"Do you really know how to build a Molotov cocktail?" asked Jason, making conversation to ease the air. They were walking to the lounge now, where Jason had been on a few occasions to talk to teachers, taking the winding hallways and complicated floors that any visitors would get lost in—that any student attending could still get lost in.

Leo was a good sport and went along with him, grinning toothily. "By heart. Want me to show you how?"

The image of both of them assembling a bomb as if it were a Lego set swamped his mind and Jason barked a laugh. "I'm good. I don't think it'll be fair to anyone if this school blows up anytime soon. I'd actually like to graduate."

"Domestic terrorism would be a downer in college apps," agreed Leo.

"I can see it now in average white kid-defense media. 'The Misguided Seventeen Year Old Destined for Greatness Led to the Wrong Path by Blistering Teen Arsonist'."

Leo chimed in, "'The Troubled Hispanic Boy with a Record and His Bad Influence on Honor Student.'"

Jason snorted.

As he talked more to the boy next to him, Jason realized how wrong his first impression of him had been. Olympus High School wasn't the biggest school around, but the amount of different classes interchanged and divided throughout the school years made it harder to keep track of all the students. Leo had been taking all customized classes, courses like Intro to Mechanics and The Basics of Engineering, which made Jason feel really small knowing Leo knew what he was going to do in life when Jason did not. Despite his gung-ho attitude about grades and student leadership, all of it was just a ruse to avert attention from his lack of self-identity. It kind of bummed.

"No offense," began Leo as they turned a curve to another hallway. Automatically, Jason prepared himself to be offended. "But I don't really get why a dude like you is in student affairs. Vice president, right? You don't really seem like the law and order kind of guy. Well, I guess I could see you in pajamas and eating ice cream watching midnight marathons of Law and Order, which is your business, not mine, but that's not what I mean."

This made Jason laugh again. "I dig the concept and the show, for your information."

"It's just…" It was here that Leo paused. It was probably mean of Jason to be surprised Leo didn't think before he spoke often. "I don't mean to be all assume-y. That'd be stupid. You just get the vibe of someone who could be a little looser, y'know? Only you've been raised opposite than that. You're not exactly a Spartan dictator by nature, like everyone says student council is—well, except Percy Jackson. He's the dude with all the exceptions."

Jason tried not to grin at the Percy part, which was true, but he also found himself shirking away at the non-Spartan part, which was also true. He really needed to give Leo more credit. The kid was scary observant under the impish grin and whirly hair.

"I gotta give you more credit," said Jason. "You are scary observant under the impish grin and whirly hair."

"What can I say? Being impish and whirlish are tell-tale qualities of a vigorous mind."

"I should probably be offended," Jason replied smoothly, "but I get it. I'm not Big Picture material. Not really. If Reyna hadn't asked me to run with her in tenth grade, I never would have even thought of… Thalia's been pretty active in school stuff, too, ever since she was little. My mom never really cared what we did so I guess it was to show her Thalia could get things done without her. And she showed her up real well. For me, I think I've just always been following my sister. I…does that sound right?"

Leo watched him dubiously. "That's not really something I can answer, man. You're the one who knows whether you've got an inferiority complex with females in your life."

"I don't have an inferiority complex!" Jason protested, but he was uncertain.

Sometime during Jason's confession, Leo put on a mask of pity. Jason realized too late that it was empathy. "It's no big deal. Sometimes people suck and the people around them get the brunt of it."

"How do you figure? Nobody's sucking and I'm definitely not getting the brunt of anything."

"It's complicated."

"I don't have a complex."

"You don't have to admit it," said Leo, now a bit wary.

Stricken with the conclusion that Leo had gotten the idea Jason was some kind of emasculated, self-conscious jock boy, he felt a sudden wave of frustration hit him.

"I do not have a—" Jason stopped in his tracks, physically. They were already in front of the teacher's lounge, the door as dim and inviting as his own house. He looked at Leo, who tried to hide fiddly fingers in his pockets—either from Jason's sudden rush of misplaced anger or at the fact a looming, detention-throwing teacher might pop out from behind the door at any moment, he could not tell. He hoped it was the teachers.

"Look," began Jason, watching him recede away with more subtlety he imagined Leo could manage. Jason hated yelling. His mom did it, his sister did it, and even his dad did, before he left. For him, anger always led to destruction. So whenever he was upset, he leveled his voice; let no one know anything touched him. It made it seem like he was calm when he was not, and tried to convince himself that maybe he was not at all like his parents. The fact that he nearly blew up because of some kid trying to psychoanalyze him left Jason feeling pretty impotent. "You're the one who asked me. If I wanted to get diagnosed by a shrink, I would have."

"Dude, I didn't mean anything by that. I'm really sorry," Leo said.

He looked like he was going to say something else, but didn't want to rile Jason up any more than he already did. Jason thought this was for the best. A little part of him wondered what he would've said, but before he could start deducing, two identical boys with wicked, upturned mouths burst out of the teacher's lounge in a flurry of chaos.

The Stoll brothers were renowned at the school for their bewitching pranks and rattling personalities, and the student council had a few problems relating to them once or twice. Because both were a year apart, their true golden years began during sophomore year when they became a pair, doomed to end once the oldest graduated. After spotting Jason and Leo two steps away, the two identical brothers stopped mid-stride with hitched breath, flushed faces, and a cat.

A cat.

