Friends With Mental Issues (Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Special Chapter #4

Piper looked around at the faces of 'troubled kids' in the room. Most of them, at best, looked like complete and utter dicks. One guy whistled at her while she was standing there, and she turned her bored eyes to that kid, boring holes into him with her intense and emotionless stare. The guy went from laughing to very uncomfortable after twenty seconds of silence.

"McLean, introduce yourself." Piper bit the inside of her cheek at the sound of her last name, glaring down at the floor.

And then she plastered a grin on her face that would probably pass as real. "Hi, I'm Piper, and I'm 'troubled.' Don't say my last name ever, or I'll beat you." All the while, she smiled and her voice was as cheery as ever. No one said anything, and Piper didn't expect them to. Until, from the back of the classroom, there was a small chuckle, which quickly escalated to laughter. The dude was the only one who was laughing, but he didn't seem to mind.

She decided right then and there that he'd be her best friend.

~

"Hey, Piper," the boy who'd laughed in the classroom on her first day and had since become her best friend said, sliding into the chair across from her at the lunch table, an easy and crooked grin on his face. "How's it going?" The thing about this boy was that he never questioned Piper, and he didn't mind if she never talked about her home. And she didn't mind if he never talked about his home, and she never questioned him, either.

"Pretty good, Leo. Coach Hedge was infuriated by the cupcakes in his desk. I think he was only mad because I made them in the flavor he's allergic to." Leo grinned, giving her a high-five. "How about you? Any pranks worth hearing?"

"I programmed Coach's mega-phone to shout nonsense phrases. Expect more when we get on the bus. It'll be great." Piper smiled, shifting the food on her plate around. It's not that the food was particularly disgusting, it was just that she could feel eyes on her. "Piper," Leo said, leaning in, his voice and face immeasurably angry, "do you want me to beat him up?"

"You don't have to do that."

Leo sighed, leaning back in his seat. "Okay, but just know that I would."

"I know that." She paused, looking back at the dude that was stripping her with his eyes, flashing him a devilish smile. "But I'd probably beat him up first." The guy scurried away. Piper had a kind of reputation, and not a good one. The same went for Leo.

"McLean!" Hedge shouted from the lunch room entrance. Piper bit her lip, glancing at Leo, who looked just as angry as she did, even though Piper had never told him why she hated her last name. It was one of the reasons she was still his friend.

As she walked to Hedge, she saw a phone in his hand, and she felt the dread pull at her stomach. Hedge growled for her to walk faster, and she did, wanting it to be over and done with. "You've got a phone call from your dad." Of course. Of course she did.

She took the phone away from Hedge, holding it to her ear with no introduction. "Piper is that you?" She didn't answer. "I'm assuming that's you. I just wanted to call to let you know that I've found I place I can send you where I know that you'll get better."

"There's nothing wrong with me," Piper said, using the bored and bland voice she always used when talking with her father.

"Yes, there is. I sent you to that boarding school, but you just got into even more fights, and you keep bad company-"

"Leo is not bad company," Piper interrupted, letting some emotion seep into her voice. Her father could insult her as much as he wanted, but Leo was off-limits.

"Of course he is. In this place, there'll be counselors and people that will help with your condition."

"I don't have a -"