Jealousy - [A Valgrace Fanfic] - [11+]

[Chapter #1: A forced picnic.]

[TW - A bit of bullying is mentioned in this part, if triggered by this topic, please skip part.]

Leo's P.O.V:

Me and Piper were just walking through the halls to get to our next class, when of course, she just has to bring up her stupid crush.

"Did you see Jason yesterday? He looked so cute!!" Piper squealed. Unlike her, I did not feel as excited.
"No. I actually prefer to try and avoid seeing him." I huffed. Piper rolled her eyes.
"You need to be nice, he's a cool dude! You just refuse to give him a chance."
"Oh, gee Pipes, I wonder why that is! Oh, right, because he humiliated me back in 6th grade."
"Ugh, why can't you just get over the water thing? It was an accident!"
"An accident?! Seriously, I can't deal with your stupidity sometimes!"
We finally made it to our class, and had a seat. I started to ignore Piper. Let me explain the water incident. When I was in 6th grade, I shared a class with Jason and his dumb friends. One day, I was just walking to class with Piper like normal, and boom! I had water dumped on me from above. Immediately, Jason and his dumb friends started laughing at me! It was so humiliating!! We all got detention later cause I yelled at them. But it was totally their fault! And guess what?! They never even apologized to me! Jason is just such a big jerk. Not to mention, he's boring, and lame! And like all popular guys, he's stupid and annoying!! And, like I said before, a super big, annoying, jerk!
I have every right to not like him. And yet Piper, who's supposed to be my best friend, has a crush on him! Sure, because he's hot and on the football team and he works out, but he's still a big jerk!!
I just don't understand how Piper could like someone like him.

After a long, boring lesson, finally the bell rang and class was over. Me and Piper started heading to lunch.

"Soo..." She started.
"What?" I said, still mostly annoyed with her.
"Wanna go on a picnic with me tomorrow?" She offered.
"Depends. What kinda snacks are you bringing?"
Piper rolled her eyes.
"I'll bring chips and salsa and tacos for you, though it's gonna be tofu tacos." Piper said.
I immediately cheered up. Free food was the best. Especially free tacos. Oh, by the way, Piper's a vegetarian. That's why she's only gonna bring tofu tacos and all that stuff.
"Ohh! Ok!! I'll come." I agreed. Piper smiled.
"Good. I'm glad. Anyways, I gotta go! Jason and me are gonna hang out in the fields if you wanna come."
I rolled my eyes.
"No thanks. Have fun." I called after her as she walked away.
I grabbed some lunch and walked around, trying to spot a friend I could talk to. Finally, I spotted Hazel! Sweet, Sweet, Hazel! Oh, and Annabeth. But whatever. I walked over to them.

"Hey guys!" I called, having a seat next to Hazel. And immediately, my mood dropped. Hazel was crying.
"Wait, what's wrong?" I said, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. She sniffled, and Annabeth spoke up.
"Stupid Octavian picked on her while she went to get lunch."
"What'd he say?" I asked, feeling a tinge of anger.
"He called her annoying and threw a drawing she worked on in the trash can and called it trash." Annabeth said, I could tell she was angry too.
I crossed my arms.
"Ugh, seriously? I swear, I'm gonna fight him next time I see him!" I said, pounding the table.
"No, guys, it's fine, really, I'll just make a new one." Hazel said, wiping her eyes. I rubbed her back.
"He shouldn't be allowed to talk to you like that! Seriously, if you need me to, I'll fight him!" I volunteered.
"Me too." Annabeth said. Hazel laughed.
"No, but thanks guys. I feel better."
"Of course, anything for Lady Hazel to feel better!" I joked, leaning onto her. Hazel chuckled.
"Ah, thank you, Sir Leo."
We both laughed.

I stayed spending time with them at lunch before the bell rang and I went to my next class. I swear, next time I see Octavian, I'm gonna turn him into a pancake!
Anyways, after multiple boring lessons and hours at school, it was finally time to go home! I said goodbye to Piper, before I started walking home.
Just as I got home and settled down, I remembered that I made plans with Piper tomorrow. I quickly got my outfit ready, so hopefully I won't run late by not being able to decide in the morning. Once I had everything ready, my Madre called me down for dinner. I enjoyed a nice meal and told my madre about my day before heading back upstairs to go to bed. Though, of course, I stayed up a little later than I should've before I finally fell asleep.

~ The Next Morning ~

I woke up in a rush. Shoot, I had slept right past my alarm. I quickly threw on the outfit I had prepared and said bye to my Madre before rushing out the door and walking to the park. I sighed heavily when I arrived, panting. I can't believe even after I tried to be prepared I still was late. Stupid ADHD. Then, I heard Piper calling me. I looked up and my face dropped at what I saw.
She was sitting next to Jason. The exact person I hated. I walked up to her and glared at her, pulling her aside.

"What is he doing here?!" I whispered angerly.
"I invited him too! I just want my two best friends to get along. Can't you just deal with him for one day?" She whispered back.
"No way! I'm leaving!" I whispered, about to turn around before she grabbed my arm and pulled me down.
"No way mister! You are staying here!"
I groaned, but sat down next to her, staring at Jason across from me. I can't believe she would invite him.

"So..." He started.
"Hi." I grumbled.
He flashed me a stupid cute smile.
"Hey."
For some reason, I felt my cheeks heat up. Gosh, why was he so cute?! I mentally slapped myself for thinking that and changed my focus to the food, grabbing some and trying to distract myself from him. Piper and Jason started talking about stupid boring stuff like football and grades. Then, Piper has the audacity to bring up what happened in 6th grade. I almost dropped the food in my hand.

"Can you believe he's still caught up about it?!" She laughed. I couldn't believe it. My best friend was laughing at me. Of course though, I knew she meant no harm. I looked at Jason, and what I saw shocked me. He wasn't laughing. For some reason, he looked... embarrassed? Guilty? If anything, I should be the embarrassed one! But I couldn't believe it. I felt my cheeks heat up again. There he was, sitting there with the cuteness look of embarrassment I've ever seen.
Then, he looked at me and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
"Uh...yeah, sorry about that..." He murmured. I've never heard anything more jaw dropping. He was apologizing.
"It wasn't meant for you, y'know. I put it there for Piper, but uh...you walked in before her." He explained, looking down.
I just stared at him in shock. I could barely form words. Finally, after forever, I said,
"It's- It's fine. We're cool."
He smiled at me, making my heart do a backflip.
"I'm glad." He said.
We all just ate and stared at each other in silence. I still couldn't believe that this idiot apologized to me. After four years, he finally apologized. I finally heard what I wanted. And now, everything I originally thought sounded stupid. Now, I felt guilty. I mentally slapped myself again. I can't be thinking like this. He's still a big jerk. And he's still an annoying boring loser. I ate food, trying to process my feelings. Piper brought up the prom coming up, and we all admitted we didn't have any dates. I was surprised Jason didn't. A million girls probably lined up at his door for a date. But still, we all headed to the mall after and looked at outfits. I went home, tired from a long day, now processing new emotions. And I was surprised to say, I had a good time. Maybe Jason wasn't so bad. But he's still a dork and annoying.
I laid down on my bed, thinking about everything that happened today. I sighed, turning off my lamp light and closing my eyes to go to sleep. I'll stress about these stupid feelings tomorrow.