The Demigod Selection

Chapter 59

Hazel's POV

"You made it!" Leo Valdez exclaims while throwing bright blue confetti at my face. "I always knew that you would."

"Why is the confetti blue?" I ask while spitting some of it out.

"Oh. Er, so that if you didn't make it, you could drown in you sadness. It was a win win either way! At least it is for the confetti."

"So much for always knowing that I would make it," I laugh. "Where's Piper? And Jason, for that matter."

"I dunno. They got in some fight earlier. I may or may not have heard it while passing by her room. They were pretty loud. Anyways, I thought just the two of us could celebrate!"

"In Jason's room?" I ask, trying not to laugh at the blue and gold decorations everywhere.

"Hey, it's also my room. If Jason ever shows up, he can join the party. It's an open invitation to all."

"Considering it's just us two, I think that's a good idea."

"Thank you, I get one every century," he says with a deep bow. I laugh when his party hat falls off due to his excessive bowing.

"Would you like any cake, my lady?" he asks. I notice an unevenly baked cake on Jason's bed, slathered with green frosting.

"I hate to ask this, but why is the frosting green?"

"Because all of the blue food coloring was being used to make someone's cookies. I don't know who's, but they need to learn to share," Leo pouts. "So I used green."

"Makes sense," I laugh.

Leo cuts into the cake and hands me a slice, showing that even the cake is green. It's surprisingly very good. As I reach for another slice, the door opens.

"What are you doing, Valdez?" A voice asks gruffly. I turn and see the same guard that I helped prank earlier. I feel a blush creeping onto my cheeks as I look down at the ground, staring at the fallen confetti.

"Celebrating Hazel becoming an Elite," Leo says without missing a beat. "Want some cake, Zhang? It wouldn't kill you to have some fun."

"No, but I may end up killing you," he grumbles.

"Hmm, it seems that I forgot the punch," Leo says, ignoring Zhang's insult. "I'll be right back, Hazel. After all, it's not a party without punch!"

Leo goes out of the door quickly, leaving just me and Officer Zhang. We stand in silence for one second, two, then three.

"I'm sorry," I blurt out. "For what I did earlier. I had no idea what Leo was going to do."

"It's alright," Zhang says while blushing. "You get used to Leo's pranks after a while. Though I don't think I'll get used to the flour. It's still all over me, even after a shower."

I laugh, then notice that he's looking at the cake wistfully. "Would you like a slice? I would hate for any of it to go to waste."

"Er, if that's alright with you," he says, still blushing.

"Please, I couldn't eat all of this even if I tried," I say while cutting a slice for him. "Leo baked it."

He lowers the forkful of cake that was almost to his mouth. "That explains why it's green, then. It's probably not safe to eat."

"Actually, it's really good. And it's green because there was no more blue food dye left, whatever that's supposed to mean."

"It means," Leo's voice says from the hallway, "That you have a caring friend that's pretend to either celebrate or mourn your Selection status."