Chapter 3

The day has been passing pretty slowly, none of the teachers seem to have much prepared for the first day. I sit down at the lunch table my friend group has claimed since our freshman year. I fist bump Leo and nod at Annabeth. The usual suspects trickle in, and we give quite boisterous hellos to each other the more our table becomes crowded

"Sup folks, this here is Nico." Jason says casually, sitting down with a new kid standing stiffly beside him. The guy takes the seat to Jason's left, I can't stop myself from checking him out. He's really cute. He's got this whole goth look that just works on him. Jason starts introducing us all, and Nico looks like a scared rabbit, so I put a big smile on my face to try and seem welcoming. I don't think it works though, cause he looks about ready to pass out after everyone's name has been called out. I get it though, there's a lot of us, and I can't say we are all super mellow. Quite the contrary actually, but since it's just the first day of school, no one is up to their usual antics. Today is probably the best day to welcome the kid to our group without scaring him too much.

Piper decides to start a conversation with him, asking quite a few questions. I'd been having a conversation with Anna, her already getting on me about making a study schedule, but I decide to tune in to them for a minute. Apparently the cutie is from Italy, which just makes his attractiveness shoot up. He says a quick sentence in Italian to appease Piper, and I change my mind; he isn't just cute, he's sexy. Gods with his sharp features and dark eyes, it's all a man can do to not stare at him. And I didn't even mention his adorably curly hair that seems to just flop all over the place. Not gonna lie, I'm a little jealous of Piper when she grabs his hands from across the table and continues to gush over him.

It's both a blessing and a curse when lunch is over, cause now I've got to go back to actually having class, but I'm glad that Piper isn't all over Nico anymore. I make my way towards the science rooms, not too excited for chemistry. That is, until I walk in and see a small black lump in the back corner of the room. I make my way over to him, and sit down.

"Nico!" He seemed to scrunch more into himself.

"What's your name again." I'm a little sad he didn't take enough effort to remember my name, I guess he didn't notice me as much as I was him at lunch.

"It's Percy. Percy Jackson." I keep a smile on my face though, I want to make a good impression on him. Maybe I'll be more memorable now. As with my other classes, this teacher has us doing group "get togethers" to get to know each other. Unlike before, though, I'm now excited. The tasks seem pretty easy, "The first one on here is a trust fall." I let Nico know as I'm getting back to the table.

"No. Next." I didn't think it was possible for him to close more in on himself, but he somehow does. I'm sad I can't make him anymore comfortable, normally I'm good at making friends. I decide to just pull him up from the seat, trust falls are simple and difficult to screw up, so we should try it out. Maybe, like its namesake, it will make him trust me more. He is apparently just about as stubborn as I am, though, and refuses to get up. I reclaim my seat and look back at the list. The next one is two truths and a lie, but I'm still determined to make him do a trust fall so I decide to stretch the truth of that one a bit. I told him we had to ask each other our deepest darkest secrets, and I know he didn't believe me, but meh, I'm trying.

"So if we aren't going to do the trust fall, I guess we ask each other questions." I grin at him, "I want to know if you, Nico, are ticklish."

"No I'm not." His face turns a little red when he says it, so I find it a little difficult to believe him. I reach out to him, "Oh really, so you wouldn't mind if I just." He slaps my hand away and tells me not to touch him, but that's not gonna stop me. I want to see him laugh, so I try again, and this time he doesn't see me coming. Soon he's curled over with one hand covering his mouth, but it doesn't stop little giggles from coming out of him. It's so cute I could die now and be happy. His face is super red now, and I decide to stop, which just earns me a glare that I laugh at.

"Piper's right, you know," I tell him as I poke his side again, "You're adorable." And I mean it. His laughter is angelic, and not to mention his smile. The class period is over too soon for my liking, and I'm off to calculus: my least favourite subject. I walk into the room to see Anna already sitting in her usual spot. She always sits on the right side of the room, two rows from the front if she can--which she always can, since she's always the first one to class. I take the seat next to her and let out a long sigh.

"Oh common Seaweed Brain, it won't be too bad." I give her a look that makes her put her hands up in surrender.

"You know I suck at math."

"You don't suck, it's just hard for you to get a grasp on, and you know it." She gives me a pointed look before going back to starting her note page. She puts in extra effort for her notes to look extremely clean and simple. She does it for me, so that I can actually somewhat follow our tutoring sessions. For the past two years we have studied together everyday after school...she sometimes even makes me work over the summer too. It helps me to actually pass my classes, and cements all the topics in her own head along with giving her practice for when she becomes a professor. Man, not a day goes by that I don't wish I was more like her; able to focus on things, getting good marks, and know what I want to do after school. You'd think by senior year I'd actually know what I was gonna do after graduation, but it's still a mystery to me.

