Title: Safety Patrol
Recommended Songs: Alive by Arrows to Athens, Not a Bad Thing by Justin Timberlake, and Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding
Full Summary: Leo and Calypso had always been best friends since their fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Collins, made them team up for Safety Patrol duty. Of course Calypso is ecstatic being on safety patrol being the golden apple in the teacher's eyes, but Leo no. He knows that the teachers paired him with Calypso because they are hoping her "goody too shoeness" is going to rub off on him. Pfft...as if.
Incident after incident, they both don't know it but even after they are both booted out safety patrol, they continue to see each other and even strengthen their friendship through elementary to middle and finally high school.
Rating: T
Hey guys! I had a really fun time typing this and listening to Fall Out Boy, Coldplay, Olfaur Arnalds, Arrows to Athens, Ellie Goulding, and Imagine Dragons to get me through all of this. If you have the time to read this please don't be discouraged by the length.
Hope you guys enjoy! J~Jacs.
Prologue
First Day of Safety Patrol
"Hi. I'm Calypso. Calypso Theyes Atlas." "What's your name?" I stuck out my hand to greet my partner but he only glanced at my hand and scoffed. He looked to the opposite direction and I retracted my hand slightly hurt. Okay so that isn't going to work. I sat down next to him and hugged my knees. I stayed still for a second and looked up to hear the shrill screams of children playing.
Most of the sounds that came from the playground were from the shrieks of delight of getting caught in a game of tag. Most of my class talked with each other or walked the perimeter of the playground waiting to be released from school. The small children hung from the monkey bars despite the rules against hanging upside down from the monkey bars.
I tried to continue to talk to the boy next to me but a particular sound stopped me. It sounded like a kid crying. I scanned the playground for the sound and my eyes landed on a small child screaming while trying to get down the monkey bars. I couldn't help it.
I jumped to my feet and ran over to a child that was stuck on top. I quickly climbed to the top and tried not to think how ridiculous it looked to have a fifth grader on top of the monkey bars. The girl with pigtails looked at me through her watery eyes and I extended my arms to her. Her face brightened at the sight of someone rescuing her and she jumped into them.
I carried her down carefully and then set her on the mulch. I took a tissue out from my pocket and cleaned her tear-stained cheeks. After she stopped sniffling she got up. She barely reached my hip level. I kneeled down to her level and she looked at me with her big emerald eyes. I smiled at her and she shyly smiled back. 'What's your name sweetie?" She put her hands behind her back and rocked herself slightly as if trying to decide something.
"My big sis tells me not to tell my name to strangers."
She draws out the last word, sounding out the syllables and looked up at me, pleased. I raised my eyebrows. "This girl is smart." "Alright how about you give me your sister's name so I can take you to her so she can take care of you?" The girl with pig tails nodded and I got up and waited for her to take off the mulch on her. She looked up to me and softly said "Katie her name's Katie is my sister's name." Calypso did a mental checklist to see if she knew a Katie.
Katie Gardner?
The girl stuck out her hand for me to grasp. I slipped my hand into hers a proceeded to walk around the park with her to see if she sees her sister. We walked for a while when she suddenly rushed forward to a group of kids and stumbled to a figure in the distance. I ran forward to match her pace and saw the young girl was picked up by an older looking girl that looked around my age. As I neared, I picked up on their conversation and the girl spotted me coming closer.
"Hello?" Katie cautiously said to Calypso. She was stricken by the similarity by the two girls. They both had sparkling emerald eyes and chocolate brown hair. "Hello. Is this your sister? Calypso quietly said, embarrassed that the group Katie was in had had stopped their conversation to listen on what the two girls had to say. Katie nodded. "See I told you the pretty girl saved me!" The little girl exclaimed. "Isn't that right." Katie mused and smiled at her. She stuck her hand out as a greeting.
"Hi I'm Katie. Katie Gardner."
She jabbed a finger into her little sister stomach. "This here is Lily. She's too shy to tell her name to anyone." Calypso nodded. "Oh I know were in Green club together." It was Katie's turn to look surprised. Calypso furthered explained. "Um. I'm the one who usually sits in the back so don't be surprised." Katie softened. "So you're the girl who plants the moon lace flowers. The flowers are absolutely stunning." Calypso blushed. "Thank you."
Katie opened her mouth to reply but a boy snickered. "As much as we like talking about flowers and all but what are we going to do with the party?" Katie set down Lily and sent a dirty look to the boy who interrupted her. "Look Travis I can't do anything about your broken DJ station we either have Pandora music or your crummy iPod music."
A look alike whispered "Shot down by a girl." "New low for you bro." Travis looked at his younger brother and shot him a look. "Fine. But what are we doing?" Katie put her hands up she was exhausted by this conversation. "I don't know Travis maybe-" The sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted them.
They both stopped their screaming match and they looked at me. "I may have a solution." Katie looked at me gratefully. "What's your idea?" I grasped the edge of my blouse and looked at all the people. "I have a few speakers. Personally I don't use them but if you want you could use them for your party. I would be glad to give them to you." Travis and Connor let out a whoop.
