Hazel and the Phantoms

Hazel's First Day

"You got everything?" Frank Zhang asked, guiding his girlfriend to the small Labyrinth entrance.

"Frank, I have everything." Hazel said, sighing heavily. "You don't have to walk me to the door. I got this."

"Do you have your sketchbook?" Frank asked, smiling happily.

"Yeah..."

"No you don't."

"You saw me put it in my backpack!" Hazel said, laughing a little bit.

"You don't have your new one..."

"New one? I don't have a new one!"

"Yeah ya do." Frank said, revealing a plastic bag from behind his back and holding it out to Hazel. "It's from me, Nico, and Will. It's a good luck gift."

"Frank..." Hazel said exhaustedly.

"We're proud of you, Hazel!" Frank said, putting the bag in Hazel's hands. "And this year hasn't exactly been the easiest for anyone, so when a good thing happens, we wanna celebrate!"

"Thank you." Hazel said, getting up on her tippy toes as kissed Frank's cheek. "Are you gonna be okay running things by yourself all day?"

"I'll be fine, I promise." Frank said, smiling as happily as he could. "Go figure out the twenty first century. Camp isn't going to burn down in eight hours."

Hazel laughed, taking in a deep breath. "Fine. I love you, Frank."

"I love you too. Go have fun!"

"Call me as soon as there's an emergency."

"Go have fun!" Frank repeated, almost pushing Hazel in to the Labyrinth.

She quickly managed to manipulate the passageways to get her to her destination, hundreds of miles away from Camp Jupiter. Once Hazel resurfaced, she brushed off her black pleated skirt as she walked down the street, entering the school. People were playing different instruments and talking in small groups. Hazel smiled to herself, taking a deep breath, before walking deeper into the building.

As she was walking, she tripped over something and fell onto the ground. The new art supplies scattered onto the ground, the plastic bag breaking. Hazel quickly scrambled to pick all of it up.

"Watch where you're going!" A girl said, her caramel hair tied back in a ponytail. "You tripped over my shoe."

"S-Sorry!" Hazel stammered.

"Oh my God..." A girl with tan skin and extremely curly hair said, quickly walking over and getting on the ground. The girl looked familiar, but Hazel couldn't place it. The girl looked up at the ponytail girl. "Carrie, seriously?"

"She should watch where she's going." The ponytail girl said before walking away.

"Ignore her." The girl across from Hazel said, smiling at Hazel wide enough for Hazel to see a gap between her two front teeth. "Carrie isn't exactly the nicest person."

"It's fine. I really should pay attention." Hazel said quickly. "It's been a long time since I've been in an actual school."

"Were you homeschooled or something?"

"In a way. I used to go to this school in New Orleans, but then my mom moved us up to Alaska, and then I moved down here to live with my dad, and I haven't really been to school since I was six." Hazel partially lied. Easier than trying to explain that she hasn't been in a school in over seventy years.

"I get it. Crazy adjusting period." The girl said, finally noticing what she was picking up. "You a part of the art program?"

"Yeah. Today's my first day. This was a good luck present from my boyfriend, my brother, and my brother's boyfriend. My boyfriend was the one who submitted my application to this place."