No Pants Required

s i x

"Floyd?" Louise asked after minutes of staring off into space.

"Yeah?"

"Isn't there that thing where you get one phone call or whatever?" She inquired.

"I don't know," Floyd murmured. "Do I strike you as the type to go to jail a lot?"

"Uh, no...?"

"Why are you phrasing that as a question then?"

"Because I don't even know you." Louise stated the obvious - at least to her.

"How many times do I have to tell you? We met yesterday!" Floyd insisted, to her annoyance.

"Right," She drawled. "And I'm Aphrodite."

"Aphrodite?" Floyd questioned, amused by her choice of wording.

"Holy Hera, please tell me you know who Aphrodite is." Louise took a moment to pray for the clearly inept boy sitting before her.

"Please. Who doesn't know who Aphrodite is?" Floyd said offhandedly.

"Prove to me you know who Aphrodite is." Louise challenged. If this guy was lying to her, she was going to smash him over the head with her complete set of Percy Jackson books at the first opportunity she got.

"Aphrodite, Greek Goddess of love and vanity."

Oh my gods he knows! Louise mentally cheered.

"Heck yeah I know!" Floyd winked. "And I see what you did there, with the whole 'gods' thing."

That was when Louise realized since Louise realized since she was so used to being alone, she often voice her thoughts - and usually she was the only one to hear them. He face flushed red in embarrassment. "I - um, uh..." She managed to stammer.

"So, I take it you're into mythology?" Floyd jumped in, saving her from further humiliation.

"Mostly I just read the Percy Jackson series." Louise answered, ducking her head slightly.

"I did too. Did you read the Heroes of Olympus series?"

"Why wouldn't I, that's the question." Louise grinned, warming up to Floyd already. Anyone who took time to read all of the PJO and HoO series was pretty cool in her book.

"True. But I hated the last book of that series. It was so disappointing." Floyd complained, and Louise had to agree.

"Like, 'Rick, why you no write more?'" She tried for another crack at a joke. Louise thought of herself as a sort-of funny person, but maybe she was just boosting her ego with compliments that weren't necessarily true.

But, surprisingly, Floyd laughed, and Louise soon joined in.

"So, what's your favorite book?" He asked Louise the oh-so dreaded question. She could never choose just one. It was like asking a mother to pick her favorite child.

"Uh, let me think about it for a minute." Louise leaned back and began to ponder her options.

Floyd watched her intently, with an unreadable expression.

"I think I'll have to go with 'A Tale of Two Cities' by-"

"By Charles Dickens, I know. And that has got to be the most boring book I have ever read."

"It's a classic!" She exclaimed indignantly.

"It's entirely too overrated!" He retorted.

"Alright, then. What's your favorite book?" Louise raised an eyebrow smugly.

"'And Then There Were None' by Agatha Christie."

"That book is entirely too predictable." Louise shot down his choice out of spite.

"Is it really, Louise? Is it really?" Floyd stifled a burst of laughter when her facial expression turned to one of defeat.

"No. I honestly can't argue with your pick." Louise smiled shyly at the handsome boy beside her.

Maybe jail wasn't so bad, She thought. It would be even better if she could get her pants back.

A/N: so there's like three parts left + maybe an epilogue [i need your input on that once we get to the end] bc i don't know if i just want to end it like it's ended

any predictions??