ONE LAST TIME . . . heroes of olympus

1

IT ALL STARTED with a school field trip.

Which was something that Kat had never thought that she'd ever think because all her life she'd gone to fancy private schools because gods forbid Viktoria Mikhailova ever let her daughter go to a filthy public school, and usually the private schools Kat went to never let them go on field trips. Going to Bora Bora in the middle of the week was her classmates' school field trip.

Now? Now, Kat was in the middle of nowhere, on a school field trip.

Why was she there? Well, her mother overheard Chiron give Gleeson Hedge a job because there were two demigods there, and, naturally, she had to put Kat into that job to "prove herself".

As if she didn't already fight in a war.

But the Wilderness school was . . . nice, in a way. Hedge wasn't that hard on her, because he knows her skills, and she can keep up with Leo, Piper, and Jason that way.

Leo and Piper and Jason. Quickly, they'd became everything she lived for, which was odd, because Kat hasn't had very many real friends, unless you counted her siblings.

Leo was one of Kat's best friends and, a while ago, more. They'd dated under Piper and Jason's noses, but they hadn't noticed because they were too wrapped up into each other. It was just for the two of them. But they hadn't worked well together as a couple, despite half acting like one anyway, so they'd broken up. And to this date, they hadn't told anyone they were together.

Piper was . . . she was special. As Kat's dormmate, they had all nighters talking about the randomest things. Books. The ocean, considering Piper lived in LA. Deeper things.

Though Leo was Piper's best friend, Kat knew her better. Which scared her, especially when she started to feel things toward her and Jason.

Jason. He'd arrived a couple of weeks late to the school, which was weird. He seemed more like Leo and Piper, despite his movie star looks, especially since he was Leo's roommate and came with him to the table that they sat at.

Still, Kat adored him. He was a little bit more like her, which was a shame that he wasn't a demigod like Leo and Piper were.

They were the outcasts of the school. But when the four of them were together, Kat felt like she was popular. Though her allegiance with Hedge sort of helped her out there.

But now she was reclining on a bus seat, which was hard to do, but her legs dug into the seat in front of her, which held her and Leo's bags because no one else wanted to sit near them, so they got extra room for their bags. Hedge didn't really care. So they were just vibing.

"Kangaroos are the best animals by far," Leo said from next to her. His legs were bouncing and he was fidgeting. ADHD at its finest.

"What spurred that on?" Kat asked, shaking her head. "And no. It's obviously flamingos."

Leo's nose crinkled. "Flamingos, Kat? Seriously?"

"They are so majestic," she argued. "They're pink, they balance on one leg—"

"Your taste in animals is stupid," he said.

She scoffed. "Says you, stupider. What are kangaroos even good for?"

"Take that back." He looked over at her, offended.

She snickered. "No."

He opened his mouth to retort, but then Hedge with his megaphone just had to speak.

"All right, cupcakes, listen up!"

His baseball cap was pulled low over his hair, so you could just see his beady eyes, which had always internally freaked Kat out. He had a wispy goatee and a sour face. His buff arms and chest pushed against a bright orange polo shirt. His nylon workout pants and Nikes were spotless white. A whistle hung from his neck, and a megaphone was clipped to his belt. He would've looked pretty scary if he hadn't been five feet zero. When he stood up in the aisle, one of the students called, "Stand up, Coach Hedge!"