"Are you sure?"
A new voice piped up and I looked at the girl. A girl with choppy brown hair and kaleidoscope eyes looked at me. "You don't have to do that." I shook my head. "I'm sure." Her kaleidoscope eyes shimmered. "Well then, thank you then."
"No problem." "There small so they fit in your hand but they are powerful enough to hear around the room." Calypso said. "Tell me when you need them." She waved goodbye to the group but someone stopped her. "Well if you supplying us with the music then you're invited if you want." I turned around at the sound of the new voice. "Really?" The boy with black hair shrugged.
"Sure if you want it's a small party anyways. It's at my apartment." "It will only be me, Annabeth, Piper, Jason, Frank, Hazel, Katie, Travis, Connor, Miranda, Lily, Leo, and you." He pointed to each person for her to recognize the people. I counted off the names. "Wait. Where's the other person?"
The boy was about to answer but the bell rang, signaling that their period of recess was over. Hastily, Piper quickly said "If you need a place to sit, you can sit with us if you want." "Were at the far end of the lunchroom." She waved goodbye and so did the others when they left. Calypso sighed as she walked back to her post and waited for the other classes to come out for recess.
One more class to go. She looked forward and saw the boy still sitting on the concrete. A pang of guilt struck her in the face. "He's been sitting here like he was supposed to while you go off and leave him alone. Shame on you Calypso!" As she neared him she took a good look at him. Curly brown hair, pointed ears, a slightly scrawny frame. Yup defiantly distinguishable from the other fifth graders. He looked to be as old as her but she couldn't tell because of the way she was standing. Her shoes signaled her obvious arrival.
He didn't even bother to acknowledge her. She sat next to him and played with a blade of grass that she plucked from the ground. She put the grass into knots and she inhaled sharply when the boy next to her spoke. "You did pretty well over there."
He tilted his head to the monkey bars. Calypso face flushed. "Thank you." She twiddled her thumbs as she cast another glance at him.
His face was in deep concentration and slowly his face turned into displeasure at the thought of something. Calypso took in his expression. "Are you okay?" His face darkened and he looked down. "Yeah I'm fine." He grunted.
Calypso frowned. "You don't look fine." He looked at her funny. "What do you mean I don't look fine?" "All the ladies love me!" He grasped his suspenders and snapped them against his body. He winced at the pain but tried to hide how much it hurt. Calypso smiled at his announcement and actions. "I didn't even mean it that way!"
He smiled and stared ahead again. Calypso took more blades of grass and put them on her lap. She braided them together and concentrated to try to make it into small basket. After a while she felt someone staring at her. She looked next to her to see the boy looking intensely at her. "How did you do that?" Calypso shrugged. "I don't know, just comes naturally I guess." He stared for a little longer and pulled something out of his pocket.
He fiddled with it for a little and she realized he was taking it apart and putting it back together over and over again. "Do you like building stuff?" He looked at her and nodded. "Why?" Calypso shrugged in response. "Just asking." A comfortable silence settled in between the two kids. "Seriously what's your name?" He turned to look my direction and he had such a thoughtful expression on his face she didn't know if he had heard her.
"You know the teachers put us together so you goodness rubs off on me?" Calypso paused. "I didn't know that." Leo shrugged. "I figured it was kind of obvious on how the teachers avoid me." Calypso thought for a second. "Well if the teachers put us together then how about we get to know each other."
He raised an eyebrow. "What do you suppose we do?" Calypso tapped her chin. "How about 20 questions?" He waited for her to start. "Would you rather have your arm or your leg?" He seemed surprised. "What kind of question is that?" Calypso rolled her eyes.
"It's still a question silly." He cracked a small smile. "Well I guess my arm since I like building stuff and you can't afford to lose an arm." Calypso nodded. "Same." "Um. What are your parents' names?" His expression turned solemn. "Parent. Just parent." Calypso didn't push the topic further on. "So what is it?" "What is your parent name?" He tapped his fingers together. "Esperanza" Calypso smiled.
"That's a beautiful name." He smiled. "It means hope in Spanish." Calypso grinned. "You speak Spanish?" He nodded slowly. "Yeah. It's pretty neat." "Cool." Calypso said, impressed. "All I speak is English and Greek." He raised a fist.
"Bilingual people stick with bilingual people right?" Calypso flinched at his raised fist. "What are you doing?" Calypso asked slightly alarmed. He lowered his raised fist. "It's a fist bump." He bumped his fist with hers.
"You just do that." Calypso looked at her enclosed fist and she bumped it with his. "Like this?" He sent a lopsided smile. "Yeah just like that." "So…" "What's your favorite color?" He laughed. "That's a little deep but let's see, my favorite color has to be red." He looked at her and she nodded. "What's yours?" "Mines cream." He looked at her surprised. "Cream? That's my mom's favorite color." Calypso laughed. "Cream usually isn't someone's favorite color." He looked at her oddly but joined in her laughter.
