Painted Hearts Entertainment (Discontinued)

LuckY

~ Percy Jackson and the Heroes Of Olympus AU ~

Even before he got electrocuted, Chinsun was having a rotten day.

He woke up in the backseat of a school bus, not sure where he was, holding hands with a girl he didn't know. That wasn't necessarily the worst part though. The girl was cute, but he couldn't figure out who she was or what he was doing there. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, trying to think.

A few dozen kids sprawled in the seats in front of him, listening to iPods, talking, or sleeping. They all looked around his age . . . fifteen? Sixteen? Okay, that was scary. He didn't know his own age.

The bus fumbled along a bumpy road. Out the windows, desert rolled by under a bright blue sky. Chinsun was pretty sure he didn't live in the desert. He tried to think back . . . the last thing he remembered . . .

The girl squeezed his hand. "Chinsun, you okay?"

She wore faded ripped jeans, black and white vans, and a hoodie a couple of sizes too big. Her mint green hair was cute and styled into a high ponytail that was slightly curled at the bottom. She wore no makeup like she was trying not to draw attention to herself, but it wasn't working. She was seriously gorgeous. Her eyes seemed to change color like a kaleidoscope — brown, green, and blue.

Chinsun let go of her hand. "Um, I don't —"

In the front of the bus, a teacher shouted, "All right, cupcakes, listen up!"

The guy was obviously a coach. His baseball cap was pulled low over his hair, so you could see just his beady eyes. He had a wispy goatee and a sour face, like he'd eaten something moldy. His buff arms and chest pushed against a bright orange polo shirt. His nylon workout pants and Nike's were spotless white. A whistle hung from his neck, and a megaphone was clipped to his belt. He would've looked pretty scary if he hadn't been five feet zero. When he stood up in the aisle, one of the students called "Stand up, Coach Song!"

"I heard that!" The coach scanned the bus for the offender. Then his eyes fixed on Chinsun, and his scowl seemed to deepen.

A jolt went down Chinsun'smspin. He was sure the coach knew he didn't belong there. He was going to call Chinsun out, demand to know what he was doing on the bus — and Chinsunwouldn't have a clue what to say.

But Coach Song looked away and cleared his throat. "We'll arrive in five minutes! Stay with your partner. Don't cause any trouble on this trip, or I will personally send you back to campus the hard way." He picked up a baseball bat and made like he was hitting a homer.

Chinsun looked at the girl next to him. "Can he talk to us that way?"

She shrugged. "Always does. This is the Wilderness School. 'Where kids are animals.'"

"This is some kind of mistake," Chinsun said. "I'm not supposed to be here."

The boy in front of him turned and laughed. "Yeah, right, Hyung. We've all been framed! I didn't run away six times, Miyu-noona didn't steal a BMW."

The girl's eyes narrowed. "I didn't steal that car, Minjung-ah!"

"Oh, I forgot, Noona. What was your story? You 'talked' to the dealer into lending it to you?" He raised his eyebrows at Chinsun like, Can you believe her?

Minjung looked like a classic Playboy from like tv show dramas, with fluffy pink hair that he kept running his hands through, three piercings in each ear, a cheerful but sexy smile, but a hidden mischievous glint in his eyes, that told you right away this guy should not be trusted around matches and sharp objects. His long, nimble fingers wouldn't stop moving — drumming on the seat, sweeping his hands through his hair, fiddling with the zipper of his army green jacket. Either the kid was naturally hyper or he was hopped up on enough sugar and caffeine to give a heart attack to a water buffalo.

"Anyway," Minjung said, "I hope you've got your worksheet, 'cause I used mine for spit wads days ago. Why are you looking at me like that? Somebody draw on my face again?"

"I don't know you," Chinsun stated, somewhat calmly.

Minjung gave him a crocodile grin. "Sure. I'm not your best friend. I'm his evil clone."

"Ra Minjung!" Coach Song yelled from the front. "Problem back there?"

Minjung winked at Chinsun. "Watch this." He turned to the front. "Sorry, Coach! I was having trouble hearing you. Could you use your megaphone, please?"

Coach Song grunted like he was pleased to have an excuse. He unclipped the megaphone from his belt and continued giving directions, but his voice came out like Darth Vader's. The kids cracked up. The coach tried again, but this time the megaphone blarred: "The cow says moo!"

The kids howled, the coach slammed down the megaphone. "Ra!"

Miyu stifled a laugh. "My god, Min. How did you do that?"

Minjung slipped a tiny Phillips head screwdriver from his sleeve. "What can I say, I'm a special guy."

"Guys, seriously," Chinsun pleaded. "What am I doing here? Where are we going?"

Miyu knit her eyebrows. "Chinsun, are you joking?"

"Aniyo! I have no idea —"

"Aw, yeah, he's joking," Minjung said. "He's trying to get me back for that shaving cream on the Jell-O thing, aren't you?"

Chinsun stared at him blankly.

"No, I think he's serious." Miyu tried to place her hand in his to help comfort him, but he pulled it away.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't — I can't —"

"That's it!" Coach Song yelled from the front. "The back row has just volunteered to clean up after lunch!"

The rest of the kids cheered.

"There's a shocker," Minjung muttered.

But Miyu kept her eyes on Chinsun, like she couldn't decide whether to be hurt or worried. "Did you hit your head or something? You really don't know who we are?"

Chinsun shrugged helplessly. "It's worse than that. I don't know who I am."