(AN: Welcome to the 10k reads special! I thought maybe I'd do a bit of a twist on the classic Jealous Jason narrative. I tried to give him a good reason for it, cause I quite like Jason, so tell me how you feel about it in the comments. So without further ado, enjoy my thank you to the large number of people who read my book!)

This story starts on the Argo II, as it crossed the border to Camp Jupiter. I stood on the bow with my arms wrapped around Piper, watching my old home come into view. The ship was buzzing with nervous energy, no-one knew quite what to expect of the Romans. Annabeth paced up and down the deck, compulsively checking that the white flag was still flying, and Piper quietly muttered her lines over and over again.

I watched the beautiful expanse that was New Rome get closer and closer, all the nerves in my body exploding in anticipation.

We were briefly interrupted by Terminus, who was as intense as always, but we eventually managed to negotiate a compromise. Before we knew it, we were descending the rope ladder that led down to the centre of New Rome. People began to come into closer view, and my eyes caught on a raven haired guy, around my age, wearing a praetors cloak. My praetors cloak. That was my first look at Percy Jackson.

Now, before we go on, I need you to understand that I really did want to like Percy. I really was going to try to be friends with him.

But the second I saw him wearing that purple cape, all thoughts of attempting to like him flew out of my head. There he was, standing there with his arm around my childhood best friend, Reyna's shoulder. He just replaced me, like it was nothing. Who did he think he was?

The entire two hours we were in New Rome, I had to listen to everyone talking about how incredible Percy was, how hot he was, how brave and strong he was. I went completely ignored by everyone, including Piper, who was becoming fast friends with Percy.

Over the evening, an odd feeling began to form in the pit of of my stomach, a feeling that was, sadly, very familiar. It was the same low-burning rage that I felt when Leo hit on Piper (even if it was a joke), or when people talked about their functional families. It was jealousy, and I was officially jealous of Percy Jackson.

I wish that feeling had stopped right then and there, I wish i could have left it in New Rome. But with each passing day on the Argo II, it got stronger and stronger. And eventually, as jealousy always does, it turned into anger and hatred.

Percy was so perfect, so friendly, so funny, so attractive, he was everything I wasn't. But even that wasn't the biggest problem. No. That started a few weeks after he and Annabeth escaped Tartarus. Piper and I's relationship had hit a... rocky patch. To be honest, I wasn't surprised, after all, how good could a relationship built on fake memories really be?

The tension between Pipeer and I was only magnified by how stiflingly perfect Percy and Annabeth were as a couple. Everytime you ran into them on the ship, they were attached to eachother, wether they were holding hands, or their ankles were entertwined, or making out against a wall.

There, I said it, my hatred towards Percy was purely because his relationship was so perfect and unattainable, an expectation Piper and I could never meet.

There were a couple of particular instances that almost pushed me over the edge. One time, I woke up and found Percy and Annabeth asleep on the couch together. Percy lay on his back, with Annabeth basically on top of him, one leg strewn across his hips, her head buried in the crook of his neck. Their hands were tangled together, and Percy's occasional snores disrupted the silence.

They seemed so peaceful, so comfortable in eachothers presence. Something Piper and I had never achieved. All I could think about was how desperately I wanted everything Percy had, and how much I despised Percy for having everything.

The second incident came about a week after, after a particularly bad fight with Piper. I slammed the door and stalked up the stairs to the front deck of the boat, feeling a very desperate need to strike something with lightning. I was interrupted from my thoughts by a voice carrying across the deck.

"Where in Hades's name are you taking me Percy!?"

"Annabeth, no!" Percy giggled. "Don't open your eyes!"

I heard their footsteps getting closer, so I ducked behind the closest thing to me. Which just so happened to be an enormous crossbow cannon, I sat there and watched as Percy led Annabeth towards the bow rail. I knew what was going to happen before it did, and I knew was going to have to watch it.

"Now step up, and hold onto the railing,"

"Percy..."