"Nice cat," said Leo awkwardly, as the four tried to register what was happening.

"It is," conceded the younger one, Connor. He was Jason's classmate in a majority of subjects. His brother, Travis, blinked in rapid secession.

Jason had his mouth open to say something, but he couldn't quite find the words to reprimand anyone when they were holding such a fluffy white kitty.

"Her name's Lightning," offered Connor, and Jason sold his soul.

"Can I hold her?" asked Jason, and Leo whipped his head towards him incredulously.

Connor and Travis looked at him like he had just asked if they were into polygamy. But Connor handed him Lightning anyway, gently depositing her in Jason's outstretched hands. Jason held the cat with true grace, and the cat was so small he could carry it on one arm, which he did. Then he turned his attention back to the brothers, who turned up the charm immediately.

"Joe Biden." Travis greeted Jason without sparing a glance at Leo. He was jovial and serene, not caring that they'd just been caught red-handed. "How do you do?"

"How do I do, what?" Jason answered blankly. He could play this game just fine.

Happily reflecting his brother, Connor said, "Oh, Your Grace, I had never thunk you'd be here on this side of the school. After all, this is the building near the library. You know, the one with all the books?"

Jason said, "So I've been told."

"If you're wondering why we've just come out of there," tried Connor.

Travis added, "With a cat."

"With a cat," Connor agreed solemnly. "Then you should stop wondering. As far most good-looking among us, I would advise you to—ah, how you say, buzz off."

Leo snickered into his elbow, and Jason felt a tiny bit betrayed.

Finally, Jason just said, "I'm not going to ask. Even though I believe in guilty until proven innocent, I can't force it out of you. You're both just going to get off with a warning, because I'm pretty sure you've already topped the record for most detentions in the first week of school. However, I'm going to have to confiscate the cat. No animals or pets of any kind are allowed on campus grounds."

The Stoll brothers had ranged from elated to outraged as Jason was talking, more appalled by the latter part of his claim.

"What was that, Glasses Grace?" said Connor, eyeballing him.

"I said," Jason repeated, bringing in the mewling cat closer to his chest, "I am confiscating the cat."

"You're taking Lightning away?" Travis cried dramatically. Yet his longing gaze fixed on the cat seemed to be genuine, if not a little overdone.

Apparently unaffected by all the attention, the cat yawned and everyone became momentarily fixated by the sight.

"Take care, my child," addressed Connor to Lightning, wiping away a nonexistent teardrop. "I will miss you so. The last thirty-four minutes we have spent together were filled with such joy and tremendous happiness. In your departure, I will find only loss."

"My light, my love, my only dream," said Travis sadly. And that was all before they both ran down the hallway in pure adrenaline. By the time Jason could think to react, they were already turning a corner, successfully performing a disappearing act deserving of an ovation.

They always had a flair for the dramatic and unnecessary. Jason had always thought it was because both boys held a terrible fear of being forgotten, and they did things so that no one would ever forget. But most of the time, Jason just thought they were crazy. It was only inevitable Jason would be hit by the falling debris of Connor and Travis Stoll one day.

"Do you think," started Leo, still staring at the empty blazing trail from whence they left, "I can still go inside the lounge?"

"I doubt Mrs. Athena is there." If she were, the Stolls would've been dead by then. Or, at the very least, scraping gum off the bottoms of desks with their bare hands. "As the head of a couple departments, her schedule's always wishy-washy. You could try again tomorrow. But honestly, I kind of don't want to be here for whatever aftermath happens from the Stolls'… activity."

This amused Leo, because he inquired, "Isn't that your job, though?"

"Don't remind me," said Jason.

The cat in his arms meowed once and stretched its little legs, nails scraping him a bit. Jason had almost forgotten its existence.

"I can't believe you just stole a cat and got away with it," said Leo in awe, also staring at the creature.

"I didn't steal it," denied Jason, scowling a bit. "I confiscated it."

"You stole a cat," Leo said gleefully, ignoring him. "And her. The cat's a she named Lightning. Please respect personal pronouns."

"I don't need to call her anything. I'm not keeping her."

"Why not?"

"Why should I?" Jason countered. The cat, Lightning, meowed softly in his arms. "She probably didn't even belong to the Stolls in the first place. I'm going to take her to…who do I call for this? Animal Control?"

"No!" said Leo loudly, hands waving around in protest. "You can't! They'd take her to the pound or something and she'll be put down if she isn't adopted. Lightning will be no more! Lightning will…cease to strike."

Jason asked tiredly, "Have you been thinking about puns this whole time?"

"A little. But please, please, please don't call in anyone," begged the other boy. "Keep her."

"Me? Why can't you do it, if you love the cat so much?"

Leo, whose face had been passionate and earnest, grew shy. He rubbed the base of his neck—another nervous tick. "I couldn't do that. The family I live with has a thing about fur allergies, and, yeah."

The family I live with. Not "my family", but "the family I live with".

Something in Jason finally clicked, and he proceeded to feel like the biggest jerk in the world.

"Fine," he said in defeat. "I'll keep the cat for now. If it doesn't work out, I'll really call the authorities. Cat authorities." Cat-thorities?

Brightened by this news, Leo smiled lopsidedly at Lightning, who now warmed up to being held against Jason and was on the verge of falling asleep.

Then Leo said, "I can't believe you got a cat."

"I can't believe I got a cat," Jason agreed.