1 I Meet My Neighbours

I was excited to go to college. I had started packing two weeks in advance, already purchased all my handbooks, and had files colour-coded for each of my subjects according to their importance. If anyone had asked me about what I planned to do after school, I would announce that I would be attending Olympia College this coming fall and watch my father beam with what seemed like pride. It was moments like these that made my life worth living.

Zeus Grace wasn't the friendliest of fathers and very seldom showed any form of affection towards his children. He would even deny that he had any children on occasion. So to have my father call the College and tell them that I was a legacy had been tremendous. For the first time ever, I felt like he had done something right in my father's eyes, and I was determined not to let him down.

That was, of course, only the main reason I was so excited. I was also excited because I was finally free from Jupiter High and the endless rivalry with Half-Blood High, or more specifically, my stupid competition with the one and only Percy Jackson. Percy Jackson, the hero of Half-Blood High, the guy whose sole purpose in life was to make mine hell, the guy who did everything in his power to beat me at absolutely everything. It was so close most of the time, but even if it ate away at my insides, Percy Jackson had me beat the moment he was offered a contract with the Immortals football club.

Even if Percy fucking Jackson got a contract with my favourite football team, successfully shattering my own dreams of playing for them because there was no way they could be teammates, at least I would never see his face again. That is if I never watched an Immortals game or read the sports section in the papers again. Oh well, sacrifices needed to be made.

Another reason I was excited was that I had an excuse to leave my girlfriend of three years, Reyna. She would be joining the military, and I had told her that the distance would drive me mad, not to mention that I would never really know where she was or if she was safe. She had told me that it was for the best if we broke it off.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with her. She was, of course, a wonderful girl. That wasn't the reason I was happy to be ending things with her. I was delighted because it meant my secret was still safe. The scandal that would have my politician of a father disown me was still buried eight feet under, never to see the light.

The relationship had seemed so promising at first, even if it was born in my idiotic rivalry with Percy Jackson. You see, he had a girlfriend, this beautiful blonde girl, the typical girl that the star running back should have. This obviously meant I had to have a beautiful girlfriend as well.

Enter Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, the beautiful girl that everyone, even Zeus himself, admired and approved of her. The problem was that even though I admired her beauty and strength, I wasn't attracted to her whatsoever. I wasn't attracted to any girl.

All-in-all, I was just excited to make a fresh start. Zeus had told me about the rooms the legacies got, and it sounded pretty damn sweet. Legacies didn't get a standard College room. No, they got a two-bedroom flat to share with another Legacy, complete with two bathrooms, a laundry room, and of course, a living room with a big-screen television. My roommate would be Frank Zhang, which was perfect since we were both on the football team at Jupiter High.

I idly stared out the window as my sister and I drove past the suburb I wouldn't see again until at least Christmas. I looked back at my sister driving the car. Thalia was just as she had always been, with her short spikey hair, electric blue eyes rimmed thickly with black eyeliner, trusty leather jacket, favourite death to Barbie t-shirt, silver bracelets, and combat boots. She had never craved our father's approval like me. That's probably why she would be returning to her standard College room one last year.

She kept her eyes fixed on the road as Green Day filled the silence between us with 21 Guns. I idly wondered if she was trying to tell me something. Like she was trying to ask me what I was willing to die for. Honestly, I didn't know.

If there was one thing I admired most about Thalia, it was that she stuck to her priorities, even if they weren't her studies or being responsible in any way whatsoever. I continued to stare at my sister as Fall Out Boy started Save Rock and Roll.

"You excited to be going back?" I asked. I just couldn't take the silence anymore, and I didn't just mean the silence in the car. She had been ignoring me flat for the last few weeks, and I missed my sister. The sister that practically raised me after our mother died in a car accident. The sister who would ruffle my hair and crack jokes about me trying to eat a stapler because I thought I needed iron in my diet. The only person that knew my dirty little secret.

"No," she answered without even moving an inch. Linkin Park was next to fill the chasm between us.

"You know you could always come crash with me in the flat if you ever want to get some space or whatever. I'm sure Frank wouldn't..."

"I'd rather not," she cut me off in the same curt tone. I'm not going to lie. It hurt...a lot. I suddenly found my lap very interesting. I just couldn't believe she would be that harsh, even If she disapproved of my actions at the moment. I heard her let out a heavy sigh, and she actually cut the music off. "Jason, I love you, you know that, right?" she asked, and I found myself nodding without looking up from my lap.

"I just don't like seeing you jump through hoops like a fucking show pony without ever getting something out of it for yourself," she said in a much softer voice. "I guess I was just hoping you would use this as an opportunity to finally be free of expectations. You know, be your own man," she said, her voice barely a whisper. There was silence once again. I just didn't know what to tell her. At least I knew she only wanted what was best for me.

