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Hazel made her way back to her dorm struggling to walk. As soon as she reached it, she collapsed in her bed and layed down, taking off her pointé shoes.
"What kind of torture device are this?" She asked.
Her feet were bloody and blistered, so much she could not feel them anymore.
"Mum used to make me practice in them all the time" Annabeth said "After a while, you just kinda stop feeling the pain"
"I don't have a while" Hazel replied between her teeth as she hopped to the bathroom and poured freezing water in her feet "I need it now"
"Well, good luck girl" Calypso said while picking up a pencilcase. "We need to get to class now or we'll be late"
Hazel grabbed her pencilcase in a hurry, put on her espardilles, not even bothering to take off her leotard, and ran with the rest to class.
Thankfully, they made it on time and managed to find seats in the front row. They smiled and highed five before sitting down.
Once everyone was there (the boys were late, as usual), the teacher made the class settle down.
"Good afternoon, dancers" She said, holding a stack of books "I'm Mrs Kleio, for those who do not know me, and I will be your teacher this year"
She started to pass down the books as she walked between the desks.
"I want you to know that this won't be easier just because you're all talented and only have two hours of class. There will be homework, requirements, tests and you will learn as much as normal teenagers, if not more. So, all of you who thought lessons would be easier, you can all make up your mind"
Hazel heard Leo whisper "Damn" under his breath and saw Calypso aim a kick under her desk. She had a wonderful aim.
She looked at the textbook in her hands and focused on the lecture. It wasn't too hard. Back at home, she had to have perfect marks in everything, just not standing out. Because, what if she failed, or she did something wrong? What would happen if the school called her mother or, even worse yet, made her come to a meeting?
How in the world would she make her stay sober for it? Or would she come drunk?
It was too much trouble. So she studied and did her homework, had good results, never went to any field trip because passed out people could not sign authorizations.
After a few hours of class, they were dismissed and made their way to the canteen to have dinner.
"History is too hard" Piper complained, holding the stack of books over her head.
"Maths is way worse" Calypso replied, looking glum and desperate.
"Nothing a few nights and a lot of coffee cups can't fix" Hazel winked.
"Coffee runs in my veins" Annabeth smiled.
They sat down with the boys, mainly because it was the only empty table, and started eating.
"So, Percy" Piper giggled "What do you think of Annabeth?"
Annabeth choked on her food once more, but then grinned mischeveously.
"Jason, did you know Piper said she would date you if you had courage to stand up and ask her out?"
Hazel and Calypso stared bewildered at the scene.
"You did not" Piper yelled.
"Oh, but I did" Annabeth smiled.
"Annabeth has a dress the same colour as your eyes and has been wearing it ever since in hope that you noticed!" Piper said quickly.
Percy looked down at his t-shirt, and the whole table gasped when they noticed...
...it was grey.
Annabeth blushed furiously, grabbed his wrist and pushed him out of the canteen and into the hallway.
Piper giggled and went back to her food.
"So... You like me?" Jason asked.
She nearly spat her food in surprise. Jason didn't mention it again.
Calypso and Hazel were dying of laughter, both red in the face and struggling to breath. Hazel placed her arm on Frank, who was seating beside her, and kept giggling.
"Oh my, never be like those, you hear me?" She said between her laughter, taking quick breaths and breaking into another fit of giggles.
He wrapped his arm around her in a protective way.
"Never"
The remaining people chatted for a while until Annabeth and Percy returned. His eyes shone with excitement, he was practically jumping up and down.
"Woah bro, what happened?" Leo asked.
"Turns out, she will never make it easy for me" He said, as if it was the best thing in the world. "Our daughter will be named Ariel"
Annabeth blushed dark red.
"Slow down! I only agreed for a date"
Piper squeeled with excitement.
That night, in her room, Hazel put on her pointé shoes once more and grabbed the barre. She got started on the positions, some basic relevé and some tendu.
"You will die if you keep doing that" Calypso told her as she put on her pyjamas. "You need rest, you know"
"It's impossible to convince her, believe me" Piper said as she hopped into her bed "Stubborn to the core, that one"
Hazel pretended not to hear as she kept practising.
"You know" She said, as she turned in her feet while on arabesque "Your body is actually capable of anything, it's just your mind you have to convince"
"Well, have fun convincing your mind" Annabeth replied "My mind can only be convinced to watch a Netflix marathon right now or read a whole saga. No in-between"
Once again, Hazel ignored them and kept dancing. Kept training. She saw the pink satin in her shoes turn red from the blood soaking them and still kept dancing.
Wounds would heal, skin would scar, blood would dry, she would become stronger. But she would not get better without training.
So, as the moon shone, she went to her choreography once more.
She was ready, and she wasn't afraid to fight for her dreams.
And that makes a powerful combination.
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You never know - Pjo Fanfiction
Fanfiction"Dancers don't become great because of their technique, their greatness comes from their passion, and never giving up" Olympus Ballet Academy, a reality for a few, a dream for the hundreds of teenagers that enter the trials, hoping they will be the...
