Quick rewrite and edits. Grammar issues and such.
Chapter 1: Renovations, Metaphorically Speaking
Hazel stared up at her new home. Well, that would be a bit of a lie. It was her new boarding school, but for all intents and purposes, it might as well have been her home. It was a weird one to. Someone, somewhere had the great idea that a hotel could be renovated into a school. It sounded like a bad bet, or something from a movie.
She looked over the old Hilton hotel of downtown New York. It was now called the Hilton school. Very original. She made her way up the steps, a satchel across her shoulder and two luggage carts trailing behind her. She trundled her way up the steps. School kids just like her rushed by. Their parents trailed behind them. Summer vacation had just ended. It was time to return to reality.
Some of them had the same look she did, wide eyed and new. Others laughed with easy familiarity. They shook hands with old friends. Girls hugged each other gushing over how much they missed each other, and guys stood smiling and laughing, showing affection without actually showing affection. Guys were weird like that.
Hazel was so busy looking everywhere but forward that the cliché was bound to happen. She bumped into a guy, her luggage turned over and she was on the ground.
"Oh! Sorry! Didn't mean for that, here let me help you up!" the guy said. Hazel looked up. She was startled by what she saw. It was a teenage boy with the most startling pair of eyes she had ever seen. They were like sea foam, green as algae. To her surprise, she even saw genuine concern.
He lifted her off the ground. He even helped her pick up her luggage. "Again, so sorry. I was just looking for an old friend of mine. I thought I would find her here, but I guess she's inside."
"Oh no, it's my fault just as much as it's yours. I was just in awe of this place, it's just so…" Hazel was at a loss for words.
"Strange? Yeah, I had the same feeling when I first got here. There's something unexplainable about it. Such a novel idea. I take it this is your first year?" He handed her the luggage.
"Yeah, I'm supposed to meet with a representative?" Hazel started looking for a paper in her satchel, "I knew I had the documents around here somewhere."
"Don't worry about it, come on I'll take you inside," the boy laughed easily. He was probably a year or two older than Hazel. A sophomore at the very least.
"Thanks," Hazel remembered her manners at the last second, "By the way, my name's Hazel Levesque," she stuck a hand out in greeting.
The boy took it in his, "A pleasure, mine's Percy Jackson," his grip was warm.
Hazel's eyes went wide. She felt a smile. It was good that she finally found a name she recognised, "You're Percy Jackson? Nico told me so much about you!" She held onto his hand.
Percy looked at her in curiosity, "Do you mean Nico di Angelo?"
"Yeah, he's my half-brother. Didn't he tell you I would be coming?" Hazel was nervous now.
"No, why would he?" Percy took a second, "Wait if you're his half-sister, than that means you're my…" Percy griped for words.
"I'm your cousin!" Hazel exclaimed. She remembered they were in public and ducked her head down. Then she realised that she was still holding his hand. She let that go to. It was hard for a black girl to turn red and blush, but Hazel thought she was pulling it off.
"Hey no need to be nervous! That's amazing! Come here cousin," Percy pulled her into a bear hug, "Why didn't Nico say anything! Wait, scratch that, never mind we're talking about Nico. Of course he didn't say that his sister was coming to our school. Fucking typical."
Hazel's eyes went wide at his casual swearing. She almost started to fan her face, "I guess he's nervous about that family thing. Ever since his other sister Bianca…"
Percy sighed. His face slackened, "Yeah that tore him up" He shook his head, the smile came back, "Anyway are you related mom or dad? If it's the dad then we're like, true DNA sharing cousins."
Hazel nodded slowly.
"This is going to be sweet! Does Thalia or Jason know that you're coming?"
Hazel shook her head slowly. She recognised the names, but that was it. Percy's face lit up. It carried the devil's smile. He rubbed his hands together slowly, "Oh we are going to prank them so hard. You cannot let them know who you are when you meet them, ok?"
"Why?" Hazel was confused.
"For the simplest and greatest of reasons…"
"Love?" Hazel asked hopefully.
"Nope, good old revenge," Percy smiled like a demon.
"Dammit," Hazel followed Percy inside.
