, and Travis looked crestfallen while Connor whispered something to him. I got the feeling that it wasn't exactly something to cheer him up, which was confirmed when Travis gave him a death glare. Connor only laughed.
Katie showed us the school. Not a bad place. The pool was bigger than Goode's, but Goode's gym was bigger than Liberty's. As we walked around, talking in the hallway, something- or someone- caught my eye.
I inhaled sharply as she turned around. She was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. Her blonde hair fell in loose waves around her shoulders, and I had to resist the urge to touch it. There were several bruises on her face and arms, and her hand was wrapped in a cast, but I didn't register that as I took in her rosy lips and stormy gray eyes. 
She looked impossibly perfect. I remembered what Jason said earlier. Well, I didn't know if all girls at Liberty were hot, but this girl was probably even more beautiful than Aphrodite.
I stopped someone in the hallway. "What's that blonde's name?" The girl glanced at her and said, "Annabeth. She barely talks to anyone and she's really anti-social. She used to be one of the popular girls, but now she doesn't have any friends and she doesn't talk to anyone- she only has her boyfriend, Luke." 
Oh, so she was taken. But, I had just started to notice all the bruises littering her body. I furrowed my brows. What was up with that?
The sound of laughter pulled me out of my thoughts. I saw Thalia, Jason, Travis  and Connor sniggering loudly as they looking at something on Connor's phone. It was a picture of me, wide-mouthed as I stared at Annabeth. 
"Delete that!" I yelled, trying to grab Connor's phone. "Hmmm... only if you do what I say," he said, dancing with the phone out of my reach. I rolled my eyes, and he pulled me in and whispered in my ear. 
Oh, hell no.
Just the sort of thing Connor would do. 
"Do it! Do it!" the Stoll brothers cheered. I weighed my options for a second, then sighed, hating myself for what I was about to do. 
"Hey, cutie!" I whistled, walking up behind Annabeth and inwardly cringing at myself.
Thalia, Jason and the Stolls laughed and high-fived each other. Annabeth suddenly turned around. The glare on her face instantly made me nervous.
She stepped toward me, looking as though she was about to punch me.
Oh shoot. 
Why did I agree to Stoll's stupid dare? Here we go, I thought to myself.
**
QOTD- Do you like the PJO tv series or books better?