Battle of the Bands
Chapter 2: Meeting the 'gang'
While the three girls were walking to the Great Hall, where the students ate and assemblies were held, Thalia and Annabeth explained how the house system worked.
"There are four houses and each house has it's own colour," Thalia began, her spiky black hair catching the attention of everyone as they walked, "Fidens is red and it means courageous, Fortis, which is our house, is blue and it means brave."
"Yep," Annabeth interrupted, "It's the best house in the school." She grinned, "But I guess it doesn't really mean anything because I say that about anything that I'm in."
Piper grinned, "So what are the other two houses?"
"Valens, which is green and means strong and Teleta, which is yellow and means determination," Thalia said.
"They don't put you in houses because of your traits and stuff, do they?" Piper asked, wondering why she had been put in the 'brave' house.
"No, as far as I know, it's just random," Annabeth answered. Piper smiled, kind of relieved.
The Great Hall was situated in between Buildings 2 and 3. Piper looked around the Great Hall, which was huge. It made Piper think of the Great Hall at Hogwarts, except that it wasn't as old fashioned or lit by candles. In fact, the only similarity that it had with the Hogwarts Great Hall was the size. It was modern, like the rest of the school, with ceiling to floor windows on one whole wall, letting in the last rays of the afternoon sunlight. The floor was covered by light wooden floorboards. There were circular tables spread out throughout the hall, with about ten chairs around each. Along the side of the hall, opposite the windows, was the canteen and the buffet table. Someone called Annabeth over and she said her goodbyes to Thalia and Piper before walking over.
"Let's go find a table," Thalia said, looking around.
"Over here!" called someone. Piper turned around to look at two boys waving at them, calling them to sit at their table. Thalia rolled her eyes, but grinned and started walking towards them. Piper followed her, looking at the two boys sitting at the table. The first one had curly brown hair and was wearing a cap, not following the school uniform regulations. The second boy was Nico, Thalia's cousin who had walked into Piper's dorm with Percy.
"Hey guys," greeted Thalia, pulling out a chair and sitting down. "This is Piper. Piper, this is Grover, my idiot friend and Nico, my dunce of a cousin.
"Hi," Piper tried to hide a grin at Thalia's descriptions, but failed. She pulled out a chair and sat down next to Thalia, studying the two boys in front of her. Grover looked about Piper's age, maybe a bit older. Nico seemed to be the same age as Piper and he had black hair, the blackest that Piper had ever seen. His eyes were a obsidian black, unlike the blue of his cousin. Thalia glanced sideways at Piper, breaking her out of her reverie and grinned mischievously.
"So guys, still have the same dorms?" she asked.
Grover groaned, "Don't get me started on this again, Thals." He glared at her, "I still have the same dorm, thank you very much for asking. It is still as rubbish as last year." Piper frowned, confused. Thalia saw her face and explained.
"Grover has Drew's boyfriend, John, in his dorm and he is a complete player. Drew is his longest girlfriend yet and she's only lasted 5 weeks because they got together in the holidays and didn't see each other for the rest of it," Thalia said. "They've probably cheated on each other about a million times already, anyway."
"As well as this, Grover also has John's best friend, Julian," Nico added, smirking slightly. "And, the last person in their dorm is John and Julian's rival." Nico grinned, "They fight all the time, especially in their dorm."
"How do you know?" asked Piper, "You're not in the same house." She pointed to his green tie to emphasise her statement.
Nico raised his eyebrows and grinned, "Good point, but I get to hear all about it from him." At the last word, Nico jabbed his thumb in Grover's direction. "He complains too much."
"Hey!" Grover said, hearing his cousin's words. "I don't complain that much!" Thalia scoffed softly, but Grover heard her. "I don't!"
"Keep thinking that, dude," cut in a new voice. Percy sat down, a tray full of food held in his hands.
"Wow, Perce," said Grover, looking at the tray. "Pig much?"
Percy fake glared at Grover, "Aren't you funny?"
"Why, yes, I am. Thank you for noticing," Grover said, standing up. He ignored Percy's second fake glare and turned to Piper, "Do you want to go get some food?"
Piper smiled, "Sure, thanks."
"What about me?" Thalia cried, playfully. "You offer Piper? Someone who you've known for about 5 minutes. I'm your bloody best friend for Pete's sake!"