Inside was a converted reception area. It still looked like your average hotel lobby, but there were noticeable changes. None of the people behind the desk wore the same uniform. There were more scowls from old ladies, less comforting first welcomes. There was no bellhop or door man, just some older students leading groups off. Percy took her to one of the secretary lines.
"Ok, so since we have no idea where you're representative is…" Percy began.
"Actually I do, it says…" Hazel tried reading off the paper. Percy snatched it out of her hands.
"No need for this. Besides now we have more time for planning!"
"You mean scheming," Hazel said.
"Same shit," Again Hazel fanned herself a bit, "Anyway, text Nico. Fill him in on the plan. He can't say anything to Thalia or Jason yet."
"Alright then…" Hazel pulled her phone from her pocket. She texted Nico. She got a reply almost instantaneously. She started to try and unlock her phone. Percy noticed her struggles.
"You doing ok?" He looked over as she wrestled with the device.
"Yeah I'll be fine, I was just never the best with these things."
"Alright then..."
"Ha ha! I got it!" Hazel read Nico's reply.
"He says ok, and that you are an evil genius," Hazel looked up to Percy.
"You know I am! If anyone asks you're just some new girl ok?" Percy looked like he was gonna say more, but he was interrupted when someone shouted across the room.
"Seaweed Brain! You're back!" A blonde girl ran at Percy. Hazel almost believed in stereotypes at that point. The way the girl ran over, shouting across the hotel lobby. It was almost like she was asking for people to think she was a dumb blonde. She threw herself into Percy's arms.
"I missed you Percy!" She let go and gave him a quick peck on the lips. Hazel had never really gotten into the idea of kissing in public. It almost seemed shameless to her. It reinforced the idea that this girl was nothing but another dumb blonde stereotype.
"I missed you to Wise Girl," Percy looked the blonde in the eyes. The two stood there for a while. They probably would've stayed like that if someone behind them hadn't coughed. The line had moved again. Percy let the girl go from around the waist, but kept his hand in hers. He glanced her way. So did the blonde.
"Who's this Percy?" The blonde looked at Hazel. That's when any preconceived notions of a dumb blonde died away. Hazel saw her eyes. They were a startling gray. They reminded Hazel of an old pocket watch. It looked as if there were a thousand tiny gears behind those eyes, each working together to power some relentless machine. Something that was tense, but would keep moving forward. Something that could bust open at the nearest touch, and explode outwards.
"This is Hazel, a new student I'm helping out. Hazel, this is my girlfriend Annabeth," Percy hadn't mentioned the cousin thing. Apparently it was all part of the plan. Annabeth stuck her hand out. Her eyes had relaxed as Percy talked. She didn't seem so…tight.
Hazel shook it warmly, "I love your eyes," she said.
Annabeth looked startled for a second, "Thanks, I love your dark hair," she replied.
They carried on in comfortable silence. Hazel stood by silently as Percy and Annabeth caught up with each other. Apparently Annabeth had been gone for the last month of the summer touring Greece. As she talked with Percy, she began to relax. She began to lose the wound up clock look in her eyes. Her hand never left her boyfriend's.
Eventually they came to the front of the line. Annabeth decided it would be best to leave then. She gave Percy a quick kiss on the cheek. Hazel looked away sheepishly.
"It was a pleasure to meet you Hazel. If Percy does anything wrong you tell me ok?" Annabeth gave her a wink and a grin before walking off. Hazel smiled at her when she left. She turned to the secretary at the counter. She sat there, her eyes cool behind her thick rimmed glasses. She glanced disdainfully at Hazel.
"Papers please," she said looking back to her computer. Hazel dug around in her bag. She found the papers she had been looking for before. It had all the information she would need. She handed it over.
"Here you are Miss…" Hazel fell off questioningly.
"Miss Victoria, thank you very much," the secretary said. She looked relatively young as a secretary. She typed away on her keyboard. She finished and looked up at Hazel. She held out the documents, along with a plastic card and an envelope.
"Here is your room key, and in the envelope you will find your schedule, a general year calendar and other information packets. Your room number is on your key," She looked at Percy, "Mr. Jackson, seeing as how you are of the opposite sex, I'm afraid you won't be able to accompany Miss Levesque to her room," She looked to Hazel, "We'll just find someone else to show you around." Miss Victoria looked around the lobby. She smiled when she saw someone she recognized.
