I groaned as my alarm clock went off, blasting P!NK. My first day of high school.
Rumoured to be the worst thing in the world, filled with cliques, taunts, and weird teachers.
At least my friends were starting with me. Hestia, Hera, Demeter, and Zeus Olympian. I don't know what I would do without them.
They are siblings and they have graciously accepted me into their family. Hestia, Hera, and Demeter are like my sisters, while Zeus and Poseidon are like my brothers. Poseidon is a year older and is a sophomore, but he still acts like he's ten. He and Zeus are the ones who drag us into our wacky adventures, the most memorable being when we took a walk in the woods and came across a patch of poison ivy and the boys started wrestling. They were covered in it by the time Hestia pointed it out to them. We had all ended up in the nearby lake by the end of the day. I smiled at the thought and got changed into my school uniform.
It's a classic uniform. White blouse with a plaid skirt. Luckily, we are able to pick the color of the skirt. Something about not wanting to crush our identities completely.
I picked a purple skirt while Hera, Hestia, and Demeter picked blue, red, and green respectively. I tried to keep my make-up simple, with a touch of purple eye shadow. Hera had given it to me for my birthday, saying that it complimented my golden eye color.
I put my honey colored hair in a messy bun and rolled on my black knee high socks and dark purple flats.
Looking at the time, I grabbed a poptart on my way out the door and started to walk to school.
A black motorcycle with a flaming "H" decor on the body roared past as I walked up the school steps. As it passed I remembered that Po had one like it in the garage.
As we walked to our homeroom, a tall junior came up to us with five lunches. He was impassive with crimson red hair and onyx black eyes. He was wearing was wearing the school uniform, his tie hanging loose around his neck. A leather jacket was in his hand, the lunches in the other, and a black motorcycle helmet was cradled in the crook of his elbow.
"Poseidon, Hera, Hestia, Demeter, Zeus, you forgot your lunches." His voice was emotionless and like a whisper. They all smiled at the boy/man and got their lunches. Then he nodded and walked away, the white shirt showing off his muscles. A black backpack hung off one shoulder.
"Who was he?" I asked when we started walking again. Po, who was walking us to class, sighed but answered anyway.
"That was Hades. Our older brother. Before the bastard was put away, he was the one who protected us." They all flinched as I winced. Their father, Cronus, had abused them before Rhea had reappeared after he kidnapped them. Hades was probably the one who jumped in from of them. It's a miracle that he was still alive. Cronus was put away when Po was four.
"Oh. I'm sorry for bringing it up."
"It's fine. You didn't know. Plus you're family!" Exclaimed Zeus.
Ms. Calon, our homeroom teacher, was a really laid back teacher, who let us do whatever we wished after she took attendance and handed out schedules. We just talked about unimportant stuff and drew. In all of my classes, the teachers just talked about the syllabus and their expectations. It was dull, but in every class I had at least one friend, so it could have been worse.
At the end of the day we all walked because it was such a nice day. Mostly, though, it was because we didn't have a car. Hades, who I had learned was the proud owner of the motorcycle with the 'H', rode by us. He nodded and then was gone.
On our way to the Olympian house, the chosen house to do our homework, we walked into a dubious part of town. It is generally safe if we walk with a large group, so it was surprising when some young men decided to intercept us. One grabbed me.
"Hey, let her go!" Hera shouted.
"Awww! But that's not fun! Let's have fun!" I smelt the alcohol on his breath as I tried to get away, but he was too strong. Zeus and Poseidon looked ready to take them on but there were about nine of them and they were much larger than any of us. We were outnumbered and overpowered.
"I believe they said to leave them alone." Came a soft whispered voice. Hades. The man snorted.
Hades' eyes lost their emotionless gleam and shown with an angry protectiveness. He was like lightning, and the creeps began to fall like dominos. Quickly, the only one left was the one holding me.
"Relax, Persephone," Whispered Hades, looking me in the eyes. I stopped struggling, trusting that it would help him. After all, this was the boy who had kept his siblings safe for years. He wouldn't have told me to relax if it wasn't helpful, right? The man holding me by my neck finally seemed to realise what was happening and pushed me away, before running away from the scene.
I stumbled, but Hades grabbed me before I fell, and scooped me up in his arms.
"Thank you," I murmured into his neck. I felt Hades nod, and we all slowly began to walk to the house.
No one spoke, but I felt safe in the quiet.