London Calling- HOO College AU

2. Crush Culture

A/N: All rights to Rick Riordan.
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All eyes in room suddenly darted to the large turquoise suitcase sitting at the boy's feet.

"This is your bag?" He questioned, dumbfounded

"Yes!" Piper was adamant. Adamant and confused

"Well, I didn't steal it. It was just outside the building. I was going to take it to some kind of lost and found later"

"Well," Annabeth began, knowingly, "you said you had lost it, Piper, the cab driver must have taken it out of the trunk"

So, the introductions began once more, and Piper realised just how mechanic they were. Hi. I'm Piper. I'm from Miami and I'm studying history. I love reading and I'm so excited to study in London... She supposed it was the fastest way to get to know someone, on a surface level at least.

Despite their rocky introduction, this new guy- Jason, seemed nice. He was from San Francisco, like Annabeth, and blonde, like Annabeth, and smart, like Annabeth. Piper tried not to look at him too much, because whenever she did, she got that dangerous feeling in the pit of her stomach. The 'just before the drop on a rollercoaster, butterflies in your tummy, heart in your mouth' type of feeling that was usually followed by disaster and broken hearts.

Jason continued to talk, but Piper wasn't really listening. She couldn't listen, couldn't focus on his words, because all she could do was incessantly think about Jason. Piper wasn't sure if she really had a 'type', the idea was somewhat funny to her. The notion that everyone had just one kind of person that they fell for- it was stupid. There were over 7 billion people on this planet, to say you would only ever go for someone with brown eyes or long hair was ridiculous. So, no, Piper didn't have a 'type'. But if she did, she thought it would look something like Jason Grace. Piper was captivated by his calm eyes and soft, sweet smile. He was open and generous with affection, even though he had only just met these people. Like a wolf, Piper thought- loyal, intelligent, strong.

"Piper?" Hazel asked, suddenly pulling Piper out of her daydream, "You're coming tonight, right?"

Tonight was the first night out 'freshers', a university-sanctioned week of events held at a slew of nightclubs. Everyone had found the notion of 'freshers' exceedingly strange. Most of them had come from countries with a legal drinking age of 21, drinking alcohol wasn't new to them- they'd all been to parties- but having it encouraged by the university was something else. Even Nico was surprised, he had told them that although the legal drinking age in Italy was 16, getting drunk wasn't seen as a socially acceptable thing to do. Piper couldn't deny that the night sounded fun, and it would be a great way to get to know everyone a little better- true friendships were forged in the trenches and all that. She was also hoping that a few drinks might make Nico open up a little more, make him more comfortable around the others. She couldn't help but worry about him, he was so reserved and quiet, the type of guy she figured could do with a few friends in his corner.

Piper felt the yes on the lips about to be spoken, she thought about the flight she had taken hours earlier, the sleep she craved and willed herself to say no.

"Of course!" Piper replied, proving her willpower needed some serious work.

And that was how Piper found herself sitting on Hazel's bed, styling Annabeth's hair, and talking about boys. She got the sense that this was new territory for all three of the girls, and though she had expected to hate it, she was having fun. With Annabeth and Hazel, Piper felt that instant connection that you sometimes do with new people. The unspoken agreement that you're going to, at some point, end up being best friends. It was nice having such an immediate friendship with the girls. And being able to admit how attractive she had found Jason out loud.