Half-Blood High

IV

               Piper

"And when we multiply two squared terms, we must also add their exponents, thus giving us our answer."

Mrs. Dodds droned on about some math term or another. I probably should have been paying attention to her, or the board, or my math book. But that was impossible.

All my attention was turned to Him.

Jason Grace, the newest, cutest guy at Half-Blood High. He sat a few seats diagonal to me, so I could sneak glances at him, without him noticing.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Dodds noticed.

"Piper McClean." She slammed her wrinkled hand down on my desk. Her nails were oddly long for an old woman's, and painted a bright blood red. "Piper McClean, What do you think you are doing?"

I glanced up at her. "I was uh. . . Trying to solve the problem on the board." Nice going Piper. You sound like some nerd.

Mrs. Dodds didn't look very convinced. "Oh really? And what is the answer to the problem on the board then, Miss McClean?"

I swallowed. No getting out of this one. Mrs. Dodds and the rest of the class stared at me, waiting for my answer. The room was dead silent.

BANG. Everyone jumped, and turned to watch as Jason Grace's metal thermos rolled across the floor and stopped, oddly enough, right next to my desk.

"May I get my water bottle, please?"

Mrs. Dodds nodded. "Be quick about it. We are all still waiting on your answer, Miss McClean." She added as Jason bent down next to me. He grabbed the bottle and stood up slowly. I tried not to look at him. It was hard.

Out of the corner of my eye, his lips moved. I turned my head just slightly, and tried to figure out what he was mouthing.

"Four cubed. Four cubed." He mouthed it over and over, until I registered what he was saying.

"The answer is four cubed." I looked Mrs. Dodds straight in the face, which wasn't the best idea. She had some ham stuck in her teeth from who knew when.

Her wrinkled brow grew some new furrows as she frowned at me. "That is... correct." She finally managed to get out. "But in the future, it would be more beneficial if your attention was on the lesson, and not on Mr. Grace."

My face burned. People were staring at me, and not in a good way. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to crawl under my desk. Mrs. Dodds smirked. I had won the battle, but not the war.

BRRRRIIIINNNGG.

Mercifully, the bell rang. First period was over.

"Break time!" Leo sang as he waited for me to grab my stuff. I slung my backpack onto my shoulder and pulled my phone from my pocket. No new messages or calls. That was good.

"What's your second period?" I asked as we made our way down the hall to the cafeteria. Two guys on skateboards raced past us, followed by a teacher yelling: "Travis, Connor get back here!"

"English. You?"

"Greek Mythology. Yay."

"It's first day bad luck." Leo said, running a hand through his messy coffee-colored curls. I wondered when he had last brushed his hair.

"Yeah. It really is."

We spilt up to go to our lockers. Mine was near the gym hall, and a bunch of already-sweaty boys were streaming out. Some stared at me, and two of them whistled. I ignored them and headed for locker 427.

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Leo

I sighed as I fixed the shelf in my locker (again!) and placed my books on top. "It's going to work this time. Hopefully." I muttered to myself. I reached out to grab my grammar book.

"Talking to yourself is a sign of insanity."

"AHH!" I jumped and spun around.

A girl was standing at the locker next to me, arms crossed. Her almond-shaped eyes narrowed. "Are you possibly insane?"

"Excuse me?" I said, somewhat offended. "I am not insane, despite what you may have heard. I am Leo Valdez. The perfectly sane, all around like-able popular guy. I would say it's a pleasure to meet you, but that might be a lie."

The girl sniffed, looking unimpressed. "Well then, Leonidas-."

"That's not my name!"

She ignored me. "I have not heard of you, and am highly doubting that you are popular. Now if you are done, I will be leaving."

She opened the locker in front of her, grabbed a book, and sauntered off, her cinnamon-gold ponytail bouncing with every step.

"Bye then." I muttered.

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Percy

"And that's the maze garden." Annabeth moved awfully fast. In the space of an hour, I had seen the gym, upstairs classrooms, swimming pool, climbing wall, and (much to my chagrin) the library. My head was swimming with all the directions, tips and facts she had supplied me with. Annabeth seemed to never run out of knowledge.

"And this is the last place on the tour. The fountain quad." Annabeth pointed straight ahead, to the ornate fountain plaza.

Cream colored stones made a path up to the fountain, which spouted water in a rhythmic dance. Several benches were spaced out, sitting against the hedges, walling in the plaza. It was peaceful, which was a nice change from the busy, rushed atmosphere of high school.

Several students were sitting on the fountain's edge, despite the aforementioned stone seats. One of them, a boy with blond curly hair, waved to Annabeth before going back to his book.

"Who's that?" I asked as she waved back.

"Malcom. He and I are on the math team together. He's pretty nice."

I nodded. Just then, the bell rang.

"Well, that's the end of our tour. And just in time too. It's break."

I looked to the entrance, where a new crop of students was coming in. One girl with dirty blonde hair shouldered last me, not bothering to be polite.

"Listen, I gotta go. I have some stuff to take care of before second period. Is there anyone here you know or can hang out with?"

I nodded. "Yeah I know somebody. Hey, what's your second period?"

"Math. You?"

She nodded. "Same. I guess I'll see you then." With that, she walked off, leaving me in the tide of kids.

I shrugged and sat down on the fountain's edge. A light spray misted anyone within a few feet's radius. It was refreshing after all the waking I had done.

"Percy! There you are." Grover appeared suddenly at my side. "Did you finish your tour?" I nodded. "So, What do you think?"

I grinned. "I think I like it here. It's pretty cool. How was your botany club?"

Grover grinned. "Good, thanks for asking. Do you think you might join any clubs?"

I shrugged. I still hadn't decided between swimming club, or fencing club. I didn't want to choose both, but only doing one sounded hard. Swimming was fun for me, and I had been one of the best at my old school. But fencing club just had a certain appeal. Plus, that weird dream from before had kind of sparked an interest in swordplay.

Then, I knew what to choose.

. . .

Chapter 4, done!

Thoughts?

Peace ✌️

-SilverQuillsandRoses