Fangirl School (Percy Jackson)

The Meeting

"Ow! Be careful, Delly!"

"Jesus Christ, Fiona- do you even brush your hair?"

"No! I have better things to do!"

I shook my head, laughing to try and soothe my nerves as Delphine attempted to drag a brush through Fiona's hair. Mrs. Golde had pulled me, Fiona, Delphine, Lucas, Brandon, Jacqueline, and Mitchell out of our last class to prepare. She gave us a bunch of fancy business-looking outfits from I don't know where and told us to make ourselves look presentable to help our argument. Now Delphine, who already took extremely good care of her curly hair and didn't have much to do with it, offered to fix Fiona's blond nest head. It was a bit of a reminder why I was Fiona's best friend and not Delphine.

We had all dressed into blouses (Delphine picked the only dress in the pile) and skirts, and were trying to fix everything else. Jacqueline's coppery red curls barely touched her shoulders, so she didn't have much to do with her hair. We took turns with her blue plastic hairbrush because she's a fangirl like that. Delphine took one look at my hair and shook her head. She took over, tying it into a complicated braid of sorts before turning her attention to Fiona.

We all used Delphine's lip gloss, then she applied us some mascara, saying it brought our eyes out (idk what your eye color is but just about everyone in this scene has brown eyes, mine are green). She also added light blush to all of us. I was lowkey really excited to seeing Brandon's reaction to Fiona all cleaned up.

The boys were all dressed in collared white shirts and black pants, giving them a boy band look. And not the good kind.

Brandon and Fiona were absolute blushing messes, which they weren't very subtle about. Delphine followed Lucas's every move in his shirt and styled blond hair, instead of the cute mess it usually was. Then the most adorable thing ever happened when Mitchell argued with Jacqueline for a bit before pinning back one side of her hair with a clip, saying she'd forgotten it at his house. She protested but didn't take it off, which I found absolutely adorable because I knew dam well that if she didn't want it she could've and would've taken it off. Plus she didn't even see what he'd done, so the fact that she trusted that he made her look good had me reeling. One glance at Walker told me he was thinking the same thing.

(Deep breath, Mia. Okay, I'm done with romance for this chapter. Mostly.)

We waited out the rest of last period in the gardens, sitting on benches we didn't know existed instead of the grass like we usually did. No one was around, so we just used our phones, exchanging Percy Jackson memes and TikToks.

Finally, the final bell rang. Mrs. Golde let us into her class once everyone was out, adjusting everyone's clothes and complimenting Delphine's makeup skills. She said she'd be outside the whole time if we needed her, bid us good luck, and left the room.

Two minutes later a tall, blond man with well-hidden gray streaks entered the room. He was wearing a suit, complete with a tie, so we were glad we listened to Mrs. Golde, especially since Jacqueline and Brandon in particular had protested hard against the fancy clothes, saying we looked fine in our uniforms.

The man was just slightly tanned, not too plump, but not thin like he was being starved. He looked extremely business-like, and his smile didn't quite reach his eyes. He shook each of our hands in his own not too cold and not too warm one.

"I've been told you children are protesting against the decisions of the Fangirl School board," Mr. Meyers said.

Everyone else exchanged glances. School board? None of us had realized there was a school board. We just assumed the decisions were made and never changed.

Were we being kept in the dark, or just oblivious?

Fiona, ever the quick thinker, replied while the rest of us were pondering this. "Yes, we are," she said, her voice steady. "We believe, during all those years, you haven't been very fair to every fandom in this school."

"And why so?" Mr. Meyers asked.

"Tell me, Mr. Meyers, where do the field trips of the other fandoms go?" Jacqueline asked.

"Well- that depends on the fandom," he replied. "The Miraculous fandom, for example, gets a day trip to Paris."

"And do they get to watch the Events like we do?" Mitchell piped up. We'd sorted the whole argument into pairs depending on who worked best with who; Mitchell and Jacqueline, Brandon and Fiona, me and Lucas. Delphine and Walker were soloists.

"No," Mr. Meyers said. "That's ridiculous. Why would they watch them if their friends aren't competing?"

"So the other fandoms only get their enjoyment for a day, and we get to watch the Events for weeks," Jacqueline finalized.

"Well-"

"So you mean to tell me, sir, that while some of us get to attend the Events in person, and everyone else still gets to see them live, the other fandoms are doing work?" Delphine circled him like a detective.

"It's more complicated than that," he snapped, though I could tell he was struggling to find an argument. "Their fandoms are minor. Their summer break is far longer than yours."

"With all due respect, Mr. Meyers, that doesn't compete," Walker said quietly.

"He's right," Lucas said, stepping forward. "We get festivities and get lots of money spent on our enjoyment, and all they get is a day trip some time during the year where they could easily come down with something and not be able to come?"

I stepped forward for my big speech that I had practiced for so long as the reason we were all here in the first place. "Sir, Fangirl School is about a place where you feel safe and adequate. It's where fangirls and fanboys come so they won't be judged. We get Events like these so we can live in the fandom we love, in a way. Even if it's a minor fandom, they should get festivities and equality like we do. Or else Fangirl School loses its meaning."

Everyone was silent. This was it. The big moment.

"You're absolutely right."