"Could you promise me something?" she asked, and I looked up at her stare out at the road with a look of determination. I mumbled a 'sure,' and she pulled the car to the side of the road. As soon as the car rolled to a stop, she turned to face me with a very serious gleam in her eyes. "Promise me that whatever you do at College, it's going to be for you. Not to please dad, me, or anyone else." She took my hand and stared at me until I gave her a nod.

"Good, now I know dad wasn't too thrilled that you're doing law, but personally, I've always seen you as someone protecting and defending other people, so I was pretty happy when you stood vast on that one. It might just be the start of you getting a backbone." She said before she cranked up the music just as the first chords of American Idiot started and pulled back onto the road.

The campus was beautiful. That's probably not how most guys would describe it, but it's the only word I could think appropriate to explain it. As we drove through the gates, tall trees covered the road, creating a sort of tunnel before it opened up to Greek styled buildings that would have any architects think they have died and gone to heaven. At the very centre of campus was a fountain. In the centre of the fountain stood a Greek styled statue of a man holding what looked like a ram's horn.

Even the dorms were beautiful, all-white marble and clean with ancient Greek scenes carved into the stone. I stepped into my flat and was surprised by the size of it. I really didn't expect it to be this big.

I stepped down the hallway on the right and found two doors opposite each other, both wide open. I peered inside both and found the two bedrooms, both still empty. I guess I had beat Frank here. I chose the left one and dropped my bags on the bed before heading back to get the rest of my belongings.

Around three, all my things were unpacked, and I heard a jingle at the door. A second later, Frank popped into my room with a big smile plastered on his face, and a bag slung over his shoulder.

"How awesome is this?" he asked, and I smiled back at him.

"Well, much better now, my roommate is here," I said, stepping forward only to receive a big bear hug. That's when I saw a mop of curly caramel hair in my doorway.

"Hazel?" I croaked as Frank squeezed the last of the air out of my lungs.

"Hey," she said, throwing me a small wave.

"Oh, yeah," Frank said as he sat me down and turned towards his girlfriend, who was a senior at Jupiter High this year. "Haze came to watch the tryouts." He draped his arms around her waist and nuzzled the crook of her neck. "And maybe help me settle in tonight." He went in to give her a kiss, but she stopped him with a single finger.

"I don't think Nico would approve of that," she said with a cocked eyebrow. "Need I remind you that he's right across the hall?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. I always found it rather funny how a big, half Asian, half Canadian, defender like Frank could flinch at the mere mention of Nico, the scrawny, emo looking older brother of his girlfriend. Don't even get me started on the fact that he was scared of his small, almost two feet shorter girlfriend.

"Fine," he said with a heavy sigh. "But you're still coming to tryouts, right?" he asked with his best impression of a puppy. To me, he just looked like a bulldog.

"Of course," she said with a peck to his cheek before she checked her watch. "But you do realise you only have forty minutes to unload the car, get dressed and run to the field, which is a fifteen-minute walk from here, right?" Frank looked at me, and we came to a silent agreement. RUN!

That's how we found ourselves dressed and ready for football tryouts with a full fifteen minutes to go. We rushed out the door, leaving Hazel to lock up and set off down the hall. I only covered about ten feet, though, before I ran into what felt like a wall and toppled to the floor.

I was utterly dazed, and it took me a while just to see straight again. When my vision did come back, however, I had to wonder if my contacts were knocked out of my eyes in the fall because I refused to believe that what I was seeing was, in fact, true. It just couldn't be.

I stood up on slightly shaky legs as I stared down into two bright green orbs. Percy fucking Jackson was sprawled out on the floor, while a Latino boy fused over him and shot me a glare.

"Well, Grace, I know you must be just delighted to see me and all, but did you have to tackle me before we even get on the field?" he grumbled as he got up with the help of the elfish Latino.

My mind drew a blank. I couldn't think of a witty remark to shoot back at the asshole, or even muster up a sneer. I simply stared at Jackson with wide eyes and asked the one thing that popped into my head.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" he raised an eyebrow at me as if the answer was obvious.

"I believe I am here to get an education, just like everyone else here." He looked behind him and gestured towards a door. "But if you mean what I'm doing specifically here on this spot, I live here." I looked at the door and then back at my own. No, no, no, no, and no! Percy fucking Jackson could not be my fucking next-door neighbour!

"Um, Jase," Frank said, tugging at my arm. "We really need to go." That woke me up. I pushed past Percy and raced to the field as fast as I could. Not that I would escape my hell by going there, because he was obviously going to the tryouts too.

As we all lined up for tryouts, one thought resonated in my mind. Fuck my life!