I've thought a few times about going into marine biology, but that requires going to college. Anna is one hundred percent going to a fancy-dancy university that I wouldn't dream of getting into, so I know I wouldn't be able to pass any courses at a higher level. Not on my own at least.

Our teacher stands up from her desk and I let out a quiet groan. Time to be absolutely confused for an hour. Anna nudges me, apparently she heard my small complaint, I give her my best dazzling grin before opening my notebook. You always gotta account for attitude, my mom always told me that if you go into something with a smile it will be better than you expect. That line of thinking works sometimes, but not in regards to stupid math classes I've found. Nonetheless I try my best to keep a positive mindset, though it doesn't help much.

By the time the period is over I have a small headache. I struggle through the rest of the day, and jump for joy when I hear the final bell ring. It's time for swim tryouts, and I'm excited to see the new recruits. If there's one thing I know for sure I'm good at it's swimming. I've practically been captain of the team since freshman year. It wasn't an official position, since you obviously can't let a fourteen year old be bossing everyone around, but I've been bringing in first place medals since my first meet, and I'm pretty dang good at giving people advice as well as inspirational speeches.

I head to the locker rooms to change into my gear and get to the water as quickly as possible. Swimming always clears my head, and I definitely need that right now. Even though it's only the first day, I need a bit of a breather. I walk in and set my bag down only to be met with a shirtless Nico. He doesn't see me, but man do I see him. He's only got tight skinny jeans on and his hair has gotten even curlier throughout the day. I take in a sharp breath to control my thoughts. This boy is definitely going to be the death of me. I turn away before I can say anything and make him glare at me again, as I'm sure he will. I start the process of ridding my clothes and doing a couple stretches before heading to the pool where I'll do some bigger warm ups. By the time I look back up, Nico has left the room and I don't know whether to be disappointed or relieved. Seeing more of him might have caused an *ahem* uncomfortable situation. Speedos can only hide so much folks. I shake my head to clear my thoughts, and walk out of the room.

I run through some exercises to get my muscles ready, and then dive into the water, letting myself be completely enveloped in the coolness. I feel completely calm in the pool, like I'm at home, or in the arms of my mom. Yes I'm a momma's boy, sue me. It's not my fault that Sally Jackson is one of the absolute best people on the earth, not to mention a perfect parent. I've always been obsessed with swimming, ever since my first time in the water. It's actually the first memory I have, and the only time I saw my dad during my childhood. Sure mom and I now have Paul, but it wasn't always like that.

My birth father left when I was young enough to not remember him, except for one day when I was three. His attempts to reconnect in the past few years have been a little forced, but I'm glad he's trying at least. Anyway, my mom and dad had decided to take me to the beach for the first time. This was when we lived on the coast, not that I remember that either--mom moved when dad left, so I don't have any memories of my true home town. But this day I remember being pulled from the car one hand in mom's and one in dad's. They'd taken off my shoes and we walked down the beach, them swinging me between them every few steps--as I've been told was my favourite game. When I first saw the water I ran into it, which scared my mom half to death. The three of us spent the whole day playing in the sea, building sand castles, and teaching me to swim.

We stayed all the way to sunset, which was also my first time watching the whole ordeal. We clapped when the last sliver of sun disappeared on the water, leaving with a flash of green across the horizon. My mom told me a few years ago that it doesn't happen often, and I haven't seen that little marvel happen ever since, no matter how many times I've had mom drag me to the beach. But we do clap at every sunset we share together. For the longest time I had no clue why we had that tradition, so when I finally asked, she told me that when she was in highschool she'd go to parties on the beach all the time. They had big bonfires and lots of teenagers dancing around and having a good time, but they'd all stop to watch the sunset and the whole beach would erupt in applause as the sun was just below their sight.

I sometimes dream of the day with my parents, and how when the three of us were clapping it sounded like there were hundreds of people there with us. Like it wasn't just us three, but we were surrounded by a plethora of others. I know that's not what happened, but seeing my mom and dad dance together silhouetted against a pink sky, I can't help but imagine them in high school doing the exact same. Like it's not actually my memory but theirs, and in those moments I feel the most connected to them.

I smile under the water, before popping my head back up to the surface.

"Jackson, get over here, I need to go over the roster with you!" I laugh and swim over to Coach Hedge and jump out of the water, getting prepped to see all the newbies. I can't wait for this season to start.