My journey with books began when I was very little. Instead of going outside to play with the other kids, I stayed in and occupied my 15 minutes of recess some other way. I played board games by myself, completed and demolished puzzles, and occasionally drew artistic paintings. Until one day, I finally decided to venture over to the little bookshelves my classroom had.

To be honest, books used to terrify me. I was never a great reader, and even as a 19-year-old, it still takes some time for me to start and finish a book. I hated the fact that other kids would zoom through a book with ease and tell you word for word what happened. I couldn't do that. At first, I thought it was because I just wasn't smart like the other kids and reading would never be a thing I could be interested in. But I learned that reading isn't something everyone is the same at. Some books you'll be interested in, some books you'll hate. Everyone has a different way of reading and not everyone reads at the same level. It takes practice; just like everything else.

Middle school was where my love for reading really kicked off. My English teacher gave us 15 to 30 minutes to read a book of our choice and at first, I was honestly a little bored by this. But when I didn't have a book for class one day, my teacher let me borrow one of her donated books, and that's where I came across author Rick Riordan's, "Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief."

The cover alone was enough to get me hooked. And, that my friends, was the start of something amazing.

So, without further ado, I'm going to thank my best friend and my favorite fictional character, Percy Jackson.

Dear Percy,

You were the odd kid in your class and so was I! Your dyslexia and ADHD kept you behind in school, but then later, you found out that you were the son of Poseidon. I didn't have one of those crazy moments in middle school, but I like to think that I'm the daughter of Apollo. (Makes sense right?) After hearing your story and your triumph and growing with you vicariously through your stories, I've learned that no matter what you may think is wrong with you, you are always destined for greatness. To me, you are better than Harry Potter because you weren't cursed by a magical spell. (The Boy Who Lived, big whoop!) You were cursed by life. Granted, in my world Greek Gods and monsters are just a fairytale, but instead of beating yourself up about how much life sucked, you just lived through it and saved everyone's life at the same time.

You probably don't want to be considered a hero, but you're a hero to me. You started me on this path and I know that you will inspire me later on in my life as I am faced with other obstacles.

You're not just a fictional character to me, Percy Jackson. You are my best friend, my favorite person, and the fictional character I'd like to be stuck on a deserted beach with. You're my fictional crush and you're my hero.

Thank you.

P.S. I sort of — but not really — ship "Percabeth," just sayin'.