Fangirl School (Percy Jackson)

Canceled?!

"So let me get this straight. For your OC Fanfiction assignment, you're crossing over your OCs from Keeper Of the Lost Cities, Harry Potter, and the Hunger Games to go on a mission for the gods, and you won't even mention any of your Percy Jackson OCs?" I asked, confused as I made my way to Digital Design.

Fiona nodded happily.

"How? And why? And I love how out of all those franchises you picked Percy Jackson for Fangirl School. You never fail to rock, Fiona Albert."

"Trust me, it's for the better. I may have put more effort into other OCs than Percy Jackson ones. The PJO universe is so full of diversity and different characters that it's so much easier to have most of your OCs either be a sibling or just serve one purpose. But with, say, Keeper of The Lost Cities, I can have a much more convoluted background, like, say, a Councillor's daughter," Fiona explained (not me hinting at my KOTLC OC).

"I have no idea what that is, but you rock, bestie," I told her, waving as I made my way to my spot next to Giovanni.

Mr. King quickly explained that we'd be learning how to make separate parts of a body, storing them, and installing them, which was actually pretty interesting. Say, if we were designing siblings who had the exact same eyes but not other features, we could design the eyes, store them on a file, and add them while creating our design.

The process was quick. I made twins with the same hairstyle and nose, but different hair colors, which I mentally jotted down for later. Like Fiona, I was running low on creativity for OCs, and my grades were suffering.

I was making my way down to the cafeteria, when a familiar blond figure grabbed my arm.

"Where are you going?" Lucas asked. "Didn't Mrs. Golde tell you we had an announcement during lunch today? We're going to the auditorium."

I facepalmed. He was right.

"I forgot," I grinned sheepishly as I followed him. "I was too busy trying to get Delphine to straighten her tie. Me and Fiona, actually. It takes a village."

He laughed. He looked good when he laughed. His nose got all scrunched up and his smile was so...smiley.

Which I only knew, of course, because Delphine had fawned over him over FaceTime with me and Fiona enough that I noticed.

I found a spot next to Jacqueline, my friend from Titan's Curse year. Lucas sat next to me, even though he didn't know her.

The new principal, Ms. Patel, took the stage. I noticed Walker and his little group near the front, laughing and messing around- until Ms. Patel cleared her throat into the mic, and everyone mysteriously shut up.

She sure knew how to keep an audience.

"Good day to you, students," Ms. Patel said. Rumor had it that she was a co-worker of Uncle Rick's back when he taught public school, but the information was passed around in very hushed whispers, because no one wanted Mrs. Golde, who had told us, to get in trouble. Percy Jackson fans are compassionate like that.

"I'm sure you've noticed that there have been a few changes to the school," she continued. "Mainly the uniforms and, of course, the lack of cell phone usage. This is a reminder to everyone that phones can and will be confiscated if seen by a member of the faculty."

She let that hang in the air for a while before continuing, "As we all know, every year the school has an event called the Get-Into-The-Book. This year, our branch won with the female from Year Two. Likewise, two years ago the winner came from Year Five in our branch when the event was hosted by Harry Potter to be a 'Horcrux Hunting'." She paused and cleared her throat. "However, I regret to inform you that next year, we will not have a Get-Into-The-Book event."

Outrage started after that. It wasn't at all accessible to Year Ones, because they weren't playing in these events, but for Year Twos and above, people from their years got to compete, so as long as the event wore on, they only went to school to watch it. No work, no assignments. And there was a way to watch it from home. So it was obviously outrageous for them. As a competitor, I hadn't personally experienced watching the events, but I'd heard enough stories from my friends to know that homeroom class was the best place to be for about eight hours a day watching your friend fight for her 'life.'

Ms. Patel held the mic to the speaker, creating feedback and successfully shutting everyone up again.

"Students, please. It's merely a break of tradition. The school decided that, instead of the budget provided for the events, it will be used to bring in the actors from the movies to meet the fans at the school."

"What movies?" someone very real shouted.

"You're absolutely right," Ms. Patel said. "And we can't get the actors from the new show. They all have busy personal lives. Believe me, people like Rick Riordan and Shannon Messenger fought hard against this. Fandoms like Keeper Of the Lost Cities get an extra budget to use for whatever they want. Their students get a large field trip. But they won't be given that budget. And neither will we. It's terribly unfair, but it is how it is."

"They can't cancel the events! How am I supposed to stay home for the first I don't know how long now?" Jacqueline groaned beside me. Her best friend Mitchell patted her shoulder sympathetically.

~Time Skip brought to you by Percabeth being Percabeth~

"I can't believe they're canceling the events," Jeveskia said as we sank into our spots on the grass. "I mean, it's only our second time!"

"It's so unfair," Xavier agreed.

"I'm not standing for this," Delphine said. "Or sitting for it. Or crouching. Whatever. This isn't okay! They're completely ignoring us!"

"They're completely ignoring all the other fandoms, too," Lucas said quietly.

The realization hit. "Lucas is right. We didn't have a problem when it was just us, Harry Potter, and the Hunger Games because we were included. Now we're not. And we're not happy. Imagine how the Chronicles of Narnia dudes feel. Or heck, the Miraculous fandom, I don't know. They've been neglected all those years." I stood, because I needed a Disney Channel moment. "We have to fight for the fandoms! Not just ours. We have to fight for every neglected fandom out there. Who's with me?"

Fiona and Lucas got up at the same time, which was about a second before everyone else did. "Yeah!"

We put all our hands together.

"Together, we fight. Together, we stand against the authority figures. For the fandoms!" I said.

"For the fandoms!" Everyone repeated cheerily. Gotta say, I really enjoyed that Disney Channel moment.