She chuckled and she continued to weave the basket. She froze when she felt an item on her head. She sharply leaned back and the boy looked down to the floor. He stumbled over is words. "Sorry it wasn't working as a basket so I made this." He handed the crown to her and he stood up. The bell rang as he stood up and he struggled to take off the safety patrol sash while walking to the carline.
I looked at the crown of leaves and I rushed to his side. I clutched the crown tightly and I stopped him. He looked at me with frantic eyes and I took in his chocolate brown eyes. "I didn't get your name." He looked down at my hand that clutched the crown of leaves and responded to me.
"Hi I'm Leo Valdez." He mumbled and he ran off to the direction of the car riders. I stood there for a few seconds admiring the crown before realizing how much heat was coming of my face. I smiled and blushed all the way to where my dad's car war waiting.
I looked up just in time to hear my name called. I saw Leo in front of me and I waved back to him. He jumped into the car and he scurried to the backseat to clip on his seatbelt. I got into my dad's car and I sat in the back. When the line of cars started to move, I kept track of where Leo's car was.
My dad looked at me through the rear-view mirror. "Hey honey. How was school?" Left, Left, and Right I kept that glued into my mind. I didn't even notice that my dad asked me a question.
"Yes Daddy?" Atlas chuckled. "What got into your mind today?" "I said when we get home do you want spaghetti or ravioli for dinner." He kept his eyes on the road but every so often his eyes shifted to his daughter. I thought hard. "Actually Daddy, can we get takeout for tonight?"
Esperanza
"What got you all grinny today Leo?" Esperanza Valdez asked her son when he entered the car. She looked to the rear view mirror before driving out of the car loop and taking a left turn at an intersection. The car in front of her also took a left and Esperanza considered passing it. She put her blinker on and moved ahead of the car. When the cars were side by side, Leo excitedly looked out the window and a girl around his age waved at him.
She politely waved at her and Leo and then gave a stink eye to Leo. Leo gave her one as well and she turned away giggling. Her honey brown hair covered her face and Leo tried to get one more glimpse of her before Esperanza passed them completely. The driver tilted his head to Esperanza and she mouthed a "thank you" to him.
She took another left and the car behind her took a right and stopped at a fast food restaurant. She continued to drive carefully and watching out for pedestrians when she turned to meet Leo's eyes. She grinned slyly. "Quien era Leo?" Leo obviously wasn't listening. Or so she thought. "It's no one mom." Leo waved his hand as it was nothing but the grin on his face was evident.
Esperanza turned back to the wheel and nodded her head as she believed her son. They stayed quiet for a while until Leo said something. "She's my friend." Esperanza nodded her head and pretended to agree with her son. "She must have done something good because she got rid of your bad mood." Leo smiled and looked straight ahead but he didn't respond.
They pulled up into a gravel driveway and Leo burst out of the car. He raced ahead and his mom tossed him the keys to the house. The keys jingled as he ran with him and when he opened the door he was tackled down by a furry mess.
He laughed joyfully at the dog on top of him. "Festus get off of me!" Leo scratched the lab under his chin and the ten year old patted the one year old dog between the ears. Festus wagged his whole body and ran inside the house to retrieve his chew toy. Leo ran back to his mom and helped her get the groceries from the back of the car. He carried bags in both hands because he always thought one trip was for sissies.
He set the bags the kitchen top and continued to do his chores. His mom entered the house and immediately put her metal mask on. "Are you working in the back today mom?" Esperanza's response was turning on the blowtorch and letting it light up three times. "What made you guess?" her voice sounded muffled but he caught the words and he laughed.
Leo got the broom and proceeded to broom their two story house. Festus helped by retrieving garbage on the floor and throwing it into the trash bin in the kitchen. He hummed his favorite song under his breath and his thoughts went back to Calypso. He couldn't help it. He really thought that he was actually looking forward to school tomorrow just because of Calypso. There was the party at Percy's on Saturday so he had one more day to see Calypso before the weekend. A song popped in his head and he groaned at the irony but he sang along with it.
He jumped out of his skin when he heard the sound of applause. He whirled around to see his mom clapping as much she could with gloves on. "Never knew you could sing Leo." "Pass me the extension cords?" She pointed to the far end of the house and Leo ran to go get it. Esperanza shook her head at her love-struck son. Leo knew there was no extension cords at that end of the house. Esperanza smiled at the thought of her little Leo having a girlfriend.
Calypso
When I got home it was a little past eight so it was a little dark outside but I immediately went to go check if I still had the little speakers. My dad threw me the keys and I opened the front door to greet my golden retriever, Waves. In my hand I had leftovers from the restaurant we went to and I tossed it into the refrigerator. I gave Waves a treat and she trotted up the stairs with me.
When my dad entered, I shouted "I'm going to put some music on!" Atlas threw me a thumbs up and he entered the kitchen to prepare his Calypso a snack. I entered my room and inhaled the fresh air. The curtains in my room swished in the wind and I went to go close the window
I looked out the window and I was about to close it when I noticed something unusual. A car's headlights illuminated my room and I shut it quickly. I moved the curtain aside a little and peeked out. A figure stepped out of the car and handed the taxi some change.
