soulmates ⋮ heroes of olympus au

one.

A n n a b e t h

☼

The first day of school always seemed to have a strange feeling in the air. While many people woke up with this feeling of excitement over starting a new year and seeing their friends again, there was also this underlying feeling of dread when people remembered the overload of assignments and inevitably horrible teachers and people they would encounter. The first day signified a major change, but it also usually meant saying goodbye to relaxation.

Annabeth Chase had never really enjoyed the first day of school. Sure, it was a refreshing change of pace from her monotonous summer routine that mostly consisted of her studying for the SATs coming up that year, working a part-time job at a clothing store, and spending the rest of her free time reading. There were a few moments of brightness when she got to hang out with her best friends, but those were often overshadowed by the rarity of them and the absolute bore that had been her summer vacation

But even with that, she would take a dull summer vacation over her high school any day.

When she woke up that September morning, her small bedroom filled with sunlight that shone through her thin white and grey curtains. Annabeth rolled to her side in her bed, furiously punching her phone to turn off the alarm that was obnoxiously blaring and ruining what little peace she had woken up. Annabeth had made sure to set her morning alarm to give her exactly enough time to complete her minimal morning routine and meet Hazel and Thalia outside her home so they could walk to school together.

As she began to get ready, Annabeth quickly realized that it probably wasnt the best idea for her to stay up until the late hours of the evening to read and text her friends. Her movements were sluggish, and Annabeth often found herself almost falling asleep as she was getting dressed.

Annabeth caught her reflection in the small mirror that hung by her door, wincing when she saw how frizzy her blonde curls looked that morning. She attempted to calm them down, but eventually settled for pulling hair back into a ponytail.

A set of leather bracelets sat on her dresser and Annabeth grabbed them, pulling the bracelets over her wrist. After learning that part of her tattoo contained a blue cookie, Annabeth had decided at age thirteen that keeping her tattoo covered up was probably the best option for her.

Annabeth wasn't the only one who did this. Most people chose to cover their tattoos for a variety of reasons. Many did it because they simply didn't want to deal with their tattoos and just let fate intervene. Some, like Annabeth, did it out of embarrassment of what their tattoo contained. There were a select few who didn't believe in the concept of soulmates at all, despite the universes wishes

After bounding down the stairs and ignoring her step-mom's annoyed yells as moved past the kitchen, Annabeth pushed open her front door and waved eagerly at two of her best friends Hazel and Thalia, who were standing next to each other at the end of Annabeth's driveway and grinning at the girl.

"Despite how wonderful it is to see you guys," Annabeth laughed as she gave the two girls a quick hug. "I really dont want to go to school right now."

Thalia, who knew better, nudged Annabeths shoulder in a teasing manner. "Aren't you like the biggest nerd ever? Stop lying to us and just admit you're excited to go back to school."

"Admittedly...the school part is pretty great. What I don't like is 90% of the people there. Our friend group is like a rare exception to that rule."

Goode High was a small high school, which allowed Annabeth to get to know too many people at her school that she didnt necessarily want to. She tried to avoid most of her classmates at all costs and keep to herself most of the time, but the small environment made even that difficult.