"Dont peek!"

"I'm not!" Annabeth cried indignantly, but I could tell she had already figured out what Percy was doing.

"Do you trust me?" Percy asked.

"I trust you," Annabeth said, going along with the scene.

Percy guided Annabeths arms out, before wrapping his own around her waist.

"Now open your eyes," Percy said, and Annabeth giggled a little in response.

I wanted to vomit. Of course they were recreating a scene from Titanic, that was just something the perfect couple would do.

"You absolute seaweed brain," Annabeth tried to pretend to be angry, but she was just as into it as Percy. They stood like that for a few minutes, the sunset illuminating their faces as the warship cut through the sea.

I was ready to get the hell out of there, but of course I couldn't without Annabeth and Percy hearing me. I silently cursed demigod hearing. I basically wanted to die, we had watched Titanic on repeat, due to the fact that Leo had only thought to stock the DVD cabinet with VHS tapes of ship related movies.

"I love you Percy."

"I love you too Wise Girl."

And then they kissed, for a solid three minutes. I honestly wanted to cry. Not because it was cute, or because I was remembering how sad that movie was, it was because I was just sad that I didn't have what they had.

Thankfully, Leo called dinner, and their kiss was interrupted. I left the scene a few minutes after they did, so as not to arise suspicion. I trooped down the halls to the dining room, purely and utterly depressed.

You might be wondering what the ending of this story is, and to get there, we need to talk about my breaking point.

It was early the next morning, around three AM, and we awoke to a yell. We all knew exactly what it was. Nightmares were a pretty common occurrence on the Argo II, all that was left was to figure out who it was.

Turns out it was Percy, and Annabeth very quickly managed to calm him down. By that point it was around 4, and none of us particularly wanted to go back to sleep, so we made some hot chocolate and went to sit in the living room.

Everyone made some casual small talk, Leo tinkered with his wii remotes, Hazel fell asleep, and Piper sat as far away from me as physically possible. Seeing Percy and Annabeth sat cuddled up on the corner of the couch, whispering about something. Seeing them so close together, while Piper strained to be far away pushed me over the edge.

"Bloody hell you two, you're so clingy. Mind letting us in whatever secret discussion you're having over there? Oh wait! You're the famous Percy and Annabeth, you dont have to answer to us inferior demigods. You both act like you're so much better than us, just because you went through Tartarus. But you know what, weren't you two the ones who led so many people to their deaths? On almost every quest you guys have been on, someone's died. Bianca, Zoe, Charles, Ethan, Luke, and who's next? Hazel? Leo? Nico? Reyna? It's bound to be someone, after all, you two cause deaths wherever you go."

Percy stood up, silently glancing at Annabeth to make sure she was okay, before walking towards where I was standing. He waited till we were only inches apart before speaking.

"Dude, what is your damage? Annabeth and I have done nothing except try to help you, and you attack us personally like this? Do you have any idea how much Annabeth and I have already beat ourselves up over them?"

Percy laughed emotionlessely, his eyes staying fixed on mine.

"Now if you'd kindly go back to sitting down quietly, me and Annabeth could finish quietly discussing our plans for college, somewhere we may never survive long enough to go to, due to the fact that the Gods keep choosing us for their bloody quests."

That statement shut me up nicely, and for the next two hours, I sat very awkwardly, trying to ignore the glares I was getting from everyone.

For the next few weeks, I slowly re-instituted my friendship with everyone. I apoligised to Piper for being a bit of a dick recently, made friends with annabeth again over some books we both enjoyed, and eventually, Percy and I became good mates. I think our friendship started with discovering our mutual love for talking crap about the gods. Just kidding... Kind of...

(AN: So there it is, the 10k special. I love you all, thank you. I honestly can't believe that i only started this in like... early May. I may or may not currently be working on a Halloween special as well, I'm a sucker for a good Halloween plot. Lots of love, Iris 🌈)