The taxi driver nodded at him and I watched him as he sped off. I watched as the figure looked at her next door neighbor's house. Personally I didn't even know who lived in there because my dad doesn't let me go out but I knew they had to have a boy because of all the boxers they hang in the clothesline.
The car in the driveway looked familiar as well. I watched him walk up to the house and ring the doorbell. I peered at the porch light and saw that someone had answered the door. A woman with a long braid down her back opened the door and dropped the thing she was holding. She flew into the man's arms and shook in his hold. The man quickly began to rock her as a way to calm down and he hugged her as well and by the looks of it he was crying. The woman opened the door a little further and seemed to call out to someone.
The woman in the porch light seemed to explain something quickly and I noted that the woman and the man had a smile on their faces. Part of me went aww when the woman kissed the man but when he seemed motioned to my house and I paled.
Uh oh.
A bunch of thoughts crossed my mind in a flash but I quickly shutted the curtain and scurried to the center of my room. I completely forgot what I was doing. After a while I calmed down and had a rational mind again, I laughed nervously and continued to do what I was doing before my attention went somewhere else.
I snapped my fingers as I remembered what I was doing and reached into my closet. I pulled out an unopened box and then I threw it on my bed and proceeded to open the box and plug in the devices. The little speaker's barley fit into my palm but I shrugged and pulled out my black iPod.
I hooked it up with the speakers and waited for it to turn on. My iPod was on shuffle so the first song it the speakers played, it nearly made my ears bleed by being so close to the speakers but I managed to turn down the music. Waves looked up from her sleeping position to give me a sleepy look.
I apologized and walked over to her. I petted her and she shook her leg meaning that she enjoyed being scratched behind her ears. The sound of a squealing tire made her perk up and she growled slightly at the window. I casted a look at the window and decided if it was a good idea to eavesdrop again. I shushed Waves and quietly made my way to the light switch. I flicked it off so the people would think I exited the room, and I crawled to the window and opened the curtain a sliver of an inch.
My heart fluttered at the scene. A familiar curly haired looking ten-year old was hugging the waist of the figure and the father, I presumed, lifted him and the sound of Leo's genuine laughter echoed in my ears. I jerked away from the window and I put two and two together.
I grinned and excitedly peered back at the window.
Leo's my neighbor.
The Next Day
The next day was an early release so my time as a safety patrol was cut in half. I waited for Leo to come out of his classroom but when he didn't I patrolled the halls while I waited for him to come out. While I picked at my nails, I heard a familiar voice.
My ears perked up at the sound of my name and when I neared the corner, the voices increased in volume. I put my back to the wall behind me and wondered how many times I've eavesdropped today. I slowly inched my way to the edge of the wall and concentrated on the voices.
The hushed voices continued to continue and they seemed to be arguing about something.
The two voices, Leo and Percy, continued to talk in hushed conversation until I peeked out of the corner. Leo yelped and embarrassed that I have been spotted, I sheepishly said "You coming Leo?" "Were already a few minutes late for our morning shift." But that wasn't necessarily true. I was just patrolling the hallways and truly I was looking for Leo but, it was our turn to walk the halls and I didn't expect for him to be here early.
Percy sent him a thumbs up sign and Leo shot him a glare. He seemed to mouth something and Percy grinned. Leo turned away, his expression hidden by his curly hair. "Let's go Calypso." He strutted forward and I followed confused. Percy ran out the building and he opened the doors which let in the sound of playing children. Leo fixed his sash nervously and then turned to me.
His eyes gleamed and he pulled me to a corner. I opened my mouth to protest but Leo cupped it. He looked around for any signs of teachers and he bounced up and down excitedly. "Guess what Calypso!"
I stopped to pretend ponder. "Hmm…maybe it's that your dad came home yesterday night at around eight o' clock?" Leo opened his mouth to answer his own question but his jaw slackened at my saying. "But how. Why. How did you even know?" "You're the first person I was going to tell!" Leo gaped at her. "Maybe I know because you're my neighbor and you didn't tell me!"
Leo eyes were as big as saucer plates. "You're my neighbor?" "I didn't know that." Calypso huffed and put a strand of hair behind her ear. "How long have you lived in Cobblestone Leo?" Leo looked down and replied "A few months." It was Calypso turned to look down, but this time in shame. He lived seven yards away from me for a few months and just now you notice him? Calypso scolded herself for not introducing herself when they moved in, but then again her father would have never allowed it.
Calypso closed his mouth. "Come on we have to go give the systems to Katie and Travis." She pulled him in the direction of the door but Leo stopped. He held up a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Wait. You're the Calypso that Travis praised for bringing in the speakers?"
Praised? Calypso shook her head. "No. All he did was whoop about me bringing in the speakers." She frowned. "What other Calypso goes to this school?" Leo wiggled his eyebrows. "I know a couple by the name of Calypso."
He smiled at Calypso and she couldn't resist smile back at Leo. His smiles are so contagious that you just can't help but to smile back. What he said hit her. Calypso frowned once again. "Seriously you know more than one Calypso?" Leo deadpanned.