"Miss Dare," Hazel wasn't sure, but it seemed like Percy paled at the name, "could you please come over here."
A girl with red, frizzy hair came forward, "Yes Miss Victoria?" Her green eyes were focused on Miss Victoria. She never bothered to look in Hazel's direction, but from the way Percy stiffened, she thought it wasn't because of Hazel herself.
"Could you please show Miss Levesque to her room, and explain how things work here at the Hilton?" Miss Victoria asked. Miss Dare nodded, and without even looking in Hazel's direction walked off. Hazel said a hasty goodbye to Percy and rushed after her pulling her luggage along. She had to dodge around students. She thought she would lose her guide in the crowd, but she caught up eventually. The guide was smiling, looking at her calmly for once. She held out her hand.
"I'm terribly sorry for that. I didn't mean to be so cool, there was just some of that usual high school bullshit. I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare. You can call me Rachel or Red, but never Miss Dare. You?"
Hazel shook the hand, "I'm Hazel. No nicknames or anything…just…Hazel…" she tucked some hair behind her ear. A few strands always came loose, one of the difficulties of frizzy hair, "I'm sorry if this is too much, but what's the problem between you and…"
Rachel's hand stopped her from saying anything else. She stilled smiled, but it was a little colder, "I'd rather not right now, ok?"
Hazel nodded, confused but not wanting to piss her off. Rachel turned back to the elevator. Her foot tapped impatiently.
"So…I guess you're a freshman?" Rachel asked. She watched the numbers move down ever so slowly, "I'm a sophomore, like Percy and…Annabeth," she choked on the name, like a chicken bone was stuck in her throat. Hazel nodded along. Rachel snatched the key from Hazel's hand. She gave it the once over look.
"Looks like you're on floor eighteen. Alright then, that shouldn't be too bad. I'll explain the basics as we wait," Rachel gave her key card back to Hazel, "On the weekdays, breakfast and lunch are here. The converted Cafeteria's on floor seven. Classes happen on basically every floor below there. The main assemblies happen right above us in the second floor grand hall. That's also where classes like drama and music happen. Gym class happens in the workout area. It's open to all students on the weekend. The only classes not on those floors are the science classes. The labs are on the top couple of floors. Any questions so far?" Rachel kept watching the elevator tick down.
"Yeah, if the cafeteria is on floor eight, what's with the café down here and the lounge places serving food?" Hazel asked.
"Simple, the cafeteria is free, but if you're willing to pay a bit more there's the cafés. The cafeteria food isn't so bad though, the cafés are more for a symbol of power than anything," Rachel smiled as the elevator reached their floor. She helped Hazel with her bags, "Pro tip number one, do not take the elevators to get to classes. Students are always riding the elevators, hitting the stop button, doing stupid shit. To get to class take the stairs," Rachel swiped her own card in the slot inside the door, "Tip number two, keep your card on you at all times. It's your ticket in and out of the entire hotel. You can't go anywhere without it. Also your card only lets you go to certain floors," she gave Hazel a mischievous smile, "That way it's harder to sneak off to boys floors, but you'll figure that out later," Rachel hit the eighteen button, but didn't let go. She held it, and the close door button until the metal doors slid shut.
"What was that for?"
"Pro tip number three," Rachel said, "It's an old firemen's trick. If you hold both buttons till the doors close, they won't open till they get to your floor. It can allow for faster trips and more private conversations. On the weekends, you're pretty allowed to go where you want in the city, just get back by curfew…or else," Rachel winked at Hazel, "There anything else you need?" Hazel shook her head. The doors opened at the eighteenth floor.
"Then Hazel Levesque, it's been a pleasure to meet you, I'll see you at opening orientation."
Hazel went into the hallway at her floor. She turned back as the doors closed, "Wait you didn't show me to my room!"
It was too late. Hazel grumbled and took a look at her card. It read 1848. She made her way down the hall. She got to her room number and put the card in. It gave a satisfying beep. No matter what else happened at this school, it was definitely a step up from her old place.
She stepped inside to see a girl with brown hair shouting at an older man.
This should be fun, she thought to herself.
Hope you enjoyed the first chapter, leave a review, even if you hated it. Take a shit on it please if you want. Any and all feed back is welcome