"Yeah, but you're not new," Grover smirked at her. Turning to Piper, he said, "Let's go." Piper grinned as Thalia moaned and groaned and got up from her chair.
"Bloody boy. Idiot. Why am I friends with him?" she muttered.
"Love you too, Thals," Grover grinned, hearing her cursing him.
Thalia looked at him with a 'you're dead' look and muttered, "Yeah, yeah, let's go."
"What kinds of food do they serve here?" asked Piper.
"All different types," answered Thalia, getting two trays and handing one to Piper. "The first dinner of the year is aways the best, though, so today's should be good."
"Hey, guys," greeted a brown haired girl, carelessly grabbing a tray from the pile and standing behind Piper in the line.
"Oh, hey, Katie," Grover said, absently, grabbing a tray and starting to dish food onto it, ignoring the conversation.
"Hey, Katie," answered Thalia. "This is Piper, she's new. Piper, this is Katie Gardner."
Piper smiled at Katie, "Hi."
"Hey." Katie smiled back at Piper. "So, you met the rest of the gang yet?"
"Um, I don't know. How many people are in 'your gang'?" inquired Piper.
Thalia answered, "Nine of us, well, ten including you."
"Then I guess I've met six of you, including you two," Piper said. She started listing off the names, counting on her fingers, "You two, Annabeth, Percy, Grover and Nico. Yep, that's it."
"So you just have to meet Travis, Juniper and Jason, then you've met the gang," Katie said, matter-of-factly, as she scooped a large portion of mash into her plate.
"Just three more left," Piper said, getting a spoonful of roast vegetables. The delicious smell of roast meat filled her nostrils. "Yum - I love roasts."
"Really?" Thalia asked, excitedly, "I love them too!"
"Meh, roasts are not my favourite, but they're pretty nice," Katie informed them.
- Battle of the Bands -
When the three girls (who had lost Grover at the buffet table) reached the table, there were only three seats left - one in-between to Grover and Percy and two in-between a brown haired girl and a blonde boy Piper didn't know yet.
"Well, look who took their time," Grover said, eating another spoonful of mash.
"Oh, har har, Grover," Katie said, sarcastically, sitting next to him. That left Piper and Thalia in the two seats next to each other. Thalia sat next to the brown haired girl and Piper slipped into the last seat.
Katie grinned, "Now it's time for Piper to meet the last three members of our gang."
"We're not a gang, Bi," Percy sighed.
"Then what are we, hmm, Percy?" Katie challenged.
Percy just shook his head. "Never mind," he muttered before starting to eat again.
"What was I saying? Oh yes," Katie looked at Piper, "Everyone, this is Piper. Piper, meet Travis, Juniper and Jason." Katie pointed at each person as she said their name. Travis was directly opposite her, with a mop of caramel brown hair that fell into his mischievous blue eyes. Juniper was the girl sitting on the other side of Thalia - the brown haired girl. Her green eyes shined with shyness and Piper could instantly tell that this girl was not as confident as her friends. Jason was the blonde boy sitting next to her. He had barely looked at her as she had sat down and now he glanced at her quickly. Piper saw his electric blue eyes were cold and his posture was unwelcoming.
"Hey, Piper," Juniper greeted, shyly. "Welcome to Goode."
"Thanks," Piper smiled.
Travis ran a hand through his hair as he greeted her, "Hi." Piper shifted in her seat. Something told her not to trust valuables around Travis.
"Hello," Piper answered, starting to eat her mash. Jason had stayed quiet the whole time. He didn't say a word until Percy, who was sitting on the other side, nudged him.
"Hello."
"Um, hi," Piper looked at him, confused. Why was he so cold?
Annabeth laughed, "Don't take Jason's attitude personally. He's like that to everyone at first." Piper smiled, reassured.
"I'm right here, you know," Jason said, raising an eyebrow in Annabeth's direction. She stuck her tongue out at him in response.
Dinner passed by quickly, as Piper started to get to know all of the new friends she had made on her first day. Percy was a laid-back sportsman, Annabeth was a fun, energetic sports-lover, Juniper had two personalities - her her quiet, good girl one and her crazy, eccentric one, but still shy. Travis and Katie were the sarcastic jokers of the group and Grover was the one that occasionally helped them. Thalia spoke her mind and wasn't afraid to let people know what she was thinking and Nico was the calm person of the group, although mostly quiet. Jason was the one that intrigued Piper the most. He was cold and aloof towards her, although considerably warmer to the rest of the group.