"No Callie it's called sarcasm." Calypso made a face. "Sarcasm?" She tested the word out and Leo shook his head. "I'll explain later." They both rushed out of the building racing each other and they immediately scanned the playground for a group of kids that were around their age. Leo spotted them first and he took two steps down at a time. Calypso warned him to take a step at a time but he made it down safely.
Calypso quickly descended down from the stairs and one the last step her body was jerked forward and she stumbled. Her knee scraped the sidewalk and a person helped her up. She gladly took the hand and said thank you. 'You're welcome now come on!" Leo helped her up and Calypso took a step forward only to yelp in pain. Leo looked behind him and saw Calypso was reaching for her pocket.
She pulled out a bag smaller than her palm and she zipped it open. Leo ran back to her and asked what was wrong. Calypso pointed to her bloody knee and Leo reached in his backpack and brought out a clean sheet of paper towel out. He gave it to Calypso and she cleaned her wound.
"Why do you have paper towels in your backpack Leo?" Calypso asked as she tried not to wince as the sheet came in contact with her scraped knee. Leo gently blew on the scrape and Calypso sighed in at the sweet relief. He took the bandage that she gave him and he put the dolphin patterned bandage on her. He stood up and dusted his hands off.
"Those were my paper towels for wiping my mouth but I don't mind." "How does it feel?" Calypso blushed at his act of kindness and she tested her leg by rotating it a bit and surprised she felt no pain.
"Thank you Leo." She limped slightly, trying not to do any more damage to herself and Leo helped her out by putting his arm around her shoulders and helping her like that. They made their way to their group of friends and Frank noticed them first. The big guy ran to them both and he helped out Leo by heaving Calypso the rest of the way.
Calypso laughed joyfully. "Frank it's alright! I'm not dying! It's just a scraped knee." Frank blushed madly when Hazel squeezed his hand assuringly and told him how kind he was for helping them both out. Leo tried not to act hurt when Frank took Calypso away. He had it under control! Why did anyone not see that? He wasn't a weakling. Sure she probably weighed more than his scrawny figure and was probably stronger than him but still!
Travis approached her first. "Did you bring them?" Katie smacked him. "Manners Travis!" Katie smiled at both Leo and Calypso. "Hello." The group let out a series of hellos, hi's, what's ups, and oddly an odd handshake from Connor Stoll.
Connor's shimmering cerulean eyes sparkled. The nine year old looked up hopefully at her. Calypso nodded at the eager boy and reached in her bag. The next second the color drained from her face. She let out a strangled gasp and pulled out a smashed speaker. "No!" Travis moaned out and turned away from the horrid sight. Leo's interest sparked at the sight of the broken speaker.
Percy and Annabeth smiled apologetically at her and Jason and Piper sympathized her. "You're still invited to the party if you want Calypso." Annabeth said to her. Katie tried to hush Travis and Connor as they cried. They both stood up suddenly, successfully scaring Katie in the process. They took off mulch and Travis just shrugged. "Oh well. Do you just wanna hear Pandora music?"
Calypso didn't hear them.
Oh no...the speakers. There goes the only chance I had to make any friends.
She tried to blink her tears away when she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Leo's determined brown eyes. She was slightly surprised on how serious his eyes looked at the moment.
"Callie can I see your speakers? I can fix them if you want." Calypso looked at him through her eyelashes. She nodded and Leo sat on the mulch floor. He looked up to Calypso. The others noticed how the Leo was sitting down and the commotion stopped when they saw that Leo was taking apart the speaker.
"Sit next to me Calypso?" She obliged and sat herself next to Leo. Leo examined the speaker thoroughly by taking it apart and he came to a conclusion. He opened his backpack and pulled out wires, an icepick, and a little square piece of bronze.
Calypso looked over his shoulder as he furiously punched patterned holes into the bronze. Calypso tapped him and asked him to give her the bronze and the icepick. He nodded and he warned her that it was "specialized work". Calypso sent him a half smirk.
She punched the holes as easily as a knife through butter. "Specialized work huh?" Leo grinned at her and wrapped the wires through different parts of the system. Calypso gave him the bronze and he tapped it on perfectly. "Phone?" Everyone reached for their phones but Calypso handed her iPod to him. "Will this work?" She blushed when Leo brushed her hand against hers. "It will work Callie."
When he plugged the iPod to the speaker, everyone jumped when the song My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark blasted from the small device. He lowered the volume to the lowest it could go and presented it to the group.
"Is this good enough?" Percy, Jason, and Travis hooted and clapped Leo in the back. Leo kept grinning the whole time and his proud self gave it to Calypso. "See I told you I can fix it!" Calypso smiled at him and at the fixed item in her hand.
You sure did Repair Boy.
…..
Lunchtime
"He really did! I swear Jason tried to eat a stapler before!" Piper exclaimed and wildly gestured to the eleven year old boy Jason. Calypso covered her mouth to stop from snorting. The poor boy named Jason had a look between embarrassment and mortification that all his friends were laughing at him.
