Disclaimer: I, as usual, own nothing around here except my own writing. Rick Riordan owns all the rest.
He was a supporting actor.
That's all he was. He appeared sometimes, and people would think: "Hey, that kid is one of Jason's Roman friends". And then they would forget about him again.
Well, the Greeks would, anyway. His Roman's comrades didn't, but only because they knew how it felt. They, also, had been replaced.
Ever since that giant war-ship, the "Argo II", landed in Camp Jupiter, things had been… Weird. And not good weird, as far as he was concerned. When Jason got out of the ship, the camp was in ecstasy; their hero was back! But that illusion didn't last long. Jason's memory was horribly fussy. He barely remembered anyone. The few he did had figured in his list of really close friends, meaning they were almost all from the fifth cohort. The rest of Camp was almost as unknown to him as it was to the Greeks that came with him.
Bobby never worried that Jason wouldn't know who he was: If only his closest friends were remembered, then all was cool, because he and Jason were best friends. They grew up together. There was no way Jason wouldn't remember him.
And he was right. Jason did remember him. Turns out, that wasn't what he should've been worried about.
A new best friend. Jason had a new best friend. The "flaming Valdez", as the kid called himself (and was the only one to do it, too). Bobby wasn't being bitter, but he swore he didn't know how Jason stood him. The kid turned 'annoying' into an art, he only ever joked around and was too hyperactive even for demigods elevated pardons. Jason was a more serious type of guy. How could the two ever get along?
And that wasn't even the end of it (although it was, for Bobby, certainly the worst). Jason had found himself a new girlfriend. That was, in fact, why no one remembered Bobby. There was bigger entertainment to watch.
The truth was, no one wanted a story about friendship. It was all about romance. So, even though Jason and Reyna hadn't really been dating, and Jason and Piper weren't really dating, and Reyna and Piper didn't really hated each other, their situation was all everyone could see. It was their perfect love triangle, coming straight from a soap opera. No one noticed that Jason and Bobby had really been best friends, that Jason and Leo really were best friends and that Bobby and Leo really couldn't stand each other. Because a story about lost friendship simply wasn't as good as a lost love one.
When it came to that, Bobby envied the Greek. Because their leader, Percy, the guy that had been elected praetor, hadn't forgotten about them. Well, he had, but his memory was back, about as much as Jason's was. And, even though he had made new friends, like Hazel and Frank, he still made very clear to his old friends (like that faun and the blond girl), without even saying a word, that he was still their friend, at the same time he introduced his new friends around.
Really, those Greek kids got all the luck.
Because that's pretty much all Bobby wanted. A word, a gesture, anything, in which Jason recognized that, yes, they were still best buds. That all those years in the fifth cohort, trusting completely on each other, had mattered to him, too. To Bobby, it had mattered a lot.
Because, to him, Jason was the brother he never had. And now, Jason was the friend he no longer had. Jason was now a part of the great Prophecy of Seven, with his new girlfriend (seriously, everyone knew they would get together eventually. It was plain to see) and his new best friend along their group of heroes.
And Bobby would stay behind, alone. Kicked to the corner.
That's what you got for trusting someone.
Heya there, guys. This is, basically, a rambling that got out of God knows where and I had to put out. Have you noticed how little - if any - stories about Jason with his old friends there are? Specially after he went to Camp Half-Blood.
I'm sorry if it's kind of short. I was really just trying to show how rejected Jason's friends in Camp Jupiter might feel when Jason showed up with a whole new gang. I mean, you all know how important friendship is. If your best friend dissapered and came back with a new best friend, wouldn't you be upset?
Well, that's all, folks. Please leave your opinion. It's really important to me.
Hanna