- Battle of the Bands -
Back in her dorm, after showering and brushing her teeth, Piper was sitting on her bed with Annabeth and Thalia relaxing on theirs. Drew was not in the dorm. Piper started getting ready for her first day of school the next day. The three girls were currently comparing timetables. She had English with Annabeth and Physics and Geography with Thalia.
"So, what do you think of the group?" asked Annabeth, lounging on her bed.
"I think they're fun," Piper answered, "although, I'm not so sure about Jason."
"Oh, don't worry about Jason," Thalia answered. "He's fine once you get to know him. He's just been through a lot." At these words, Piper's curiosity sparked.
"What do you mean?"
Thalia pursed her lips, her cheeks turning pink in embarrassment and she shook her hair so that it covered them, "Listen, no offense, Piper, but I've just met you. It's a personal story and Jason and I had a hard time getting over it." Obviously Thalia and Jason were related, probably brother and sister.
"Just forget what she said," Annabeth looked at her best friend, shooting her a sharp, but questioning look. "Jason and Thalia will tell you when they're ready. It's their story to tell, after all." Piper frowned, but sighed - it was evident that her curiosity would not be sated today. It was also obvious that this group of friends were really close and they wouldn't betray each others secrets. It was nice to see, as Piper had never really had any friends because most people just pretended because of her parents and if they didn't know who her parent were, they mocked her because she acted different from them.
"I heard that your dad is Tristan McLean," Thalia said, changing the subject. "Is that true?"
Piper smiled ruefully, "Yeah. I don't like people knowing, though, because then they want to become friends with me because of who my dad is. You guys aren't like that, or from what I've seen you aren't."
Thalia and Annabeth both grinned. "I should hope not," Annabeth said and all three girls smiled now.
"So...um, I heard that this is your 6th school or something like that," Annabeth said. "Why is that? Didn't you like the other schools? Or were you just being a rebel or something because of your dad and I don't know...? Um, not being rude."
"Hopefully," Thalia smirked.
"Actually, it's my 8th school," Piper informed them, "And I got kicked out of the other schools because I was trying to get my parents attention." She paused, "Wow, that makes me sound like a brat."
"Don't worry, we know you're not," Thalia assured her.
Piper smiled at her, "Thanks. My parents were always busy and had no time for me. I was always alone and, like I said, the only people who wanted to be friends with me were trying to use me to get to my dad. He and my mum never took any attention of me. They were always busy."
"Who is your mum?" Annabeth asked.
Piper frowned, "Promise not to tell anyone?"
"Promise."
"Promise."
Piper took a deep breath, "No one knows because my parents don't want anyone knowing. Apparently it could be potentially dangerous if someone is out for my mum or dad. Anyway, my mum is Aphrodite Amor." Thalia gasped and Annabeth's mouth dropped open.
"Your parents are two of the most famous people in the world!" Annabeth gasped.
"Oh. My. Gods," Thalia said. That seemed to be the only things that she could say, as she was opening and closing her mouth. The was a short pause as Annabeth and Thalia soaked in the information.
"Anyway, it's late," Annabeth said, breaking the silence, "We should sleep now." Piper looked at the clock, which read 9:20 in luminous green numbers.
"Probably," she sighed, thinking of the big day the next day.
Annabeth heard her and said, "Don't worry, you're bound to know someone in every class you have. We'll show you around and everyone else in the group will too."
Piper smiled, "Thanks." Suddenly a thought struck her. "Where's Drew?"
Thalia rolled her eyes, apparently over her shock, "She'll be here when we wake up. Trust me."
"I hope you're not a light sleeper, Piper," Annabeth said, climbing under her covers.
"Why?" Piper asked.
"You never know what time Drew might stumble through the doors of this dorm," was all the reply she got. Thalia turned off the lights and Piper slid under her covers and snuggled into her pillow. She closed her eyes and soon the darkness overtook her.
Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know that a few characters (*cough cough* Grover *cough cough*) are well...out of character, but that is because I originally wrote this story for Wattpad and now I am converting it to a Percy Jackson fanfic. Just to let you know, Jason's character in my story is supposed to be like that. Thanks for reading my story and please REVIEW!
- Lizzy