His gaze fell on Calypso and Calypso shrugged helplessly at the situation. Jason sent a small grin to Calypso and she gave him a reassuring smile back. Jason chatted with Percy about what moves to use in a video game and Annabeth and Hazel exchanged notes that Hazel had missed out on. Frank was still in the line waiting for his lunch.
Calypso turned her attention to Leo and she scooted closer to Leo. Leo noticed and he only sent a questioning look to her before biting into his ham and cheese sandwich. Calypso reached into her backpack and pulled out her lunchbox that had a juice and one sandwich in it. She grasped the bag in surprise she realized that the juice container leaked in her peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
She grimaced as she inspected the soggy sandwich. She stood up and she threw the sandwich away. Calypso hated good food going to waste but no way was she going to eat a soggy pb and j sandwich. She walked back to her seat holding her growling stomach and she let out a little whine that she wasn't going to eat lunch. She picked at the table and she had a bored expression on her face.
Leo munched on his ham sandwich before swallowing what he had in his mouth. He took his other half of his sandwich and his milk and put them on a napkin. He finished of his other half of his sandwich and he nudged the meal to Calypso. Piper had a striked up a conversation with Calypso and Piper watched with an amused expression on what Leo was doing. Piper tilted her head and Calypso looked behind her.
Calypso saw half of a sandwich, a carton of milk, and a small apple sitting neatly on a make-shift plate. Leo sipped his juice box and squeezed the box to get the last drop of the apple juice. Calypso tried pushing the meal back to Leo but he resisted and he demanded that she eats the meal. Calypso raised the ham and cheese sandwich to her mouth and she moaned in delight as she bit into it.
Calypso had a protein bar she was gonna save for practice but she pulled out the bar and handed it to Leo. Leo shook his head but Calypso said "I already diminished more than half of you calories Leo, just take it and eat it so you don't fall asleep in class." Leo reached for the bar and his hand connected with hers. Calypso felt a tiny zap jolt through her body and she let go of the protein bar when Leo tugged on the bar. She let her hand fall to the side and she saw Leo stuff it into his backpack. Calypso gave him a questioning look.
"You don't want to eat it?" Leo shook his head. "No I'm just saving it for tonight." Calypso mouth formed a little o and she waited impatiently for the bell to ring. Leo asked her a question. "Where did you usually sit before you sat with us?" Calypso motioned to the farthest corner of the lunchroom.
"I'm not a very social person." "Besides, a lot of kids consider you guys as the 'cool kids' in the school so there too scared to approach you guys." Leo and the others heard what Calypso said and they laughed loudly. Calypso let out a nervous chuckle. "What? Did I say anything wrong?"
Piper and Jason shook from laughter as they tried to answer her question. Leo beat them to it. "Cool kids?" "Most of us here are ADHD and dyslexic!" Leo jabbed a thumb to Frank who was holding his lunch plate. "Except that kid there." "He's lactose intolerant and not even the tiniest bit dyslexic." Frank pouted his lips and he pointed a finger to Leo. "Hey at least I can read the back of measuring labels!" Everyone at the table giggled except for Leo. Leo motioned to himself.
"Hey it wasn't my fault! I keep telling you that!" "My mom had a whole cup of baking soda put out!" "I thought that that was how much baking soda you put in a cake!" Calypso held back a giggle. She made a noise and Leo looked back at her. A smile coyed against Calypso's pink lips and a smile slowly inched on Leo's face when he saw Calypso grinning.
The bell cut the mood and Annabeth scurried to write down the address of the party since she was co-hosting it. She handed the slip to Calypso and Calypso thanked her. Annabeth smiled at her and over her shoulder she called out "Hope to see you there!" Calypso intently read the address and set to remember the address. She caught up to Leo who was patiently waiting for her by the door and she latched onto his backpack string. "Just move." Leo weaved through the crowd and Calypso tried to read tiny handwriting by the apartment number.
Leo concentrated on his task of moving through the little kids that ran past him and tried to stay away from the sixth graders. Calypso squinted her eyes and finally she figured out the number.
07563 The building in the rural area that has a trident sticking in the middle of the yard.
Calypso pursed her lips. She let go of Leo's backpack and she walked next to him. She fidgeted with the paper and she bit her lip. "Leo?"
Leo slowed his pace and he adjusted his backpack because one strap was tighter now. "Yeah?" Calypso handed the paper to Leo and he read it. "Are these directions to Percy's house?" Calypso hummed in response and Leo handed the paper back to Calypso.
"Don't worry about it." "If your dad lets you, my dad could drive you and me to the party." Calypso grimaced. No way was she going if her dad knew she was going with strangers. Leo saw it and he faltered. "Or I can ask my dad to convince your dad?" He started to separate from Calypso.
Calypso smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you Leo." Leo shrugged as if it was no big deal. "No prob. I'll see you in reading class and in the afternoon. A realization slapped her in the face. She completely forgot that Leo was her neighbor. "Yeah see you too Leo." Calypso waved goodbye and a small flutter of butterflies erupted in her stomach. "Yeah see you Leo." She had a small smile long after her class started.
