Piper took Jason's hand quickly, pulling herself up. She brushed off her jeans and straightened.
"Are you okay?" Jason asked with a worried
expression. He's so cute...
Piper mentally cursed.
"Erm, yeah, I'm fine."
"Are you sure? I can buy you something like a—"
"JASON!" A familiar voice screamed. Piper's eyes widened behind her sunglasses. It was—
"Reyna, my girlfriend,"Jason apologized. Piper almost frowned; Jason was still dating Reyna, after two years. "She's a bit cranky from the trip over here. We flew over to Long Island from San Francisco, and we just touched down here from
Long Island."
"Ah." Piper nodded.
"Jason Grace, by the way. "Jason held out his hand, and Piper shook it, thinking up a fake name as fast as she could.
"Rebecca Jones. May I ask why are you here, exactly?"
Jason sighed, running a hand through his blonde hair. "Well, you see, my friend Leo, he misses his best friend. Hasn't seen her in two years, and we heard she went here. Leo pretty much grabbed me and some other friends and shoved us onto a plane. Umm... do you know her? Her
name is Piper McLean."
"Nope. I've heard of her before, though. Tristan McLean's daughter, right?"
Acting came in handy.
"Yeah. Tanned skin, choppy brown hair, color-changing eyes. Really pretty. Have you seen her around?"
"Hmm... maybe once or twice, but I've never formally met her. I think I know her dorm room, though. Can I... um... meet your friends?"
Jason raised an eyebrow, but didn't reject the offer. "Sure. Come on."
Piper fell into step with Jason. Jason had asked about the school, and Piper was explaining to him when they were met with two familiar faces. Both were pretty and intimidating, one with calculating gray eyes and blonde curls. The other had obsidian eyes and long, dark hair pulled into a braid.
"Jason." Reyna sighed in relief, and for the first time, she noticed Piper. "Who's your friend?"
Jason cleared his throat. "Hey, Reyna. This is Rebecca Jones, I accidentally ran into her earlier, but she said she knows where Piper is."
"Not where Piper is," Piper corrected. Despite her acting drills, she found it awkward talking in third person. "I know her dorm, but not her current location. She could be anywhere right now."
"Right."
"Hi, Rebecca!" Annabeth said brightly, waving at her. "Nice to meet you."
Piper bit back a "I MISSED YOU SO FREAKING MUCH" and smiled. "Nice to meet you too."
"Well." Jason shoved a hand through his blonde hair and wrapped an arm around Reyna. "Let's go, then."
Piper walked alongside Annabeth, who was
obsessing over the architecture. Piper had to admit that the architecture was pretty nice, but Annabeth was practically screaming.
"... and that building over there— oh my gosh, it's amazing! How did they build that? I need a copy of the blueprints ..."
Piper smiled to herself. Annabeth hadn't
changed.
Annabeth continued to ask Piper about the
architecture. Piper answered, trying to sound as excited as she could, though she wasn't particularly interested in the process people took to build that "highly complex building with the modernized roof and elaborate windows over there."
"Hey, Jason, where can I find a taco? Do you
think they have tacos here?"
Piper froze. The voice undoubtedly came from a boy, so Annabeth and Reyna were out of the question. She highly doubted that Jason had said that.
Slowly, she turned.
Leo Valdez, dark curls unruly and brown eyes wild, stood there, five bucks in hand. "I want a taco."
