Olympus Drive Book 3: According to Plan

Chapter 2

Sol

I squint up at the sun, massaging my temples. It's an almost overcast day. I don't see why though. Everyone is filing into school for another day of wasted time and un-education. I'm very sullen; it's my option I'm a Junior. We get to be very sullen. I am glad I have AirPods though, an invention created by someone who had a twin sister.

"I want to talk to you---" Luna finally gets one out as I wrestle with her.

"What? Go away I'm busy," I say, taking the earbud from her.

"What are you doing?" she asks.

"Trying to give Phoenix a sunburn, because if I do Axel will most surely blame me despite lacking any evidence," I say, focusing some more.

"Why are you trying to antagonize him?" Luna sighs.

"I feel like a fight, I just got stood up," I say, turning my music off since she's not leaving me alone, "I was supposed to go practice with Erin tonight, but she didn't even show up for school. What level of being stood up is that?"

"Level she probably completely forgot about your ass and just didn't feel like coming to school," Luna says, cuffing the back of my head, "So what? You weren't that into her anyway."

"No, but she's nice and even if it wasn't a date 'date' then at least we'd have fun with some music," I say, shrugging and putting my headphones away, "So I am feeling sorry for myself and starting a fight. Bye now."

"That has to be the lamest way to start a fight," Luna says.

"But it's effective."

"Hey, asshole," Axel, pushing through the crowd towards me.

"Whomst?" shit I remind me of my dad that's frightening. Going with it.

"You were looking at Phoenix and now he has a sunburn!" Axel says, grabbing my shirt and shoving me up against the brick. I'm a bit taller than him but not much.

"He doesn't control the sun," Luna says, very sarcastically considering that's something she is well aware I do control.

"Yes, Axel I gave your boyfriend a sunburn, why don't you punch me in the face so we can both spend the day in ISS glaring at each other?" I ask, as he prepares to do just that.

"Nope, nope, it's fine, he's fine," Phoenix wades his way quickly after his very violent boyfriend, "Axel ----are you really attacking someone because I said my neck felt hot???"

"That's exactly what he's doing," Luna says, tiredly.

"He was looking at you!"

"What, I can't look at your bitch?" I ask.

"He's talking about you!" Axel tells Phoenix who just resorts to picking him up. Not that Phoenix is that much taller than his boyfriend, but he is enough to pick him up off the ground.

"We literally all knew that," Nym, Luna's girlfriend, says, coming up with coffee for them.

"You really need your head examined," Luna just starts to haul me away from Axel.

"Stop now, it's cool," Phoenix says, hauling Axel away, "I am fine; he's itching for a fight."

"Yes, I am, why don't you fight me?" I ask, spreading my arms out.

"I will as well for talking about him like that," Axel says, squirming out of Phoenix's grip and shaking out his arms. He's a tough thing, an excellent fighter and that's coming from me who grew up tussling with the personification of war.

"What's your problem today, Rhea?" Phoenix asks me, he's not entirely afraid of a fight either he just picks them better than his small boyfriend.

"The same problem I have everyday, I'm a bastard who likes hitting small rich boys," I say, smiling smarmily at Axel.

"Stop it, both of you," Luna growls, "We have actual enemies to consider."

"We are highschoolers we don't have---fuck you could have just said Menon alert," Phoenix says, wrapping his arm around Axel's neck.

The thing is, the principal, Mr. Menon, hates all of us, equally, because my family has been a problem since my dad was in high school, because Phoenix was in juvie and will frankly probably go back, and because Axel's family is rich.

Well, not just because they are rich, because they are rich and in direct competition with the more entrenched rich family, the Walls. The Walls have been in Winfell forever, and used to own most of the warf, till Axel's family bought it out. The Walls hate my family because my uncle tends to cause them trouble. The Walls are an old, deeply Christian religious family (now is a good time to point out that us Rheas are polytheistic) and rather homophobic and there's only one Rhea I know of who is straight (well the jury is still out on the littler ones but I don't have much confidence in their heterosexuality).

The Walls are still rather powerful in the town and the school, they own a big rambling mansion behind huge gates and a huge not at all ironic wall, on the south side of town. The Walls oldest boy, Troy, delights in nothing more than antagonizing and making life miserable in general for the people that threaten his family, Axel's family for being rich and comping in business, mine for being weird, and of course, Phoenix is a delightful target for general humiliation and bullying having stabbed one of his friends that unfortunate time.

Troy also still sells drugs out of the school bathroom. Him and his rich friends, a good fifteen of them, sauntering around in leather jackets like they're cool. It used to be sixteen. In middle school Phoenix came upon a drug deal, someone got stabbed, it was unfortunate. Anyway that didn't buy Phoenix any friends. Suffice to say, the Walls and the principal, Mr. Menon, are no friends of ours or Axel's, ergo I would rather bother them than pick a random fight with Axel to sooth my temper.

How do we bother Principal Menon without getting expelled every single day you ask? Well, the thing is three years ago, Winfell high was forced to institute a no PDA policy, which is to say two gay boys cannot kiss like star-crossed lovers at every available opportunity like they were wont to do during their freshman year (cough Axel and Phoenix, cough). The thing about it was it wasn't very fair, as of course heterosexual kisses were never condemned in such a manner. Therefore, on principle, we now must stretch the bounds of what PDA means in order to irk the establishment. This must naturally take precedent above any petty fight.

Therefore, as Principal Menon walks in the building, we all move to touch a member the same sex as quickly and as sexually as possible without violating the already extensive guidelines for what is and is not PDA.

Luna and Nym promptly cross their legs together and begin drinking out of the same cup of coffee. Phoenix calmly begins tracing every single curl on Axel's angry little dumb head with an arm looped around his neck. I take Axel's hand and start examining his fingers while he lays his other hand delicately on my arm.

"You still want to fight Rhea?" he mumbles, despite having a neutral tone.

"You don't want to get suspended this week," Phoenix says.

"I am not going to fight you because I don't want to get suspended this week," Axel says, between gritted teeth.

"Shame, I was looking forward to hearing that high pitched noise you make when you're in pain," Axel has a very manly enviable scream and he mustn't find out so I say things like this.

"Really, what's your problem today, Rhea?" Phoenix growls, glaring at me.

"Being an asshole is constant, I'm always this way," I hiss.

"Get to class, all of you," Principal Menon says, stopping in front of us, he kind of had to, we look like a Renaissance painting at this point. 

I glare at him as we proceed inside, still touching. Axel laces his hand through Phoenix's but they would probably do that anyway. The thing is, Principal Menon used to like Axel, prior to discovering that he was gay and dating Phoenix who's been a thorn in his side. Now he just tolerates him because his parents have money. Fun story Axel's parents do not know he's gay despite his inability to act straight for any length of time.

"Meet me in the 200s hall bathroom, 943," I hiss, to Axel, before heading to my locker.

"Done," he growls back.

"I give up," Luna says, shaking her head, she heard it too.

"Good," I say, shrugging. I don't even give a fuck today. She can be disappointed in me. I really don't care.