….
12:17 p.m.
Percy's House
Saturday
The party started out well enough. The balloon toss was first but Leo was singled out because he didn't have a partner. Jason offered to be his partner but Leo knew he wanted to pair up with Piper, so Leo sent Jason a look saying "just go to her, I'll be fine." Jason sent him an apologetic look and he almost tripped as he made his way to Piper. Piper smiled and the game started off. Eventually, Percy and Annabeth won because they were the most competitive and Leo thought the others purposely losing for their benefit.
There was a lot of games that could keep Percy entertained for a while and Leo wondered when Calypso was gonna come to the party. Leo twiddled with his fingers. He admits maybe he had just the tiniest crush on her and being Leo, well that meant that wasn't gonna last that long until he scares her off. Leo gripped his red cup that had water in it and he quickly gulped it down.
The young boy got up to refill his cup in the kitchen, completely missing the knock at the door. He sipped the cup of water and he sighed. This was going to be boring if he didn't have anyone to talk to. Leo has already been here for around for at least two hours and the party ends at one o clock.
"Maybe I should just go home."
He gripped the cup and prepared to recite what he was going to say to Percy. A voice behind him made him jump in the air. "Leaving so soon?" "Just when I came?" Leo whipped around to see a girl in a sterling gray blouse with a satchel hanging on her shoulder.
"Hey Leo." Calypso clasped her hand on Leo's shoulders and Leo smiled. "Hey Callie." Calypso smiled and she grapped a cup. "What's up?" Leo cheekily responded with "the sky". Calypso grinned and she sipped her cup of water. "Why'd you come so late?" Leo asked and Calypso put up her hand.
"Well I sort of couldn't find the address where the house was and my dad only knew some of the directions." "Then we got to the lunch rush hour and we still needed to buy Percy a present." "Hopefully he likes the gift we gave him." Leo laughed. "Percy will like anything that's blue." Leo and Calypso came out laughing from the kitchen and they both stopped as they saw the intense competition Leo's friends were in.
Annabeth struggled to balance an egg upright on a spoon and Percy encouraged her to walk a little faster. The egg almost fell a few times but Annabeth managed to shift the spoon in time to catch the egg. Frank guilty looked at the splattered egg on the ground and Hazel quickly gathered paper napkins to clean the mess up.
Jason eyes concentrated on the egg and his tongue stuck out a little from the concentration of trying to keep the egg balanced. Sally quickly gathered one more egg and spoon and she swiftly escorted the two kids to a side of the room.
Sally handed the egg and spoon to Leo and Sally told Calypso to wait until Leo handed her the egg. Leo nervously placed the egg on the spoon and Calypso smiled as she hurried to the other side of the room.
After gathering some courage, he took a few uneasy steps forward as he kept the egg in an upright position. Calypso cheered as he was halfway to reaching her. He succeeded in passing Jason and Frank and he was just a few steps behind Annabeth. Annabeth noticed the late-comer behind her and she almost sprinted with the egg and she quickly handed it to Percy.
Percy fumbled with it for a few seconds and when Leo reached Calypso, he whispered good luck to her as he passed her the spoon. Calypso nodded excitingly and she walked forward in a straight line. Leo jaw dropped to the floor. It only took her a few seconds to cross the room compared to the minutes it took the rest of Leo's friends to even reach their partner.
She was at the end of the room before anyone noticed. Sally quickly declared her the winner and Sally said congratulations to the young girl. Calypso jumped cheering and Annabeth smiled in defeat as she shook Calypso's hand.
Annabeth accusingly glared at everyone else. "Do you guys know the whole point of party games? "You don't let one person win every single time." Annabeth smiled.
"But thank you for raising Percy's confidence on his birthday." Percy indignantly shouted "Hey!" He playfully glared at Annabeth and Annabeth playfully rolled her eyes at him. Annabeth quickly said it was time to open presents. Percy's face immediately lit up like a kid on Christmas as he ran to the presents.
Sally's eyes watered as he watched her baby boy grow up. Percy's twelve year old self called his friends over so they can take a photo with him. Sally raced to get the digital camera and Leo broke away from her to take a photo with Percy and the others.
Calypso awkwardly stayed at a corner and Percy noticed her on the other side of the room.
"Hey Calypso!"
Calypso broke her gaze form the floor and shifted her attention to Percy. "Get in the picture." "Were all friends here." Calypso made eye contact with Leo and he seemed pleased by the fact that she was being accepted into Leo's friend group. She posed next to Leo and Sally started to count down.
..3
..2
..1
Say cheese!
The camera flashed and everyone smiled as they held up bunny ears for each other. The white flash blinded her for a sec but Calypso looked around and she grinned. She gazed at Leo and his friends who all scurried to eat a piece of cake.
They all laughed as Percy's face was covered in frosting, courtesy of Annabeth painting his face with frosting. Leo waved her over to join the fun. Calypso walked up to Leo and they both laughed in delight as Percy smashed his cake in Annabeth's face. The rest of Percy's friends giggled and hooted as Annabeth chased Percy around his house screaming bloody murder.
Yeah Calypso could get used to being friends with Leo and his friends.
15 years old
The sound of hammer clashing with metal woke me up from my afternoon nap. I stood up and slid into my bunny slippers while groggily trying to make my way to the second story window. I opened the window and saw that was Leo working outside by himself. I decided to surprise him so I smoothed out my hair and brushed my teeth real quick. I grabbed two protein bars one chocolate and the other vanilla.
I raced out the door and I made my way to my backyard and moved to the farthest right corner to kick a flimsy fence post. I pushed it and I immediately felt the difference of our yards. Mine was soft and plushy while Leo's was slightly moist and lumpy. I held the protein bars behind my back while I made my way over to where Leo was. I glanced over Leo's shoulder and I frowned at the position Leo was in.
"You know-"
Leo immediately shot to his feet and he dropped what he was holding and grasped his chest. "Bronze and bulls girl you almost gave me a heart attack!" I put one of my hands on my hips and stuck out a protein bar. His eyes brightened at the sight of the treat but when he reached for it I pulled it away. "You know if you bend your body in that way, you could get scoliosis."
Leo went pfft. "Scoliosis?" I rolled my eyes at the way he dismissed the topic of scoliosis. "It's serious Leo!" Leo hummed and he returned back to his project. I leaned over him and I watched in fascination as he effortlessly bended melted bronze to shapes.
"I have mom's special gloves." He wiggled his fingers which were encased in a heavy covering over fire resistant cloth. He leaned down and crawled under the machine.
"What are you doing that for?" Leo grunted as he fought tightening a bolt on the machine. "It's for mechanics class." Calypso nodded her head and before she even said something, Leo interrupted her. "Stacey is going to come over and help me finish it."
Leo tugged and the bolt was in place. He patted the from the machine's bottom. Her resolve broke. "Who's Stacey?!" Leo eyes widened at her outburst and he slipped under the contraption.
"A friend from Mechanics club, I don't think you know her she's kinda- "The door bell rung and Leo ran to go get it, leaving Calypso alone and confused. She watched in anger as Leo came in talking to a short but pretty girl. The girl had short shoulder cut hair and the color seemed almost jet black. She wore a toolbelt almost like Leo but it was filled with more tools than his. Leo explained the situation to the girl and she nodded as she listened to Leo.
The girl took one look at the machine and she immediately set to work with Leo. Calypso climbed Leo's tree and settled in the treehouse Leo had when they were little. They always used to come here to talk and do homework with each other. She wondered why they stopped hanging out here as she traced the patterns they drew when they built the treehouse. She watched from above on what Leo and Stacey were doing. Stacey and Leo worked in almost perfect synch because of the orders they stated to each other.
Calypso snarled whenever Stacey touched Leo to get his attention to see if she fixed the part up like he wanted. Stacey was a pretty girl no doubt but that didn't explain the anger Calypso felt when the girl touched Leo. A few more agonizing hours and they were done with the machine. Calypso crossed her arms as she felt her blood boil.
The girl waved goodbye and Leo walked her to the front door. Calypso picked an apple of his tree and angrily bit into it. She munched on the apple and she ignored Leo's calls from below. Leo let out a huff and he climbed the tree as well.
She felt a stab of guilt hit her in the stomach but she ignored it when Leo popped his head in the window. He had a confused look in his face when he asked "why didn't you stay down?" Calypso shrugged. She didn't know what all the anger was about in the first place anyways. "Move over, I'm coming in." Calypso scooted to a side and Leo went in through the window.
Calypso took out the snacks she had for her and Leo. She passed a protein bar and an apple to Leo and he thanked her for the snack. Their hands brushed against each other's and for a split second Calypso felt a tingle where their hands touched. She instead looked around the treehouse.
"Why did we stop coming here?" Leo shrugged. 'I don't know, we probably grew out of it." Calypso tapped her hands on the base of the treehouse. "I still like it." Leo looked up. "You do?" Calypso nodded and she said "I had so many fond memories coming over here and talking to you." Leo grinned. "It was a lot of fun." "Do you remember the times we hid in here from my cousins?"
Calypso laughed. "Or the times you scared your dad half to death because he couldn't find you?" They both were rolling around laughing as they recalled the fun times they had with the treehouse.
Calypso brushed a tear away. "I don't know why we ever stopped coming here." Leo nodded while smiling "Yeah it would be fun if we did still." Calypso stuck her hand out. She hasn't used this phrase in a long time but she was happy that she could say it again. "Are you up for tree house time?" Leo caught on. "Yeah I'm up for it."
All that could be heard from the treehouse were the sounds of laughter and sometimes a scream of fright whenever a spider settled near Calypso. The two kids didn't get out of the treehouse until the very second there curfew ran out. The two kids giggled and from that day forward, they would at least have an hour of treehouse time and Calypso was more than glad for it.
Means more time with Leo and she was more than okay with that.